Demolbied tusen of idolany which had so long prevaled amongst ? : human agaments could have induced us to abandon that Laubt ersten' The same question being put to ander, he replied, I believe the Bible to be the word of God on account of the pure system A region with it contains. We had a system f religion before; but look how dark and black a system that was compared with the bright system of salvation revealed in the word of God: Here we learn that we are sinners; and that God gave Jesus Christ to die for us; and by that goodness salvation is given to us. Now what but the wisdom of God could have produced such a system as this presented to us in the word of God? And this doctrine leads to purity. There was a third reply to this question, and it was a rather singular one; but it was a native idea: When I look at myself, I find I have got hinges all over my body. I have hinges to my legs, hinges to my jaws, hinges to my feet. If I want to take hold of anything, there are hinges to my hands to do it with. If my heart thinks, and I want to speak, I have got hinges to my jaws. If I want to k, I have hinges to my feet. Now here,' AN ARTLESS ARGUMENT. 23 continued he, 'is wisdom, in adapting my body to the various functions it has to discharge. And I find that the wisdom which made the Bible exactly fits with the wisdom which has made my body; consequently I believe the Bible to be the word of God.' Another replied, 'I believe it to be the word of God on account of the prophecies which it contains, and the fulfilment of them.' AN ARTLESS ARGUMENT. NAIMBANNA, a black prince, arrived in England from the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, in 1791. The gentleman to whose care he was intrusted, took great pains to convince him that the Bible was the word of God; and he received it as such, with great reverence and simplicity. Do we ask what it was that satisfied him on this subject? Let us listen to his artless words: "When I found," said he, "all good men minding the Bible, and calling it the Word of God, and all bad men disregarding it, I then was sure that the Bible must be what good men called it, the Word of God." Afront, 76, the Ble buy further we lill of Ellies. Vien 1 young But dura na toner i lose his mother always rh Jabling 59 eat puse a Bible in the ag of I ecnianed: Tera Wade, Vekt in Pyjain, where the people are Membakaran of the Kone, and there you can hire a that for dollar to murder his neighbour, who the gh him any offence, He assented. You here on the manufacturing districts in Bodend, when not one man in fifty can read; ben bon in Ireland, where the ma nwn Bible, Now, you know it is SIR WILLIAM JONES. 25 an historical fact, that in one county in England or Ireland there are many more capital convictions in six months than there are in the whole population of Scotland in twelve. Besides, there is not this day one Scotchman in the almshouse, state-prison, bridewell, or penitentiary of New York. Now, then, if the Bible were as bad a book as you represent it to be, those who use it would be the worst members of society: but the contrary is the fact; for our prisons, alms-houses, and penitentiaries are filled with men and women, whose ignorance or unbelief prevents them from reading the Bible.' It was now near ten o'clock at night. Paine answered not a word, but, taking a candle from the table, walked upstairs, leaving his friends and myself staring at one another. SIR WILLIAM JONES. SIR WILLIAM JONES, whose interesting writings on Oriental subjects elucidated many obscure points in Scripture history, was a general scholar, and embellished and adorned every subject that passed under his elegant pen. On the blank leaf of his Bible the following finely conceived de scription was found written :-"I have regularly and attentively perused these Holy Scriptures, and am of opinion that this volume, independently of its divine origin, contains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been written. The unstrained application of them to events which took place long after the publication, is a solid ground for belief that they are genuine productions, and consequently inspired.” DR. AMES. FISHER AMES, & distinguished American statesman and orator, who died in 1808, was ardently attached to the Bible. He lamented its prevailing disuse in schools, and thought that children should be well acquainted with it, both on account of the all-important truths it contains, and because they would thus learn the English language in its purity. He was accustomed to "I will hazard the assertion, that no man il, or ever will, become truly eloquent, |