over his task, that he never willingly stops short of a clear understanding, even to the minutest detail, if it be possible, of those passages that come under his consideration, while he strives at the same time to seize upon their profoundest sense, and their widest relations, making use to this end of the most thorough analysis and comparison, the most careful scrutiny of the original text; should he ever set himself about his work with such deliberation and earnest purpose, feeling that it is a work indeed as well as a delight, that he has humbly and with great desire implored the aid of him who gave this gift to man, that he may receive and be prepared to impart it rightly, should he thus constantly place himself in a position to drink into the very spirit of that letter he investigates, rarely, indeed, in such a case will he rise from his labor unenriched with treasures new and old, a wealth of which those to whom he ministers will not be unaware, which will perhaps enrich them also, to their eternal gain.

The minister who is in the habit of thus preparing himself for his duty will seldom find room in his discourses for the more commonplaces current at the hour, nor will many of his own expressions become stereotyped by repetition. When the mind is full of a subject, and by steady and mature consideration has at length arrived at a clear conception of it, each fresh and living thought, as it unfolds itself, receives from the mind itself its fitting and natural form of expression, whose distinctness and individuality will correspond to the measure of those qualities in the thought that is to be expressed. The intellectual energies of some men operate with great spontaneity. Such men reflect and reason rapidly; and they have the power of concentrating their attention on objects with very little difficulty, so as to form a decided conception of them almost at The words of such men always carry force. They are not vague, nor commonplace, but convey ever some novel and vivid impression to the hearer's mind. This facility of thought and expression is a gift akin to genius, and if not counter balanced by some great defect, makes a speaker popular and effective. But what is natural in a few, must be attained with careful effect by others. The clearness, the distinct and bright relief which belongs to a good style of oratory can not well be

once.

dispensed with by the preacher. And he is almost happy in his want of natural readiness of mind, who is compelled by it to a deeper and more earnest contemplation of the truth he wishes to recommend. The conceptions he produces will be less various, less manifold, for a time, less delightful by their sparkling brilliancy than those which flow from a mind more kindly endowed by nature, but they may be far more profound, lie far closer to the truth, and bear the test of a longer and closer scrutiny. Nor will they fail of a native beauty and attractiveness of their own, unless some wrong theory of discourse, or some decided mental or moral defect come in to mar and impede their spontaneous development into expression.

But there is yet another mode of biblical study which is only less important than that already indicated, namely, the critical. The audacious freedom with which this method has been employed by the enemies of revelation has associated its use somewhat with unbelief or scepticism. There exists in the heart of the reverent and loving disciple that natural reluctance which all men feel to see the object of their deepest affection and awe scanned and commented upon by those to whom their sentiment is the object of aversion or ridicule. With him to give up the Bible would be to give up life itself. Hence the natural shrinking and hesitation with which he approaches a mode of investigation, that seems to imply a possible doubt as to the truth of its contents. But this mere nervous timidity, when it does not arise from a wise distrust of one's own acuteness in detecting sophism, implies after all, a want of faith in the truth, especially if found in the hearts of any who are bound to be her 'earnest champions. It is a triumph on the part of her adversaries, if those who love her can be made to feel that she will not bear to be unveiled. It is at bottom a want of faith that opposes the progress of light in any direction, unless it is something worse, a hatred of the light itself. And most lamentable have been the fruits of this form of infidelity in former ages of the church, as we all can now see. Sad truth it is, and yet most true, that the church has at times so belied her real character as to prove herself hostile to the progress of discovery, and the dissemination of knowledge. The tendency is one always existing to a greater or less degree,

and arises from the peculiarity of her position, but only becomes actual as the element of worldliness and unbelief which still exists within her, by reason of the "Old Adam" not yet dead, even in the hearts of her true children, obtains in any degree preponderance and control.

Another reason indeed sometimes exists for that indifference to a profound investigation of truth, which to so great an extent prevails, namely a sort of quiescent confidence in her eventual triumph, and a most unwise contempt meantime of her adversaries, and their resources. Some of our mistakes during the late war might teach us a useful lesson here, namely, that it is never well to undervalue our opponents, nor to reckon their means of assault and defence as less than they really are. The truth indeed is mightier than all, but that is no reason why we should sit down indolent and listless under her banner. Whatever her victories, our share in them will so at any rate be small. And who can tell how much her final triumph is thus delayed.

The Gentile church, the church of the nations, is a different thing from the Jewish root out of which she sprung. The culture of the Jew was narrow. It was his office jealously to guard the ark of God, which, closed and veiled, reposed under the wings of the seraphim, until the ages were ready for its opening. But the time came at last; the mysteries of God were made known to the world, now ripe and waiting for the news of salvation. To men of all races, of all forms of character and culture, the precious gift is given, which promised at first to be only the inheritance of a particular people. And the man who was chosen to disseminate the knowledge of the boon, was one uniting in himself the characteristics and culture of many nations, a man who did not shrink from adapting himself to the wants and demands of all, a man who was ready to recognize in humanity all that he found there of divine origin, and who could gladly make use of any gleam of truth which he found still lingering among the darkened tribes of men, as a means of leading them towards the perfect light. A like mission with that of Paul is committed to all his successors. The Bible is for all times, and all peoples; not for the savage, the barbarian alone; not only for the ignorant and uncultivated, but for nations the most enlightened and civilized, and at their

highest periods of refinement and culture. How then can it be too thoroughly known by those who would commend it to the world? How can it refuse the keenest questioning, the most unsparing criticism on the part of those who regard it with hostility? Rather how can it escape these things? And what fear, even if it be so? Rather, is it not well? Doubtless it is well, both for the church herself, and also for her influence among men.

There are some forms which criticism must needs take, that to a mind not yet fortified by faith, yet wishing to believe, must have moments of pain, and even of danger. The only safety in such cases is retreat. To go unarmed into the midst of enemies is ever unwise. Fides præcedit intellectum is a maxim of everlasting validity, and no man can reverse this order with impunity. But to the full armed soldier of the cross, the faith that never deserts him even in the midst of seeming reverses is his sufficient safeguard. Sherman, in a letter to Grant, says of the steadfast faith in the success of our cause which accompanied that general from the first, and which Sherman appears to regard as the great secret of his final victory: "I can compare it to nothing but the faith which the Christian has in his Saviour." Let the Christian soldier learn something from this testimony, and cling under all circumstances to that trustworthy shield, wherewith, as Paul declares, he shall be able to resist all the fiery darts of the adversary. Into the bloody and terrible conflict let only those advance who are strong both in native force, and in the possession and use of all those weapons which the Holy Spirit and the Word of God alone can supply.

But there is one direction of criticism so interesting, so fruitful in results, so in harmony with the natural tendencies of the awakened Christian mind, that it needs separate considerations. This is the line of grammatical criticism. In order to its pursuit there is of course implied a knowledge of those tongues in which the Scriptures were originally written. It is strange that the interest in these languages is not, on this very account, more general, strange that a thousand trivial pursuits can so often absorb, to no end but that of loss, the time and attention which might so easily in the case of very many

persons, be employed in the acquisition of at least one of them, that, namely in which the books of the New Testament are handed down to us. Stranger still it is that many who are already provided with such an important means of satisfactory study, should allow it to fall into disuse and neglect. For this knowledge rightly used furnishes answers to a thousand of those questions which arise in the mind of almost every diligent student of Scripture, and which, without it, would never be satisfactorily solved, and is the means of suggesting a thousand more, whose investigation is a source of growth and culture not to be undervalued.

It is true that no translation has ever yet been able to disguise the true spirit of God's Word. The Scriptures, under every garb, proclaim in unmistakable terms the way of salvation. All translations are so far exact, that by means of them not only the heart, but the intellect can grow to wonderful strength and beauty. The deepest and most important problems of theology can be met and solved from them all, because their solution does not depend upon individual texts, but upon the spirit that breathes through the whole. But though the knowledge spoken of is not therefore indeed necessary, it is in many ways advantageous. The nearer we

come to the original form in which truth was uttered, the more precise is our apprehension of it. Languages differ greatly in power and mode of expression, and thought, in passing from one to another, always undergoes modification, not always such as affects the substance, or perverts the meaning, but often that which obscures the sense, and renders it difficult of detection. This is particularly true in highly condensed discourses, in close and subtle lines of argument, and in áll kinds of writing where the connectives play an important part. The Greek tongue,

in which the New Testament is written, is fitted as no other is, for conveying fine and delicate shades of meaning. No other, for example, could have preserved to us so well, and at the same time so compendiously, those precious words of our Saviour contained in the Gospel of John, and it is perhaps only when we read, or rather study them with a long patience in the very words in which they were first delivered to us, that we can entirely apprehend how full, and deep, and inexhaustible in in