they said, (lame and blind!)* he shall not come up into the fortress."

This rendering is agreeable to the Hebrew. And that there was no proverb excluding the lame and blind from the house or city of David, and no unnatural prejudice in his mind against them, such as the common rendering would imply, is fully proved by his conduct to the lame son of Saul, whom he treated with every kindness, and affectionately entertained at his own table.

The result of the taking of Zion, was the complete consolidation of the kingdom of Israel, internal union, foreign conquest, and an unparalleled extension of dominion.

* The adjectives

lame and blind, are here in the singular number: but this might be, although they were used as an ejaculation, in reference to the Jebusites; these infidels being finely represented in David's mind, as the simple embodiment of lameness and blindness. This is the more likely,

because the article is not prefixed to them, as it is in the other parts of the same passage. Had the article been prefixed they could not have been considered as an ejaculation, but the sentence must then have been translated, "Whence they say, the lame and the blind shall not come up into the fortress :"-that is, this was the origin of that proverb, in which the unbelievers are designated as the lame and blind. But in the absence of the article, I prefer the rendering which has been given above. An ejaculation necessarily partakes of the nature of the indeclinable interjection.

Now it is not difficult to apply all this history to the times of Christianity. And if any one inquires what Zion is, it is evidently, in a spiritual sense, the stronghold of philosophy, which we have already characterised. This must be taken before the kingdom of the Messiah be consolidated, or his universal reign commenced.

It is therefore at once evident how deeply every man should feel interested in a work professing the object which I have assumed for this. The pretension, indeed, may at first seem too lofty, as if the author of this book would arrogate to himself a parallelism with the achievement of the monarch of Israel. God forbid! He does but fight as a humble soldier under the banner of the Messiah, ambitious of his approbation, and cheered on by his encouraging voice, "Now for the man who smites the Jebusites and reaches within their intrenchments." And surely he may well be content if, boldly prosecuting the assault, he may be the first fairly to plant the standard of Christ on the rock of ETERNAL AND IMMUTABLE TRUTH, and may see its peaceful ensign at length floating over the high ramparts of PHILOSOPHY. Humbly confident of having accomplished what I profess, I wait with lowly and submissive reverence the decision and award of my rightful King, my invincible Leader, who is "God over all blessed for ever." To Him belong the honour and the glory, and to Him alone I humbly ascribe

them; for his word is indeed a light unto the feet, and a lamp unto the path.

How should the midnight mariner pilot his way into a sure and safe harbour, through a sea troubled and dark, and a channel perplexed and intricate, but for the beacon lights exhibited afar, by the Lord of that peaceful haven, or by his servants at their respective stations. Even so, without the blessed light of revelation, my feeble reason never could have reached that happy port where she now knows herself to be in safety. Small merit to the man, who, with so true a beacon, has brought the conclusions of reason up to the port of Christianity: but everlasting shame to him, who may hereafter fail to follow in a track now easy, and may lose his vessel on the rocks, for the vanity of having his shipwreck recorded.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION,

&c. &c.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE GENUINE SPIRIT OF PHILOSOPHY.

In an age like the present, when the study of philosophy is so common, when its advances in every department of science are so rapid, and its triumphs so great, it may seem superfluous for me to write upon its genuine spirit. But wide as is the diffusion of knowledge, and ardent as is the pursuit of science, we need only to look abroad and around us, to be convinced that the genuine spirit of philosophy is very imperfectly understood, or at least not sufficiently applied: nay, we need only to look within our own minds to find that its influence is partial and incomplete. Some despise opinions merely because they are old, - antiquated as they call them: others despise them merely because they are modern, and do not