.

True it is, that the soil was not uniformly impregnated with the divine fire which glowed in Christianity; but the external change was sufficiently great and general to show that the world confessed the action of a new element; and from the commencement of its operation to the present hour, the effects have been evidently on the increase.

The examination of an era like this is equally interesting and important. It is one of the plainest duties of the intellectual and spiritual to do whatever lies in their power to bring it as distinctly as may be within the general range of men's understandings and sympathies. This has been allowed in every age of the Christian church; and its greatest ornaments have gladly employed their learning and their power of logical inquiry in this sacred labour. They have considered that while the Scriptures are the sole original of doctrine; while they alone are to be appealed to when we would correct error, heal schism, rebuke self-will, or do aught which belongs to the establishing of the faith, there are many sources, both of information and instruction, which, properly opened, may be made to pour copious streams of knowledge into the bosom of the Christian community. And to this conclusion they have been guided by the diversified character of Scripture itself; which while it contains the fulness of doctrine, contains the elements of much beside, which is to be wrought out by the

industry of the human mind; or which, being sufficient for the immediate purpose in view, is to content the uninquisitive, but form to others the foundation of farther and more general inquiry. This is the case with many of those points which it was not consistent with the intentions of Christ to direct his messengers to teach as main parts of their doctrine; but which, nevertheless, as being in themselves true, could not fail to be involved in the rest, and are to be traced out by the laborious and spiritual watchfulness of true biblical students. An example of this is afforded us in the little stated, in direct terms, respecting the future condition of the redeemed, and the still less of the separate state of the soul: but by a diligent comparison of the passages which bear remotely on these subjects, by a careful treasuring up of all the overflowings of light from the main vessels of doctrine, the mind is rewarded with a far nearer approach to the knowledge of these hidden things than the cursory reader can suspect.

And while this is the case with respect to doctrine, it is also especially so in regard to the historical development of the gospel birth-time. The circumstances recorded are separated widely from each other by matter of deeper importance, in the main, than the facts themselves. Thus attention is perpetually drawn from the incidents of the history to the doctrines of the system, and this more

than is the case with any other narrative in existence; if we except, perhaps, some few passages of national history, which describe the rise or establishment of fundamental laws. Hence arises the necessity for especial care in the study of evangelical history, which has, indeed, an importance in relation to doctrine itself not always duly estimated; for, not to mention that which is obvious to all, its support of the doctrine, or its illustration of doctrine, it is the soil out of which the seed of eternal truth and life first sprung, embodied in visible forms: the gospel being the incarnation of truth, and the history which it delivers, the development of that new Being thus, as it were, born into the world.

On examining the several books of the New Testament, with a view to the discovery of the characters of the several actors in the events it describes, it is found that a far more distinct portraiture can be drawn of those we are most anxious to contemplate than would otherwise be imagined. Christ himself stands revealed in all the fulness of celestial purity and goodness to the eye of patient meditation: but it is not by his words taken singly, nor by the separate consideration of particular miracles; it is by bringing them together; by passing with him from the crowded shores of Jordan to the solitary wilderness; and from the wilderness to the populous towns and villages of Galilee; by

accompanying him in spirit through his trials and his triumphs; bringing them, as near as may be, within the focus of a single glance of faith, that the character of Christ, that Christ himself, is known in the manner described by the evangelist John; that is, so as to be seen and handled as the word of life. The same, in a lower sense, is true of his chief apostles. St. Peter, for example, had a character distinctly marked by several peculiarities of mind and temper; but it is only on one or two main facts of his history that the ordinary reader of the gospel fixes his attention; and the other circumstances respecting him being neglected, his zeal and his fall, the two extreme points, are so brought together as to destroy the possibility of presenting him to the mind in the proper proportions of human character. On taking, however, into consideration the ordinary account given of his countrymen, the Galileans, described as naturally fierce, bold, and impatient of contradiction; adding to this, a due weighing of the circumstances attending the life of a fisherman, exposed to many perils, often called to reflection by the startling phenomena of the deep: then passing to the view of the incidents which occurred after his call; his apparent attachment to home; his eagerness to avail himself of his privileges as a disciple of Christ; the ready surrender which he made of his mind to the doctrines of his master; his

astonishment on Tabor; his weariness in Gethsemane; his terror in the judgment-hall, will be seen in their natural bearings and relations. To these particulars may be added, the incidents recorded of him after the gift of the Holy Spirit, of which sufficient are related to place him distinctly before us, and to show that the ground-work of his personal character still retained its strong, original peculiarities. Then, leaving the narrative, we may turn to his epistles, which cement and admirably illustrate whatever is found written of him in the Scripture history. Glowing with all the fervour natural to his soul, deeply imbued with the associations of his venerable faith in the prophets, and elevated by intimate acquaintance with the sublimest mysteries of spiritual religion, we hear him speaking the language which might be looked for from one who had not only been on the mount of transfiguration, but had proclaimed the divinity of Christ, and had received gifts of knowledge proportionable to his faith. But there is a striking feature in these epistles biographically considered; they abound in maxims remarkable for sedateness and cautiousness of spirit: they exhort to duties which only the most self-subdued heart can understand; and the quick, impetuous Peter is heard admonishing with a mildness and serenity of argument which might only have been looked for from the most gentle of human spirits. Light is thus thrown