moon a long time, and so in the daytime spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the sweet glory of God in these things; in the meantime singing with a loud voice my contempla tions of the Creator and Redeemer. I used to be a person uncommonly terrified with thunder; and it used to strike me with terror when I saw a thunder-storm rising; but now, on the contrary, it rejoiced me. I felt God at the first appearance of a thunderstorm, and used to take an opportunity at such times to fix myself to view the clouds and see the lightnings play, and hear the majestic and awful voice of God's thunder.

81. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).— In Franklin we have an example of an American born poor, but by his own unaided efforts rising to usefulness and eminence. From a printer's devil he grew to be a statesman and diplomat. He seemed an embodiment of practical wisdom. As a printer, a philanthropist, a patriot, and a minister to foreign courts, he was an honor to his country, being equally earnest and successful in all. He was a lover of mankind and a benefactor to his race. His writings were comparatively few and exceedingly plain, yet they were pointed and full of native strength. He did not write for fame, but for the sole purpose of aiding his fellow men. In his writings he tells us that he "set a greater value on a doer of good than on any other kind of reputation." His Poor Richard's Almanac and the memoirs of his own life are most popular. One would not study the writings of Franklin for the sake of improving himself in literary style, unless it should be for the qualities of directness and force. They are to be studied as examples of strong common sense, as an incentive to sturdy manhood, a quickener of thought.

Franklin made valuable discoveries in science. When, by the simple means of a kite, a key, and a hempen string, he discovered the identity of lightning and electricity, he was so overcome by his feelings that he said he could willingly have died at that moment, a striking expression from a cool-headed philosopher.

82. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709–1784).- Few men have ever exercised so powerful and so wide-spread an influence over the language and literature of their age as did Samuel Johnson. He has been called the literary dictator, and was the founder of English lexicography. To the production of his dictionary, he gave about eight years of solid study, at the best period of his life. This was his greatest work; but his "Lives of the Poets," the narrative of his travels in the Hebrides, his essays in the Rambler and the Idler, his version of the Parliamentary debates, his "Rasselas," and other productions, were valuable contributions to our literature, and abound in expressions of sound common sense, and in strong denunciations of everything licentious or immoral.

Johnson's writings were strongly instrumental in bringing into so-called polite society a higher tone of morals and a juster appreciation of literary excellence. His poetry had many good qualities, but to raise it to the highest rank would have required a more vivid imagination than Johnson possessed. His style was too pompous and too measured to suit any but the profoundest subjects. In this respect his influence was not salutary; since it banished, for a time, the naked simplicity of Swift, and the graces of Addison." His style

was better in conversation than in his writings. He was dictatorial, it is true; but as an author his course "was singularly pure and high-minded."

83. The Historians.- Among the historians of the century, there are three who are distinguished above all others. Named in the order of their writing, they are Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon. They were all gifted men, and so far as scholarship and good language go, their works were such as any nation might be proud of.

84. David Hume (1711-1776) was the first historian whose works graced our literature. His style was clear, dignified, and often elegant. At the same time his narrative was easy, animated, and interesting. But he prized beauty of expression above accuracy of statement. His work is so replete with errors that it cannot be taken as authority. Besides, his writings are so tainted with skepticism and infidelity as to make them unprofitable reading.

85. William Robertson (1721-1793) was a man of undoubted purity of character. He was a Scottish pastor, who by close study and patient research, was enabled to write some of the best histories the world has ever known. They are clear, accurate, and unbiased. The language is pure and classical, but lacks the sturdy vigor which a greater proportion of homely Saxon words would have given. His chief works were • History of Scotland during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King James VI," "History of the Reign of Charles V," and "History of America."

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86. Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) was the wellknown author of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." His history is a truly great work, and is written with masterly skill.

He has been accused of disparaging the Christian religion in a very artful manner, suppressing or belittling its most glorious achievements, and giving undue prominence to every blemish or stigma brought upon it by hypocrisy or fanaticism. Perhaps he should be allowed. to speak for himself.

A pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new vigor from opposition, and finally erected the triumphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the capital.— Chap. 15:1.

Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the established religions of the earth. To this inquiry an obvious but satisfactory answer may be returned, that it was owing to the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of its great Author.- 15: 3.

If we consider the purity of the Christian religion, the sanctity of its moral precepts, and the innocent as well as austere lives of the greater number of those who during the first ages embraced the faith of the gospel, etc.- 16 : 1.

The pure and sublime idea which they entertained of the Supreme Being, escaped the gross conception of the Pagan multitude. 16:7.

The Pagan multitude, reserving their gratitude for temporal benefits alone, rejected the inestimable present of life and immortality, which was offered to mankind by Jesus of Nazareth. His

mild constancy in the midst of cruel and voluntary sufferings, his universal benevolence, and the sublime simplicity of his actions and character, were insufficient, in the opinion of those carnal men, to compensate for the want of fame, of empire, and of success; and while they refused to acknowledge his stupendous triumph over the powers of darkness and of the grave, they misrepresented, or they insulted the equivocal birth, wandering life, and ignominious death, of the divine Author of Christianity. 168.

The pure and simple maxims of the gospel.

The faith which is not founded on revelation, must remain destitute of any firm assurance.

23:5

These extracts are a sufficient endorsement of the Christian faith. Gibbon's disbelief in the natural immortality of the soul may have been one cause of the complaints against him. His shafts do not seem to have been directed against true religion, but against its counterfeit, the men and institutions that took the name of Christ, but had a spirit wholly at variance with His, as the following brief extract will show.

The zeal of the Christian sects was embittered by hatred and revenge; and in the kingdom of a suffering Messiah, who had pardoned his enemies, they aspired to command and persecute their spiritual brethren.- 57: 17.

87. Whitefield and Wesley.- No other two men have ever exerted so strong an influence on the religious life of England as did John Wesley and George Whitefield. They were the founders of Methodism, both in England and in America. Whitefield was without a rival in pulpit eloquence and field preaching. Immense