the early writers of the Christian church were not unacquainted with them.

A sign is a kind of prophecy, which speaks by things and actions instead of words. When the Jews demanded a sign of Christ *, they meant some miracle; to shew, by an act of divine power, the truth of his divine mission. but he gave them a sign of the prophetic sort, such as I am now speaking of, the sign of the prophet Jonah, swallowed by the fish; of which kind of sign they seemed to have no knowledge; and I have reason to think there are many Christians who know as little about them as the Jews did, and suppose authors to be scarcely in their senses when they treat of them. But all the signs of the Scripture are excellent, if we have a key to them, and will give both delight and edification to people of devout affections.

It hath been shewed, in the second and third lectures, that the great use of Nature, in the hand of God, is to instruct man; and, from

* Matthew xii. 38.

the

the works of Nature, give him a right understanding of such things as are above Nature; and the matter is beyond dispute, because the fact speaks for itself. Yet, to my astonishment, this is denied, and even scouted by learned men, who profess a critical judgment of all literary productions; though this sublime and delightful method of teaching is notorious throughout the Old and New Testament. But, alas! when they think they see what they call Hutchinsonian, though it be exactly what Christians knew and taught above a thousand years ago, gentlemen are seized with such fears and sus

picions as do not become wise men; falsly (and

I

may say, weakly in those who ought to know better) ascribing things to Hutchinson, which were borrowed from Origen. Let any candid man open his eyes, and look into the Bible: he will there discover, that the visible world is a school, in which God teaches us by earthly things the nature of heavenly, as Christ taught Nicodemus. But the Christian, with a mind and an education similar to those of Nicodemus,

VOL. IV.

T

mus, will see nothing of all this; for which I heartily pity him, because I am sure he suffers a great loss. To what purpose, O man, doth the sun shine upon thee, unless it teach thee to know more truly the Sun of Righteousness, and to rejoice in his light? If not, the sun shines upon thee, as upon beasts and reptiles, to give light to thy body, but none to thy understanding. Whereas the salvation of man, by Jesus Christ, is so great, so inestimable a subject, that the goodness of God throws every thing in our way, which may bring it to our minds, and recommend it to our affections. For this, the sun shines, the winds blow, the grass grows, the springs water the earth, the rain falls from heaven. But it is in the study of the Scripture, as in other sciences, all things are not equally obvious, nor will they appear of equal concern to different people; and there are those who may think I have been throwing away my thoughts, in exploring things too minute and obscure to be understood. When we use a microscope, to examine the minute objects of the creation,

ignorant

ignorant minds may think we are idly employed, and that our objects are insignificant because hey are small; but whoever shall examine small things, will find them full of wonders; and that God is every where great in the smallest of his works; agreeably to that wise obser vation of Pliny, Rerum naturá tota est nusquam magis quam in minimis, his power and providence are as manifest in the economy of an insect, as in the revolutions of an empire. The philosopher sees wonders in Nature, which the multitude pass by with unconcern; and the botanist explores minutely what others trample under their feet. The wisest and the most inquisitive, with the utmost of their application, can see but a part of the works of God; and the most studious reader can understand but a part of his word; among the trea sures of which, as in the bowels of the earth, there are gems and precious ores, which lie so deep, that they have never been disturbed by the hand of man. We can produce only so far as we can penetrate; and when we have

done our best, the work will not be acceptable to every mind; so far from it, that I dare not yet trust the following Discourse with the public; among whom there are two many persons, like the Jews of old, whose eyes if we attempt to open, we shall increase their blindness; and I know, from the experience of my past life, how critical and tender the case is. Such persons I do not mean to hurt, and I should be sorry to offend them. I, therefore, print this Discourse, with a desire, that it should fall into the hands of those only who are prepared, by what they have already seen in the other lectures, to give it due consideration.

51.

A learned and judicious friend (now with God) whose prudence, in my estimation, was almost oracular, had a sight of all the lectures before their publication, and preferred this, in some respects, to the rest; but advised me not to publish it with them at first, lest evil-minded people, should take advantage from it, to bring the whole plan into disrepute ; but to reserve it

till the rest had been considered, and then to

let