AN ARTLESS ARGUMENT.

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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."

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THOMAS PAINE SILENCED.

THOMAS PAINE SILENCED.

A GENTLEMAN of New York, who personally knew Thomas Paine, and was repeatedly in his company during the later years of his life, gave the following account of a conversation with him respecting the Bible:

"One evening I found Paine haranguing a company of his disciples on the great mischief done to mankind by the introduction of the Bible and Christianity. When he paused, I said, 'Mr. Paine, you have been in Scotland. You know there is not a more rigid set of people in the world than they are in their attachment to the Bible. It is their school-book. Their churches are full of Bibles. When a young man leaves his father's house, his mother always, in packing his chest, puts a Bible on the top of his clothes.' He said it was true. I continued: 'You have been in Spain, where the people are destitute of the Bible; and there you can hire a man for a dollar to murder his neighbour, who never gave him any offence.' He assented. 'You have seen the manufacturing districts in England, where not one man in fifty can read; and you have been in Ireland, where the ma

ity never saw a Bible. Now, you know it is

SIR WILLIAM JONES.

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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 d

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, a 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 say, "I will hazard the assertion, that no man ever did, or ever will, become truly eloquent,

DR. JOHNSON-DR. FRANKLIN.

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without being a constant reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its language."

DR. JOHNSON.

SAMUEL JOHNSON was distinguished as a writer on morals. His compositions have seldom been excelled in energy of thought and beauty of expression. To a young gentleman, who visited him on his death-bed, he said, "Young man, attend to the voice of one who has possessed a certain degree of fame in the world, and who will shortly appear before his Maker-Read the Bible every day of your life."

DR. FRANKLIN.

AT the time when the celebrated Dr. Franklin lay upon his death-bed, he was visited by a young man who had a great respect for his judgment in all things; and having entertained doubts as to the truth of the Scriptures, he thought that this awful period afforded a suitable opportunity of consulting the doctor on this important subject. Accordingly, he intro