Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.- -JOHN viii. 58, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, PUBLISHED BY GLAZIER & Co. Hallowell, Me.; RICHARDSON & LORD, HILLIARD, GRAY & Co. GLAZIER & Co. PRINTERS. 1828. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 1000- Page 9 Rom. XV. 4.-Foratsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. HEB. XI. 4.-By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he ob- tained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he, being dead, yet Not as Cain who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother: and wherefore Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. VII. 1.-And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with im in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged, ISAIAH LIV. 7,9, 9, 10.-For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I ness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth: so bave I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart. and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my GEN. XII. 1.-Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kin- dred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. GEN. XIII. 8.-And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdinen and thy herdmen: for we be brethren. GEN. XV. 17, 18.-And it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the JAMES II. 23.-And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was im- puted unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of God. HEB. XI. 17, 18, 19.-By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had re- ceived the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall thy seed be called; accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence SACRED BIOGRAPHY. LECTURE I. ROMANS XV. 4. For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. VARIOUS methods have been employed, at different periods and by different persons, to convey useful knowledge to mankind. The knowledge most useful and most important to man, is that of morals and religion. These sciences not only afford the most pleasant and elevating subjects of meditation, but evidently possess a very powerful influence over human happiness, both in the life which now is, and in that which is to come. The principles of morality and religion have, by some, been delivered in short, plain, and significant sentences; and have been left to produce their effect, by their own weight and evidence. Public teachers have, at other times, taken pains to explain and enforce these principles; have demonstrated their reasonableness and utility; and have exhibited the criminality, the danger, and the misery, of neglecting or transgressing them. The charms and graces of poetry have been employed to set off the native, modest beauties of truth and virtue, and allegory has spread her veil over them, in order to stimulate our ardour in the pursuit, and to heighten our pleasure in the discovery. The penetration of genius, the enchantment of eloquence, and the creative energy of fancy, have successively lent their aid to those gentle guides of human life, those condescending ministers to human comfort. The historic page, that faithful and true witness, has been unfolded. Ages and generations elapsed and gone, have been made to pass in review; and the lessons of religion and virtue have been forcibly inculcated, by a fair and impartial disclosure of the effects, which the observance or neglect of them have produced on the affairs of men. And the pencil of history has enriched the canvass, not only with men in groups, but selecting distinguished individuals, delineating them in their just proportions, and enlivening them with the colours of nature, has exhibited a collection of striking portraits, for our entertainment and instruction. In contemplating these we seem to expatiate in a vast gallery of family pictures, and take delight in observing and comparing the various features of the extensive kindred, as they resemble or differ from each other; and through the physiognomy piercing into the heart, we find them, though dead, yet speaking and pleasing companions. The holy scriptures possess an acknowledged superiority over all other writings, in all the different kinds of literary composition; and in none more, than in that species of historical composition which is called BIOGRAPHY, or a delineation of the fortunes, character and conduct of particular persons: and that, whether the historians be themselves the men whom they describe and record; or whether, from proper sources of information, they record the lives and actions of others. |