thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."*" A Bishop must be blameless, holding fast the faithful word.Ӡ

Now this faithful word is the written (dian) covenant or dispensation of mercy, for accomplishing the redemption and salvation of mankind by Jesus Christ. Illustrative of the immutable nature of this covenant, dispensation, or testament, St. Paul adduces the parallel of a human testament. “Though it be but a man's (diansen) covenant (testament,) yet if it be (xexvpwμevny drainx, authenticatum testamentum) confirmed, (authenticated by seals and signatures, and the death of the testator) no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto."+

Actuated by this view of the subject, the Church of England hath always withheld its approbation from metrified scriptures; and our own Church has verily done the same, in its giving only a bare allowance for the use of them. But it is questionable, whether the Church, in giving an allowance to use metrified scriptures in its assemblies, has not gone beyond its confidential powers; as the right to give such an allowance cannot be said to come within the sense of

2 Tim. ii. 2. † Titus v. 7.

+ Gal. iii. 15.

The allowance for the use of Tate and Brady's Psalms was no act of convocational authority; but a mere placebo to the petition of two individuals, domesticks of the King's household. See the Allowance in the Appendix, Sect. III.

T

the official words, "Witness and Keeper of Holy Writ."

Before a civil tribunal, a witness is bound to declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," he is not at liberty to use mental reservations, or to perplex his evidence with mixtures of adventitious testimony irrelevant to the case in hand. In like manner, a Witness, as being always in the presence of God, giving his testimony concerning Holy Writ, is to “declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." He is neither to wrest* the scriptures, nor to adulterate them with any of

2 Pet. iii. 16. Here the original word aσTapinto signifies, unsettled, unstable, unsteady, given to change. Σrpeßnow, torqueo, tormentis distraho, distorqueo, perverto, depravo, Hed. Lex. To distort, crook, to distort the limbs on a rack, to put to the rack, to wrest, or torture the scriptures to make them speak an unnatural sense, which was never intended. Parkhurst's Gr. Lex. Therefore the words aσrnpintoi OTPEBaou may be rendered, innovators, or persons given to change, distort the scriptures into an unnatural form and signification. And this is precisely the case with all poetical versions of those divine books.

† 2 Cor. ii. 17. We are not as many who (asures, callponantes, adulterantes) corrupt the Word of God. The word xas, from xarnacs, a vintner, signifies to make a gain of any thing, especially by adulterating it with heterogeneous mixtures.

Isaiah i. 22. Οι καπηλοι σου μισγουσι τον οίνον υδατι, thy vintners mix the wine with water. St. Paul uses this word to denote the adulterating or mixing the word of God with human imaginations. 2 Čor. iv. 2. "Not handling the Word of God deceitfully;" here the original word, doxouvres, adulterantes, adulterating, mixing the Word of God, has a simi lar import.

those mixtures and adventitious accompaniments which are the natural fruits of a luxuriant imagi nation. Such testimony has a direct tendency to "make the Word of God of none effect." This done in the prosaic form sets scripture at variance with itself; and in the metrical form establishes a rivalship between scripture in thé garb of poetry, and scripture in the garment of prose.

As the guardianship of the Jewish scriptures was annexed to the Levitical priesthood; so the charge of both Testaments hath been committed to the ministers of the evangelical dispensation. This is significantly denoted in the ceremony of the Ordinary's presenting the newly-ordained minister with a Bible, whilst he pronounces the words, "Take thou authority to preach the Word of God, &c."

Thus, in our Church, every Clergyman becomes a Keeper of Holy Writ, and has the breastplate of Faith committed to his trust. This breast-plate is infinitely more valuable than that of Aaron, and may not improperly be termed the Christian pectoral. And, as the precious gems in the Aaronitie pectoral were set according to the pattern exhibited to Moses, and their disposition was never to be altered; so the gems in the Christian breast-plate, the pectoral of faith, set by the Son of God, admit not of alteration, ad dition, or suppression, from the hand of man.

The ministerial commission, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature," verily implies, that correct translations of Holy Writ be presented to each people," in the language wherein they were born," and that the missionary be able to speak "the wonderful works of God" in the language of the people to whom he is appointed to "show the way of salvation." But whether a minister preaches to a society of converts in a strange land, or to an established congregation in the land of his nativity, it is equally incumbent upon him to "divide the word aright," to quote the scripture testimony for the doctrine he advances, word for word as it stands in his Bible. If he is mighty in the scriptures, and his texts well chosen, and properly applied, the scriptures, which he introduces into his own compositions, will appear as "apples of gold set in pictures of silver," giving a life, a brilliancy, an evangelicalness to his sermon, which, though a mere human composition, is thereby rendered consentaneous to the divine will. But, if scripture texts are not quoted verbatim, they are not true scripture, they are not "apples of gold," they are counterfeits, no where to be found on the pages of the Law, the Prophets, or Apostles. Now, if it be acknowledged to be the indispensible duty of a steward of Jesus Christ, that, without addition, alteration, or suppression, he express the scriptures which

he quotes in his addresses to his fellow-mortals; the duty of being equally precise is not diminished whenever, professedly in the words of scripture, he addresses the God of the scriptures.

True it is, we never behold the evangelical pleaders from their pulpits quoting the divine law in metre, in their addresses at the bar of their clients' consciences; but we frequently be→ * hold this law* disguised in verse, used as popu lar appeals to the Divine Majesty! The clergy address the people in prosaic scriptures; and the people address God in metrified ones!

We can hardly imagine any thing more out of order, than to address the people in sermons, lectures,† &c. in the scripture forms of the prose translation;-and to address the God of the scriptures in scripture texts metamorphosed into the form of common ballads. Surely a practice, that is so repugnant to common sense, can never be supposed to accord with infinite wisdom; and yet it obtains in all our churches; -none of our people putting the question to himself" Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

In another point of view, the use of metrified scriptures appears to be an extravagant and un

That the Book of Psalms is a constituent part of the divine law, is testified by the Legislator himself, in St. John's Gospel, chap. xv. verse 25, compared with Psalm xxxv. 19.

The Allowance to use late and Brady's Psalms in worshipping assemblies is a higher compliment, han hath ever been conferred upon any of the best sermons, &c. extant.