"lent

or from the natural dislike of human nature

enquire.

"to what is sacred and good, this is not the place to I am sure, however, that the evil exists very widely; and the question is how we may best "correct it.

But, before I proceed, I must make one remark: "that I am speaking at present only of the communication "of religious knowledge; and not of that other, and far "more important part, of religious education, which con"sists in training the feelings, imagination, and conscience. "Information is one thing, and education is another: and so, religious teaching is one thing, and religious training " is another. I say this merely because I should not like "it to seem as if I thought that a religious education con"sists simply in storing the intellect with statements of religious doctrines, and knowledge of historical facts.

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"And now to return. How are we to bring sacred facts, and places, and persons before boys, so that they "shall realize them? This is the question before us.

"I think I should best explain my ideas of one method, by taking a particular instance, and one which (if I am not mistaken) I have found useful myself.

"Now it is a fact that St. Paul travelled in certain well"known countries, in the greatest period of the Roman Empire, - preaching a religion which was destined to 66 overthrow every other religion that was known on the "shores of the Mediterranean;-that during these journeys "he wrote many letters;-that the narrative of his jour"ney has been written;-that his correspondence has "been preserved to us. How are boys to be made to read "these writings (not only with a feeling that they are "Inspired-we may trust there is no fear of this being

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"forgotten) but also with a feeling that St. Paul really "existed, really travelled,- really wrote;-so that they may follow his route as they would follow that of Alex"ander the Great, and realize the Acts of the Apostles as they have pleasure in realizing the history of the Crusaders ? -I think one of the most successful plans is, to adapt, in as lively a manner as possible, to practical teaching, "that method which Dr. Paley made use of so succesfully, "in the Hore Pauline, when arguing against Infidels; "viz., to unite, closely and minutely, the reading of the "Acts and Epistles.

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"For the sake of clearness, I will limit myself to one "period of St. Paul's life, and I would consider one course "of Bible-reading to consist of that portion of the Acts "which begins at xv. 36., and ends at xxi. 17., along with "the letters which the Apostle wrote during that interval, "or select portions of them.—I should even propose that a "little tract should be printed, as a manual, containing "this portion of the Acts, with the letters inserted, in a "different type, each in its proper place. *** ** Thus I 'may suppose I have before me this part of the Acts of "the Apostles, containing the great central portion of St. Paul's life, that which came after his early visits to "Jerusalem and Antioch, and his first Apostolic Mission; " and before his troubles in Judæa, his speeches before Felix "and Festus, and his voyage to Rome;-containing also "the prison-scene at Philippi, the discourse at Athens, "and the address to the Ephesian Elders at Miletus;"and embracing likewise four of his earliest letters, those "to the Thessalonians and Corinthians, and (if we may "venture to compare the different parts of the Word of God) the two most important ones, at all events the two

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great doctrinal epistles, those to the Romans and Gala“tians; and all this associated with travels on or near "the historic waters of the great Mediterranean, which "must so often be brought before the minds of the elder "pupils.

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we

Here we have a great deal in a small compass; "have journeys over interesting ground; we have scenes "which may be brought vividly before the eye, by the descriptions of travellers, and by the stories of great " events both before and since the time of St. Paul:-but "above all we have letters written here and there by the "traveller himself, to different churches, as occasion required: -two from Corinth to the christians of Thessa'lonica, whom he had just left, -one to the Corinthians "from Ephesus, when he had heard such news of them "that he hesitated to visit them, and a second to the same church from Macedonia, when he had been cheered by the news of their repentance; -one to the Galatians, "when he had heard of the mischief done by judaizing "teachers, and one to the Romans, whom he had long "wished to visit, and to whom he wrote at great length, on "the eve of his journey to Jerusalem. Here are copious "materials for presenting to the minds of young persons a "vivid picture of the great traveller, who is also our inspired "Teacher, and the example of all Missionaries. To indicate "the details, by which this may be done, would be super"fluous. They will be found in abundance in the Hore "Paulinæ. But I will just say, that the effect on boys' "minds of comparing the letters and the narration—of "finding an apparent discrepancy, and then finding that it "is only apparent-of seeing an omission in one place "unexpectedly supplied from another-of seeing an ob

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"scurity suddenly cleared of discovering what Dr. Paley "calls an undesigned coincidence,' when it was least "looked for, is to create a pleasant surprise, which "tends to rivet their attention and excite their imagination. "For instance, when it would seem from one passage, that "on St. Paul's going to Athens, Timothy was left behind "in Macedonia, and finally joined him at Corinth,— and "another would make it appear that he was with him at Athens, and when it can be shewn by help of a third pas'sage that he doubtless did come to the Apostle at Athens, " and was sent back to Macedonia, and thence returned to "join him at Corinth: or when the information, con"densed into one verse of the Romans, concerning the "collection going on in Macedonia and Achaia, and the "projected journey to Jerusalem, which seems omitted in "the Acts where it would naturally have occurred, can all "be gathered together, by comparing scattered passages in "the Acts and the letters to the Corinthians : - in this "way, that sort of mental activity is excited, which is quite "essential to the realization of a biographical narrative; "and a great deal has been done to help the student to "read the travels and letters of the Blessed Apostle, as the "travels and letters of an actual person."

The purpose of the manual having been sufficiently explained, it remains to say a few words on the mode of using it, and the principle on which it is arranged.

It is meant to be used instead of the Bible, for reading the Acts and Epistles of St. Paul in their natural connection. This substitution of a book of extracts in place of the sacred volume itself, for common school purposes, is of itself an advantage, on the score of reverence. And yet it

need not imply that the Bible should be laid aside during the preparation of the lesson: on the contrary, it is believed that, by the arrangement of paragraphs, the variation of type, and the running commentary in the margin,-it may be an assistance to the more intelligent reading of the authorized version. Its intention is, in fact, by riveting the attention of boys at school on the details of one part of the Sacred narrative, to help them to a method of reading the Scriptures "with understanding." In higher classes, it is desirable that these portions of the Acts and Epistles should be studied in the Greek; and it would be well to have certain portions learnt by heart, as the speeches at Athens and Miletus, Romans viii. 1 Cor. xiii. 1 Cor. xv. &c. Nor is the Editor without hope that the book may be found useful to those who are neither teachers nor pupils, to ordinary christians and unlearned students of the Sacred Volume, who are anxious to realize to themselves the life and spirit of St. Paul.

As regards the arrangement, and the chronology in the first place, every one who has paid any attention to the subject knows the difficulty of fixing the precise year of the various acts and writings of the Apostles. It has been thought better to adopt without reserve the system of dates used by Mr. Tate, in his edition of the Hore Pauline, published by Messrs. Longman & Co., and entitled "The continuous History of St. Paul." This book is perfectly suited to the Teacher's use, and ought to be perpetually in his hands; and we cannot go far wrong in following so cautious a guide. The Epistle to the Galatians is placed first, simply because it is so placed by him, and because his arguments for assigning an early date to it are of consi