sixth chapter, it is evident that it was the insufficiency of the mere Mosaic ritualism in itself, but never had he declared himself opposed to the great underlying foundation truth of Judaism. In the sincerity of his heart, and with all boldness, he proceeds to give his auditory, prejudiced as they were, a lengthened and historical defence. Critics have sought in various ways to explain the bearing of this remarkable speech, and have endeavoured, with more or less success, to make it out as admirably adapted to gain its object. We think, after a careful perusal of it, that it is so fitted; evidently the thread of the narrative is abruptly broken off at verse 51, from some token of impatience and intolerance on the part of his judges, so that we can only infer the issue to which his whole argument was pointing. By tracing the history of the Jewish nation, from its commencement in Abraham till its consolidation and climax in David and Solomon, he sufficiently developed his own views with regard to that entire past dispensation of religion, and likewise his conviction of man's highest needs, which the Mosaic ritualism did not satisfy, but only dimly pointed out the means of satisfying. He acknowledges the temple, but only as the shadow of that better temple which was now set up by God in every believing heart.... One is reminded of Luther at the Diet of Worms; only the scene is nobler and sublimer still. There stood a man of scientific research, of commanding eloquence, of extensive acquaintaince with Scripture, in its spirit and power, confronting the highest religious tribunal in his country, composed of persons exasperated against him, yet dares he to avow the truth that was in him, yea, to present before their eyes a picture, lifedrawn, of their injustice and ingratitude, and declare his faith in the words of one who, as a malefactor, had but a few months before endured an ignominious death, a little way out of that very city. The lion is bearded in his very den. Yet how strange the contrast between the persecuted and the persecutors! You have seen the thunder-storm darken the face of the sky; the lightning flashed be fore your eyes, and up among the hills there were grand echoes repeated and prolonged of God's artillery of the thunder, and in spite of the crash and commotion, you might have beheld a guileless dove brooding over its young, unconscious of danger, for love was in its little bosom; and as the tree on which the nest was built, swayed hither and thither in the wind, remain undisturbed and unharmed; and so when the commotion is at its height, when the tumultuous crowd have seized the man of God, when they have dragged him beyond the walls of the town, when there fall on his shoulders and head the frequent stones, still he faints not, nor is dismayed. His faith pierces the heavens. The eye of sense gets somewhat of the intuitive glance of the eye of faith; he sees Jesus standing, as the assistant of his servant, and with his last words he addresses to the Saviour the same ejaculatory prayer which He presented to his Father on the cross, Receive my spirit." In the midst of fiendish cries and hellish frenzy, the martyr closes his eyes in the sleep of death, but opens them surrounded by the companies of the Holy One, who lead him to the throne of God, the first martyred spirit of the new dispensation, who had come out of great tribulation, having washed his robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. May we not draw from this whole history, and from the like history of many primitive confessors, a strong argument in favour of the historical truth of Christianity? Who, but a man convinced of the importance and reality of what he said, would have thus stood forth and braved the prejudice and cruel hatred of a whole assembly? in fact, going directly in the face of what he BIBLICAL DIORAMAS. A RESPECTABLE audience recently attended at the King William-street Rooms, near Charing-cross, London, to hear the lecture on "Nineveh, the buried City," the second in the course of lectures in had himself but shortly before considered his dearest and most peculiar birthright. And all this for the sake of one who had been ignominiously crucified; whose deeds he appeals to, as wrought among those whom he addressed, with whose life and death he supposes them perfectly familiar, and whose claims, as the Messiah, he urges with an apparent consciousness of their validity. Their is something unaccountable in all this, unless we believe that Christ Jesus of Nazareth did exist, and that at the epoch in which the evangelists affirm that he did; and, what is more, unless we admit the divine nature of the message, and the divine commission of the messenger. But Stephen speaks to believers in all ages. There is a life that springs from death. The voice that grew faint under the repeated stone-showers of the Jerusalem mob, speaks still of hope and peace to the Christian. It is to the intense love of Christ that burned in his bosom, to the constant treading of the Master's footsteps, that Stephen owed his calmness and composure; not a little remarkable is the coincidence, in many respects, between the conduct and sufferings of the Saviour and the protomartyr. The one seems a little portrait of the other. Thus only can we hope to get strength out of our weakness, if we have Christ's power resting upon us. Stephen, in his death-agonies, saw what none else saw. The heavens were blue and shining to the persecutors; no higher or fairer sky extended to their gaze. The difference lay in this. The martyr had Christ in his heart, and he could, therefore, easily think of him in everything, and see him where all else would seek him in vain. Had we but this faith, how changed would our whole Christian life be! J. G. S. tended to illustrate biblical subjects. The idea is remarkably felicitous, and admirably worked out. Few people concerned in education seem to remember that the Bible is a collection of Oriental documents, and must be a sealed book to all those who have not made Oriental customs a matter of consideration. The life of the East and West differs in so many respects, that uninstructed persons are bewildered by allusions in the Bible, which to any one slightly acquainted with Oriental literature present no difficulty. It has not fallen to our lot to witness any more successful attempt to smooth away the difficulties in the path of the reader of the Bible than that to which allusion has been made. It is scarcely too much to assert, that more knowledge may be gained of the ancient Nineveh and the recent researches, by an attendance at this lecture of two hours, than can be obtained by a similar expenditure of time in any other way. The student who wishes to enter into found investigations on the subject, will of course consult the learned works that have appeared on the "buried city;" but those who merely wish to obtain that knowledge which no well-educated man ought to be without, will find the Wednesday lecture at King Williamstreet Rooms amply sufficient for their purpose. The lecture is illustrated by beautiful dioramic views of scenery and the site of the buried city, with representations of the excavated palaces and restorations of those buildings as they were supposed to exist at the period antecedent to their destruction. The geography of the spot is illustrated by a dioramic picture of the mounds of Nebbi Yunus and Kouyunzic as viewed from Mosul, the mound and village of Khorsabad, and the mound of Nimroud. This leads to a brief but instructive description of the progress of the discovery of the buried palaces. Full justice is done to M. Botta, and the labours of our countryman, Mr. Layard, are well de scribed. A striking representation is given of the mode adopted by the discoverer to remove the colossal sculp tures, and the means of comparing the modern mode of transport with that of the ancients is afforded by a copy of the sculpture, which represents the removal of the carved stones to their destination at the time of the erection of the buildings. It is curious to observe how closely Mr. Layard's method assimilates with that employed by the architects of Sennacherib. The employment of the offi cer who beats time while the multitude, harnessed to the rude waggon, on which is placed the colossal image, regulate their efforts by his movements, is a striking feature in both representations. A view of an Assyrian temple and archive chamber furnishes the occasion for a popular disquisition on Assyrian records. With this is connected a brief disquisition on the mode on which the language has been recovered. The view of the mountain of Behistum, which first furnished the key to the arrow-headed letters, is remarkably interesting. The mythology, modes of warfare, sports, fine arts of Assyria, all afford excellent subjects for illustration, both pictorially and orally. No person ought to visit the Crystal Palace restoration of the buildings of Nineveh without having first made himself acquainted with as much of the subject as can be gained by listening to this lecture. The other subjects of lectures -which take place on Monday and Saturday respectively-are "The Wanderings of the Israelites," and "Palestime and the Holy Places." They will doubtless be found of great utility in rendering the perusal of the Bible instructive to young students who have not devoted much time to the study of Oriental manners and customs. Our readers may be pleased to refer to an Advertisement, No. 59, in the Advertising Sheet which accompanies the Christian Journal for this month. Correspondence. LETTERS ON THE LITERARY CHARACTER OF THE SCRIPTURES. NO. II.-SCRIPTURAL GEOGRAPHY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE CHRISTIAN JOURNAL. MY DEAR SIR,-I now beg to enter upon the second subject proposed, viz., Scriptural Geography. My design is not to give any lengthened account of the countries mentioned in the Scriptures; but to notice the intelligent manner in which they speak of the earth and its kingdoms; and to show that they furnish information nowhere else to be found. 1. The sacred writers display correct conceptions respecting the figure of the earth. The first point to which the geographer directs our attention is the figure of the earth. And he tells us that the earth is not, as at first sight we might suppose, an extended flat, but round, somewhat in the form of an orange. Now, what does the Bible say on this subject? Some say that it represents the earth as an extended plane, or a circular disc rising out of the water, and surrounded with the ocean. But Scripture gives occasion to neither of these suppositions. Leaving the account of the second of these opinions till after wards, I proceed to show that the sacred writers give no countenance to the first. In no passage do they say that the earth is an extended level, nor do they say anything that implies it. They say the very contrary. They give us no obscure intimations that they understood the spherical figure of the earth. In proof of this assertion we submit the following considerations. First, the Scriptures represent the earth as an individual object, without material, support, or, as Rosenmuller has expressed it, "floating in the boundless immensity of 'space." Job says that the Lord hung the earth upon nothing. Secondly, the sacred writers speak of the earth as being circular. The evangelical prophet says that God sitteth upon the circle of the earth. This intimates the of s globular form of the planet. The ancients reckoned the earth to be spherical, and surrounded on all sides by the air. The Hebrews reckoned it spherical; for they believed it to be a solid, suspended on nothing, with a circular surface. But it is evident that a solid, with a circular surface, is a globe. And, besides, it is not certain that the word circle used by the prophet, does not mean a globe. There is reason to think that the word orbis, which the Romans generally employed to indicate the earth's sphere, originally signified a circle. This we learn from a curious passage in Cicero, who says that "all things are bound together, in nine orbs (orbibus) or rather globes." From this correction I derive the inference, that while the Latins employed the word orbis to signify the earth and planets, yet they did so less properly, as they were globes, not circles. If, then, the word originally signifying circle was by the Latins employed to indicate the earth, while yet they meant that it was a sphere, so might it be in the case of the Hebrews. There are other passages that indicate that the surface of the solid earth, including land and water, is circular. 2. The sacred writers give a correct representation of the earth's surface, as composed of land and water. They do not, indeed, limit themselves to information simply geographical, for they describe the manner in which these were originally constituted; but it is not less true that they give us information on this point, which modern inquiry has only verified. Their ideas, however, have been misapprehended by some writers, who suppose that they believed that the earth was somewhat like an island floating on an immense ocean of water. Thus, Rosenmuller, after quoting various texts, says, "From these passages, taken together, we obtain the notion of the earth's disc as circular rising out of the water, and surrounded with the ocean, the heaven being spread over it as a canopy." Now it appears that some of the ancient Greeks supposed the earth to be a flat surface, floating on an immense ocean, by which it was surrounded. If we take Homer's expressions as literal, and not as mere poetical figures, he supposed the earth to be encompassed by the sea, and conceived the sun and stars to rise out of the ocean, and to sink into it again. But the sacred writers do not hold such doctrines. In them we hear nothing of the sun at setting sinking into the ocean, and rising out of it in the morning. There are two passages, indeed, which, taken by themselves, might occasion a little difficulty. But the teachings of Scripture on this subject are so full and explicit, that there cannot exist a doubt that they describe the matter of fact as it stands. They represent the sea and the dry land as occupying distinct places on the eatrh's surface, the sea occupying a cavity hollowed out for its reception. The sum of their information on this subject seems to be this. First, they give us to understand that after this globe was formed, its entire surface was covered with the waters. Secondly, that God broke up a place in the same surface, where they could be collected together, and where they could be contained. Thirdly, that the waters were summoned together, and that they congregated into this hollow receptacle, which were thence called seas. And, fourthly, that then the dry land, relieved of its waters, appeared, and began to be prepared for the inhabitants. All this conclusively demonstrates that the Scriptures represent the surface of the globe to be composed of dry land and seas, a representation in entire accordance with the researches of modern geography. 3. The Scriptures inform us respect ing the primitive seats of mankind, and particularly the garden of Eden. It is a subject of laudable curiosity, where was the terrestrial paradise, and where the period of original innocence was spent. Now, the Scriptures give us the only authentic information we have on this point. It is indeed true that a difficulty has been experienced respecting the locality intended by Moses. But this arises, not from any ambiguity or obscurity in his language, which is beautifully simple, and which would be well understood by the men of his times, but from the dimness and the mist which antiquity throws around many ancient narratives. And yet the difficulty is not insurmountable. The description of Moses is as follows:-"And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison, that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; there is the bdellium and the onyx-stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is that which compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates." This description has been amply explained by Wells, in his Sacred Geography, who has brought to bear upon it an accuracy of analysis, and a patience of investigation, and a power of reasoning, far superior to the fragments of learning brought together by Rosenmuller. The Euphrates is the river still known by that name; the Hiddekel is the Tigris; the Pison is the western mouth of the Euphrates, and the Gihon is the eastern; and the river on which paradise stood is the common chaunel which intervenes between the junction of the Euphrates and the Tigris from above, and the Pison and Gihon below. On this channel, and near its lower extremity, it appears that the terrestrial paradise stood the abode of primeval innocence and bliss. In opposition to this conclusion, it has been objected, that by this scheme the garden must have been intersected by a great branch of the Euphrates in Euphrates only till its junction with the In the East, this river is called the Tigris. |