PROOFS OF THE AUTHENTICITY AND INSPIRATION

OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES;

A SUMMARY OF THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS;

A BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE CONTENTS

OF THE

SEVERAL BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS;

A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE BIBLE

AND OF THE

LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND;

AND

A SCRIPTURAL EXPOSITION OF THE THIRTY-NINE

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

BY

GEORGE TOMLINE, D.D. F.R.S.
LORD BISHOP OF LINCOLN.

DESIGNED PRINCIPALLY FOR THE USE OF YOUNG STUDENTS

IN DIVINITY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.-VOL. I.

ELEVENTH EDITION OF VOL. I.-EIGHTH EDITION OF VOL. II.

LONDON:

Printed by Luke Hansard & Sons,

FOR T. CADELL AND W. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND.

314 7659 el 1815

TO THE

RIGHT HONOURABLE

WILLIAM PITT,

FIRST LORD COMMISSIONER OF HIS MAJESTY'S TREASURY, &c. &c. &c.

MY DEAR SIR,

say,

I
NDEBTED to your affectionate Partiality
for the Situation which has led to the
Production of these Volumes, I trust you will
accept them as some Proof of my anxiety
to fulfil, as far as I am able, its important
Duties. But you must permit me, Sir, to
that I consider the Dedication of a
Work designed to promote the knowledge
of the Sacred Scriptures, and to explain
the Doctrines of the Church of England,
as peculiarly appropriate to You, who have
evinced yourself the zealous Friend of Reli-
gion, and the firm Supporter of our Eccle-
siastical Establishment; who have stood
forward as the uniform and successful
Opponent

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Opponent of Principles which aimed at the Extinction of Christianity, and of a Power which threatened to deprive the World of every Religious and Social Comfort. To your Energy and Wisdom, under the Blessing of Divine Providence, this Country owes its present State of unexampled Prosperity and Glory, and all Europe the Hope of being rescued from the Evils of Tyranny and Atheism. But your Talents and Public Measures as a Statesman, I leave to the future Historian of this eventful Period; nor will I attempt to describe that Eloquence, which is acknowledged to be unequalled both in ancient and modern times. The connexion which subsisted between us in an early part of your Life, and the uninterrupted Confidence with which you have since honoured me, may, perhaps, justify me in bearing testimony to those Qualities which adorn and dignify your private Character. Having enjoyed the singular Felicity of watching the Progress of your unrivalled Abilities, I may be allowed to declare, that the unremitting Assiduity with which you early acquired a Depth and Variety of Learning rarely attained even by

by those who devote their whole lives to literary pursuits, was as remarkable as the Fire of that Genius, and the Accuracy of that Judgment, which astonish the World by their promptitude, acuteness, and extent; and having long witnessed the daily habits of your Life, I may be permitted to mention the Excellence of your Temper and Disposition, which I have ever considered to be no less extraordinary than the Powers of your Mind: But above all, I may state with inexpressible Satisfaction, that under the influence of Religious Principle, your Conduct has afforded an eminent Example of private as well as of public Virtue, and that you have preserved an Integrity of Heart and a Purity of Mind unshaken and unsullied by the Trials and Temptations of the most exalted Stationof a Station obtained at an Age of which there is no example, and maintained with uniform Dignity, through a Succession of Difficulties as singular in their Nature as alarming in their Tendency.

Pardon me, Sir, for addressing you in Language, which, though dictated by

Truth,

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