lieth still at thy door.-BISHOP SHERLOCK's Dis

courses.

16. The Land of Nod: St. Jerome (Quest. Heb. in Gen.) finds fault with the LXX for having translated it, In the Land of Naid,' as if Naid was a proper name, whereas they should have translated it Profugos, a Vagabond, as it is v, 12. but it is likely they thought Cain had given the name of Naid to this land, as if one should say, a Land of Exile.-SIMON's Crit. Hist. of the Old Test. B. 2, c. 25. p. 40.

17. This verse does not import that Cain had no children before: for v. 25, the same phrase is used concerning Adam when he begat Seth, who was born after Cain and Abel.-And he builded a City: There might be hands enough in the world at that time, for this; for Moses has not mentioned every person then in the world, but gives us the history of those only of that line who were from Adam to Abraham, and from him to Christ. These he has given us a complete catalogue of, and speaks of the other but occasionally.-S. Aug. de Civ. Dei. 1. 15, c. 8.

23. Ye wives of Lamech: Lamech introduced Polygamy, and from this bitter exclamation to his wives, it is probable he made his way to it by the murther of the husband of one of his wives. For, why should he call so emphatically on them, unless they had, in that particular character, been, some way or other, the occasion of that crying guilt?-Revel. Examined wrih Candor, p. 164.

24. If Cain: The meaning is, he thought him self more criminal than Cain.-Id. ibid.

25. Instead of Abel: i. e. according to St. Austin, One that shall serve instead of Abel to keep up the succession of the Holy Seed: but not that he was the next son after Abel in order of time. -De Ci. Dei. l. 15, c. 15.

CHAP. V.

6. An hundred and five years and begat Enos: one may observe from this and other passages of the same kind, either that the Patriarchs came later to maturity when they lived longer, or else, as St. Austin de Civ. Dei. l. 15, c. 15, thinks more probable, Enos here, and others so mentioned, were not the first born, but are only mentioned to shew and bring down the succession to Noah, and afterwards to Abraham.

29. This same shall comfort us, &c.-From this passage I think we may collect, 1. That the curse upon the ground subsisted in all its rigour to the days of Lamech. 2. That there was then an expectation, at least among those who had not quite forgot God, of a deliverance from the curse of the fall, but not of an immediate and sudden deliverance, and that this deliverance was to be gradual, not all at once, for Lamech gives no hope of deliverance from the greater curse upon man. In consequence of this, it must be maintained that the earth has been restored from this curse, and now enjoys the effect of the blessing bestowed on Noah.-Bishop SHERLOCK's Discourses on Prophecy, p. 89.

SPECIMENS OF FRENCH PREACHERS. Translated expressly for this Work.

DAVID MARTIN, born at Revet, Minister at Caune, which he quitted on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and became Pastor at Utrecht, in Holland. Died 1721, Et. 82. Martin wrote the History of the Old and New Testament, 2 vols. folio, and published a Bible, with Notes, of the same size, and also other Works.

ON SELF LOVE.

If God demands not of us our Isaacs-our beloved sons, as he did of Abraham, and if he

does not arm us with the destroying instrument to sacrifice them, are there no other Isaacs-no other objects of our love which he requires from us as a burnt offering? Yes, without doubt there are, and there is not one of us to whom God does not say as to Abraham, Take now thine Isaac and sacrifice him to me. You ask where is this Isaac: he is not far from you, he is every where with you. You have him in your bosom; that passion which you caress and flatter by turns-that is the Isaac which God requires you should sacrifice to him. Ambitious man, thou sighest but after honours, after glory, and every path appears beautiful in thine eyes that may but bring thee to them;-thine ambition is thine Isaac. Avaricious man, who will not dare to confess that avarice is thy dominant passion, for the name alone displeases thee;-this avarice is thine Isaac: thou canst not live without the passion for riches, thou swimmest in abundance, thy treasures are reckoned by thousands, they come from the east and the west, from both hemispheres, and thy greediness is not yet satisfied: behold, then, the victim which thou oughtest to immolate;-thy passion for riches. God says the same to you, voluptuous man, whose idol is formed of the delights of sin;-to you, vindictive man, who cherish resentment and hatred in your heart:-to you, unbelieving man, who take a criminal pleasure in corrupting the minds of others, after having suffered your own to be perverted by contagious intercourse with men of no piety. In a word, whoever we may be, we have each a favourite propensity, often more than one, and I am not certain if we may not have all these where they may not clash with each other; but such is their nature, that one must yield to the other,

and that this gives place to the former according to time and opportunity. Thus, at one time, avarice yields its riches to ambition, and at another time, ambition renders its riches to avarice. We have, then, more than one sacrifice to make, more than one Isaac to immolate; the means the only means of arriving soon at this end, is to carry about in our heart the mystical knife of the sacrifices, and there to immolate the love of ourselves: without this we shall do nothing but cut off the branches of the tree: let us, then, proceed immediately to the root; it is in the heart; it is self-love.

MINUTIE.

FAITH.

Faith is not only belief, but trust and confidence, and stedfast hope in God. It is not in the mouth, and outward profession only, but it liveth and stirreth inwardly in the heart.* It gives itself up to God, to do and to suffer according to his will, having its eye ever upon him as the father and friend of his creatures, the author and giver of all good. It receives with gratitude the mercies which he vouchsafes to bestow, and bends with unrepining submission under the rod of his chastisement. It contemplates his providence in the government of the world and the events of life, and rejoices to place itself under his guidance and protection. It soars yet higher into the regions of light; gains admittance, as it were, into the presence of * Homily of Faith.

the Deity, and there surveys the whole of that mysterious scheme-the salvation of man, which began before the world, and extends to all eternity; and from admiration of the power, and confidence in the truth, and love of the goodness of God, derives a sure trust in his promises, a lively hope of his everlasting favour, a willing obedience to his commands, and a stedfast adherence to him in life and death. This is true Christian faith; the source of real happiness; the fruitful parent of all good works; which begins with prostrating itself with unfeigned submission at the foot of the cross, in devout acknowledgment that every good gift, pardon, and mercy, grace to perform the divine commands, and hope of the everlasting reward, proceeds entirely from the free bounty of God, exercised for the sake and through the mediation of him who suffered: but not lying there in lifeless inactivity, nor trusting with unholy presumption to his goodness, rises to the active use of those powers which it has received from above, and to the working out of that salvation which it so highly esteems. All careless indolence, and all bold assurance, are abhorrent from its nature. As it aims at the highest reward, it deems no labour too great for obtaining it; as it enjoys by divine favour illustrious privileges, it studies to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. The more profoundly it meditates on the perfections of the Godhead, and the more sensibly it feels its own unworthiness, the greater diligence does it employ to cleanse itself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiBowdler's Sermons.

ness.

BAYLE.

The first step which Bayle took in life is remarkable. He changed his religion and became