matter of the sacred writers, noticing the Hebraic construction and the idiomatic peculiarities referable to the mental habits and language of the Jews, as manifested in the several parts of the New Testament, with the same care which we should use in pointing out the peculiarities of the Attic, or Ionic, or Doric, or Æolic dialects in the Greek classic authors. Let the student distinctly understand that another and higher object in his education is contemplated by the course of study assigned in the apostolic writings and the Evangelists, than mere verbal criticism; and that in the acquisition of the classic Greek, the great masters in that language alone are to be studied.

As to the acquisition of the Hebrew, with the facilities now offered to the student, the time required, and the real difficulties attending it, are greatly overrated. It is far more simple in its syntax and construction than either the Latin or Greek. With the zeal and interest not unfrequently manifested by our classes in the study of the languages, the Hebrew may be acquired in less time than the German, and in little more than is necessary for a fluent reading of the French. The vowel system, though at first presenting embarrassing difficulties, becomes, after a short time, familiar to the diligent and persevering student. Let the Hebrew be introduced in the sophomore or junior class, with every facility for the critical study of it; let the student understand at the outset that the inspired treasures of this language, together with the Latin and Greek authors, present to him

the "only complete history of the human mind in its cultivated state, from the first dawnings of its powers in the infancy of the world to the full vigour of its manhood, and in the two great and only characteristic developments which it has yet madethe oriental and occidental." Let each student be made familiar with the peculiar claims which the Hebrew language has upon him as a Christian scholar-let him clearly understand that it is the repository of the oldest and richest literature, of the most sublime productions, and of the purest and only just ideas of God and religion of the ancient world. No Christian student, under proper instruction, can remain indifferent to "the language in which Moses wrote, in which Isaiah breathed the eloquence of heaven, and through which the soul of David poured forth itself to God." And no student who has read the Roman and Greek authors which ought to be embraced in the studies preparatory to college, and in the freshman and sophomore years, or the freshman alone, with such parts of the scientific course as are usually embraced, will fail to bring to the study of the Hebrew Scriptures such mental habits and acquisitions, as will enable him to enter with pleasure and profit upon them. And it is confidently believed, that no faithful student will graduate with a less accurate and extensive knowledge of the pagan classics. He will, on the other hand, possess a much juster estimate of them, and a far more perfect view of the history of the human mind.

We are believers in the general advancement of

Christianity; and we know not how a pure Christianity can extensively prevail, and exert its legitimate influence upon the human mind and heart, without thoroughly christianizing our systems of education. Let not the remark be misunderstood. We do not mean to say, that our present systems of education, because they have so much to do with the pagan element, are necessarily antichristian. No: we are by no means certain that some of the great masters of classic antiquity will not find a place in the schools of millennial times. But if so, who doubts that they will be studied in a manner altogether subordinate to the commanding claims of revelation-that they will be held up as feeble lights before the great luminary of truththe Bible?

As the spirit of a purer age advances, and as the seats of human science become hallowed by Christian piety, the Scriptures will gradually, it cannot be doubted, be elevated to their appropriate place in the liberal education of immortal minds.

C. C.

BRISTOL COLLEGE, October, 1835.

PREFACE.

SIXTEEN hundred and fifty-six years after the creation of the first parents of the human race, the disregard of man to the authority of his Maker, involved the earth in ruin. The Creator resolved to destroy an important part of that workmanship which, as it came forth from his hand, he had pronounced "all very good." The cry of man's wickedness had gone up to heaven, and God conceived it necessary to assert the authority of his law. "The windows of heaven were opened, and the fountains of the great deep broken up." The waters which, at the creation, had invested the entire globe, and which had been gathered together in one place, were .now brought back again upon the dry land.

The earth became again "without form and void." All, save one little family, highly favoured of heaven, and the animals with them in an ark,-all wherein was the breath of life upon the dry land, perished. The earth was one universal scene of waters. Such is, very briefly, the account given us by an inspired historian. That author, who, under the influence of the divine spirit, taught the chosen seed how, in the beginning, the heavens and earth rose out of chaos, also taught how the earth and its inhabitants perished by the anger of Jehovah. He also taught how, the purpose of Jehovah being accomplished, the earth was restored and renovated, again to be the abode of man. Such an event in the history of our race and of our abode, it would seem,

must be a matter of intense interest. The creation of the world and of man, the fall of man, the universal deluge, and the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, are the greatest subjects of history. No other events of a nature so universal, are recorded upon its pages. They concern the interest of every human being. They are events which illustrate not the relation of man with man, but that of man with his Maker. The history of the creation shows man his duty and his dignity, by pointing him to his origin. The history of the fall teaches him what it is to be a moral agent, and serves to account for the state of sin and misery in which he now finds himself. The history of Jesus Christ explains the method by which he may regain that divine image in which he was created, and be restored to the bliss of a more than earthly paradise.

The history of the deluge, though it yields in interest and moment to some of the others just mentioned, still subserves the most important purposes. It illustrates the nature of God's moral government. It shows the importance which he attached to his law. It exhibits his regard and favour towards the good. It is a great moral example, which cannot be too deeply impressed upon the mind. It affords a remarkable instance in Noah of the power and the happy results of the righteousness which is by faith. Such is its tendency in a moral view. But as matter of science, it is also worthy of regard. We extend our inquiries to the nature and condition of other worlds. It affords great satisfaction and delight to study the luminaries of the heavens. Even those brilliant points, the remotest of all objects which the eye beholds, the fixed stars, attract our attention and regard. We amuse ourselves with wondering what may be the constitution of the stars and planets, whether or