PREFACE.

THE purpose of this manual will be best explained by the following extract from a paper read at a meeting of the masters in the Collegiate Institution.

"One great deficiency I have observed among boys, "here and elsewhere, is an ignorance of the Bible, - by "which I mean, a want of attaching any distinct meaning "to the words of the Bible. They are often familiar with "the words of Scripture; they can quote texts; but, if "asked the meaning of the passages, their answer is vague "and absurd. They have a general notion of the persons "and places mentioned in Holy Writ,—but on a close examination, it often turns out that they are very far from "realizing in their imaginations either the actors or the scenes of Sacred History. And I find that,-while they "will take pains to acquire distinct ideas of classical locali"ties, or of men who have been famous in English and in "French history, they seem quite satisfied to read the "words of the Bible, without connecting them with any "ideas at all. What this may arise from, — whether from "a superstitious notion that the words of Scripture, whether "understood or not, will act as a charm, or from the "neglect of catechizing, which, in our day, is so preva

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