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character so perfect. Comparing him with other heroes of old, though acknowledging all their bravery and all their force of mind, we may alter the words of Manfred, and say, that David had

"Not these alone, but with them gentler powers;
Pity, and smiles, and tears, which they had not;
And gentleness-but that they had for some,
Humility-and that they never had."

I must confess for myself, that the historical books of the Old Testament are so exquisitely interesting, that I almost think I gather more instruction from the perusal of them, than from parts more immediately preceptive. In this respect I am a child. They have too, as histories, one point of interest peculiar to themselves. Doubtless the passions, the miseries, and the strifes of earth, are recorded in their most painful forms; but they are continually relieved by incidents and characters of a contrary nature, which breathe a soothing and heavenly influence around them, like that which the harp of David produced upon the mind of Saul. It may be but a simple

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casual occurrence which appears to drop as by accident from the writer's pen-as that Jehoida the priest was buried in the city of David, among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both towards God, and towards his house"-or that David, when an outcast in the wilderness, said to the king of Moab, "let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth and be with you, till I know what God will do for me;" —or that Jacob, when arranging his household to go forth to meet Esau, placed, with the providence of the heart, "Rachel and Joseph hindermost." It may be some slight and single touch, like the same patriarch's dying allusion to the death of his unforgotten Rachel, "when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath;" some fact fraught with pathos, like Rizpah's watching the dead bodies of her sons, suffering neither "the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night;"—or some trait of loyal love, some proof of grateful constancy, like that of the noble Jabesh-gileadites, who mindful

only of former favours, arose by night, rescued from the hands of the Philistines the mutilated remains of Saul, and of his sons, and then buried them under a tree in their own land, with fasting, and with tears.

These may appear slight things to mention, but they are not therefore unworthy of notice; they refresh the feelings, suggest reflections, give momentary glimpses of the treasures hidden in the human heart, cold, and dark, and earthly as it is. A thousand such are scattered through the sacred volume, without effort, without design; the seed-pearls of truth, the diamond-dust of

nature.

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My remarks have however extended themselves so far, that I must reserve the conclusion for another letter. Believe me, meanwhile,

Fondly and faithfully yours,

M. J. J.

LETTER II.

MY DEAREST

SCHLEGEL, speaking of the poetic portions of the Bible, says without reserve, "These writings form a fiery and Godlike fountain of inspiration, of which the greatest of modern poets have never been weary of drinking; which has suggested to them their noblest images, and animated them for their sublimest flights.". I wish, in the present letter, to show you some of these remarkable coincidences; and to prove, that many of our most admired figures and expressions are either derived from the Scriptures, or may at least be found there; if not in their extended and complete development, unquestionably

in their germ, their principle, and their outline. Frequently too, this may be said with equal truth of incidents and characters. The similarity between Ahab and Macbeth, between Jezebel and Lady Macbeth; and a parallel resemblance in their style of action, has always struck me exceedingly. The portrait of Macbeth, when matured in villainy,

"Bloody,

Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful,
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin
That has a name,"

precisely describes Ahab; every epithet might be proved by an action. Nevertheless, the excess of wickedness is in both instances to be charged on the influence of their respective wives; who, bolder in mind, and blacker in heart than themselves, became their teachers and tempters in sin. The resemblance between the latter is even more perfect. Both were filled" from the crown to the toe, topfull of direst cruelty," mingled with a spirit of "pure demoniac firmness," which knew not, or, if it knew, heeded not the relentings of nature. Their minds were compact and

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