in order to enter into the ideas of a writer, Mr. Claude would have his preacher obferve an author's fcope as he would obferve a plant rifing out of the earth, expanding itself in leaves, diffufing itfelf in branches, adorning itfelf with flowers, enriching itself with fruits; all being, in a manner, the variegation of the stem.

Commentators frequently trifle. Witnefs St. Auftin, who thought, the ten Egyptian plagues were punishments adapted to the breach of the ten commands. This faint had forgot, that the law was given to the Jews, and the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians. And what is more aftonishing, he did not remember that the law was not given in the form of ten commands till three months after the plagues were fent. See Exod. xix. 1. But having conceived the connection of the two tens, he was determined to purfue it. "Primum præceptum in lege de colendo uno Deo. Prima plaga Ægyptiorum, aqua converfa in fanguinem. Compara primum præceptum primæ plage. Deum unum ex quo funt omnia, in fimilitudine intellige aquæ, ex qua generantur omnia, &c. .. Secundum præceptum. Non accipies nomen Domini Dei

...

tui in vanum... huic præcepto fecundo contrariam videte fecundam plagam. Quæ eft fecunda plaga? ranarum abundantia. Habes expreffam fignificatam vanitatem, fi adtendas ranarum loquacitatem. ... Quartum præceptum eft, honora patrem tuum, et matrem tuam. Huic contraria quarta Ægyptiorum plaga νομυια eft. Quid eft κυνομια Canina mufca. Græcum vocabulum eft. Caninum eft parentes non agnofcere. Nihil tain caninum quam cum illi qui genuerunt, non agnofcuntur. Merito ergo et catuli canum cæci nafcuntur, &c. &c." Auguftini opera, tom. v. ferm. 8. edit. Benedict.

1600

An expofitor of our own trifles thus: "And the wineprefs was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the wine-prefs even unto the horfes bridles by the space of a thousand and fix hundred furlongs, Rev. xiv. zo. furlongs, that is, through the whole realm of England. 1600 furlongs make 200 En-" glifh miles. Now the length of this realme from the furdeft part of the fouth, to the longest reach of the north, is more than this by a hundred miles: but yet if we fhall take away the vaftness of the northren parts, where the country is more

defert

defert and unmanured neere the borders, we shall fee a marvailous confent even in this alfo." Brightman on Revelation.

Nor was Mr. Whiston much nigher the matter, when he dextrously applied a prophecy of St. John's, in the Reve lations, to prince Eugene's wars. The general politely rewarded the expofitor: but protested, he never knew before, that he had the honour of being known to St John.

Our beft commentators fometimes trifle. Dr. Guyfe does fo on the baptifm of John, Mat. iii. Mr. Henry is farcical on Judges ix. Dr. Gill is hardly in carneft, when he fays the word Abba, read backwards or forwards, is the fame pronunciation, and may teach us that God is the father of his people in adverfity as well as in profperity. Expof. on Gal. iv. 6.

Confult good fenfe, adds Mr. Claude. Very proper advice, for good natural fenfe will go far in understanding plain primitive chriftianity: and, indeed, will often take a hint from the most common incident on any fubject.

A friend of mine, difgufted with the common reprefentation of the devil carrying our Saviour in his claws, as a bird

and

of prey carries a dove through the air, and fetting him on a pinacle of the temple, tried Mr. Claude's experiment. He fet a fenfible little boy to read the fourth of Matthew, and, after he had read the fifth verfe, the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and fetteth him on a pinacle of the temple, he afked the little gentleman, How do you think, the devil took Jefus Chrift, and fet him on a pinacle of the temple? Why, Sir, replied the little expofitor, as you would take me up to the top of S. Paul's.

Sir Ifaac Newton's fublime genius, fet a going by the fall of an apple, never flopped till it had explained the laws of nature. To that excellent Swifs, Hofpinian, who wrote fo fuccefsfully against the popifh ceremonies, the neceffity of fuch a work was first fuggeted by the talk of an ignorant landlord in a country ale-houfe, who thought that religious fraternities were as old as the creation, that Adam was a monk, and that Eve was a nun. Dr. Rad

cliff's library was a few phials, a skeleton, and an herbal: and the ingenious Mr. Banyan's, a bible and the book of martyrs.

I know a minifter, who has a high

a high opinion of a little common fenfe, and of, I had almoft faid, its infallibility in expounding fcripture, who has frequently employed a poor illiterate old man to read the fcriptures to him, merely for the fake of finding what an ordinary understanding could make of fcripture. The old man, who had more religion than manners, generally talked to himself about the fenfe as he went on. Read to me, John, faid the minifter one day, the fourth of Acts. He began. "And as they spake unto the peopleWho fpoke to the people? O! I fee! Peter and John. The bleffed apoftles were not willing to eat their morfel alone, their mafter had faid, Freely ye have received, freely give. The priests, and the captain of the temple, and the fadduces came upon them- Wicked priests always keep bad company. Soldiers and unbelievers they want to keep them in countenance. What has the captain to do with confcience ? Being grieved that they taught the people Poor narrow fouls! would you keep the gospel to yourfelves? Grieved that they taught the people to turn from their ini

When

quities! Why, would not they make better fervants, and better fubjects? And preached through Jefus the refurrection from the dead. The apoftles had too much love for the poor to puzzle them with words and difputes. They told the poor, they were to rife from the dead, and to be judged for the deeds done in the body; that not a proud priest, nor a bluftering captain but a compaffionate Jefus was to be their judge, and that all this was proved by the refurrection of Jefus himfelf," &c. &c.

From this good, though illiterate old man's hints, the minifter declares, he has often derived confiderable light into the meaning of fcripture.

(2) Poffibly we may not perceive the coherence of fome of S. Paul's difcourfes, particularly in his epiftles: but that may be owing, either to our want of attending to the drift of the apostle, or to our ignorance of fome opinions, customs, or other particulars to which he may refer, well known in the time when he wrote, on which account fome paffages in his letters may appear dark to us, which fhone with a full light to those to

whom

whom they were directed. But for the most part the coherence and forcible reafoning of this apostle's difcourfes in his letters are plainly confpicuous to attentive readers. With what force of reafoning does he in fome of his epiftles fhew the inability of the Mofaic law to justify men? What a chain of folid reafoning do we particularly find in his epiftle to the Hebrews, about the infufficiency of the ancient facrifices? With how great ftrength of reafoning does the apostle in his letter to the Romans, endeavour to convince the Jews, that God is the God of the gentiles as well as of the Jews? This he does, as a late learned commentator (Locke) in his fynopfis prefixed to this epiftle fhews, feveral ways, as, 1. By fhew ing that though the gentiles were very finful, yet the Jews, who had the law, kept it not, could not upon the account of their having the law, (which being broken, aggravated their fault, and made them as far from righteoufnefs as the gentiles themfelves.) have a title to exclude the gentiles from being the people of God under the gospel. 2. That Abraham

VOL. I.

thence

was the father of all that believe, as well uncircumcifed as circumcifed; fo that thofe that walk in the fteps of the faith of Abraham, though uncircumcifed, are the feed to which the promise is made, and shall receive the bleffing.

3. That it was the purpose of God from the beginning, to take the gentiles to be his feed under the Meffiah, in the place of the Jews, who had been fo till that time, but were then nationally rejected, because they nationally rejected the Meffias, whom he fent to them to be their king and deliverer; but was received but by a very small number of them, which remnant was received into the kingdom of Christ, and fo continued to be his people with the converted gentiles, who all together now made the church and people of God.

4. That the Jewish nation had no reason to complain of any unrighteoufnefs in God, or hardship from him, in their being caft off for their unbelief, fince they had been warned of it, and they might find it threatened in their ancient prophets. Befides, the raifing or depreffing of any

G

nation