contains the law, which prepares man for the perfect reception of the faith of Christ, as also the prophecies and the symbols of gospel blessings; and the New Testament reveals the fulfilment of these prophecies and symbols, and makes known the great mercy of God obtained for us by the death of Jesus Christ.

The Holy Scriptures are also divided into the Law and the Gospel. Under the term Law, we include all those passages in which God strongly requireth the exact fulfilment of his command

able collection of Slavonian and Greek manuscripts was not destroyed at the burning of the city in 1812; for I visited that library, before I left Moscow, in September 1813. At that period, in the printing office of the Holy Synod, an edition of the Slavonian Bible, of 2400 copies in four vols. octavo, was nearly printed off, together with 3600 copies of the New Tes

tament.

Dr Marsh, in his History of Translations, makes mention of a version of the Scriptures in the modern Russ. This, however, I believe to be a mistake, which probably arose from the following circumstance. The Emperor, Peter the Great, who was very fond of the Dutch language, got a folio edition of the Slavonian and Dutch Scriptures printed on opposite columns, the former in the modern Russ character. This differs so much from the Slavonian character, in which the Bible and all the church books are uniformly printed, that it was apt to make the superficial observer take the work for a modern translation. After the death of this great man, however, this edition, which was only modernised in character, soon disappeared, and there are but few copies of it now remaining.

See some interesting particulars concerning the Slavonian version of the Scriptures, in Dr Marsh's translation of Michaelis' Introduction to the New Testament, vol. ii. p. 153.

ments; and for the breaking of which he threatens to inflict the most dreadful punishments. And by the word Gospel, is to be understood all that respects the merciful promises of God, and that love wherewith our heavenly Father hath loved us, for the sake of his well-beloved Son. Thus, for example, these words which were spoken by God to Abraham: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed," belong to the gospel.

The author of the Holy Scriptures, is the Holy Spirit; for the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God;" 1 Cor. ii. 11. And according to the words of St Peter, his instruments were the prophets and apostles: "For the prophecy came not, in old time, by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter i. 21.

Evidences of the Holy Scriptures being the word of God.

2. The real Christian is convinced, that the Holy Scriptures are the word of God, from the internal effects which he feels them produce in himself on reading them, or on hearing the great doctrines which they contain. But as, it is possible, that every one, and particularly the unlearned, may not feel the power of this operation

within himself; there is, besides, sufficient evi

dence to support this truth, in the following considerations: 1st, The most convincing and wellknown fulfilment of the prophecies. Such pro

phecies, for example, as that of the patriarch Jacob, (Gen. xlix. 10.) concerning the future kingdom of Judah, and its continuance till the coming of the Messiah: those of Daniel concerning the future changes that should take place in the monarchies of the world, with a prediction of the most particular events; Chap. ii. 31, and viii. 8. Also of the coming and sufferings of Christ, and the abolition of the sacrifices of the Old Testament; Chap. ix. 24: those of Isaiah and of Malachi, in regard to the conversion of the Gentiles to the knowledge of the true God, Isaiah ii. and xi. and Mat. i. 10; and likewise the prophecies of Christ himself, respecting the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews, Mat. xxiv. 2, and xxiii. 35; together with a great number of other predictions, which I shall not here particularize.

The fulfilment of these prophecies has been so clear, that the whole world bears incontestible evidence of it. And as none but God can know what a day may bring forth, not to speak of five hundred or a thousand years, so, without doubt,

those writings which contain such predictions ought to be respected as divine.

2d, The superior dignity of the doctrines, and the holiness of the commands. The Holy Scriptures reason so sublimely of the majesty of God, and of the mysteries of our salvation, that it is impossible to imagine any thing more exalted. The worship therein required of us, is such as becometh God to receive, and reasonable creatures to give; for we are commanded to worship in sincerity, and a contrite spirit is represented to bé a most acceptable offering to God.

In regard to the commands, they are most holy, on this account, because they prescribe to man the most exalted way to perfection. They require us to love God with all our heart and with all our soul, and not only to refrain from injuring our neighbour, but to endeavour, to the utmost of our power, to assist him in need; and this we are not to do to our friends alone, but we are to render to our very enemies acts of kindness in place of revenge; in a word, we are not only to do no evil to any one, but to avoid retaining an evil thought against our neighbour in our hearts.

In general, we ought to remark, that all the commands of Christianity are perfectly consonant to the dictates of sound reason, and in no

books, written by persons ignorant of revelation, can there be found morality so pure and so applicable to the present state of man. But that in Christianity there are doctrines which transcend our comprehension, is not wonderful; for, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor ?" Rom. xi. 33, 34.

3d, The wonderful effects of the apostles' preaching, which so justly excite our admiration. The apostles, though few in number, without worldly influence, but, on the contrary, poor, weak, and indigent, destitute of every kind of armour, without the powers of eloquence, merely by preaching, in a short time subdued multitudes of people under the yoke of their most holy faith; while the edicts of Emperors against their doctrine, threatenings, tortures, and the ingenious opposition and artful reasonings of sophistical philosophers, all proved insufficient to oppose them. Who does not here clearly behold the finger of God? The doctrine of the apostles also, as contained in the Holy Scriptures, agrees exactly with the other parts of holy writ; therefore, no doubt remains of the doctrines of the Christian religion having been revealed by God himself.