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النشر الإلكتروني

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LADY RICHARDSON,

AS TO ONE WHOM THE AUTHOR HAS LEARNED,

FROM HER EARLIEST YEARS,

TO LOVE AND RESPECT;

AND ON WHOSE FAVOURABLE OPINION, AND

KIND INTEREST IN HER PRESENT UNDERTAKING,

SHE SETS NO COMMON VALUE:

THE SECOND PART OF THIS LITTLE WORK

IS INSCRIBED,

BY HER EVER AFFECTIONATE AND Obliged,

L. P.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In presenting to her readers her farther attempt to facilitate the instruction of children in the sacred Scriptures, the author feels called upon to premise, that this Second part of her work may perhaps be found, in some places, more difficult than the First. This difference, however, was not altogether unintentional. It was supposed, as indeed, in the case of a child six years old, it was found, that the time occupied, and the mental exercise undergone, in reading the previous part, were calculated to make the young reader capable, by degrees, of grasping information which he could not have borne at first.

Much, however, will depend upon the tastes of children, and the general progress of their

education; it will therefore be for the discretion of the parent to pass over those parts (if any such should occur) for which the child may not appear to be, as yet, prepared.

Such, for example, to some, the explanation of the Mosaic types may prove, as in the case of the temple, and its sacred furniture. In that event such parts may be deferred for a time, and then possibly be read with advantage.

The author is anxious, especially after what she has said in the general preface to the work, to guard against the supposition that her book is, for a moment, intended (even in the case of children) to supersede the reading of the Bible itself. Her object has not been to supersede but to assist the reading of the Sacred Volume: to furnish, as it were, a running exposition and development of the inspired narrative, by supplying at once that explanation or information which the teacher would otherwise have to give orally, and, in many cases, to acquire from a variety of sources, at the expense of much time and trouble.

She would only add further, if such a memento be required, that any human assistance, whether supplied orally, or by books, is insufficient of itself. The Christian parent will not forget Who is the great Teacher of spiritual truth, or omit to direct to Him, both her own prayers and those of her child.

It will be obvious, upon the slightest consideration, that in preparing a work like the present satisfactorily, it is absolutely necessary to consult, at least to have read, commentators and other like authorities; nor is it afterwards practicable to trace each particular piece of information, or solution of a difficulty, which may have been thus obtained, to the source from which it was originally derived. For the most part a general acknowledgment of such assistance must suffice. The author however wishes to observe, that, in regard to the Natural History of the Bible,” she has been occasionally much indebted to Dr. Harris's valuable little work on the subject. She should also have stated before that her narrative of the history of Joseph was not written without having previously read the Rev. Mr.

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