lomon: but, after the death of Solomon, when ten tribes revolted from his fon Rehoboam, and became a feparate kingdom, you will find fome difficulty in understanding diftinctly the hiftory of the two kingdoms of Ifrael and Judah, which are blended together; and by the likenefs of the names, and other particulars, will be apt to confound your mind, without great attention to the different threads thus carried on together: the index here will be of great ufe to you. The fecond book of Kings concludes with the Babylonish captivity 588 years before Chrift-till which time the kingdom of Judah had defcended uninterruptedly in the line of David. Mrs. Chapone. 67. Of Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Efther. The firft book of Chronicles begins with a genealogy from Adam, through all the tribes of Ifrael and Judah; and the remainder is the fame hiftory which is contained in the books of Kings, with little or no variation, till the feparation of the ten tribes. From that period, it proceeds with the hiftory of the kingdom of Judah alone, and gives therefore a more regular and clear account of the affairs of Judah than the book of Kings. You may pals over the first book of Chronicles, and the nine first chapters of the fecond book; but, by all means, read the remaining chap'ers, as they will give you more clear and diftinct ideas of the hiftory of Judah, than tha. you read in the fecond book of Kings. The fecond of Chronicles ends, like the fecord of Kings with the Babylonith captivity. You must purfue the history in the book of Ezra, which gives an account of the return of fome of the Jews on the edict of Cyrus, and of the rebuilding the Lord's temple. Nehemiah carrys on the hiftory for about twelve years, when he himself was governor of Jerufalem, with authority to rebuild the walls, &c. The ftory of Esther is prior in time to that of Ezra and Nehemiah; as you will fee by the marginal dates; however, as it happened during the feventy years captivity, and is a kind of episode, it may be read in its own place. This is the laft of the canonical books that is properly hiftorical; and I would therefore advife, that you pafs over what follows, till you have continued the hiftory through the apocryphal books. Ibid. § 68. Of Job. The ftory of Job is probably very ancient, though that is a point upon which learned men have differed; it is dated, however, 1520 years before Chrift: I believe it is uncertain by whom it was written: many parts of it are obfcure; but it is well worth ftudying, for the extreme beauty of the poetry, and for the noble and fublime devotion it contains. The fubject of the difpute between Job and his pretended friends feems to be, whether the Providence of God diftributes the rewards and punishments of this life in exact proportion to the merit or demerit of each individual. His antagonists fuppofe that it does; and therefore infer, from Job's uncommon calamities, that, notwithstanding his apparent righteoutnefs, he was in reality a grievous finner. They aggravate his fuppofed guilt, by the imputation of hypocrify, and call upon him to confefs it, and to acknowledge the juftice of his punishment. Job afferts his own innocence and virtue in the most pathetic manner, yet does not prefume to accufe the Supreme Being of injuftice. Elihu attempt: to arbitrate the matter, by alledging the im- | Mrs. Chapone. § 69. Of the Pfalms. Next follow the Pfalms, with which you cannot be too converfant. If you have any tate, either for poetry or devotion, they will be your delight, and will afford you a continual fcaft. The bible tranflation is far better than that ufed in the cornmon-prayer book, and will often give you the fenfe, when the other is obfcure. In this, as well as in all other parts of the feripture, you must be careful always to confult the margin, which gives you the corrections made since the laft tranflation, and it is generally preferable to the words of the text. I would with you to feleft fome of the Pfalms that pleafe you beft, age them by heart; or, at leuf, make yourself mafter of the fentiments contained in them. Dr. Delany's Life of David will fhew you the occafions on which feveral of them were compofed, which add much to their beauty and propriety; and by comparing them with the events of David's life, you will greatly enhance your pleasure in them. Never did the fpirit of true piety breathe more strongly than in thefe divine fongs: which, being added to a rich vein of poetry, makes them more captivating to my heart and imagination, than any thing I ever read. You will confider how great difadvantages any poem muft fuftain from being rendered literally into profe, and then imagine how beautiful thefe must be in the original. May you be enabled, by reading them frequently, to transfufe into your own breast that holy flame which infpired the writer!-to delight in the Lord, and in his laws, like the Pfalmiftto rejoice in him always, and to think "one day in his courts better than a thousand !"But may you escape the heart-piercing forrow of fuch repentance as that of David-by avoiding fin, which humbled this unhappy king to the duft-and which cost him fuch bitter anguish, as it is impoffible to read of without being moved! Not all the pleasures of the most profperous finners would counterbalance the hundredth part of those fenfations defcribed in his penetential Pfalms-and which must be the portion of every man, who has fallen from a religious ftate into fuch crimes, when once he recovers a fenfe of religion and virtue, and is brought to a real hatred of fin. However available fuch may be to the fafety and happiness of the repentance foul after death, it is a state of fuch exquifite fuffering here, that one cannot be enough furprized at the folly of thofe, who indulge fin, with the hope of living to make their 562572 F 2 Peace peace with God by repentance. Happy are they who preferve their innocence unfullied by any great or wilful crimes, and who have only the common failings of humanity to repent of; thefe are fufficiently mortifying to a heart deeply fmitten with the love of virtue, and with the defire of perfection.-There are many very ftriking prophecies of the Meffiah, in thefe divine fons, particularly in Pfalm xxii.--fuch may be found fcattered up and down almoft throughout the Old Teftament. To bear teftimony to him, is the great and ultimate end for which the fpirit of prophecy was bestowed on the facred writers;-but this will appear more plainly to you, when you enter on the study of prophecy, which you are now much too young to undertake. Mrs. Chapone. 870. Of the Proverbs, Ecclefiaftes, Solomon's Song, the Prophecies, and Apocrypha. The Proverbs and Ecclefiaftes are rich ftores of wisdom, from which I wish you to adopt fuch maxims as may be of infinite ufe both to your temporal and eternal intereft. But detached fentences are a kind of reading not proper to be continued long at a time; a few of them, well chofen and digefted, will do you much more fervice, than to read half a-dozen chapters together. In this refpect, they are directly oppofite to the hiftorical books, which, if not read in continuation, can hardly be understood or retained to any purpofc. The Song of Solomon is a fine poem--but its mystical reference to religion lies too deep for a common understanding; if you read it, therefore, it will be rather as matter of curiofity than of edification,, Next follow the Prophecies; which though highly deferving the greatest attention and ftudy, I think you had better omit for fome years, and then read them with a good expofition, as they are much too difficult for you to understand without affiftance. Dr. Newton on the prophecies will help you much, whenever you undertake this study-which you fhould by all means do, when your underftanding is ripe enough, because one of the main proofs of our religion refts on the teftimony of the prophecies; and they are very frequently quoted, and referred to, in the New Teftament; befides, the fublimity of the language and fentiments, through all the difadvantages of antiquity and tranflation, muft, in very many paffages, ftrike every perfon of tafte; and the excellent moral and religious precepts found in them must be useful to all. the order in which they ftand, I repeat, that Though I have spoken of thefe books in they are not to be read in that order-but that the thread of the hiftory is to be pursued, from Nehemiah to the first book of the Maccabecs, in the Apocrypha; taking care to obferve the chronology regularly, by referring to the index, which fupplies the deficiencies of this hiftory from Jofephus's Antiquities of the Jews. The firft of Maccabees carries on the story till within 195 years of our Lord's circumcifion: the fecond book is the fame narrative, written by a different hand, and does not bring the hiftory fo forward as the firft; fo that it may be entirely omitted, unlefs you have the curiofity to read fome particulars of the heroic conftancy of the Jews, under the tortures inflicted by their heathen conquerors, with a few other things not mentioned in the first book. You must then connect the hiftory by the help of the index, which will give you brief heads of the changes that happened in the state ftate of the Jews, from this time till the birth | guilty of any sort of injustice or unkindness. of the Methiah. The other books of the Apocrypha, though not admitted as of facred authority, have many things well worth your attention: particularly the admirable book called Ecclefiafticus, and the book of Wifdom. But, in the courfe of reading which I advise, these must be omitted till after you have gone through the Gofpels and Acts, that you may not lofe the hiftorical thread. Mrs. Chapone. 11. Of the New Teftament, which is conRantly to be referred to, as the Rule and Direction of our moral Conduct. We come now to that part of fcripture, which is the most important of all, and which you must make your conftant study, not only til you are thoroughly acquainted with it, but all your life long, becaufe, how often foever repeated, it is impoffible to read the life and death of our bleffed Saviour, without renewing and increasing in our hearts that love and reverence, and gratitude towards him, which is so juftly due for all he did and fuffered for us! Every word that fell from his lips is more precious than all the treafures of the earth; for h's "are the words of eteral life!" They mutt therefore be laid up in your heart, and conftantly referred to, on all occafions, as the rule and direction of all your actions; particularly thofe very comprehenfive moral precepts he has gracioufly left with us, which can never fail to direct us anght, if fairly and honestly applied: fuch as, whatfoever ye would that men fhould do utto you, even fo do unto them."-There is no occafion, great or fmall, on which you may not fafely apply this rule for the diretten of your conduct: and, whilst your heart honeftly adheres to it, you can never be The two great commandments, which contain the fummary of our duty to God and man, are no lefs cafily retained, and made a standard by which to judge our own hearts- To love the Lord our God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our strength; and our neighbour (or fellow-creature) as ourfelves." Love worketh no ill to his neighbour." Therefore if you have true benevo lence, you will never do any thing injurious whatever are (in their remoter confequences to individuals, or to fociety. Now, all crimes at leaft, if not immediately and apparently) injuricus to the fociety in which we live. It is impoffible to love God without defiring to please him, and, as far as we are able, to refemble him; therefore the love of God must lead to every virtue in the highest degree; and, we may be fure, we do not truly love him, if we content ourfelves with avoiding flagrant fins, and do not ftrive, in good carneft, to reach the greateft degree of perfection we are capable of. Thus do these few words direct us to the highest Christian virtue. Indeed, the whole tenor of the Gofpel is to offer us every help, direction, and motive, that can enable us to attain that degree of perfection on which depends our eternal good. Ibid. § 72. Of the Example fet by our Saviour, and his Character. nishing them all with his understanding and anfwers you will fay, perhaps," Well "might the Son of God, even at thofe years, "be far wifer than the aged; but, can a "mortal child emulate fuch heavenly wifdom "Can fuch a pattern be propofed to my imi"tation?"-Yes, certainly;---remember that be has bequeathed to you his heavenly wifdom, as far as concerns your own good. He he has left you fuch declarations of his will, and of the confequences of your actions, as you are, even now fully able to understand, if you will but attend to them. If, then, you will imitate his zeal for knowledge, if you will delight in gaining information and improvement; you may even now become "wife unto falvation."---Unmoved by the praife he acquired amongst these learned men, you fee him meekly return to the fubjection of a child, under those who appeared to be his parents, though he was in reality their Lord: you fee him return to live with them, to work for them, and to be the joy and folace of their lives; till the time came, when he was to enter on that fcene of public action, for which his heavenly father had fent him from his own right hand, to take upon him the form of a poor carpenter's fon. What a leffon of humility is this, and of obedience to parents!---When, having received the glorious teftimony from heaven, of his being the beloved Son of the Moft High, he enters on his public ministry, what an example does he give us, of the most extenfive and conftant benevolence !---how are all his hours fpent in doing good to the fouls and bodies of men !--not the meaneft finner is below his notice :--to reclaim and fave them, he condefcends to converse familiarly with the moft corrupt, as well as the moft abject. All his miracles are wrought to benefit mankind; not one to punish and afflict them. Inftead of using the almighty power, which accompanied him, to the purpose of exalting himself, and treading down his enemies, he makes no other ufe of it than to heal and to fave. The When you come to read of his fufferings and death, the ignominy and reproach, the forrow of mind, and torment of body, which he fubmitted to---when you confider that it was all for our fakes--that by his ftripes we are healed"---and by his death we are raised from deftruction to everlafting life--what can I fay, that can add any thing to the fenfations you must then feel?---No power of language can make the feene more touching than it appears in the plain and fimple narrations of the evangelifts. heart that is unmoved by it, can be fcarcely human;-but the emotions of tenderness and compunction, which almost every one feels in reading this account, will be of no avail, unlcfs applied to the true end-unless it infpires you with a fincere and warm affection towards your bleffed Lord-with a firm refolution to obey his commands;-to be his faithful difciple-and ever to renounce and abhor those fins, which brought mankind under divine condemnation, and from which we have been redeemed at fo dear a rate. Remember that the title of Chriftian, or follower of Chrift, implies a more than ordinary degree of holiness and goodnefs. As our motives to virtue are ftronger than thofe which are afforded to the reft of mankind, our guilt will be proportionably greater, if we depart from it. Our Saviour appears to have had three great purposes, in defcending from his glory, and dwelling amonft men. The firft, to teach them true virtue, both by his example and precepts. The fecond, to give them the most forcible |