inftruction and confolation have in all ages been neceffary to the good and juft. A preacher of genius, and elocution, finding himself in the midst of these immenfe riches, of which he is allowed to take whatever he pleases, can he fail of delivering himself in a great, noble, majeftic, and at the fame time folid and inftructive manner? A person who is a little converfant with the fathers, immediately discovers whether a discourse flows from those fources; whether the proofs and principles were taken from thence; and though the preacher be ever fo eloquent, or folid, in other respects, yet, if he is deficient in this part, he wants fomething very effential.

I again repeat, that this advantage is of inestimable value, and does not require infinite pains or time. Some years of retirement would fuffice for this study, how extenfive foever it may appear: and that man who should have made himself mafter only of the homilies of St. John Chryfoftom, and St. Auftin's fermons on the Old and New Teftament, with some other little treatises of the latter, would find in them all that is neceffary to form an excellent preacher. These two great masters would alone fuffice to teach him in what manner he is to inftruct his flock, by teaching them religion thoroughly and from principles, and by clearly explaining to them its tenets and morality; but, above all, by making them perfectly acquainted with Chrift, his doctrine, actions, fufferings, myfteries; and annexing thefe feveral inftructions to the text itself of fcripture, the explication of which is equally adapted to the capacities, and the talle both of the learned and unlearned; and fixes the truths in the mind, in a more eafy and agreeable

manner.

One cannot inculcate too much to young men, after St. Auftin's example, the neceffity they will be under, in cafe God fhould one day call them to the ecclefiaftical miniftry, of going through a courfe of folid ftudies, of making the fcriptures familiar to them

2

felves

felves, and of taking the holy fathers for their guides and mafters before they undertake to teach others.

SECT. V.

Of the Eloquence of the Sacred Writings.

WH

WHEN I propose to make some reflections here on the Eloquence of the Scriptures, I am far from being willing to confound them with those upon profane authors, by remarking to youth only upon fuch things as please the ear, delight the imagination, and form the taste. The defign of God in fpeaking to mankind by the scriptures, was not undoubtedly to foment their pride and curiofity, or to make them orators and learned men, but to amend their hearts. His intention in thofe facred books, is not to please the imagination, or to teach us to move that of others, but to purify and convert us, and to recal us from abroad, whither our fenfes lead us, to our heart, where his grace enlightens and inftructs us.

It is certain that the Divine Wisdom has every kind of bleffing in her train, and that all the qualities which the world refpect, and can only receive from her, are at her difpofal. And how would it be poffible for her not to be eloquent, fhe whoh opens the mouth of the dumb, and makes little children eloquent ? iWho bath made man's mouth? fays he, fpeaking to Mofes, who thought himself not poffeffed of a good utterance, Who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the feeing, or the blind; have not I the Lord?

But the Divine Wisdom, in order to make itself

h Sapientia aperuit os mutorum & linguas infantium fecit difertas. Sap. x. 2.

1 Obfecro, Domine: non fum eloquens ab heri & nudius tertius VOL. II.

P

....

Quis fecit os hominis? aut quis fabricatus eft mutum & furdum, videntem & cæcum? Nonne ego? Exod. iv. 10 & 11.

more

more acceffible and more eligible, has condefcended to stoop to our language, to affume our tone of voice, and to flammer, as it were, with children. Hence it is, that the chief and almoft univerfal characteristic of the fcriptures, is fimplicity.

1

This is ftill more apparent in the New Teftament, and St. Paul difcovers to us a very fublime reason of it. The Creator's defign, at first, was to win over men to the knowledge of himself by the ufe of their reason, and by contemplation on the wifdom of his works. In this firft plan, and manner of teaching, every thing was great and magnificent, every thing answered to the majefty of the God who fpake, and the greatness of him who was inftructed. But fin has deftroyed that order, and occafioned a quite oppofite method to be used. * For after that, in the wifdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleafed God by the foolishness of preaching, to fave them that believe. Now part of this folly confifts in the fimplicity of the evangelical word and doctrine. God was determined to difcredit the vanity of eloquence, of knowledge, and the wisdom of philosophers; and to bring into contempt the pomp of human pride, in dictating the books of fcripture, by which only mankind are to be converted, in a ftile quite different from that of the heathen writers. These feem ftudious only of heightning their difcourfes by ornaments, whereas the facred penmen never endeavour to difplay wit in their writings, that they may bereave Chrift's cross of the honour of converting the world, by giving it either to the charms of eloquence, or to the force of human reafon.

If therefore, notwithstanding the fimplicity, which is the true characteristic of the fcriptures, we meet with fuch beautiful, fuch fublime paffages in them; it is very remarkable, that this beauty, this fublimity, do not arife from a far-fetched, laboured elocution, but from the things, which are fo great, fo lofty in them

* I Cor. i. 21.

felves,

felves, that they muft neceffarily appear magnificent when clothed in words.

Furthermore, the Divine Wisdom has employed the fame method in fpeaking to men, as fhe did in the incarnation, by which the wrought their falvation. She was indeed veiled and darkned by the disagreeable outfide of infamy, filence, poverty, contradictions, - humiliations, and fufferings: but then fhe always fufEfered rays of majefty and power to efcape through thofe veils, which clearly difcovered her divinity. This double character of fimplicity and majefty is confpicu ous alfo in every part of the facred Writings: and when we seriously examine, what this wisdom fuffered for our falvation, and caused to be wrote for our instruction, we difcover equally in both the eternal Word, by whom all things were made, In principio erat Verbum; this is the fource of its grandeur; but its affuming the flesh for our fakes, & verbum caro factum eft; this is the caufe of its weakness.

'Twas neceffary to use these precautions, and to lay down these principles, before I undertook to point out in the fcriptures, fuch particulars as relate to eloquence. For otherwife, by fetting too high a value on these kind of beauties, we fhould expofe young people to the danger of having lefs veneration for those paffages of fcripture, where it is more acceffible to little ones, although it be as divine in thofe places as in any other, and often conceals more profound things: or we fhould expofe them to another danger, equally to be avoided, which is, to neglect thofe very things which wisdom says to us, and to attend only to the manner in which the fays them; and by that means, to set a less value on the falutary counsel fhe gives us, than on the strokes of eloquence which fall from her. Now, it is injurious to her, to admire only her train, and not look upon herself; or to be more touched with the gift fhe often beftows on her enemies, than with the graces which the referves for her children and difciples.

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P2.

I fhall

I fhall run over different matters, but not in a very exact order. I have obferved elsewhere, that most of the reflections the reader will find here on the fcriptures are not mine; which indeed their beauty of ftile will fhew.

I. Simplicity of the mysterious Writings. *They crucified him there.

The more we reflect on the inimitable character of the Evangelifts, the more we difcover that they were not directed by the fpirit of man. Thefe barely fay in few words, that their mafter was crucified, without discovering the leaft furprize, compaffion or acknowledgment. Who would have fpoke in this manner of a friend that had laid down his life for him? What fon would have related in fo fhort, fo unaffected a manner, how his father had faved him from death, by fuffering in his ftead? But it is in this that the finger of God appears confpicuous; and the less man appears in a conduct fo little human, the more evident is the operation of God.

The prophets describe Christ's sufferings, in a lively, affecting and pathetic manner, and abound with fentiments and reflections; but the Evangelifts relate them with fimplicity, without emotion, or reflections; without breaking out into admiration or teftimonies of gratitude; or difcovering the leaft defign to make their readers the difciples of Chrift. It was not natural, that perfons, who lived fo many years. before Chrift, fhould be fo touched with his fufferings; nor that men who were eye-witneffes of his cross, and fo zealous for his glory, fhould fpeak with fo much calmness of the unheard-of crime that was perpetrated against him. The ftrong zeal and affection of the apoftles might have been fufpected, which that of the prophets could not be. But had not the evangelifts

*Luke xxii. 33.

David pf x, xi, & lxviii. Ifaù c. 1. & liii. Jer. c. xviii. &c.

and