in view; see whether many hard passages may not be easily understood, and especially doing this with serious prayer for Divine teaching: this is in the power of all students. There are I hope but few students who do not possess Cruden's Concordance. Here very valuable articles are given at the head of many important words; these heading pieces are collected by Cruden with very great care and judgment, from the lists that follow (these headings being made after the collections were formed); and by careful observations he investigated in how many different senses any particular word was used so as to agree with contexts, and the evident intention or scope of such passages, so that the true key of his headings is hereby obtained. Refer, for instance, to the words flesh and spirit, and it will appear what a vast number of distinct uses are made of these words, every one of which is taken out of the list, to our very great edification. And the student might try his skill on some words to which no such headings appear, and thus with no other book a great many difficulties might be surmounted, as to the meaning of single words. I have compared Cruden's definitions of the word flesh with those of the learned Campbell in his Dissertations, and find that Cruden is by far the more copious of the two.

But, in the next place, let a commentary be purchased by small savings. There are two works of this kind, neither of which is dear. The first is Brown's Self-interpreting Bible, which may be had for thirty shillings; here the advantage of copious marginal references is found. The other work is the Dutch Annotations in English,* which is to be obtained at a very moderate price, because its value is not known. But never procure books in weekly numbers, for this is paying even more than full price. Much may

Also Annotations upon the Old and New Testament, by the joint labours of several divines, by authority, 1645, in Charles I.'s reign, which is very sound in doctrine.

also be learnt from the best preachers of the day: a sermon cannot be heard from a well-informed preacher without giving some important intimation of the sense of Scripture; resulting not simply from his own reflections, but also from the assistance which he may have derived from a valuable library.

Now when it is considered how many general truths, sound doctrines, and wholesome practices, are to be founded upon these numerous passages rightly understood, a just explication must evidently appear to be of the highest importance. Is it not certain that for want of such just sense many errors creep into the church, which endanger men in their course heavenwards; or at least tend to produce much unsettledness of mind-much doubt and perplexity. What misery is thus entailed on man! This applied to any individual is bad enough; but how much greater the mischief when a teacher of divine things neither knows" what he speaks nor whereof he affirms," when he rashly presumes upon the meaning of Scripture, and utters that for the mind of the Spirit of God which arises only from the fumes of his own presumptuous spirit! But the meek, the humble inquirer, God will guide in judgment, and teach him his way; he shall not materially err, though he may not be what is termed learned. A long course of experience and observation has confirmed me in these conclusions, and I conceive myself justified in the preceding remarks on these principles of interpretation by the practice of the first preachers of whom we have any knowledge; I mean Ezra and his companions. They read in the book of the Law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused the people to understand the reading;" Neh. viii. 8. I may also add a sense of correctness is the true foundation of holy boldness in the pulpit: I do not mean a pert or dogmatical but a holy boldness, arising from a consciousness of truth and zeal to diffuse it, and pro

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ducing perfect freedom from "the fear of man that bringeth a snare."

Besides the literal sense of Scripture there are the parabolic, the allegorical, and the typical senses, and to these may be added the spiritual sense, which are commonly treated of in critical works; but I would not carry away the mind of the student too much from plainer matters. For a time commentators must be resorted to. I would particularly recommend the young preacher never to recur in public to a doubtful sense of Scripture, but to let the difficulty lie on hand awhile. There is an amplitude of plain and edifying matters upon which to speak for a little time, and until satisfactory solutions can be obtained of what at present may appear to be of a doubtful character.

I am not without my fears that too close an attention to critical works has its evils as well as its benefits, by leading the student into a kind of labyrinth of criticisms and injunctions, or a circle of rules from which we hardly know how to break out. It is true a great mind can contemplate and profit by a number of particulars of these kinds; but very many teachers of Christianity cannot be called great, and if they were, the rules given would scarcely be necessary at all. Some persons, it is to be feared, contract such a fondness for these nice points, that the plainer things of the gospel do not retain that place in the study which the interests of their illiterate and less refined hearers require; hence perhaps the few hints which I throw out may be more conducive to general good, than if I had given the customary quantum, the whole routine, of such schemes of religious science.

There is still one other rank of principles helpful to a right interpretation of Scripture, and that is the principles of common sense. There are many high compliments paid to common sense, and every one lays some claim to it: it certainly will go far towards a right understanding of the

"Consult good sense;"

Scriptures. Mons. Claude says, upon which Mr. Robinson gives two anecdotes out of his inexhaustible store. The one cites the case of a gentleman who was disgusted with the common representations or meanings given by some expositors on a certain part of our Lord's temptation. He set a sensible little boy to read the fourth chapter of Matthew; and after he had read the fifth verse-" Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple;" he asked the little boy, How do you think the devil took Jesus and set him on a pinnacle of the temple? Why, sir, replied the little expositor, as you would take me up to the top of St. Paul's. He further says, "I know a minister who has a high opinion of a little common sense, and who frequently employed a poor illiterate old man to read the Scriptures to him, merely for the sake of finding what an ordinary understanding could make of Scripture. Read to me, John, said my friend, the fourth chapter of the Acts: he began to read and expound also- And as they spake unto the people ;'-Who spoke to the people? Oh, I see; Peter and John: the blessed apostles were not willing to eat their morsel alone; their master had said, 'Freely ye have received, freely give.'-' The priests, and the captain of the temple, and Sadducees came upon them ;'—wicked priests always keep bad company; soldiers and unbelievers to keep them in countenance ! What has the captain to do with conscience?- Being grieved that they taught the people' to turn them from their iniquities,-Why! would not they make better servants, and better subjects?— And preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead.' The apostles had too much love for the poor to puzzle them with words and disputes. They told the poor that they were to rise from the dead, and to be judged for the deeds done in the body; that not a proud priest, nor a blustering captain, but a compassionate Jesus, was to be their Judge; and that all this was proved by the resurrection of

Jesus Christ himself from the dead, &c. From this poor man, though illiterate, the minister (my friend) declared that he had often derived considerable light into the meaning of Scripture."-Robinson's Claude, vol. i., p. 39, 40. Such must ever be the dictates of good sense; but I confess I am not a little suspicious of a forgery. How comes this plain old man to have such covert spite against the priests?

Now having recited these very common interpretations, it is only right that I should give place to an author of a more learned character; to show that we have no prejudice against learned men, and to prove that some learned men employ common sense in exposition, as well as the characters just now introduced.

The quotation is from Bishop Horsley's exposition 'of Luke iv. 18, 19: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," &c.

"This day," said our Lord," is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." The phrase " this day" is not I think to be understood of that particular Sabbath day upon which he undertook to expound this prophetic text to the men of Nazareth, nor 66 your ears" of the ears of the individual congregation assembled at the time within the walls of that particular synagogue. The expressions are to be taken according to the usual latitude of common speech. "This day," for the whole time of our Lord's appearance in the flesh, or at least for the whole season of his public ministry; and " your ears" for the ears of you inhabitants of Judea and Galilee, who now hear my doctrines and see my miracles. Our Lord affirms that in his works, and in his daily preaching, his countrymen might discern the full completion of this prophetic text, inasmuch as he was the person upon whom the Spirit of Jehovah was; whom Jehovah had anointed to preach the gospel to the poor, &c. Again, none but an inattentive reader of the Bible can suppose that these words were spoken of the prophet Isaiah himself.