Thus, the character of one, who has been handed down to us as a philosopher almost divine, when presented to a lewd multitude, by the scandalous buffoonery, or wit, of an Aristophanes, was rendered contemptible: even Wisdom was mistaken for Folly; and Virtue, for Vice. We should say to sacred Truth, what Agrippa, when personating the sublime character of Justice, once said, with unaffected dignity and grace, to St. Paul, "Thou art permitted to speak for thyself." An indulgence she is very seldom granted. *

I beg leave to submit it too, to minds of calm and unbiassed consideration, who have the success of our Religion seriously

*Should the question he, An Rationis in investigando Scripturæ sensu magnus usus sit? it must be replied, Ratio humana, si pro Facultate sumatur, uti nunc sunt homines, in nemine mortalium recta, sed multum cæca, vitiosa, et ad errorem proclivis est; sic ut facilius plerumque malè quam benè arbitretur. Maximè ea Rationis nostræ corruptio se ostendit circa res divinas ; circa quas est cæca, 2 Cor. iv. 4. obscurata, Eph. iv. tenebra, Eph. v. 8. & durataι yvwvai, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Imo avonto; est, Tit. iii. 3. et aσuveros. Rom. i. z1, 22. 8.19, 20. et ii. 8.

I Cor.

at heart, whether the same cause has not received material injury from not having been exhibited to the world in its own Language. It should seem, by the general neglect of it, as if the phraseology of the inspired writings were not the fittest dress, in which they ought to appear; that the noble Simplicity, adopted by the great Founder of our Faith, and, after his example, by the Apostles, had long since ceased to be one of its most amiable characteristicks: that a Style, once celebrated for its god-like Benevolence, as the most accommodated to the capacities of all mankind, was become odious, and disgusting, to modern refinement: and that, banished, by fastidious, not to say, profane Critics, from the regions of classic Literature, it had become offensive to our Divines themselves *.

If otherwise, why substitute those pretty Conceits, those affected Terms, those me

* I am not extremely captivated myself either with the Piety, or the Modesty, of some modern scribblers, who have dared to call this sacred Simplicity, by the dishonouring terms of Inaccuracy, and Carelessness! Job. XIII. 4, 5.

retricious Ornaments, and all that tinsel finery of Diction, by which Ignorance and Impiety alone can ever be dazzled, and gratified, for the simple strains of that infallible Teacher, who came down from Heaven? or presume, that we can improve upon his peculiar and discrimi native mode of instruction? Why not "condescend with him to those of low estate ?"* If it were among the glories of his exalted Character, that he "preached the Gospel to the Poor," was it less so, that he preached it in a simplicity of manner, which they

**

My appeal here, is evidently to those, both in a way of Argumentum ad hominem, et ad verecundiam, who admit the grounds upon which I argue. To thofe, who reject the Christian Revelation," I am beating the air."

If it be true, that, the Style, the Language, and the Manner of writing, made use of in the books of the Old and New Testament, may be classed among the various proofs of their genuineness, they ought to be preserved, upon that principle, with a kind of moral delicacy. "Words, that are too fine, too learned, too modern, are repugnant to the style of the sacred Penmen; which, instead of being flowery, or affected, is eminently natural, and simple, and dignified. And on the other hand, words that are low and vulgar, are still more derogatory from the exalted sublimity of the subjects contained in holy Scripture."

could understand? Who would not emulate the benevolence of that Man, who, with every possible advantage to acquire literary Fame, had he been governed by so mean a passion, could say, "I thank my God, I speak with Tongues more than you all: yet, in the Church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may by my voice teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown Tongue?" And a Style may be so elabo, rately elegant, metaphorical, or sublime, as to be as unintelligible to the majority as a foreign language *,

tion.

* A remark of Locke's on this subject deserves atten"In all discourses, that pretend to inform or instruct, figurative speeches, and allusion in language, should be wholly avoided; and, when Truth and Knowledge are, concerned, cannot but be thought a great fault, either of the language, or of the person, who makes use of them. It is evident indeed, how much men love to deceive, and be deceived, since Rhetoric, that powerful instrument of error, and deceit, has its established professors, is publickly taught, and has always been had in great reputation: and, I doubt not, but it will be thought great boldness, if not brutality in me, to have said so much against it and it is in vain to find fault with those arts of deceiving, wherein men find pleasure to be deceived."

Let us renounce then these comparative puerilities, and return to those better days, when, impressed with the Dignity, and Importance, of the eternal Verity, they did not disdain to instruct the mere Vulgar, as they have been reproachfully called; and, when all the Graces, Harmony, and Copiousness of Style, with every various species of Composition, were sacrificed to general Utility. For, diminutive as the subject may be deemed, by the unreflecting, it enters much more deeply, than might be imagined, into the grand scale of right Reason, sound Philosophy, true Virtue, and christian Morals For, ought we not to know, that REVELATION is an Address, not to Cities, Cottages, Courts, or Camps only, but to the vast bulk of mankind? and that, it proposes itself to us, as constituting the most essential branch of the welfare and perfection of the human species? And this it is, that renders all practical inattention to it without excuse.

Many, I know, will urge, as some plea for such inattention, the difficulty of under