quently so well suited for sublimity of expression and manner, as the book of Genesis? In the book of Exodus we have, in appropriate language, detailed to us the astonishing wonders effected by the Almighty for the rescue of the Iraelites from the severity of Egyptian bondage. In Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, we have the ritual, moral, and civil law of the Jews. The book of Joshua unfolds the progress of the Israelites till their establishment in the land of promise; the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, are chiefly historical. Where, among uninspired authors, do we find a work so replete with the most affecting and interesting tales, narrated in a style of singular perspicuity, and often of wonderful eloquence? the stories of Abraham's intended sacrifice of his son; of Joseph and his brethren; of Sampson and the Philistines; of Jeptha and his daughter, and of Esther, are of unrivalled excellence; and the biographies of Job and of David are no less interesting than sublime and instructive. In the poetry of the Bible, there is a great variety: didactic, lyric, elegiac and pastoral: as an instance of the first we have the book of Proverbs. The book of Psalms affords us an example of the second, of elegiac poetry there are many specimens, as David's lamentations over Jonathan, and the lamentations of Jeremiah, which have been considered, by many, as the most perfect model of this species of composition in the whole world; and as an instance of pastoral poetry, we have the song of

Solomon.

In sublimity the Scriptures infinitely surpass every other composition. Dr. Blair says, that Isaiah is 'without exception, the most sublime of all poets; and the book of Job is not only equal to any other of the sacred writings, but is superior to them, Isaiah alone excepted.'

Burgh, in his 'Dignity of Human Nature,' deduces an argument for the divinity of the Scriptures from their sublimity.

This sensible writer remarks, that 'the loftiest passage in the most sublime of all human productions, is the beginning of the eighth book of Homer's Iliad. There the greatest of all human imaginations labours to describe, not a hero, but a God; not an inferior, but the supreme God; not to shew his superiority to mortals, but to the heavenly powers; and not to one, but to them all united.' We now submit to the student a verbal translation of the passage alluded to, as given by Burgh, and subsequently contrasted by him with one taken from the Bible. "The saffron coloured morning was spread over the whole earth; and Jupiter, rejoicing in his thunder, held an assembly of the Gods upon the highest top of the manyheaded Olympus. He himself spoke to them, and all the Gods together listened.

'Hear me, all ye Gods, and all ye Goddesses, that I may say what my soul within my breast commands. Let not, therefore, any female deity, or any male, endeavour to break through my word; but all consent together, that I may quickly perform these works.

'Whomsoever, therefore, of the Gods I shall understand to have gone by himself, and of his own accord, to give assistance to the Trojans, or to the Greeks, shall return to Olympus shamefully wounded; or I will throw him, seized by me, into dark hell, far off, whither the most deep abyss is under the earth, whither there are iron gates, and a brazen threshold, as far within hell, as heaven is distant from the earth. He will then know, by how much I am the most powerful of all the Gods. But come, try, O ye Gods, that ye may all see. Hang down the golden chain from heaven; hang it all ye Gods, and all ye Goddesses; but ye shall not be able to draw from heaven to the earth JUPITER, the great counsellor, though ye strive ever so much. But when I afterwards shall be willing to

draw, I shall lift both the earth and the sea.

Then I shall

they shall all

bind the chain round the top of Olympus, and hang aloft. For as much am I above Gods, and above men.'

'With this most masterly passage,' continues Burgh, 'of the greatest master of the sublime of all antiquity; the writer who probably had the greatest natural and acquired advantages of any mortal for perfecting a genius; let the following verbal translation of a passage from writings penned by one brought up a shepherd, and in a country where learning was not thought of, be compared, that the difference may appear. In this comparison, I know of no unfair advantage given the inspired writer: for both fragments are literally translated; and if the critics are right, the Hebrew original is verse, as well as the Greek.'

'O Lord, my God, thou art very great! Thou art clothed with honour and majesty! Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a canopy. Who layest the beams of his chambers in the waters: who makest the clouds his chariots: who walkest upon the wings of the wind. Who makest his angels spirits; his ministers a flame of fire. Who laid the

foundation of the earth, that it

Thou coverest it with the deep,

should not be moved for ever. as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place thou hast founded for them. Thou hast set a bound, that they may not pass over; that they turn not again to cover the earth.

'O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of thy riches. So is the great and wide sea, wherein are creatures innumerable, both small and great. There go the ships. There is that

season.

Leviathan, which thou hast made to play therein. These all wait upon thee, that thou mayest give them their food in due That thou givest them, they gather. Thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good: thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever. The Lord shall rejoice in his works. He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth. He toucheth the hills, and they smoke. I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises unto my God, while I have my being.'

All comment on the comparative merit of these passages would be superfluous.

In the morals of the New Testament we have the fullness of light, the radiance of divine truth. The history of Christ and his apostles is in the highest degree interesting, and the style exceedingly fine. The ease, simplicity and aptness of the parables of our divine master, have never been equalled; finally, this, in common with the Old Testament, contains more of the utile et dulce than any other composition.

We have been thus particular on the subject of the utility of the Bible to the lawyer, from a deep conviction that its ethics, history, and law cannot fail of being eminently serviceable to him; from our observation that young lawyers frequently read any other book but this; and lastly, from the fact, that nearly all the distinguished lawyers with whom we have been personally, or through the medium of books, or otherwise acquainted, have not only professed a high veneration for biblical learning, but were themselves considerably versed in it. Lord Coke had, no doubt, made the Scriptures his study, long before Archbishop Whitgift sent him a copy of the New Testament, with a request, that he, who had so

thoroughly mastered the common law, should study the law of God: be this as it may, his writings abound with arguments and illustrations taken from that source. The names, also, of Bacon, Hale, Holt, Jones, Erskine, Yates, Grotius, D'Agnesseau, and very many others, who have testified their respect for this knowledge, by frequent reference to the sacred volume; added to the like tribute, so often paid to it by poets and orators, were a sufficient warrant, if one were needed, for the urgent manner in which I press this subject on the student's attention. And though it is very far from my design, to recommend law students to the same careful examination of these ancient and admirable writings, as is demanded of theological students; yet, as I am satisfied that the too common reluctance, manifested by them, to regard this volume as coming within the limits of a course of legal study, proceeds, in a great degree, from ignorance as to the proper mode of studying the Bible, and especially as to the sources of elementary and illustrative knowledge on this subject, with which our libraries abound; I shall not hesitate to make a few remarks on these topics; though to some, they may appear a little foreign to the purpose we have in hand.

As the Bible records, in some degree, the history, geography, manners, customs, laws, philosophy, and literature, of a very remote antiquity, and of nations long since passed away, and which have left scarce a trace of their existence, it is reasonable to suppose that it, beyond all other productions, would require, (for its just comprehension,) a knowledge of these various subjects, as it may be derived from numerous other sources; and indeed, in no small degree, from works composed chiefly from the scriptures themselves, by a careful and methodical arrangement of its particulars. The Bible, consequently, ought not to be studied alone, but due attention should be paid to the auxiliaries to which we have alluded.