; 1 Cor. xiii., etc. "Let there be light," is noticed by the
great critic Longinus, as a truly lofty expression. And the style of
Scripture has awakened the attention even of infidels. Rousseau was
struck with the majesty of the Scriptures. His eloquent eulogium on
the Gospel and its author is well known. Dr. Tillotson observes "The
descriptions which Virgil makes of the Elysian Fields and the Infernal
Regions fall infinitely short of the majesty of the holy Scriptures
when describing heaven and hell, so that in comparison they are
childish and trifling;" and yet, perhaps, he had the most regular and
best governed imagination of any man, and observed the greatest
decorum in his descriptions. "There are I know," said the elegant
Joseph Addison, "men of heavy temper and without genius, who can read
the words of Scripture with as much indifference as they do other
papers; however, I will not despair to bring men of wit into a love
and admiration of the sacred writings, and, old as I am, I promise
myself to see the day when it shall be as much the fashion among men
of politeness, to admire a rapture of St. Paul's, as a fine expression
of Virgil or Homer; and to see a well-dressed young man produce an
evangelist out of his pocket, and be no more out of countenance than
if it were a classic printed by Elzevir."

_From its internal harmony._ Though written at different periods, by
persons residing in different parts of the earth, and by persons whose
natural abilities, education, habits, employments, etc., were
exceedingly varied, yet where is there any real contradiction? The
sacred writers exactly coincide in the exhibition they give us of God;
of man; of sin and salvation; of this world and the next; and, in
short, of all things connected with our duty, safety, interest, and
comfort. They all were evidently of the same judgment, aimed to
establish the same principles, and applied them to the same practical
purposes. They could not write by concert--comparing notes, etc., for
they lived in different times and places; and yet the exact
coincidence that is perceived among them, by the diligent student, is
most astonishing, and can not be accounted for on any rational
principles without admitting that they "wrote as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost."

"Whence, but from heaven, should men, unskilled in arts,
In different nations born, and different parts,
Weave such agreeing truths; or how or why
Should all c