events, that ever happened in the univerfe: of the Heathens, who fometimes volunta- Mrs. Chapone. $223. Of Exodus. In Exodus, you read of a series of wonders, wrought by the Almighty, to rescue the oppreffed Ifraelites from the cruel tyranny of the Egyptians, who, having first received them as guefts, by degrees reduced them to a state of flavery. By the moft peculiar mercies and exertions in their favour, God prepared his chofen people to receive, with reverent and obedient hearts, the folemn reftitution of those primitive laws, which probably he had revealed to Adam and his immediate defcendants, or which, at least, he had made known by the dictates of confcience; but which time, and the degeneracy of mankind, had much obfcured. This important revelation was made to them in the Wildernefs of Sinah; there, affembled before the burning mountain, furrounded "with blacknefs, and darknefs, and tempeft," they heard the awful voice of God pronounce the eternal law, impreffing it on their hearts with circumftances of terror, but without thofe encouragements, and thofe excellent promifes, which were afterwards offered to mankind by Jefus Chrift. Thus were the great laws of morality restored to the Jews, and through them tranfmitted to other nations; and by that means a great reftraint was opposed to the torrent of vice and impiety, which began to prevail over the world. To thofe moral precepts, which are of perpetual and univerfal obligation, were fuperadded, by the miniftration of Mofes, many peculiar inftitutions, wifely adapted to different ends—either, to fix the memory of thofe past deliverances, which were figurative of a future and far greater falvation-to place inviolable barriers between the Jews and the idolatrous nations, by whom they were furrounded-or, to be the civil law by which the community was to be governed. To conduct this feries of events, and to establish thefe laws with his people, God raised up that great prophet Mofes, whofe faith and piety enabled him to undertake and execute the moit arduous enterprizes; and to purfue, with unabated zeal, the welfare of his countrymen. Even in the hour of death, this generous ardour fill prevailed: his laft moments were employed in fervent prayers for their profperity, and in rapturous gratitude for the glimpfe vouchfafed him of a Saviour, far greater than himself, whom God would one day raife up to his people. Thus did Mofes, by the excellency of his faith, obtain a glorious pre-eminence among the faints and prophets in heaven; while, on earth, he will be ever revered as the first of those benefactors to mankind, whofe labours for the public good have endeared their memory to all ages. Mrs. Chapone. $224. Of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deu teronomy. The next book is Leviticus, which contains little befides the laws for the peculiar ritual obfervance of the Jews, and therefore affords no great inftruction to us now: you may pass it over entirely-and, for the fame reafon, you may omit the first eight chapters of Numbers. The rest of Numbers is chiefly a continuation of the hiftory, with fome ritual laws. In Deuteronomy, Mofes makes a recapitulation of the foregoing history, with zealous exhortations to the people, faithfully to worship and obey that God, who had worked fuch amazing wonders for them: he promifes them the nobleft temporal bleffings, if they prove obedient; and adds the most awful and ftriking denunciations against them, if they rebel, or forfake the true God. I have before obferved, that the fanctions of the Mofaic law were temporal rewards and punishments: thofe of the New Teftament are eternal; these laft, as they are fo infinitely more forcible than the firft, were referved for the laft, beft gift to mankind -and were revealed by the Meffiah, in the fulleft and cleareft manner. Mofes, in this book, directs the method in which the Ifraelites were to deal with the feven nations, whom they were appointed to pu̟nifh for their profligacy and idolatry, and whofe land they were to poffefs, when they had driven out the old inhabitants. gives them excellent laws, civil as well as religious, which were ever after the landing municipal laws of that people.-This book concludes with Mofes's fong and death. Ibid. § 225. Of Joshua. He The book of Joshua contains the conquefts of the Ifraelites over the feven nations, and their eftablishment in the promifed land. Their treatment of thefe conquered nations must appear to you very cruel and unjust, if you confider it as their own act, unauthorized by a pofitive command: but they had the most absolute injunctions, not to fpare these corrupt people-" to make no covenant with them, nor fhew mercy to them, but utterly to deftroy them:"-and the reafon is given, "left they fhould turn away the Ifraelites from following the Lord, that they might ferve other gods." The children. of Ifrael are to be confidered as inftruments, in the hand of the Lord, to punish those whofe idolatry and wickedness had defervedly brought deftruction on them; this example, therefore, cannot be pleaded in behalf of cruelty, or bring any imputation on the character of the Jews. With regard to other cities, which did not belong to thefe these seven nations, they were directed to deal with them according to the common law of arms at that time. If the city fubmitted, it became tributary, and the people were spared; if it refifted, the men were to be flain, but the women and children faved. Yet, though the crime of cruelty cannot be juftly laid to their charge on this occafion, you will obferve, in the courfe of their hiftory, many things recorded of them, very different from what you would expect from the chofen people of God, if you fuppofed them felected on account of their own merit: their national character was by no means amiable; and we are repeatedly told, that they were not chofen for their fuperior righteoufnefs - " for they were a ftiff-necked people; and provoked the Lord with their rebellions from the day they left Egypt."-" You have been rebellious against the Lord," fays Mofes," from the day that I knew you." -And he vehemently exhorts them, not to flatter themfelves that their fuccefs was, in any degree, owing to their own merits. They were appointed to be the fcourge of other nations, whofe crimes rendered them fit objects of divine chaftifement. For the fake of righteous Abraham, their founder, and perhaps for many other wife reafons, undifcovered to us, they were felected from a world over-run with idolatry, to preferve upon earth the pure worthip of the one only God, and to be honoured with the birth of the Meffiah amongst them. For this end they were precluded, by divine command, from mixing with any other people, and defended, by a great number of peculiar rites and obfervances, from falling into the corrupt worship practised by their neighbours. Mrs. Chapone. § 226. Of Judges, Samuel, and Kings. The book of Judges, in which you will find the affecting ftories of Sampfon and Jephtha, carries on the hiftory from the death of Joshua, about two hundred and fifty years; but the facts are not told in the times in which they happened, which makes fome confufion; and it will be neceffary to confult the marginal dates and notes, as well as the index, in order to get any clear idea of the fucceffion of events during that period. The hiftory then proceeds regularly through the two books of Samuel, and thofe of Kings: nothing can be more interefting and entertaining than the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon: but, after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from his fon Rehoboam, and became a feparate kingdom, you will find fome difficulty in understanding diftinctly the hiftories of the two kingdoms of Ifrael and Judah, which are blended together; and by the likeness of the names, and other particulars, will be apt to confound your mind, without great attention to the different threads thus carried on together: the index here will be of great ufe to you. The second book of Kings concludes with the Badylonifh captivity, 588 years before Chriftill which time the kingdom of Judah had defcended uninterruptedly in the line of David. Ibid. $227. Of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Efther. The first book of Chronicles begins with a genealogy from Adam, through all the tribes of Ifrael and Judah; and the remainder is the fame hiftory which is contained in the books of Kings, with little or no variation, till the feparation of the ten tribes. From that period, it proceeds with the hiftory of the kingdom of Judah alone, and gives therefore a more regular and clear account of the affairs of Judah than the book of Kings. You may pass over the first book of Chronicles, and the nine firft chapters of the fecond book; but, by all means, read the remaining chapters, as they will give you more clear and diftinct ideas of the hiftory of Judah, than that you read in the fecond book of Kings. The fecond of Chronicles ends, like the fecond of Kings, with the Babylonifh captivity. You must purfae the hiftory in the book of Ezra, which gives an account of the return of fome of the Jews on the edict of Cyrus, and of the rebuilding the Lord's temple. Nehemiah carries on the hiftory for about twelve years, when he himself was governor of Jerufalem, with authority to rebuild the walls, &c. The ftory of Efther is prior in time to that of Ezra and Nehemiah; as you will fee by the marginal dates; however, as it happened during the feventy years captivity, and is a kind of episode, it may be read in its own place. This is the laft of the canonical books that is properly historical; and I would therefore advife, that you pafs over what follows, till you have continued the hiftory through the apocryphal books. Ibid. § 228. Of Job. The ftory of Job is probably very ancient, though that is a point upon which learned men have differed: It is dated, however, 1520 years before Chrift: I believe it is uncertain by whom it was written: many parts of it are obfcure; but it is well worth ftudying, for the extreme beauty of the poetry, and for the noble and fublime devotion it contains. The fubject of the difpute between Job and his pretended friends feems to be, whether the Providence of God diftributes the rewards and punishments of this life in exact proportion to the merit or demerit of each individual. His antagonists fuppofe that it does; and therefore infer, from Job's uncommon calamities, that, notwithstanding his apparent righteousnefs, he was in reality a grievous finner. They aggravate his fuppofed guilt, by the imputation of hypocrify, and call upon him to confefs it, and to acknowledge the juftice of his punishment, Job afferts his own innocence and virtue in the moft pathetic manner, yet does not prefume to accufe the Supreme Being of injuftice. Elihu attempts to arbitrate the matter, by alledging the impoffibility that fo frail and ignorant a creature as man fhould comprehend the ways of the Almighty; and therefore condemns the unjuft and cruel inference the three friends had drawn from the fufferings of Job. He alfo blames Job for the prefumption of acquitting himself of all iniquity, fince the beft of men are not pure in the fight of God-but all have fomething to repent of: and he advises him to maks this ufe of his afflictions. At last, by a bold figure of poetry, the Supreme Being himself is introduced, speaking from the whirlwind, and filencing them all by the moft fublime difplay of his own power, magnificence, and wisdom, and of the comparative littlenefs and ignorance of man.-This indeed is the only conclufion of the argument, which could be drawn at a time when life and immortality were not yet brought to light. A future retribution is the only fatisfactory folution of the difficulty arifing from the fufferings of good people in this life. Mrs. Chapone. $229. Of the Pfalms. Next follow the Pfalms, with which you cannot be too converfant. If you have any tafte, either for poetry or devotion, they will be your delight, and will afford you a continual feaft. The bible tranflation is far better than that used in the common-prayer book, and will often give you the fenfe, when the other is obfcure. In this, as well as in all other parts of the fcripture, you must be careful always to confult the margin, which gives you the corrections made fince the last tranflation, and it is generally preferable to the words of the text. I would wish you to felect fome of the Pfalms that please you beft, and get them by heart: or, at least, make yourself mafter of the sentiments contained in them. Dr. Delany's Life of David will fhew you the occafions on which several of them were compofed, which add much to their beauty and propriety; and by comparing them with the events of David's life, you will greatly enhance your pleafure in them. Never did the spirit of true piety breathe more ftrongly than in thefe divine fongs: which being added to a rich vein of poetry, makes them more captivating to my heart and imagination, You will than any thing I ever read. confider how great difadvantages any poem muft fuftain from being rendered literally into profe, and then imagine how beautiful these must be in the original. May you be enabled, by reading them frequently, to transfufe into your own breaft that holy flame which infpired the writer!-to delight in the Lord, and in his laws, like the Pfalmift-to rejoice in him always, and to think)" one day in his courts better than a thousand!”—But may you efcape the heart-piercing forrow of fuch repentance as that of David-by avoiding fin, which humbled this unhappy king to the duft-and which cost him fuch bitter anguifh, as it is impoffible to read of without being moved! Not all the pleasures of the most prosperous finners would counterbalance the hundredth part of those sensations defcribed in his penitential Pfalms-and which must be the portion of every man, who has fallen from a religious ftate into fuch crimes, when once he recovers a fenfe of religion and virtue, and is brought to a real hatred of fin. However available fuch repentance may be to the fafety and happiness of the foul after death, it is a ftate of fuch exquifite fuffering here, that one cannot be enough furprized at the folly of thofe, who indulge fin, with the hope of living to make their peace with God by repentance. Happy are they who preferve their innocence unfullied by any great or wilful crimes, crimes, and who have only the common failings of humanity to repent of; these are fufficiently mortifying to a heart deeply fmitten with the love of virtue, and with the defire of perfection.-There are many very striking prophecies of the Meffiah in thefe divine fongs, particularly in Pfalm xxii.—such may be found fcattered up and down almost throughout the Old Teftament. To bear teftimony to him, is the great and ultimate end for which the fpirit of prophecy was beftowed on the facred writers; but this will appear more plainly to you, when you enter on the ftudy of prophecy, which you are now much too young to undertake. Mrs. Chapone. $230. Of the Proverbs, Ecclefiaftes, Solomon's Song, the Prophecies, and Apocrypha. The Proverbs and Ecclefiaftes are rich ftores of wisdom, from which I wish you to adopt fuch maxims as may be of infinite ufe both to your temporal and eternal intereft. But detached fentences are a kind of reading not proper to be continued long at a time; a few of them, well chofen and digested, will do you much more service, than to read half a dozen chapters together. In this refpect, they are directly oppofite to the historical books, which, if not read in continuation, can hardly be underftood, or retained to any purpofe. The Song of Solomon is a fine poem but its myftical reference to religion lies too deep for a common understanding: if you read it, therefore, it will be rather as matter of curiofity than of edification. Next follow the Prophecies; which though highly deferving the greatest attention and study, I think you had better omit for fome years, and then read them with a good expofition, as they are much too difficult for you to understand without affiftance. Dr. Newton on the prophecies will help you much, whenever you undertake this study-which you should by all means do, when your understanding is ripe enough; because one of the main proofs of our religion refts on the testimony of the prophecies; and they are very frequently quoted, and referred to, in the New Teftament; befides, the fublimity of the language and fentiments, through all the difadvantages of antiquity and tranflation, muft, in very many paffages, ftrike every perfon of tafte; and the excellent moral and religious precepts found in them must be useful to all. Though I have spoken of these books in the order in which they ftand, I repeat, that they are not to be read in that order but that the thread of the hiftory is to be purfued, from Nehemiah to the first book of the Maccabees, in the Apocrypha; taking care to obferve the chronology regularly, by referring to the index, which fupplies the deficiencies of this history from Jofephus's Antiquities of the Jews. The firft of Maccabees carries on the ftory till within 195 years of our Lord's circumcifion: the fecond book is the fame narrative, written by a different hand, and does not bring the hiftory fo forward as the firft; fo that it may be entirely omitted, unless you have the curiofity to read fome particulars of the heroic conftancy of the Jews, under the tortures inflicted by their heathen conquerors, with a few other things not mentioned in the first book. You must then connect the history by the help of the index, which will give you brief heads of the changes that happened in the ftate of the Jews, from this time till the birth of the Meffiah. The other books of the Apocrypha, though not admitted as of facred authority, have many things well worth your attention: particularly the admirable book called Ecclefiafticus, and the book of Wisdom. But, in the courfe of reading which I advise, these must be omitted till after you have gone through the Gospels and Acts, that you may not lofe the hif torical thread. Ibid. § 231. Of the New Teftament, which is conftantly to be referred to, as the Rule and Direction of our moral Conduct. We come now to that part of fcripture, which is the most important of all, and which you must make your constant study, not only till you are thoroughly acquainted with it, but all your life long; because, how often foever repeated, it is impoffible to read the life and death of our bleffed Saviour, without renewing and increasing in our hearts that love and reverence, and gratitude towards him, which is fo juftly due for all he did and fuffered for us! Every word that fell from his lips is more precious than all the treasures of the earth; for his " are the words of eternal life!" They must therefore be laid up in your heart, |