pose never will, by any man in his senses, that extempore prayer is in itself an unlawful or unscriptural practice, the Trustees have a clear and undoubted right, if they think it expedient and proper, to forbid the use of any other mode in the family of which they are to be considered as the masters and heads. I could have said much more, but my time is greatly taken up; however, being called upon, I was willing to give you my opinion, and in all your endeavours to serve God in the gospel of his Son, you have the fervent prayers of your sin cere well-wisher, and humble servant, JOSEPH CORNISH. Remarks on Passages of Scripture. ➡o ter et quater beatos illos, quorum ita est affectus animus, ut nusquam suavius, quam in his studiis conquiescat. MURETUS. PSALM in the translation and the import of this clause a few observations may be made. The noun is justly rendered in the English Bible, my GLORY; no other version of it seems admissible. This word has, accordingly, been employed, I believe, by the majority of translators, certainly by the best; by the LXX., the Vulgate, Luther, Diodati, Castalio, Rosenmüller, Geddes, Mendelsohn, not to speak of many others. It remains then to inquire, what is the meaning of the term? Several commentators explain it of the tongue; some of the soul, or mind; to which interpretation I give my humble suffrage. I am not acquainted with any passage in which the original substantive bears unequivocally the sense of tongue it is a very different noun by which the Hebrews express that member of the body. The tongue has indeed been styled, by later writers, the glory of our frame;' and justly enough, if the corporeal structure be intended, and nothing more. To the whole frame of man, considered as an intellectual and a moral being, the remark, most assuredly, is not applicable. Nor is there the slightest evidence, that the Psalmist designed to use the word in that limited signification upon which I have animadverted. lvii. 8. "Awake up, my Isaiah ix. 6, 7. Criticism, when directed to this famous passage, should inquire, what is the genuine text, what the correct punctuation, what the true rendering and interpretation? Notwithstanding some important variations in the LXX.,* I see no reathe Hebrew Bibles. Those variations son for a departure from the reading in do not, of necessity, indicate that the Greek translation was framed from a different text. The division of the words in the last clause of verse the sixth, is made thus in the Vulgate: "Admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus, fortis, pater futuri sæculi, princeps pacis." This punctuation I am disposed to consider as correct. Mr. Kitcat, in two valuable pamphlets, has lately illustrated and vindicated it: nor, whatever has been insinuated, does he "stand exposed to the charge of plagiarism," since he evidently possesses the inclination and ability to examine the Scriptures for himself. ་ I receive, in the " his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, the Father of the Age, the Prince of Peace." It is remarkable enough, that, for the word here rendered God, Luther has held' [hero]. Such, I had long thought, is the most exact and proper version; but I should have spoken very diffidently of it, had not I met with the sanction of so great an authority. The appellation 'God,' even in the confined and inferior sense which it admits, and indeed here requires, has a singular and incongruous position among the epithets and titles in this clause, and manifestly breaks the climax. I am inclined to believe, that the Messiah is the personage to whom the prophet now directs the attention of his readers: had the prediction been cited by our Lord, by the evangelists, have been determined, beyond the posor by the apostles, its meaning would sibility of doubt. Matt. vi. 10. "Thy kingdom come." The kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, is the dispensation of the * Owen's Enquiry, &c., pp. 48, 49. Mon. Repos. XI. 240; XVII. 630. §"Critical Examination of Isaiah, ix. 6," (2d ed.) and "A Reply to the Rev. S. Slocock," &c. gospel, in its different stages; in its progress, from the commencement of it, under the ministry of Christ and his inspired followers, to its final and most glorious issue, in the universal and everlasting ascendancy of knowledge, truth, holiness and bliss.* This definition of the phrase, this view of the subject, appears to comprehend and reconcile the varying, and even opposing, sentiments of expositors. Matt. xxvii. 25. "Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be and on our children!" There is one sense in which the destruction of the Jewish temple by Titus, and the overthrow of that state, became a judicial punishment of the nation; their ambitious desire of a temporal Messiah, led them to reject and crucify Jesus of Nazareth; and it was exactly the same disposition that brought on their downfal, by means of the restlessness and tumults,† which provoked the Roman emperor beyond endu on us, rance. Matt. xxvii. 51. behold the vail of the temple was rent in twain," &c. From the wonders accompanying the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, it has been argued, that his nature was superhuman. The argunent is utterly destitute of foundation. Who then was the author of those miracles? Almighty God, and he alone. For what purpose were they wrought? Doubtless, in attestation of the mission and the character of his beloved Son. An extraordinary, and, it would seem, a miraculous appearance, marked the removal of Elijah from the world. Shall we, therefore, conclude, that Elijah possessed a superhuman nature and a pre-existent soul? Yet such an inference would justly follow from the reasoning brought under our notice. Consistency, indeed, requires the advocates of this opinion to go much further. Why do they stop short in their imaginations, and not exclaim, at once, with Sir Richard Steele,§ "The earth trembles, the temple rends, the rocks burst, the dead arise: which are the quick? which are the dead? Sure nature, all nature, is departing with her Creator." This, whatever else it be, is not scriptural theology. Matthew xxviii. 19. 66 teach (ualnτevσaTE) all nations." There cannot be a reasonable doubt as to the just rendering, viz. " make disciples of," &c. It is true, we may be unable to produce from the classical writers an example of this verb being used transitively. But that authority is not requisite, and sometimes may even mislead us, when we are interpreting the books of the New Testament. In the present case, Acts xiv. 21, "when they had taught many," [had made many disciples], is sufficient and decisive. Suppose that in these two instances the translation was, "act [or conduct yourselves] [or they acted or conducted themselves] as disciples," ," what becomes of the accusatives [wavTa Ta εON SKAVOUG] which immediately follow? Acts xix. 5, 6. "When they heard this, they were baptized in [into] the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost [Spirit] came on them," &c. We cannot reason, in fairness, from this case to the effects of Christian baptism in ordinary times. Nor does the New Testament supply an example of the gifts of the Holy Spirit having been communicated to the members, and, among these, the infants, of households, the heads of which received that initiatory rite: no such gifts were imparted to the family of Lydia, none to the family of the gaoler at Philippi. In one word, the doctrine of baptismal regeneration finds no support, but the contrary, in the apostolic practice and doctrine. The recent, if it be not the still-existing controversy on the subject, has not perhaps engaged all the attention which it deserves. There is a large class of readers who satisfy themselves with smiling, or frowning, on the claims of those who take the affirmative of the question. But, whatsoever be thought of the nature and basis of these claims, the matter should not be so lightly treated. Unscriptural tenets have sometimes been employed as weapons against religious freedom. If baptism be indeed the channel through which spiritual or moral regeneration flows; if the rite be essential for this purpose; if it can only be administered by legitimate successors of the apostles; and if a certain order of men are considered as sustaining that character exclusively, what will be the consequences? Some of the most disgusting, arrogant and pernicious exertions of ecclesiastical dominion. 1 Peter v. 8. "Be sober, be vigilant: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." I regard this verse as having, in substance, the same import with Ephes. v. 16, " Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." The passages are identical, in respect of the exhortation which they contain, and of the state of things which they describe; namely, an age of persecution, the existence of an accuser, a calumniator, an informer, whose violence, and whose stratagems, endangered the temporal safety of the early Christians. N. Letter of Mendelsohn to Lavater. REVEREND FRIEND OF MAN, my forefathers, and confess the truth of that which Bonnet vindicates.— And, assuredly, were this my opinion, and could I ever be base enough to let prudence enter into my consideration in connexion with integrity and the love of truth, I should, in this case, find them all in the same scale. I am fully convinced that this act of yours has sprung from a pure source, and I can impute to you none but amiable and philanthropic motives. I should be worthy of no honest man's esteem, if I did not answer, with a grateful heart, the friendly dispositions you manifest towards me in the dedication. But I cannot deny it, this writing from you strongly surprises me. I could have expected any thing sooner than a public challenge from Lavater. Since you still recollect the confidential discourse I had the pleasure to hold with you, and your worthy friends, in my chamber, you cannot have forgotten how often I sought to turn the conversation from religious to more indifferent subjects; how much you and your friends were brought to open my mind on a quesforced to press me, before I could be tion of so much importance to the heart. If I do not mistake, assurances were at that time given, that no public use should ever be made of any thing then said. Yet I would rather suppose myself in an error, than impute to you the violation of a promise. But if, in my chamber, and among a small number of worthy persons of whose good intentions I had reason to be persuaded, I so sedulously avoided an explanation, it was easy to guess that I must be extremely averse to a public You have thought proper to dedi- one, and that I must be embarrassed cate to me "Bonnet's Inquiry into the Evidences of Christianity," which you have translated from the French; and, in the Dedication, to conjure me, in the most solemn manner, before the eyes of the public, to refute this writing, as far as the essential arguments by which the facts of Christianity are supported appear to me ill-founded; but so far as I find them just, to do what prudence, love of truth and integrity command me to do, and what Socrates would have done, had he read this work, and found it unanswerable. That is, to abandon the religion of when the voice which demands it cannot be deemed contemptible. What, then, could induce you thus, contrary to my will, which was known to you, to force me into the arena, which I so heartily wished never to enter? And if you even ascribed my aversion to mere timidity and bashfulness, does not such a weakness deserve the toleration and indulgence of an amiable mind? But my scruple against entering into religious controversy has been neither weakness nor timidity. I can say that it was not of yesterday I began to examine my religion. I very early felt the duty of trying my opinions and actions; and if I have, since my early youth, devoted my leisure hours to science and polite literature, it has been almost solely as a preparation to this necessary trial; other motives I could not have had. In my situation I could not expect the least temporal advantages in the sciences. I knew too well that I could not find prosperity in the world by such means. And pleasure? oh, my esteemed philanthropist! The condition to which my brethren in faith are condemned in civil life is so far removed from all free exercise of the powers of the mind, that I certainly could not increase my contentment by learning to know the rights of humanity in their true point of view. I avoid a nearer explanation on this topic. He who knows our condition, and has a humane heart, will feel more than I can express. After the inquiry of many years, if the decision had not been perfectly in favour of my religion, it would have been necessarily known by a public act. I cannot imagine what should bind me to a religion in appearance so severe, and so generally despised, if I were not in my heart persuaded of its truth. Whatever the result had been, so soon as I found the religion of my fathers was not the true one, I must have deserted it. Were I in any heart convinced of the truth of any other, it would be the lowest vileness in me to bid defiance to my conviction, and be unwilling to recognise the truth; and what could seduce me to such vileness?-I have already said, that prudence, integrity and love of truth were on one side. Had I been indifferent to both religions, and laughed at or despised all revelation, I know very well what prudence advises when conscience is silent: what should withhold me? Fear of former brethren? Their temporal power is too trifling to be feared. Obstinacy? Indolence? Adherence to habitual notions? Since I have devoted the greater part of my life to the inquiry, I shall be allowed to have acquired wisdom enough not to sacrifice the fruits of my labour to such weaknesses. You see, hence, that but for an upright conviction of the truth of my religion, the consequence of my inquiry must have shewn itself by VOL. XVIII. a 3 D public act; since, however, it strengthened me in that of my fathers, I could proceed on my course in silence. without giving to the world an account of my conviction. I shall not deny, that I see in my religion human additions and abuses, which, alas! but too much obscure it. What friend of truth can boast, that his religion has been found free from mischievous human additions? All of us recognise the poisoned hand of hypocrisy and superstition, all who, seeking the truth, wish to purify it, without injuring the good and the true; but of the essence of my religion, I am as firmly and irrefragably assured, as you, Mr. Bonnet, or any other, can be of yours and I here testify, in the name of the God of truth, your and my Creator and Father, by whom you have in your dedication conjured me, that I will retain my principles so long as my soul retains its nature! My remoteness from your religion, which I avowed to you and your friends, has in no respect diminished. And my esteem for its founder? You ought not to have omitted the condition which I expressly added, and I should then have granted as much now. There are certain inquiries which one must at one time of one's life have ended, in order to proceed further. I may assert, that with respect to religion, I have done this several years ago. I have read, compared, reflected, and held fast to that which I thought good; and yet I would have suffered Judaism to be overthrown by every polemical lecture-book, and led in triumph in every school exercise, without stirring a step in its defence. Without the least contradiction on my side, I would have allowed every scholar, and half scholar, to represent out of Scharteck, (whom no intelligent Jew now reads,) to himself and readers, the most ridiculous ideas of Jewish faith. I wish to be able to destroy the contemptuous opinion which is generally formed of a Jew, not by controversial writings, but by virtue. My religion, my philosophy, my situation in civil life, all give me the strongest motives to avoid all religious disputes, and in public writings to speak only of those truths which are equally important to all religions.According to the principles of my religion, I ought not to attempt the conversion of any who are not born under our law. This spirit of proselytism, whose origin some would gladly throw on the Jewish religion, is in fact directly averse to it; all our Rabbies agree, that the written and oral laws, in which our revealed religion consists, are obligatory on our nation only. "Moses has given to us the law. It is an inheritance of the tribe of Jacob." We believe that all other nations are directed by God to abide by the law of nature and the religion of the patriarchs. They who live according to the laws of their religion, of nature, and of reason, are called the virtuous men of other nations, and these are children of eternal salvation. Our Rabbies are so far from having the spirit of conversion, that they even command us to dissuade him, by serious remonstrances, from his intention, who of his own accord would embrace our faith. We ought to inform him, that by this measure he subjects himself, without necessity, to a heavy burden; that in his present situation he has only to fulfil the duties of a Noachide, in order to be blessed, but that, so soon as he adopts the religion of the Israelites, he obliges himself voluntarily to the severe laws of their faith, and he must then obey them, or expect the punishment which the legislator has annexed to the infraction of them. We are also bound faithfully to represent to him the miseries and troubles and contempt in which the nation now lives, in order to deter him from a step, perhaps precipitate, and which in the event he may repent of. The religion of my fathers, therefore, will not be extended. It is not our duty, therefore, to send missiona ries to both Indies and to Greenland, to preach our faith to its remote inhabitants: the latter in particular, who, according to the description of travellers, observe the laws of nature, alas! better than we, and are, according to our religious creed, an enviable people. Whoso is not born to our laws ought not to live according to our laws; we consider ourselves alone as bound to observe them, and this cannot give offence to our fellow-men. Our opinions are thought absurd. It is unnecessary to raise a dispute about them. We act according to our conviction; and others are at liberty to raise doubts against the validity of laws, which, according to our own confession, do not bind them. Whether they act justly or benevolently who so deride our laws and customs, we leave to their own consciences: so long as we do not seek to convince others of our opinions, all contest is to no purpose. If a Confucius or Solon lived amongst my contemporaries, I could, according to the principles of my religion, love and admire the great man, without having the ridiculous thought of converting a Confucius or Solon.-Convert? For what? As he does not belong to the tribe of Jacob, my religious laws do not bind him; and on doctrinal points we should understand each other. Do I believe he could be saved? Oh! I believe truly, that he who in this life has led men to virtue, cannot be condemned in the other; and I stand in fear of no reverend college, which, like the Sorbonne towards the upright Marmontel, can censure me for this opinion. I have the happiness to possess many excellent friends, men who are not of my faith; we love each other heartily and honestly, though we suppose, and take for granted, that in matters of faith we are of different opinions. I enjoy the luxury of their society, which improves and delights me. My heart has never secretly cried out to me, "woe to the excellent soul." He who believes that out of his church there is no salvation, must have this sigh often weighing upon his breast. It is doubtless the duty of every man to spread knowledge and virtue amongst his fellow-men, and root out prejudices and errors according to his power-hence it might be believed to be the duty of every man openly to oppose religious opinions which he believes false. But all prejudices are not equally injurious, and, therefore, we are not to treat in the same way all the prejudices which we believe we see in our fellow men. Some are immediately hostile to the happiness of the human race; their influence on morals is clearly ruinous, and we can |