effected " by his single genius;" that there is imminent hazard lest the inexperienced reader should insensibly learn to attribute more to "the wisdom of the Egyptians," than to that "wisdom which is from above;" and practically to lose sight of the almighty Conductor and all-wise Lawgiver of the Israelites, in the unlimited admiration of this more than rival of Numa, Solon, or Lycurgus.

II. After the examples, which have been adduced, of the mode in which the miraculous facts of sacred history are brought down to the profane level of a rationalized interpretation, it will scarcely be imagined that the view of inspiration, which these pages exhibit, includes any very high reverence for its dignity or authority. A brief consideration of some of its more prominent features is all that will be required.

In the preface to the concluding volume, which from its apologetic nature, may be deemed to contain the deliberate sentiments of the author, an inclination at least is avowed to limit inspiration "to doctrinal points, exclusive of those which are purely

historical. This view," it is added, "if correct, would obviate many difficulties'." It would indeed obviate many difficulties; those, in particular, which oppose themselves to such a treatment of the sacred volume, as that which we have now to deplore ;— those moreover, which could deter us from utterly rejecting every fact, miraculous or otherwise, which might chance to vary from our preconceived ideas of probability or expedience.

Not to contend for that plenary inspiration, that direct suggestion of every word on every occasion, which, adopted in its strict and unqualified sense, tends rather to the gratuitous embarrassment of the advocate of revealed truth; yet assuredly, if we have the highest authority for believing that Scripture is "the word of God," and that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God'," it is plain (I here adopt the language of a living ornament of our Church) "that the sacred historians wrote under the influence of the Holy Ghost; which, though it did not disclose to them by immediate

'Preface to vol. iii. p. vii.

Mark vii. 13.

12 Tim. iii. 16.

revelation those things that might be collected from the common sources of intelligence, undoubtedly directed them in the selection of their materials; and enlightened them to judge of the truth and importance of those accounts from which they borrowed their information"." So that with the immediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit where the case demanded it, and its superintending guidance where it did not, the effect is in the main the same;—and notwithstanding all that the perverted industry of the objector can advance, with regard to the corruptions and variations of the sacred text, of the exceeding minuteness and unimportance of which every scholar is aware;-notwithstanding the imperfections of translation, which numerous commentators are at hand to rectify; and those occasional instances of real obscurity with still give scope to the labours of the critic;-the humble Christian may yet rely, to every essential and saving

Key to the Old Testament and Apocrypha, by Robert Gray, D.D. Lord Bishop of Bristol, p. 137. (Edition of 1829.)

purpose, on his infallible guide, with that undoubting assurance, which it is infinitely distressing to find exposed to hazard by such loose views and irreverent insinuations as characterize the work which we are considering.

The sacred Scriptures are placed too nearly on the footing of mere Hebrew literature; and the " Apocryphal books are introduced to notice, without any distinct reference to the inferior value of the new authority.-Not to insist strongly on the degrading effect of the modernized terms, Sheik, Emir, and Viziero, repeatedly introduced,―Jacob's

"But in the writings of the Babylonian prophets, in the vision of dry bones in Ezekiel, and in the last chapter of Daniel, these doctrines (viz. of a future state) assume a more important place; and from the later books, which are usually called the Apocrypha, these opinions. appear to have entered fully into the general belief." Vol. ii. p. 14.

• Thus Abram is "an independent Sheik or Emir," vol. i. p. 9. Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, are 'young native Sheiks," p. 12. and Joseph is a Vizier, p. 50.

prophecy is a poem';-the prophets are constantly poets";-David himself is excused for adopting "fierce and vindictive" language, as being "the warrior-poet of a sterner age."-The Judges, the divinely-appointed instruments of mercy and deliverance to Israel, are placed in a degrading light';— Samson even in a point of view absolutely ludi

⚫ Vol. i. p. 55.

↑ Still, in general, the poets of Judæa were preeminently national. It is on the existing state, the impending dangers, and future prospects of Ephraim aud Judah, that they usually dwell. Vol. i. p. 298.

8 66

They (the psalms) have embodied so exquisitely the universal language of religious emotion, that (a few fierce and vindictive passages excepted, natural in the warrior-poet of a sterner age) they have entered with unquestioned propriety into the ritual of the holier and more perfect religion of Christ." Vol. i. p. 248.

“Personal activity, daring, and craft, were the qualifications which raised the Judges to their title and eminence. They appear in their history as gallant insurgents or guerilla leaders, rather than as grave administrators of justice, or the regular authorities of a great kingdom.” Vol. i. p. 188.