name of Jehovah; and they have consequently been received by the church in every subsequent age, as conveying the most important instruction, though they have long since ceased to be subjects of ceremonial observance.

Such testimony was evidently necessary to establish the authority by which ritual types were instituted; but nothing of the kind can be required for the display of historical ones. These being events under the immediate control of the Almighty, it is impossible that any subordinate power could in any way influence them, or interfere with his disposal of them. They are his own figurative indications of his own will and intentions, and only require to be understood to become prophecies and promises of such purposes as they are intended to typify.

Such events must of necessity be confined to the history of God's acknowledged people. It would be absurd to look for them in the records of those nations which remained without the light of revelation. If they had occurred there, they could not have been perceived or understood; but must have been lost like the showers in the desert. But in the history of the Jews, to whose care the oracles of God were committed, his providences, whether national or individual, if only the latter were attached to

persons whose rank or station in life was sufficiently important to make them objects of public attention, became the subjects of diligent contemplation. By them they were taught to regard the power of the Almighty as continually exerted, both for their instruction and preservation; and that even the course of events would be so ordered, as frequently to represent his intentions of mercy towards them.

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CHAPTER II.

The suitability of such a mode of Instruction to Mankind in general, but particularly during the early ages.

In the first period of its existence, the church consisted of Adam and Eve only. It could only extend its numbers as their progeny increased and grew up to maturity. These, impelled by necessity to provide by their own endeavours for the supply of all their temporal wants, would disperse themselves over the face of the earth to seek such situations as might most casily afford them the requisites of life. The motives of such a dispersion would continue through many generations, during which it would be impossible for any considerable division of labour to take place, and till then, attention to their domestic cares would find employment for all their exertions. Had written instructions then been communicated, they could not have found the leisure required to multiply copies of them: not to mention their being entirely un

provided with every material necessary for such purposes. It was certainly within the range of the powers of almighty government to have furnished them with those means of perpetuating instruction which we now enjoy; but these are the fruits of increased knowledge of the arts, and derived from the gradually improved exercise of the natural faculties of the mind, and we have no reason to suppose that the divine government in any age, or under any circumstances, ever made such the subject of a particular interference. The resources of the almighty Mind revealed and employed other means for the accomplishment of his gracious purposes, equally efficient, and better suited to the then situation of his creatures.

To a simple people, ignorant of letters, no sort of instruction seems so likely to be generally intelligible and effectual as that of emblems and figures; these speak a language understood by all-exhibit lessons easy of repetition; and whilst preserved from alteration or corruption, convey the same doctrine.

Every institution intended for these purposes, particularly during such a period, would be not only easy of observance, but also calculated to impress the mind, either as a memorial of the past, or a type of the future. Thus a sacrifice, both in the preparation and in the solemniza

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tion of it, would necessarily invite the attention of all the elder branches of the family in attendance on it, to consider why such a service was appointed, and what were the benefits hoped from it. It could not fail to excite from the younger ones enquiries into its intention; and the explanations which must be given to satisfy their inquisitive minds, would impress on the senior members of this domestic church, the doctrines connected with, and conveyed by, such an institution.

It is absurd to suppose that any devout worshipper could receive such a figurative as a real service; especially whilst a knowledge of the transgression of their first parents, and the facts connected with that awful event, were current amongst them. The longevity of the antediluvians was particularly favourable to the transmission of historical notices; and the circumstances connected with the early life of their first parents, were so universally and deeply interesting, that these would of all others be most surely narrated and remembered; but if in any case it happened otherwise, the recollection of these particulars would surely be revived, and again called to their remembrance by the enquiries of the younger worshippers.

At and after the flood the church was again reduced to a single family, and during the