Old Testament and the New, inasmuch as no work of undoubted inspiration appeared during all this long period. But it is not so. The interval was neces

sary to afford time for the fulfilment of various prophecies which required to be accomplished before the advent of the Messiah. The great empires of Assyria and Persia having been succeeded by that of Alexander, the dominions included in them were broken up into four kingdoms under the successors of that famous conqueror. These kingdoms being first undermined, were latterly overwhelmed by the resistless encroachments of the Roman power, all of which had been distinctly foretold in the prophecies of Daniel. Tyre-Moab-Egypt, and all the once flourishing kingdoms surrounding Judea, had gradually fallen under the sway of Rome; and Judea itself, long preserved apart from them all, was ready to become a prey to that insatiable power, when-in the fulness of time-just when "the sceptre was about to depart from Judah, and the lawgiver from between his feet,"- -as had been foretold by the dying Israel nearly 1700 years before-the Saviour appeared.

The Saviour appeared,-outwardly, and to the view of men, in a low and humble condition, but to those who examine more closely, and see more truly, bearing the character and aspect of divinity. The numerous and apparently contradictory descriptions

of the Messiah contained in the prophecies, are taken up by the evangelists, and shewn in a manner the most simple, but, at the same time, the most clear and convincing, to be every one of them fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ-in his birth, his history, his miracles, his doctrines, his persecutions and sufferings, his trial and crucifixion, his resurrection and ascension. There is here, therefore, no want of continuity-no gap in the sacred record. The scattered fragments and separate threads of prophecy respecting the Messiah, contained in the Old Testament, are all gathered up and arranged; and however of themselves they may appear disjointed and unconnected, yet when woven together with the wool of the New Testament, they appear before us as one harmonious whole. We then see the design and the meaning of what was before dark and mysterious; and the entire scheme rises distinctly into view, in the narratives contained in the four Gospels, as the figures rise upon a piece of tapestry under the hands of the workman. In this manner, it is obvious to every one who considers the subject, that no two parts of the Sacred Writings are more completely incorporated, or more indissolubly united and interwoven together, than the prophetical parts of the Old, and the historical parts of the New Testament.

The Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke, is professedly a continuation of the Gospel of that

evangelist; but it serves as a continuation of all the four-containing a history of the infant Church under the ministry of the immediate followers of our Lord. While the life of the Saviour himself-the most unspeakably important and vitally essential part of Scripture history-is recorded by no fewer than four inspired writers of the highest class, one of these has been deemed sufficient to relate the acts of his followers; these being proportionally of less absorbing interest, as the acts and sayings of the servants are necessarily less important than those of their Lord.

The Epistles are letters, or written discourses, addressed by certain of the Apostles to the churches which they had established in different countries, for the purpose of confirming them in the faith, and for the instruction of believers in all ages. These Epistles, particularly those of St. Paul, are connected with the book of the Acts, by a great number of minute circumstances and coincidences-some of them apparently of the most artless and undesigned description-affording an irresistible argument for the authenticity and genuineness of both the letters and the history:* but they are also connected with the Gospels in a different and much more intimate sense, by their substance and matter. They are, in fact, just an inspired commentary on the Gospels

* Vide Hore Paulinæ, by the late Dr. Paley.

explaining and enforcing the more important doctrines taught by our Saviour, and refuting various errors and heresies which even then had begun to arise in the Church. Some of them are principally directed to prove the infinite importance of faith, as the grand vital principle on which all religion rests, and the foundation on which all subsequent attainments in holiness must be built. Other parts insist in a more special manner on the necessity of good works, and purity of life and conduct; while a third proves in the most convincing manner the entire harmony between these two grand essentials of Christianity, shewing that no faith can be genuine which does not approve its sincerity by corresponding holiness of life, and that there can be no true holiness but what originates in a sincere and lively faith.

The Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews must especially be noticed, as completing the connection between the Old and the New Testaments; proving to the Jews, by a reference to their own Scriptures, in which they believed they had eternal life, that they did, indeed, testify of Jesus. The Apostle proves this, not merely by a reference to direct prophecies, but by what to the Jews would appear an equally cogent argument—an application of the types and mysteries contained in their ceremonial and sacrificial law-the garments and ornaments of their priests, and the sacred vessels in the Tabernacle and

Temple; all which he shews to have been merely the "shadows of good things to come." Here we have another series of connections between the old dispensation and the new, between the first dark revelation made to the fathers, and the last and clearest light of divine truth vouchsafed to the children.

Lastly, and to sum up all-the vision of the Apocalypse comes in as an appropriate conclusion to the Sacred Canon. It commences with a series of admonitions addressed by the "Spirit" to the seven Churches of Asia, established by the immediate Apostles of our Lord-commenting on their several characters and conditions-holding up to them, as it were, a glass in which they might see their deformities and faults, and predicting their ruin, unless these were amended. The remainder of the book is taken up with a succession of sublime and mysterious prophecies respecting the state of the Church in after times, whereof we can at present understand little of the details, but whereof the general scope is nevertheless highly encouraging to believers. From these prophecies it appears, that though the religion of Jesus is to meet with much opposition in the world, and is itself to be polluted by many corruptions, it is destined to be restored to its pristine purity-to triumph over all opposition, and finally to be spread over all the earth; and that after many a struggle the reign of Satan is to be destroyed, and that of Christ

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