ledge on other subjects, who allowed this one, which, if seriously considered, must be admitted by all to be of the very first importance, to pass unexamined and disregarded. Now, if you have never seriously considered the testimony of revelation on the topics above referred to, you must admit, that it is possible, at least, that I may be in the right; and if I be, reflect, I beseech you, my dear sir, on the deeply eventful consequences which this supposition involves. Your safety and happiness in the world to come, according to my view of this revelation, are essentially connected with your receiving its doctrines;-your experiencing that transforming effect on the heart and character, without which, we are assured, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven;-and your resting your hopes on that foundation which it teaches us is the only one on which we can build with safety for eternity. As I firmly believe that, according to the declarations of Scripture, the Almighty orders the various circumstances in our history, I cannot contemplate this truth, and reflect that it is under the arrangements of this overruling Providence that we have become acquainted, without being impressed with a strong feeling of deep responsibility, when I look forward to the future scenes which Christianity unfolds. While it points us to a day, when all the unnumbered millions of our race shall stand before the tribunal of the Son of God, I should tremble to look forward to that interesting period, if it should then be found, that, with my sentiments of the necessity of personally embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I had so frequently enjoyed the pleasure of your society, and thus had an opportunity of calling your attention to that which I was convinced to be essential to your everlasting peace, if that opportunity had all along been neglected. I must again then, my dear sir, beg you will not be offended with me for bringing the subject of this letter under your notice. In whatever light you may view this address, or whatever use you may make of it, I trust you will not for a moment entertain a doubt of the purity and sincerity of the motive by which it is dictated; and that it is with the warmest affection, and most cordial esteem, I subscribe myself Your friend and servant. Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. DURING a recent visit to the Low Countries, my attention has been drawn to a very beautiful essay on the important duty of the reading of the holy Scriptures, which is the more interesting as having been written by a Roman Catholic, and as being prefixed to an "authorised version" of the New Testament. At the present moment, when the circulation of the Divine word among the Romanists occupies the public attention, in several important points of view, this document may be an acceptable contribution to your pages; I have therefore inclosed a translation. I shall only add, that the edition of the New Testament to which the following "preface" is annexed, was translated into the French from the Vulgate, and printed at Mons in 1667: it was sanctioned by the "privilege" of his Most Catholic Majesty, Charles, King of Spain, dated at Bruxelles, 24th July, 1666.—I am, sir, yours,&c. G. C. G. : ⚫ I have not met with the original edition my translation is made from an ertract of the preface to the Mons New Testament, contained in an interesting pamphlet entitled, "Conversion de Familles Catholiques-Romaines, dans le Grand-Duché de Bade, au Christianisme Evangelique." This work, originally written in German, by Dr. Tzschirner, has at Liege with notes, 1825, (I believe by been translated into French, and published M. Vanderbanc, a Protestant pastor in that city; but the name is not given.) 5 B PREFACE TO THE FRENCH TESTA MENT, MONS, 1667. It is so essential to all Christians to love and venerate the New Testament, that it may be said that they cannot allow these sentiments to be extinguished, without forgetting the name they bear, or renouncing that to which they belong. We are the children and disciples of Jesus Christ; if we then really love these two amiable titles, and consider them as constituting all our dignity and glory, how precious ought that sacred book to be to us, since it is an assemblage of the Divine instructions of our Master, and the Testament which ensures to us the heritage of our Father! It is true that the new law which St. Paul calls the law of the Spirit of life, and which he always opposes to the old law, as a ministration of death, is not the simple letter of the New Testament, but the love of God, which the Holy Spirit writes in the hearts of Christians as a living and inward law, which renders them properly children of the new covenant, as they are called by St. Augustin. But it is also certain that that inward law has such a union with the outward law contained in the book of the New Testament, that the saints have always considered the Word as the chief means of which God made use to write in their hearts that law of love and grace. It is for that reason they have always made one of the principal duties of the pious Christian to consist in meditating without ceasing on the truths which God teaches us by that Divine book; for they have not considered the Word as separated from the Holy Spirit, but as being filled with his fire, with his unction, and with his influence, which renders it capable of producing in every well-disposed mind the same gracious effect which it has uniformly produced throughout the world in the conversion of mankind. We must not then be surprized that the holy fathers so frequently complain of the negligence of the faithful in the discharge of this important duty. The Gospel, say these holy men, is the mouth of Jesus Christ. His abode is in heaven; but he speaks continually on earth. How then can he dare call himself the servant of Jesus Christ, who takes no pains to know his will; and how can he be ready to obey him, if he neglect to listen to him? "The precepts of the Gospel," says St. Cyprian," are the foundation of our confidence, and the nourishment of our souls: in reading them we find the light which conducts us, the power which supports us, and the remedies which cure us." This holy man then shews, and the other fathers after him, the great advantage which the Gospel has over all the books of the Old Testament; for though Jesus Christ is the end of the law, and has there been prefigured in a variety of ways, nevertheless he is so concealed that there are few persons found who have sufficient light to discover him, especially in these latter days, in which the sacred Scriptures are so little read. But in the Gospel He who was foretold by the Prophets presents himself to us; God descends from heaven to conduct us thither, says St. Cyprian; and we no longer receive, as formerly, the oracles of God by the word of his saints, but we adore the truth of God spoken by God himself. "The life of Jesus Christ which is there described," says St. Augustin, "is a continual guide for the regulation of our own." "We there see, in the sick and the possessed whom he cured, all that occurs in the diseases and the cure of our souls. And it is a sufficient motive to forsake sin and to live godly," adds the same father, "to consider the good things which he renounced, and the evils which he endured; for we only sin in two ways, either in wishing for that which he despised, or in avoiding that which he was content to suffer." If God formerly commanded his people to read continually the Law which he gave them, and to meditate thereon day and night, how can we neglect to read the Law of Jesus Christ, the words of which are spirit and life; since, having entered by baptism into the Catholic faith, of which Jesus Christ is the founder, we ought to regard the Gospel as our rule, which teaches us his will, which assures us of his promises, which is our light in this world, and which will one day judge us in the other. It is that which made St. Cesaire, Bishop of Arles, say, that " even those who know not how to read are not excusable, on that account, for being ignorant of what they might learn by reading the Gospel; for if the most ignorant and the lowest of the people, not only in towns but in villages, find means," says that saint, "to have read to them, and to learn, profane and worldly songs, how will they pretend after that to plead ignorance as their excuse for having never Jearned any thing from the Gospel?" "You have invention enough," adds he," to learn, without knowing how to read, what the devil teaches you, that you may be lost; and you have not enough to learn from the mouth of Jesus Christ the truth by which you may be saved." It would be endless to mention all that has been said by the holy fathers, respecting the excellence of the Gospel. All their works are full of marks of veneration, not only for the sacred history of the life of Jesus Christ, but also for all the other books which compose the New Testament. We might shew in what manner they have spoken of it; but as we have made some observations at the commencements of these books, we shall only say here, that the Acts are the accomplishment of the Gospel, since we there see the descent of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus Christ had promised; the formation of the church; and the charity, the patience, and the perfect union of the primitive Chris tians; that St. Paul is the first interpreter of the Gospel; that he explains all the mysteries of Jesus Christ, and that he instructs us in all the rules of Christian morality and virtue. The Epistles of St. Peter and the other Apostles are filled with the fire and unction of the Holy Spirit. The Apocalypse, in its divine and prophetic obscurity, has sparks of light which strike the heart, and deeply impress the humble soul with the majesty of God. It is hoped that not only the most enlightened, but even the most simple understandings, might here find what will be necessary for their instruction; provided they read with entire simplicity of heart, and that they humbly approach the Son of God, saying with St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life," and it is thou alone who canst teach them to us! We must approach him, as those did of whom it is said in the Gospel, they came to hear him, and to be cured of their diseases; for "curiosity," according to St. Augustin, "is a wound of the mind, so much the more dangerous as it is more concealed; and if we think only of satisfying it in reading the words of our Saviour, it would be to nourish our disease by the remedy which ought to cure it." He who seeks only for salvation in the Gospel, will find it, as well as the knowledge which he sought not; and he who seeks only to satisfy a vain desire after knowledge, is in danger of becoming more ignorant and blind, in becoming more presumptuous; since, according to the saying of a great saint," pride shuts the eyes of the soul, as humility opens them." To make the obscurities of that study an obstacle to our perseverance in it, would be the means of our losing all the fruit which we might gather from so holy a pursuit. St. Augustine, the most enlightened of all the holy fathers, fails not to acknowledge that the Scriptures are full of wisdom so exalted, and so profound, that there is much more beyond than within our comprehension. And after this, shall we be surprised that what has happened to other saints has happened to us, and that we cannot penetrate what has remained concealed to the most enlightened of men. "The holy Scriptures," says St. Gregory," are like a great river, which has always flowed, and will continue to flow to the end of time." The great and the little, the strong and the weak, there find that living water which springs up to heaven. It offers itself to all; it is proportioned to all; its simplicity condescends to the meanest capacity, and its height elevates the most exalted. All may partake indifferently; but, far from exhausting, by supplying ourselves from the fountain, we leave always depths of wisdom and knowledge, when we adore without comprehending." But what ought to console us in this obscurity, is, according to St. Augustin, that the holy Scriptures offer to us, in an easy and intelligible manner, all that is necessary for the conduct of our lives; that they explain and elucidate themselves, by declaring plainly in some parts what is mentioned obscurely in others; and yet even the obscurity which we find is very useful, if we view it with the eye of faith and piety; as pearls and precious stones are so much the more valuable, as they are the more rare, and as they are found only with much trouble. For the same reason, silver, in the time of Solomon, was as much despised as stones, as the Scriptures inform us; because it was so common. Thus it is, according to St. Denys and Augustin, that the majesty of God, and the excellence of his wisdom, are, as it were, surrounded with a cloud, and concealed under shadows and figures, which we can only penetrate by much meditation and labour, in order that they may impress the hearts in a more lively manner with that religious fear and profound reverence which they claim. It was also necessary to man, in the state into which sin had reduced him, that God should declare his truth in such a manner as to humble his pride by the difficulty he should have in penetrating its mysteries. This serves to rouse his indolence; to oblige him to ask, that he may receive; to seek, that he may find; and to knock long at the door, that it may be opened. It shews him also, that the Spirit of God alone knows the mind of God; and that it is by the Spirit, and not by his own understanding, that he must learn what God teaches him. It is to cure him of that indifference which makes him too apt to despise what he obtains without difficulty. Its effect is constantly to renew his admiration and love of the wisdom of God, in presenting it to him under different ideas and by fresh types. Finally; when he shall have understood one of those hidden truths which the prophet terms diamonds, it enables him to taste a joy, which is the greater in proportion as it had formerly appeared to him obscure, and as he had had difficulty in discovering it. St. Augustin assures us, that this joy is so lively and pure, in one who fears God, and who only seeks to know him in his word that he may obey and love him, that there is nothing on earth comparable to it, and that it is the greatest consolation of those who are still in the wilderness. It is what this holy doctor has comprised in these excellent words which merit well our consideration. "There are," says he, "in the holy Scriptures, profound mysteries, which God keeps concealed in order to render them more highly estimated, which he permits us long to seek, in order to exercise and humble us by this labour; and which he discovers to us when it pleases him, in order that they may be the joy and support of our `hearts." This same saint (whose mind, as humble as it was exalted, penetrated with more light than any other, into the spirit and meaning of the sacred Scriptures, which St. Gregory calls "the mind of God,") adds to what we have said another very important truth, and which affords much consolation to minds not fully enlightened. It is, that that multiplicity of precepts and mysteries which is spread in so many different ways through these holy books, are all in conformity to that one commandment, "to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourself." "For holy Scripture," says that great doctor, "forbids but one thing, which is covetousness and love of the ereature; and it commands but one thing, which is charity and the love of God. Upon this double rule is established all Christian morality." On this hang, according to the words of Jesus Christ, all the Law and the Prophets; and, we may add, all the mysteries and instructions of the new law; for love, as says St. Paul, is the fulfilment of the law. "It is that love," adds Augustin, "which is the root; all the truths are as the branches and fruit." "If you cannot understand," says he, "all these branches which have so great an extent, content yourself with the root which contains them all. He who loves knows all, for he possesses that to which they all tend. Say not, then, that you cannot understand the Scriptures. Love God, and there is nothing which you shall not comprehend. When Scripture is clear, it plainly points out the love of God; and when it is obscure, it points it out obscurely. He then knows what is clear and what is obscure in Scripture, who knows how to love God, and whose life is regulated by that love." It is with this disposition that we ought to read the word of Jesus Christ; and it is this love which, purifying our heart, will dissipate by degrees those obscurities which we find, and which will increase our light more and more. According to the assurance of the same father, when he says, "It is love which asks; it is love which seeks; it is love which knocks at the door, and causes it to be opened; and it is by love that we shall remain stedfast in those truths which the Spirit of God has revealed to us.' Let us never separate the word from the Spirit of Christ. Let us invoke his Spirit whilst reading his word, that it may not be to us a dead and barren letter, but living and efficacious; being accompanied by the unction and influence of his grace. But that which is a great consolation to us, and which ought to give us a peculiar love for the word of Jesus Christ, is, that in whatsoever state we are, it is always salutary and profitable. The word of Jesus Christ may be read profitably by those even who are still in sin; provided they make use of it to discover their maladies, to have a fear of the judgment of God, to hope in his mercy, and to place themselves in the hands of him who can heal them. Thus it is not only the food of healthy souls, and of those established in grace; but it is also the consolation of sinners, the light of the blind, the remedy of the diseased, and life to the dead. The meditation of evangelical and apostolic truths may be continual. At all times, in every condition; however weak, we may nourish ourselves with this bread of life, which is "the food of the blessed," as says St. Augustin; we may have the law of God in our hearts, in our minds, and in our mouths, and draw from his Scripture, according to St. Paul, [see Romans xv. 5.] the "comfort" which will confirm us in " "patience" and "hope" of good to come. |