upon the disposition of Peter, and upon the state of his mind when he had passed the greatest portion of his career as a preacher of the gospel; and we are hereby enabled to contemplate his completed character. In doing this, we find it retaining all the elements which gave it a degree of rude grandeur even at the commencement of his course; which made us feel, when he first pronounced his most sublime confession, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God!' and when he dared to attempt a pathway over an angry sea, because it led to his Lord, that a man had risen before us destined for great purposes: we find him neither less ardent nor less courageous; neither less affectionate nor less susceptible; but these, his original characteristics, are all nobly blended with the loftier attributes of an apostle confirmed in the faith, filled with the wisdom of experience, and grown familiar with the great Spirit of Truth, by long and intimate communion with him in every scene and circumstance of life.

On looking again at the account given of St. Paul, though we find the circumstances related of his ministry more numerous, and set forth in a more distinct order, they plainly require to be brought together by great care, and with all the succinctness which the energy of inquiry can give them, before the apostle of the Gentiles will be seen in the true light which history, properly employed,

may render. In this case, the great effort required is to bring the brief but important narrative of his labours into immediate connexion with his own compositions; a point which may be reached with little or no difficulty so far as the mechanical or formal arrangement is concerned; but to effect which, so as to make them mutually illustrate each other, is a work of skill, and the reward of thoughtfulness. The history given by St. Luke is close and rapid; but we learn from it sufficient to understand the early zealotry, the deep enthusiasm, the strength of Paul's character, which confirmed him in his early principles against every appeal short of the strongest demonstrations of the will of God. Striking, however, as might be the portrait drawn of this wonderful man, had we only his history as recorded in the Acts, that which is most admirable in his character would be but weakly exhibited through this unassisted medium. It is in his epistles, and that in many passages which an inattentive reader would pass over, without discovering either their historical or spiritual force, that the peculiarities, the bright and glorious individuality of St. Paul is to be found displayed. Whatever is said by critics of those marvellous idioms of true poetry which penetrate the mysteries of our nature, and are so precious as indications of large classes of truths, may be said of numerous incidental expressions and allusions in the writings of this apostle; and

by observing these, we arrive at a knowledge not only of his labours, of his energy and perseverance, but of his intellectual being, as wrought upon, and possessed by the Spirit of holiness whom he, on the other hand, (and in this consisted the great mystery of his renewed nature,) sought to possess. "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended." A sentiment embodying the highest doctrine of evangelical righteousness, and made palpable to the understanding of every man by this deeply pathetic confession of the apostle.

Scripture history, when thus studied, affords more distinct portraits of the characters it mentions than many of the most celebrated of secular narratives; but it is to be regretted, that in the general reading of the divine records, that which is historical is not less neglected than what is purely doctrinal or monitory; and thus the conception of those characters which the Scriptures set forth in the two-fold light of chosen agents in the great works of Providence, and examples to the universal race of man, is too indefinite either to move the heart, or to fill up the space they are intended to occupy in the argument of faith. It was the consideration of these circumstances which first led to the composition of lives of the Saviour and his immediate followers, founded on the relations of

Scripture, but intended to present the principal facts and minute particulars, which lie widely dispersed through the books of Revelation, in a condensed and consecutive order. In undertaking this task, however, even the most careful of writers would naturally inquire, whether there were not other sources of information which might be safely employed to furnish the means of minuter description than those which ought to be looked for in a record of revelations and doctrines, rather than of events. Clear and impressive as were the forms which rose before the contemplative eye of the spiritualized student, it could not be denied that the bolder the hand seemed by which the outline was drawn, the deeper the tints which filled it up, the more attractive and satisfactory would the whole be likely to prove to the ordinary reader. Hence sprang the mingled necessity and temptation which gave such value to the traditions which arose, like a thick mist, sometimes from the natural heat of the current of events, at others from its impurity and stagnation. In both cases the use made of them necessarily depended on the honesty and the skill of those who employed them in illustration or continuation of the Scripture narrative. But, unfortunately, the credulity of some, and the artifice of others, speedily brought the use of traditionary remains into disrepute; and it soon became a question with those whose stern worship

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of truth prevented their discriminating between them, whether the traditionary was not the same as the fabulous.

This is a question of immense importance in the history of our religion; and it need scarcely be mentioned, that some of the bitterest controversies in which different divisions of Christians have been engaged, derived much of their rancour from the doubts attending this subject. But so far as the biography of the eminent founders of our religion is concerned, the question admits of limitations which bring it within the possibility of solution. It is not to establish disputed points of doctrine that we desire to see these chosen and, without a metaphor, heaven-born men as they lived and acted; but to be soothed, elevated, and encouraged in our struggles by their example. The appeal to tradition, therefore, for biographical purposes, has none of the suspicion which attends it when employed to serve any partial design; and to this consideration, which removes one very material class of objections to its employment, we may add another which enlarges the sphere out of which the writer may, with safety and honesty, draw materials for his purpose; that is to say, there is probability on the side of tradition in respect to its biographical uses; and it can almost always be judged of by the rule of verisimilitude, when limited to this employment. It is an acknowledged fact, that the