destined to decay, and so Jeremiah plaintively records. The Christian was to go forth like the rising sun from the glowing chambers of the East, progressing on its way, till its car should ride in triumph through all lands. This great theme gives a peculiar tinge to the writings of John, especially to the book of Revelation. So sublime a treasury of thought as it has never been penned by human hands. The splendid machinery and imagery of a Milton, a Tasso, and a Homer, if combined in one transcendent epic, would be unequal to it. Exceed it in bulk they would; but to soar on the same ethereal pinion they could not. John may therefore be regarded as a writer of splendid natural gifts. Nor is it strange that he should have been the favorite disciple of Christ, inasmuch as their dispositions and intellects seem to have singularly harmonized. Probably many of John's most sublime conceptions he owed to his more intimate acquaintance with Christ. Their full splendor will be more clearly seen, as advancing events turn his prophecies into actual scenes, marked by those grand features with which he has in fancy and prophecy invested them.

Voltaire, that frivolous and grimacing reviler of all that is good and true, boasted that the religion which twelve ignorant fishermen had established, would be overturned by one greater than they, meaning himself. A religion established by twelve such men, with such authority, could never be overthrown: it was founded upon a rock, and the confirmed issue of the struggle proves the absurdity of his boast. One opponent such as he, was harmless; a thousand more would but serve to swell the accumulating tide of victory, and show the omnipotence of that efficacy which could achieve triumphs over so many and such embittered foes. In vain did he and his confederate scoffers adopt, as their constant and blasphemous motto, Ecrasez

132 PERSONAL CHARACTERS OF THE SACRED WRITERS.

l'infame, "crush the wretch!" thus execrating the Saviour of men. There was a secret in His religion, and in the toils and labors of those humble men which he had never learned. They were the propagators of a religion whose power he had never felt, and hence he waged a bootless warfare against it. They were the last survivors of an illustrious race of men, on whose shoulders the mantle of inspiration had fallen; and who steadily pursued their lofty commission, until the providence of God had worked through them great moral achievements, which the infidel has neither the desire nor the grace to appreciate. Happy men! Chosen of God to fulfil a glorious destiny: permitted to feel the importance and value of eternal things, and communicate them to others. Their names and virtues have become identified with the religion of love, and associated with the inimitable excellences of the Son of God. Countless generations who have reaped the fruits of their toils will bless their memory. Wherever this religion is proclaimed, the recollection of their sainted lives, the sweet odor of their holy example, and the unction of their earnest exhortations, will attend it. Their influence and their usefulness shall never cease, until the conflicts of time are merged into the triumphs of eternity. The traces of their earthly days and earthly labors cannot be lost in the depths of ages.

133

CHAPTER III.

THE DESIGN OF THE BIBLE VINDICATED.

No book has ever existed in the world, respecting which so much has been written and said, in its censure and in its praise, as the Bible. Even among those who endeavor, as modern infidels have done, to depreciate its value, its great merits give them much trouble and uneasiness. It requires their constant endeavors, to underrate and calumniate it, in order to still their own consciences, and rebut the constantly increasing reverence which the rational portion of mankind are bestowing on this book. They, on the contrary, who believe in its merits and authority, find ample inducement and profit in dwelling upon them; and they find abundant materials in this inexhaustible theme, to employ all their researches and discussions. Yet this volume, upon which so many men in so many ages have delighted to dwell in admiration and exposition, is a glorious and inexhaustible topic; and he who succeeds in throwing one solitary ray of light upon it, that its value and merits may appear to men in fairer and clearer vision than before, deserves to be regarded with favor. Among the many admirable features of the Bible, its design demands our attention and defence. This service we will attempt to render to the cause of truth in these pages. We shall endeavor to point out some of the merits of this glorious moral edifice, erected by the hands of the eternal Archi

tect, whose unrivaled splendor no tongue of man or angel can ever adequately describe.

The Scriptures have deservedly received, by way of eminence, the honorable epithet of The Book. This volume professes to derive its origin from God; and portions of it had descended to us from the remotest antiquity, where all other sources of instruction are lost in the gray twilight of fable. It professes to treat of the most important and intricate subjects which can occupy the attention of men. During its long career in the world, it has secured more or less reverence among mankind, and exerted a commanding influence in moulding their destinies and characters, both in the present and in the future.

Such a volume cannot be studied with too much attention. Aside from its high moral attributes and claims, there is so much of literary and historical interest connected with it, so much that addresses itself to what is highest and noblest in our natures, that every one who possesses a mind capable of appreciating the beautiful, the wonderful, and the good, will be interested in the discussion of its merits, and the examination of its design.

It is true, that many gifted minds have expended their powers upon it; yet its inexhaustible merits have not been fully revealed. Though many strong intellects have made its discussions the subject of their deepest investigations; yet its intricacies are not yet all unraveled. Yet it is worthy of remark, that in spite of the vastness and elevation of their themes, the Scriptures adapt their discussions to the capacities of those whom they address, as far as the nature of the case permits. They are like a tree filled with luscious fruit, whose branches tend invitingly downward to the earth; in order that those who are are of shortest stature may be able to obtain and enjoy their contents. The Great Teacher of the universe seems to leave his high abode, to

dwell with men, to assume their form, to employ their language, to adapt himself to their wants, and to their finite capacities. While the modern infidel has employed this circumstance to the prejudice of the Bible, instead of decreasing our esteem for that sacred book, it should augment it. For we see in this instance another proof of that wise adaptation of the means to the end which so strikingly characterizes all the purposes and works of God. While we contend for the high and dignified design of the Bible, modern infidelity has labored to abase that design. It has attempted to show on the one hand, that this book has been huddled together by the unskillful labors of different adventurers in the field of literature; that it possesses no unity, no harmonious purpose or connection. While others have labored to show that the Bible is the product of good men's fancies, of their own intellectual conceptions, and that though its moral and mental traits are commendable, it can lay no claim to a design which can prove its divine origin.*

No act or purpose of God has ever been called into being, without having as its basis, an adequate and appropriate design. The Scriptures, as being one of the most wonderful productions of his creative power and wisdom, likewise possess an equally important purpose, which they are intended to acomplish.

The dignity and importance of the design of the Bible, are one of its most striking excellences. Its chief and

* "The Pentateuch was not written in the time of Moses, nor till several hundred years afterwards; they are no other than the attempted history of the life of Moses, and of the times in which he is said to have lived, and also of times prior thereto, written by some very ignorant and stupid pretender to authorship, several hundred years after the death of Moses."-Paine.