Just to touch on a few proofs of the inspiration of the Pentateuch, what shall we say of the wisdom, prudence, foresight, grasp of mind, comprehensiveness of range, and minuteness of detail, which surprisingly distinguish the collection of the Mosaic statutes, as shown by learned commentators, who have patiently gone over them, and elicited their character, so as to fix on them the admiration of jurists and statesmen ? And, besides, what shall we say of that beautiful spirit of benignity and consideration which softens the harsher features of the code that mercy which rejoices over judgment-and that singularly elevated legislative genius, which anticipates, in some respects, the best forms of the modern spirit of law? What shall we say of the tendency of the whole-political, ethical, and religious-so adapted to lift up the Jewish people out of their semi-barbarism-teaching them as they were able to bear it, not putting new wine into old bottles, and yet educating the race for the still loftier morality of the prophets, and the facts and doctrines of evangelists and apostles? What shall we say, also, of the wonderful typical character of the Jewish law, so anticipative and illustrative of Christianity, as Paul has shown in his epistle to the Hebrews-and now, in our Christian studies, felt to be so important in our understanding of the Gospel-so important, indeed, that we are conscious we never should have understood the mediation, atonement, and intercession of Jesus, if the law had not been "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ ?" And to go further afield, what shall we say of that impartiality, so divine-like, so suggestive of Him who is "no respecter of persons," but whose " eyes are as a flame of fire, running to and fro in the earth, beholding the evil and the good," which is ever calmly and grandly manifesting itself through the Mosaic narratives, presenting without excuse and mitigation the faults and failings of men whom the later Jews idolized, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses himself? And what shall we say of that marvellous piece of biography, the life of Joseph, which opens such a window into the history of Providence-which gives a glimpse of some of the secret springs of the Divine government? And what, in fine, shall we say of that chief distinction of the Pentateuch— the revelation of God, the one only true Jehovah, before whom the gods of the heathen are vanity; creating the world at the beginning; forming and fashioning the earth and all things in it; making man in his own image; and putting forth his hand to redeem him as soon as he fell, and raising up holy men to do and teach his will; punishing the ungodly, preserving the righteous; looking down out of heaven upon Noah and his family, fresh from the ark, to make with them a merciful covenant, with the rainbow for a sign; and talking to Abraham, in the still hour of night, while the stars bore witness to his words, and illustrated their meaning; and on Moriah after the patriarch's faith and obedience; and revealing himself to Jacob in the dream of the ladder, and the mystic act of the wrestling; and announcing himself to Moses out of the bush, as the great I Am; and confounding Pharaoh and his hosts, and leading forth His redeemed ones, amidst types and prefigurations of the rich redemption to be wrought out by His Son; and so ruling and guiding the children of Israel through the desert, as to make their history a homily for the Church to the end of time; a pictorial and illuminated copy of the acts of our individual pilgrimage; a map and a chart in colours and gold of the march and movements of the sacramental army of Christ's ransomed people? And what shall we say of those sublime and tender representations of the Almighty Father of mankind, in the last song of Moses, as he set life and death before the people; and carried them in his bosom, as a nursing father beareth his child; and then, having shown them his whole heart, went up Nebo to die? What, we conclude, shall we say of such things but this, that if the Spirit of God be not specially, and fully, and potently here, then is inspiration nowhere in the Bible, and the idea of a revelation is entirely a dream! The divinity of the Pentateuch, so abundantly established, confirms its credibility. Can we believe that it is a revelation of God either through a disunited, confused, and contradictory assemblage of fragments, consisting merely of legends, exaggerated traditions and cunningly devised fables, or through an expanded myth, so composed that all the world, except a few philosophical critics, read it as a history? Talk of difficulties, contradictions, impossibilities; why, to affirm that God reveals himself to man through a story where truth and falsehood are inextricably interwoven, or through a seeming history? which has no basis of reality, is of all difficulties the most difficult, of all contradictions the most contradictory, and of all impossibilities the most impossible. But that God should reveal himself to man through facts, through His actual dealings with our race, through dispensations of His will touching the every-day affairs of the world, and appealing to the hearts of men, and stirring up their consciences, and guiding their experience; that amidst the disorder and confusion of men's unbelief and superstition, and manifold evil ways, God should actually come forth from His invisible dwelling, to cross the path of mortals, to assure them that there is a divine order, fixed and certain, which they cannot, after all, disturb, and to which they must submit in reverence and love, if they would be good and happy;-what can be more reasonable, more in harmony with the teaching of our own conscience, and more accordant with the course of Providence, as we have it at this hour? In our next we intend to examine in detail some of the principal objections started by Bishop Colenso; but before doing so we deem it only a righteous course to state the true nature of the controversy, and to point out positive arguments for the credibility of the Pentateuch as the necessary condition of all inquiry into such difficulties as may be alleged to exist in connexion with the subject. A Word upon Fretting. To fret is to fray out. A garment ravelled at the edges is frayed, or in other words fretted. So human life may be like the apparel we put on. When you say a man looks worn you have the same idea. Day by day little events worry and wear the delicate edges of the human heart. To have a capacity of being fretted in our constitution proves that we are still men of feeling; not blunted in sensibility, but with that sensibility, perhaps, o'er sensitive. Our Father in heaven gives us kind counsel when He says to each of us, "Fret not thyself;" and by the strength of the principle of faith he provides a means of deliverance from fretting. For the secret of this malady is in this-Want of faith in that God who is present to overrule the minute as well as the mighty matters of human life. Do not fray yourself out then; for, to take the lowest ground, to fret is useless; fretting never repaired the broken vase, nor replaced the lost watch, nor restored the scattered fortune, nor recalled the spoken word. So far from being a useful state of mind-as repentance is-fretting positively hampers and hinders us; it weakens what little power we have left, and quenches altogether the smouldering fire of hope. It hinders our usefulness; for if we do become active in any capacity, our activity has none of Hezekiah's heartiness in it, who "did it with all his heart, and prospered." It hinders also our happiness. Great troubles, like great storms, are severe and sharp, and over! But fretting is like the drizzling sleet which beats in upon you at all points, and lasts through the long, long hours. Nothing can be appreciated by a spirit so ill at ease. There is no peace within. And think how it hinders health. Anxiety makes appetite fail, and earnestness flag. We become at last like some drooping flower that nothing seems to restore, because there is deep down beneath the soil a small worm, eating out the very centre of our heart's core. Neither can any excuse be pleaded for our special selves: because all might fret if they were to give in to the feeling. Each man you meet has been disappointed in many things, and had his hopes blighted in some of his dearest desires. If all indulged in the melancholy of this minor key, what a sad sound would fill the world! And think of the ingratitude of it. Do we believe that a kind Father is working all things, not only wisely, but kindly? all for our good; and that He is expending time and thought upon the plan of our individual life? To fret is to be ingrates towards Him whom we believe to be lovingly interested in all that appertains to His children. We may be sure that He who gave us His only Son, will not withhold from us any good thing. I feel sure, too, that it is one of the most common sins. And I do not shrink from the expression sin!-common to us all. Little circumstances chafe us. And what an influence they have upon our meditations and our prayers! How disturbed is that serene atmosphere in which the soul would else rest in the Lord, and wait patiently upon Him! There are various remedies for this fretting, if we will but deign to try them. One is, looking back-simple retrospection-how the most unlikely things have worked out, even in this world, beneficent results. How we learn, even here, to say, It is well. Jacob said, "All these things are against me;" and yet in the time of famine, even in his experience it was true, All these things are for me. And if we keep the promises of the Saviour before us, especially those which teach us that through much tribulation, or many troubling things, we must enter the kingdom of heaven, we shall learn patience and resignation to the end. Why should not our peace flow like a river? This it would do if we took the stones out of the brook-these break the waters; these fret the tranquil current of the stream of life. Fret not thyself! Perhaps there is only one mosquito. Oh, traveller, that is all enough. One little worry every day will soon wear you down. Therefore try and rid yourself of each cause for fretfulness as it tries to make itself a home in the human heart. It is easy to see that fretting is different from legitimate Christian grief: the mind, like the body, can better bear strong agonies than slow and lingering tortures; we regain our mental elasticity after the former, we lose it by the latter. Bend the spring double, yet it will rebound to its old place; keep it for a long time in the same depressed state, and it will not altogether regain its strength. Now, fretting is a condition of mind in which trouble unstrings us; consequently, we are the easy subjects of depression and vexation. Above all, remember it is GOD who says, Fret not thyself. And as the mother hushes the fretful child, and wipes its tears away, till over the April countenance comes sunshine again, blending beautifully with showers, so we may rest in the Lord. "Commit thou all thy griefs And ways into his hands." It is marvellous what an amount of work man and beast can do if they are not fretted. Whip, whip, whip, stoppage, stoppage, stoppage, and the poor horse is in the knacker's yard, when otherwise he had been free to work and ready for the yoke. You will say, this is asking impossible conditions; that we are all subjected to vexatious hindrances and harassing conditions of life, specially in an age where in every grade and profession of life mind and muscle are strained to the utmost. To a great extent this is true: but it is still more true that "as our day our strength shall be:" and if our day has great trials, it exceeds others in its great reliefs. Suffer me in closing this brief paper to point to the tranquil life of the Son of God. No chafing of spirit; no conflict of will was there in Him; yet who is there but must feel "His way was much rougher and darker than mine- Being like Him, we shall enjoy "His peace;" and our influence on others will be tranquillizing also. In all fretfulness there is much of selfishness, and salvation aims to deliver us from self. May others see in us some faint reflection of that Divine Original, of whom all human character is but the imperfect copy-that blessed Saviour who says to us all, "Be of good cheer." Any one possessed of delicate feeling will grieve over the fact that so much of the fretful worry of life is to be seen on every hand. Perhaps more in city life than country life. I incline to the idea that fresh air, and free scope, and quiet surroundings do much to promote peacefulness of spirit, especially amongst the poor. What wonder, my friend, that the pastoral visit you paid to the poor woman in the back street, with a large family, slender means, a cooped-up dwelling, and a sottish husband, I say, what wonder that she frets so, because she has so much of work, and worry too? Let us be very chary of reproof to her, and very anxious to bring home to her heart the words of Him who said, "Let not your heart be troubled." One cannot pass from this subject without thinking with disgust of some who can witness the worry of others—ay, and promote it, too— without a sense of regret. Doubtless, dear reader, you have known such. Men who dine and dress extravagantly, and leave others at home to the anxious arrangements and the careful meeting of the ends; the one face fair and florid, the other pinched and pale. Whilst thus trying to teach the avoidance of fretting, let us remember nothing kills so soon. By it many a pastor has had paralysis, and many a mother shortened her day of life. Dear reader, try and smooth the wrinkles on the brow of anxiety. This is the best way to enamel the face, and it is not so costly as in a recent celebrated case. Who does not like to see men and women suddenly becoming young again? And who has not seen this when some causes of fretfulness have been removed? I do not envy the man who is unmoved by the little worries of his friends; who thinks them foolish and feeble folk to be troubled about such small affairs. He evidently knows little of the human heart if he imagines a strong will can quench its trifling troubles. Little sparks are fire, little prickles are thorns; and when the one keeps con |