PRIMITIVE LITERATURE. being settled in the affirmative, we have no more to do, but to peruse and credit the chronicles just as they stand. This is the case with no other book. I am aware that we are accustomed to receive the undisputed statements of profane history as true; but if we duly consider, we shall find that in this instance our convictions, however deep, rest on comparatively slight evidence. Men have, for the most part, no interest in disputing the records of history. Unless, therefore, peculiar circumstances have created and kept alive doubt, fabulous statements easily acquire with succeeding generations the reputation and force of truth. Probably more than half the accredited statements of some popular histories are fables; yet they are received by the world as true without either question or doubt. How different it is in regard to the Pentateuch. In it not an incident, however apparently trifling, may be discredited. Not one alledged fact, however marvelous, may be doubted. The greatest and smallest events there recorded, happened by the agency, in the manner, and for the purpose therein affirmed. And the evidence of it is as conclusive to the Christian, as though he had been present at the times, and had witnessed them with his own senses. Knew not; to speak I tried, and forthwith spake; 199 If the innocent and blest would feel such solicitude to know "how came they thus," how must anxiety increase when the soul detects within itself the seeds of sin and misery, and possesses no hint as to the origin or the issues of its depraved state. Other events recorded in the Pentateuch are of the deepest interest to the philosopher, the statesman, and the divine. Indeed, this portion of the Bible reveals more than the human mind, unaided by revelation, could have acquired by an eternity of toil. All philos Second; the importance of the leading events re-ophy, all society, and all religion amongst men, may corded in the Pentateuch must not be overlooked. I be traced to this source; for all have their beginnings will notice three, viz., the creation of the world, the in these divine fountains. The facts next to those alformation of man, and the origin of sin. We are so ready specified, in which philosophy, society and religfamiliar with the history of these events, that we can-ion have most concern, are, the causes of the disorders not conceive how painful it must be to have no knowl-which prevail in nature, the destruction of the old world, edge of them. The best instructed could better afford the origin of nations, the confusion of tongues, the to part with all other knowledge, except what concerns call of Abraham, the overthrow of the cities of the their salvation, than to be ignorant of these three things.|| plain, the history of the patriarchs, the sojourn of the I would not exchange the information which the Scrip- Israelites in Egypt, the legation of Moses, the giving tures give me on these subjects for the science of New- of the law, and the institution of the Jewish ritual and ton, Bacon, and all their followers-no, not for the civil polity. learning of all the ages of the world. Nothing advan- Third; the style of composition in which this history tageous in my modes of thought, or action, or enjoy- is conveyed to us, is worthy of special notice. Its ment, could atone for the loss of this one truth, viz., striking feature is, simplicity. This prevails most reGod created me. I can scarcely endure to fancy my-markably in those portions of it which would tempt self ignorant of it, and in agonizing wonder question- the common writer to adopt a lofty style. Of this we ing the mute elements around me, to ascertain my have an example in Genesis. The first five verses of origin. One of the finest passages in "Paradise Lost," the first chapter are so unlike all human modes of sets forth in a form true to nature, the anxiety with thought and expression as to need no external proof of which this inquiry would be prosecuted. It is Adam's their superhuman origin. account of his first hour of consciousness. "Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid, In balmy sweat; which with his beams the sun "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. "And God said, let there be light, and there was light. "And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. "And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." Examine this description. Place it before you, and dwell upon it, as the connoisseur does upon a picture till its shades become substance and reveal the very workings of life. Glance from feature to feature of 200 PRIMITIVE LITERATURE. this amazing scene. Let the huge chaotic mass, the eternal and unrelieved darkness which conceals it, the Spirit brooding over it and moving on the face of the abyss, the voice of Jehovah saying, "Let there be light," and the instant revelation which follows, appear distinctly to your mind, and make a proper impression there, and then consider that the simplicity of the language is "in an inverse ratio" to the grandeur of the scene. Having the language before us, we easily perceive that no other mode of description would have suited the theme and the conception. We see that the magnificence of the objects presented to the roused imagination of the reader, is not obscured by the medium through which they are discerned. But suppose any mortal had been possessed of these facts, and had been compelled to make the original statement of them to mankind, would he have chosen such language as the above? Could human genius have invented it? No more, in such a connection, than it could have planned the universe, and spoken into existence its innumerable worlds. A celebrated writer calls it "the utmost effort of genius." He might justly have pronounced it the suggestion-the dictate of infinite Wisdom. and power. In this respect its apt descriptions and biographical sketches, possess a singular influence. It is almost impossible to study it seriously, and not feel the heart drawn by a secret energy to thirst after its glorious Author. It inspires in the soul a strong desire to attain to a state of inward purity, and regain the moral image of God. For this there may be several reasons. 1. The facts of the history are of themselves calculated to produce such a state of mind. By tracing our existence to God as its author, we light upon the true ground of our obligation to love and serve him. While we learn from the Pentateuch that his hand fashioned us, and endowed us with all our capabilities and capacities, we are impressed with the conviction, that to him, the Author of our being and bliss, we should make the constant and cheerful return of our strength and our affections. And furthermore, a discovery of the origin of sin, as the fruit of diabolical temptation, renders us dissatisfied with ourselves on account of it, and thus increases the fervor of our desires to be free from its guilt and pollution; from its shame and its calamity. Another important fact, not so clearly revealed in the Pentateuch as in the Gospel, yet easily gathered from its pages, is, the purpose of God still to deal with man as a probationer, by placing moral purity and the divine approbation within his reach, and teaching him that both are of possible attainment. This saves him from despair. It brings to bear upon him all the power of hope, and allows the motives to exertion the utmost influence over his affections and his purposes. And to crown all, in the conduct and fortunes of the wicked and the good, such as Cain and the antediluvians and the Sodomites on the one hand, and Enoch and Noah and Abraham on the other, there are presented striking examples of the utility of religion, and of the dreadful consequences of transgression. These facts, which are all more or less explicitly revealed in the Pentateuch, are well calculated to render the soul athirst for God, and give these inspired writings great moral power over man's conscience and course of life. We should consider that simplicity is the highest charm of language; and that its finest examples, so far as human compositions are concerned, are to be found in the writings of the most cultivated nations, and in the productions of their most mature authors. An elegant and chaste simplicity is one of the most important qualities of a good style, and is usually the most diffi- || cult and the last to be acquired. How interesting then it is to find, that the earliest production of the pen displays this charm, so rare and so difficult of attainment, in a degree which has never since been equaled. Homer cultivated it; but in this, as well as in sublimity, he falls almost infinitely below the inspired penmen. Nothing in all his writings can, in either respect, bear any comparison with those introductory passages of the Bible which I have here presented to the reader. So it is with all ancient and modern authors. Nations of them have risen in slow succession, and with the greatest efforts of genius, have cultivated language and sought the most forcible and elegant forms of expres-intentionally supplied with lessons for the soul; and sion; but the toil of more than thirty centuries has enabled no man to equal the chaste, and clear, and forcible language of God's own book. I might mention other rhetorical features of the Pentateuch, or dwell at length on those which have been incidentally hinted at; but I perceive that my prescribed limits forbid, and I shall pass them by. I will only add, that the finest speci-dents, so as to render the latter still more impressive. men of pathetic narrative that can be found in any language, is the history of Joseph. Except for a corrupt public taste, had this touching narrative come from the pen of a Scott or a Bulwer in the form of fiction, it would have done more than all their writings to crown its author with the laurels of immortality. At all events, it contains inimitable beauties. It may be questioned if the incidents and style of all the epics in the world equal it. 2. The writings of Moses, in all their divisions, are the historical facts above mentioned, are purposely wrought into shapes and connections calculated to remind our race of its original state of purity, and admonish it of its abiding obligations, and of its reserved or restored privileges. In a word, the history blends warning and encouragement with its affecting inci 3. More than all else, the Holy Spirit imparts an unction to these Scriptures, so that with a force which belongs not to their letter, they reach and rouse the conscience, and carry home to it the conviction that sin is a great evil, and will inflict a heavy curse; and that holiness is an unspeakable good, and will bring an ineffable reward. I intended, as proposed, to notice the didactic and poetic divisions of the Pentateuch; but at a future Lastly; this history excels all others in moral purity time I will introduce this subject in another form. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 201 Original. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. THE high rank of Mary would introduce her to our notice, independent of other qualifications. Yet when we consider her beauty, her accomplishments, and her many misfortunes, she so strongly excites our sympathies, that not the lapse of years, nor yet her many deviations from the path of rectitude, can forfeit her claim to our regard. From the time of the accession of Mary to the throne of Scotland, till the closing hours of her life, trials in succession awaited her; and though ambition may look with a wishful eye upon the dazzling glories of royalty, Mary's history proclaims, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." Hitherto the syren voice of pleasure had charmed her active mind, and induced her to cultivate her powers rather to please in the circles of the fashionable and the gay, than to govern the rude Highlanders of her dominions. most dignified and glorious." The sentiment she expressed to Melville, who was appointed to carry the melancholy tidings of her death to Scotland, is worthy of being transcribed. "Bear witness that I die constant in my religion, firm in my fidelity to Scotland, and unchanged in my affection towards France. Commend me to my son. Tell him I have done nothing injurious to his kingdom, his honor, or his rights; and God forgive all those who have thirsted for my blood." Follow her to the scaffold. Hear her dying prayer: "As thy arms, O Jesus, were extended upon the cross, so with the outstretched arms of thy mercy receive me, and forgive my sins." Here was spoken the language of pious resignation-here was a proud heart subdued by suffering, and brought to feel its need of pardonhere was one educated amidst the splendors of a court, taught to feel the transitory nature of worldly glory. And is her history of no importance to us? From it let us learn the same lesson which she was taught by sad experience. Let us learn that half our calamities have their origin in our own unrestrained passions; and that if we would enjoy felicity we must be virtuous; and though we may not be placed in so exalted a station as was Mary, we may be more worthy of remem The joy with which her subjects greeted her arrival could not compensate for the regret she experienced in leaving that land in which she had spent so many years of felicity. Accustomed to adulation, the attention bestowed she considered her due, and infinitely did she prefer the easy civility of the French, to the stiff hom-brance and far more happy. age of her loyal subjects. The wretched hackneys of Scotland ill compared with the palfreys that had waited her commands in France. Even the face of nature appeared no longer the same. The magnificent and romantic scenery by which she was now surrounded, had, to her view, a wildness and dreariness which she would fain have exchanged for the vine-clad scenery of the country she had left. 9་་་. Original. LOUISA E. A. TRUE BEAUTY. BY J. E. EDWARDS. of by persons of every rank in society, an opinion has obtained to a very great extent, that they constitute the real beauty of the fair. A handsome person, decked in a drapery of the most beautiful and delicate texture, setting off the figure to the best advantage, and vieing with the master-piece of the world's great artist, is thought by many to be the perfection of female beauty. There are thousands, too, with hoary hairs and time-honored brows, who yield to the opinion. But do these traits constitute the true beauty of the female? MUCH has been said and written upon the beauty of At this period, too, she mourned her blighted hopes the fair. The elegant form, the rosy cheek, the arched of connubial felicity. The loss of her husband, Fran-brow, the flashing eye, and the glossy ringlets of the cis II., of France, had not as yet been fully realized in maiden have been described by the poet, and delineated the bustle and hurry of her departure. Now she felt by the pencil of the artist. They have formed topics that the cup of her sorrows was indeed full. Happy of conversation in the polite circle, and furnished a had it been for her if early misfortunes had checked theme for the rostrum. And from the fact that these the too great vivacity of her spirits, and thereby bet-attributes of the female have been so frequently spoken ter qualified her for the discharge of her weighty duties. Unfortunately, the mind of Mary was not of that high order which could enable her to bear up under the storms of life, and her trials, instead of teaching her wisdom, led her to the practice of follies and of crimes. But I need not relate the scenes which transpired during the few years she filled the Scottish throne. Suffice it to say, that in the court of France she had not learned the art of governing with wisdom and moderation. But the many years of captivity she subsequently passed in England, and the sufferings she there experienced, soften our feelings, and when we would censure, we find only room for pity. Confined in damp apartments, secluded from the society of those she most loved, her calamities insulted by her enemy in power, accused of crimes of which she was totally ignorant, she hailed with joy the news which summoned her to prepare for the scaffold. Of Mary, Queen of Scots, it might be said, as of one of her descendants, that "the closing scene of life was the Vol. I.-26 It must be admitted that there is something in the symmetrical form, the polished brow, the dimpled cheek, and the shining tresses of the young girl, that please the eye, and enchant the heart. But how soon do they perish! They fade like hues from the flower, when nipped by autumnal blasts. Can we admit that the female possesses no higher charm-no more durable beauty than this? The true beauty of the female is mind. The God 202 DESTRUCTION OF SODOM. Original. DESTRUCTION OF SODOM. BY C. HALL. Lor was the son of Haran, and nephew of the vener of nature has endued woman with an immortal mind, susceptible of the highest culture-whose fires are destined to burn with undimmed lustre through interminable ages. To the mind-not to the exterior graces of the person-we are to look for the real charm of female character. The female who has an amiable dispositionable patriarch Abraham. He emigrated with his father and a well cultivated intellect, possesses a divine charm. When a man connects his fate in the most tender of earth's alliances, with the chosen of his heart, a few fleeting months will pass happily. Beauty of person will make up for other deficiencies; but when blasted, or become familiar, her society will lose much of its interest; and if he be intellectual, he will secretly reproach himself for his folly, in not looking at the beauty of mind, instead of the beauty of person-he will reproach himself for the hasty and indiscreet step by which he has indissolubly connected his destiny with one who has nothing to recommend her but outward charms. Beauty of person, like magnificent scenery, loses its interest. The pleasure with which we gaze at first sight is soon followed by indifference; and if there be no beauty of mind, on which the contemplation can rest, it is well if it is not followed by a feeling of disgust. But where a lady has improved her intellect and her heart, though she may have no peculiar grace of person, she will never fail to be an object of interest to him who has chosen her for his partner in life. Of course I mean if the man be worthy of her, and capable of appreciating her worth. In sickness or in health, in adversity or in prosperity, in the crowd or in the privacy of domestic life, as a wife or a mother, she will always carry with her an attractive charm. If this be so, with what untiring assiduity should the female cultivate her mind! With what eagerness should she press along the path of science, and treasure up its imperishable stores! With what industry should she strive to improve her moral nature! How perseveringly should she cultivate the virtues that shall secure to their possessor a fadeless beauty! and uncle, from Ur, a city of Chaldea, and settled with them in Canaan. The strongest affection subsisted between Lot and Abraham, and they dwelt together in unity until they were so increased in flocks and herds that the land was not able to bear them; and their herdsmen were so numerous that they quarreled with each other. And who at this juncture will not admire the lovely spirit of Abraham: "And Abraham said unto Lot, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me-between thy herdmen and my herdmen— for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then will I go to the right: or if thou depart to the right hand, then will I go to the left." Lot chose the plain of Jordan, near Sodom and Gomorrah, into which he afterwards entered, and where he resided for twenty-three years; and it was "well watered everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord.” The city of Sodom in which Lot resided was celebrated for its wickedness. Corrupted by the luxuries they possessed, they abandoned themselves to voluptuousness. So multiplied and heinous were their offenses, that God, the Judge of all the earth, who cannot do wrong, saw fit to awaken his long sleeping thunder, and litererally consume them in the very flames of destruction. 'Twas an eve of beauty-the sun was nearing the western horizon, casting aslant his mellowed beams upon the plain of Siddim. A few sheeny clouds accompanied him down the archway, seeming as if eager to enrobe him in the vestments of night, and fold their fleecy wing around him in his repose. According to the manners of the ancients in those eastern climes, Lot sat at the gates of the city to invite to his tabernacle any stranger who might enter, so diffusive was the benevolence of the patriarch's heart. And as he sat there two angels in the form of men approach, and Lot rising up to meet them, addresses them in the language of courtesy, "Behold, now, my lords, turn in, I pray wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early and go on your ways. And they said, Nay, but we will abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did cat." This was the politeness of nature in its simplicity, and the true method of conferring a favor. "LADY Mary Wortly Montague observed, that in the whole course of her long and extensive travels, she had found but two sorts of people, men and wo-you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and men. This simple remark was founded on no small knowledge of human nature; but, we might add, that even this distinction, narrow as it is, is now gradually disappearing; for some of our beaux are imitating the women in every thing that is little, and some of our women are imitating the men in every thing that is great. "Pleasure is to women what the sun is to the flower: if moderately enjoyed, it beautifies, it refreshes, and it improves; if immoderately, it withers, etiolates, and destroys. But the duties of domestic life, exercised as they must be in retirement, and calling forth all the sensibilities of the female, are perhaps as necessary to the full development of her charms, as the shade and the shower are to the rose, confirming its beauty, and increasing its fragrance." We draw a vail over the scenes of the evening which follow, and ask your attention to rest upon Lot when the angels announce their commission, and command him to bring all that he holds dear from a place devoted to the vengeance of the Almighty. He calls upon his sons-in-law to leave the threatened city; but he seems "as one that mocketh unto them." The angels DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. hastened his escape, and that of his wife and his daughters. "The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar," a neighboring city exempted on his account from the wide-spread desolation; and "then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven." Go with me, my dear reader, in your thoughts to that vale where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, swelling up from the plains of Siddim, stand in still and silent grandeur. The hum of its busy multitudes is hushed into repose The city slumbers-o'er its mighty walls Original. DIVINE BENEVOLENCE. - BY REV. THOMAS 0. SUMMERS. "God is love," John iv, 8, 16. 203 In no other part of the sacred Scripture is the Divine Being thus designated. The Bible in many places tells us that the Lord is boring unto every man, and that he is good and doeth good; but in no place save the epistle of St. John is it said that GOD IS LOVE. In other places concrete terms are employed, but here the terms are abstract. It is true, abstract terms are used by the Lord Jesus Christ-thus he says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life;" and St. Paul says, "Christ is made of God unto us wisdom, and right these terms have referred to his mediatorial characterthey are emphatic words, designative of the offices which he sustains. St. John also says in this same epistle, "God is light;" but here the language is evidently figurative; and as he adds, "in him is no darkness at all," he plainly writes in opposition to the ori||ental philosophy, which the Gnostics were endeavoring to incorporate with the doctrines of Christianity. They held that the Creator of the world, whom the Christians worshiped as the Supreme God, “was either a spirit of darkness, or if he was a spirit of light, that he was not free from darkness." Light they considered the source of good, and darkness the source of evil. The epistle, therefore, alluding to the technicalities, and opposing their errors, says, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." The language, you per All is still and tranquil as the repose of the dead, save now and then the loud laugh of some reveler, who is sitting stupified over his cups-and anon the ear catches the sound of a solitary footstep-the trampling ||eousness, and sanctification, and redemption." But of some libertine returning from his midnight carousals. The night is far spent-the third watch has fled into eternity-the morning watch begins to draw toward a close-sleep has at length settled upon the restless frame of the fevered votary of pleasure; but her mind is mingling in the giddy dance. The whole city is wrapped in peace, “and worldly fancy feeds on golden dreams." Time passes on-the first red rays of light begin to streak the eastern horizon-Lot hath fled from the city-the morn is ushering in, in tranquility-the air is calm and delightful-when hark! what sound was that which broke the morning stillness? it is the noise of the coursers of Jehovah's wrath. See you the lightning's red glare as it leaps and flashes over the city? Men start from their couch to dream no more. The arm of the Almighty in indignation hath gotten hold upon them. The heavens rain fire and brimstone uponceive, is not merely descriptive of the intelligential the devoted cities. Where now are the revelers-the mocking sons-in-law? The fiery billows engulf in one universal destruction all the cities of the plain-and the turbid waves of the Dead Sea are the only relics of their fate! "THERE are three modes of bearing the ills of life; by indifference, which is the most common; by philosophy, which is the most ostentatious; and by religion, || which is the most effectual. It has been acutely said, that philosophy readily triumphs over past or future evils, but that present evils triumph over philosophy.' Philosophy is a true goddess, whose head indeed is in heaven, but whose feet are upon earth; she attempts more than she accomplishes, and promises more than she performs; she can teach us to hear of the calamities of others with magnanimity; but it is religion only that can teach us to bear our own with resignation. "The true motives of our actions, like the real pipes of an organ, are usually concealed. But the gilded and the hollow pretext is pompously placed in the front for show. "Bigotry murders religion, to frighten fools with her ghost." character of the Divine Being, but, as Michalis says, "St. John uses the term 'light' as equivalent to holiness." It is figuratively descriptive of his absolute moral perfection, and conveys the same idea as the plain and beautiful language before us-GOD IS LOVE. Now these abstract terms are used by St. John to convey to our minds the most elevated ideas of the moral excellence of the great Supreme. By them we are taught that love is not a mere attribute of Jehovah, but the very essence of his moral nature. It is the fountain of all his relative perfections. It is, if I may so speak, the substance in which all his moral attributes inhere; and all these attributes are but the modifications of this love. His goodness or kindness is a tender and endearing modification thereof. Whether this attribute be exhibited in the unceasing efforts which God puts forth to advance our spiritual interests, or in the multifarious blessings of a temporal character which he bestows upon us-whether it be employed to bring sinners to repentance, to administer peace to the troubled conscience, or to deliver the godly out of temptationhowsoever, or for whatsoever purpose it may be exerted, it is but a modus exhibendi-an illustration of that love which is the essence of God's moral nature. His justice is a bright and awful modification thereof. Not only are the various expressions or develop |