by a revelation, the whole nation had advanced together. They were led on, step by step, in close phalanx, to the conquest of truth and the acquisition of spiritual blessings. The attainments made were therefore solid and permanent. The gifts from above being common to all, there was no jealousy of superior wisdom in the family of Abraham; for where none were grossly ignorant, none could be disproportionately wise. Every accession of knowledge was a family treasure; every advance in spirituality, a national blessing; and while the pagan millions were at war with wisdom and the wise, the Hebrews were, to a man, informed respecting the moral attributes and providence of the Eternal, and cherishing with calm confidence a mighty hope whose fulfilment they were taught to refer to a far distant period of their history.

The relative superiority of your nation in intellectual and spiritual attainments was less obvious to the neighbouring nations, and even to themselves, than it is to us, now that the light of subsequent ages is reflected back upon their history. In the midst of their wonder and admiration, the pagans were too little enlightened to appreciate fully the preeminence of the chosen people; and the Hebrews had, as yet, had little opportunity of comparing accurately their own with other national institutions. They did not know but that other schemes of national worship contained miracles somewhat analogous to their own; and the full meaning of the Divine revelations was not therefore appreciated. They therefore read their law with darkened eyes, and were insensible to the depth of wisdom and beauty which was inherent in their institutions, and which was rendered obvious by their subsequent experience. When the captivity afforded an opportunity of studying the institutions of the Persians; when these institutions of the most enlightened pagan nations of the age were found to be mean, puerile, and inconsistent, in comparison with the provisions of the Mosaic Law and the grandeur of its sanctions; when the true religion was exhibited side by side with a variety of superstitions; when a theocracy was displayed in contrast

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with other modes of government, the Hebrew people seem to have become for the first time sensible of the magnitude of their privileges and the splendour of their destiny. They looked back to their records, and all, even that which was most familiar, appeared to them in a new light. Beauty was apparent which had before been unheeded; power was recognised which had been disregarded; wisdom appealed to them from the annals of their history, and was for the first time heard. The revelation was complete, but it had been hitherto misapprehended. With themselves rested the shame of their blindness, their caprice, their ingratitude; and to wipe off this shame and satisfy their new cravings after truth, the nation, on their return, assembled as one man, and eagerly sought the wisdom they had so long undervalued. They listened from morning till mid-day; their ears were attentive to the words of the Law; they bowed their heads and worshiped in a new spirit, and never afterwards apostatized. Becoming fully aware of the peculiarity of their position and the superiority of their privileges, they adored Jehovah with the understanding as well as with the heart, and believed in him for ever.

In the course of their retrospect into their history,—of their reexamination of their records, your nation were now prepared to discern an ulterior purpose in all the events of the one, a profundity of meaning in the instructions contained in the other, of which they had been until now unaware. Every step of the national destiny, every stage of its discipline, was now perceived to be ordered with a view to the grand national event which was yet future, the coming of the Messiah; while the phrases in which the Divine messages were couched were seen to include a deeper meaning than was at first apparent, and promises which had always been precious were now sanctified by their reference to higher objects than had before been conceived. Much that had been mysterious, now became clear; much that had been received as narrative, now appeared to be allegory; startling truths came out of familiar aphorisms; and every form of instruction, every issue of events, every inti

mation of prophecy, seemed to tend to the consummation of the system, the appearance of the Holy One of Israel.

To you it is given to see yet more than your fathers saw in all these things. You can perceive the success of the design to enlarge the scope of the national mind and to strengthen its powers of spiritual discernment. You can perceive by the event that the purpose for which mysterious phrases were employed was to stimulate curiosity and interest. You can perceive that the form in which abstract truths were conveyed is that most peculiarly adapted to expanding minds, and that the style was no less wisely ordered than the mode. You can acknowledge in a collection of annals, of narratives, of allegories, poems, and didactic addresses, a repository of truth whose value and interest must have been inexhaustible to an advancing national mind. You can recognise in the repetition of the same truths in various forms, or the annunciation of different truths in similar expressions, in the mixture of plainness and mysticism, and of simplicity with involution, a provision for rousing the speculative faculties, arresting the attention, and, in short, improving the collective spiritual capabilities.

The faith which it was the object of miracles and prophecy to generate being now established, the exhibition of both became less and less frequent, till at length they were heard of no more. The object of miracles was to establish a belief in Him who wrought them by the hands of his servants; that particular direction of miraculous power which takes place in prophecy has the further object of carrying forward the views of those to whom the prophecy is delivered. The effect of a miracle is an instantaneous belief in the Divinity of the power by which it is wrought; the effect of a prophecy is to rivet the attention, to excite expectation, to engage the mind in a protracted interest highly favourable to its elevation and enlargement, while the ultimate faith is, if possible, firmer than that consequent on a miracle, because it has been formed after a longer preparation. The faith of Abraham was superior to that of his descendants, probably in proportion as his insight

into futurity was more distinct and extended than theirs. He was more willing to obey and resign himself to the Eternal, because the promises vouchsafed to him were of peculiar splendour. The assurance that the whole earth should be blessed in his seed induced him to leave his country and kindred; and he prepared to relinquish what was all-precious to him, on the promise that his posterity should outnumber the stars. Promises so vast were not given to his posterity immediately on their departure from Egypt, nor for long afterwards, and accordingly their maturity of mind was far inferior to that which had been wrought in their progenitor. In proportion as the range of prophecy became wider, their faith was extended and confirmed, till, as has been seen, it was so far matured, on their return from the captivity, that prophecy was gradually withdrawn. These relative effects of miracles and prophecy remain the same, whether prophecy be regarded as a prolonged miracle, or whether, as some view the matter, a miracle be considered as a prophecy immediately fulfilled. Both views are correct; since it is equally clear that prophecy is an exertion of supernatural agency, and that he who works a miracle only foretells an effect which will immediately take place by an exertion of Divine power. In both cases it is God who works, and whose agency is made known by the servant he has chosen. In both cases faith is generated; the only difference being, that in one instance the faith is more pure, firm, and salutary, from its growth having been more gradual, the scope of its exercise more extended, and the period of its gratification more remote. In a case of miracle there is no time for inquiry, no room for doubt, no trial of faith; the annunciation is made, and the event immediately follows. In a case of prophecy there is much to ponder; there is scope for speculation, for variations of opinion, for vacillations of hope and fear. The prediction is compounded of obscurity and clearness. Some points in it are obvious enough to excite expectation; while as a whole, it is left in sufficient obscurity to occasion uncertainty up to the moment of its accomplish

ment. Its appropriation is decided at last by the clearing up of some one enigmatical expression or allusion, usually hidden and so apparently trivial as to have escaped previous notice; but subsequently so apt, so decidedly appropriate, as to leave no doubt respecting the true explanation or the design of the framer of the prediction. Whatever may have been the variety of speculation upon it, however difficult it may have appeared to reconcile the different parts of a prediction, no sooner is it fulfilled than the agreement of all minds in its truth is involuntary, for the conviction is irresistible. A strong light is cast on some clause which had perhaps escaped conjecture; and now this disregarded expression affords a key to all the rest, and by its coincidence with the actual event puts to flight all plausible conjecture and impresses certainty on every mind. In the instance of prophecy we have not only the evidence of design, which is apparent in every mode of communication by which truths are let down into the narrow limits of the human mind, but an example of the wise methods by which the faculties are exercised and disciplined to a longer foresight and a more extended range of hope and fear perpetually.

It can scarcely be necessary to adduce illustrations of what has been advanced to those so versed as yourselves in the history and the records of your nation; yet one example to each position may be of use to render the meaning clear. Among the phrases which conveyed a deeper signification than was at first apparent, or which were so mysterious as to stimulate curiosity, were those which referred to death and the departed. "To go the way of all the earth," to be "gathered to their fathers" or "to their people," were expressions more likely to render the mortal change a subject of speculation than the more familiar and direct phrase.

As an illustration of the variety and comprehensiveness of the Hebrew Scriptures, it is only necessary to point to the three divisions of your records, the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa; all unlike one another, and each containing