G-81K, 
 
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 HEBREW POETRY. 
 
 
 a 
 
 SUNDAY AFTERNOON LECTURES 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 The Greensboro Law School, 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. ROBERT P. DICK, 
 U. S. District Jiidge. 
 
 ^.A. MUSE <* Cq 
 
 UHHAM, N.-O. 
 
 GREENSBORO: 
 
 C. F. Thomas, Book and Job Printer. 
 
 1883. 
 
Library of the 
 University of North Carolina 
 
 Endowed by the Dialectic and Philan- 
 thropic Societies 
 
 tfti. 
 
HEBREW POETRY. 
 
 Sunday Afternoon Lectures 
 
 BEFORE 
 
 THE GREENSBORO LAW SCHOOL, 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. ROBERT P. DICK, 
 U. S. District Judge'. 
 
 GREENSBORO: 
 C. F. Thomas, Book and Job Printer. 
 
 1883. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, by 
 
 ROBERT P. DICK, 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
 
LECTURE I. 
 
 The Influence of Poetry on National Development. 
 The Influence of the Bible on Modern Civilization. 
 
 Poetry is an interesting and instructive part of a nation's 
 history, as it is a production of the intellectual and moral 
 faculties, feelings and sentiments of the people. 
 
 These faculties, feelings and sentiments are awakened 
 and intensified, in a great degree, by the spectacles of 
 natural beauty and usefulness presented in the earth, seas 
 and skies, which are produced by the wondrous combina- 
 tions of physical laws and agencies everywhere evidencing 
 a wisdom, power and goodness, higher, purer and vaster 
 ,than human intellect and benevolence; and ever lifting the 
 soul in love, adoration and praise to the great Creator and 
 benefactor, and to the immortal life of a higher and more 
 effulgent glory yet to come. In the poetry of a nation 
 we can feel the pulse-throb of national life that shows its 
 healthful development or decay. 
 
 In the history of the past we find that a poetic spirit 
 has existed in a more eminent degree in some nations than 
 in others; but among all the higher types of mankind — 
 those races which have exerted a marked influence upon 
 human progress — poetic feeling and sentiment seem to 
 have permeated the entire mass of the population. These 
 feelings and sentiments were imperceptibly formed by the 
 pure aspirations, affections and emotions of man's better 
 nature. They were the spirit-voices of the true, the 
 beautiful and the good which rose above the jarring dis- 
 j cords of selfishness, passion, prejudice and strife that 
 t> marred the happiness and beauty of everyday life, and 
 
 to 
 
blended into the sweet harmonies of domestic joy and 
 the noble amenities and gentle charities of social com- 
 munion and brotherhood. 
 
 The Samian philosopher, in studying the principles of 
 music, and observing the order, regularity and harmony 
 with which the celestial bodies moved through the heavens, 
 formed the beautiful conception that the spheres of dif- 
 ferent magnitudes and velocity, by striking against the 
 ether, produced a music unheard by mortal ears, but ever 
 swelling in glorious harmonies. Modern science, in dis- 
 covering the universal power of gravitation which controls 
 the motion of the planets as they roll in perfect harmony 
 and beauty in the vast fields of immensity, has not entirely 
 dispelled the old philosophic dream, and the imaginative 
 mind still fancies that the morning stars have not ceased 
 the song they sang at creation's dawn, when the "sons of 
 God shouted for joy." How beautifully is this idea present- 
 ed by Shakespeare in the Merchant of Venice. 
 
 " Look how the floor of heaven 
 Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold. 
 There is not the smallest orb which thou beholdest 
 But in his motion like an angel sings, 
 Still quiring to the young-ey'd Cherubins; 
 Such harmony is in immortal souls, % 
 
 But whilst this muddy vesture of decay 
 Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." 
 
 Science has made us acquainted with the existence and 
 with some of the influences of gravitation, but we know 
 very little of the source, nature and extent of that 
 wondrous power that pervades the universe. As this 
 incomprehensible force regulates and controls the motions 
 and relations of the celestial bodies, so there are mysteri- 
 ous and all-pervading influences which link the hearts of 
 mankind with chords of kindred sympathies. From these 
 interlinking and intermingling heart-chords many sponta- 
 neous thoughts, feelings and emotions of the soul sound 
 out and blend into the sweetest harmonies of life — just as 
 the viewless winds wake soft molodies on yEolean harp- 
 
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 strings. These soul harmonies give inspiration to genius. 
 They form and color the ideal conceptions of the artist; 
 they are heard in the music of the simple home song, the 
 ballad of the minstrel, the enchanting opera, the sublime 
 oritorio and the soul-thrilling anthem. The poet gives 
 them sweet utterance in the musical elegance and pathos 
 of the lyric, and the eloquent strains and flowing rhythm 
 of epic verse. 
 
 In. the infancy of nations, like in the time of childhood, 
 we find the imaginative faculties more highly developed 
 than the reasoning powers. The literary memorials .of 
 nearly every people, in their first rude stages of develop- 
 ment — the period of national childhood — are the songs of 
 bards which give expression to earnest and impassioned 
 popular thought, imagination and feeling in language 
 glowing with enthusiasm and highly wrought imagery. 
 In the more advanced stages of progress, experiment, 
 education and other elements of civilization produce the 
 profound maxims and truths of science and philosophy, 
 and teach the more practical duties and destinies of life; 
 but the poetic feelings and sentiments which influenced 
 earlier generations are not destroyed, as they are deeply 
 implanted in the human heart, and they are elevated and 
 refined by the ennobling and expanding influences of the 
 enlightened mind; and they waken and vibrate with 
 harmony when the mystic strings of the heart are touched 
 by some./naster hand of genius. 
 
 The real and full history of a nation never has, and never 
 can be written, as the various and minute causes and events 
 which form and regulate national life pass away like the 
 germs, the buds and blossoms of spring that change into 
 the golden harvests of summer and the rich fruits of the 
 autumn. 
 
 We see grand social and political results, and in some 
 degree comprehend the proximate causes which produced 
 them, but we know very little of the minute original ele- 
 
ments which were silently and mysteriously combined to 
 form such proximate causes. The little first elements of 
 human development are fully known only to the Infinite 
 Mind that mingled them together into creating and con- 
 trolling powers. Thus it is in the natural world. We see 
 some of the results of the tempest — hear the reverberat- 
 ing thunder and are dazzled with the gleaming lightning, 
 but we know little of when, where, how and why were 
 formed the cloud-chariots in which the majestic storm 
 moves in grandeur through the darkened skies. 
 
 We see the rich landscape spread out in vernal beauty, 
 but we are unable by any process of artistic analysis to 
 tell with completeness and accuracy how its lights and 
 shades and various objects were produced and skilfully 
 blended into picturesque loveliness. We see the ever- 
 rolling river as it moves grandly to the sea, widening and 
 deepening as it flows, but we cannot trace its course back 
 to the thousand springs that swell its volume as they 
 trickle from mountain crags or with musical gladness gush 
 from the bosom of the valleys. 
 
 Thus it is with a nation's poetry. There were thous- 
 ands of humble hearts that, in poverty and obscurity, 
 throbbed with loves, hopes, joys and fears, and, almost 
 unconsciously, produced thoughts and fancies of the finest 
 poetry that mingled with a nation's literature; just like 
 the perfume of flowers mingling into a balmy atmos- 
 phere, or like tiny rippling rills swelling the currents of 
 broad and sun-bright rivers, that flow with majestic 
 harmony and join the sublime and ever-sounding sympho- 
 nies of the seas. 
 
 We cannot tell when and how God sows the seeds of 
 the wild flowers, that steal into bloom and perfume and 
 embellish the earth; how with sunshine, rain drops and 
 gentle dews, and the various agencies in His wondrous 
 laboratory, He changes the scattered grain of the husband- 
 man into the golden harvests; how He keeps in perennial 
 
flow the limpid fountains that supply the singing rills 
 'that keep fresh the verdure of the hillsides and the valleys; 
 and how He teaches the joyous birds to trill their glad- 
 some notes of melody. 
 
 God formed the earth as a beautiful home for man, and 
 it was consecrated with His benediction and the songs of 
 the angels. He also gave to man the faculties for per- 
 ceiving and appreciating the true, the beautiful and the 
 good, and enabled him to express his feelings and emo- 
 tions of love, joy, hope and devotion in the rhythmic 
 strains of poetry and the sweet, soft notes of melody. 
 Poetry and music may well be considered as ministering 
 angels which ever keep in living purity and freshness on 
 earth some of the bliss of the sinless Eden. 
 
 The poet who said "Let me write a nation's songs, and 
 I care not who writes its laws," was, by no means, a 
 visionary enthusiast, but he was a profound philosopher, 
 who, by intuition, observation and experience, had learned 
 some of the strong influences which mould a nation's life. 
 The songs and poems of a nation are important elements 
 in its history, and they furnish the words, thoughts and 
 imagery that sparkle like jewels in its language and lit- 
 erature. 
 
 While the Welsh Bards lived their nation was uncon- 
 querable. With rude minstrelsy they aroused the enthu- 
 siastic patriotism of that brave and imaginative people 
 who loved liberty and the craggy mountains and wild 
 valleys that lie between the Severn and the sea. 
 
 The simple songs which are sung in the cottages among 
 the Hartz mountains and beside the Baltic, the Danube 
 and the Rhine link even the self-exiled German to the 
 memories and scenes of the Vaterland with ties of love 
 and devotion which time and distance are powerless to 
 break. 
 
 The Ranz des Vaches is indeed to the Switzer a song of 
 home, and when heard even in the fairest climes of the 
 
8 
 earth causes tears of love to flow, and carries his heart 
 
 * 
 
 back again to the humble cottage where his mother nursed 
 him in the Alpine glen. 
 
 The Marseillais Hymn inspired French patriots with 
 dauntless heroism in the early years of that grand revolu- 
 tion which so long filled Europe with mourning and the 
 horrors of strife and carnage, and resulted in misery and 
 martial glory, but not freedom to France. 
 
 "God Save the Queen" is intimately associated with 
 England's greatness and renown, and keeps in glowing 
 life the national love and loyalty of those brave and gal- 
 lant sailors and soldiers whose reveille greets the rising sun 
 as it gilds with morning light every clime of the earth. 
 
 " The Star Spangled Banner " fills every patriotic Amer- 
 ican heart with love and pride for that glorious land whose 
 flag of stars is the emblem of freedom, and whose protec- 
 tion and power are co-extensive with the globe. 
 
 "Home Sweet Home" is one of the dearest and most 
 touching domestic lyrics that human voice has ever sung, 
 and is almost worthy of the lips of the sinless Seraphim. 
 Its tender pathos causes the eyes to fill with tears and 
 the bosom to swell with the holiest and purest emotions. 
 
 " Old Hundred " makes us think of brave, noble and 
 glorious old Luther, and it is one of the grandest te deums 
 that ever rose from human hearts and swelled through 
 ,the aisles and arches of the earthly temples of Jehovah. 
 
 The grand events of the battlefield, the policies of 
 rulers, and the laws of legislative assembliesformrenowned 
 epochs in a nation's history, but they furnish little knowl- 
 edge of its inner life, or those secret causes which silently 
 and surely formed and developed its destiny. If we view 
 only the few transactions preserved by the historic muse 
 we will not possess a more accurate idea of the peculiar / 
 characteristics of a nation than we would have of its geog- 
 raphy and scenery by catching glimpses of the grand out- 
 lines of its country through the hazy curtain of the distance. 
 
9 
 
 How little would the traveler know of Scotland by 
 standing upon the castle of Edenboro and gazing over 
 
 "That land ot brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood." 
 
 He would see Holyrood surrounded by the hallowed 
 memories of Scotland's royalty. He would see the ivy- 
 clad ruins of old baronial castles, where Wallace, the 
 Bruce and Douglas fought for freedom; but he would 
 know little 
 
 "Of those hills of glorious deeds, 
 
 Those streams renowned in song, 
 The blithesome braes and meads, 
 
 Our hearts have loved so long." 
 
 He might see through the azure distance Ben Lomond 
 and Ben Nevis, stern and wild, baring their rocky breasts 
 to the storm as they had done for ages, but he would 
 know nothing of Lock Katrine and Lock Lomond resting 
 so placidly among the Highlands, and ever reflecting 
 images of the beauties of nature that enchant their shores; 
 or of the heathery hillsides where Roderick Dhu and 
 MacGregor trod as lords, and were as free and fearless as 
 the wild eagle of the mountains. He might see the gray 
 Grampian and the Cheviot hills, the shimmering sunlight 
 on the misty moorlands, the shining Forth and the lofty 
 cliffs that mark the course of the distant Clyde, all blend- 
 ing into landscapes of imposing grandeur and rural beauty; 
 but he would know nothing of the humble kirks where, 
 with earnest hearts, a noble and hardy yeomanry meet to 
 worship God in their father's simple faith, and where are 
 heard the mournful requiems of the shadowing elms be- 
 neath whose quivering shades the hero martyrs of the 
 Covenant sleep in hallowed graves. 
 
 He would know nothing of the virtue, contentment 
 and domestic bliss of the cotter's home; or the simple 
 joys in the hamlets on the " Banks of Doon," where 
 the Ploughman Poet sang his matchless lays; or of the 
 
IO 
 
 musical rills and trysting trees in the shady glens where 
 many a Highland Mary listened to the whispered vows of 
 love. 
 
 No one can know the history of Scotland, with all its 
 thrilling incidents and sacred memories unless he has read 
 her ballad minstrelsy and the matchless poems of her 
 mighty sons of genius, who have invested her with the 
 halo of song and old romance, made her a home of poesy, 
 and enshrined her name in every heart that loves the 
 true, the beautiful and the heave. 
 
 On many pages of recorded history we find some evi- 
 dence of the influence of poetry in the formation of 
 national character. The age of Homer was the com- 
 mencement of Grecian glory. His transcendent genius 
 not only gave immortality to his country, but created 
 classic literature. His wonderful poems kindled those 
 fires of patriotism, freedom and love of glory in his na- 
 tion's heart which in after times shone so brightly in the 
 wisdom of her philosophers and law-givers, in the match- 
 less productions of her painters and sculptors, in the 
 immortal tragedies, epics and songs of her poets, in the 
 indomitable valor of her heroes and in the thrilling elo- 
 quence of her orators. His magic touch unsealed the 
 fountains of Castalia and Hippocrene and made all the 
 hills and vales of Greece the homes of the gods and the 
 haunts of the Muses. Who can ever think of Greece, and 
 forget the mighty bard who breathed the inspirations of 
 genius into her national life. Her political power has 
 passed away, her magnificent temples are now in ruins, 
 the remnants of her art treasures are scattered over the 
 civilized world, and the blood of the heroes of Marathon 
 now flows in the veins of degenerate sons. The mourn- 
 ful ^Egean among green isles and on rocky shores is ever 
 murmuring a lament for the departed glory of old Hellas, 
 but still the light of her poetry is as immortal as her 
 starry skies and golden sunshine, and lingers around that 
 
II 
 
 classic land and makes it a sacred shrine to every lover 
 of freedom, art and letters. 
 
 I will devote but a few moments in considering the 
 history of the once proud mistress of the world and her 
 nobly gifted sons of song. She drank deeply of the blood 
 of carnage, revelled long amidst the spoils of conquest, 
 and for centuries the great throbbings of her passionate 
 heart were felt throughout the grandest empire of the 
 ancient world. Her Catos, Scipios and Caesars are gone. 
 Her Emperors who wielded an iron sceptre over the 
 world are dust and ashes. Not one stone of the capitol 
 is left upon another. The Coliseum is still a grand and 
 glorious ruin. Where once sounded the eloquence of the 
 Forum and Senate Chamber is now heard the plaintive 
 cry of the beggar; and the Campus Martius where once 
 victorious legions trod in the martial pomp and pride of 
 the triumph, is now covered with the homes of poverty 
 and the dens of infamy and crime. But her poets still 
 live and will live forever. In their day they shed an im- 
 mortal glory upon their country which survived her costly 
 palaces, stately temples and imperial power, and sent 
 gleams of intellectual light over the whelming deluge 
 of Vandal invasion, and materially assisted in kindling 
 the splendid dawn of the renaisance day. During the 
 night time of the Middle Ages the voice of song never 
 became silent, but cheered the heart and elevated the 
 mind of ignorant, superstitious and oppressed humanity in 
 the nations of Western Europe. The poems of Caedmon, 
 the Saxon, stand first on the rich pages of English litera- 
 ture. The songs of the Troubadours gave a cultured 
 language and refined manners to Provence and Languedoc, 
 and poetic literature was the pride and glory of the 
 Oriental civilization of Southern Spain. 
 
 Dante may well be regarded as the greatest pioneer in 
 the cause of freedom and intellectual progress, and we 
 cannot read the history of the revival of learning in 
 
12 
 
 Europe without being impressed with the important influ- 
 ence of his poetry, and of that of his brilliant successors, 
 upon the progress of modern civilization. 
 
 When we turn to the pages of English history to study 
 the causes which produced the intellectual development 
 and advancement of our own ancestors, we find that 
 Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare and Milton led the van- 
 guard of progress, and were amongst the greatest bene- 
 factors of their race. The influence which they exerted 
 will last as long as the English language is spoken, and 
 will be as widespread as the rich beneficences of English 
 institutions and literature. 
 
 In this place I cannot dwell longer upon a theme so 
 suggestive, so extensive, so diversified and so full of im- 
 portant instruction; but I will now turn to Hebrew poetry 
 and literature which will be the subject of my future 
 lectures. 
 
 This is the richest and most beautiful field of literature 
 and philosophy ever presented to human contemplation. 
 It is a field in which intellectual giants have wrought, 
 whose lips were touched with hallowed fire and whose 
 inspired genius uttered the most momentous truths, and 
 waked the grandest and sweetest notes of immortal 
 harps. Here our minds can be elevated and enriched with 
 the profoundest wisdom, and our souls be enraptured with 
 scenes of loftiest sublimity, and with prophetic visions il- 
 lumined with supernatural splendors. Here we can some- 
 times feel that we are beneath the shadow of the Al- 
 mighty, and can almost hear the echo of the songs of the 
 angels. Here in thought and fancy we can revisit the 
 blissful Eden home where the fruitful trees of life by 
 crystal rivers were growing, where the landscape was 
 bright with golden light and emerald verdure, and the 
 musical air was redolent with ambrosial odors from yel- 
 low meads of asphodel and from amaranthine bowers. 
 
 Hebrew literature must always be a subject of interest- 
 
13 
 
 ing study and contemplation to the human mind, for it 
 has exerted a wonderful and controlling influence upon 
 the intellectual, moral and social development of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Hebrew poetry is also the great fountain of living 
 waters, whose perennial currents have # irrigated the world 
 of letters, and given life and beauty to so many of the 
 bright and sweet flowers of genius that bloom in the rich 
 and varied fields of human thought. 
 
 The most acute, profound and enlightened minds, after 
 long and laborious investigation, have not been able fully 
 to comprehend the extent of the influence of the Bible 
 upon the happiness and progress of mankind. It reaches 
 over the whole course of human destiny. Unlike other 
 histories the Bible presents no fabulous ages. With the 
 Bible as a guide, we can trace the course of human pro- 
 gress back through the darkness of oblivious centuries 
 to the primal, sinless home in Eden, where God formed 
 man in His own image and breathed into his nostrils the 
 breath of life, and man became a living soul ; and we can 
 go still further back to the time when in the beginning God 
 created the heavens and the earth, and spoke those 
 gloriously sublime words, " Let there be Light," heard 
 only by the angels. 
 
 I cannot pause to consider at any length the influence 
 of the Bible upon the civilization of the various nations 
 of antiquity. The Old Testament scattered rays of light 
 that penetrated the surrounding darkness and illumined 
 the minds of ancient sages, philosophers, law-givers and 
 poets, and threw some gleams of brilliance upon the 
 institutions which they formed, and upon the immortal 
 literatures which they gave to mankind. Investigations 
 upon this subject have been made by learned men of 
 modern times, and the results of their labors are impres- 
 sive and wonderful. Even the annals of profane history 
 and literature teach us that the Bible is the source of most 
 
H 
 
 of those high and noble thoughts, truths and principles 
 which have illumined and beautified the moral and intel- 
 lectual life of mankind and regulated correct human 
 action. It has not only given religion, beneficent civil 
 institutions and rich literatures to the nations of Christen- 
 dom, but has contributed all that is elevating and valuable 
 in the faith of Islam. It has not only affected the political 
 destinies of States, but has permeated the whole structure 
 of civilized society and shed its hallowing light over the 
 loves, hopes and joys of domestic life. 
 
 I propose, in this place, very briefly to refer to the 
 influence of the Bible upon the literature and aesthetic 
 culture of modern times. The Bible was the principal 
 cause of the revival of letters in Europe, and controlled 
 the various agencies that contributed to the production 
 of Christian civilization. 
 
 The dawn of the renaisance day was not produced by 
 the sudden exercise of omnific power, like that which sent 
 the light in kindling splendors over the face of chaos, 
 but still it was tne result of the same Omnipotent direc- 
 tion. The dark ages were not only times of disintegration 
 and decay, but they were also times of recreation and 
 development, in which were commingled and combined 
 various causes to produce grand results. The tides of 
 Vandal barbarism that swept over the provinces of Western 
 Europe produced great moral and intellectual darkness, 
 but Grecian literature shone with a feeble light on the 
 shores of the Bosphorus, and Oriental culture illumined 
 the capitals of the Califs and the Moorish cities of 
 Spain. These elements of civilization were largely intro- 
 duced into Western Europe by the crusades, and produced 
 a reviving and enlightening influence. As the human 
 mind became more enlightened it was prompted to inves- 
 tigation and enquiry, and began to collect and concentrate 
 the scattered rays of moral and intellectual light that 
 existed in the surrounding gloom. There never was a 
 
15 
 
 complete intellectual midnight in the nations of Christen- 
 dom. Mankind became greatly corrupted by the de- 
 moralizing influences of ignorance, superstition and 
 hierarchal and feudal tyranny ; the public services of 
 Christian worship degenerated to almost pagan idolatry, 
 but still in many a secluded valley, obscure home and 
 lonely cloister the Bible kept alive the light of Christian 
 truth and faith in many a pious heart, and kindled hopes 
 and aspirations for a higher and more glorious destiny 
 for man. These obscure homes of Christianity were pure 
 little fountains from which trickled many tiny intellectual 
 and moral rills, that flowed onward, like the mystic river 
 of Ezekiel's vision, and continued to widen and deepen 
 their currents, receiving into their bosom and purifying 
 the streams of classic civilization until the nations were 
 refreshed into more vigorous life and rejoiced in their 
 combined and vivifying beneficences. 
 
 During the Middle Ages manuscript copies of the Bible 
 were few and costly, and could be obtained only by the 
 wealthy and great; and the policy of the Romish Church 
 had made the Scriptures almost a sealed book to the 
 multitude, but the poetry of old Israel dwelt in the hearts 
 and memories of the people, and the paintings of Bible 
 scenes, sketched by the rude limners of Christian art in 
 the Catacombs and Churches of Mediaeval Europe kept 
 alive the ardent faith and hopes of pure Christianity. 
 
 While the winds, the earthquakes and the fires of God's 
 retributive judgments swept over the face of Europe, the 
 same "still small voice" that spoke to Elijah in the cave 
 of Horeb, spoke again to many earnest and devout 
 Christian men and sent them forth with all the zeal and 
 energy of the old prophet to collect, cheer and comfort 
 the scattered remnants of the spiritual Israel who would 
 not bow the knee to Baal. During this dark period 
 poetry an*d art were the principal conservators of Bible 
 truth, which they taught to the multitude, and they were 
 
i6 
 
 used by an All-Wise Providence as important agents in 
 producing modern civilization. They were the herald 
 angels of the dawn that awoke the minds and hearts of 
 Europe with songs of joy and visions of beauty. They 
 inspired Dante when he struck his solemn lyre and thrilled 
 mankind with new pulses of life, and^soon all the nations 
 were filled with the sublime melodies of responsive harps. 
 » Then Giotto, with the touch of genius, gave new inspira- 
 tion and beauty to Christian art which was soon illumined 
 by the glorious light shed by Da Vinci, Raphael and 
 Angelo. 
 
 Then music, with enchanting power, began to wake 
 higher and sweeter strains — the prelude notes that after- 
 wards swelled into the sublime oratorios of Handel, 
 Mozart and Beethoven. Then the spirit of freedom, 
 which had been entombed in the ruins of the past, began 
 to stir the minds and hearts of men to break the chains 
 of civil and religious bondage which had so long repressed 
 free thought and intellectual energy. Soon the mighty 
 influences of partially emancipated and enlightened 
 thought exhibited their vivifying powers. The preaching 
 of Wickliffe was heard on the banks of the Thames, like 
 the voice of another forerunning prophet crying in the 
 wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his 
 paths straight." The tones of this grand message rang 
 in echoing cadences among the hills of Bohemia as Huss 
 and Jerome were marching to the stakes of martyrdom, 
 and a century afterwards the evangel of Luther was heard 
 in the Church of Wittenburg, sounding like the silver 
 trumpet of the Jubilee, proclaiming universal freedom of 
 thought, and then the grand march of the Reformation 
 began which conducted mankind from the darkness of the 
 past into the ever-brightening realms of the future. 
 
 I will not so far forget the truths of history as to deny 
 to classic learning its just claims in the intellectual regen- 
 eration of mankind, but I insist that its influence was only 
 
i7 
 
 of secondary importance when compared with the elevat- 
 ing, ennobling and enlightening power of the Bible 
 Classic learning cultivated and refined the taste and 
 intellect; the Bible educated the mind and heart by 
 bringing out the highest thoughts and purest emotions 
 and sympathies of man's better nature, and elevated the 
 soul in its aspirations for a higher and nobler life in this 
 world and in eternity. 
 
 Classic learning has contributed to only a few of the 
 branches of knowledge, while the Bible has poured its 
 treasures of virtue, truth, wisdom and holiness into the 
 whole structure of society. Even in the department of 
 the fine arts the Bible has done more than antique models 
 in inspiring artistic genius with those ideal conceptions 
 of the grand and beautiful which have touched the heart 
 and won the admiration of mankind. Most of modern 
 sculpture was formed after antique models, while nearly 
 all of the grandest paintings of the Old Masters were Bible 
 scenes. The productions of the chisel are cold, colorless 
 and lifeless; they charm the eye and cultivate the taste, 
 but speak not to the heart, while the warm, glowing and 
 life-like Bible pictures, around which the imagination 
 throws a halo of sacred associations, fill the heart 
 with high and holy emotions, give the pulses a quicker 
 throb, make the tear drops start, and thrill the soul with 
 the eloquent ecstacies of prayer. 
 
 I will not dwell longer, in this place, upon the influence 
 of the Bible in producing and controlling the civilization 
 of Christendom, but may refer to the subject again in 
 subsequent lectures. 
 
 The Bible has a wonderful inherent power of self- 
 preservation and protection. It has encountered and 
 triumphed over the learning, philosophy, genius and 
 prejudices of the most enlightened nations of the ancient 
 world ; passed unharmed through the intensely heated 
 furnaces of persecution ; been severely tried by the strong 
 
i8 
 
 opposition of principalities and powers ; the blasphemous 
 criticisms of infidels ; the irrational cavils of learned and 
 accomplished skeptics, and the incomplete discoveries 
 and crude theories and conjectures of modern science. 
 Like gold, it has been purified in the fire ; like the fabled 
 Antaeus, it has been strengthened by apparent overthrow. 
 Now enlightened science is becoming its strongest ally, 
 and the sharp attrition of infidel intellect has been like 
 the wheel of the lapidary polishing the diamond and 
 bringing out its purest and brightest lustre. 
 
 All persons, who, in any age, have carefully studied the 
 Bible, with an honest and earnest purpose of obtaining 
 the truth, have found, like Jacob wrestling with the angel, 
 that they have received rich intellectual treasures and 
 consoling spiritual hopes and blessings from the Most 
 High. 
 
 In the course of lectures which I purpose to deliver to 
 you I will speak of some of the literary excellencies 
 and beauties of the Bible, and of the peculiar character 
 and genius of the people to whom it was delivered by its 
 divine Author, with the sincere hope that my imperfect 
 efforts may induce you to enter with earnest hearts and 
 minds upon these rich and beautiful fields of history, 
 philosophy and poetry. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 Education, Character and Laws ot the Hebrews. 
 
 In order to understand and properly appreciate the 
 richness and beauty of the literature of the Hebrews the 
 student should make himself familiar with their history 
 and language; with the geography and scenery of their 
 country; with their laws and civil and religious institu- 
 tions; with their manners and customs, and other charac- 
 teristics that distinguished their peculiar national life; so 
 that in imagination he can transport himself back to the 
 age in which they lived and catch some of the spirit that 
 animated them while performing their part in the great 
 drama of civilization. 
 
 This information can, in some degree, be acquired and 
 comprehended by a careful and devout study of the Bible, 
 which is now the entire library of the history, literature 
 and philosophy of that ancient and most wonderful nation 
 of mankind. I feel sure that we lose much of the sublimitv 
 and literary beauty of the Old Testament by not being 
 able to read it in the original tongue. But few of us can 
 find time in the midst of our professional pursuits to 
 acquire a critical knowledge of the peculiar structure of." 
 such a difficult, ancient and unspoken language, and we 
 must content ourselves with the English translation, and 
 with such imperfect information as to the spirit and genius 
 of the original as may be derived from the treatises and 
 commentaries of learned and accomplished Hebrew 
 scholars. 
 
 The English Bible, if thoroughly studied, will furnish. 
 us with treasures of lofty thought and poetic imagery 
 which will enrich our minds with the highest wisdom, and 
 
20 
 
 fill our hearts with pure and elevated emotions, and give 
 us a vivid conception of the glorious beauty of Hebrew 
 literature. 
 
 The history of the Hebrews is rich in thrilling incidents, 
 and can be distinctly traced back through the dim and 
 shadowy regions of the past to the genesis of the nation, 
 and then onward through an unbroken genealogy of their 
 ancestors to the childhood of the human race. No nation 
 can boast of such a proud heraldry as the Hebrews, and 
 they exerted an animating and controlling influence upon 
 all the nations with whom they came in contact. This 
 influence among the nations may well be compared with 
 an ever-flowing stream, producing fertility and verdure in 
 all lands touched by its refreshing waters. 
 
 Although the sacred records of the Hebrews have 
 much internal evidence of their truthfulness, still 
 they are confirmed by impartial science which translates 
 aright the language which God has written on the surface 
 and the strata of the earth ; by the invaluable researches 
 of comparative philology, which proves that the whole 
 earth was of one race and one speech ; by the crumbling 
 monuments of Egypt, and memorials dug from the graves 
 of buried cities ; by the habits and customs of many 
 neighboring nations which have remained unchanged for 
 three decades of centuries ; and by the universal tradi- 
 tions which have come down from pre-historic ages. 
 
 The history and poetry of the Hebrews are so intimately 
 commingled that their history glows with poetry and 
 their poetry is full of history. Everywhere on the golden 
 thread of narrative are strung the precious and priceless 
 pearls and gems of poetic thought. 
 
 The book of Genesis is the only authentic account 
 which we have of the primeval history of mankind for 
 twenty-five hundred years. The most recent writer in 
 the Old Testament was contemporary with Herodotus, the 
 father of profane history. More than a thousand years 
 
21 
 
 intervened between Moses and Malachi, and although the 
 sacred books of the Hebrews contain such a multiplicity 
 of topics and variety of contents, and were the productions 
 of various minds ; composed in different ages and under 
 different circumstances, they exhibit a wonderful continuity 
 of spirit, thought, style and purpose, and are evidently 
 but parts of one book, emanating from one divine source. 
 The Bible is an intellectual and moral phenomenon with- 
 out a parallel in the worjd of letters. It stands in the 
 fields of literature as a sublime original. It may be com- 
 pared to the sun, which is ever shedding its inherent and 
 unwasting warmth and brightness that fills the earth with 
 beneficence and beauty, and kindles the twinkling radiance 
 of planets and stars in the vast and deep bosom of im- 
 mensity. 
 
 From the earliest period of their national existence the 
 Hebrews were far in advance of surrounding nations in 
 intellectual and moral culture. 
 
 Education occupied a prominent place in their civil and 
 religious institutions. The fathers of families were strictly 
 enjoined to instruct their children in the national 
 laws, history and sacred literature. The system of educa- 
 tion established by Moses and required by law to be 
 observed, was general in its application, and tended to 
 develop all the intellectual faculties and moral feelings of 
 the nation. No child of genius was prevented by penury 
 and neglect from drinking at the pure fountains of truth 
 and learning. The gates of knowledge were ever open 
 and accessible to all, and duty required everyone to enter 
 and possess the rich fruits of accumulated wisdom, and 
 contribute to the constantly increasing store. Every one 
 from chilhood was taught the learning of the nation and 
 the highest and noblest duties and responsibilities of life. 
 Thus all the intellectual and moral faculties and energies 
 of the nation were fully developed; and the day of 
 Hebrew civilization continued to brighten until it reached 
 
22 
 
 its noontide splendor in the age of Solomon ; when its 
 light and glory was shed upon surrounding nations, and 
 was transmitted to succeeding ages. 
 
 Under the laws and institutions of Moses the priests 
 and Levites had no inheritance, except the cities that were 
 appropriated to them for residences, and they were sup- 
 ported by tithes annually collected from the tribes. By 
 divine direction they were set apart for religious services, 
 and as instructors of the people. . They formed a sacerdotal 
 order, but they had no means of acquiring large estates 
 which would give them undue influence, and they could 
 not obtain political power by operating upon the super- 
 stitious fears of the people. They could make no united 
 and concentrated effort to unduly control the political 
 institutions of the State, as under the wise laws of Moses 
 their prophetic destiny was accomplished, they were 
 " divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel." They were 
 made special guardians of the laws, and as their mainten- 
 ance depended upon the existence and observance of the 
 laws, self interest prompted them to oppose innovations 
 and revolutions in the State. Thus they constituted a 
 conservative and intelligent political element, ever active 
 in preserving the peace and good order of society, and 
 always contributing to the mental, moral and religious 
 culture of the people. They occupied this important 
 position during most of the period of the commonwealth, 
 but in the days of Samuel many associations for a higher 
 public education were formed, called Schools of the 
 Prophets. 
 
 These schools were attended by the young men of 
 Israel, where they were taught the laws and literature of 
 their country, and were instructed in sacred music. The 
 teachers of these high schools occupied prominent positions 
 in all legislative assemblies, and they gave public instruc- 
 tions on the Sabbath and at the great national festivals. 
 From these schools, in a subsequent age, God called most 
 
23 
 
 of those inspired messengers who constituted "the goodly 
 fellowship of the prophets," and who left such a glorious 
 literature for the Hebrews and for all mankind. 
 
 The moral, social and political character of the Hebrews 
 has been the subject of much investigation and discussion, 
 and I think that they have not always been treated with 
 the fairness and liberality which have been accorded to 
 other nations. The only history of the ancient Hebrews 
 is contained in the Old Testament. This history is sternly 
 truthful, and was written under the influence of divine in- 
 spiration for the purpose of guidance and instruction to 
 the nation in its future progress, and also for the benefit 
 of all succeeding ages. No national pride and love of 
 country influenced the prejudices and warped the judg- 
 ments of the sacred historians and induced them to 
 unduly panegyrize their countrymen and fill their annals 
 with the highly wrought creations of fiction and fable. 
 Their narratives are facts and not fancies, and they are 
 filled with important truths and not moral and social 
 theories. They were the stern censors of national vices 
 and not the apologists of error and crime. They wrote 
 not for self-fame, or to stimulate national vanity and 
 ambition, and thus win popular applause. They wished 
 to reform and regenerate their people by showing to them 
 the heinousness and folly of sin and disobedience to 
 Jehovah, and point out the true paths of individual and 
 national prosperity and glory. 
 
 In judging the character of the Hebrews by their 
 history, we subject them to a sterner ordeal than is applied 
 to any other nation. The historians and poets of Greece 
 and Rome employed all the powers of their inventive 
 faculties to win fame for themselves and to advance the 
 glory of their nation; and their productions were filled 
 with highly wrought eulogy and fascinating fables. Most 
 of the events and incidents mentioned in the Iliad and 
 ^Eneid are ingenious fictions, and the imagination of the 
 
2 4 
 
 poets made heroes and demigods out of rapacious and 
 cruel chieftains. Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon T 
 Livy, Sallust and Tacitus did more for the renown of 
 Greece and Rome by the partiality and brilliancy of their 
 fancy than was achieved by the wisdom of philosophers 
 and statesmen, and the real exploits of generals and 
 consuls. 
 
 In modern times we find the fame of nations and the 
 character of races, in a great degree, dependent upon the 
 partiality, patriotism and creative genius of historians and 
 poets. 
 
 In instituting a comparison between the Hebrews and 
 other nations we should not forget this important fact, 
 that the character of one is sternly and truthfully de- 
 lineated by inspired penmen, while the character of other 
 peoples are idealized by the partial pencils of human 
 genius. 
 
 We also do great injustice to the Hebrews by judging 
 them according to the standard of our own times. They 
 lived in an age of almost universal moral barbarism. 
 They were not surrounded by nations of highly cultivated 
 tastes, refined sensibilities and elevated sentiments, and 
 could not, by social and commercial intercourse, receive 
 the accumulated blessings of an advanced and rapidly 
 expanding civilization. 
 
 To them the oracles of divine truth were obscurely 
 communicated by types and ceremonies of worship, and 
 the symbolic teachings of priests and prophets. Their 
 minds and hearts were not illumined, as ours have been, by 
 the glorious light of the Gospel, and by the numerous 
 manifestations of a Divine Providence for eighteen hundred 
 years. We certainly would be unjust judges if we pro- 
 nounce judgment of condemnation against the Hebrews 
 because they do not come up to the present standard of 
 Christian enlightenment and virtue. 
 
 In forming our opinion of the character of the ancient 
 
25 
 
 Hebrews our judgments are too much warped and preju- 
 diced by supposing them to have been like the bigoted, 
 fanatical and cruel Jews who rejected, persecuted and 
 crucified our Saviour. We seem to forget the moral 
 degeneracy of the race produced by centuries of dissension 
 and discord, calamity and servitude; by the loss of the 
 sacred symbols of the first Temple; their noble and in- 
 spiring language; the voice of prophecy and the elevated 
 spirituality of their religious faith, and also by the cor- 
 rupting influence of pagan civilization with which they 
 were brought into more immediate contact by the exten- 
 sion of Persian, Grecian and Roman conquest. 
 
 The Greeks of the time when St. Paul visited Athens 
 were not like the Greeks who fought at Marathon and 
 Salamis. The Romans who yielded a servile submission 
 to Alaric were wholly unlike the citizens of republican 
 Rome who, with heroic fortitude and dauntless valor,' sur- 
 rounded theCapitol when they heard the tremendous tidings 
 of Cannae. Why should we judge the Hebrews by a differ- 
 ent standard ? Why should we reverse the orderof divine 
 judgment and visit the sins of the children upon the fathers? 
 
 If we will divest ourselves of the prejudices which have 
 been engendered in the Christian world by the conduct of 
 the Jews towards our Saviour, and calmly judge the ancient 
 Hebrews by the age in which they lived, the circumstances 
 by which they were surrounded, and the influences which 
 they have exerted upon all subsequent times, we must 
 come to the conclusion that the Chosen People of Jehovah 
 were not only a great but a wonderful people. 
 
 I will now briefly refer to the influence of the civil laws 
 of Moses in forming the character of the ancient Hebrews, 
 and in promoting the peace and prosperity of the nation 
 by cementing the bonds of social and political union, and 
 thus insuring a constantly progressive civilization. The 
 subject is worthy of a more extended notice than the 
 limits of this lecture will allow. 
 
26 
 
 When we consider the antiquity of those laws, the moral 
 darkness of the age in which they were promulgated, the ' 
 consummate ability and extensive knowledge which they 
 display, and the vivifying influences which they have so 
 long exerted upon the destinies of mankind, we must feel 
 that they were the productions of supernatural genius and 
 wisdom and are worthy of our constant study and most 
 devout veneration. 
 
 The Hebrews were a nation pre-eminently governed by 
 law. The books of the law not only regulated the political* 
 social and domestic relations of the people, but were the 
 text books of their education and culture, and penetrated 
 and permeated their entire literature. The principles of 
 those laws constituted an integral and important part in 
 all historical, prophetical and poetical writings, and influ- 
 enced the emotional and thought-life of the people. 
 
 It is not my purpose critically to analyze those laws 
 and point out their variousexcellencies. This subject has 
 been fully considered and elaborated with much ability by 
 Prof. Wines in his commentaries on the Laws of the 
 Ancient Hebrews. I will quote with approbation the 
 concluding paragraph of the chapter on Fundamental 
 Principles: 
 
 " Such then, as T conceive, were the great ideas and 
 fundamental principles which lay at the basis of the 
 Hebrew State. The unity of God, the unity of the nation, 
 civil liberty, political equality, an elective magistracy, the 
 sovereignty of the people, the responsibility of public officers 
 to their constituents, a prompt, cheap and impartial 
 administration of justice, peace and fellowship with other 
 nations, agriculture, universal industry, the inviolability 
 of private property, the sacredness of the family relations, 
 the sanctity of human life, universal education, social 
 union, a well adjusted balance of powers, and an enlight- 
 ened, dignified, venerable public opinion were the vital 
 elements of the constitution of Moses. What better basis 
 
27 
 
 of civil polity, what nobler maxims of political wisdom 
 does the nineteenth century offer to our contemplation, 
 despite its boast of social progress and reform. The 
 institutions founded on these maxims tower up amid the 
 barbaric darkness and despotism of antiquity, the great 
 beacon light of the world; diffusing the radiance of a 
 political philosophy, full of truth and wisdom, over all the 
 ages which have succeeded that, in which they were first 
 promulgated to mankind." 
 
 We refer to this subject in this place only for the purpose 
 of drawing the legitimate inference, that there must have 
 existed a condition of high moral, social and intellectual 
 advancement among the Hebrews after they had reached 
 the Promised Land and become a well organized nation 
 under the laws and institutions of Moses. 
 
 Surely there can be no better evidence of the character 
 and condition of a people than the system of laws which 
 they reverence and cheerfully obey; for a system of laws 
 is always regarded as the concentrated wisdom and expe- 
 rience of a nation — an index of public virtue and intelli- 
 gence and a standard of civilization. 
 
 With such civil and political laws and institutions we 
 cannot be surprised that the Hebrews have bestowed such 
 rich intellectual and moral treasures upon mankind. In 
 this respect they have partially fulfilled the promise which 
 God made to Abraham as the reward of his sublime faith, 
 "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 
 
 Although the nations of modern times have received 
 such manifold blessings from the Ancient Hebrews, they 
 do not fully recognize the fact and gratefully acknowledge 
 the obligation they owe to that God-chosen people. The 
 rulers, statesmen, jurists and scholars who now control 
 the destinies of nations and advance the progress of 
 civilization, are disposed to regard the classic nations of 
 antiquity as the primal sources of wisdom, knowledge and 
 refined culture, when in truth those nations only dimly 
 
28 
 
 reflected the intellectual light which emanated from the 
 greater orb of truth and wisdom that shone over the land 
 of Palestine. 
 
 A candid, intelligent and industrious enquirer after 
 truth, when he fully examines the history, laws, institu- 
 tions, moral teachings, and the learning and literature 
 of the ancient Hebrews, and then traces the benign 
 influences which they exerted upon other ancient nations 
 and then upon the Gospel dispensation and upon Christian 
 civilization, will greatly admire and venerate that people 
 whom God chose as the depositaries of His sacred oracles 
 and as the pioneers of human progress. 
 
 The Hebrews were indeed pioneers in the fields of 
 moral and intellectual progress. They possessed a liter- 
 ature abounding in the enlightened principles of jurispru- 
 dence and social advancement, enriched with instructive 
 historic truths and adorned with the highest strains of 
 poetry before the keel of Cecrops broke the ALgean 
 wave or Cadmus taught his alphabetic mystery to the 
 rude warriors of Thebes. 
 
 For the purpose of preparing the Chosen People for 
 their great and distinctive destiny, God established 
 among them peculiar laws and institutions which kept 
 them from mingling with and being contaminated by the 
 demoralizing influences of surrounding nations. 
 
 Thus was generated a national pride and caste which 
 prevented them from being imitators and copyists, to 
 much extent, of the manners, customs and thoughts of 
 other peoples. After their settlement in Palestine their 
 literature became as distinctive and peculiar as their civil 
 and religious institutions, and for several centuries re- 
 mained comparatively free from the admixture of foreign 
 elements, and was enlarged and enriched by the produc- 
 tions of native genius. In their national seclusion they 
 studied carefully the rich volume of nature presented in 
 their fertile and beautiful land, and from thence they drew 
 
2 9 
 
 many of their sublime thoughts and appropriate meta- 
 phors. With poetic ardor they loved the sweet and quiet 
 vales with murmering streams and gushing springs. To 
 them the odorous breezes were musical as they whispered 
 through olive groves and clustering vineyards, or gently 
 waved the plumed palms; and their souls were filled with 
 emotions of grandeur and sublimity when the fierce storm- 
 king swept the cedar harps of the mountains. Their 
 habits and occupations inclined them to poetic conceptions. 
 Most of them were, in the early periods of their history, 
 husbandmen, vinedressers and shepherds, dwelling -in 
 pastoral simplicity in the humble homes for which they 
 had a title from Jehovah. They were not then restless 
 and greedy for gain, but in calm, rural repose, they trusted 
 to the watchful guidance and care of their covenant-keep- 
 ing God. In this condition of contentment and serenity 
 their minds and hearts were prepared to receive vivid im- 
 pressions of the beautiful. Day by day they witnessed 
 the soft radiance of the dawn and breathed the fragrance 
 of the morning, and when their pleasant labors were ended 
 they gazed with rapture upon the golden glories of the 
 evening skies. When the early and latter rains came they 
 rejoiced at the prospects of plenty ; and at the time of 
 the harvest and the vintage they went forth with glad- 
 some songs to reap the golden sheaves and gather the 
 purple clusters, rich and heavy, for the foaming wine-press. 
 When they drove their bleating flocks to where the pastures 
 were green and the cool waters were flowing, or wandered 
 with their lowing herds upon the breezy hills, their eyes 
 were filled with scenes of quiet beauty, and their minds 
 with glorious thoughts, and these scenes and thoughts 
 were softened and sanctified when the solemn stillness of 
 the night was resting on the slumbering earth. 
 
 When the silvery moonbeams softly glisten 
 And all is hushed save the voice of the soul, 
 And the silent stars gently wink and listen 
 While heaven's eternal melodies roll. 
 
30 
 
 We will not dwell in this place upon the scenery and 
 natural beauties of the land of Palestine, but reserve the 
 subject for consideration in a subsequent lecture. 
 
 In our next lecture we will consider the noble language 
 in which Hebrew thought was enshrined and transmitted 
 as a precious and invaluable legacy to all succeeding ages. 
 
LECTURE III. 
 
 The Hebrew as a Poetical Language. 
 
 The poetry of the Hebrews was written in one of the 
 oldest of human languages that has been preserved in a 
 written literature. Some learned philologists were of the 
 opinion that the Hebrew was the original language of 
 man, and was directly communicated to Adam in Para- 
 dise, and at the confusion of tongues was preserved by 
 Divine Providence in the family of Heber, who did not 
 engage in the impious work of the tower-builders of 
 Babel. We have the highest authority for believing that 
 there was once an age in which " the whole earth was of 
 one language and of one speech." We also know that God 
 confounded this common language of mankind, and did 
 so for the purpose of scattering them as different peoples 
 over the earth. We have no facts to induce the belief 
 that the original language existed in its primal structure 
 among any of the newly formed races, and there are many 
 plausible conjectures which tend to show the truth of a 
 contrary hypothesis. A common language was a strong 
 bond of union that made the human race one people, and 
 we are inclined to think that when the race was divided 
 into different peoples by the confusion of their speech 
 the original language ceased to have an entire and dis- 
 tinctive existence. 
 
 The verbal analogies and affinities which existed in all 
 the primitive languages clearly show that they sprung 
 from the same parent stock, which seems to have perished 
 in furnishing vital sap to its various offshoots. 
 
 Much careful investigation has been made, and many 
 plausible theories have been suggested upon this subject, 
 
32 
 
 but no conclusion has been reached entirely satisfactory 
 to all learned philologists. 
 
 I am of the opinion, from the very limited investigation 
 which I have been able to make, that the Hebrew was 
 a dialect of a language spoken by various ancient Shemitic 
 nations of Western Asia, and was formed into a distinctive 
 language, like other cultivated languages have been formed 
 from grafts without and germs within, and grew with the 
 increasing wants and intelligence of the people. 
 
 I am also of the opinion that the antediluvians reached 
 an advanced stage of civilization, which was transmitted 
 by Noah and his family to the post-diluvian races. From 
 this source the Assyrians and Egyptians derived much of 
 that knowledge and culture which enabled them to exhibit 
 such advancement in the arts and sciences at the earliest 
 historic eras. The ancestors of Abraham, although 
 idolaters, were not barbarians, and they possessed an 
 organized language, and perhaps a written literature. This 
 language was carried by Abraham into Canaan, and soon 
 after that period of migration was enlarged and elevated 
 in giving expression to the sublime monotheistic truths 
 and glorious promises which Jehovah communicated to 
 his chosen servant. It also received accessions from 
 the cognate speech of the Canaanitish tribes among 
 whom the Patriarchs dwelt so long in peaceful and familiar 
 intercourse. The descendants of Jacob dwelt for several 
 centuries among the Egyptians, who were the most highly 
 civilized people of that early age, and their superior learn- 
 ing and culture must have had some influence upon the 
 language of the subject race. 
 
 The tribes of Isreal cannot properly be considered as a 
 nation until the time of the Exodus, when Moses, by a 
 peculiar code of laws and novel institutions, gave them an 
 independent and distinctive national existence. He was 
 possessed of splendid genius and a strong, practical intel- 
 lect, and was familiar with all the learning and literary 
 
33 
 
 culture of his times; and was, moreover, divinely com- 
 missioned and inspired for his great work of liberating 
 his oppressed people, and preparing them to be a peculiar 
 people unto the Lord. For the purpose of effecting this 
 design we may well suppose that he made changes and 
 modifications in the then existing language of his people, 
 so as to suit the conditions of their new and peculiar 
 national life. 
 
 I believe that it is now generally agreed among scholars 
 that the art of alphabetic writing existed long anterior 
 to the age of Moses, and that many ancient nations of 
 Asia possessed a written literature. The ancestors of 
 Abraham lived in a land which was the starting point 
 of civilization, and we know tliat the Hebrew Patriarchs, 
 by their intelligence and force of character, occupied a 
 distinguished position among their Canaanitish and 
 Phoenician neighbors. We may well suppose that the 
 chosen people, with their many advantages, were not 
 destitute of the learning and arts which existed in their 
 age in the country in which they sojourned, and in the 
 immediate vicinity. For more than a century after their 
 migration into Egypt they were in much favor with the 
 kings and nobility of that highly civilized people. They 
 must have had at least some memorials consisting of 
 well defined traditions of ancestral history, earnest hymns 
 cf thanksgiving and praise; and many important events 
 must have been commemorated by ballads and songs, the 
 voices of their intelligent thought-life and elevated 
 affections and emotions. It requires no unreasonable 
 stretch of fancy to suppose that such a people had made 
 as great advancement as other nations with whom they 
 were in constant association. Some scholars think that 
 the book of Genesis contains portions of various smaller 
 books which were the sacred literature of the Patriarchal 
 Church, and were in the possession of the Hebrews while 
 in Egypt, and were combined and enlarged by Moses 
 
34 
 
 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Upon this subject 
 there is much contrariety of opinion among Biblical 
 scholars, and I have not the space in a lecture, or the 
 learning properly to discuss the matter. 
 
 We believe that the Pentateuch in its present literary 
 form is the work of Moses. We think we are sustained 
 in this opinion by the internal evidence which the work 
 affords, and by the uniform history and traditions of the 
 Hebrew nation. We find the Pentateuch in a language 
 of mature development in the earliest periods of Hebrew 
 national history, and it was always regarded with sacred 
 veneration by the nation, and as the standard of their 
 literary culture. 
 
 Some philologists suppose that Moses was the author 
 of the written language of the Hebrews and formed it as 
 a sacred language under the same divine influence which 
 inspired him with supernatural wisdom in constructing 
 his civil and religious institutions. In studying God's 
 wondrous plan in developing human civilization, there is 
 no necessity for supposing the exertion of His miraculous 
 power, where results can be reasonably accounted for by 
 natural causes and processes controlled by His usual 
 providences. Be this as it may, the fact that such a 
 sublime literature and language existed among the 
 Hebrews at such > an early period of their national 
 existence furnishes strong evidence that they were an 
 intellectual people of considerable culture. They had 
 been much demoralized by the oppressions of a hard 
 bondage and by the corrupting influences of Egyptian 
 society, and this literature was intended to produce a 
 moral regeneration, and before the end of the long desert 
 pilgrimage this object was, in some degree, accomplished. 
 They frequently heard the reading of their history and 
 laws; they witnessed the grand and awful manifestations 
 at Sinai; the imposing services of the Tabernacle; the 
 numerous beneficences of Jehovah, and His just and severe 
 
35 
 
 chastisements. This discipline of the desert, and the 
 wise instructions, the patient forbearance and paternal 
 care of Moses greatly elevated the character of the 
 Hebrews and prepared them for their noble destiny in the 
 Promised Land. 
 
 As we cannot read the Hebrew language, in speaking 
 of its force, richness and beauty we can only express 
 some of the opinions of scholars who have written upon 
 the subject. This language is peculiar for the number of 
 verbs and their derivatives that abound in its structure. 
 In every language the verb is the animating power, the 
 vital principle, that gives the force, energy and beauty of 
 human thought and emotion. Herder says, "in the 
 Hebrew the verb is almost the whole of the language. It 
 is an abyss of verbs, a sea of billows, where motion, action 
 rolls on without end." He makes the language speak 
 and say, "I live, move and act. Tne senses and the 
 passions, not abstract reasoners and philosophers, were 
 my creators. Thus I am formed for poetry, nay, my 
 whole essence is poetry." That eloquent poet and learned 
 and accomplished Hebraist also remarks that the lan- 
 guage is barren of mere abstract terms, but rich in words 
 representing sentiment, passion, emotion and the various 
 objects of nature. 'Tt is the very breath of the soul. It 
 does not claim the beauty of sound like the Greek, but 
 it breathes and lives. Such it is to us who are but partially 
 acquainted with its pronunciation, and for whom its deep- 
 er gutturals remain unuttered and unutterable. In those 
 old times when the soul was unshackled, what fullness of 
 emotion, what store of words that breathe must have 
 inspired it. It was, to use an expression of its own," 
 " The spirit of God that spake in it. The breath of 
 the Almighty that gave it life." Such was the language 
 in which the thoughts, feelings and emotions of the ancient 
 Hebrews were enshrined and transmitted to succeeding 
 ages. We have but little information as to the growth of 
 
36 
 
 the Hebrew language during the commonwealth which 
 existed for four hundred years. The books of Joshua, 
 Judges and Ruth contain a short and fragmentary history 
 of those times, but they were probably written in a subse- 
 quent age. We know, however, from the writings which 
 certainly existed before and after the commonwealth that 
 no marked dialectical or idiomatic changes were made in 
 the vocabulary or structure of the cultured and literary 
 language. 
 
 The Pentateuch possessed such inherent literary excel- 
 lence, was so full of the highest wisdom, was so frequently 
 read and studied and was so devoutly venerated by the 
 people, that in the midst of so many national vicisitudes 
 it preserved the literary language from any change but 
 that of very gradual development. Although we have 
 so few literary remains of those times we are well satisfied 
 that the people did not live in a condition of intellectual 
 sloth and barrenness. They often violated thei* covenant 
 with Jehovah and were visited with the severe chastise- 
 ments of His corrective providence, but they enjoyed 
 long intervals of prosperity, peace and divine favor, and 
 observed the laws and institutions established by Moses 
 for the promotion of intellectual and moral culture. 
 Toward the close of the commonwealth the Hebrews had 
 reached such a condition of intelligence as "to require a 
 more enlightened system of mental and religious instruc- 
 tion than that afforded by the Priests and Levites, and to 
 meet this requirement Samuel organized the Schools of 
 the Prophets. Up to that time the Pentateuch was the 
 library of their legal and religious literature and the chief 
 repository of the vocabulary of their sacred and cultivated 
 language, but the active and inventive intellect, and the 
 highly imaginative and emotional nature of the people 
 must have produced a rich and varied literature, the out- 
 growth of their social and domestic condition, and ex- 
 pressed in the popular dialect of common life. That was 
 
37 
 
 the poetical and heroic age, and from the few glimpses 
 which we have of its history we feel sure that it was full 
 of scenes and events well calculated to arouse the emotions 
 and inspire the genius of an earnest and imaginative race, 
 and like other primitive peoples, they must have expressed 
 their vivid conceptions and fervid emotions in the language 
 of poetry and song. The Hebrews of subsequent times 
 regarded the period of the commonwealth as a glorious 
 era in their history, and with patriotic affection and pride 
 they cherished the ballads, songs and traditions of their 
 heroic ancestry. 
 
 The Hebrew language reached its highest condition of 
 culture in the age of David and Solomon, and from the 
 time of Hezekiah it commenced to decline by the com- 
 mixture of foreign elements, and almost ceased to be a 
 spoken language during the Babylonish captivity. The 
 Hebrews were in captivity only seventy years, and yet 
 when a small portion of two of the tribes, called from 
 about that time Jews, returned from exile, there were only 
 a few of the most learned scribes who could write, trans- 
 late or speak the noble language of their forefathers. 
 
 The Jews never spoke or became familiar with the old 
 language, and the Scriptures used in the synagogue 
 worship were translated by interpreters into the Aramaic 
 tongue until theSeptuagint version furnished the Scriptures 
 in a rich and beautiful language, understood by all intelligent 
 Jews who dwelt in the limits of the Alexandrian Empire. 
 Among the educated Jews who dwelt in Palestine and 
 Babylon the old Hebrew still remained as the language 
 of literature and as it was used by the Rabbins and 
 learned Doctors of the Law. The Hebrew never again be- 
 came a vernacular speech. Portions of the Latin and Greek 
 still exist as living elements in some of the languages of 
 Modern Europe, but the old Hebrew as a vital speech no 
 longer breathes from living lips, and its thoughts are alone 
 embalmed in the hearts and memories of mankind. 
 
3« 
 
 Although we cannot fully, comprehend the accents 
 and cadences of dead languages, they are well adapted 
 for the preservation of the thoughts and characteristics 
 of nations. They are stereotyped in form and are not 
 subject to the changes and modifications of a living speech. 
 They retain much of the force and brilliancy of national 
 thought, but as they lose the rhythm, harmony and 
 passionate energy of pronunciation they do not fully repre- 
 sent the fervid emotions and affections that animated the 
 hearts of the people. 
 
 Although so many historic truths and literary treasures 
 are embalmed in a dead language, still it is like a gallery of- 
 painting and statuary. In the productions of the painter 
 we see and admire skillful imitation and delicacy of finish, 
 but we know that the copied scenes and objects do not 
 equal the living and glowing beauties of nature which 
 inspired the genius of the artist. 
 
 The most perfect statue, wrought with exquisite and 
 marvelous skill, and combining the beauties and excel- 
 lences selected from various living forms by the quick 
 discerning eye and cultivated taste of the artist, are inad- 
 equate representations of the animated forms of symmetry 
 and grace, which inspire the heart with purer and nobler 
 emotions of the beautiful than the highest ideals of genius. 
 
 Apelles, with matchless skill, painted Campaspe and 
 won the favor and gold of Alexander, but he could not 
 copy that inimitable beauty which inspired his heart with 
 a love dearer to him than wealth and immortal fame. 
 
 All the voices of the past are voices from the grave. 
 Nations, although dead, still speak through their preserved 
 literatures and teach us much valuable knowledge, but 
 we cannot hear the glowing and thrilling eloquence and 
 tender pathos of the living speech that once so intensely 
 expressed their varied thoughts and emotions. 
 
 In the natural world we can find many illustrations of 
 the familiar truth which we have presented, but we will 
 
39 
 
 make only one reference. A frozen stream may be as 
 clear as crystal and sparkle and gleam in the sunlight, 
 but it has none of the motion and melody of the living 
 waters as they murmur among the rocks or ripple on 
 the sandy shore. In one condition the stream is invested 
 and surrounded by the brilliant but cold beauties of 
 nature, while in the other it flows onward in musical tones 
 amid the bloom, verdure and freshness of Spring and the 
 golden richness of the Summer. 
 
 The old Hebrew language has uttered no living voice 
 for more than twenty centuries, and the most learned 
 Hebraist of our times, after the deep silence of so many 
 ages, cannot revive the cadences of its pronunciation, and 
 thus form an adequate conception of the liquid flow and 
 melody of those grand anthems, that, on the waves of 
 music and song, swelled through the courts and porches 
 of Solomon's "magnifical temple;" or feel the full force 
 of those sublime and eloquent rhapsodies which Isaiah, 
 with fervid heart and burning lip, once uttered to his 
 rebellious and disobedient countrymen. 
 
 We judge of the variety, extent and wealth of a nation's 
 thought from the copiousness of language preserved in 
 its literature. Language is a symbol of ideas, and is 
 gradually formed and extended by the operation of the 
 national mind. It is the embodiment of national thought, 
 and enables us to feel, in some degree, the pulse throbs 
 of the national heart. In the refined and cultivated 
 language of a people we find their most elevated and 
 matured thoughts, but their elegant literature does not 
 contain much of the simple dialects which vividly express- 
 ed the earnest feelings and sentiments of the common 
 people in private life, and which often glowed with ex- 
 quisite gems of poetry. 
 
 Who can ever forget or undervalue the treasures which 
 Burns has contributed to our literature by his matchless 
 songs and poems written in the Doric dialect of humble 
 
40 
 
 life, full of vivid pictures, and expressing, in such simple 
 and tender pathos, the feelings and sentiments of his 
 peasant countrymen. In his simple home songs beautiful 
 thoughts and fancies sparkle and gleam around his rhyth- 
 mic words like sunshine and dew drops upon the fresh 
 flowers of the morning. 
 
 The books of the Old Testament contain the remains 
 of Hebrew literature produced during the period when 
 the language was spoken. These books were written 
 under divine inspiration and were intended principally for 
 the specific purpose of developing the riligious life of the 
 Chosen People. They furnish many domestic and social 
 scenes of exquisite beauty, but they, by no means, contain 
 the entire literature of the home life of the Hebrews. 
 Nearly all of this literature has been lost, and with it 
 much of the variety and richness of the language, thought 
 and emotions of the nation. 
 
 From the various translations of the Old Testament 
 the learned philologist is enabled to make a comparative 
 estimate of the richness and variety of the vocabulary of 
 the original tongue. This experiment has been made by 
 accomplished scholars, and they have found that in words 
 expressing passionate energy, affection and the fervent 
 emotions of the soul, and in giving distinctive descriptions 
 of the various objects of nature the Hebrew has a more 
 copious and appropriate vocabulary than the Greek, the 
 Latin or the English. Such classes of words in every 
 language are principally used by poets, and from these 
 comparative estimates we may readily conclude that the 
 Hebrews were endowed with higher poetic capacities and 
 sensibilities than those refined and richly gifted nations 
 whose immortal works of genius constitute the great 
 mass of classical literature. 
 
 Every literary production is deprived of much of its 
 original power and beauty by translation, although it may 
 be translated into a language of more extensive verbal 
 
41 
 
 resources and higher culture. A little flower taken from 
 an Alpine cliff and transplanted into a warm and fertile 
 garden in the valley loses the delicate tints of coloring 
 which adorned it while blooming amid eternal frosts on 
 the verge of the avalanche. 
 
 Every literary production was the outgrowth of popular 
 taste and feeling, and exhibited its purest beauty and 
 exerted its greatest influence among the people for whom 
 it was originally intended. 
 
 Translations of the rude ballads and war songs of the 
 Scandinavian Scalds produce in us none of the enthusiasm 
 and lofty courage with which they inspired the hearts of 
 the old Vikings and their followers as they fought in 
 bloody forays, or struggled with the cold storms and 
 waves of the northern seas. 
 
 Pope, one of the most gifted and accomplished of Eng- 
 lish poets, spent many years in the laborious and careful 
 translation of the Iliad. He gave a classic to literature 
 which glitters with the wealth and rhythmic elegance of 
 the English language, but it is wanting in that mystic 
 power of genius with which the Blind Harper electrified 
 the proud cities of Hellas and Ionia, and threw the halo 
 of immortal fame around the valiant heroes who fought 
 before the walls of Troy. 
 
 An American audience of the highest classic culture 
 would not listen with any degree of patience to the 
 repetition in our language, by the most gifted and accom- 
 plished histrionic artist, of those tragedies which once made 
 the statesmen, warriors* philosophers, orators and poets of 
 Athens weep for the misfortunes of the ill-fated CEdipus 
 and the heroic Antigone, and listen with breathless awe to 
 the story of the wronged, forsaken and revengeful Medea. 
 
 Who can now feel the full force of that eloquence which 
 once rang with sublime thoughts and rich cadences over 
 the temple-crowned Acropolis, and which Phillip of 
 Macedon dreaded more than all the armies of Greece ? 
 
42 
 
 Who can now comprehend the magic power of that 
 magnificent oratory by which the timid Tully controlled 
 the destinies of war-loving Rome ? 
 
 No translator can do full justice to the literature of an 
 ancient and dead language, as he is incapable of catching 
 the spirit and inherent beauties of the original. There 
 are idiomatic peculiarities about the old Hebrew which 
 present many difficulties to translators in obtaining the 
 true spirit and rhythm of the original. It is very ancient, 
 and there is no cognate contemporary literature with 
 which it can be be compared, and which might aid in 
 elucidating linguistic obscurities. The writers of the Old 
 Testament were under the guidance of the Holy Spirit 
 and translators cannot feel the divine afflatus whichinspired 
 the hearts and genius of the old Hebrew prophets and bards. 
 
 The Hebrew letters in present use date no further back 
 than to the time of the captivity, and the vowel points 
 and accents used in the connection of syllables, words 
 and sentences, serve but to show. how the Jewish scholars 
 of subsequent times expressed the Hebrew when these 
 changes were introduced, and how they themselves under- 
 stood the text. The ancient Hebrew, in which the Old 
 Testament was originally written, was a pure consonantal 
 text, and the consonants were so arranged as to indicate 
 the appropriate vowel sounds to a reader familiar with the 
 living language. The vowels were unseen, and circulated 
 as the blood of the language. But after the old Hebrew 
 lost the force and freedom of a living tongue these phonetic 
 and fluent elements of speech could not be fully understood 
 and properly applied so as to bring out its entire richness 
 and melody. The sublimity of thought, the historical 
 value and the credibility of the Old Testament still 
 remained: — it lost only its original literary form to some 
 extent. The notation of vowels and accents, made after 
 the language ceased to be spoken, supplied, in some 
 degree, its flexibility and elasticity, and made it utter 
 
43 
 
 many of its ancient voices of emotion and melody which 
 thrill the souls of mankind. 
 
 The Old Testament has been remarkably well trans- 
 lated into the English language. More than half of the 
 words of our English version are Anglo-Saxon, a language 
 eminent for its simplicity, terseness and power of expres- 
 sion — some of the characteristics of the old Hebrew. 
 The English Bible is the grandest and most beautiful book 
 in our literature. It owes some of its literary excellence 
 and form to the rich, forcible and rhythmic flow of the 
 English tongue, but the grand thoughts and graphic 
 pictures that illumine its pages are the products of the 
 Hebrew mind, which have lost much of their force and 
 exquisite literary excellence and beauty in passing into 
 translation. The sunlight in passing through the camera 
 depicts with accuracy and beauty the human face and 
 the grand objects of nature, but the sketching sunbeams 
 do not fasten the glow that beams around the objects 
 which are copied. Thus our English Bible furnishes but 
 a photographic picture of Hebrew life, and does not give 
 the full literary force and beauty of the thoughts and 
 eloquent utterances of the old Hebrew bards which 
 awakened such thrilling emotions in the hearts of old 
 Israel. 
 
 All philologist agree that the etymology and structure 
 of a language, its peculiar idioms and dialects, and the 
 changes which it undergoes in the process of development, 
 furnish important information as to the characteristics of 
 a people. Language is the voice of the thought and 
 emotional life of a nation, and is necessarily a valuable 
 portion of its history. The old Hebrew, although imper- 
 fectly understood, furnishes internal evidence that it was 
 formed and spoken by a noble people of high mental and 
 moral culture who lived in primeval times, in pastoral 
 simplicity and in a beautiful land and clime. It is em- 
 phatically a religious and emotional language, formed, 
 
44 
 
 from infancy to mature development, as it were, in the 
 presence of Jehovah and by His immediate tuition, and 
 influenced by grand events and wondrous providences. 
 
 The Aramaic, spoken by the Jews after their return 
 from the exile in Babylon, plainly shows the intellectual 
 and moral degeneracy produced by captivity, calamity 
 and servitude. They had forgotten the noble language 
 of their fathers and spoke in the rugged tongue of their 
 heathen conquerors, and yet this language of slavery was 
 glorified by the utterance of divine truths. It was the 
 original language of the Sermon on the Mount and the 
 beautiful and inimitable parables of our Saviour. 
 
 The Greek, so soft, so sweet, so expressive, so rich in 
 classic elegance and so harmonious in cadences, enables 
 us to form an incomplete but still vivid conception of the 
 acute, subtle, enlightened and imaginative race who lived 
 in the refined age when Pericles ruled, when Callistratus 
 reared and Phidias adorned the Parthenon. 
 
 The sonorous and stately rhythm of the Latin shows 
 that it was the language of a brave, aggressive and im- 
 perial people, and it sounds like the martial music that 
 regulated the measured tread of those invincible legions 
 who carried their victorious eagles into every land. 
 
 The Italian is the voice of that civilization which reared 
 the splendid basilicas and gorgeous palaces of Catholic 
 Rome, woke into melody the strings of Dante's and 
 Petrarch's lyre, and guided the pencil and chisel of 
 Raphael and Angelo as they formed those ideal creations 
 which have been the matchless models of art. 
 
 In the Spanish we can distinctly trace the commingled 
 elements of Roman civilization and Gothic vigor, tinged 
 with the Oriental culture of the Caliphs. The peculiar 
 features of the language, and the stern, bigoted and re- 
 lentless character of the Spaniard, were both formed in that 
 long, fierce and bloody conflict of eight hundred years be- 
 tween the Moore and the Goth— theCrescent and the Cross* 
 
45 
 
 The French is as soft, as gay and as versatile as the 
 brilliant women and accomplished courtiers who once 
 bowed the knee to royalty in the gilded saloons of Ver- 
 sailles; and it is filled with the accents of the rich and 
 melodious speech of sunny Provence in which the Trouba- 
 dours sang the songs of love, chivalry and old romance. 
 
 The German is the remarkable language of a remarka- 
 ble people. It has a rich and extensive vocabulary derived 
 almost entirely from an original stock, and has less com- 
 mixture of foreign elements than any other language of 
 Europe. It has a wonderful capability of developing itself 
 from its own substance. It seems to grow and expand 
 like a giant oak that has been strengthened by the sun- 
 shine and storms of centuries, deriving its sap from its 
 ancient roots, and ever extending its branches covered 
 with fresh, rich and living verdure and beauty. The 
 Germans have preserved more than any other nation of 
 Modern Europe the distinguishing characteristics of their 
 remote ancestors. Although their country has so long 
 been the battlefield of contending nations, they are still 
 the truest representatives of the Teuton race. Their 
 national progress seems to have been the result of inherent 
 resources called into active and energizing life by the 
 Reformation, and their language was solidified and en- 
 riched by Luther's version of the Bible. They have 
 wrought out for themselves a grand and distinctive liter- 
 ature and now occupy one of the highest intellectual 
 thrones among mankind. 
 
 In the English we find the language of a free, progres- 
 sive, world-impressing and world-embracing people. It 
 has drawn treasures from nearly every literature and 
 continues to expand in richness ^and fullness as the en- 
 lightened mind achieves new conquests in the various 
 realms of human thought. In the vocabulary of this 
 language we can distinctly trace its origin back to that 
 remarkable people, who, from the disintegrating elements 
 
4 6 
 
 of ancient civilization, created the nations and the civil 
 institutions of Modern Europe; and we can also readily 
 distinguish the proportions and relations of the various 
 races that were combined in the formation of the English 
 people. The principle elements of the English language 
 are derived from the Anglo Saxon and the Latin, the 
 noble languages in which are enshrined the principles of 
 freedom, justice and enlightened jurisprudence, and the 
 highest intellectual achievements of mankind. 
 
 If we had not reached the reasonable limits of this 
 lecture we would be pleased to consider more fully than 
 we have heretofore done the wonderful and controlling 
 influences which the Hebrew Scriptures through various 
 versions have exerted upon the languages, literatures and 
 civilizations of all subsequent ages. We feel that it 
 would be improper for us, in a brief and cursory manner 
 to speak upon such a rich, important and extensive 
 
 theme. 
 
 God divided mankind into various races by the con- 
 fusion of tongues at Babel, but His revealed word for 
 centuries has been exerting a reverse influence in bringing 
 different nations into closer connection and fellowship by 
 establishing a common literature which is ever tending to 
 a unification of all of the children of men. The invention 
 of printing has, under divine providence, enabled the 
 Christian Church to multiply copies of the Bible by mil- 
 lions and in nearly all the languages of mankind. It now 
 has the Pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit and all the 
 nations hear it speak to them in their own tongues the 
 wonderful works of God. 
 
 Withou entering into an extended argument to sustain 
 our conclusion, we venture to express the belief that 
 the English speaking peoples, with their enlightened laws 
 and institutions of freedom; with their incomparable 
 literature and with their rich, extensive, diversified and 
 rapidly expanding language, all moulded and invigorated 
 
47 
 
 by the Bible, are destined in the providence of God to 
 be the leading actors in evangelizing and civilizing the 
 world, and binding the various races of men in the bonds 
 of Christian brotherhood. 
 
 
 
LECTURE IV. 
 
 The Style of Hebrew Poetry. 
 
 In judging of the beauties and excellencies of the style 
 of Hebrew poetry we can gain but little assistance from 
 the principles and rules of poetic art and criticism which 
 have been established in other nations. It is so essen- 
 tially different from all other poetry in its structure that 
 we can hardly institute any comparison. 
 
 The Greeks sought to regulate all of their fine arts by 
 beauty and harmony of proportions and relations, and 
 were as carefully artistic in their metrical arrangement of 
 poetry as in the production of their elegant statuary and 
 architecture. In their poetry we find the exquisite pro- 
 ductions of linguistic and metrical art which have exerted 
 a refining influence upon the poetry of subsequent ages. 
 
 The use of rhyme in modern poetry has contributed to 
 its harmony of diction, but fettered the bold, strong and 
 sublime energies of creative genius. The origin of rhyme 
 is involved in obscurity, but it certainly did not exist to 
 much extent in the poetry of the Hebrews and of the 
 classic productions of antiquity. Rhyme is a creation of 
 modern art, while rhythm springs from the love which 
 exists in the human soul for order, harmony and beauty, 
 and spontaneously gushes out in music and song. Rhythm 
 of language has existed in all ages, and among most of 
 the civilized nations has been regulated by certain well 
 defined technical rules which constitute the art of poetry. 
 
 Hebrew poetry in the original language must have 
 been full of rhythm, as this characteristic is not lost by 
 translation into the rudest and most inharmonious speech. 
 This rhythm existed both in words and thoughts, and is 
 
49 
 
 so inherent and vital that the more literal any translation 
 of Hebrew poetry the greater are the beauties and melo- 
 dies which it transfuses into the foreign tongue. This 
 peculiarity does not exist to the same extent in any other 
 literature. Literal translations of ancient classic poetry 
 into our language are always prosaic, and the affluent 
 versatility of genius is required to give them the rhythm 
 and spirit of poetry. 
 
 The rhythm and poetry of the Old Testament Scriptures 
 are not confined to the strictly poetical books, but 
 sentences and verses of the finest poetry are found inter- 
 spersed in rich profusion in all their legal and historical 
 books. These poetic sentences and verses gleam like 
 jewels encased in gold, and the prevalence of such an ele- 
 ment in their didactic writings furnishes high evidence of 
 the imaginative temperament and genius of the Hebrew 
 people. 
 
 Although Hebrew poetry is so full of rhythm and 
 melody there is much doubt as to whether it was originally 
 regulated by any fixed and invariable rules of metrical 
 structure. This subject has called forth much ingenius 
 discussion and elaborate investigation, and still no definite 
 conclusions have been made which are entirely satisfactory 
 to Biblical critics and scholars. The pronunciation of the 
 language and its laws of syllabic quantity and accentuation 
 have long been lost, and the rules of its metrical arrange- 
 ment can never be correctly ascertained, as mankind can 
 never again hear its living tones. 
 
 Some writers have contended that the existence of such 
 rules of metrical arrangement can reasonably be inferred 
 from well established facts in Hebrew history. Music 
 and poetry are twin sisters of art and exert an influence 
 upon each other. The sacred writings frequently men- 
 tion various kinds of musical instruments, and music and 
 poetry were the subjects of study in the Schools of the 
 Prophets. The Hebrews celebrated their domestic and 
 
So 
 
 social festivals, their victories and parts of their religious 
 services with songs, instrumental music and the sacred 
 dance. From these well attested historical facts the 
 argument has been made that a people so familiar with 
 the melodies of sound and the graceful harmony of motion 
 could not have failed to perceive and appreciate the 
 pleasing rhythm and melody produced in language by 
 the proper adjustment of words and sentences, and that 
 this natural perception would necessarily have soon sug- 
 gested and formed artificial rules of metrical structure. 
 
 As we have no knowledge of the etymology and 
 grammatical structure of the Hebrew language we are not 
 qualified to express an opinion upon any internal evidence 
 which it furnishes as to the artificial metrical arrangement 
 of the Hebrew poetry. As translated in our English 
 Bible we find that the Psalms need none of the rules of 
 classic and modern versification to bring out their melody, 
 beauty of imagery and sublimity of thought, and when 
 chanted in the Church service they blend in sweet unison 
 with the splendid harmonies of the organ. We know of no 
 reason why Hebrew poetry should not have possessed the 
 same natural capabilities in the original language when 
 chanted in accompaniment to the instruments of music 
 in the Temple service. 
 
 When the Psalms were introduced into the liturgical 
 services of the Temple they must have been so arranged 
 and adapted to accompanying instruments of music as to be 
 sung in unison by the Levitical choirs and the congrega- 
 tion, but we are inclined to think that no fixed rules of 
 art controlled the authors in their original composition. 
 
 The Hebrew Bards were men of intense thoughts, 
 emotions and purposes, and their minds and hearts were 
 occupied in contemplating the grandest subjects. Their 
 poems were not simply the products of the imagination, 
 but were full of the solemn realities of eventful history 
 and their own personal experiences and emotions; their 
 
5* 
 
 joys, their sorrows, their faith, their love for God and their 
 devout ascriptions of thanksgiving and praise. 
 
 They were poets born, not made, and the breathings 
 of the Holy Spirit inspired their minds and animated their 
 hearts, and they uttered great truths, not only for their 
 own times, but for all the coming ages; and their earnest 
 thoughts and intense emotions were expressed in appro- 
 priate words, which were naturally arranged into rhythmic 
 cadences. They were under the guidance of that Omnis- 
 cience and Omnipotence which has filled the natural 
 world in infinite variety with a melody, beauty and 
 sublimity far surpassing the productions of the most exalted 
 human genius. What were the hanging gardens of 
 Babylon and the sumptuous palaces of Assyria, the 
 massive pyramids and grand temples of Egypt when 
 compared with the excellency of Carmel, the glory of 
 Lebanon and the grandeur of Hermon crowned with eternal 
 snow and yet robed in garments of verdure bright with 
 flowers and sparkling with dews ? What are all the parks 
 and gardens which human art has so elaborately arranged 
 and beautified to gratify the pride and cultivated taste of 
 the proud and great when compared with the majestic 
 primeval forest intersected with noble rivers gleaming in 
 sunshine or sparkling with the light of stars, and the wild 
 gardens which God has planted on the fertile hillsides and 
 in luxuriant valleys filled with exhuberant fruitfulness and 
 picturesque loveliness. 
 
 Nature needs none of the aids of human skill to regu- 
 late her voices of melody. The birds know no rules of art 
 as they sing their joyous lyrics. The winds and storms — 
 those wild, mighty and mysterious singers — observe no 
 certain metre when they hold their concerts among the 
 woodlands and the hills. No mortal corypheus leads the 
 choir of the jubilant rills, bounding cataracts and solemn 
 flowing rivers as they rehearse their eternal hymns, and 
 God alone touches the organ keys of the ocean and makes 
 
52 
 
 the billows swell in glorious symphonies over the vasty 
 deep and sound in sobbing tones or sublime anthems on 
 every shore. The finite mind of man may not be able to 
 comprehend and his heart to feel the divine harmonies of the 
 vast orchestra of nature, but in the ear of the Infinite 
 Leader of the choir of the universe they are ever rehearsing 
 • aright a grand oratorio. 
 
 With the exception of a few alphabetic and alliterative 
 poems found in the Old Testament Scriptures, the traces 
 of artificial metrical arrangement in Hebrew poetry are 
 too variant and indistinct to form any definite and coher- 
 ent system of poetic art. 
 
 The Hebrew bards fully understood the energy and 
 power of their language and also its capability of cadence 
 and harmony, and the sublime truths and thoughts given 
 and controlled by divine inspiration were expressed in 
 vivid and appropriate words and imagery, attended with 
 a thrilling rhythm of utterance which was natural and 
 not artificial. They were profoundly conscious of the 
 diverse emotions of the human soul and of the grandeur 
 and varied beauties of nature, but they never indulged in 
 glowing sentimentalism and extended picturesque descrip- 
 tion, which have employed so much of the elegant diction 
 of classic and modern poetic art. Their symbols and 
 metaphors were not used as graceful figures of rhetoric, 
 but as illustrations of divine attributes and to enforce the 
 great truths that absorbed all their thoughts. Their 
 enthusiasm was too intense and their conceptions too 
 vivid to be trammelled by any rigid rules of art. They 
 were nature's poets and God's messengers to mankind, and 
 their messages were for all the ages and were expressed 
 in language to touch the chords of every human heart. 
 
 We will now consider briefly the most plausible system 
 of rules which have been presented as to the artificial 
 structure of Hebrew poetry. Since the delivery of the 
 justly celebrated lectures of Bishop Lowth, the various 
 

 53 
 
 styles of Hebrew poetry have generally been included 
 under the generic name of parallelism. It is insisted 
 that such a poetic structure is not found to much extent 
 in any other literature. He defines the term to mean a 
 certain correspondence in words, sentences and thoughts 
 in parallel lines. Subsequent critics and scholars have 
 suggested additions and modifications to Bishop Lowth's 
 system, and presented many illustrative examples, but 
 all concede that there is an obvious rhythmical symmetry 
 of words, thoughts and members. This symmetry in 
 Hebrew poetry has been very appropriately styled 
 "thought rhythm," as all the ideas conveyed are in har- 
 monious accord, and in unison with the finest and purest 
 affections, sentiments and feelings of man's moral and 
 religious nature. It does not need the elaborate elegance 
 and delicate finish of art to display its excellence, but 
 with simple and inherent power it wakens a melody in 
 the soul which words cannot fully express, but which is 
 breathed in longing aspirations for a higher, holier and 
 immortal life. The parallelistic arrangement certainly 
 exists in the structure of Hebrew poetry. It may not be 
 as pleasing to an artistic and cultivated taste as the 
 euphony of rhyme or the modulated metre and musical 
 flow of blank verse and the Classic hexameter, but its 
 comparatively inartificial structure allowed greater free- 
 dom in the use of words and sentences, and was thus 
 better suited to express the grand and lofty conceptions 
 and emotions of an earnest, impassioned, imaginative and 
 primitive people. 
 
 We have a very limited knowledge upon this subject, 
 but it seems to us that too great a variety of species of 
 parallelism have been presented to admit of any definite 
 laws regulating their artificial structure. 
 
 Bishop Lowth divides the parallelism into three dis- 
 tinctive species, to which we will briefly refer, without 
 giving his full definitions and illustrations. 
 
54 
 
 The synonymous parallelism is more frequently used 
 than any other, and consists in the repetition of the same 
 sentiment in parallel lines in different but equivalent 
 terms. In illustrating this species of parallelism, an 
 English poet and critic finely remarked, ''In repeating the 
 same idea in different words the Hebrew muse seems as if 
 displaying a fine opal that discovers fresh beauty in every 
 new light in which it is turned. Numerous and beautiful 
 passages in the Old Testament might be cited as exam- 
 ples of this kind of parallelism. 
 
 The antithetic parallelism was also used by the Hebrew 
 bards in their didactic and sententious poetry when any- 
 thing was illustrated by its contrary being placed in 
 opposition, thus, 
 
 The heaven is my throne and 
 The earth is my footstool, 
 
 showing the importance and grandeur of one over the 
 other. And again, as setting forth the greatness, majesty 
 and glory of God, as compared with man. 
 
 It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, 
 And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. 
 
 I am not able to form a clear and satisfactory concep- 
 tion of the synthetic parallelism from the definition of 
 Bishop Lowth. He says, in substance, that it consists 
 only in the similar form of construction of sentences in 
 which there is some correspondence and equality between 
 different propositions. He also says: 'The degrees of 
 the correspondence of the lines of this sort of parallels 
 must, from the nature of it, be various. Sometimes the 
 parallelism is more, sometimes less exact, sometimes 
 hardly apparent." 
 
 While there is some general resemblance between 
 many of the illustrative examples given by writers on 
 this subject, yet in nearly every instance there is some 
 marked diversity. Most of such examples are highly 
 
55 
 
 poetic in sentiment and diction, and may be classed to- 
 gether on account of their general similitude, but they 
 manifest no artistic intention of making them similar in 
 literary structure. They may be compared to the moun- 
 tains which God has constructed. Between the separate 
 elevations of a mountain range there is a correspondence 
 in form and nature, as they are all mountains rising from 
 the valleys toward the heavens, and yet they all have 
 many distinctive features, and together they form a grand 
 and imposing prospect as they gleam with the beauty of 
 the sunlight, or are dimly discovered through their misty 
 veils, or are seen robed with the tranquil azure of the 
 distance. Thus the elevated thoughts and feelings of 
 the inspired bards were constructed into resembling forms 
 of poetic language, rhythmical in cadences and glowing 
 with truth and beauty, without any artistic intention in 
 the choice of words and the structure of sentences. We 
 often find the various species of parallelism so closely 
 and intimately intermingled that they cannot be sep- 
 arated without disturbing the harmony and beauty of the 
 composition. 
 
 In Isaiah's description of the coming golden age of 
 the Messiah, we find, not only the three species of parallel- 
 ism designated by Bishop Lovvth, but many other forms 
 of Hebrew poetry. They were combined and blended 
 into a magnificent synthetic poem, not by any rules of 
 poetic art, but by the untrammelled power of divine 
 inspiration and the highest genius. It is a splendid out- 
 burst of poetic rapture, produced by the glorious scenes 
 of the coming future that gleamed with celestial radiance 
 upon the spiritual vision of the prophet bard. The lan- 
 guage in which he pictured his vivid imagery, and express- 
 ed his sublime thoughts, gushed from his mind and heart in 
 spontaneous freedom, purity, beauty and liquid melody, just 
 like the crystal, musical and leaping rills flow from the 
 sides of Hermon to form the rolling and swelling Jordan. 
 
56 
 
 V 
 
 I will not refer to the other species of parallelism 
 pointed out by learned Biblical critics and scholars. The 
 diversity of species and examples which they present 
 tend to show that the Hebrew bards were not controlled 
 by fixed rules of art in the structure of the parallelism. 
 The Hebrew parallelism, consisting of brief, sententious 
 and simple propositions in parallel lines, was a natural 
 and not an artificial arrangement of language, and was 
 not metrical in its structure. Exactness, uniformity, regu- 
 larity, skill, and strict carefulness are some of the prop- 
 erties and rules of art in the construction of poetic com- 
 position. The productions of the Hebrew bards seem to 
 be the spontaneous outgushing of fervid thoughts and 
 feelings glowing with imagery and rhythmical with natu- 
 ral melodies. 
 
 Nature seems to use the principle of the parallelism of 
 resemblance, comparison or contrast in displaying many 
 of her highest beauties and sublimest objects, but uses it 
 in infinite variety, as did the Hebrew bards. The ocean 
 rolling billow after billow on the shore and yet each 
 billow having a slightly variant sound, produced by the 
 diverse influences of the changeful winds and the ebbing 
 and flowing tides, is a striking example of nature's synony- 
 mous parallelism. We often see an antithetic parallelism in 
 nature when a dark and stormy night is followed by a clear 
 morning, and the tranquil skies are beautifully blue, and 
 soft melodies are floating on the balmy air, and the 
 sportive sunbeams are sparkling and glowing on the rich 
 and dewy verdure of the landscape. 
 
 The still vast night when the stars in serene and silvery 
 brightness are moving through the dark fields of immen- 
 sity in ceaseless and glorious march around a grand central 
 and controlling orb in the far distant regions of the uni- 
 verse, is a synthetic poem of wondrous beauty and im- 
 pressive grandeur. 
 
 The beauty and expressiveness of symbols, metaphors, 
 
57 
 
 parables and allegories are in a great degree dependent 
 upon the parallelism which they present. How often do 
 we see in poetry and prose a parallelism between the sea- 
 sons of the year and the different periods of human life. 
 The Spring is youth with its brightness, freshness and 
 hope; the Summer is manhood with its ardor, passionate 
 energy and development of power; Autumn is the time 
 of fruition, repose and gentle decline, and hoary Winter 
 is the season of old age, decrepitude and death. The 
 whole realm of nature and the departments of art are full 
 of rich, varied and beautiful parallelisms which are sources 
 of poetic inspiration and intellectual pleasures. 
 
 We will not dwell longer upon the subject of parallelisms 
 which are generally conceded to be characteristic pecul- 
 airities of Hebrew poetry. We will not further consider 
 the vexed question, whether Hebrew poetry in connection 
 with the parallelism had any artificial rules of metrical 
 arrangement. A knowledge of the rules of Hebrew metre, 
 if any ever existed, might satisfy the eager curiosity of 
 archaeologists but would not contribute much to the en- 
 lightenment of mankind. The spirit of Hebrew poetry 
 is immortal and its beauty of imagery and sublimity, its 
 tearful pathos and its holy and blessed truths are trans- 
 fused into every language in which the Bible has been 
 translated. 
 
 The style of the Hebrew bards is highly symbolic and 
 metaphorical. Many of the symbols and metaphors were 
 derived from familiar natural objects and the scenes and 
 occurances of social and domestic life, which gave sim- 
 plicity to their poetry and made it more pleasing and in- 
 telligible to the popular mind. How frequent and how 
 beautiful are the illustrations which they derived from the 
 animal and vegetable kingdoms and from the broad fields 
 of the earth and the skies. The rose, the lily, the vine, 
 the figtree, the cedar and palm, and other trees and 
 flowers, are interwoven in their garlands of song, fresh in 
 
58 
 
 living" verdure, fragrant with rich perfumes and sparkling 
 with dews. In referring to the rich fancy of the Hebrew poets 
 in the natural world we may liken them to the Psalmists' 
 discription of the dove, whose wings are 4< covered with 
 silver and her feathers with yellow gold;" and they often 
 mounted on wings as eagles and soared to the home of 
 the thunder and storm and to the still higher regions of 
 immensity and unclouded light; and on the wings of the 
 morning they went to the uttermost parts of the sea, and 
 everywhere found the majesty, the power, the goodness 
 and the glory of God. 
 
 The Hebrew poets also invested inanimate objects with 
 the attributes of sentient life. To them the harmonious 
 voices of the hills, woods and streams; the deep tones of 
 the thunder, the tempest and restless sea were intelligible 
 utterances and were translated into their poetry. To 
 them the roar of the lion, the screams of the eagle, the 
 songs of the birds and the chirps of insects were filled 
 with poetic meaning. The description of the warhorse in 
 Job is intensely poetical. It is more picturesque and glow- 
 ing than a painting. The pen of inspired genius is far 
 more graphic than the pencil of art. 
 
 The Hebrew poets felt that they lived in a grand sanc- 
 tified earthly temple, luminous with the presence of 
 Jehovah, decorated with the beauties of nature which He 
 had formed, and ever sounding with multitudinous tones 
 of melody. Every object and living creature that sur- 
 rounded them were animated with an intelligent and 
 communing spirit, ever teaching the love and watchful 
 care of an invisible but omnipotent Father. The Hebrew 
 bards truly " looked through nature up to nature's God" 
 and from him and the works of His hands received their 
 sublime inspiration. They loved to hear the voices of 
 nature and see her various beauties; and she taught them 
 to modulate their melodies of language, and furnished 
 their glorious imagery. They were also familiar with the 
 
59 
 
 harmonies of the human heart when swelling with en- 
 thusiasm, bounding with joy, sobbing with, sorrow or 
 breathing out the earnest and reverential accents of 
 thanksgiving and praise. 
 
 Much of the Hebrew poetry was lyrical, and, even in 
 our language, has a pleasing rhythmic flow which is easily 
 adapted to elegant music. The book of Psalms, called 
 in the Hebrew language " The Book of Praises," is a 
 collection of sacred lyrics. The name given this book in 
 the Septuagint version clearly shows that the Psalms were 
 chanted in accompaniment to stringed instruments of 
 music. The Word Psalm was derived from a Greek verb 
 signifying "to touch or strike a chord." 
 
 We have abundant evidence for believing that the 
 Hebrews were fond of music and attained high excellence 
 in that beautiful art. From various examples recorded in 
 the Old Testament, and from the form of most of their 
 lyrical productions we may properly conclude that their 
 sacred hymns were from the earliest times chanted in re- 
 sponsive melodies. This was the manner prescribed by 
 David for the Temple service, and the Priests and Levites 
 responded in alternate choirs. Isaiah describes the Sera- 
 phim as chanting in the same manner the praises of 
 Jehovah in the Heavenly Temple 
 
 " Holy ! Holy ! Holy ! is the Lord ot Hosts 
 The whole earth is tull of His glory." 
 
 The antiphonal or responsive style of chanting sacred 
 hymns was used by the Greeks and other ancient nations 
 and was almost invariably adopted in the Christian Churhes 
 of the patristic ages. 
 
 Neither the Hebrews, the Greeks or any other nation 
 of antiquity had a full knowledge of the delicacy, variety 
 and richness of the harmony of sounds which have added 
 so much to the glory of music in modern times. Among 
 the ancients music was simply an art, now it may be re- 
 garded as an elegant and complicated science. This ad- 
 
6o 
 
 vancement of music had its origin at an early age in the 
 religious services of the Christian Church. Christian 
 music exerted a refining and elevating influence, and to- 
 gether with Christian art and poety greatly assisted in 
 producing the splendid aesthetic culture of modern civili- 
 zation. Music as a science combines melody and harmony. 
 The technical signification of melody is an arrangement 
 in succession of different sounds of the same voice or in- 
 strument. Harmony is the result of the union of two or 
 more concording musical sounds. When properly attuned 
 musical strings of varying tones are struck in pleasing 
 succession melody is produced. When two or more strings 
 that are in unison are touched at the same time their 
 sounds blend into harmony. There may be melody with- 
 out harmony, but harmony is always the union of melodies. 
 The varying notes of the bird, the diverse whisperings 
 of the breezes and the continuous murmurings of the rills 
 are full of melody, but such sounds are not in artistic 
 harmony. 
 
 The musical instruments of the ancient nations were 
 rude and simple and not capable of much delicacy, variety 
 and compass of accordant sounds. The skillful performer 
 could produce the mazy running melodies of sound but 
 could not waken many accordant notes and combine and 
 blend them in sweet harmonies. We know, however that 
 ancient music had an enlivening, stirring and even en- 
 rapturing effect upon the hearers. How often in Grecian 
 history and literature do we read of the magical influence 
 of the Doric flute and the Lesbian lyre. The timbrels of 
 Miriam and her maidens accompanying the chorus of the 
 triumphal hymn of Moses, filled the hearts of rescued 
 Israel with holy raptures; and the witchery of David's 
 harp exorcised the evil spirit from the bosom of Saul. 
 
 The effects of music depend in a great degree upon 
 attendant circumstances and the feelings and tastes of the 
 hearers. The sublime oratorios of Handel, Mozart and 
 
6i 
 
 Beethoven are universally admired by the Christian world, 
 as they awaken in every mind and heart grand associations 
 of thought and holy emotions. 
 
 The elegant and complex opera may be highly appre- 
 ciated by cultivated musical amateurs whose ears are at- 
 tuned to delicate, various and nicely blending harmonies, 
 but we find that the sweet melodies of the simple songs 
 that are sung in solo always produce the encoring outburst 
 of popular appreciation and applause. The wild Indian 
 would listen with stolid indifference to the sublimest and 
 most finished production of musical genius, when a rude 
 war-song of the braves around the council fire* would 
 arouse all the fierce and cruel passions of his savage nature 
 and make him rush on danger without a single feeling of 
 fear. The wonderful influences of the songs of the Scald, 
 the lays of the minstrels and the home ballads of the 
 peasant are so well attested in history that I will only 
 refer to them by way of illustration. 
 
 The precise character of Hebrew music is unknown, but 
 we have abundant information as to the influence which 
 it exerted on the popular mind and heart. From the 
 nature of the instruments used in the Temple service the 
 music must have been loud and shrill, but it was well 
 adapted to the exultant and joyous Psalms of thanksgiving 
 and praise that were chanted by the choirs of Levites and 
 responded to by the great congregation of the people. 
 As the choirs of Levites were numerous and well trained, 
 and were composed of male and female singers we may 
 well suppose that they had some knowledge of the prin- 
 ciples of harmony, and that the various voices did not 
 mingle discordant strains. Their glorious anthems may 
 not have swelled through the courts and porches of the 
 Temple in rich and varied harmonies, but we feel assured 
 that to the devout Israelites they were as soul-stirring and 
 heart-subduing as the sublime choruses of the Te Deurn 
 and the weeping melodies of the Miserere as they swell 
 
62 
 
 through the marble corridors, lengthened aisles and lofty- 
 arches of St. Peter's, and hush in profound silence all but 
 the sobbing voices from hearts of penitent worshipers. 
 But all our conjectures are in vain. The Old Hebrew 
 harps have been silent for twenty-five centuries. Since 
 they were hung upon the willows of Babylon to catch 
 the sighs of the moaning winds, no hand has waked their 
 sweet and noble melodies; but the grand and glorious 
 songs of Zion that thrilled the hearts of the old Hebrews 
 in the age of their national pride and glory, have in after 
 times carried messages of admonition, instruction, comfort 
 and joyto the people of God, and they will in a coming 
 age blend in the harmonies of the sublime anthem of 
 universal worship as it arises from earth to heaven. 
 
LECTURE V. 
 
 Some of the Events in the History of the 
 Hebrews which Contributed to their Poetic 
 Development. 
 
 In comparing Hebrew poetry with the poetry of other 
 nations any one will be impressed with the fact that the 
 Hebrew bards expressed their sublime thoughts and 
 intense moral and spiritual emotions with remarkable 
 force, terseness and simplicity, and illustrated them with 
 unusually vivid and appropriate imagery. Much of their 
 sublimity of conception was derived from Divine inspira- 
 tion, but there were many natural causes well calculated 
 to give fertility, elevation and vividness to their genius. 
 We will consider some of these causes in this and suc- 
 ceeding lectures. 
 
 The early history of a nation is one of the most fertile 
 fields of poetic thought and imagery. The genius of 
 poesy loves to linger among those remote scenes and 
 events over which time has cast a misty veil, mellowing 
 what was dark and terrible into grand and beautiful 
 imagery; just as distance throws its hazy enchantment 
 over the rugged features of nature and softens and blends 
 the lights and shadows and various objects which form 
 the pleasing landscape. 
 
 In this respect the Hebrew bards possessed peculiar 
 advantages, as they had a history extending far back into 
 the misty regions of antiquity, and fuller of important 
 events and thrilling incidents than the history of any 
 other people that ever existed; and these events and 
 incidents were continually presented to their minds with 
 
6 4 
 
 wonderful distinctness and power in the yearly celebration 
 of their national feasts and religious ordinances. 
 
 The land in which they lived was almost as fertile and 
 beautiful as the garden of Eden, and nearly every spot 
 was hallowed by memories of divine blessings and by 
 interesting historic associations. They were endowed 
 with the warm and glowing fancy of the Orient, and were 
 highly susceptible of grand and beautiful impressions. 
 
 We will now rapidly refer to some of the great events 
 which necessarily gave coloring and vividness to their 
 fancy, and first of all stands forth the sublime scenes of 
 creation. The first chapter of Genesis furnishes the 
 grandest historic panorama ever presented to human con- 
 templation. In every line it bears the impress of divinity. 
 It is the oldest record of history and the only one that 
 gives any definite account of the origin of the earth and 
 the creation of man. Blot it out and these great events 
 would ever be unfathomable mysteries to mankind. 
 
 The wonderful, but still imperfect discoveries of physical 
 science, as interpreted by infidel and undevout philoso- 
 phers, have created in skeptical minds some speculative 
 doubts as to the truthfulness of the Mosaic narrative; but 
 no such doubts existed in the minds of the Hebrews. 
 They were not acquainted with the "Records of the 
 Rocks," and knew nothing of the teachings of Copernican 
 astronomy. They looked upon the world as it appeared 
 to their vision, and had entire confidence in the narrative 
 of their great leader and lawgiver, who had afforded so 
 many evidences of his supernatural wisdom and power, 
 and his immediate converse with Jehovah. 
 
 When they read or heard the account given in their 
 sacred book of the marvelous events of creation, with 
 fervent faith they formed vivid conceptions of that period, 
 when, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
 earth. And the earth was without form and void, and 
 darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of 
 
65 
 
 God moved upon the face of the waters;" and their 
 devout minds were filled with the noblest emotions by 
 those sublime creative words, "And God said, Let there 
 be light." What a magnificent scene was then presented, 
 witnessed only by God and the angels, and revealed to 
 Moses in glorious vision. Upon the utterance of those 
 creative words the dark waters and thick clouds which 
 curtained the pavilion of Jehovah's secret habitation were 
 rent asunder, and light beamed from the eternal throne 
 and cast a flood of celestial radiance over the turbid ocean 
 of chaos and made it glitter and gleam with golden glory. 
 
 The heart of a pious Hebrew must have been filled with 
 feelings of the highest rapture when, with vivid mental 
 vision, he saw, in grand succession, the unveiling scenes 
 of the wondrous panorama of creation — when God 
 covered Himself with light as with a garment, stretched 
 out the heavens like a curtain, laid the beams of His 
 chambers in the waters, made the clouds His chariots 
 and walked upon the wings of the wind, attended by 
 angel spirits and ministers like a flaming fire. What grand 
 emotions must have thrilled his soul when his fancy 
 pictured the earth as it was upheaved amid the receding 
 waters and was covered in rapid succession with fresh 
 verdure, bright and odoriferous flowers and with clustering 
 vines and trees laden with luscious fruits; while the 
 waters gathered into rushing rivers, gurgling streams, 
 and "springs in the valleys that ran among the hills," or 
 settled into broad and shining lakes and seas, or rolled 
 in magnificent billows that chafed in angry murmurs on 
 the ocean's shore, as if restive and impatient, even at 
 Omnipotent control. 
 
 We imagine that the fourth scene in the panorama of 
 creation would have excited, in the highest degree, the 
 impressible and enthusiastic nature of an Oriental. When 
 the sun seemed to come out of the gorgeous chambers of 
 the East and slowly moved in radiant splendors up the 
 
66 
 
 blue arch of the firmament, dispelling the misty vapors, 
 flooding the earth with golden light, giving a fresher 
 verdure to grass and herb and tree, shedding richness of 
 color and sweeter perfume upon the shining flowers, and 
 glowing in quivering beams upon the living waters, and 
 then, when his munificent course was run, casting a back- 
 ward glance of iridescent glory upon the earth and skies 
 which he had beautified and blessed. Then twilight 
 moved with silent shadows over the slumberous earth, 
 and from the gathering gloom of the coming night the 
 little, timid, trembling stars peeped out like the twinkling 
 eyes of the immortals from their celestial homes, and 
 then the moon, in queenly beauty, attended by the shining 
 planets, made the heavens "darkly, deeply and beautifully 
 blue," and covered with soft, mellow and silvery light 
 the objects which had just been glowing with the golden 
 glories of the day, and then the balmy breezes and lull- 
 ing voices of nature breathed their gentle and soothing 
 melodies. We are not surprised that primeval man when 
 he lost the knowledge of the true God should have bowed 
 in worship to the sun and heavenly hosts, as they are 
 grand objects and were well calculated to inspire the 
 unenlightened child of nature with feelings of the highest 
 adoration. 
 
 To the Hebrews who had a correct knowledge of Him 
 who placed the sun in the firmament and guided all the 
 heavenly hosts in their unerring and shining courses, the 
 daily and nightly scenes which they witnessed were but 
 manifestations of divine goodness and mercy, and while 
 they elevated their feelings of adoration for the great 
 creator, they were not objects of idolatrous worship. The 
 ideas and emotions which they inspired were sublimely 
 poetical, and the grandest and most beautiful metaphors 
 of the Hebrew bards were derived from the gorgeous skies 
 of their Orient clime. 
 
 We will not refer at any length to the other scenes 
 
6; 
 
 presented in the panorama of creation, although they are 
 full of poetic suggestions and imagery. Then were created 
 the monsters of the deep and the countless myriads of 
 living creatures that moved in the waters. Then the 
 wide expanded firmament and the vast forests of earth 
 were filled with flying fowls, and with the singing birds 
 that rejoiced in the instincts of life and poured forth 
 their sweetest melodies. Then the hills and valleys were 
 covered with numerous animals of various forms and na- 
 tures that were wonderfully adapted for the purposes of 
 their creation. Then man stood amidst the sinless bowers 
 of Paradise, made in the image of God, but a little lower 
 than the angels, and invested with power and dominion 
 over every living creature of earth. 
 
 Then came the Sabbath, especially sanctified by God for 
 rest, holiness and worship. How exceedingly beautiful 
 must that first Sabbath have been, when God in visible 
 glory was present in the holy temple which He had just 
 finished, and all created things were offering sinless adora-. 
 tion and praise, and were listening with devout and pure 
 raptures to the hymning harmonies of the angels. Earth 
 was then but an outer court of the heavenly sanctuary, 
 and life to man was fresh, joyous and immortal. No son 
 of genius in his brightest dreams, no prophet in the 
 hightest ecstacies of inspiration ever saw a vision of earth 
 as gloriously beautiful as that first Sabbath which God 
 blessed and hallowed when the work of creation was done. 
 
 It will come no more to the sin-cursed earth, but will 
 dawn again on the Millennial morning, and then brighten 
 into the higher radiance and glory of the eternal day in 
 Heaven. 
 
 The fall of man which 
 
 " Brought death into the world and all our woe, 
 With loss of Eden," 
 
 was one of the most important events in history. It was 
 the beginning of 'man's sinful and sorrowful destiny. The 
 
68 
 
 sacred record of this event is very short, but it must have 
 been very impressive and suggestive to the Hebrews. It 
 filled the mind of Milton with grander imagery and more 
 eloquent and rhythmic thoughts than were ever conceived 
 by any other uninspired genius. What a wonderful transi- 
 tion for our first parents, from a condition of immortality, 
 perfect purity, holiness and bliss, into a condition of sin, 
 pain, labor, suffering and expectant death ! Can there ever 
 be a scene of human sorrow so full of deep and thrill- 
 ing pathos as the departure from the Eden home of 
 love, light and joy ? When the streams, the trees, the 
 flowers, the breezes and the pure angel spirits of Eden sent 
 forth a melancholy chant of pity and farewell to Adam 
 and Eve as with sorrowing hearts and weeping eyes they 
 passed beneath the flaming sword of the Cherubim, into 
 the dark world of exile, carrying with them none of the 
 blessings of Eden, but human love, memories of joy and 
 beauty and the blessed hope of Heaven through a Re- 
 deemer. How sad and drear and lonely must have been 
 the first days of their exile. No angel voices cheered 
 their drooping hearts, or with etherial melodies soothed 
 their troubled slumbers. No more could they gather the 
 luscious fruits which their sinless lips had tasted, and they 
 thirsted in vain for the crystal waters that flowed by the 
 tree of life. The flowers that bloomed in amaranthine 
 bowers no longer delighted their sight and made them 
 breathe delicious perfumes. The birds still sang in the 
 bramble and brake, and in the wild woodlands, but they 
 had lost the joyous trill with which they had once joined 
 in the choir of the angels. The animals once so tame, so 
 gentle, so sportive and so loving had now become es- 
 tranged from man and each other. The blood of the 
 lamb was on the fangs of the wolf, and the down of the 
 dove was on the beak of the vulture. With crested head 
 and quivering tongue the poisonous basilisk coiled in the 
 pathway, the eagle screamed from his eyrie as he swooped 
 
69 
 
 for his prey, the fiery eye of the tiger gleamed from the 
 jungle, and the angry roar of the lion made every living 
 thing tremble with fear. 
 
 Altnough man lost so much by the fall still God in His 
 infinite goodness and mercy made earth a beautiful home, 
 and watched with loving and tender care over his erring 
 children. Adam and Eve were soothed in their sadness 
 •by the blessed hope of redemption, and during their long 
 and checkered lives had many days of brightness and joy, 
 mingled with days of darkness and sorrow. These primal 
 scenes in human history are full of beauty and poetry to 
 us, but they must have been far more impressive to the 
 earnest and religious Hebrews in the beautiful land which 
 God had given to them for an inheritance. 
 
 The^ short fragmentary history of the antediluvian 
 age is very suggestive of poetical thoughts to an im- 
 aginative mind. Adam was created in the image of His 
 Maker, in the full perfection of manhood, and must have 
 possessed extensive knowledge and wisdom, which his 
 centuries of life enabled him to communicate to his 
 descendants. The longevity of the antediluvian patri- 
 archs afforded them ample time and opportunities to 
 increase in knowledge, and improve the arts and sciences 
 which contributed to the necessities, comforts and ele- 
 gancesof life. They built cities and many of them "became 
 mighty men which were of old men of renown." Then the 
 "sons of God" loved and wooed the beautiful daughters 
 of men, and lived with them in wedded bliss. Then 
 Jabal and his children pitched their tents on the green 
 hillsides and fertile valleys, and in the midst of flocks 
 and herds, dwelt in the quiet contentment of plenty and 
 repose. 
 
 Then the tuneful sons of Jubal made their simple harps 
 and pipes breathe forth sweet melodies to their astonished, 
 delighted and rejoicing kindred. Then Tubal-Cain on 
 his ringing anvil taught men how to form the sword and 
 
7° 
 
 spear for angry strife, and the plow-share and pruning- 
 hook for peaceful husbandry. 
 
 The fact is worthy of being noticed in this connection, 
 that Lamech, the first poet of whom we have any history, 
 was the father of Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain, the in- 
 ventors of the arts to which we have referred. 
 
 Pastoral life and the arts have always been associated 
 with poetry. The song which Lamech sang to his dis- 
 tressed and weeping wives has been called the "song of 
 the sword." It is the only extant antediluvian song, and 
 was transmitted by tradition through many dark centuries 
 and, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, was recorded 
 by Moses. It seems to have been preserved because it 
 was the prelude notes of the awful diapason of war and 
 carnage, which, amid the wail of humanity, has resounded 
 through succeeding ages. It was the first recorded song 
 of sinful man, and recalls to our memory the facts that, 
 at the creation of the sinless earth, "the morning stars 
 sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy," 
 and the first song of the Gospel was the anthem of glory, 
 peace and good will to men which the angels sang to the 
 shepherds of Bethlehem. 
 
 We will not dwell longer upon the antediluvian age. 
 With the exception of the short narrative of Moses, it 
 has no authentic history. It has ever been and will ever 
 be a period of mystery and conjecture. No mortal hand 
 will ever uncover the flood-buried annals of mankind. 
 Many traditions and legends of this age must have existed 
 among the Hebrews and filled up omissions in their 
 fragmentary sacred history, and must have presented 
 vivid pictures of antediluvian patriarchal life, and pro- 
 duced many songs and poems which have been lost in the 
 whelming tides of time. 
 
 No event in the history of the world produced a more 
 profound and lasting impression upon the ancient nations 
 than the deluge. Traditions of this event, resembling in 
 
7i 
 
 many respects the Mosaic narrative, existed among the 
 Chaldeans, Persians, Egyptians, Greeks and other Oriental 
 nations, and were also found among the American Indians, 
 the Mexicans and Peruvians, upon a distant continent, 
 unknown to the nations of the ancient world. These 
 traditions mingled with the religious beliefs of these 
 nations and constituted a large ingredient in their poetical 
 literature. We may well conclude that an event so 
 graphically recorded by Moses, and so implicitly believed 
 by his people, and so suggestive of terror, power and 
 immensity, must have highly excited the fervid imagina- 
 tion, and stirred to the utmost depths the souls of the 
 religious Hebrews. Even in this distant age, the short, 
 simple and impressive narrative of Moses, enfeebled as it 
 is by translation into our language, presents a vivid and 
 sublime picture. 
 
 We can form only a faint conception of the thoughts 
 and emotions which must have filled the minds and hearts 
 of Noah and his family when shut up in the ark by the 
 hand of God, saddened with human sorrows, but in the 
 tranquil confidence of faith, and in security and solemn 
 repose, they passed unharmed through the great world 
 drama. 
 
 Universal night, as deep and dark as chaos, shrouded 
 the earth, the windows of heaven were opened and forth 
 came the rushing torrents and the howling storms. The 
 fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the 
 cruel hungry waters, in seething billows, gatheied around 
 their shrieking and defenceless victims. Loud wails of 
 agony sounded through the terrific gloom, rising above 
 the roar of the tempests, and grew fainter and fainter in 
 the continuous midnight. Then was heard 
 
 "A solitary shriek, the bubbling- cry, 
 Of some strong swimmer in his agony," 
 
 and then all became still save the triumphant shouts of 
 the winds and waves as they swept over that ocean 
 
72 
 
 without a shore. Long they kept their wild revels over 
 the vast watery grave of the sinful race, and then they 
 became obedient to the Almighty power that sent them 
 forth on their dread mission of devastation and death; 
 and the winds were tamed into breezes and the subdued 
 waters rolled in playful and musical billows over the bosom 
 of the receding ocean. The raven messenger returned 
 not from his unweared flight; the timid dove three times 
 sent forth upon the restless winds, at last brought an 
 emblem of peace and good will; the mountains rose into 
 the serene heavens amid the sunlit air, and then the 
 purged and renovated earth smiled in fresh verdure and 
 beauty. The smoke of the sacrifice then ascended from 
 Noah's rude altar, and then upon the astonished vision 
 of the late flood-voyagers shone the bow of promise 
 in motionless calm and glorious radiance, the effulgent 
 and benignant light of the great eye of heaven glowing 
 on the dark bosom of the receding storm. 
 
 Some of the grandest poetry in every literature is 
 derived from the contemplation of the ocean. Whether 
 tortured into fury by the wintry storms or reposing in 
 calm benignant glory beneath bright summer skies, the 
 ocean is an emblem of vastness, dread magnificence and 
 power, and fills the mind and heart with a sublimity of awe 
 that is produced by no other object in the natural world. 
 We feel that it is an image of eternity, a " glorious mirror 
 where the Almighty's form" is almost visible, and it rolls 
 on "fathomless and alone" 
 
 ** Time writes no wrinkle on thine azure brow 
 Such as creation's dawn beheld, thou rollest now." 
 
 Yet man passes over its watery wildernesses, encounters 
 its wild billows and reaches the safe harbors of commerce. 
 He can measure its expanse, map out its currents, dive 
 into its caverns and gather its hid treasures, and send the 
 lightning bearing human thoughts over its submerged 
 valleys and mountains. It was not so with the unknown, 
 
73 
 
 the illimitable and fathomless oceans of Chaos and the 
 Deluge. If the Atlantic and Pacific, as they mingle their 
 waters and sweep round the globe, clap their hands in 
 fierce joy and call to each other across the continent, 
 produce such high poetic inspirations and furnish such 
 magnificent imagery, we may somewhat conceive the in- 
 fluence upon the minds and hearts of the Hebrews while 
 contemplating in fervid thought that universal ocean that 
 once rolled in darkness over the unformed world; or those 
 shoreless and whelming tides upon which floated the 
 solitary Ark bearing the remnant of the human race and 
 moving without chart and compass under the guidance 
 of an Omnipotent Pilot until safely anchored upon the top 
 of lofty Ararat. 
 
 The short post-diluvian history to the time of Abraham, 
 showing the formation of the different nations and the 
 re-peopling of the earth by various migrations, presented 
 manv striking scenes which together with many traditions 
 opened a wide field for the poetic fancy and speculative 
 thought of the Hebrews. 
 
 The divine call of Abraham, accompanied with the 
 promise that he should be the father of a great nation and 
 in him should all the families of the earth be blessed, was 
 the most important event in early Hebrew history. It 
 was the genesis of that peculiar and distinctive race, and 
 all the attendant circumstances of tribal development 
 were well calculated to fill the hearts of their posterity 
 with pious, patriotic and poetic feelings. We know that 
 primal events in the histories of other peoples were fruitful 
 sources of poetic sentiment. The Phcenecian Cecrops 
 founded the kingdom of Attica, and the mythic stories of 
 those early days were immortalized in Grecian art, elo- 
 quence and song. ^Eneas fleeing from the ruins of Troy, 
 and after varied fortunes reaching the Lavinian shore and 
 planting the germ of the Latin race, is the subject of 
 Virgil's sublime epic. The landing of Hengist and Horsa 
 
74 
 
 and their Saxon followers on the shores of Britain is an 
 important and poetic era in English history. The simple 
 annals of the Pilgrim Fathers and the Christian heroism 
 which they displayed in laying the foundations of our free 
 civil and religious institutions kindle the genius and 
 patriotism of the American people, thrill and renovate 
 the heart, and have produced some of the finest eloquence 
 and poetry in our literature: ; 
 
 No poet of ancient or modern times has ever drawn an 
 ideal character equal to that of the God chosen Abraham, 
 or in their brightest dreams of genius have conceived of 
 scenes of pastoral quietude, contentment and repose 
 comparable in simple beauty to those presented in the 
 sacred history of that grand old nomadic chieftain dwell-' 
 ing on the wolds of Canaan. He was so just and generous 
 in all his intercourse with his neighbors. With tender 
 and fatherly care he watched over his obedient family and 
 instructed them in his sublime faith and wisdom. No 
 dreams of ambition, no longings for temporal power, no 
 cares and anxieties about earthly wealth ever marred the 
 quietude of his repose or disturbed the serenity of his 
 noble spirit. In his hospitable tents the poor and strangers 
 found a cordial welcome, and angels were sometimes his 
 guests. He was brave and unselfish and ever ready to 
 succor the wronged and oppressed. He possessed and 
 always exhibited the noblest traits of human character, 
 and well deserved his glorious destiny, as the " Friend of 
 God," the progenitor of a great nation and the spiritual 
 father of the faithful in all coming ages. ' 
 
 The histories of Isaac and Jacob, although written in 
 simple prose, are full of the spirit and imagery of poetry. 
 The story of Joseph is an idyl of incomparable pathos and 
 beauty. It has won the admiration of every age, and no 
 one who has any poetry in his soul can read it without 
 feeling the sweetest and tenderest emotions, while his 
 eyes are hazy with tears. 
 
75 
 
 Now we come to the long sojourn in Egypt, the "land 
 of cloudless clime and starry skies," the land of treasure, 
 cities, pyramids, obelisks and gorgeous temples of the 
 sun, the land of the figtree, the lotus and palm, and 
 where the generous Nile, with its wealth of sweet waters, 
 made a fertile garden in the desert. In the green pas- 
 tures of Goshen the sons of Jacob dwelt as herdsmen and 
 shepherds under the munificent care of their princely 
 brother. Then came the hard bondage under the Pharaoh 
 who knew not Joseph. Then a beautiful and wondrous 
 child was placed by a pious mother, with love and faith, 
 in a frail cradle upon the turbid river, and he was reared 
 in the palaces of Egypt, and was instructed in all the 
 wisdom of that highly cultured people. Then came the 
 set time for Israel's deliverance. The sound of the cruel 
 taskmaster's scourge and the supplicating cries and wails 
 of anguish that had long ascended from the sweltering 
 brick-fields and from the sorrowful homes of toiling and 
 oppressed Israel, had been heard in heaven. A voice 
 had spoken from the burning bush in Horeb, and the 
 Midian shepherd, invested with divine power and wisdom, 
 had returned from his mountain solitude to enter upon 
 his mighty mission. Then commenced the grand drama 
 of the exodus. Pharaoh would not let Israel go to serve 
 their God, and nine times terrible judgments fell upon 
 the people of that beautiful land. The Hebrews in their 
 heaven-protected homes witnessed the terrific and won- 
 drous scenes that were enacted around them. With ready 
 obedience they consecrated their homes with the hyssop 
 and blood of the lamb and prepared the Passover supper. 
 With due preparation for journeying, they were eating in 
 haste, when in the deep gloom of the midnight the 
 startled air rang with the wild shrieks of a nation's agony, 
 for the first-born in every Egyptian home was dead. 
 Then came the command, "go forward," and on the desert 
 pathway of the multitudinous host shone in blazing 
 
7 6 
 
 radiance the moving pillar of fire. No people ever had 
 such a commencement to their national destiny, and these 
 initial scenes were but the beginning of wonders. Toil- 
 worn and weary with three days' march they reached the 
 sea. The rapid tread of Pharaoh's advancing hosts and 
 the noise of the chariot wheels were heard behind, and 
 before them were the rolling and leaping waters. Their 
 hearts were filled with fear and their mouths with bitter 
 murmurings, but their undaunted leader stretched forth 
 his rod over the swelling waves, and a strong east wind, 
 like a mighty hand, rolled up the billows into walls as 
 firm as adamant, and timid Israel went down on dry 
 ground into the bosom of the deep and received the bap- 
 tism of the sea, and when the morning came they stood 
 in safety and freedom on the farther shore, and the pur- 
 suing Egyptians were swallowed by the waves returning 
 in their strength. 
 
 Jehovah "hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his 
 rider hath He thrown into the sea." Then from millions 
 of rejoicing hearts swelled out a grand song of triumph 
 over the desert and wild waters, and was echoed by the 
 timbrels and choruses of Miriam and the women of 
 rescued Israel. This was the first day of Israel's accom- 
 plished freedom, and the first act of their national life 
 was a grand triumphal and thanksgiving song, which 
 seemed to consecrate them as Jehovah's earthly musicians 
 and poets. 
 
 Then commenced the stern discipline of the desert to 
 prepare them for their higher destiny as a religious na- 
 tion — a nation of priests holy unto the Lord. They tasted 
 the bitter waters of Marah and murmured. With glad 
 hearts they pitched their tents by the wells and palm 
 trees of Elim. With astonished gaze they looked upon 
 the dewy manna gleaming in the morning light. Then 
 they fought with Amalek under the banner of Jehovah - 
 Nissi. Then they saw sweet waters gushing from the 
 
77 
 
 rock of Horeb and in limpid coolness flowing along their 
 hot and dusty desert pathway. Then, in the deep sub- 
 limity of reverential awe, they stood beside trembling 
 Sinai, and from its summit, mantled in thick clouds 
 illumined with lightnings, they heard Jehovah pronounce 
 His inexorable law. 
 
 " The terrors of that awful day, though past, 
 Have on the tide of time great glory cast." 
 
 Every night when the Hebrews retired to rest they saw 
 the pillar of fire blazing above the camp, and when they 
 woke in the morning the first object that met their view 
 was the pillar of cloud illumined with the roseate light of 
 the dawn. In the midst of the encamping hosts stood the 
 gorgeous Tabernacle, the dwelling place of Jehovah, cover- 
 ing the Ark of the Covenant, the winged Cherubim and the 
 fadeless Shechinah. The giving of the law and the conse- 
 cration of the Tabernacle completed the organization of the 
 nation, and we believe that the first act of their completed 
 national life was the singing of the ninetieth Psalm — the 
 song of Moses, " The Psalm of Eternity," the grand Te 
 Deum, which through the ages has given consolation and 
 joy to the living and the dying, and irradiated the memories 
 and graves of the dead. We will not trace the history of 
 the wilderness wanderings. After forty years of wondrous 
 events Israel crossed the Jordan " dry shod" and pitched 
 their tents in the beautiful land of Promise, their fore- 
 fathers home. With such a varied and marvellous history 
 gleaming with supernatural glory, and continued through 
 eventful centuries, is it to be a matter of astonishment 
 that Israel was a nation of bards, some of whose songs 
 and sublime poems have so long thrilled the hearts of 
 mankind and are destined to be the joy of the whole earth. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 Messianic Hopes. — Climate and Scenery o* 
 
 Palestine. 
 
 Although the Hebrews had a grand and glorious history 
 they had national and religious hopes still more glorious. 
 The golden age of the heathen poets was in the past, 
 but the Hebrew bards, while not unmindful of the past, 
 were inspired with brighter expectations of the future; 
 and they eagerly longed for the coming glories of the 
 expected morning when the Sun of Righteousness would 
 arise with healing in His wings. The genius of the Greek 
 and Roman poets was kindled by contemplating the 
 myths and traditions of fabulous and heroic ages; but 
 the souls of the Hebrew bards glowed with fervid enthu- 
 siasm, as, with the vivid visions of prophetic hope, they 
 looked through the long vista of the future and saw, 
 surrounded with triumphal splendors, the glorious King 
 who would rule His people Israel; who would establish 
 His throne on Mount Zion, and have dominion over the 
 whole earth. That then the haughty and cruel Assyrian 
 and Chaldean would be trodden under the feet of the 
 conqueror, and the wild sons of Ishmael and Edom would 
 bring tribute to the children of Jacob. 
 
 With what a glorious burst of lyric rapture did Isaiah 
 picture the future of Jerusalem — the type of the Church 
 of God, — "Arise, shine, for thy light is come and the 
 glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles 
 shall come to thy light and kings to the brightness of thy 
 rising." "Whereas, thou has been forsaken and hated, so 
 that no man went through thee; I will make thee an 
 eternal excellency; a joy of many generations." "The 
 
79 
 
 sun no more shall be thy light by day; neither for bright- 
 ness shall the moon give light unto thee, but the Lord 
 shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God, thy 
 glory." 
 
 Such thoughts, feelings and bright Messianic hopes 
 must necessarily have given a rich and gorgeous coloring 
 to the fancy of the Hebrews, as they entered into the 
 faith and feelings of the entire nation. Tney stirred the 
 languid blood and kindled with beaming light the eyes 
 of the old patriarch as he sat at his tent door at even- 
 tide and mused in holy contemplation upon the promised 
 blessings of Jehovah, and watched the sun softly sinking 
 behind the purple shadows of the hills to rise again and 
 gild with glory the portals of the morning. 
 
 Such thoughts and hopes were ever present with the 
 Priests and Levites, and hallowed their ministrations; and 
 made luminous with the light of faith all the mystic rites 
 of the ceremonial service. They added a heavenly ra- 
 diance to the smile of love which played upon the face 
 of the young Hebrew mother as she soothed her beau- 
 teous first-born son to quiet slumbers; and then the 
 yearning hope for the Promised One made her bow, with 
 almost adoration, beside the innocent and sleeping child. 
 
 On the lonely Judean hill, when the midnight had 
 hushed all nature in solemn stillness and repose, the de- 
 vout shepherd, as he tended his sleeping flock, and, in 
 holy contemplation, gazed upon the deep blue skies, glow- 
 ing with the emblazonry of orient stars, often had a more 
 glorious mental vision of a coming time when the Expected 
 One would appear as the Great Shepherd of Israel, and 
 gather His spiritual flocks into the secure folds of His 
 love, guide them gently and safely through the dark and 
 dangerous valleys of earth; and then lead them to the 
 green pastures on the everlasting hills of heaven, to drink 
 the crystal waters of the river of life. 
 
 < The sublimest poetic raptures thrilled the hearts and il- 
 
8o 
 
 lumined the imagination of the ancient prophets when in 
 vivid vision they saw " The Prince of Peace, The Won- 
 derful, The Councellor;" and their rapt and inspired souls 
 heard some of the symphonies of the Seraphim, as they 
 poured forth magnificent anthems of celestial joy and 
 praise. 
 
 The expectation of the Messiah was coeval with the 
 fall of man. It was awakened by the blessed promise 
 that accompanied the primal curse of labor, sorrow and 
 death. It existed among all the ancient nations as a dim 
 and shadowy ideal conception, the yearning of the sad 
 heart of humanity after some future good; some great 
 deliverer from the ills and woes of life. With the Hebrews 
 it was a real, vital and intense hope of individual happi- 
 ness and national greatness and glory in the near future; 
 and it cast a coruscating and consecrating glow upon all 
 the proud achievements and memories of the past. It 
 was a perpetual halo, shedding its light around their hearts 
 and homes, and brightened all their ideas of the true, the 
 beautiful and the good. 
 
 We can scarcely be surprised to find that such a living 
 hope greatly influenced Hebrew history, and is often 
 found glowing in the highest strains of impassioned bards. 
 
 We believe that it is generally conceded that the climate 
 and scenery of a country have much influence in develop- 
 ing the imaginative faculties of a poeple. There is no 
 fact better established in the history of literature. There 
 seems to be a peculiar combination of natural causes and 
 objects necessary to produce the highest poetic inspira- 
 tion. The genius of poesy seems to dwell only in lands 
 where nature is wild, bright, joyous and beautiful; where 
 she sings her jubilates on the sunny hills or in the shaded 
 valleys, and the winds, storms and cataracts hymn their 
 sublime te deums in mountain temples. The broad and 
 fertile valleys of the Euphrates and Nile, although the 
 birth-places of the arts, sciences and speculative philoso- 
 
8i 
 
 phies, and were covered with rich and splendid cities, the 
 homes of a highly civilized people, gave no immortal 
 poetry to the ancient world. While Greece, filled with 
 picturesque mountains and vales, with whispering groves 
 and musical streams, surrounded by sun-bright seas dotted 
 with emerald isles, was the favorite home of the Muses. The 
 same may be said of Italy, lying beneath the shadows of 
 the Alps, interspersed with shining lakes, rushing streams 
 and laughing rills, intersected with the forest-clad Apen- 
 nines and washed on either shore by the blue and gleaming 
 waters of the Mediterranean. We might present similiar 
 parallels of countries in modern times, but the fact as to 
 the influences of climate and scenery is so well established 
 that it needs no further argument or illustration. The 
 contemplation of nature in its grand and beautiful aspects 
 seems to expand the soul and give boldness and vigor to 
 the flights of the imagination. From the contemplation 
 of the wonders and beauties of the natural world man, 
 even without divine revelation, may form a vivid concep- 
 tion of a Deity. 
 
 In looking upon the world, full of so many objects of 
 usefulness, goodness and beauty, so skillfully adjusted and 
 arranged in order and harmony, all beaming in the mag- 
 nificence of light, the human mind is filled with the grand 
 idea that God is in His glorious temple and is worthy of 
 the adoration and praise of His creatures. The ancient 
 pagans could see in all the natural objects which sur- 
 rounded them motion, activity, life, order, harmony and 
 beauty, which they attributed to the influence of different 
 divinities, and thus was formed their polytheistic belief, 
 which was refined, elevated and beautified by the skillful 
 production of the architect, painter and sculptor, but more 
 than all by the creative genius of the poet. 
 
 The Hebrews looked upon nature with the eye of a 
 nobler faith. They did not understand the natural laws 
 and principles which the investigations of modern scientists 
 
82 
 
 have so largely discovered, but they believed that all the 
 varied objects of nature were connected by a general plan 
 and were under the constant control of an Omniscient, 
 Omnipresent and Omnipotent Being, the sovereign of 
 their nation and their personal God. 
 
 If we will take a rapid survey of the land of the He- 
 brews we will find that it was possessed of that peculiar 
 combination of natural objects and historic associations 
 favorable to high poetic development. No where was 
 there a country on the earth which had a more delightful 
 climate and presented a scenery more grand, beautiful 
 and picturesque than the ancient land of Palestine. Its 
 mountains, hills and plains of different elevations, and its 
 ravines and valleys gave it the diversity of temperature 
 and the varied vegetation of nearly every clime, from 
 perpetual winter to the luxuriance of tropical summer. 
 In the time of the ancient Hebrews the country was 
 exceedingly fertile, and was covered with forests and 
 groves of cedar, olive, myrtle, palm, terebinth, oak and 
 accacia and various other trees, furnishing cool and refresh- 
 ing shades, and they were musical with birds of sweetest 
 song and richest plumage, and were fragrant with breezes 
 that bore on their odoriferous wings the balmy treasures 
 of the East. 
 
 The country was also in a state of high cultivation. 
 Agriculture was not only the principle business of the 
 people, but it was to them a delightful occupation. The 
 fertile valleys, plains and hillsides smiled beneath the 
 hand of careful and intelligent industry, and filled the 
 barns and storehouses with plenty. Even rocky ridges 
 and deep declivities were clothed with fruitfulness and 
 verdure by the cheerful and diligent culture of the hus- 
 bandman. In the midst of these rich fields, green pas- 
 tures, blooming gardens and fruitful vineyards and olive 
 groves, there were shady glens and picturesque ravines 
 where nature reigned in undisturbed dominion, and dis- 
 
*3 
 
 played in varied forms her wild luxuriant beauties, inviting 
 the toil-worn and weary to quietude and repose. 
 
 Palestine was indeed a paradise land. It was surrounded 
 by mountains, deserts and seas — the fortresses which 
 Jehovah had placed as defences to guard the sacred herit- 
 age. It also abounded with perennial springs and clear 
 sweet brooks and rills that ran among the valleys and the 
 hills, and it bloomed with many-colored wild flowers, 
 those little but eloquent messengers of God, those gentle 
 children of the morning light bearing fragrant censers 
 jewelled with the sunshine and the dew. 
 
 Natural causes produced an atmosphere more trans- 
 parent than that of Italy, which gave a crysteline lustre 
 to the azure skies and a clearer radiance to the orient sun, 
 and at night made the stars appear like gleaming " isles 
 of light" in " a deep blue ocean hung on high," or to the 
 more spiritual fancy, like oriel windows in the sapphire 
 dome of heaven, emitting the effulgence of the inner 
 celestial glory. 
 
 Although Palestine was so highly favored with the 
 beauty, magnificence and rich bounty of nature, it was 
 not exempt from those various natural causes which in 
 other lands produce feelings of awe and terror and in- 
 spire sublime poetic thoughts and imagery. The Hebrews 
 often felt the convulsive throes of the earthquake, saw the 
 fierce and glittering lightning and heard the deep-voiced 
 thunder as it marshaled the dread cohorts of the storm. 
 
 They witnessed the devastations of the whirlwinds 
 and of the turbid torrents that rushed madly from the 
 hills over the fertile valleys. Swarms of locusts desolated 
 their vineyards and fruitful fields; beasts of prey prowled 
 around the folds and pastures of their flocks and herds; 
 and " the pestilence that walketh in darkness and wasteth 
 at noonday" sometimes filled their homes with suffering 
 and sorrow. On the Southwestern border of the land 
 was the gloomy sea that ever reminded them of the sinful 
 
8 4 
 
 cities of the plain and Jehovah's terrific judgment. Around 
 it was a desolate wilderness, filled with overhanging 
 precipices, rocky pinnacles and deep and dark gorges — fit 
 symbols of the valley and shadow of death. We know 
 that from such scenes, occurences and objects the Hebrew 
 bards derived some of their sublimest thoughts and many 
 of their most striking similes and metaphors. 
 
 We will now briefly describe some of the most promi- 
 nent features and scenes of the country which God selected, 
 enriched and adorned as the home of His Chosen People. 
 There was Mount Tabor, rising like a monarch among 
 the fertile hills of Galilee, crowned with evergreen verdure 
 and mantled with graceful vines. At its foot was Es- 
 draelon, the battle-ground of nations, spreading like a vast 
 embroidered carpet fresh from nature's loom, and sur- 
 rounded with the amphitheatre of the blue mountains of 
 Israel. To the north was Lebanon with its towering 
 cedars, forming the pillared palaces of the storm, and 
 down its rocky sides in continuous currents were flowing 
 clear, cool and glittering streams from glacier fountains. 
 Just beyond a deep, broad and fertile valley, filled with 
 splendid cities and enriched by skillful cultivation, stood 
 Mount Hermon, 
 
 " Whose head in wintry grandeur towers, 
 
 And whitens with eternal sleet, 
 While summer, in a vale of flowers, 
 
 Is sleeping rosy at his feet." 
 
 From its summit were seen the giant structures of 
 Hazor, the wild and rugged mountain pass of Hamath, 
 and the far famed rivers of Damascus, beautifying and 
 refreshing a garden plain resting like an island of verdure 
 in an ocean desert. On the north-western border of 
 Palestine was sweet and dear* Genesareth. With lavish 
 beauty nature seemed to have adorned her for her hal- 
 lowed history. Sometimes she reposed in waveless calm 
 and brightly smiled as she received the warm, loving kiss 
 of the sun, and with silver-like mirror reflected in mingled 
 
85 
 
 tints of saphire, emerald and gold, images of the green 
 mountains and blue unfathomable skies. Then her gently 
 swelling billows joined in the sports of the playful winds, 
 and then she writhed in agony and rage when her peaceful 
 realms were invaded by the fierce legions of the tempest. 
 Through her bosom flowed the sacred Jordan, so mem- 
 orable in Hebrew history. It, too, had its varying moods. 
 Sometimes swollen into a torrent by the melting snows of 
 Hermon it swept in rolling tides over the adjacent valley, 
 then in smooth and limpid current it glided in musical 
 gladness beneath the shadowing palms and by the verdant 
 and blooming shores, and then in joyous freedom rushed 
 along the winding rapids and leaped in thundering cascades 
 of foaming splendors. 
 
 Beyond were the stately oaks and the extended pas- 
 tures of Bashan; the prosperous cities and balmy groves 
 of Gilead; the lofty summit of Nebo — the mount of glo- 
 rious vision and the sepulchre of the great lawgiver, and 
 there the dark, stern mountains of Moab stood like grim 
 and relentless sentinels over the gloomy grave of the 
 sinful cities of the plain. To the south the mountains of 
 Edom, indented with their rocky peaks the blue rim of 
 the horizon and overlooked that " great and terrible 
 wilderness" which had been the scene of so many as- 
 tounding miracles, and the place of Israel's long wander- 
 ing and sufferings before they reached "the goodly land' 
 of plenty and repose. In nearer vision and beautified by 
 contrast were the hills and vales of Judah, undulating 
 like the waves of ocean, clothed with the fruitfulness and 
 verdure of a genial clime, covered with bleating flocks 
 and lowing herds, where the lilies of the valley bloomed 
 by perennial fountains, where grew in purple clusters the 
 luscious grapes of Eshcol, and where the sweetest honey 
 was ever dripping from the fissures of the rocks. Amidst 
 these scenes of pastoral beauty and picturesque loveli- 
 ness rose Jerusalem, " The Holy City," radiant with 
 
86 
 
 architectural splendors, surrounded by blooming gardens 
 and embowered in groves of the richest foliage, conse- 
 crated by so many glorious memories and hopes, and 
 encircled by the sacred mountains, the poetic emblems 
 of Jehovah's protecting presence. To the west was the 
 solemn-sounding and mysterious sea, spreading beneath 
 cloudless skies far beyond the limits of vision, burnished 
 with the golden light of the orient sun, and ever rolling 
 its restless waves upon the shores where bloomed the 
 "Roses of Sharon" and smiled the green pastures and 
 rich gardens of Carmel. 
 
 In every part of this beautiful, luxuriant and sacred 
 land there were terraced slopes covered with thriving 
 villages, towns and cities, and quiet hamlets and cottages 
 nestled in fertile valleys beneath shadowy hills — all the 
 happy homes of a people rejoicing in the blessings of 
 health, plenty and freedom. 
 
 This was the " Land of Promise," more beautiful than 
 a poet's or painter's brightest dream, for it was blessed by 
 the smile and hallowed by the special beneficence of 
 Jehovah. What land so meet a nurse for poetic child? 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 History and Traditions of Paradise. The Sab- 
 bath. The Manners and Customs of the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 We concluded our last lecture with a brief description 
 of the Land of Promise. From this subject the transition 
 is easy and natural to the consideration of the influence 
 exerted upon the Hebrews by the history and belief of 
 Paradise. 
 
 Among all the ancient pagan nations there existed a 
 traditionary idea of a lost Paradise. This idea seemed to 
 pervade the whole- earth like an invisible seraph from 
 Eden, breathing sweet harmonies and filling the human 
 heart with shadowy visions of the distant past, when pri- 
 meval man lived in a condition of simplicity innocence, 
 contentment and blissful repose; in a home of abounding 
 plenty and exquisite picturesque beauty; always bright 
 with serene summer skies and balmy with delicious odors; 
 where existence required no toil, and life was unmarred by 
 disappointment and sorrow, and was not darkened by ex- 
 pectations of death and the gloom of the grave. 
 
 This idea was largely intermingled with the early his- 
 tory, traditions and religious beliefs of the various nations 
 of antiquity, and was a fruitful germ of their poetry and 
 art. It gave rise to the beautiful fables of the golden age, 
 and of the gardens of the Hesperides, and numerous 
 other myths with which genius enriched the immortal 
 pages of classic literature. 
 
 If we had no truthful history of Paradise we might 
 readily conclude that an idea so universally prevalent was 
 
88 
 
 derived from some reality which existed in prehistoric 
 ages, and was not a mere ideal conception of the human 
 mind. If, then, an idea transmitted by tradition through 
 the revolutions of centuries and enveloped in the shadows 
 of fable had such suggestive and creative influence upon 
 the literature of so many different nations we may well 
 imagine that the Mosaic account of the garden of Eden, 
 which was implicitly believed by the Hebrews to be not 
 only a truthful but a sacred narrative, must have highly 
 excited and developed their imaginative faculties. They 
 were truly Orientals, the descendants of Shem, and pos- 
 sessed in a high degree the characteristics of that 
 susceptible and imaginative race who sought habitations 
 towards the rising sun, and who in idolatry worshiped the 
 shining heavenly hosts. 
 
 Sweet to the aged and care-worn man are the remem- 
 brances of childhood days that awaken new pulses of life 
 in his feebly throbbing heart and bring a light of joy to 
 his eyes enfeebled with age and dimmed by tears. Sweet 
 to the erring and friendless outcast are the bright visions 
 that visit him in dreams and carry him back over sorrow- 
 ing years to a happy home of innocence, purity and love. 
 Sweet to the exile are memories of the fatherland from 
 which he had wandered far away over the mountains and 
 the seas. But sweeter, dearer, holier to the pious Hebrew 
 were the memories of Eden, the beautiful and sacred land 
 of purity, plenty and repose — the sinless home of his first 
 parents, where they had dwelt in innocence and bliss in 
 frequent communion with Jehovah and the angels. It 
 was not only a source of holy memories, but it was a 
 fountain of poetic inspiration, from which flowed a crystal 
 Pactolus enriched with golden sands. To us the glories 
 of the earthly Eden are dimmed by the more effulgent 
 light that beams from the Gospel and gives us brighter 
 faith visions of the heavely home. To the early Hebrews 
 these sweet and hallowing memories of a lost Paradise, 
 
8 9 
 
 together with the promise of a Messiah were only faintly 
 suggestive of a future home of the soul. 
 
 Although the teachings of the earlier books of the 
 Old Testament on this subject are dim, shadowy and 
 typical, yet the New Testament distinctly shows us how 
 the ancient Hebrews understood their own sacred writings 
 in regard to a future existence. With the aid of the New 
 Testament we are able to comprehend the import of the 
 ceremonial types and symbolic images of the Old Testa- 
 ment dispensation, which prefigured the doctrines of the 
 atonement, redemption, regeneration and a blessed im- 
 mortality. At first these great truths were seen only in 
 the dim twilight, and in the after days of the prophets 
 and Psalmists they increased into the brighter radiance 
 of the dawn, and then burst into the effulgent splendor 
 of the morning, when Christ rose from the dead and 
 " brought life and immortality to light" through the 
 Gospel, which has irradiated the world with the glorious 
 day of Christianity. 
 
 Shadowy and dim as were the conceptions of the He- 
 brews of that religion which beams in the fullness of 
 light and purity from the New Testament, yet they were 
 highly suggestive of poetic thought. They inspired Job 
 with some of his sublimest rhapsodies, they were the 
 themes of many of the most glorious Psalms, and often 
 glowed with peculiar brightness in the lyric raptures of 
 the prophets. They cheered the Israelites in captivity, 
 and were the Shechinah glory of the second temple. 
 They were carried by the Jews to all parts of the Alex- 
 andrian empire, and influenced in some degree the 
 literature, philosophy and even the religions of the an- 
 cient nations. The doctrine of the immortality of the 
 soul was taught in the schools of Athens, Alexandria 
 and Antioch, and it was incorporated into the philosophy 
 and sublime monotheistic faith of Zoroaster. Every- 
 where and in every language it found a response in the 
 
go 
 
 human soul and gave inspiration to the highest poetic 
 genius. 
 
 In this department of religious literature the minds 
 and hearts of Christian poets have been illumined by the 
 inspiration of Christian faith. In the whole range of 
 human contemplation there is no subject so suggestive of 
 beautiful thoughts and pure and holy emotions as the 
 Christian hope of Heaven. Around this hope cluster all 
 the pure joys of life, the sweet memories of the past, and 
 the earnest aspirations of the soul. With this hope, life 
 is not a continuity of sorrow and care, a dreary funeral 
 march to the grave, but a solemn and pleasant pilgrimage 
 to a better land, the home of unending love, unalloyed 
 bliss, exceeding beauty and everlasting rest. There with 
 friends and loved ones, with saints and martys, with 
 Apostles, Prophets, Psalmists and Patriarchs, with Cher^ 
 ubim and Seraphim, with Jesus and with God the Father, 
 the redeemed souls can enter upon an eternal life of 
 progressive development, where, ever beholding the glory 
 of the Lord, they are changed into the same image from 
 glory to glory. 
 
 The v Sabbath is properly regarded as an earthly type 
 of Heaven, and we will now proceed to consider the 
 influence of that sacred institution upon Hebrew develop- 
 ment. The holy observance of the Sabbath by the 
 Hebrews contributed materially to their moral and intel- 
 lectual advancement, and to the preservation and elevation 
 of their national poetry. This institution was established 
 in Eden when primeval man was sinless and perfect in 
 physical and moral organization. Even then divine wis- 
 dom and goodness deemed such an institution necessary 
 for the welfare and happiness of man. It seems to have 
 floated like a waif from that beautiful morning land of its 
 birth down the dark stream of the ages, through the 
 antediluvian period and the times of the patriarchal 
 church. 
 
9* 
 
 When God selected and set apart a peculiar people as 
 the special depositaries of His sacred oracles, and formed 
 them into a nation, He reaffirmed this divine appoint- 
 ment, and defined and imposed duties and obligations 
 in the Decalogue proclaimed from Sinai. From that 
 time to the present day the Sabbath has been more or 
 less observed, and has conferred numberless civil, do- 
 mestic and religious blessings upon mankind. Human 
 experience has shown that one day in seven for repose 
 and especial spiritual exercises is as essential for the 
 healthful, physical, moral and intellectual development 
 of man as food is necessary for the sustenance of the 
 body. Individuals and nations who fail to enjoy this 
 divine blessing, and to obey this imperative law of 
 nature, are subject to sure demoralization and decline. 
 • The Jews after the captivity became a nation of 
 Puritans, and made the Sabbath a day of penance, self- 
 denial and gloom by the ritualistic formulas and cere- 
 monials required in its observance. 
 
 Among the old Hebrews it was a cheerful and happy 
 day, spent in physical rest from daily toil, in duties of 
 charity and mercy, in joyous thanksgivings to God, and 
 in the pleasant association of friends and neighbors. 
 
 Those who were conveniently near witnessed the un- 
 usually splendid and imposing services of the sanctuary, 
 and those who were too remote for this high privilege 
 gathered round the prophets and elders and heard recitals 
 of the wondrous history and hopes of their nation. 
 These assemblies were usually enlivened and cheered 
 with instrumental music, songs and the sacred dance. 
 All their observances of this sacred day tended to excite 
 pleasing and elevating emotions that made melody in 
 their hearts. Thus one day in seven their physical ener- 
 gies were refreshed and their moral natures elevated and 
 spiritualized, and they learned to associate ideas of the 
 holy and the beautiful which formed the true spirit of poetry. 
 
9 2 
 
 We may in some degree form an idea of the hallowing 
 and elevating influence of the Sabbath upon this ancient 
 and imaginative people by considering the effect which 
 the Christian Sabbath has produced upon the advancement 
 of modern civilization and the enjoyments of mankind. 
 
 In the Apostolic age the first day of the week, the day 
 of the Resurrection, was ordained as the Christian Sab- 
 bath, and was righteously observed by the primitive 
 Church in the time of its simplicity, purity and holiness. 
 During the mediaeval apostasy of the Romish hierarchy 
 the Sabbath was observed, not as a holy day, but as a 
 holiday, and was generally spent in pompous displays 
 and in festivity and mirth. Even the early Reformers 
 did not regard the religious observance of the Sabbath 
 as obligatory upon Christians, as they believed it to be 
 an institution which had passed away with the Jewish 
 dispensation. But the Puritans who gave civil and re- 
 ligious liberty to England restored the sanctity of the 
 Sabbath and established it as an institution indispensable 
 to pure Christianity. The rigid and unnecessary ob- 
 servances which they imposed have passed away before a 
 more enlightened and spiritual faith. The Christian 
 Sabbath since the days of the Long Parliament has moved 
 on with English constitutional freedom and enlightenment 
 in their rapid expansion and advancement, and it is now 
 regarded by Protestants in Great Britain and the United 
 States as a divine and beneficent institution. We feel 
 the inspirations of the Sabbath consecrated by the holiest 
 memories and associations and illumined with glorious 
 hopes. The tones of the Church bells ring out so joyously, 
 waking the softest and purest melodies of the heart, as 
 they summon the old and the young, the rich and the 
 poor, to enter the gates of the Lord's house with thanks- 
 giving and His courts with praise, and there from holy 
 altars re-kindle in their hearts the fires of faith, hope and 
 charity. 
 
93 
 
 The Sabbath sunshine seems to fall with soft and hal- 
 lowing radiance upon the quiet churchyard where sleep 
 the loved and pious dead, and glows like celestial light 
 irradiating the tomb. It reminds the Christian heart of 
 those bright hopes that make the grave the shining gate- 
 way of heaven where welcoming angels receive the 
 redeemed spirit and bear it to that blissful home " where 
 the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." 
 
 The Hebrew Sabbath was commemorative of the per- 
 fected work of creation. The Christian Sabbath is com- 
 memorative of a far grander event, the perfected work of 
 redemption, when the bright hope of immortality was 
 assured to man by the resurrection of our Saviour. One 
 was especially sanctified for the adoration of sinless man 
 in Eden, and was afterwards established as a day of rest 
 and holiness for the chosen people. The other is an 
 emblem of the day of everlasting rest and praise of the 
 redeemed in heaven. In both we find elements sugges- 
 tive of the sweetest and most sublime poetry. 
 
 Among the Hebrews the Sabbath was not only a reli- 
 gious institution but exerted a marked and peculiar 
 influence upon their civil and political economy. It gave 
 rise to other Sabbatical observances. Every seventh year 
 the land had rest from culture and kept a " Sabbath for 
 the Lord." During that year the spontaneous productions 
 of the fields and vineyards were dedicated by law to the 
 use of the poor and the sojourning stranger. Then all 
 debts were suspended, all secular business discontinued 
 and the beasts of burden and the slaves had release from 
 toil. The unusual productiveness of the previous year 
 filled their barns and storehouses with overflowing abund- 
 ance, and every heart was made glad with the enjoyment 
 of plenty, which was a special blessing from the Lord. 
 
 The seventh sabbatical year was the great year of 
 Jubilee, when freedom from debts and slavery was pro- 
 claimed throughout the whole land, and every Hebrew 
 
94 
 
 was restored to his patrimonial inheritance, and the exile 
 returned with songs and rejoicing to the home which he 
 had left in poverty and sorrow. This time was looked for 
 with longing expectation and with the fondest and dearest 
 hopes by all who were saddened by sorrow and misfortune, 
 or oppressed with poverty and slavery. The Jubilee was 
 the birth period of a new domestic, tribal and national 
 life, and the whole year was spent in festivity and rejoic- 
 ing. On the tenth day of the seventh month — the great 
 Day of Atonement — the silver trumpets of the sanctuary 
 were blown beside the brazen altar to proclaim the year 
 of Jubilee. The sounds were heard by Levites placed at 
 convenient distances on elevated positions, who also blew 
 signal trumpets. Thus the clear and ringing notes of 
 the trumpets of Jubilee, started from the sanctuary, and 
 seemed to leap from hill top to hill top waking gladsome 
 echos among the valleys and carrying a joyous message 
 to every heart and home in Israel. I will not further con- 
 sider the objects of this institution or the influences which 
 it exerted upon the religious, social and political welfare 
 of the people. It was designed by God for wise and 
 beneficent purposes, and greatly promoted the perpetuity, 
 prosperity and happiness of the people. It must have 
 had great influence in developing the purest and noblest 
 virtues. A year so full of blessings must have inspired 
 feelings of the profoundest thankfulness and gratitude to 
 God, and the highest love and devotion to country, and 
 filled the mind with pleasing and elevated thoughts that 
 often swelled into the glad and beautiful language of 
 poetry. The sweetest and holiest emotions that ever 
 thrill the heart are those that spring from love for God, 
 for country and for home, and they have produced rich 
 and immortal poetry in every literature. These influences 
 and emotions operated powerfully upon the Hebrews, 
 and the effects can be traced through their whole history 
 to their latest posterity. 
 
95 
 
 The manners and customs of the Hebrews in social and 
 domestic life furnish strong evidence of their moral and 
 intellectual advancement and poetic temperament. They 
 were the most kindhearted, polite and accomplished 
 people of their times. They were remarkably fond of 
 social intercourse, and their manners were always frank, 
 amiable and refined. Their domestic life was full of 
 parental, filial and conjugal love and tenderness. The 
 patriarchal customs of their ancestors which they ob- 
 served, prepared them in early life for the faithful and 
 affectionate observance of the fifth commandment of the 
 Decalogue, and no people in any age more fully venerated 
 the crown of gray hairs and honored the face of the old 
 man. Like all oriental races they showed a courteous 
 and liberal hospitality to strangers. They were kind and 
 generous to the poor and friendless and exhibited the 
 most sympathetic benevolence to widows and the father- 
 less. They were lenient and humane to their servants 
 and even their domestic animals were objects of their 
 gentle and protecting care. In their ordinary home life 
 they were frugal, cheerful and industrious, and not eager 
 and grasping after gain and wealth. They were, however, 
 fond of festive enjoyments and at such times were dis- 
 posed to indulge in pomp and magnificence. The toilets 
 of the Hebrew ladies on such occasions were especially 
 costly and elegant, and this feminine taste had increased 
 to such extravagance in the days of the prophets as to 
 call forth their expostulations and severest censures. In 
 this place I will refer only to the social and domestic 
 festivals of the Hebrews in the course of ordinary life. 
 
 A marriage was always celebrated with beautiful and 
 appropriate ceremonies. The procession from the home 
 of the bride to the house of the bridegroom was witnessed 
 by a large crowd of kindred, friends and neighbors, and 
 was peculiarly attractive and imposing. It was led by a 
 band of well trained musicians who made the soft evening 
 
96 
 
 air vibrate with the blended melodies of instrumental 
 music and joyous song. The bridegroom was accom- 
 panied by a number of companions of his own age, and 
 all were dressed in princely elegance. Young and beau- 
 tiful virgins, arrayed in costly wedding garments, sur- 
 rounded the blushing bride, and bore in their hands 
 brightly burning lamps filled with fragrant oil and shining 
 like a halo of stars in the gathering twilight. The long 
 flowing hair of the bride was surmounted by a nuptial 
 crown — achapletof fresh evergreens and odorous flowers — 
 arranged by a mother's hand. Her raiment of needle 
 work was richly embroidered with threads of gold and pre- 
 cious stones, was perfumed with myrrh, cassia and aloes, 
 and was bound with a jeweled girdle. Overall hung in 
 quivering translucent folds a snow white veil, enshrining in 
 purity her graceful form and her youthful innocence and 
 loveliness. As the procession approached the house of the 
 bridegroom another company of virgins, adorned with rich 
 festal costumes, came forth in the airy and graceful 
 movements of the dance, bearing garlands of flowers and 
 swinging newly trimmed and shining lamps, and with 
 the gladsome songs of hail and welcome they mingled 
 in the advancing train and entered into the brightly 
 lighted hall of the marriage supper. Such a scene of joy 
 and beauty must have charmed all beholders and made 
 their hearts jubilant with tender emotions and melody. 
 
 The marriage feast usually lasted for seven days, but 
 its innocent gladness and merriment never resulted in 
 sinful indulgences and exhausting dissipation. Marriage 
 is often referred to by the Psalmists and the Prophets, 
 and was the subject of the beautiful " song of songs," 
 'written by the wise king of Israel. In a subsequent age 
 it was especially honored and sanctified by the first 
 miracle of our Saviour, and furnished illustrations in 
 several of His touching and instructive parables. The 
 marriage union was used as an appropriate symbol to 
 
97 
 
 represent the loving and tender union of Christ with His 
 Church. 
 
 The birth of children was always an occasion of festivity, 
 but the birthday of the first-born son was usually cele- 
 brated with the highest munificence and gladness, for the 
 hearts of the parents were filled with thankfulness and 
 holy joy, as the event was associated with glorious 
 Messianic hopes. The enjoyments of the domestic fes- 
 tivals of the Hebrews were not confined to the immediate 
 kindred and friends of a family but were extended with a 
 generous hospitality to all neighbors and even strangers. 
 In the peaceful and prosperous days of the commonwealth 
 and monarchy there was scarcely a week in any commu- 
 nity that was not enlivened with some festive scene, and 
 such exciting demonstrations of joyfulness must have 
 inspired the imagination and produced songs of love and 
 happiness which have passed away with those olden times. 
 
 The festive scenes of primitive life contributed greatly 
 to poetic development in other nations. They seem to 
 have furnished the seed germs of poetry from which 
 national literatures have sprung. These inspiring influ- 
 ences can be distinctly traced in the literary remains of 
 the Greeks and Romans; they still have a living power in 
 Italy and Germany and sunny, joyous France, and they 
 produced much of the ballad minstrelsy of Scotland. 
 They have enshrined in song memories of the halcyon 
 days of merry old England; and when we hear the sweet 
 minstrel melodies of Erin that once sounded at festive 
 boards and in cottage homes in that land of song and 
 old romance, we can but regret that 
 
 " The harp that once through Tara's halls 
 
 The soul of music shed, 
 Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
 
 As if that soul were fled." 
 
 The season of harvest, that lasted seven weeks, from 
 the Passover to Pentecost, was a continuous festival in 
 
9 8 
 
 the whole land. The joyous song's of cheerful reapers, 
 merry maidens and gleeful children were heard in every 
 field and filled the air with delightsome melody. The 
 grateful poor gathered the corners of the fields and the 
 gleanings among the sheaves, and with gladsome voices 
 joined in the "Song of the Harvest Home." The dusty 
 threshing floor presented a scene of hilarity and mirth, 
 and even the unmuzzled ox, in the contentment of ap- 
 peased appetite, with nimble tread performed his arduous 
 labors. 
 
 In the fall of the year came the vintage, which lasted 
 about two months. The vineyards resounded with songs 
 and instrumental music, and the cheerful laborers, without 
 feelings of weariness, gathered the purple, clusters and 
 trod the foaming winepresses. The times of the harvest 
 and vintage were also seasons of universal thankfulness 
 and gratitude to Jehovah for His bounties; and the hearts 
 of the people, rejoicing at the prospects of plenty, over- 
 flowed with love and kindness towards each other. 
 
 I know that I need not refer to the abundant evidence 
 furnished in the history of literature to show the influence 
 which rural and pastoral scenes has exerted in developing 
 the poetic genius of a people. Such scenes have ever 
 been the fruitful sources of inspiration for the poet. I 
 may here appropriately quote the language of Emmerson, 
 addressed to the poet: "Wherever snow falls, or water 
 flows, or birds fly; wherever day and night meet in the 
 twilight; wherever the blue heaven is hung with clouds 
 or sown with stars; wherever are forms with transparent 
 boundaries; wherever are outlets in celestial space; 
 wherever is danger and awe and love, there is beauty as 
 plenteous as rain shed for thee, and though thou should 
 walk the world over thou shall not be able to find a con- 
 dition inopportune and ignoble." 
 
 Many of the Hebrew people had their homes in walled 
 towns and cities, that they might afford mutual protection 
 
99 
 
 and have means of safe and ready defence against the 
 predatory incursions of robbers and marauders from 
 neighboring peoples. This condition of mutual depend- 
 ence tended greatly to strengthen the bonds of social 
 and political union, and furnished opportunities of frequent 
 association which fostered the kindly feelings of brother- 
 hood and increased general intelligence. In times of 
 peace the entire population of every city met morning 
 and evening at the gates. This was usually the time and 
 place of social gatherings and of business transactions; 
 and it was also the time and place when the ordinary 
 city courts were held. The judges were always present 
 and ready to hear, adjust and determine disputes and 
 legal controversies between citizens. This convenient, 
 cheap and speedy administration of justice prevented 
 long, vexatious and expensive litigation, and preserved 
 the harmony and good order of the community. 
 
 On a cool, bright and balmy morning, as the refreshed, 
 cheerful and industrious people went out of the gates to 
 labor in the adjacent gardens, fields, vineyards and 
 pasture grounds, they exchanged kindly greetings and 
 many a pleasant look and word. In the evening, as they 
 returned from their daily toil to seek the rest and refresh- 
 ment of home, they paused at the gate to witness and 
 often to participate in the pleasures of social intercourse. 
 
 In that orient clime there was no time that was so full 
 of calm joyousness and exquisite beauty as the evening, 
 when the sun in regal splendor and with parting benisons 
 was closing the portals of the day. The heat and burden 
 of toil was ended, and man and all nature felt the soft 
 and lulling influences of the mystic hour. Gorgeous skies 
 were resting on the purple hills and the verdant landscape 
 was burnished with golden light that was slowly fading 
 into the mellow, then dim, then dusky twilight. Then 
 the soft evening air, as it whispered lullabies in liquid 
 melodies, was sweetly redolent with the breath of the 
 
IOO 
 
 clustering vines; and the sleeping flowers and the wild 
 thyme were giving out their fragrance to the dew. With 
 gentle steps the bleating flocks and lowing herds were 
 seeking their accustomed folds; the birds had sung their 
 vesper hymns, and with twittering joy were nestling in 
 their leafy homes; the plains and valleys, near and far, 
 curtained with the mysteries of shadow, were sinking into 
 solemn stillness and repose; and the timidly twinkling 
 stars were marshaling for their serene march over the 
 celestial fields, and were shedding their soft and tremulous 
 light over the slumberous earth. There was no time 
 when the heart would swell with sweeter, purer and holier 
 emotions, and the mind be filled with higher thoughts and 
 brighter fancies. The associations of the Hebrews at such 
 times and under such circumstances must have greatly 
 advanced their mental, moral and spiritual culture and 
 developed their poetic genius. 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Political Freedom. National Unity. The 
 Religion of the Hebrews. 
 
 The political freedom of the Hebrews may well be 
 considered as an important element in their poetic devel- 
 opment. The renowned freedom of Greece and Rome 
 exerted a highly developing influence upon their literature 
 and civilization, although it was only enjoyed by a small 
 class of citizens, while the great mass of the people were 
 sunk in poverty and slavery. Those nations never recog- 
 nized the facts that personal freedom is the gift of God, 
 the common birthright of all mankind, and that all just 
 government is founded upon the consent of the governed. 
 
 The government established by Moses was a theocratic 
 republic, founded upon an express covenant freely made 
 by the people with Jehovah; and all Hebrews were in- 
 vested with equal civil and political rights, and had a 
 representative voice in the enactment of laws regulating 
 their civil policy. The several tribes were independent 
 republics, and each had a local government with an execu- 
 tive, legislative and judicial department, administered by 
 officers freely chosen by the people. These independent 
 republics were formed into a federal nation by a general 
 government which regulated the duties and relations of 
 the several tribes, and was paramount in its powers over 
 all matters pertaining to the general welfare. The system 
 of local and appellate courts established by Moses were 
 remarkably well adapted for a convenient, cheap, speedy 
 and impartial administration of justice. 
 
102 
 
 The Hebrews were the first free nation of antiquity, and 
 both in their commonwealth and monarchy established 
 and observed those enlightened principles of civil liberty, 
 constitutional government and social order which have 
 entered so largely into the governments of modern 
 Christian nations, and which have been so splendidly de- 
 veloped in England and America by the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 
 The Hebrews were not only freemen in whom rested the 
 sovereignty of the State, but they were all landowners 
 and freeholders, and their estates were so entailed as to 
 descend in perpetual succession. Under the Mosaic laws 
 lands could not be aliened for a longer time than the 
 next ensuing year of Jubilee, and were then restored to 
 the original owners or their heirs. This law of tenure 
 prevented both extreme poverty and overgrown wealth, 
 and greatly attached the people to the country in which 
 they had permanent homes, associated with memories 
 of their ancestors and with the hopes of their posterity, 
 and made them interested in preserving public order and 
 maintaining the supremacy of the laws of the State. 
 
 On their small estates the people had to exercise fru- 
 gality and industry to obtain a comfortable subsistence, 
 and this general necessity tended to elevate the dignity 
 of labor and give to every citizen the proud and ennobling 
 feeling of personal independence. No system of laws 
 upon this subject was ever devised by human wisdom so 
 much in harmony with the general objects and purposes 
 of the law-giver and better calculated to develop a free, 
 enlightened, virtuous and patriotic people. 
 
 The enjoyment of civil and religious liberty seems to 
 inspire the noblest emotions of the human heart, to 
 expand the intellect, to give breadth and grandeur to the 
 imagination, and is the very life-spring of genius. The 
 brightest pages in history are those which glow with the 
 deeds and fame of the heroes and martyrs of intellectual, 
 civil and religious freedom. They were the great leaders 
 
103 
 
 of all progress in civilization, and but for the light which 
 their spirits shed the world would still be in the darkness 
 of ignorance, superstition and barbarism. The spirit of 
 freedom kindled the fires of genius which have illumined 
 the ages. It gave courage, endurance, energy and power 
 to the heroes of Thermopylae, Marathon and Salamis. 
 It guided the skilful chisel of the sculptor as he wrought 
 the matchless and immortal productions of art. It woke 
 the highest notes of the Grecian lyre and poured the 
 splendors of eloquence around the Acropolis of Athens 
 and the Senate Chamber and Forum of Rome. 
 
 We will not follow the brilliant achievements of the 
 spirit of freedom through the modern world, when, con- 
 joined with the spirit of Christianity, they seemed to rise 
 like a new sun from a dark moral and intellectual chaos, 
 calling into life the slumbering energies of man, and rising 
 slowly but surely to that zenith where it will cover the 
 earth with the vivifying light of peace, liberty, love and 
 holiness, even "as the waters cover the sea." 
 
 The spirit of freedom existed in a remarkable degree 
 among the ancient Hebrews, and was greatly intensified 
 by their religious faith and their peculiar situation among 
 the nations. They were surrounded by the great oriental 
 despotism, were in the direct line of ancient war, conquest 
 and commerce; and by actual observation and experience 
 they were acquainted with the horrors and demoralizing 
 influences of subjugation and slavery. They were in the 
 times of their national power and freedom a remarkably 
 brave people, and in many of their contests the odds were 
 greatly against them, and the preservation of their nation- 
 ality and free institutions for nearly a thousand years is 
 one of the great miracles of history. They had, during 
 the long period of their national existence, abundant 
 cause to believe that the Everlasting Arms were around 
 them, and that the flaming sword of the Cherubim guarded 
 their hallowed land; and in their fervid imaginations they 
 
104 
 
 could well call Jehovah their strength and shield and high 
 tower. Great and glorious facts, and not fancies, were 
 the sources of their love of freedom and country, and the 
 inspirations of their sublime poetry. 
 
 This love of freedom and country — the most striking 
 political characteristic of the Hebrews — continued during 
 the whole of their national existence. How beautifully 
 was it exhibited, even in captivity, when they sang in 
 words that glowed with patriotism and glittered with tears: 
 
 " By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when 
 we remembered Zion. ****** 
 
 If I forget thee, O, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 
 
 If I do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
 mouth, if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." 
 
 The Jews, from the time of the Babylonish captivity 
 until finally subjugated by Roman power, never showed 
 the humble and submissive spirits of slaves. Under 
 Persian, Greek and Roman rule they were generally treated 
 with more liberality and kindness than other conquered 
 nations, and, with the exception of the oppressions of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, they were allowed to observe their 
 ceremonial and national laws and customs. They were 
 conservative in their natures, obedient to just laws, and 
 opposed to revolutions for trivial causes. But the exercise 
 of any despotic authority which threatened to overthrow 
 or materially change their religious institutions, at once 
 kindled into flame the smouldering embers of religious 
 zeal, liberty and patriotism, and without counting odds 
 or the consequences they rushed to arms and fought with 
 desperate valor. No pages in human history are more 
 brilliant with deeds of sublime endurance and heroic valor 
 than those which record the struggles of the Maccabaean 
 brothers for the altars and tenets of their religious faith 
 and the land of their fathers. 
 
 In the memorable seige of Jerusalem under Titus, and 
 in the awful finale at Masada, the Jews exhibited a burning 
 patriotism, lofty heroism and self-devotion never equalled 
 
105 
 
 in terific sublimity in all the horrid tragedies of war and 
 the overthrow of nations. The history of two centuries 
 taught Hadrian that while their nation had an organized 
 existence the Jews never could be made willing and sub- 
 missive subjects to the despotism of the Caesars; and he 
 determined upon their extermination or complete disper- 
 sion. The sorrows, misfortunes and oppressions of twenty 
 centuries have not destroyed their national characteristics. 
 Their spirits have never been subdued to the abject condi- 
 tion of slavery, but they have always manifested hatred 
 and scorn for their oppressors, and have borne the agonies 
 of torture and the contumely of contempt with the sub- 
 lime courage and endurance of martyrs. They have 
 passed through more terrible ordeals than any other 
 people, and they have come forth from every fiery furnace 
 of persecution without even the smell of the flames upon 
 the unchanged and unconsumed garments of their ancient 
 faith. Feelings so deeply implanted and so indestructible, 
 either by force or time, must have glowed with the 
 grandest intensity and energy in the age of their national 
 pride, power and glory, and kindled the highest poetic 
 inspirations. 
 
 A spirit of national unity was a marked and distinguish- 
 ing feature of the Hebrew nation. They were the chosen 
 people of Jehovah, all the descendants of Abraham — the 
 most venerable character in history — and were all heirs of 
 the rich blessings and glorious hopes of that covenant 
 which God made and so after reaffirmed to their great 
 national fathers. They were continually reminded of this 
 covenant by the rite of circumcision, and the dust of the 
 earth and the sands of the seashore were emblems of their 
 numerous posterity, and the glorious stars of heaven that 
 every night shone above them symbolized the blessings 
 which they were to shed over all the nations and races of 
 coming ages. This covenant was the Magna Charta of 
 their destiny, the vital principle of their civil and political 
 
ro6 
 
 institutions, mingled with all their history and illumined 
 national and individual aspirations with the light of 
 Messianic hope. In every subsequent age of their dis- 
 persion this covenant made the Holy Land the sacred 
 home of their hearts, and sustained their sorely tried and 
 fainting spirts as they suffered centuries of wrong, oppres- 
 sion, misfortune and disaster. 
 
 This spirit of national unity was also kept in fresh and 
 vigorous life by the requirements and observances of the 
 ceremonial law. Three times in each year they were 
 required to go up to the Sanctuary and participate in the 
 celebration of the great national festivals. There they 
 witnessed the solemn and imposing rites and ceremonies 
 of their religious worship, and were forcibly reminded of 
 the great events and scenes which illumined the annals 
 of their race. These three great national festivals were 
 peculiar to them as a people and were associated with 
 ideas of liberty, prosperity and nationality under the care 
 of an ever«watchfnl providence. 
 
 The Passover was a memorial of the birthday of their 
 freedom; the Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law, 
 which organized them into a distinct and independent 
 nation, and the Feast of Tabernacles reminded them of 
 the blessings of liberty and kindly social intercourse which 
 their forefathers enjoyed in the simple dwellings in the 
 wilderness, which were ever beneath the light or shadow 
 of Jehovah's presence. 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles was the last great annual 
 festival. It came on the fifth day after the great Day of 
 Atonement on which the sins of Israel were removed, and 
 Covenant relations with God were restored. . It was also 
 called the Feast of Ingathering, as it came at the end of 
 the year, when all the harvests and fruits had bee'n 
 gathered in. With a sense of pardoned sin and with the 
 prospect of plenty, it was a good time to give thanks and 
 sing. Some of the most joyous Psalms were written for 
 
this occasion and the days of this feast were the most 
 gladsome of all the year. This feast was also regarded 
 as typical of the greater feast which God was preparing 
 for his people in heaven at the final harvest at the end of 
 the world; when all the work of earth would be done; 
 when the fruits of toil and care and obedience would all 
 be gathered in, and all trials and sorrows and sufferings 
 would be over in the home of everlasting joy and rest. 
 
 These festivals were celebrated with various sacrificial 
 observances, with songs, with music and the sacred dance; 
 and such assemblages were well calculated to keep alive 
 their national patriotism, the fraternal relationship of the 
 tribes, and their confidence and trust in Jehovah; and 
 their imaginations were excited and illumined by the 
 solemn and imposing ceremonies of the sanctuary, which 
 were memorials of a glorious past and types of a higher 
 and nobler destiny. 
 
 We know that the Olympic Games were strong bonds 
 of union among the States of Greece, and had great 
 influence in developing the courage and physical energies, 
 and the intellect and genius of that gifted and brilliant 
 people. Like influences and results were produced by 
 like causes in other ancient and modern nations, but no 
 nation has ever existed which was so thoroughly and so 
 permanently nationalized as the Hebrews. The "Scattered 
 Nation," and its wild, roaming kinsmen of the desert, are 
 the only peoples who have endured the storms of centuries, 
 as long as the pyramids. 
 
 We will now refer to the piety of the Hebrews as 
 another powerful element in elevating their national 
 culture. They were by far the most devout people of the 
 ancient world, and their religious belief was the life 
 breath of their nationality. The dream of Jacob at Bethel 
 was a type of Hebrew spiritual life, and to their fervid 
 fancies the mystic ladder was never withdrawn. In ardent 
 faith they felt that hosts of angels were encamped around 
 
io8 
 
 their dwellings and accompanied their journeyings, and 
 sometimes they could hear divine footsteps in the mur- 
 muring groves, and they believed that on the hills and 
 mountains were horses and chariots of fire that guarded 
 their sacred heritage. 
 
 In all ages of the world and among all nations the idea 
 of God has given the highest beauty and grandeur to 
 human thought. This idea produced the splendid temples 
 of antiquity, whose ruins still show the taste and elegance 
 of the culture of the nations who reared them.. The 
 human mind has ever sought after God, recognizing Him as 
 the great first cause of the life and energy that pervades the 
 universe and fills it with harmony, beauty and beneficence. 
 The most grand and sublime conceptions of every people 
 are to be found in their religious belief. In the studio of 
 the artist his grandest ideals are in some way connected 
 with the great First Cause of symmetry and beauty. 
 
 The Gothic structures of Mediaeval Europe, and the 
 magnificent temples of more modern times, with their 
 elevated arches and lofty spires, are representations of the 
 aspirations of man after God. The Great Spirit of the 
 American Indian tribes is the source of their most beautiful 
 legends and superstitions, and of their richest language. 
 The most barbarous nations, sunk to the lowest condition of 
 degredation and debasement, have some noble Conceptions 
 of an unseen and powerful ruler. There seems to be an 
 universal law of nature that prompts the human heart to 
 seek to know something of the Infinite and to hold 
 communion with Him in the language of poetry and prayer. 
 
 The most beautiful authologies of the Greeks are their 
 sacred songs, which glow with intense feelings and beautiful 
 thought. Their mythology was the principle source of 
 their poetry and art, which have so much refined the taste 
 and enlarged and enriched the literary treasures of the 
 world They had divinities for everything. The thunder 
 was the angry voice of Jupiter on high Olympus, and the 
 
lightning the flash of his terrible thunderbolts. Their 
 mountains were the thrones and their plains and valleys 
 the council chambers, the battlefields and the habitations 
 of the gods In every tree some Dryad was dwelling and 
 Nymphs were ever pouring dew drops upon the flowers. 
 On every stream the Naiads were singing and Apollo and 
 the tuneful Muses were waking the echoes of every hill 
 and vale with ethereal lyres. Far out on the shining seas 
 the Nereids were giving music to the waves. The breath 
 of yEolus was the storm that stirred into fury the seething 
 billows which the Halcyones, with soft and soothing 
 melodies, lulled into gentle slumbers. Every thing that 
 was bright, joyous, musical and beautiful in nature was 
 the gift or was under the care of some superhuman being 
 in some way connected with the immortals. Every house- 
 hold had its tutelary divinities that sanctified the hearth- 
 stone, guarded the cradle of infancy, guided the wayward 
 footsteps of maturer years, and whispered of Elysium and 
 the Isles of the Blessed to the aged and the dying. 
 
 The mythology of the Greeks, although in some respects 
 so fascinating and beautiful, presented many disgusting and 
 shameful scenes; and many of their deities were guilty of 
 horrid crimes and enormities and the most beastly vices 
 ever practiced by degraded man. 
 
 How completely does the sensuous polytheism of the 
 Greeks sink into nothingness when compared with the 
 sublime spiritual monotheism of the Hebrews. An 
 uncreated God, as unity of infinite wisdom, power and 
 immaculate purity and holiness, existing from everlasting 
 to everlasting seated upon a throne in the heavens high 
 and lifted up; clothed in garments of resplendent light, 
 and crowned with ineffable glory and majesty; surrounded 
 by myriads of angels and archangels. Cherubim and 
 Seraphim, doing His will with gladness, and with faces 
 veiled with their wings ever singing to the music of golden 
 harps the lofty songs of eternal praise. With omniscient 
 
i ro 
 
 eye He read all the secrets of the present and the past 
 and contemplated the coming events of the future; to 
 Him even ages were not moments of time, and eternity 
 but an unending now. He was also regarded as Omni- 
 present and Omnipotent, not only dwelling in the heavens, 
 but everwhere present and controlling every part of the 
 illimitable universe and all created things, not as a 
 pantheistic, animating and commingling element, but as 
 a separate, independent, Supreme Creator and Governor. 
 He spoke worlds into being by a word or the exercise of 
 omnific will. He measured the waters in the hollow of 
 His hand, meted out the heavens with the span, compre- 
 hended the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the 
 mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. He shook 
 the earth on her deep foundations so that the pillars 
 thereof trembled, and " He toucheth the hills and they 
 smoke." He guided the heavenly hosts in their unerring 
 orbits. "He telleth the number of the stars. He calleth 
 them all by their names." And yet amidst the grandest 
 displays of His wisdom and power, He manifested His 
 holiness, truth justice and benevolence; and while He 
 would " by no means clear the guilty," He was " merciful 
 and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness 
 and truth." 
 
 With the providential care of an All-Wise Father He 
 watched and blessed the humblest creatures and works 
 of His hand. " They all wait upon Him and He giveth 
 them their meat in due season." He sendeth the springs 
 into the valleys which ran among the hills and gave 
 drink to the beasts of the field to quench their thirst. 
 " He watereth the hills from His chambers," and freshens 
 the verdure of the pastures for the cattle. He giveth 
 habitations to the birds, and teacheth them to build their 
 nests and sing among the branches. He filleth the trees 
 with sap and maketh them rejoice and clap their hands. 
 He made a home for the leviathan in the deep, wide sea 
 
II I 
 
 that he might play among the waters. He distilled the 
 sparkling dew and perfumed the breath of the morning. 
 He clothed the flowers with exquisite beauty. " He 
 giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoar frost like 
 ashes." He fed the young ravens when they cried. <k He 
 made the high hills a refuge for the wild goats and the 
 rocks for the conies." With what astonished and rapturous 
 admiration did the Psalmist sing, "Yea, the sparrow 
 hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, 
 where she may lay her young; even Thine altars, O, Lord 
 of Hosts, my King and my God." 
 
 Without making full verbal quotations I have stated a 
 few of the numerous ideas and expressions of the Hebrew 
 bards as they looked forth upon the glories of nature. 
 They did not observe the works of creation as natural 
 philosophers, but contemplated them with the fervent 
 and loving admiration of the soul. They regarded all the 
 objects of nature as their kindred under the care of the 
 same universal Father who with tender and beneficent 
 love provided daily for the wants and welfare of his great 
 family. Their poetry of nature appeals to the heart and 
 understanding, as they combine beauty with truth and 
 animate both with intense sympathetic feelings. 
 
 The sublime and devout religious faith of the Hebrews 
 was elevated and strengthened by the continual manifes- 
 tations of Jehovah's presence. If they went astray He 
 scourged them back to duty, and when they were obedient 
 subjects, their corn and wine increased and their land was 
 blessed with peace and abounded with plenty. To them 
 the Tabernacle was Jehovah's earthly dwelling place and 
 the magnificent Temple of Solomon made Jerusalem 
 4i The City of the Great King." 
 
 The great and controlling influence of metropolitan 
 cities can be distinctly traced in the history of all civilized 
 nations. In them are concentrated the industry, wealth 
 and the intellectual, moral and political energies of the 
 
un- 
 people,- and are thus concentrated central forces that 
 generate and regulate peculiar systems of civilization. 
 This fact is so well established that I need not refer to 
 the numerous instances presented in history. 
 
 In the time of David Jerusalem was made the political 
 and religious metropolis of the Hebrew State and became 
 endeared to the people by many proud and patriotic 
 associations, and was consecrated by the hallowed services 
 and emblems of their religious worship. Their love for 
 their Holy City was dearer, deeper and stronger than 
 their love of life, and this love has endured through the 
 long line of their descendants for nearly thirty centuries. 
 Even now the few dejected and persecuted Jews who 
 dwell in or visit Jerusalem, every week gather around 
 the few broken and defaced stones of their ruined temple 
 and pour forth wailing words and bitter tears, and with a 
 sublime and unshaken faith long for the building of the 
 walls of Zion. An all-absorbing and enduring love like 
 this is itself an epic of wondrous beauty, pathos and 
 sublimity. 
 
 With their language, with their history, with their 
 beautiful country, with their sublime and imposing religious 
 faith, and with their Holy City and fatherland, can it be a 
 matter of surprise that the Hebrew bards produced the 
 grandest and richest poetry ever read by man ? 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 Art Culture. The Tabernacle and Temple. 
 
 The Passover. 
 
 In observing the influence which poetry has exerted 
 upon the intellectual progress and aesthetic culture of 
 other nations, we are naturally led to inquire why the 
 Hebrews did not make higher advancement in the fine 
 arts which are kindred to, and usually associated with the 
 art of poetry, in which they attained such surpassing 
 excellence. We will now proceed to examine briefly this 
 interesting subject. 
 
 The history of human progress shows that poetry is 
 the only one of the fine arts that ever attained any high 
 degree of excellence among a primitive people. It has, 
 however, nearly always preceded and created that 
 aesthetic culture which, in a more advanced stage of 
 civilization, has given rise to the kindred arts of elegant 
 architecture, music, painting and sculpture. 
 
 Egypt is generally regarded as the cradle of the arts 
 and sciences, but that people never produced any poetry 
 of the highest order, and never became eminent in the 
 fine arts. Their architecture was grand, massive and 
 imposing, and their painting and sculpture were stiff, inele- 
 gant, and greatly wanting in the elements of beauty. 
 They taught the Greeks the first lessons of art, which 
 that refined and imaginative people carried to a degree of 
 excellence which has been the delight and admiration of 
 all succeeding ages. 
 
 The refined and elegant culture of the Greeks may in 
 a great degree be attributed to the poems of Homer. 
 These sublime poems were produced in a fabulous and 
 heroic age and remained for more than three centuries an 
 
ii4 
 
 almost unwritten minstrelsy which lived with vivid fresh- 
 ness and power in the hearts of the semi-civilized Greeks, 
 inspiring and preparing them for their glorious intellectual 
 and political destiny. When these poems were collected, 
 arranged and reduced to writing by the accomplished 
 Pisistratus they constituted the principal literature of the 
 nation, and were read and studied in the schools of Athens 
 and the cities of Ionia. It is said in fable that Cadmus 
 sowed the teeth of a dragon and thus produced the stal- 
 wart warriors of Thebes. It may be said in metaphor that 
 Homer sowed the prolific germs of imaginative thought 
 which sprang up into an abundant harvest that has 
 enriched the world with the productions of poetry and art. 
 
 During the period of the Roman republic there was but 
 little poetic literature, and we find the people brave, 
 intellectual and practical, founding wise civil institutions 
 and beneficent laws; building splendid aqueducts, paved 
 roads and massive structures for the purposes of war and 
 commerce, but they made little advancement in aesthetic 
 culture. 
 
 The poetry and cultivated taste of the conquered 
 Greeks planted germs in Italy which sprang up in luxuriant 
 fruitage, and soon the republican city of brick became 
 the imperial city of marble, and the whole land was filled 
 with elegant villas, temples and palaces, which were 
 crowded and adorned with the highest achievements of 
 artistic genius. 
 
 The dawn that followed the midnight of the Middle 
 Ages was beautified by the roseate light of poetry. In 
 my first lecture I referred at some length to the influence 
 of poetry in forming national tastes and in producing the 
 high development of the kindred arts of architecture, 
 music, painting and sculpture. This influence of poetry 
 seems to constitute a primary and fundamental law of 
 refined civilization. To this general law the history of 
 the Hebrews furnishes a singular exception. They were 
 
"5 
 
 a highly poetical people, and made some advancement in 
 architecture, music and many of the useful arts, but they 
 made little progress in painting and sculpture. At an 
 early period they became familiar with Egyptian art, but 
 they did not develop it into elegance and beauty like the 
 Greeks, who in a subsequent age received information 
 from the same great primal source of- civilization. We 
 propose to inquire briefly into some of the reasons why 
 the Hebrews in this department of refined culture did not 
 accomplish as much as the Greeks. In mental and physical 
 organization the Hebrews were not inferior to the Greeks, 
 and both races were remarkable for personal beauty and 
 graceful symmetry of bodily development. The Greek 
 artists in the young athletae of the gymnasium had 
 appropriate models to guide their ideal conceptions of 
 divinities and the demigods of the heroic ages. They 
 were always surrounded with matchless forms of female 
 beauty and grace. Greece, Ionia and the yEgean Isles 
 presented numberless scenes of picturesque loveliness. 
 
 The Hebrew artists might have found many an Asahel 
 as light of foot as the wild roe, and many an Absalom 
 the perfection of manly. beauty. The achievements of the 
 fabled Hercules were not superior to those of the Nazarite 
 Judge who rent the young lion and who so easily bore 
 away the ponderous gates of Gaza, and overwhelmed in 
 terrific ruin the crowded temple of Dagon. The daughters 
 of Zion, as they glided through the mingling mazes of the 
 dance to the sound of timbrels and harps, might well 
 have kindled the inspirations of genius longing for ideals 
 of the graceful and the beautiful. The Hebrews were the 
 highest type of the Shemitic races, and the Greeks were 
 the noblest of the children of Japheth, and both were 
 highly imaginative and loved the beautiful in nature, which 
 they found in such rich profusion in the heaven-blest lands 
 which they inhabited, and both expressed their ardent 
 admiration of the glories of nature in the finest strains of 
 
u6 
 
 poetry. It was not the lack of taste and genius, or the 
 want of suitable subjects, or poverty of materials, that 
 prevented the Hebrews from attaining superior excellence 
 in imitative art, for their history and poetry have been 
 the rich fields from which modern genius has gleaned its 
 most splendid conceptions and models for painting and 
 sculpture. 
 
 The principle cause of difference between the Hebrews 
 and the Greeks in artistic development was the diversity 
 of their religious faith. In every age among pagan 
 nations there has been a strong feeling in the human 
 heart that prompted man to seek for some object of 
 sensuous worship. The Greeks had no divine revelation 
 to guide them, and their ardent fancies created, or highly 
 embellished the objects of their adoration. They were 
 deeply impressed by natural beauty, which they supposed 
 was produced and preserved by supernatural and ethereal 
 beings. These were the beau ideals of their religious 
 aspirations and their plastic genius gave them tangible 
 and visible existence in painting and sculpture. We find 
 that the highest efforts of genius in the fine arts repre- 
 sented religious feeling and sentiment. The mythology 
 of the Greeks was the rich and prolific source of their art 
 inspiration. The spirit of Mediaeval Christianity was 
 displayed in Gothic cathedrals and minsters, and in a 
 later and more enlightened age kindled the genius of the 
 Old Masters, who filled the cities of Europe with the 
 noblest miracles of art. 
 
 The Hebrews had but one place of public worship, and 
 both the Tabernacle and Temple were built under instruc- 
 tions from Jehovah and were sanctified by the mysterious 
 symbols of His presence. Thus their genius for sacred 
 architecture, painting and sculpture was not called into 
 exercise, enlarged and refined by the frequent construction 
 of gorgeous temples. They had none of the incentives and 
 opportunities which stimulated and cultivated the genius of 
 
ii7 
 
 the artists of Greece, Romeand Modern Europe. The Tem- 
 ple that stood in the midst of their holy city was built by 
 Tyrian architects, and was more magnificent in architectural 
 splendor and beauty than any structure ever reared by 
 genius, but to them it was too sacred to be imitated, it was 
 the dwelling place of the Most High. Their religious 
 truths and principles were marked out and defined in the 
 heaven-directed laws and institutions of Moses with 
 precision and exactitude, and were too solemn and 
 impressive for the creations of fancy. The voice of Jehovah 
 proclaimed in tones of thunder from the lurid cloud- 
 temple of Sinai, " Thou shalt not make unto thee any 
 graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in 
 heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath; or that is 
 in the water under the earth." They had heard the awful 
 penalties denounced against the violations of this law, 
 and often witnessed dread judgments on the disobedient. 
 They were continually surrounded and overshadowed by 
 religious ceremonials, grandly gorgeous and imposing, and 
 their ideas of Jehovah Sabaoth were invested with a sub- 
 limity of awe too exalted for art, and could only be fitly 
 expressed in the language of divine inspiration which 
 elevated and enraptured the soul. In the times of their 
 highest religious purity they could not imagine a sensuous 
 representation of the attributes of Deity; omnipotence, 
 omnipresence, infinity and the perfection of holiness, 
 surrounded by that ineffable light and glory before which 
 even the angels veiled their faces with their shining wings. 
 When the Hebrews, under the demoralizing influences 
 which surrounded them, departed from the observances of 
 the ceremonial law and neglected their high spiritual 
 worship, we find them following the examples of pagan 
 nations and setting up images of sensuous and idolatrous 
 adoration, but they were always brought back to their 
 sacred allegiance by various corrective providences. 
 : We will mention only one other cause for the inferiority 
 
n8 
 
 of the Hebrews in the fine arts. The history of these arts 
 shows that they have never attained a high degree of 
 excellence, except in a commercial and luxurious nation, 
 where many individuals had accumulated large fortunes 
 and had abundant leisure and a cultivated taste for 
 refined enjoyments. The civil and political institutions of 
 the Hebrews were designed for an agricultural and not a 
 commercial people. They were all descended from the 
 same common ancestor, and under their free institutions 
 were entitled to equal social, civil and political privileges. 
 There were no proud and imperious nobles and princes 
 claiming a more distinguished lineage and higher prerog- 
 atives than their fellow citizens, and who were desirous 
 of perpetuating and rendering more impressive their social 
 position, fame and power by costly palaces adorned with 
 the rich and elaborate elegancies of art. There was no 
 aristocracy of wealth who expended accumulated treasures 
 in the profuse extravagances of pomp and pride. There 
 were no large communities of slaves to rear massive and 
 ostentatious structures like the pyramids, temples and 
 treasure cities of Egypt, and the gorgeous palaces and 
 hanging gardens of Babylon to perpetuate the fame of 
 cruel and licentious despots. The laws and institutions of 
 Moses — to which we have already referred — prevented the 
 accumulation of large individual fortunes. 
 
 In Palestine there were no great cities and commercial 
 emporiums, the seats of voluptuous ease and luxurious 
 refinements. The great mass of the people dwelt in vil- 
 lages and hamlets, and were forced by necessity to spend 
 their time in watching their flocks and herds, and in culti- 
 vating their small patrimonial estates. Thus they remained 
 a rural and pastoral people, living apart from other nations 
 and retaining even to the time of the Babylonish captivity 
 the simple manners and customs of their patriarchal 
 ancestors. 
 
 I will now briefly refer to the elevating and refining 
 
ii 9 
 
 influences produced upon Hebrew taste and culture by 
 their sacred architecture, music and the splendid rites 
 employed in the ceremonial services of the sanctuary. 
 The Tabernacle erected in the wilderness by the heaven- 
 inspired genius of Moses, Bazaleel and Aholiab, was a 
 gorgeous pavillion gleaming with silver and gold and with 
 the brightest coloring; and the inner curtains were richly 
 embroidered with Cherubim and other beautiful figures of 
 delicate and elaborate workmanship and joined to each 
 other with finely chased clasps of gold. There was an 
 awful sanctity in the silence and solitude of the Holy of 
 Holies. No one ever went behind its mysterious separating 
 veil except the High Priest, and he but once a year, after 
 being sanctified by the most solemn and elaborate purifi- 
 cations. In it were placed the golden Ark of the Covenant 
 containing the tables of the law, the pot of manna and 
 Aaron's wonder-working rod, and above the Mercy Seat 
 stood with overshadowing wings the guardian golden 
 Cherubim. No light of day entered this sacred and silent 
 penetralia, but it was always illumined by the radiant 
 glory of the Shechinah, the symbol of Jehovah's presence. 
 During the desert pilgrimage the Tabernacle was always 
 pitched in the centre of the encamping tribes, and above 
 it stood in silent grandeur the pillar of cloud or the pillar 
 of fire, which was the visible leader of the marching hosts. 
 When the cloud moved from its resting place, the silver 
 trumpets of the priests were sounded and the clear notes 
 rang out in soul-stirring music over the white tents of 
 Israel, and echoed and re-echoed among the valleys, hills 
 and grand mountains of the desert. When Israel reached 
 the Promised Land and found permanent homes among 
 its green mountains, vine-clad hills and fertile valleys, and 
 ceased from warfare and wandering, their love and veneration 
 for the Tabernacle were greatly increased, as it had become 
 the political and religious centre of the nation, and three 
 times in each year the kindred tribes assembled in its 
 
120 
 
 sacred courts to join in its hallowed services. When they 
 had returned to their homes from the great national festivals 
 their memories of the Tabernacle were always fresh and 
 vivid, as they knew that twice each day, as the sun arose 
 over the Syrian desert, and as it sank into the waves of 
 the great sea, the silver trumpets sounded, the sacrificial 
 fires blazed on the brazen altar and the cloud of incense 
 ascended from the golden altar in the Holy Place, as an 
 atonement for their sins and an invocation of the continued 
 blessings of Jehovah. 
 
 Everything connected with the Hebrew ritual was 
 impressive and splendid. There was the High Priest 
 clothed in the bright colored ephod, clasped in front 
 by the breastplate which was sanctified by the Urim and 
 Thummim, and sparkled with precious symbolic jewels, 
 and on his brow a shining coronet of gold proclaimed 
 him " Holy to the Lord." Around him were the priests, 
 arrayed in rich sacerdotal vestures, preparing the offerings 
 for the sacrifice. On both sides of the brazen altar 
 stood immense choirs of white robed Levites pouring 
 forth in antiphonal strains the sacred songs of praise and 
 thanksgiving, accompanied with rich notes of instrumental 
 music, together forming grand waves of melody, which 
 made the heavens and hills resound with responsive 
 echoing raptures. The Tabernacle worship was continued 
 for more than four hundred years, and these religious 
 ceremonies were made still more splendid and imposing 
 in the temple service. 
 
 I will not attempt to describe, at any length, the 
 temple which Solomon built unto the God of Israel, and 
 embellished with the riches of exhaustless treasures and 
 all the glories of Tyrian art. The sanctuary of the temple 
 was built of smoothly hewed stones, adjusted to each 
 other with the nicest precision. It was covered within 
 and without with cedar boards richly carved with Cherubim, 
 palm trees and open flowers, overlaid with pure gold. 
 
121 
 
 The inner walls and ceiling were also garnished with 
 precious stones, and the floor was a shining pavement of 
 gold. The ten golden tables were laden with golden 
 vessels encrusted with jewels, and the ten golden candle- 
 sticks, from their numerous lamps fed with fragrant oil, 
 sent forth a continuous breath of perfume and a blaze of 
 light that filled the whole apartment with coruscating 
 splendors. The sanctuary was surrounded with stories 
 of chambers, with porticoes and galleries, and with 
 massive walls and towers of the whitest marble. The 
 whole temple structure, with its costly and precious 
 decorations and adornments, rested upon the top of the 
 sacred mountain, and on a clear day it glowed and gleamed 
 and glittered in radiant glory like a magnificent palace of 
 the sun "From diamond quarries hewn and rocks of gold." 
 It was hallowed by the symbols of Jehovah's presence, 
 and His voice of benediction had resounded through its 
 sanctuaries. Well might the heart of a pious and patriotic 
 Hebrew have swelled with the noblest sentiments and 
 feelings as he beheld this pride of his country and the 
 glorious temple of his God; while all the emotions of his 
 soul bursted forth in rapturous song. 
 
 We will now consider, with more minuteness of detail 
 than we have heretofore done, some of the scenes presented 
 in the celebration of the Passover. We select this one 
 of the great national festivals of the Hebrews, as important 
 events in their later history have rendered it so memorable 
 and interesting to the Christian world. 
 
 In the spring time of every year the families of Israel 
 commenced their annual pilgrimage to the holy city, and 
 from the mountains of Lebanon, the hills of Kedar, the 
 plains of Syria, the shores of the great sea, and from all 
 the green valleys of the holy land, in gathering caravans 
 went up to Jerusalem to worship, singing songs of joy 
 and praise and carrying offerings for the Temple. To 
 them it was a sacred pilgrimage, rendered joyous by the 
 
122 
 
 association of old friends, and every resting place was a 
 familiar spot surrounded by the beauties of nature and; 
 hallowed by pleasant memories. Everywhere along the 
 journey they witnessed scenes renowned in heroic and 
 sacred story, and heard names made musical by the 
 melody of song. And when from the mountains round 
 about Jerusalem they saw their sacred temple and holy 
 city gleaming with the reflected glories of the sunlight, 
 with feelings of intense devotion they sang a sublime 
 liturgical Psalm in choral joy and melody that seemed 
 to make even the trees of the wood to rejoice and the 
 green hills shout with gladness. In the hospitable homes 
 of the city they found a cordial welcome, and everywhere 
 in house and tent and booth families gathered at the 
 table of the paschal supper and in effectionate and holy 
 communion celebrated the great national feast. They were 
 not wearied from journeying but spent the night in talking 
 over the memorable events in their nation's history, and 
 with grateful hearts returned thanks to Jehovah for His 
 manifold beneficences. They eagerly longed for the coming 
 morning when the great congregation would enter the 
 gates of the Lord's house with thanksgiving and praise. 
 I will now attempt to describe briefly a scene which 
 might have been witnessed by a pious Hebrew from the 
 top of Mount Olivet on the first day of the Passover. 
 The kindling rays of the dawn have tipped with silvery 
 brightness the summits of the dark mountains of Moab 
 and the gray twilight is gliding silently and softly over 
 the awakening city and amid the gloaming of the wide 
 extended landscape. All things in nature have waked 
 from the solemn stillness and slumbers of the night, and 
 with fresh, glad voices seem to hail the coming light, while 
 soft mystic melodies are floating on the ambient air. Now 
 he sees more distinctly the white tents on the mountain 
 sides and in the deep valleys and can hear the noise of 
 eager footsteps and the busy hum of voices that tell him 
 
123 
 
 that the devout hosts of Israel are preparing for the morn- 
 ing sacrifice. In the East are slowly spreading the gorgeous 
 curtains of the earthly tabernacle, gleaming in purple and 
 gold and glorious in beauty, resting on mountain pillars, 
 and covering flowery plains, verdant hills and fruitful 
 valleys. And now the sun — nature's high priest — enters 
 through the beautiful gates of the morning and with grand 
 majestic march moves up his celestial pathway and with 
 bountiful beneficence fills the earthly tabernacle with 
 golden radiance, blessedness and joy; and nature worships 
 its Great Creator and sends up anthems of thanksgiving 
 and the richest incense to His holy temple not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens. Now man begins his 
 worship, and the silver trumpets from the temple wake the 
 echoes that slumbered among the mountains of Zion, and 
 clear and musical the notes come over the the gliding 
 Kidron and are ringing among the cedars, the figtrees, 
 the clustering vines and waving palms of Olivet. 
 
 It is the hour of the morning sacrifice and the mingled 
 clouds from the altars of incense and burnt offering are 
 rising above the gleaming pinnacles, the stately porches 
 and beautiful gates of the Temple, and are spreading like 
 Jehovah's protecting wing over the assembled people and 
 the hallowed land. From every house in Jerusalem, and 
 from the tents of Israel, rejoicing worshipers are crowding 
 up the marble steps of the temple courts and with voices 
 and emotions gushing from grateful hearts are joining the 
 glorious harmonies of the temple choirs as with exultant 
 joy they sing the sublime morning anthem. The grand 
 and imposing scenes which accompanied the celebration 
 of the great national festivals must have made a profound 
 and ineffaceable impression upon the pious, patriotic and 
 imaginative Hebrew, as he earnestly believed that they 
 but dimly prefigured the Messianic glories that were to 
 beam with supernatural splendors around the mountains 
 of Zion and make Jerusalem the joy of the whole earth. 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 The Ages of David and Solomon. The Influence 
 of Hebrew Poetry upon Christian Hymnology. 
 
 The age of David and Solomon is generally regarded 
 as the zenith period of the national prosperity, power and 
 literary glory of the Hebrews. The reigns of these two 
 princes, in some respects, present a striking contrast, and 
 yet both contributed greatly to social and intellectual 
 progress and national development. David was the 
 greatest king of Israel. He conquered all their enemies 
 and extended his dominions from the borders of Egypt 
 to the Euphrates, and his turbulent reign was illumined 
 with the splendors of civic and military achievements. 
 
 Solomon was a peaceful prince, more munificent in his 
 bounties and more successful in promoting national 
 prosperity and advancement than the brilliant Pericles or 
 the wise and pacific Augustus. He built the Temple, the 
 most rich and gorgeous structure ever erected by the 
 hands of men, and he beautified Jerusalem with public 
 works and palaces and made it the home of industry, 
 science and the useful arts, and the centre of a rich and 
 refined social and intellectual culture which attracted the 
 wonder and admiration of other nations. He sent the 
 messengers of commerce to bring wealth, comfort and 
 luxuries from distant shores and the "Isles of the Gentiles." 
 He exhibited the talent and skill of human diplomacy by 
 establishing friendly relations with neighboring kingdoms, 
 and his justice and wisdom made him an arbiter of nations, 
 and induced thousands of strangers to make their homes 
 in a land blessed with his enlightened laws and beneficent 
 institutions. He reared cities in the wilderness, laid out 
 highways and planted gardens in the desert, and gave his 
 
125 
 
 people the blessings of peace. These two reigns continued 
 for more than fifty years, and a period so brilliant with 
 the triumphs of war and the glories of peace must have 
 greatly stimulated and elevated the genius of a people 
 who were constantly expecting and earnestly longing for 
 a golden age of national greatness and splendor, when 
 the promised Messiah, as a magnificent prince, would estab- 
 lish his ever-enduring throne upon Mount Zion and make 
 Jerusalem the metropolitan city of all nations. Such 
 intense hopes and vivid fancies were well calculated to 
 call forth the loftiest efforts of poetic genius. 
 
 We may well believe that David and Solomon were 
 representative men of their nation, and that their sublime 
 productions which have come down to us present but few 
 of the many thoughts and emotions that gushed from the 
 glowing hearts and minds of their countrymen in the 
 richest language and clothed with imagery as multiform 
 as that which nature furnishes in her glorious gallery of 
 the earth, sea and skies. 
 
 We believe that a poet is the creature of his age, and 
 in a great degree collects and reflects the spirit of his 
 people. The circumstances and influences by which he is 
 surrounded are the inspirations of his genius. He concen- 
 trates these various intellectual, moral and natural 
 influences and gives them new forms of life, power and 
 beauty, just as the lens of science collects and concen- 
 trates the diffused rays of light into a more brilliant and 
 burning glow. The poetic feelings of the Hebrew people, 
 produced by the causes to which we have referred, were 
 the natural influences which kindled the genius of David 
 when an humble shepherd boy, tending his fathers flocks 
 in the quiet valleys of Bethlehem, he tuned his simple 
 harp to immortal melodies; and his songs were elevated 
 to sublimer strains when he experienced the merciful 
 providences of God, shielding him from the relentless 
 persecutions of Saul and guiding his pathway through 
 
126 
 
 the vicissitudes and dangers of his stormy life. Solomon 
 was the child of the much loved Bathsheba, and received 
 the constant care, instruction and fervent affections of his 
 noble and highly gifted father. He was surrounded by 
 the taste and elegance of court life, and his youthful 
 genius was heightened and brightened by the gorgeous 
 ceremonies and glorious minstrelsy and music of the 
 tabernacle service which David had so admirably regu- 
 lated. In this connection we only speak of the natural 
 gifts, advantages and attainments of David and Solomon. 
 They were also prophets and inspired poets, and in their 
 writings, preserved in the Old Testament, they were 
 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The writings of the prophets who preceded the Cap- 
 tivity are highly poetical and furnish strong evidence of 
 the imaginative temperament of their people. Rebellion, 
 disunion and the bitterness of sectional and political 
 hatred had destroyed the unity of national life and broken 
 down many of the strong bulwarks which had so long 
 preserved the chosen people from the demoralizing 
 influences of the surrounding nations, and they had almost 
 forgotten the God and the sacred institutions of their 
 fathers. At this period of degeneracy the prophets were 
 sent as divine messengers to warn, instruct and guide the 
 people, and they knew full well that they could not arrest 
 the tides of rapid decline in any other manner than by 
 appealing in impassioned and glowing eloquence to the 
 intense and fervid natures of their countrymen. The 
 prophecies are grand national poems of varied styles and 
 harmonies. At one time they are illumined with bright 
 pictures of the events of the past and the glorious hopes 
 of the future; then in weeping and pleading melodies 
 they speak to the finest and most tender feelings of the 
 heart; and then they utter strong denunciations against 
 sin, error and disobedience, and then kindle and burn 
 with indignant and eloquent imprecations against the 
 
127 
 
 nations who had oppressed and corrupted Israel. We 
 will reserve the subject of the prophecies for more 
 extended consideration in a future lecture. 
 
 We will now take a rapid glance at the influences exerted 
 by Hebrew poetry upon the literatures and civilization of 
 subsequent ages. We have already spoken of the influence 
 of some of the great poems of classic antiquity upon the 
 aesthetic culture of mankind. They were crystalized and 
 made immortal by the power of human genius, but they 
 have operated upon only a comparatively small class of 
 educated men, and their influences have not permeated 
 the great mass of the people of subsequent times and 
 aroused their noblest emotions and awakened their moral 
 perceptions and intellectual energies. Many of the He- 
 brew bards lived centuries before Homer and their great 
 poems are now read, even at this distant age, with the 
 highest pleasure and profit by millions who know nothing 
 of poetry as a fine art and whose tastes have never been 
 cultivated by the elegancies of classic learning. These 
 poems gave an unyielding national cohesiveness to the 
 Jewe during the post-exillian period of their history when 
 the conquests of Alexander, the desolating wars of his 
 successors, and the all-grasping ambition of Rome were 
 continually changing the boundaries and destinies of 
 States, and making human society a vast boiling and 
 bloody caldron of strife and revolution. 
 
 The Septuagint version of these poems, through the 
 medium of the elegant and cultivated language of Greece, 
 transfused their influence into ancient learning and civiliza- 
 tion, and thus prepared the world for those glorious realities 
 which they had dimly but grandly prefigured. They 
 became blended with the teachings and beauties of the 
 New Dispensation with as natural and harmonious an 
 affinity as the rudy and glowing light of the morning 
 dawn melts into the effulgence of the rising sun. 
 
 It is not my purpose in these lectures to refer even in a 
 
128 
 
 cursory manner to the New Testament, for I would not 
 by a hasty sketch do injustice to such a rich and extensive 
 subject. I will say, however, that it contains numerous 
 passages and scenes of exquisite beauty and tender pathos. 
 The Sermon on the Mount is not only the most perfect 
 discourse ever uttered, but it is a poem of incomparable 
 beauty, glowing with the light of divine love, and the 
 Beatitudes must have some of the heavenly sweetness of 
 the songs which the angels sing. The speeches and 
 writings of Saint Paul in richness of thought, in terseness, 
 force and elegance of diction are equal to the best pro- 
 ductions of Athenian genius; and the sublime visions of 
 the Apocalypse were painted with the brightest pencil of 
 poetic prophecy. The New Testament develops the 
 spiritual beauties of Hebrew literature, just as the sun- 
 shine causes the diamond to gleam with a brilliancy of 
 lustre that was not visible in the dimness of the twilight. 
 The influence of Hebrew poetry upon thehymnology of 
 the Christian Church can be distinctly traced from the 
 earliest times. The hymn which Christ and his Apostles 
 sang at the close of the first Lord's Supper was a psalm 
 which had long been used in the celebration of the Pass- 
 over; and from that hour on through the ages psalms and 
 hymns and sacred songs have thrilled the heart of the 
 Christian world, and many of their highest and richest 
 notes of praise were those that once sounded to melody 
 wakened on the strings of the old Hebrew lyre. During the 
 Apostolic age and for more than a century afterwards no 
 other songs were used in public or private devotions than 
 " Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide," 
 
 and in the churches they were sung in the antiphonal 
 style used by Asaph and his choirs of Levites as in lofty 
 melody they responded from each side of the brazen altar 
 of the Temple. 
 
 In after ages there was a long and eventful struggle 
 between the refined and elegant mythology, philos )hy 
 
T29 
 
 and poetry of paganism and the simple rites and doctrines, 
 and the sublime literature of Christianity for supremacy in 
 the Roman empire. Those were indeed times that tried 
 men's souls, and they exhibited a lofty courage and sublime 
 fortitude that have no parallels in the annals of human 
 heroism. As the primitive church passed through the 
 terrible ordeal of the martyr ages the courage and endur- 
 ance of Christian heroes were elevated and ennobled by 
 memories of Israel's trials and triumphs and sustained by 
 a living faith in the same Almighty Being that guarded 
 the prophet with the horses and chariots of fire, that 
 stopped the mouths of lions, and walked with His suffering 
 and persecuted children through the fierce furnace fires of 
 Babylon. Although the Church was triumphant over the 
 principalities and powers of paganism, the brightness of its 
 celestial armor was tarnished, it received many scars in 
 the conflict, and departed far from the purity of its first 
 love. Temporal success and power brought pride, wealth 
 and worldly ambition to the descendants of the saintly 
 fathers and heroic martyrs, and caused them to depart 
 from the simple rites and doctrines of patristic times. 
 But as the Church moved on its troublous pathway 
 through the revolutions of states and empires into the 
 thickening gloom of the Middle Ages the old Hebrew 
 Psalter rang out, like the notes of the silver trumpets of 
 the priests, leading and cheering the hosts of Israel in 
 their desert journey, and its grand hymns of praise 
 modulated to new metres swelled on the notes of Cecil- 
 ian organs through the dim aisles and lofty arches of 
 Gothic cathedrals and minsters, inspiring thousands of 
 earnest and pious hearts with high and rapt devotion. 
 
 The mighty social, political and religious revolutions 
 caused by the Reformation engendered strong feelings of 
 prejudice and hatred against the Church of Rome, and 
 some of the Reformers, uninfluenced by the example and 
 teachings of Luther, regarded as abominations even the 
 
130 
 
 innocent beauties of its ceremonial service, and its elegant 
 music and many of its sublime hymns and anthems were 
 considered as the pagan and unholy attendants of an 
 impure and idolatrous worship. Such feelings were mani- 
 fested in a high degree by the Puritans and made them 
 hostile even to the beautiful and spiritual liturgy of the 
 Reformed Church of England. The bold, stern and fanati- 
 cal spirit of Puritanism came over the English Protestant 
 Church like a storm-cloud which often comes over the 
 face of nature when fierce with the thunder and glittering 
 with the lightning, fructifying the earth with fertilizing 
 rains, but hiding the joyous sunlight and hushing the 
 sweet, soft voices that breathe their melodies in God's 
 grand earthly temple. As the storm accomplishes impor- 
 tant and beneficent results in the economy of nature and 
 is followed by a purer atmosphere, richer vegetation and 
 a brighter day, so the moral and religious storm of Puri- 
 tanism, although it, for a time, obscured the advancing 
 light of progress, yet with the red rain of the blood of 
 patriots and martyrs it fertilized the dwarfed and feeble 
 plants of intellectual and religious freedom and caused 
 them to spring up into more healthful and vigorous life 
 and bear fruits and leaves for the enjoyment and healing of 
 the nations. As the morning light with freshness and 
 beauty follows the darkness of night, as the rainbow 
 gleams upon the bosom of the storm, so God is ever bring- 
 ing light, beauty and hope out of the confused councils 
 of men and the revolutions of nations. The lofty enthu- 
 siasm, passionate purpose and intense religious zeal of 
 Puritanism, darkened the earnest minds and hearts of the 
 Puritan Fathers with bigotry and intolerance, yet it gave 
 birth to a purer and more spiritual Christianity and 
 produced the grandest prose and poetic literature in our 
 language. What Christian can, without emotions of grati- 
 tude and admiration, read the eloquent productions of the 
 old Puritan divines, so rich in thought and language and 
 
i3i 
 
 so illumined with spiritual truth. The Paradise Lost will 
 ever stand pre-eminently glorious in English literature; 
 and tear drops from the eyes of youth, manhood and 
 age have fallen and will ever fall upon those immortal 
 pages on which the Puritan Bunyan in his prison cloister 
 traced with vivid imagery and tender pathos the dangers, 
 difficulties, trials and triumphs of the Christian pilgrimage. 
 In that age another poet sprang up in the bosom of the 
 Puritan Church, whose exquisite genius glowed with the 
 blended inspiration of the Bards of Israel and the sublime 
 teachings of the Gospel, and he touched his hallowed 
 harp with lyric raptures. Isaac Watts is the well recog- 
 nized leader of the modern noble choir of Christian 
 minstrels whose sacred songs, glowing with the spirit of 
 the psalmists, prophets and apostles, will ever thrill 
 through the church on earth, waking higher and gladder 
 strains of melody until they blend with the seraphic 
 harmonies of the Church in^lory. 
 
 We have now concluded our hasty and imperfect 
 enumeration of some of the causes and influences which 
 operated most powerfully upon the Hebrews in producing 
 their sublime and matchless poetry. In our succeeding 
 lectures we will speak more in detail of these productions 
 which contain so many gems of thought radiant in truth 
 and beauty, and of inestimable value to the literature of 
 the world. 
 
 Before concluding this lecture we deem it appropriate 
 briefly to allude to a prevalent error and prejudice which 
 long prevented "Bible Poetry" from exerting its full 
 and beneficent influence upon the aesthetic culture of 
 mankind. Since the days of the Reformation, but espe- 
 cially since the times of Puritanism, there have been 
 many earnest and devout Christians who have regarded 
 the expression ''Bible Poetry" as profane and blasphem- 
 ous. In their intense religious zeal they associated poetry 
 with fiction, fable and worldly pleasures and delights. 
 
132 
 
 They regarded the Bible as too sacred and truthful to be 
 placed in profane association with the creations of human 
 fancy. They would not admit that the Bible contained 
 any poetry. They objected to all the modern improve- 
 ments in sacred music, and could not listen with proper 
 composure to many of the sweet and beautiful hymns of 
 our Christian bards, which were inspired by faith and 
 adorned with the beauty of holiness. This prejudice may 
 exist to some extent in this country at the present day, 
 but it is rapidly passing away before the enlightenment of 
 our civilization and the influence of a pure and spiritual 
 Christianity, and nearly all men of education, fine sus- 
 ceptibilities and cultivated tastes, now regard the Bible as 
 not only the inspired word of God, but also as a great 
 literary treasure and the repository of the sweetest and 
 sublimest poetry. 
 
 Nearly every one can feel the influence of poetry, but 
 it is almost impossible to define the meaning of the word. 
 The definitions contained in dictionaries by no means 
 embrace the entire signification of the term. Poetry is 
 derived from a Greek verb, meaning to create, and com- 
 prehends within the scope of the ideas conveyed by the 
 word anything in nature or art that creates, arouses or 
 suggests elevated, pleasing or pathetic emotions and 
 thoughts. Thus we hear and feel the poetry of music 
 when some skillful hand wakes the witchery of the tuneful 
 harp, or blends into harmony the low, soft, solemn and 
 breathing melodies of the church organ. The Greeks 
 were accustomed to associate poetry and music, and in 
 their mythology these twin sisters of melody were 
 believed to be under the control of the same divinities; 
 and poets were always represented as masters of the lyre. 
 We can well believe that the expression " prose poetry" 
 is not a verbal paradox when we read many of the rich 
 rhythmic and brilliant pages of history, philosophy, 
 eloquence, criticism and science, and feel our hearts thrill 
 
133 
 
 with the sweetest and noblest emotions as we catch some 
 of the spirit and musical cadences of the great word and 
 thought painters who have illumined our prose literature 
 with the true Promethean fire of genius. 
 
 We often hear of the " poetry of nature," and every 
 one who is susceptible to impressions of the grand, 
 sublime and beautiful scenes in nature, everywhere so 
 profusely displayed, regards the expression as accurate 
 and appropriate. Indeed nature is the true source of 
 poetry, and any composition which is not in accordance 
 with her principles and laws will not command lasting 
 admiration, although the language may be glowing and 
 rhythmical. In classic metaphor nature is called the 
 Parnassus of poetry, and she has numerous fountains of 
 inspiration which gush with perennial waters, of which 
 the poet who drinks deeply becomes immortal. 
 
 We feel that it is not irreverent to speak of the 
 " poetry of religion." Aspirations after holiness, heaven 
 and God fill the heart with sweet emotions and the mind 
 with lofty thoughts which ever struggle to express them- 
 selves in prayer or the joyous voice of song. The 
 feelings of David when he wrote "As the heart panteth ; 
 after the water brooks so panteth my soul after Thee, O, 
 God," was the keynote of his rapturous and glorious 
 minstrelsy. These earnest religious aspirations not only 
 tuned the harps of Psalmists, Prophets and Christian 
 minstrels, but they have filled millions of human hearts 
 with melody and poetry which were never uttered or 
 written in song or poem, but were breathed in silent 
 ascriptions of thanksgiving and praise, which were heard 
 in heaven and sounded on the rejoicing harps of the 
 angels. Poetry, in a general sense, is the spirit of the 
 true, the beautiful, the good, the sublime and the holy. 
 In a more confined and technical sense it is the expression 
 of that spirit by means of metrical and musical language. 
 We will not endeavor to give a more accurate and com- 
 
134 
 
 prehensive definition. We might as well attempt to 
 hold the winds in the hollow of our hands, or imprison 
 the sunlight that in glittering freedom sports over the 
 landscape. Poetry is a kind of anima mundi that pervades 
 the universe and produces a sublime and beautiful harmony 
 in the natural creation, and between the ideal and the real. 
 
 God has revealed Himself to man both in His works 
 and in His word. If in the wide domain of nature — 
 man's earthly and temporary dwelling — the revelations 
 of God in His works are to our natural senses so full of 
 richness, elegance, beauty, sublimity and magnificence; so 
 complete in order, symmetry and harmony, and so vocal 
 with melodies, can we be surprised that the revelations 
 which He has made in His word to our spiritual percep- 
 tions and our moral natures, which are in His image, 
 should be radiant and musical with some of the celestial 
 light, melody and glory of the eternal home. 
 
 A true test of the excellency of poetry is the influence 
 which it exerts upon mankind. It is said that a well 
 tuned harp-string untouched by mortal finger will vibrate 
 in harmony to accordant notes made on another musical 
 instrument. Thus poetic feeling may lie deep and silent 
 in the heart but it utters its sweetest voice when awakened 
 by some strain struck in unison on the lyre by the skilful 
 hand of genius. This is the mystic power of Hebrew 
 poetry. It is in unison with the finest and purest emotions 
 of the human heart and will awake in the soul responsive 
 harmonies. 
 
 Our intellectual faculties and cultivated tastes may be 
 charmed with the musical flow and sublime imagery of 
 Bible poetry, but we cannot realize its purest beauties, its 
 sweetest harmonies, and its most tender pathos unless 
 we are inspired with a faith that makes us hear the 
 whisperings of the Holy Spirit, even as the Hebrew bards 
 heard the voice of God in the rapt moments of inspiration. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 The Pentateuch. The Books of Ruth, Esther 
 
 and Job. 
 
 A traveler of culture and imagination as he stands 
 amidst the ruins of Egyptian Thebes and surveys the 
 majestic memorials that rest upon the grave of a dead 
 empire is deeply impressed with the solemn gradeur of 
 the scene. 
 
 The brilliant light of that cloudless clime gleams upon 
 the wrecks and relics of time, the wondrous Nile moves 
 its volume of waters through its fertile valley from the 
 mountains to the sea, and the tall regal palms as they 
 wave their plumed heads to the breezes, all present scenes 
 of life and beauty; but still the beholder feels that he is 
 surrounded by the gloomy shadows of death. He is 
 impressed with a solemn presence — the adumbration of a 
 mightier power than time — which has been working the 
 grand changes and revolutions of human destiny. Around 
 him on every side are the evidences of a once wealthy, 
 enlightened and powerful people, but no historic voice 
 tells him of the times when were reared those once splendid 
 shrines of devotion and costly palaces of ambition and 
 pride. There are records written on the monuments and 
 tombs of the buried race, but they are as yet almost as 
 voiceless to mankind as the sphinx of the desert. Imagina- 
 tion, with eager restlessness soars into the darkness and 
 mysteries of the regions of the silent past but brings 
 back no light upon its wings. Much of the history of Old 
 Egypt is covered with the deluge of oblivion, which is 
 more impenetrable to human efforts than the chilled 
 
136 
 
 waters and icy ramparts that surround and guard the poles. 
 
 There is an antiquity more remote than that of Old 
 Egypt, and it has a history that is radiant with holy and 
 living light that speaks with eloquent voices to the 
 human heart, throws open an invaluable treasury of truth, 
 and spreads out fields of richness and enchanting beauty 
 for instructive, speculative and poetic thought. 
 
 The preservation of the Scriptures of the Old Testament 
 is indeed a wondrous miracle. They have not only survived 
 the wrecks and ruins of time, but they have passed 
 unharmed through the fierce furnace fires of human 
 passion, strife and persecution. Every one who, with 
 calm and unbiased mind, will trace the history of the Old 
 Testament — as a book — must be satisfied that it is 
 endowed with divine immortality; and when he reads and 
 devoutly considers its sublime and holy teachings and 
 its rich language, his heart will feel a blessed inspiration 
 and in humility and reverence he will say, this is certainly 
 the word of God. 
 
 We will not enter upon the extensive field of Biblical 
 criticism and exposition to consider the question as to 
 the extent of the inspiration of the writers of the Old 
 Testament as we have not the qualifications to discuss 
 the subject in the various phases in which it has been 
 presented. We will not attempt to distinguish between 
 those portions which were originated by inspiration and 
 those that were communicated as revelations. We have 
 the highest authority for believing that " All Scripture is 
 given by inspiration of God," and that the authors " spoke 
 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The authors 
 themselves often declared that they spoke and wrote 
 under such divine influence. We have no direct informa- 
 tion as to the manner in which this divine influence operated 
 generally upon the minds and hearts of the authors. 
 We fully believe that the Old Testament is the word of 
 God and that the truths, thoughts and facts which it 
 
137 
 
 contains were divinely inspired, revealed or controlled 
 with absolute certitude, and that the language used in 
 giving them expression was directly communicated, influ- 
 enced or sanctioned by the Holy Spirit. Inspiration did 
 not deprive the authors of all individual consciousness, 
 or of their peculiar modes of thought and expression, 
 but kept them from all error while speaking and writing 
 under its influence. Inspiration illumined their minds 
 with infallible light and controlled their genius while 
 they drew appropriate and forcible illustrations of divine 
 truths from the events of the past and present, and when 
 they referred to the manners and customs of their times, 
 and to their vivid perceptions of the objects of the natural 
 world. They were inspired and at the same time many 
 of them had genius of the highest order. They were 
 like the planets of the solar system, differing from each 
 other in magnitude and glory, and yet constituting one 
 harmonious system, revolving round and receiving light 
 from the same great central orb. 
 
 The books of the Old Testament, in their diversity of 
 language and imagery, yet oneness of purpose, may well 
 be compared to the rainbow. This beautiful object in 
 nature is "A bow or arch of a circle consisting of all the 
 colors formed by the refraction and reflection of rays of 
 light from drops of rain or vapor appearing in the part of 
 the hemisphere opposite to the sun." The brilliant sun- 
 beams flash in golden beauty from the same source of 
 light, and on the curtain of the storm-cloud paint in 
 various, distinct and nicely blending colors, the bow of 
 God — the sign of His ever-enduring covenant of mercy 
 to man. Thus the light of inspiration, which shone upon 
 the minds and hearts of the Hebrew bards, proceeded from 
 the same source, and was refracted, reflected and separated 
 into different styles of composition by the media through 
 which it passed, and was blended into a harmonious unity 
 
138 
 
 glowing- with the rich and precious truths and promises 
 of God. 
 
 The profound and elevated teachings of the Old 
 Testament were primarily intended for the instruction 
 and guidance of the Hebrews, and within themselves 
 furnish strong evidence that the Hebrews were an intel- 
 lectual and highly imaginative people. For we must 
 suppose that the knowledge, thought and language used 
 were best suited for the purposes to be accomplished, and 
 were in accordance with the aesthetic tastes and the 
 mental and moral capacities and susceptibilities of the 
 people. God has done nothings imperfectly, and in the 
 wide realms of nature all created things, from the smallest 
 to the greatest, are remarkably adapted to the purposes 
 of their creation, and can we reasonably suppose that this 
 arrangement of order, harmony, beauty and perfection 
 was departed from in His revealed word, intended for the 
 advancement of the high mental and moral nature of man, 
 in which he is most like God. 
 
 Our purpose in these lectures is to speak principally of 
 the Old Testament as the repository of the poetry and 
 literature of the ancient Hebrews. Of course we cannot 
 consider it entirely apart from its divine inspiration. We 
 might as well speak of the beauties of the human face 
 without alluding to the soul-light that beams from the 
 eye in eloquent radiance. 
 
 We propose to examine this remarkable book by a human 
 standard of excellence, just as a poet and astronomer often 
 regard the brilliant, life-giving warmth and manifold 
 influences of the sun in the wide realms of nature, without 
 specially referring to the omnipotence and goodness of 
 Him who placed it in the heavens and invested it with 
 beneficent influences and controlling power. 
 
 The Old Testament, viewed as a human composition, 
 possesses more profound wisdom for the guidance of 
 human action, more instructive and interesting history, 
 
139 
 
 and more beautiful and sublime poetry, than all the books 
 of ancient or modern times. We will not enter into the 
 wide fields which it presents for human thought and 
 investigation, but we. will confine our attention to those 
 portions which especially contain .poetic thought and 
 imagery. And first comes the Pentateuch, venerable for 
 antiquity, profound in wisdom and brilliant with the gems 
 of genius. It was written by a wonderful man. By 
 nature he was endowed with lofty heroism, exalted 
 intellect and genius, and with all those elevated and noble 
 virtues which make men truly great. Forty years of his 
 life were spent at the court of the most highly civilized 
 people of that age, and he was instructed in all their 
 learning and wisdom. Forty years he spent in pastoral 
 occupations amidst the sublime scenery of a mountain 
 wilderness, often holding spiritual communion with 
 Jehovah, and devoutly contemplating the wild grandeur 
 of nature. He also had frequent association with the 
 old Arabian Emirs, who breathed the spirit of liberty, 
 and were instructed by the experiences and long accumu- 
 lated wisdom of their patriarchal ancestors, and were 
 familiar with the poetic legends and traditions of pre- 
 historic ages. 
 
 Most of the language of the Pentateuch is prosaic in 
 form, but still it presents events and scenes which arouse 
 the highest poetic emotions. It is a noble prose epic 
 How grandly it looms up amidst the shadows of distant 
 centuries, revealing the earliest history and institutions of 
 mankind, and gleaming, as did Sinai of old, with the glory 
 of God. If the Pentateuch and its manifold influences had 
 never existed how different would be the condition of 
 Christendom in its knowledge in history, its culture inlitera- 
 ture, its wisdom in civil government and its social and 
 individual enlightenment, prosperity and happiness. It is 
 the deep-laid foundation of that structure of which Christ 
 is the chief corner stone, and which, in the course of centuries. 
 
140 
 
 has been reared into the grand temple of Christian civiliza- 
 tion. It hasnot onlycontrolled many of the leading events 
 of history and the civil and religious institutions of mankind, 
 but its thoughts, language and imagery have been inwrought 
 like golden threads in the warp and woof of society, and 
 it furnishes many of the cherished and familiar household 
 words of all classes of men in Christian communities. 
 The old and the young, the rich and the poor, priest and 
 layman, peasant and king, orators, poets, historians, 
 jurists, statesmen and philosophers all obtain treasures of 
 thought and language from this inexhaustible repository 
 of human and divine wisdom. Its poetic elements are 
 interspersed through all of its books, and its melodies 
 are rich and varied like those of the grand orchestra of 
 nature that ranges over every musical note, from the 
 deep-toned bass of the ocean and the thunder to the 
 soft, sweet treble strains of the singing birds. 
 
 I feel that my reference to the poetry of the Pentateuch 
 would be very incomplete without calling your special 
 attention to the closing chapters of Deuteronomy, the last 
 utterance of the peculiarly favored friend of God, and the 
 grandest poet and statesman of Israel . They are considered 
 by most Biblical scholars as the finest specimens of Hebrew 
 poetry. The circumstances under which they were written 
 and delivered were grandly sublime and imposing. Moses 
 had been divinely informed that, on account of his sinful 
 conduct and inconsiderate words at Meribah, he would 
 not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. He knew 
 that his end was near, and, with all the tender fondness 
 of a loving father, he was anxious to secure the future 
 welfare of his erring people. By divine direction he had 
 chosen Joshua as his successor, and he was about to 
 deliver his parting blessings and his earnest and eloquent 
 warnings and entreaties to the nation which he had 
 organized and long watched with jealous care. "His eye 
 was not dim nor his natural force abated;" and his wisdom 
 
141 
 
 and genius were enlarged and elevated by the experiences 
 of more than a century of years, and illumined by vivid 
 prophetic visions of coming glories. As the servant of 
 Jehovah he had delivered His people from the house of 
 bondage; he had passed with them through the deep 
 caverns of the obedient sea; he had stood alone in the 
 inner audience chamber of awful Sinai and talked " face 
 to face" with his Sovereign Lord; he had conducted His 
 people through the various scenes, dangers and difficulties 
 of their long desert pilgrimage, and had given them 
 beneficent laws, a magnificent religious ritual and free 
 institutions. Nearly all the associates of his earlier years 
 had died in the eventful journey. The voices of the wise 
 elders and counselors whom he had first chosen were 
 silent; Miriam, his much loved and gifted sister, had been 
 buried at Kadesh; and Aaron, who had been his eloquent 
 spokesman, slept in a lonely grave amidst the solitudes of 
 Mt. Hor. Young and vigorous Israel were about to pass 
 over Jordan and possess the "goodly land" which he 
 would never enter, but which he would soon see in his 
 last earthly beatific vision, and then God and the angels 
 would place him in that mountain sepulchre which was 
 forever to remain unknown. There his body sleeps, and 
 the winds and storms of the ages have ever sang his 
 requiem, and the sentinel sun and stars, in ceaseless 
 march, have watched and guarded the ashes of the mighty 
 dead. 
 
 As Moses thus stood in holy contemplation before the 
 veil of the tabernacle, and surveyed the white tents of 
 his beloved Israel, extending far over the plains of Moab, 
 " as gardens by the river's side," and while his memory 
 was glowing with the vivid recollections of the eventful 
 past, and while his clear eye of prophecy was resting on 
 visions of mingled gloom and glory in the future, is it to 
 be wondered that his elevated and inspired genius and 
 noble heart should have conceived grand and glorious 
 
142 
 
 poetic thoughts which he uttered in language of tearful 
 pathos, rhythmic beauty and lofty sublimity. 
 
 For four hundred and fifty years — with the exception 
 of the book of Job — the Pentateuch constituted the only 
 literature of the Hebrews of which we have any definite 
 knowledge. In every period of their history it was 
 regarded with the highest veneration. It was the book 
 of the sacred covenant — the law and constitution of their 
 nation. Its teachings directed their public worship and 
 private devotion, it regulated all civil affairs and social 
 and domestic relations, and was the subject of constant 
 study and devout meditation. We may well conceive 
 that a people so thoroughly imbued with the elevated 
 sentiments and language of their great law-giver, historian 
 and poet must have been animated in a high degree with 
 his lofty spirit and sublime genius. 
 
 To show the inuflence of the genius and writings of 
 Moses in transforming the character of his people, we 
 will briefly refer to their early history. A few families of 
 shepherds-and husbandmen — all the descendants of Jacob- 
 went down to the land of Goshen. The enervating 
 climate and the corrupt civilization of Egypt, and hard 
 bondage, made the descendants of the free and noble old 
 patriarchs a degenerate and servile people. They had 
 lost their nomadic liberty, and were not yet animated 
 with the higher spirit of freedom, inspired by national 
 unity and independence. The eloquence of Aaron, the 
 poetic earnestness of Miriam, and the God-like wisdom 
 and power of Moses, manifested by wondrous miracles, 
 were all required to make them fly even from the house 
 of cruel bondage. Like a timid herd of slaves, they 
 stood trembling with fear on the shore of the sea, when 
 they heard the noise of the chariot wheels and the 
 advancing march of Pharaoh's hosts. When, by a won- 
 derful deliverance, they reached in safety the other shore 
 they sang the pean of a victory which their courage had 
 
143 
 
 not won. When they had encountered the wild sons of 
 Amalek the valor and example of Joshua was not sufficient 
 to urge them on to battle for self preservation until the 
 uplifted hands of Moses, as he invoked divine aid, nerved 
 their hearts, which had quailed under a slight disaster. 
 When the bondage of Egypt and the hardships and 
 privations of the wilderness were behind them, and before 
 them was the Promised Land, consecrated by the graves 
 and memories of their forefathers, flowing with milk and 
 honey, rich in pastures and olive groves, and abounding 
 with perennial streams and the purple clusters of the 
 vines of Eshcol, they listened to the timid spies and 
 shrank from a conflict with the giant sons of Anak, 
 although Jehovah had led them so far through every 
 danger and difficulty, and had so frequently manifested 
 His beneficence and wondrous power. All of the servile 
 and degenerate Hebrews perished in the wilderness, but 
 the teachings of Moses and the stern discipline of a long 
 desert pilgrimage infused into their descendants the spirit 
 of freedom and the vigor of a new national life, and made 
 a nation of conquering heroes. They crossed the Jordan 
 and for seven years were victorious, and with strong hand 
 recovered the land of their ancestors. Then, under the 
 influence of their civil and religious institutions, they 
 became an agricultural and pastoral people, unaggressive 
 and pacific, but strong in defensive valor. They developed 
 the force and beauty of the domestic and social virtues 
 and the principles of individual and national freedom, and 
 surrounded and commingled everything with their elevated 
 religious faith. 
 
 The other historical books of the Old Testament 
 furnish a brief and meagre outline of the history of the 
 Hebrews during the time of the commonwealth, the 
 kings, the captivity and the restoration. They are written 
 principally in simple prose, but as they furnish a narrative 
 of great and interesting events they often glow with 
 
144 
 
 fervid eloquence, and sometimes swell into the highest 
 strains of poetry; and then, in simple and tender pathos, 
 they picture scenes of pastoral and domestic contentment 
 and repose that gleam like sunshine amidst the shadows 
 of a rich and varied landscape. 
 
 The Hebrews, during the commonwealth, were some- 
 times conquered, and their spirit of freedom temporarily 
 subdued, but during that period they enjoyed long intervals 
 of peace, prosperity and happiness and they were a 
 brave and imperial race, and in moral and intellectual 
 culture and social advancement were far ahead of other 
 contemporary nations. Their subjugation was always a 
 judgment of Jehovah for their sins and rebellion against 
 the government which He had formed. When they 
 returned to their sacred allegiance their spirit of freedom 
 was revived and they were invested with irresistible 
 strength and indomitable courage. 
 
 We will refer to one incident in the history of the 
 commonwealth which shows the poetical susceptibility of 
 the Hebrews. 
 
 They were subjugated by Jahin, king of Canaan, and 
 his tyranny and power for a time subdued their spirit and 
 they manifested but little disposition to 
 
 "Strike for their altars and their fires, 
 For God and their native land." 
 
 But the poetic voice of Deborah, from beneath her 
 palm tree dwelling, sounded like a slogan to the listless 
 tribes and rallied them into an army of brave and stal- 
 wart warriors, who rested not until they had won victory 
 and freedom. The triumphal ode of Deborah is one of 
 the grandest peans that ever rang in the ears of con- 
 querors. She was well named " A Mother in Israel," as 
 she knew how to rouse and nerve the hearts of her people 
 to accomplish great and glorious deeds. 
 
 We will not speak of the achievements of Gideon, 
 Jephthah and Manoah's wondrous son, or refer specially to 
 
145 
 
 the military exploits of that heroic age, briefly but 
 graphically described in the Old Testament. We love 
 not the poetry of battle and carnage, as it tells of human 
 passions and strifes, of sufferings and sorrows. To us the 
 martial notes of the trumpet and drum have no pleasing 
 music, while we rejoice in the melody of " flutes and soft 
 recorders " that breathe with the harmonies of pastoral 
 and domestic joys, and our spirit is calmed into reverence 
 and rapt devotion by the sweet, soft voice of sacred song. 
 
 It is pleasant to leave the poetry of the battle field and 
 contemplate a book that is full of the gentle and tender 
 pathos of human life and pure affection. 
 
 The book of Ruth is called, even by the mocking and 
 scoffing Voltaire, " a gem of oriental history." It was 
 the production of Samuel, the last of the Judges of Israel, 
 and one of the purest, wisest and best men who adorn the 
 records of the chosen people. His infant heart and mind 
 were inspired by the pious teachings of the poetic and saintly 
 Hannah. As a child prophet he talked with Jehovah, 
 and his youthful imagination was illumined and beautified 
 by the splendid ceremonial services of the tabernacle at 
 Shiloh. 
 
 The book of Ruth is one of the sweetest poems 
 that ever was written. In the sacred canon it is placed 
 between the narratives of the wars of the Judges and of 
 the bloody and wicked period of the Kings. It is like a 
 little star gleaming in quiet and silvery beauty between 
 two storm clouds fierce with the thunder and gleaming 
 with the lightning, or it may be compared to a soldier's 
 song of home, heard by the bivouac fire in the solemn 
 night, while he rests from a day of carnage, and dreams 
 not of a yet more dreadful morrow. The incidents in this 
 book occurred long before they were recorded, and existed 
 as a legend in the homes of Palestine, and must have 
 cheered and delighted the women of Israel when recited 
 in social and domestic intercourse or on occasions of 
 
146 
 
 festivity and joy. The story is a pleasing and pathetic 
 idyl, and presents many lovely scenes of oriental primitive 
 life. In it three charming characters are exquisitely 
 delineated. We see Naomi driven by famine into the 
 idolatrous country of Moab where she lost her husband, 
 fortune and children. Her dark misfortunes of poverty 
 and bereavement were lightened and brightened by. calm 
 resignation, and she poured all the wealth of her affections 
 upon her gentle and devoted daughter-in-law. In Boaz 
 we see a noble type of warm-hearted and generous 
 manhood, ever ready to succor the weak, poor and sorrow- 
 ing with the kindest courtesies and open-handed charity. 
 With what tender sympathy and admiration do we 
 contemplate the young, modest, trustful and beautiful 
 Ruth leaving her kindred and country from a strong sense 
 of filial duty, and that she might dwell beneath the 
 sheltering wings of the Lord God of Israel. The scene 
 between Naomi and her two daughters-in-law — as old, 
 poor and bereaved, she was on her way to return to the 
 land of Judah, friendless and. alone — is full of simple and 
 exquisite beauty, and excels in pathetic tenderness and 
 loving devotion the immortal scene of the parting of 
 Hector and Andromache at the Scaean gate when the 
 peerless Trojan hero went forth to battle for the freedom 
 and safety of his kindred and country. 
 
 How instructing and encouraging are the simple 
 recitals of Ruth's trials and "rich recompense of reward." 
 The whole book is full and overflowing with poetry, and 
 wakes the sweetest emotions in every heart that loves 
 the gentle, tender and beautiful, and appreciates the joy 
 and bliss of home. It may well be compared to a little 
 fountain in a sequestered dell, surrounded with verdure 
 and overhung with festooned leaves and flowers, and with 
 gentle music ever pouring forth its pure, sweet and refresh- 
 ing waters. The life history of every pure and holy woman 
 is a beautiful poem. It may never be written on earth, 
 
 
H7 
 
 but its sweetness will linger long in many loving hearts, 
 and it will surely find its way to heaven and be recorded 
 in the " Book of Life." 
 
 The Book of Esther is usually associated in the mind 
 of Bible readers with the Book of Ruth, as both contain 
 histories of women whose names have given titles to 
 books in the sacred canon. The book has always been 
 highly esteemed by the Jews; and although it does not 
 contain the name of God, they included it in the sacred 
 canon as an important part of their history, in showing the 
 providential dealings of God with their nation. I shall 
 not refer to the various opinions which have been enter- 
 tained by Biblical critics and expositors as to the claims 
 of canonicity the author and the age when this book 
 was written, as such questions are foreign to the purposes 
 of my lectures. I only refer to it as evidence of a fact 
 which I will hereafter more fully consider — that the spirit 
 of Hebrew poetry became extinct soon after the Captivity. 
 This book does not contain a single rhythmic line or poetic 
 sentiment. It was evidently written by a Jew of post- 
 exilian times, who had none of the poetic spirit of his 
 ancestors. If the old poetic spirit had existed among the 
 people the incidents recorded were well calculated to 
 call forth the finest poetic sentiment and language. 
 Esther was a remarkably beautiful and accomplished 
 woman. She was elevated from a subject race to the 
 throne of an empire which extended from the Indus 
 to Ethiopia and contained one hundred and twenty-seven 
 provinces; and her court blazed with all the splendors of 
 oriental wealth and magnificence; and more than all, her 
 exalted heroism and patriotism must have filled the 
 hearts of her rescued people with devoted love, high 
 admiration and the intense feelings of national pride, 
 thankfulness and joy. These feelings must have existed, 
 but the people had lost the spirit which glowed in the 
 heart of Moses, sounded from the timbrels of Miriam, and 
 
148 
 
 thrilled with melody David's harp and Isaiah's lyre. The 
 subsequent history of Esther is unknown. She has a 
 place in the Bible, but her name is not interwoven in the 
 garlands of immortal song. What a striking contrast is 
 presented in the history of Ruth, who lived in the pastoral 
 and poetic age. She, too, was beautiful, but her beauty 
 was of that simple and spiritual type that nestles with 
 love in the inmost heart and breathes celestial harmonies. 
 She was poor and an alien among an exclusive and 
 clannish people, intensely proud of their lineage. And 
 yet her life-history is the sweetest and tenderest idyl in 
 the world's literature — from her sprang the royal and 
 sacred line of David, and her name is enrolled in the 
 immortal lineage of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 The Book of Job is the most wonderful production in 
 literature. Written in the wilderness, far back in the 
 deep solitudes of time, it still remains unique and solitary 
 in the world of letters. For more than thirty-five 
 centuries it has stood in archaic majesty, like the pyramids 
 in the silence and solitude of the desert, but ever gleaming 
 with sunlight or with the splendors of unclouded night. 
 This book is without a parallel in human literature, it is 
 unimitated and inimitable. It is more than a parable or 
 an allegory. It is a glowing history, a grand, inspired 
 epic, intended to " vindicate the ways of God to man." 
 The genius of the writer was not trammeled by ritualistic 
 institutions, or artificial rules of composition, or by the 
 manners and customs and prejudices of any particular 
 form of national life. He was as free in thought as the 
 air of his wild mountain home, and he breathed the simple 
 and yet majestic spirit of a remote patriarchal age, and 
 often rose to the highest strains of impassioned eloquence 
 and poetry. The answer of the Lord to Job out of the 
 whirlwind is the sublimest poem ever read by man. The 
 grandest notes of the Cecilian organ would be but a poor 
 accompaniment to that sublime anthem that once swelled 
 
149 
 
 out from the glittering bosom of the storm-cloud and 
 mingled with the deep reverberating peals of the thunder. 
 The poetic treasures of this book have been very 
 elaborately considered by most writers upon Hebrew 
 poetry. It contains sublime pictorial scenes and is full 
 of the fire and magnificence of poetic thoughts that throb 
 with energetic life and flow in rich cadences along the 
 rhythmic lines. The inspired genius of the writer sweeps 
 through eternity, its range is as wide as the universe and 
 seems to penetrate celestial infinitude and catch the 
 music of the stars as in rejoicing march they move along 
 their serene pathways in everlasting splendors. 
 
 The limits of this lecture will not allow me to linger 
 amidst the gorgeous imagery and oriental splendors of 
 this book. The author is unknown. The age in which 
 he lived and the grave where he was buried cannot be 
 marked out, but his production is an enduring monument 
 of his genius and wisdom; and the consolations and joys 
 which he has given to sorrowing and suffering humanity 
 will hallow his name in eternal remembrance. His genius 
 will ever be held in admiration by men of cultivated 
 tastes for its suggestiveness and richness. It is higher 
 and bolder than any other human effort. Its daring 
 flight may be compared to that of the eagle which builds 
 its nest upon the mountain crag, looks with undazzled 
 eye on the brightness of the sun, and in the gladness of 
 freedom and power, mounts above the clouds, and on 
 strong unwearied wings moves in safety upon the storm, 
 or in far, rapid flight sweeps over the deserts and the seas. 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 
 The Psalms. The Song of Songs. Proverbs. 
 
 We feel constrained by the fascination of the subject 
 to dwell at some length upon the character and poetry 
 of David. He may well be called the sweetest singer of 
 Israel. His history itself is a wonderful poem, full of 
 striking, varied and brilliant incidents. We see him first 
 as a shepherd boy guarding his father's flock in the quiet 
 valleys of Bethlehem, and then bowing before the 
 venerable prophet and judge to receive on his young brow 
 the consecrated annointing oil of sovereignty; then as a 
 youthful warrior, with stone and sling, winning the 
 deliverance of his people when the bravest in Israel had 
 faltered; then he is the son-in-law and poet-laureate of 
 his king; then a fugitive, wandering in the wilderness of 
 Engedi and hiding in desert caves; then we see him on 
 the throne, surrounded by wise counselors, ruling over 
 the united kingdom, and, under the lion banner of the 
 tribe of Judah, his great captains lead victorious 
 armies into the rock fortresses of Edom, and storm 
 through the breached walls of Rabbath-Ammon; and 
 then, with rent robes, uncovered head and bleeding feet, 
 we see him weeping and flying from his home before his 
 traitorous and ungrateful son. 
 
 His domestic life presents as many beautiful scenes and 
 strange contrasts as his public career. He exhibited the 
 highest genius and chivalry, the loftiest patriotism and 
 purest friendship, the noblest emotions and most tender 
 sympathies and affections; and then he was guilty of 
 duplicity, ingratitude and the darkest vices and crimes. 
 
i5i 
 
 But the defects of his character are like spots upon the 
 sun; and in the splendor of his genius, the elevation of 
 his piety, the nobility of his soul and in the deep sincerity 
 of his penitence, we forget the errors and weaknesses of 
 his humanity and hail him as one of the noblest and 
 grandest of the sons of men, and acknowledge him as 
 worthy of his high renown and the favor of God. 
 
 Although in the poems of his life-history there is such 
 a commingling of brightness and shadow the poems of 
 his genius are sacred and immortal. The harp he loved 
 so well and touched so skilfully had a wide compass of 
 tone; sometimesswellingin strains of the highest grandeur, 
 then ringing with exultant and joyous harmonies, and then 
 breathing out the low,' sweet, tremulous notes of humility, 
 love and penitence. 
 
 We will not attempt anything like a critical analysis 
 of the Psalms, or make selections from their storehouse 
 of poetic beauties and abounding heart-treasures. We 
 will take only a brief synthetic view of their literary 
 excellencies and refer to some of their most obvious and 
 general characteristics. 
 
 They were written by various authors during different 
 ages of the Hebrew state, and are a condensed history 
 of the political, social and religious opinions and feelings 
 of that people. As David composed a large number of 
 these national and religious songs, which are so eloquent 
 and spiritual in language and sentiment, and collected 
 others that were in existence during his reign and adapted 
 them to the temple service, the whole collection is often 
 styled the Psalms of David. He was certainly a prince 
 among his lyrical brethren, and these spiritual productions 
 of inspiration and genius could scarcely be honored with 
 a nobler name. 
 
 The Book of Psalms in the Hebrew is styled the "Book 
 of Praises," and is justly entitled to that appellation, as 
 it is full of ascriptions of goodness, mercy, power 
 
152 
 
 majesty and dominion to Jehovah. It is also full of 
 expression of pathos, social and domestic love, lofty 
 patriotism, sublime thought and glowing sympathy with 
 the scenery and varied voices of nature. We will not 
 compare them with those divine and inimitable messages 
 of Him who spake as never man spake, but with these 
 exceptions, the Psalms are the sweetest, purest and 
 richest offerings of thought, emotion, reverence and adoring 
 love that the human mind and heart have ever brought 
 to Jehovah's footstool. 
 
 The Psalms are as comprehensive and varied as the 
 feelings and emotions of human life — they are the very 
 breathings of the soul. In them may be found every 
 species of Hebrew poetry, and they are remarkably rich 
 in beautiful imagery and illustrations taken from nearly 
 every object in nature, and from nearly every condition of 
 life. They may be compared to a harp of numerous 
 strings, differing in tone, and touched with various 
 fingers, and yet no discordant notes mingle with their 
 combined and multitudinous melodies. They are said to 
 contain "the whole music of the human heart swept by 
 the hand of its Maker." 
 
 Bishop Home says, "The Psalms are an epitome of 
 the Bible adapted to the purposes of devotion," and they 
 are full of the prophetic light and glory of the Gospel. 
 The Psalms are the voices of the ancient Church, in 
 which are uttered its gladness and its glory, its penitence 
 and its griefs, its hopes and its praises. They are still 
 the voices of the Church of God. The various denom- 
 inations of Christendom may differ as to the doctrinal 
 teachings of the Bible, and as to the rites and ceremonies 
 of worship, but all, with harmonious consent, adopt the 
 Psalms as the voices of Christian life. They constitute 
 a bond of Christian union — sacred and immortal — binding 
 the Churches into a grand catholic unity. They also 
 link Christian hearts with the sympathetic chords of 
 
153 
 
 memory, with the glorious men of the old dispensation, 
 and thus perpetuate a vital spiritual union between the 
 living and the dead of God's children which will be con- 
 tinued in all succeeding generations, and thus form a 
 connection between the Church Militant and the Church 
 Triumphant. 
 
 I cannot refrain from re/erring to two familiar facts 
 which especially hallowed and glorified the Psalms with 
 celestial radiance and the beauty of holiness. They are 
 full of prophecies of our Saviour and foreshadowed his 
 Gospel, but those are not their highest glory. He sang 
 one with his disciples at the sad and loving communion of 
 the first Lord's Supper, and with his dying breath, and in the 
 hour of his deepest humiliation and agony, he uttered a 
 sentence of the Psalms from the cross. These were their 
 crowning glories. Need I say more of their spiritual 
 beauties ? I will make a general summary. They were 
 inspired by the Holy Spirit, breathed through the lips of 
 holy men — thus mingling divinity with humanity; they 
 were illumined with the light of evangelical prophecy and 
 sanctified with exceeding glory by the approval of our 
 Saviour. Thus they were consecrated and fitted to pre- 
 pare Christian hearts for the trials, sorrows and joys of 
 earthly life, and then to join in the heavenly songs and 
 hallelujah's of the angels and seraphim as they touch 
 their golden harps in the eternal realms of glory. 
 
 As literary productions, judged by the standards of 
 human excellence, we think that we can truthfully say 
 that the Psalms, taken all in all, are the sweetest, the 
 tenderest and most sublime lyrics to be found in literature? 
 and they have exerted the highest and holiest influences 
 upon the happiness, culture and progress of mankind. 
 There is no poetry like the Psalms. They have a living 
 beauty and depth of pathos which can never be excelled 
 and will always wake the highest and holiest harmonies 
 of the human heart. They indeed are immortal. The 
 
154 
 
 Iliad, the JEneid, the Divina Commedia and the Paradise 
 Lost are as immortal as human language, but when they 
 perish the Psalms will be sung by the angels and redeemed 
 ones in Paradise, for they are the songs of God. For 
 more than a thousand years they were the glory of Zion 
 and made glad the City of the Great King. In the 
 magnificent temple service how grandly did they swell in 
 choral joy as they mingled with the music of psaltery and 
 harp swept by the hands of Korah's tuneful sons. They 
 fired the genius of the ancient prophets as they poured 
 forth their sublime rhapsodies to rebellious Israel and 
 disobedient Judah. They gladdened the solitude of the 
 simple Hebrew shepherd as he led his flock through the 
 green pastures and beside the still waters of his heaven- 
 blest land, and the dark-eyed daughters of Zion knew no 
 sweeter minstrelsy than that which the royal minstrel 
 sang. They called up sweet memories and bright hopes 
 in the sad hearts of the captive Israelites, as weeping they 
 sat by the dark waters of Babel, and in secret tuned their 
 plaintive harps to sing one of the loved songs of their 
 fatherland. When the great Macedonian conqueror came 
 sweeping like a besom of distruction over the decaying 
 empires of the East, these sacred songs were soon trans- 
 lated into the beautifully poetic language of Greece, and 
 were scattered like precious gems over all the nations of 
 the Orient. They were the admiration of the disbelieving 
 Gentile, and roused the patriotic pride and religious zeal 
 of the self-exiled Jew in the land of the Ptolemies, among 
 the classic groves of Greece and amid the proud palaces 
 and temples of the seven-hilled city of the Tiber. 
 
 The Psalms often engaged the attention of Christ and 
 his disciples as they held holy converse in the wilderness 
 and on the mountains of Judea, and while wandering 
 among the fruitful valleys of Samaria and the Jordan, 
 while preaching and working miracles in the towns and 
 cities of Galilee, and resting on the bosom of Genesareth 
 
155 
 
 as she slept in beauty beneath her sunbright or starry 
 skies, or while their little vessel was tossed in fury by the 
 angry and crested waves. They were the cradle songs 
 that cheered the infant Church — they were the martyr's 
 chant in the bloody amphitheatre and rose to heaven 
 amidst the wild and cruel shouts of heathen persecutors. 
 They sounded like blest spirit voices through Mediaeval 
 darkness and they were the vesper and matin hymns of 
 the pious Waldenses in their mountain temples. They 
 kindled the enthusiasm of the chivalric crusader as he 
 pressed through the arrows of the pestilence and the 
 storm of battle to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre. They 
 were the defiant notes of the bold Reformers while they 
 roused Europe from spiritual lethargy and disregarded the 
 pealing thunders of the Vatican. In wild and thrilling 
 cadences they echoed from the glens and caverns of 
 Scotland, where the stern Covenanters, fearing naught 
 but God, were preparing to die for the purity and sanctity 
 of their faith; and they were the paeans of the iron 
 veterans of Cromwell, as in victory they trod the battle- 
 fields of freedom. They were the farewell strains of the 
 Pilgrim Fathers as they left their kindred and country, 
 and in holy raptures they rose from the deck of the May- 
 flower as she breasted the wintry billows of the stormy 
 Atlantic, and they broke the stillness of the American 
 wilderness and hallowed the land of our fathers. 
 
 The Psalms have been heard amidst the icy palaces of 
 the frozen North where the Aurora-Borealis continually 
 is glowing; in the distant isles of the tropic seas where 
 evergreen woodlands bud and blossom beneath the path- 
 way oY the sun; and they have often cheered and 
 strengthened the weary pilgrim amidst the silence and 
 solitude of the desert. Like angel visitants, with glad 
 music on their wings, they have entered the stately homes 
 of the great and the humble cottages of the poor, and 
 illumined with heavenly radiance the fading eyes of dying 
 
1 5 6 
 
 saints. They have nerved the heart of the suffering 
 Christian heroin his lonely dungeon and sustained fainting 
 martyrs at the fiery stake. 
 
 They have expressed the deepest emotions of wor- 
 shipers in the mosques of Islam, the Churches of 
 Christendom and the secret chambers of penitence and 
 prayer. They have been attuned to the noblest melodies 
 of earth; have been associated with the purest affections 
 and dearest memories of home, and everywhere have been 
 the language of the human heart as it poured forth its 
 earnest longings and brightest hopes of heaven. 
 
 The Psalms have been translated into more than two 
 hundred different languages; have added beauty and 
 vitality to all Christian literature, and they are the sacred 
 fountains from which great bards have drank the inspiring 
 waters which made them immortal and gave to their 
 genius the magic power that thrilled the mystic strings 
 of the human heart. 
 
 Wherever the foot of civilized man has trod the path" 
 ways either of ambition or commerce these olden *mgs 
 have gone with their consolations and joys and conferred 
 more precious treasures than wealth or fame. They have 
 gone even further than man's greed for power and gain, they 
 have been borne by Christian missionaries and exerted their 
 divine influences in pestilential climes and savage wilds 
 where the light of civilization has scarcely shone. Like 
 the sunshine and dews of heaven they seem to have fallen 
 on nearly every land of the earth. 
 
 Although the Psalms have passed through the revolu- 
 tions and changes of three thousand years, which have 
 wrecked nearly all the productions and memorials of 
 man's pride, intellect and ambition, they have in spirit 
 much of the vitality and freshness which they had when 
 they first gushed from the hearts and minds of the old 
 Hebrew bards among the beautiful hills and valleys of the 
 Promised Land. We fully believe that the time will come 
 
i57 
 
 at no distant day when these songs of Zion will be heard 
 in every home and every tongue will sing their praises 
 unto Israel's God. 
 
 How profusely has the prolific and inspired genius of 
 Solomon scattered the treasures of wisdom and the gems 
 of poesy over the sacred page. The " Song of Songs" 
 was evidently written in youth, when the heart of the 
 poet was full of the exhuberant love and joyousness of 
 innocent life. It is a paradisaical idyl breathing the loves 
 of the pure in heart. Among the Jews and in the 
 Christian Church it has been regarded as an allegorical 
 representation of the mystic union and tenderness existing 
 between Jehovah and Israel — Christ and his Church. It 
 is also supposed to be an image of Eden before sin had 
 entered its hallowed precincts and marred its heavenly 
 beauty. Where the first human pair dwelt in hymeneal 
 bliss; where the soft and gentle North wind and South 
 wind caused the odors of spices to flow out; where the 
 gladsome fountains and murmuring groves joined in cease- 
 less and harmonious concert, and the little throats of the 
 singing birds were almost bursting with melody, and the 
 sunlight was sporting with joy over green lawns, luscious 
 fruits, blooming flowers and sparkling musical waters, 
 while the voice of God uttered continual benedictions. 
 
 This book is the most complete and artistic poem in the 
 Bible and it is by far the most mystical. It differs some- 
 what in thought and style from all the other books of the 
 sacred canon. We will not attempt to expound its spiritual 
 meaning and purposes. Upon these questions we accept 
 the general opinion of the Church without objection. As 
 .a literary production this book is full of rhythm and the 
 choicest poetic imagery. Nature is presented in the 
 richest and loveliest garbe of spring, and abounding in 
 everything calculated to contribute to the exquisite enjoy- 
 ments of refined and elegant tastes, and the persons 
 represented are high ideals of gracefulness, symmetry and 
 
158 
 
 beauty animated in their endearments and caresses by a 
 tender, pure and delicate love. It well deserves the title 
 given it in the Hebrew language, which signifies " The 
 most beautiful song." 
 
 The Book of Proverbs contains some of the precious 
 thoughts and experiences of the Hebrew people, collected 
 and arranged into beautiful literary mosaics by the inspired 
 genius of Solomon. The Hebrews were " a kingdom of 
 priests and a holy nation" unto the Lord, and His spirit 
 dwelt among them and sanctified their hearts and enlight- 
 ened their minds with divine thoughts and holy emotions, 
 that were expressed in social and religious intercourse in 
 beautiful and appropriate language. We fully believe that 
 God inspired the writers of the Bible as special messengers 
 for communicating His revealed word to mankind, but we 
 also believe that His Holy Spirit has, in every age, dwelt 
 among His believing people, illumining their minds and 
 hearts with holy thoughts and emotions, which have been 
 expressed in language approved by Him. As God, in 
 providence is ever sowing the germs of trees, flowers and 
 verdure in the natural world, which His messengers and 
 agents — the light, rain, dews and other forces — are con- 
 tinually rearing into fruitfulness, bloom and fragrance 
 'or the delight and enjoyment of mankind; we may well 
 believe that His Holy Spirit has in every age illumined 
 the minds and hearts of His people with thoughts and 
 expressions of beauty and holiness that come from the 
 heavenly home to cheer and to bless. We are taught to 
 pray for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit in 
 our thoughts, words and actions. 
 
 There are many productions in Christian literature, and 
 many songs used in the church service which elevate and 
 brighten our faith and devotion and fill our hearts with 
 holy raptures, and why may we not believe that these 
 productions of saintly men sprang from divine illumination 
 and were not the mere creations of human genius ? We 
 
159 
 
 believe that the Book of Proverbs was written and 
 arranged under the guidance of divine inspiration and 
 contains many of the maxims of Hebrew wisdom and 
 experience, the products of the popular mind influenced 
 by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The proverbial style was very common among the 
 Hebrews, and is an evidence of their quick mental and 
 moral perceptions and energy of thought. We find this 
 style of composition in the Apocryphal Books the Talmud 
 and other Rabbinical writings of a subsequent age. 
 
 The Book of Proverbs is one of the most instructive 
 and polished books in the Old Testament. Its language 
 is terse and elegant and full of the beauties of poetry. 
 Its teachings have been apt and forcible in every age and 
 in every language, as they are full of truth and well adapted 
 to the various conditions of human life, and have conferred 
 inestimable blessings upon mankind. 
 
 All nations have their proverbs, expressing with beauty 
 and force, social, political and moral truths applicable to 
 the intercourse of men in the various walks of life and 
 their wisdom is sanctioned by human experience. Many 
 of them, are the productions of men of genius and sages, 
 while others float like waifs on the currents of popular 
 feeling and intelligence, and cannot be traced to the indi- 
 vidual minds and circumstances from which they sprang. 
 
 Most of the precious metals used by mankind were 
 extracted from rude and shapeless ores taken with great 
 labor and skill from quartz, slate and granite veins in deep 
 mines, but many precious gems and grains and nuggets 
 of gold have been accidentally found by the wayside, in 
 sequestered valleys and in rivulets and streams. The 
 great mass of human knowledge and wisdom has been 
 accumulated by the patient and laborious study and 
 investigations of sages and philosophers, but in proverbial 
 and poetic literature we often find brilliant intellectual 
 gems and many treasures of knowledge which unknown 
 
i6o 
 
 sons of genius placed in the wide fields of human thought. 
 Some of the finest thoughts and expressions in.che litera- 
 ture of every nation are the spontaneous products of the 
 minds and hearts of the people in the ordinary intercourse 
 of social and domestic life. They are the amber, pearls 
 and grains of gold which the strong and restless ocean of 
 popular feeling and sentiment has thrown up from its 
 depths and cast upon the shore, and they were collected 
 by men of taste and genius and skilfully inwrought into 
 the rich texture of literature. Upon careful examination 
 it will be found that many national proverbs which teach 
 moral, social and political truths derived much of their 
 wisdom, vitality, epigrammatic force and beauty from the 
 influence of the old Hebrew mind. 
 
 From this brief and imperfect consideration of some of 
 j-he books of the Old Testament may we not well conclude 
 that they are worthy of our constant and careful study, 
 even as literary productions, as they contain so much 
 bright, pure, sublime and beautiful language, imagery and 
 thought. 
 
LECTURE XIII. 
 
 The Prophecies. 
 
 In the course of our investigations in Hebrew poetry 
 we have reached the books of the Prophets, and a very 
 cursory examination will show that they are highly 
 poetical and full of impassioned eloquence and grandeur of 
 imagery. Before separately considering these books we 
 will briefly refer to the characters of the Prop net bards 
 and the circumstances by which they were surrounded 
 and influenced, for the purpose of showing that there 
 existed many natural causes well calculated to elevate 
 and intensify their genius. 
 
 In the sacred history of Israel we find many persons 
 who had the gift of prophecy and gave utterance to 
 sublime thoughts in language highly poetical. We find 
 a striking instance in Baalam, the son of Beor. He 
 seems to have had some knowledge of the true God, 
 derived from the old patriarchal dispensation, but he 
 had mingled with this religious belief the superstitions of 
 pagan idolatry. His prophecy is one of the most elegant 
 and beautiful pieces of poetic composition to be found in 
 any literature. It flowed from his unwilling lips under 
 the influence of divine inspiration and was recorded by 
 Moses, and the style may have received some of its 
 glow and brilliancy from the inspired genius of the great 
 poet and lawgiver. We forbear to make reference to the 
 utterances of some other prophets mentioned in the Old 
 Testament, as we desire to confine our attention to the 
 productions of those writers who strictly belong to the 
 " goodly fellowship of the Prophets." They were chosen 
 by God as instruments to explain some of his dealings 
 
l62 
 
 in the past and reveal, to some extent, His will, His 
 plans and purposes in the future government and salva- 
 tion of His spiritual Isreal. 
 
 The roll of the prophet writers was opened about the 
 reign of Uzziah, and at that time the condition of the 
 tribes of Israel was well calculated to excite in the mind 
 of a patriotic Hebrew painful solicitude and apprehension 
 for the future welfare of his nation. The tribes had long 
 been divided into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and 
 were discordant and beligerent; and being thus weakened 
 by internal disorders and dissensions the country 
 was often wasted by civil wars and the invasions of 
 neighboring nations. The people had also greatly 
 degenerated in moral and religious character, and were 
 yielding to the corrupting influences of paganism. 
 
 The Prophets were pure and high-toned patriots and 
 all the energies and faculties of their minds and hearts 
 were aroused in the effort to save their beloved country 
 from impending ruin. Thus their genius and affections 
 were kindled to the brightest glow as they pleaded with 
 their erring and wayward countrymen and denounced 
 their cruel enemies. 
 
 There are two words in the Hebrew language of nearly 
 synonymous import which are often used to designate the 
 prophet, and in our language signifies " One who sees." 
 The Prophets might well be called seers for magnificent 
 visions of the past, the present and the future were by 
 the inspiration of God presented to their spiritual intui- 
 tion. They may not have understood the full import of 
 the divine communications and the scope of the visions 
 they witnessed, but under the guidance of the Holy 
 Spirit they described the scenes with the highest poetic 
 vividness. The contemplation of such scenes must have 
 had great influence in enlarging their minds as they 
 ranged through an extensive field of vision. They saw 
 
163 
 
 the connection and continuity of time — the past, the 
 present and the future. They beheld God in histroy and 
 prophecy working out wondrous plans, all connected and 
 controlled by a general purpose. We can look back and 
 see what has been accomplished. We know that the 
 waves which the ancient nations started on the great 
 ocean of human existence have continued to roll ever 
 onward, and we can well believe that they will never 
 cease until they break on the shores of eternity when 
 time shall be no more. But the Prophets saw many of 
 these events in the womb of the future. In the light of 
 history we will refer to some of the scenes and events 
 with which the Prophets were familiar or saw in the 
 vivid visions of prophecy. 
 
 During the period of Hebrew national life the great 
 oriental monarchies performed their part in the wondrous 
 drama of universal history. There was Egypt in the 
 pride of her power — even then hoary witli age, without 
 its decrepitude and decay, rich in the annals and accumu- 
 lations of centuries, the cradle of human civilization — 
 the fountain of philosophy, science and art; covered with 
 splendid cities and those stupendous monuments of 
 human enterprise, energy and skill, which even in ruins, 
 have astounded with their magnitude and magnificence 
 the most enlightened nations of the modern world. 
 
 In the East were Nineveh and Babylon, the magnificent 
 emporiums of the Mesopotamian valley, with hundreds 
 of palaces and temples " shining in silver and gold, as 
 splendid as the sun"; surrounded with well-watered 
 orchards, vineyards, gardens and meadows sparkling in 
 beauty and fertile in abundance. In territorial extent 
 these cities were almost kingdoms, and were enclosed 
 with extensive, massive and lofty walls surmounted with 
 more than a thousand strong towers. They were filled 
 with an intelligent and busy population: they received 
 
164 
 
 tribute from the submissive nations of a continent; 
 their armies were almost countless and were strengthened 
 by discipline and repeated conquests; statements of their 
 wealth and magnificence seem fabulous, and many of 
 the structures which they reared were regarded as among 
 the wonders of the world. They had histories venerable 
 for antiquity and rich in intellectual achievements and 
 martial renown, and they could trace their line of kings 
 almost to the Deluge. The stories of these two empire 
 cities read like the extravagant fictions of an oriental 
 dream. There the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth 
 separated to re-people the flood-swept world, and there 
 the Chaldean magi first with intelligent eyes mapped 
 out the constellations, tracked the planets in their courses, 
 pointed out the beauties of the earth's zodiacal girdle, 
 and read some of the mysteries and eloquence of the 
 radiant stars. They are to us the lands of ruins, mystery, 
 poetry and old romance, and they must in their power 
 and glory have been wondrous to the shepherds of 
 Palestine. 
 
 On the Southern border of the Holy Land the wild 
 sons of Ishmael were fulfilling their prophetic destiny, and 
 were roaming over the deserts in that unrestrained free- 
 dom that was ever to remain unconquerable by man or 
 time. There too the stern children of Edom carved their 
 fortresses and temples in the bosom of the mountains and 
 built their dwellings among the cliffs of the rocks, on the 
 eyries of the eagles. 
 
 To the North beneath the shadows of Lebanon the 
 queenly cities of Tyre and Sidon sat in sumptuous mag- 
 nificence by the sea. They had planted industrious and 
 prosperous colonies on every shore of the Mediterranean, 
 and their stately triremes had gathered wealth from the 
 " Isles of the Gentiles, " and in adventurous commercial 
 enterprise had sailed beyond the pillared gates of the 
 
I6j 
 
 distant Atlantic. They had sent their cunning craftsmen 
 and skilled artisans to rear the grand structures of religion, 
 pride, wealth and ambition in every land and fill them 
 with the beautiful productions of imitative art; while their 
 merchant princes, robed in purple and fine linen, spent 
 their hours of repose in elegantly adorned palaces and 
 gardens, and lavished treasures in the excesses of voluptu- 
 ousness. 
 
 I will not refer at any length to the giant structures of 
 Bashan, Moab and Ammon, or to the five cities of warlike 
 Philistia — rich from abundant harvests and from their 
 extensive commerce with the " spicy shore of Arabie 
 the blest." 
 
 All these nations and peoples were, at times, the 
 enemies and oppressors of Israel, and the Prophets fore- 
 saw their coming doom. They saw in visions the fierce 
 legions of the Persians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the 
 Romans, the Saracens and the Ottomans sweep in 
 desolating course over the fertile valley of the Nile — 
 leaving no vestige of old Egypt's greatness and glory 
 but Titanic ruins and the time-defying pyramids They 
 saw Nineveh, the metropolis of the Orient, encompassed 
 by the relentless Medes; then the gates of the river 
 opened and dissolved her walls; then her proudest palace 
 became a vast funeral pyre that consumed the last of 
 her kings; then her nobles were dwelling in the dust and 
 her people were scattered on the mountains. Then they 
 saw her for centuries lying in desolation and " dry like a 
 wilderness." " Flocks lie down in the midst of her." 
 " Hawks and crows nestle in her ruined battlements." 
 " The cormorant and bittern lodge in her upper lintels 
 and sing in the windows. " Then the agencies of nature 
 and time slowly cover her grave of oblivion where she 
 sleeps for twenty-five hundred years, when an English- 
 man " uncovers her cedar work, " excavates her palaces 
 
1 66 
 
 and reveals her sculptured history to an astonished world 
 and confirms the truth of divine prophecy. 
 
 With what graphic power and gorgeous imagery do the 
 prophets describe their panoramic visions of the down- 
 fall of " The Golden City." "The glory of kingdoms and 
 the beauty of the Chaldee's excellence." When we read 
 Isaiah's description of the approach of Cyrus with his 
 multitudinous army, collected from all nations, we can 
 almost hear the rush of the chariots, the trampling of the 
 horses, and the tread of the legions as they gather to 
 the harvest of death. " The noise of a multitude in 
 the mountains like as a great people, a tumultuous noise 
 of the kingdoms, of nations gathered together, the Lord 
 of hosts mustereth the hosts of battle." Then came 
 the disastrous overthrow. When the brightly lighted 
 festal halls of Babylon were ringing with shouts and 
 songs of sinful revelry, a mysterious hand wrote the 
 sentence of doom on the wall before Belshazzar and his 
 courtiers; then from the bed of the river the furious 
 Persians and Medes pour like waves of fire over her 
 palaces and homes. Her gates of brass are broken in 
 pieces and her iron bars cut asunder, and the hidden 
 treasures of secret places become the spoils of conquest. 
 " A sword is upon the Chaldeans and upon the inhabi- 
 tants of Babylon and upon her princes and upon her 
 wise men," and they are dismayed and "become as 
 women." For several centuries afterwards Babylon was 
 a beacon-light among the nations, sometimes glowing in 
 brightness, but at last every spark of glory died in ashes 
 and she became a heap of ruins, where not even the 
 wild Arabs pitch their tents or the shepherds fold their 
 flocks. 
 
 I will only allude to the prophetic doom of Edom, so 
 long buried in the silence and desolation of her mountain 
 grave. I will not attempt to trace the glory and the 
 
167 
 
 gloom mingled in the history of Tyre — the city of ten 
 thousand masts, until she sank beneath the waves upon 
 which her proud navies had ridden in commercial triumph. 
 She became a place where the fishermen dry their nets. 
 *' A mournful silence now prevails along the shore which 
 once resounded with the world's debate." Many of the 
 visions of prophecy have become the facts and truths of 
 history. 
 
 Need I dwell longer in showing that the Hebrew 
 prophetic bards were surrounded by circumstances and 
 were gifted with visions well calculated to develop the 
 highest poetic enthusiasm ? If the story of Troy and 
 the valiant Greeks created the splendid diction and 
 imagery of the Iliad, can we be surprised that the 
 magnificent visions of prophecy should have filled the 
 minds and hearts of the Prophet bards with sublime and 
 glorious thoughts and images which under divine inspira- 
 tion bursted forth in rapturous song ? 
 
 While the books of the Prophets were so full of rich 
 language, sublime thought and vivid imagery, they were 
 in their teachings to the people the most obscure portions 
 of their literature. This, obscurity necessarily resulted 
 from the nature of prophecy. God did not intend to 
 make the future as luminous as the past. He gave only 
 glimpses of His divine purposes that His people might 
 ever be in a condition of earnest expectancy and hope 
 and have their faith in Him brightened and strengthened 
 as He evolved His wondrous plans. The prophecies to 
 the spiritual perceptions of the Hebrew people were like 
 the bright and ever-shining stars in the firmament to 
 their natural vision as they gleamed in surrounding 
 darkness. As to unaccomplished prophecies the Chris- 
 tian world is in the same condition. We cannot understand 
 their meaning untilGod sees proper to unfold His purposes. 
 
 The astronomer with his telescope can range' through 
 
i68 
 
 the heavens and catch the light of distant planets and 
 stars and discover some of the general laws which reg- 
 ulate their motion, but he can never see their full orbed 
 splendors or attain that infinite knowledge which will 
 enable him to understand fully the celestial mechanism 
 of the universe; to bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, 
 loose the bands of Orion, bring forth Mazzaroth in his 
 season, or guide Arcturus with his sons. We know that 
 the heavenly hosts in their revolving motions are directed 
 by some great central force which God comprehends 
 and controls for His own glory. 
 
 Thus, while we read and partially comprehend and 
 appreciate the grand truths and magnificent imagery of 
 the prophecies, we will not attempt to solve the mysteries 
 they present, which have so long bewildered the minds of 
 learned and earnest men. " Canst thou by searching 
 find out God ; canst thou find out the Almighty unto 
 perfection." The Prophets were spokesmen for God, and 
 although we cannot fully understand all His utterances, 
 we know that they are true and righteous. Modern 
 science may mislead many earnest investigators after 
 truth, and entangle them in the ingenious cobwebs of its 
 sophestries, but we hope ever to read the Bible with the 
 sincere veneration of a devout worshiper and the simple, 
 undoubting confidence of a child. 
 
 We will only glance at the literary excellencies of the 
 prophecies and be content with the spiritual beauties 
 which they display to the eye of an humble faith. 
 
 The images of other poets are the tapestries of fancy 
 woven in the aerial loom of genius, while the visions of 
 the Prophet bards were vivid glimpses of grand realities 
 gleaming with the light of inspiration. 
 
 A striking characterestic of the Prophet bards is inten- 
 sity of thought and passionate purpose. The ordinary 
 word for Prophet in the Hebrew language signifies "to 
 

 169 
 
 boil up or gush out like a fountain." The minds and 
 hearts of the Prophets were not trickling, but gushing 
 fountains, from which have flowed streams which have 
 made glad the city of God. We have often thought that 
 there was something grand and imposing in the person- 
 nel of Elijah and Isaiah which inspired veneration and 
 awe. Their faces must have beamed and their eyes have 
 glowed with celestial light as they uttered their eloquent 
 and impassioned messages to their erring countrymen. 
 They walked so closely with God that they must have 
 caught some of the light of His glory. We know that the 
 face of Moses shone with exceeding brightness when he 
 came down from Mount Sinaiwith the tables of the law; 
 and we also know that the face of St. Stephen, transfigured 
 by the glorious faith that burned in his soul, "shone like 
 the face of an angel." But upon this subject the word of 
 God is silent, and we have only a few allusions to the 
 personal characters of these wondrous Prophets. 
 
 The progress of human destiny has been principally 
 developed by two distinctive classes of men, great think- 
 ers and great actors. We might select from the annals 
 of man many examples of each class, but in doing so we 
 would only present lists of immortal names with which 
 you are familiar. The great actors occupy the most 
 prominent place in written history, as the results which 
 they accomplished were more immediate, striking and 
 eventful. But the attentive student of history will not 
 fail to observe that the great thinkers originated, discov- 
 ered or combined those important political, intellectual, 
 moral, social and physical truths and principles which 
 produced revolutions in States, advancement in science 
 and glory in art, and gave force, energy and power to 
 great actors. Electricity silently and imperceptibly 
 gathers in the clouds and sends forth the thunder-bolts. 
 The Cyclopean forces in nature that work in the deep 
 cavern laboratories of the earth create the earthquake 
 
I/O 
 
 • 
 
 and pour out the fiery streams of the volcano. They 
 have changed the boundaries of continents, furrowed the 
 earth with deep valleys and upheaved the everlasting hills. 
 We often find great actors possessing great intellect, but 
 their thoughts were suggested by sudden emergencies and 
 were required for immediate operations. But abstract 
 thinkers in solitude work out and bring to light in proper 
 connection and continuity the fundamental truths and 
 principles that permanently affect human action and 
 guide and control the various elements of civilization. 
 
 Cromwell was a great actor and practical thinker, and 
 elevated England to the front rank among nations, but 
 the truths and principles that enlightened his mind, 
 nerved his heart and strengthened his arm, sprang from 
 the brains and hearts of Luther, Calvin, Knox and Milton, 
 and were by them derived from the Bible. Cromwell 
 died and his dynasty passed away, but the truths and 
 principles promulgated by the great thinkers of Prot- 
 estantism lie at the foundation of civil and religious 
 freedom and are the intellectual and moral motive powers 
 of advancing civilization. 
 
 The French revolution was a grand political and moral 
 volcano, produced by the struggles between antagonistic 
 elements of thought which great thinkers had infused 
 into French society. Napoleon Boneparte was thrown 
 to the surface by the convulsive throes of human passion 
 and strife, and he had the mental power and physical 
 courage to guide for a time the desolating streams of fire 
 and blood that swept over the face of Europe; but he 
 died a captive, far from his native land, in a lonely island, 
 beneath skies that never spread their glorious beauties 
 over France, and the wild winds alone sang his requiem 
 as they swept the harp of the melancholy ocean: but 
 the great truths and principles of civil and intellectual 
 freedom still live and shake the thrones, principalities 
 and powers of Europe. Brave and experienced generals 
 
may marshal armies on fields of carnage, and conquer 
 kingdoms which they have deluged with blood and tears, 
 but it is the student, the philosopher, the school master, 
 the minister of God and the enlightened statesman who 
 form aright public opinion and shape the destinies of 
 States, and produce the glorious triumphs and perma- 
 nent blessings of peace. 
 
 In the fields of science and of intellectual culture the 
 great thinkers have no rivals in influence and fame. 
 Bacon, with the safety lamp of experiment, trod with firm 
 and cautious steps through the unexplored labyrinths of 
 science, and taught men how to follow his footsteps. He 
 has well been called the Luther of science, as he led the 
 human mind from the dark and tangled mazes of ancient 
 and scholastic philosophy into the clear light, and pointed 
 out the sure pathway to the shrines of scientific truth. 
 
 Copernicus, Galileo and Newton won the trophies of 
 knowledge and their immortal fame in the silent study 
 where on the strong wings of thought their minds soared 
 to the illimitable fields of the celestial world and brought 
 down to earth the knowledge which they had learned 
 amid the golden stars. I might mention Watt, Guttem- 
 berg, Faust, Franklin, Fulton, Morse, and hundreds of 
 great thinkers who have conferred inestimable treasures 
 of knowledge upon the world. I will present no further 
 illustrations. The facts are well established that thought 
 is more powerful than force, " the pen is mightier than 
 the sword." The great thinkers of the past are 
 
 " The dead but sceptred sovereigns who sUll rule 
 Our spirits from their urns." 
 
 The Hebrew law-givers, prophets and bards were the 
 first great thinkers who started 
 
 "Those thoughts that wander through eternity," 
 and produced so many of the invaluable blessings of 
 
172 
 
 Christian civilization, and which now urge mankind 
 onward to a higher, nobler and more spiritual life. 
 
 The prophet bards were not only great thinkers, but 
 they were the cheerful and exultant harbingers of the 
 brightest hopes of humanity. In the midst of the moral 
 darkness and misery that overshadowed the world they 
 saw in the distant future the bright day of righteousness 
 for all mankind. The first prophecy was uttered by God 
 in Eden, and foretold a dark and sorrowful life for man, 
 and it also contained the brightest hope of the world, 
 which sheds its light over the succeeding ages. 
 
 Through the whole period of Hebrew history this day 
 star of hope cast its reviving and cheering light on the 
 prophecies and seemed to glow with effulgent radiance in 
 the writings of Isaiah. The Prophets were certainly the 
 morning stars of human hope, as they sang together, and 
 their songs were repeated in higher and holier strains in 
 the "gloria in excelsis " of the heavenly hosts over the 
 plains of Bethlehem at the birth of the Prince of Peace. 
 
 There is some diversity of opinion as to the manner in 
 which the Prophets, received their divine communications 
 and originally delivered them. In the Bible we find 
 instances in which such communications were delivered 
 by an audible voice, and sometimes in visions and in 
 dreams. We are of the opinion that the Prophets had 
 no fixed method of delivery. They spoke when and where 
 God directed. Sometimes their messages were delivered 
 orally and in the very ecstacies of inspiration. Sometimes 
 they were carefully written and then promulgated. They 
 were generally delivered in the courts of the temple, in 
 the palaces of Kings and in the assemblies of the 
 people. The books of the Prophets preserved in the 
 sacred canon were carefully written by their authors 
 under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. These books did 
 not constitute a part of the ritual service of worship 
 until a period long subsequent to the Captivity, but they 
 
173 
 
 were read and explained to the people by the priests and 
 Levites and members of the Schools of the Prophets who 
 were the religious instructors before the exile. The 
 familiarity of the people with these sacred books must 
 necessarily have promoted their intellectual and moral 
 culture and operated powerfully upon their imaginations. 
 No nation ever lived in such a condition of expectancy 
 and hope as the Hebrews, and this feeling was increased 
 by the prophet bards. They believed that they would 
 not only receive the highest temporal and spiritual bless- 
 ings for themselves, but that they were to be the divine 
 agents for bestowing these rich beneficences upon all 
 races and all times. 
 
LECTURE XIV. 
 
 The Prophets. 
 
 We propose in this lecture briefly to refer to the 
 productions of some of the chief singers in the grand 
 prophetic choir. If we were asked to describe the Alps 
 we would first allude to Mt. Blanc, the monarch of those 
 mountains. Thus we will select Isaiah, the prince among 
 the Prophets. He is properly styled the Evangelical 
 Prophet, as he so harmoniously blends the revelations of 
 the Old and New Dispensations. 
 
 Among his brethren he was like Paul among the 
 Apostles. He had a breadth of mental grasp that was 
 superhuman, and his benign catholicity of feeling made 
 him love all the races of men, even to the most distant 
 future. He foresaw more clearly than any other prophet 
 the remote age when there would be a brotherhood of 
 nations, 
 
 " And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, 
 And their spears into pruning hooks, 
 Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 Neither shall they learn war any more: " 
 
 A time when peace, truth, justice, freedom and uni- 
 versal righteousness would exist in the grand community 
 of races; and the will of God be "done on earth, even as 
 it is done in heaven." 
 
 Isaiah prophesied for more than sixty years, and yet there 
 seems to have been no abatement in his genius. It shone 
 forth as freshly and brilliantly when he was tremulous 
 with age as it did when he spoke in all the enthusiasm 
 and vehemence of youth. There is an incomparable 
 dignity of sentiment and splendor of diction in his 
 prophecies which have won the admiration even of scof- 
 
175 
 
 fing- infidels. His sublimity of thought and imagery is 
 truly magnificent. He invoked heaven and earth as the 
 hearers of his divine messages, as if they were almost too 
 grand for the contemplation of the human mind. In his 
 inspired raptures he seems to have mounted on a chariot 
 of fire and ascended to those rich fields of poetic thought 
 which mortal foot never again will tread, as he left no 
 mantle behind him to rest upon the shoulders of a suc- 
 cessor. From those empyrean heights he surveyed the 
 past and the illimitable future. He pictured not the mere 
 ideal conceptions of genius, but the visions of grand 
 realities as seen with the clear, strong eye of prophecy. 
 Other poets wandered back through the dark vistas of 
 the past to the treasure fields of poetry to gather the 
 rich gems of thought and glowing pictures of the sublime 
 and beautiful; but he stood upon the top of the mountain 
 of the Lord and saw unveiled a grand panorama of com- 
 ing events. He saw the dark doom of Israel, the Advent 
 of the Messiah, the agonies of Gethsemane and the 
 dread tragedy of Calvary when the Emaculate One was 
 led like a lamb to the slaughter and opened not his 
 mouth. He saw the Church as she stood with lofty 
 heroism amidst the blood and fire of the martyr ages; 
 as she struggled for existence through mediaeval ignor- 
 ance, superstition and bigotry; and then the dawning 
 brightness of future triumphs; and then in glorious per- 
 spective down the long vista of the centuries caught 
 glimpses of the splendid meridian day of Christ's millen- 
 nial reign, and in such rapt moments heard the far off 
 music of the songs which the Seraphim sing. How 
 appropriately may we apply to this prophet one of his 
 own glorious rhapsodies, " How beautiful upon the 
 mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, 
 that publisheth peace, that publisheth salvation; that 
 saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth." 
 
 The most gifted of human painters will never be able 
 
176 
 
 to copy correctly the dawning brightness of the morning", 
 the gorgeous splendors of the evening, or the silvery 
 beauty of the night, all glorious with moon, planets and 
 stars. With his skilful pencil of art he cannot catch all 
 the gleaming light and varying shades of the glowing 
 landscape which God has spread out with infinite variety 
 for the delight and enjoyment of His creatures. He can- 
 not picture the terrific grandeur of the storm embroidered 
 with the glittering arabesques of the lightning, the sub- 
 limity of God's mountain temples, or the magnificence 
 of the ocean in the splendors of its vastness and power. 
 The works of God furnish instruction, guidance and 
 models for human genius, and these works may be some- 
 what imitated but never equalled. Thus it is with the 
 poetry of Isaiah. It is a treasury filled with gems of 
 thought and images of beauty that enrich the productions 
 of genius, but can never be equalled by human effort. 
 His lips were touched by the Seraphim with a live coal 
 from off the altar. In style as well as thought this poetry 
 is sublime and inimitable. It is like the swelling billows 
 of the ocean that roll in liquid and crystal beauty and 
 inspire the mind and heart with feelings of grandeur as 
 they flow on to the distant and unseen shores in united 
 strength, majesty and power. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 Nowhere within the range of human literature can be 
 found such touching strains of grief, such pathos of 
 sorrow as those which the mild and patriotic Jeremiah 
 uttered while weeping over the desolation of Zion, and 
 for the slain of the daughters of his people — -" for the 
 strong staff broken and the beautiful rod. " The life of 
 this Prophet was full of sadness and misfortune. His 
 gentle, tender, sensitive and loving spirit was subjected 
 to the sorest trials. With intense devotion he loved his 
 countrymen, and yet they treated him with the grossest 
 
177 
 
 indignities, scorn and cruelty. His country was torn 
 asunder by internal disorders, and he foresaw but could 
 not avert her impending doom. He witnessed the dese- 
 cration and destruction of the magnificent temple, with its 
 consecrated emblems and shrines and the Holy of Holies. 
 With eyes that were a fountain of tears he beheld the 
 beautiful city of his fathers, which had once been full of 
 people and a princess among the nations as she sat in 
 sackcloth and solitude upon her sacred mountains, mourn- 
 ing for the sorrows and misfortunes of her captive and 
 exiled children. The Lamentations are the weeping 
 melodies of a broken heart whose shattered but still 
 living strings vibrated with wailing agonies. They have 
 well been called the cygnian strains of the old Hebrew 
 muse before she sank into the silence of death amidst the 
 ruins of Israel's freedom and glory. 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 Ezekiel is usually and properly classed as one of the 
 greater Prophets. He was truly the representative of the 
 spirit of a great people in the hours of their sorest trials 
 and adversities. He was among the first captives who 
 were carried into exile and colonized on the river Chebar. 
 Most of his prophecy was written in the interval between 
 the capture of Jerusalem and the subsequent distruction 
 of the temple of Solomon, which was the final overthrow 
 of the old Hebrew nationality. In natural disposition 
 and spiritual endowments he was a fine type of the 
 Hebrew prophet and he devoted all the vigor and energy 
 of his nature to his great work of instructing, consoling 
 and guiding his fellow-countrymen. The character of 
 his genius and style of composition is finely portrayed by 
 Bishop Lowth: 
 
 "Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in eloquence; 
 in sublimity he is not even excelled by Isaiah; but his 
 sublimity is of a totally different kind. He is deep, 
 
l 7 8 
 
 vehement, tragical: the only sensation he affects to incite 
 is the terrible; his sentiments are elevated, fervid, full of 
 fire, indignant; his imagery is crowded, magnificent, 
 terrific, sometimes almost to disgust; his language is 
 pompous, solemn, austere, rough and at times unpolished; 
 he employs frequent repetition, not for the sake of grace 
 and elegance, but from the vehemence of passion and 
 indignation. " 
 
 Bishop Lowth regards Ezekiel as more of an orator 
 than a poet. His writings are certainly deficient in the 
 ease, grace, rythmical elegance and varied and pleasing 
 imagery which distinguished the productions of the older 
 Hebrew bards. His visions are described with a minute- 
 ness of detail and sharpness of outline that is not usual 
 in Hebrew poetry or the poetry of any other people. 
 His grand, solemn and magnificent visions could not be 
 depicted without some of the glow of poetry — but it 
 shone like the iridescent spray of the cataract or the 
 phosphorescent gleam of the strong ocean billows. 
 Bishop Lowth remarked that " Isaiah, Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel, as far as relates to style, may be said to hold the 
 same rank among the Hebrews, as Homer, Simonides 
 and Eschylus among the Greeks. " 
 
 Ezekiel is the last name on the roll of the great Hebrew 
 bards and his strains peal forth like the notes of a trum- 
 pet showing that his free spirit could never be enslaved. 
 With lofty enthusiasm he revealed the dread doom of the 
 enemies of Israel and the grand and glorious destinies of 
 his nation and of future generations. The closing chap- 
 ters of EzekieTs prophecy, although, not poetical in 
 structure and language, are highly poetical in imagery. 
 His vision of the sanctuary, and of the mystical river 
 that came from beneath the altar, and continued to 
 widen and deepen as it flowed onward, healing the waters 
 Of the sea of death, fertilizing the desert, carrying life 
 wherever it went and fringed with various trees of fadeless 
 
179 
 
 verdure and perpetual fruitage, glows with the finest 
 spirit of poetry. The scene in many respects resembles 
 that more gloriously beautiful vision of the celestial city 
 in which the Angel of the Apocalypse showed unto the 
 Beloved Desciple "a pure river of water of life, clear as 
 crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the 
 Lamb." Ezekiel was a noble prophet and patriot and 
 his mind was filled with grand thoughts and sublime 
 visions, but he did not always express them in the rhythmic 
 elegance and beauty of poetry. 
 
 The destruction of Solomon's temple with its sacred 
 emblems and splendid and imposing ceremonial services 
 seems to have terminated the golden age of Hebrew 
 poetry. Its transient and flickering glow in after ages 
 was like the gleam of radiance that is often seen on the 
 face of the dying. The Captives carried the Hebrew lyre 
 into exile, but no hand save Ezekiel's ever touched it s 
 loftiest chords in the land of bondage. It hung in silence 
 upon the willows, and sometimes in secret its plaintive 
 melodies were awakened when the captives remembered 
 Zion, told the tale of their sorrows and wept. Most of 
 the Captives soon forgot the majestic and musical language 
 which once sounded forth in choral gladness and gran- 
 deur the high praises of Jehovah and the beautiful mem- 
 ories and imagery of the Fatherland. 
 
 Daniel was a r wise and accomplished courtier and 
 statesman, but he was not a poet. To him the future was 
 largely revealed, but he looked upon such visions, not 
 with the vivid enthusiasm of the poet, but with the calm, 
 discriminating and reverential eye of a devout philoso- 
 pher watching the progressive development of human 
 destiny. When we compare the writings of Daniel and 
 most of the book of Ezekiel with the productions of the 
 older bards and prophets of Israel we are reminded of 
 two of the schools of modern painting. The Flemish 
 artists in their great productions depict natural objects 
 
i8o 
 
 and ideal conceptions with distinct and exact outlines 
 which claim admiration for the skill and precision of art, 
 but they excite none of those thrilling and elevating 
 ecstacies which are felt while gazing at the softly beautiful 
 landscapes of Claude, the graceful elegance and delicate 
 finish of Correggio, the almost divine creations of Raphael 
 and the morning glories and sunset splendors of Titian. 
 Ezekiel, however, in some of his poetic raptures reminds 
 the lover of art of the wild passion and stern grandeur of 
 Michael Angelo. 
 
 We will but briefly refer to the productions of the 
 Minor Prophets who lived before the Captivity. They 
 are called minor prophets on account of the brevity and 
 not the inferiority of their writings. With the exception 
 of Jonah they were all poets. Most of them were men 
 of intellect and considerable culture for their age. Bishop 
 Lowth says that even the prophet from the sheepfolds, 
 in sublimity and magnificence of conception, and in 
 splendor of diction was not inferior to any of his brethren. 
 Their range of vision in the fields of prophecy was not 
 as extensive as that of Isaiah, but what they saw was 
 vivid and magnificent, and their genius was kindled into 
 a beaming glow. They seem to have spoken very little 
 to mankind, but they spake with tongues of fire in • ... 
 
 a 
 
 Thoughts that breathe and words that burn. " 
 
 Nahum deserves a separate and more particular refer- 
 ence, as he was a poet of very high order. His ardent 
 patriotism seems to have added vigor, boldness and 
 sublimity to his genius, and elevated his strains. His 
 " burden of Nineveh" is luminous with splendid imagery 
 and rings out like a rapturous triumphal song in accom- 
 paniment to the silver trumpets of Israel. 
 
 We cannot pass in silence the book of Habakkuk, 
 especially his ode, which seems to condense in a short 
 compass the excellence and glory of prophetic poetry. 
 
i8i 
 
 From the realms of nature and the various sources of 
 human feeling" he seems to have extracted the very 
 essence of poetry, and given it utterance in language of 
 varied forms, grand then tender, sublime then beautiful, 
 majestic then simple, stern and strong, and then flowing 
 in liquid and brilliant harmonies. 
 
 The Prophets of the Restoration had clear and bright 
 hopes of the long expected Messiah, but they had none 
 of the sublime spirit of poetry. Their light was like the 
 ruddy glow on the evening cloud when the sun has set, 
 and the twilight is gathering in thickning gloom over the 
 valleys and the hills. Some of the sweet and plaintive 
 Psalms are supposed to have been written after the 
 Captivity. The Old Hebrew lyre had hung so long upon 
 the willows of Babylon and sighed in the restless winds 
 that its loftiest chords were broken, and when the few 
 lingering delicate strings were touched by loving hands 
 they only breathed forth subdued and weeping melodies, 
 where once they had sounded with sublime and glorious 
 rhapsodies. 
 
 How could Judah sing the songs of pride and rejoicing 
 under circumstances of such deep sadness. A little 
 remnant of old Israel had returned from long and painful 
 captivity and servitude to their fatherland, desolated by 
 the tread of the stranger and full of rude and hostile 
 aliens. Ten of the tribes had been scattered in the distant 
 East to return no more, and half of Judah and Benjamin 
 had remained in the homes of the conquerors. The exiles 
 had forgotten their sacred and noble language and could 
 only utter the harsh and rugged accents of the Aramaic 
 tongue. The Ark of the Covenant was gone; the light 
 of the Shechinah shone no more above the.mercy seat, the 
 Urim was silent and the celestial fire no longer blazed upon 
 the brazen altar. No wonder the priests, Levites and old 
 men wept as they stood beside the foundations of the new 
 temple and remembered Zion in her former glory. 
 
We will Hot enter into the history of the post-exiliiart 
 period although it is full of events of importance and of 
 thrilling" interest. We have rejoiced too long amidst 
 the light and beauty of the free intellectual and 
 poetic life of the Old Hebrews to follow their descendants 
 into their condition of sadness, degeneracy and gloom. 
 The cohesiveness of the race was greatly lessened, and 
 thousands of Jews voluntarily sought homes in the 
 crowded marts of Alexandria, Antioch and other cities 
 of the Mediterranean. The people became divided into 
 various religious sects; everywhere local synagogues 
 furnished convenient places of worship, and thus was 
 greatly weakened the vivifying influence of the temple 
 service; and the peace of the feeble and tottering State 
 was often disturbed by internal dissensions and civil wars. 
 The Jews were in the midst of the strifes and convulsions 
 of surrounding nations, and were often swept over by 
 the angry and desolating tides of conflict, and yet they 
 maintained their peculiar civil and religious institutions 
 for more than five hundred years when, as a nation they 
 were completely overwhelmed and dispersed by the 
 relentless power of Rome. But the light of their genius 
 was not quenched, and the seeds of their civilization were 
 carried on the currents of time to all lands, where they 
 germinated and added to the rich, moral and intellectual 
 harvests of succeeding ages. The Jewish state has been 
 appropriately and vividly compared to a ship — mastless 
 and rudderless, "tossed in the trough of the sea," its 
 destruction continually threatened by the surging billows, 
 and at last completely overwhelmed and its rich cargo 
 scattered with the fragments of the wreck on the wild 
 waves to be carried by currents and the restless winds; 
 and stranded upon every island and every shore. 
 
 The saddest but not least instructive chapters in history 
 are those which record the declension and downfall of 
 nations. The existence of nations has often been com- 
 
183 
 
 pared to the changing periods of a day. Nations have 
 the misty glories of the morning, the splendors of the 
 noontide and the varying hues of the setting sun, then 
 they melt into the gloaming of the twilight and some 
 darken into the almost impenetrable gloom of the 
 oblivious midnight. 
 
 The life of Greece was a brilliant day illumined with 
 the light of genius and cultivated taste, and although her 
 national power has passed away, still the golden glories 
 of her intellectual sun-light beam in an after-glow of 
 radiant beauty round her tomb. 
 
 The long and eventful life history of Rome was a day of 
 military power and intellectual achievements and had 
 the sublimity and splendors of the storm, and was closed 
 with the fierce tempests of Gothic invasion, which was 
 followed by the murky darkness of the Middle Ages. 
 
 The day of Hebrew national life dawned in mild and 
 quiet beauty among the hills of Palestine and shed its 
 celestial brightness amidst shifting shadows and varying 
 clouds for more than ten centuries, and then the gloomy 
 hours of the evening began with the Babylonish Captivity, 
 and then for four hundred years came the deep brooding 
 twilight, when a new sun rose upon the dark rim of the 
 horizon to begin a new day that will never close in night, 
 but continue to brighten the moral and intellectual world, 
 carrying light, life and joy unto all the races of men, until 
 it blends with the effulgent and eternal day of Heaven. 
 
 The poetry of the Hebrews sprang from the soul of 
 their free national and religious life, and when they 
 became captives and slaves they seemed not to have 
 breathed its highest inspirations. But the notes of 
 majestic and pathetic harmony which once sounded from 
 the Old Hebrew lyre is as immortal as the music of the 
 spheres, and has swelled through the centuries of the past, 
 and elevated and ennobled human thought in every age, 
 and thrilled with joy and hope the hearts of mankind. 
 
LECTURE XV. 
 
 Some of the Characteristics of Hebrew Poetry. 
 
 In this lecture I propose to refer again to some of the 
 characteristics of Hebrew poetry, to which I have here- 
 tofore only briefly and incidentally alluded. 
 
 I will not enter into the intricate mazes of theology or 
 attempt to expound and interpret the profound oracles of 
 divine truth. Neither will I present many quotations of 
 beautiful phrases and verses from the Bible. I will not 
 make selections of jewels of thought from the rich casket 
 which you all have in your homes. I will not give you 
 cups of sparkling water, when you can so readily refresh 
 and invigorate your minds and hearts by drinking at the 
 living fountains. 
 
 An obvious characteristic of Hebrew poetry is concen- 
 tration of thought. In it we find no elaborate discussion 
 of a theme, no minute description of a scene. It often 
 repeats and amplifies a sentiment in different words, but 
 the language is always sententious and glowing. The 
 illumination which it throws upon many obscure subjects 
 is like the quick and vivid flashes of the lightning at 
 night which for a moment reveal every object in the 
 range of vision with the intensity of electric light. 
 Many of the natural objects thus revealed by the light- 
 ning are at once recognized and comprehended by the 
 beholder, while others are like shadowy phantoms, 
 vanishing in succeeding gloom, which the clear and 
 steady light of the ensuing day discloses as real objects 
 of utility and beauty. 
 
 Thus there are many truths by the Hebrew bards which 
 when first uttered found their way to the minds and hearts 
 
i8 5 
 
 of the hearers, while others seemed grand and shadowy 
 and inspired feelings of indefinable reverence and awe. 
 Many of these old mysteries have been cleared away by 
 the revelations and teachings of the Gospel and by the 
 events of succeeding ages. We feel well assured that 
 the time will come when every page and verse of Moses 
 and the Prophets will glow with the clear light of truth 
 and with immortal beauty to the believing mind and 
 pious heart as they did to the fervid hearts of Cleopas and 
 his companion as they walked and talked with the risen 
 Christ on the way to Emmaus. 
 
 There are verses in the Bible which seem to be concen- 
 trated expressions of thought and feeling, never losing or 
 diminishing in vividness and beauty. Many of these 
 verses have furnished materials and suggestions for 
 numerous songs, poems and sermons, and still they have 
 not been exhausted of their rich and abounding fullness. 
 Like the widow's cruse of oil and handful of meal they 
 ever furnish the bread of life. 
 
 Hebrew poetry has a wonderful power and facility of 
 adapting itself to the mental and moral capacities of all 
 classes of men and to every condition of life. While it 
 furnishes rich thoughts, sublime imagery and profound 
 wisdom to the highest and most cultivated intellect, it 
 also whispers consolation and joy to the ignorant and the 
 lowly. It is like the sunshine which not only enters the 
 carved casements of palaces and the stained windows of 
 gorgeous cathedrals, but also pours its joyous and inspir- 
 ing light and warmth over the wild and solitary landscape 
 and through the cracks of the cottage, and everywhere 
 spreads beauty, fertility and gladness. We can account 
 for this universality of influence in Hebrew poetry in no 
 other way than by believing that it is animated by the 
 spirit of an all-wise, beneficent and omnipotent Creator. 
 
 Any one at all familiar with the literary productions of 
 Christian nations will be forcibly struck with the pene- 
 
1 86 
 
 trating and permeating power of Hebrew thought and 
 language. You can scarcely read any book which 
 teaches moral and physical truths which does not contain 
 apt and forcible quotations and illustrations from the Old 
 Testament. Even in works of fiction some of their most 
 brilliant passages are tinged with the coloring of the old 
 Hebrew mind. We find the gems of Hebrew thought 
 and language giving force and beauty to grand orations 
 which electrified Senates and forums or sounded from the 
 tribune and roused the enthusiasm of the people and 
 controlled the destinies of States. In all the intercourse 
 of social, public and domestic life we continually hear or 
 use passages from the Old Testament which point an 
 argument, illustrate a proposition, call up some sweet 
 memory, brighten some hope, purify some affection and 
 elevate our noblest emotions. There are many verses in 
 the Bible which like seraph voices seem to pervade the 
 intellectual and moral world. Many of these verses are in 
 themselves complete poems, and when recited alone 
 teach important moral and spiritual truths, and although 
 these various verses may be upon different subjects there 
 exists between them, the most perfect harmony. We 
 may not be familiar with all these little poems, but when 
 we first hear them we have no difficulty in recognizing 
 them as parts of the Bible, as they all breathe its divine 
 spirit. They are like certain sea-shells which anywhere 
 and everywhere will murmur the music of their ocean 
 home. There are many golden texts of scripture which 
 linger in our hearts like strains of unforgotten melody 
 and are associated with loved accents heard no more on 
 earth but which, we believe, are mingling with the choirs 
 of Heaven. Day by day, and year by year, we may 
 gather these pearls and golden grains of divine truth and 
 lay them up in the treasuries of mind and heart, but as 
 we grow holier and wiser, we will feel like the great 
 father of modern astronomy when he said " I have picked 
 
1 8; 
 
 up a few pebbles on the strand, but the ocean is still to 
 explore. " 
 
 One of the highest evidences of the power and excel- 
 lency of poetry, is the influence which it has had in 
 hallowing and immortalizing the scenes, events and 
 localities to which it has referred. The proud towers of 
 Ilium were prostrated in the dust and the remnants of 
 the nation scattered in exile over the earth, before the 
 periods of authentic history but the Iliad and /Eneid 
 have given the heroes of Troy and its mound of ruins a 
 classic immortality. Athens and republican and imperial 
 Rome still live in the eloquence and songs of their chil- 
 dren, and have received the veneration of twenty 
 centuries. Scott and Burns have thrown around their 
 rugged country a halo of rhythmic glory and made Scot- 
 land dear to the hearts of the civilized world. They 
 have made her old kirks and ruined castles, her placid 
 lakes and shadowy glens; her flowery braes and misty 
 moorlands, her iieathery hills and rude highlands — 
 " haunted and holy ground;" while her rushing streams, 
 wimpling burns and singing birds seem ever repeating 
 the melodies of her matchless bards. 
 
 The intelligent tourist as he passes along the castled 
 Rhine or gazes upon the cloud capped Alps feels his 
 imagination glowing with the inspiration with which 
 poetry has enchanted the beauty and grandeur of nature. 
 The pride and power of Venice have passed away, the 
 fame of her Doges has been forgotten, stately argosies 
 fill not her marts with the wealth and luxury of every 
 clime, and her costly palaces no longer gleam in magnifi- 
 cence and resound with strains of festal joy, but poetry 
 and art have wreathed her brow with fadeless immortelles 
 as in poverty and decay she rests in indolent repose on 
 the bosom of her bridegroom sea, and dreams only of 
 her former glories. I might refer to numerous other facts 
 for the purpose of showing the hallowing and immortal- 
 
i88 
 
 izing influence of poetry, but they will readily suggest 
 themselves to your minds so familiar with the history of 
 literature. 
 
 If we judge the writings of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments by this standard of excellence we will find that 
 they far exceed all the productions of human genius. 
 They have immortalized every land to which they have 
 referred. They have kept ancient Nineveh, Babylon and 
 Tyre from the graves of oblivion, and thrown a hallowing 
 charm over Egypt and the Nile, over the desolate 
 mountains and barren sands of Arabia, over the ruins of 
 Palmyra and the gardens of Damascus. 
 
 The ruthless Roman destroyed the temple of Zion, 
 levelled the walls of Jerusalem, and the persecuted 
 remnants of Israel have been scattered like dust before 
 the whirlwind; and for eighteen hundred years Palestine 
 has been the Aceldama of nations; the home of poverty, 
 suffering and sorrow, of injustice, ignorance and oppres- 
 sion; but still it is the Holy Land, sacred to Mohamme- 
 dan, Jew and Christian, and the names of its towns and 
 cities, its hills and vales, mountains and plains, rivers 
 and seas, groves and fountains are dear familiar household 
 words in every clime where the Bible has been read, 
 honored and loved. 
 
 Another striking characteristic of Hebrew literature, 
 to which I have already incidentally alluded, is, its 
 marked and distinctive individuality, which is, in a great 
 degree, preserved even in its translation into other 
 languages. A German book translated into English 
 may readily be mistaken by the general reader as the pro- 
 duction of an English mind. An accomplished philologist 
 may be able to discern some shades of thought or some 
 idiomatic expressions peculiar to the fader land, but in the 
 general mass of literature the book loses its individuality. 
 It is not so with the Bible. No philological research and 
 acuteness are required to detect Bible thought and Ian- 
 
1 89 
 
 guage. They may be introduced into every species of 
 literature and give it force and beauty, but they never so 
 completely commingle as to lose their characteristic 
 identity. Bible expressions require no quotation marks 
 to distinguish them. The Hebrew style of thought and 
 expression always remain as peculiar and distinct among 
 literatures as the Hebrew race among other peoples. 
 
 The Jews mingle among all other peoples and yet 
 they preserve a personal identity which distinguishes 
 them as the seed of Abraham. With the exception of 
 parts of the books of Ezra and Daniel, which were 
 written in Chaldee, there is a wonderful similitude of 
 thought and modes of expression among the writers of 
 the Old Testament which were preserved for more than 
 a thousand years through all of the eventful periods of 
 Hebrew history. Some of the writers were more highly 
 gifted than others in inspiration and natural genius, and 
 the style (3f some was more elegant and rhythmical than 
 that of others, but there were very few dialectical differ- 
 ences in the construction of the language, and the 
 vocabulary was not much enlarged and enriched. The 
 written language seems to have been developed in 
 force and vigor from the time it was first used by Moses 
 and Job. In the times of David and Solomon it was 
 somewhat improved in elegance and refinement by the 
 superior genius of those princes and the master-singers 
 of the temple— Asaph, Heman and Jeduthan — and in the 
 age of the later prophets it manifested some feebleness 
 and decline, but during its existence as a living language 
 it remained unchanged in its essential elements. The 
 reasons which produced this similitude of style and 
 preserved the language from material changes must be 
 obvious to all persons familiar with Hebrew history and 
 the distinctive characteristics of the people. 
 
 This unchangeableness of language and modes of 
 thought does not exist in the same degree in any other 
 
19° 
 
 national literature. The writings of Chauser differ 
 from the productions of Tennyson, and the literatures of 
 the intervening" periods distinctly show a dissimilarity of 
 thought and language, and are filled with the peculiar 
 characteristics of the several ages in which they were 
 written. The people in those several ages differed as 
 widely in manners and customs as in their literatures. 
 It was not so with the Hebrews. The Hebrews of the 
 exodus, in most respects, were like the Hebrews who 
 went into Captivity. Among the Jews of the present 
 day, dwelling in every land, there is a striking physical 
 and moral resemblance. A true personal description of 
 a Jew of the Middle Ages would suit the Jew of the 
 nineteenth century, and we have reasons for believing 
 that in either age he was in many respects similar to the 
 people who followed Joshua into Canaan. 
 
 The Bedouins of the desert have retained the marked 
 peculiarities of the sons of Ishmael for four thousand 
 years and the same destiny has been accorded to the 
 Isaaic descendants of Abraham. The Ishmaelites, dwel- 
 ling amidst the fastnesses and dreary desolation of the 
 desert, were inaccessible to the revolutionary influences 
 of surrounding nations; but the Jews have been among 
 all people, passed through the countless revolutions of 
 decades of centuries, and while most of the other ancient 
 races have been commingled, by conquests and other 
 causes, and formed into new peoples, the Jews have 
 preserved their national peculiarities. Thus the books of 
 the Old Testament, which have been translated into so 
 many different languages and been scattered over the 
 whole earth, are the same in substance and spirit as when 
 read before the Tabernacle, in the temples of Solomon, 
 of Zerubbabel and of Herod, and in the Churches of 
 Christendom for eighteen hundred revolutionary cen- 
 turies. God has preserved His Word with the same care, 
 that He has preserved the identity of his Works. 
 
191 
 
 The Heavenly hosts that poured the glory of their 
 primal light over Eden, and upon which the Chaldean 
 Magi gazed in reverent worship, have ever kept their 
 unvarying orbits and shone with their unchanging 
 splendors. Thus His Word to His spiritual Israel of 
 every age and every race is the same in substance and 
 spirit as that which He spoke to His chosen people whom 
 He so long guarded and blessed in the Holy Land. 
 
 In the literary structure of the Old Testament there 
 are commingled human and divine elements which 
 specially adapt it for purposes of instruction and guidance 
 to mankind. The Bible is the inspired Word of God, 
 written by holy men; but the language in which it is 
 written is human speech, and the symbols, metaphors 
 and illustrations used by the authors were derived from 
 history, from the events of ordinary life and from familiar 
 natural objects. We cannot disintegrate this mysterious 
 combination of divinity and humanity, and separate by 
 any accurate analysis these different elements. God has 
 joined them in harmonious union and man cannot put 
 them asunder. We know the combination exists, that 
 it was effected by the Holy Spirit and was intended for 
 wise and beneficent purposes. 
 
 The incarnation of our Saviour and His love, sympathy 
 and sorrow for man and His constant practice of the 
 beautiful human virtues make Him so dear and lovely 
 to the Christian heart, " God manifest in the flesh" is a 
 sublime mystery, which not even the angels comprehend, 
 but still this inscrutable mystery is full of consolation, joy 
 and hope to all believers. 
 
 We cannot understand the Trinity in Unity which we 
 believe to exist in the Godhead. We cannot tell how 
 the spiritual, moral, mental and physical natures of man 
 are commingled into the great and harmonious problem 
 of life. We cannot fathom the mysterious purposes and 
 providences of God as He controls the destines of men 
 
• I 
 
 192 
 
 and nations. There are thousands of mysterious combi- 
 nations of different elements in the economy of nature 
 which we do not, and never can understand, and yet we 
 recognize their existence and experience their bene- 
 ficence, and feel that they are the works of God. The 
 Bible has many sublime mysteries which we cannot 
 solve, but it is so full of pictures of human life accurately 
 delineated, and it contains so many blessed truths that 
 impress themselves with living power upon our minds 
 and hearts, and which are so fully sustained by our 
 observation and experience, that we receive these mys- 
 teries with strong - and holy faith and heed all the 
 teachings as the Word of God. We cannot reasonably 
 expect the finite mind to grasp the infinitude of God 
 and fully comprehend Him in His word or in His works 
 as He controls the illimitable universe by plans and pur- 
 poses which exist from the eternity of the past and 
 through the eternity of the future. 
 
 There is an immortal vitality and power in the Bible 
 which has preserved it through every danger and will 
 make it completely triumphant over every obstacle. 
 Those who fear that its influence will be overcome by 
 human error have somewhat the timid spirit of the 
 Spies who dreaded the earthly power of the sons of 
 Anak, when the everlasting arms and sheltering wings 
 of Jehovah were around and above His people Israel. 
 When we know what wonderful achievements the Bible 
 has already made, and what difficulties and dangers it 
 has already successfully encountered, why should we 
 have doubts as to its future progress, when so many 
 increased facilities for its rapid advancement and diffusion 
 are daily brought into operation by an overruling Provi- 
 dence ? God has manifested His goodness and power 
 in every period of history — His shining footprints are on 
 all the sands of time, and shall we fear that He will 
 desert His people in their future progress and suffer the 
 
*93 
 
 influences of His Word to be overcome by the powers of 
 darkness. His word is clothed with the immortal armor 
 of divine truth and can never be destroyed. 
 
 We have a strong and abiding faith in the continued 
 progress of intellectual, moral and spiritual development. 
 We concur in none of the gloomy forebodings of those 
 who would induce us to believe that our Christian civili- 
 zation will retrograde and may some day become extinct. 
 The history of the world shows that all the changes and 
 revolutions of the past have been but preparatory for 
 future events. Age has been linked to age, and in the 
 struggles between good and evil which have existed .in 
 all times we can trace the slow but gradual development 
 of God's moral government. There have been many 
 dark eddies in the stream of human progress, but they 
 seem to have added force and volume to the current in 
 its onward flow, and is like a great river which grows 
 broader, deeper and more majestic as it approaches the 
 sea. If the governments and institutions of the ancient 
 world have been destroyed we can readily understand 
 the causes which produced such results. The civiliza- 
 tions of the ancient nations — with the exception of the 
 Hebrews — were founded in systems of force, wrong and 
 oppression. Their governments were built up and 
 sustained by the sword and they perished by the sword. 
 Their social institutions were structures built upon the 
 sand and have been swept away by the floods of time. 
 
 These ancient systems of civilization acted and reacted 
 upon each other, overturning empires and forming out of 
 their ruins new political organizations, which were again 
 subverted by disasters until absolute despotism over all 
 mankind was established in the Roman Empire — the 
 embodiment of violence, injustice and oppression — and 
 from the dark deluge which overwhelmed this gigantic 
 power sprang the modern world. 
 
 We will not attempt even a sketch of the long conflict 
 
194 
 
 between ancient and Christian civilizations. Both seemed 
 to be engulfed in the barbarism of the Middle Ages, 
 but they were not completely destroyed. They both 
 came forth purified from the terrible ordeal, and all the 
 elements of ancient civilization worth preserving now 
 adorn and give vigor to human advancement. The 
 Reformation enunciated the higher and purer spiritual 
 doctrines of Christianity and also the great and divine 
 truths of civil, intellectual and religious freedom, which 
 in some nations have been firmly established and in 
 others they are still struggling with sure hopes of ulti- 
 mate triumph. 
 
 The principles of Christian civilization are derived 
 from God's word, and they will endure as long as the 
 everlasting hills which God has placed upon the granite 
 foundations of the earth. The human mind has been 
 emancipated by divine truth and can never again be 
 enslaved; but will continually advance in enlightenment 
 and power. Force, ignorance, injustice and oppression 
 may still for a time darken the destiny of the human 
 race, but they will pass away before the continually 
 increasing influences of Christian civilization. 
 
 In looking back over the history of human progress 
 we have seen the misty, then ruddy twilight of the dawn, 
 we have seen the Sun of Righteousness rising amidst the 
 lurid storms of the morning, slowly scattering the dark 
 clouds and lulling the fierce winds, and now we can look 
 with the calm confidence of faith upon the more tranquil 
 azure of advancing day, and may we not hope that our 
 posterity will, at no distant age, dwell amidst the bright- 
 ness of the unclouded noon. 
 
LECTURE XVI. 
 
 The Uninspired Poetry of the Hebrews. The 
 Jews in History. Their Return to the Holy 
 Land. 
 
 In preceding lectures we have very briefly and imper- 
 fectly considered some of the characteristics of Hebrew 
 literature. We fully believe that the Bible, written by 
 the Hebrews and their Jewish descendants, is the primal 
 source of true statesmanship and every wise system of 
 laws. It is the Magna Charta of human liberty and the 
 great peace-maker among men and nations. It binds 
 society together by the ties of social charities and the 
 kindly feelings of brotherhood. It kindles and keeps 
 active the fires of love on the home altars and fills the 
 sorrowing heart with hope and joy. It is the chief teacher 
 of refined and elegant culture and the repository of the 
 most pathetic and sublime poetry, and has exerted the 
 highest influence upon the advancement of the civiliza- 
 tion of mankind. 
 
 Although the Old Testament is so full of inestimable 
 truths, so rich in thought and wisdom and so much 
 adorned with eloquence and poetry, we can but regret 
 that the entire mass of Hebrew literature has not come 
 down to our age. We have sufficient evidence for believ- 
 ing that the Old Testament contains but a small poition 
 of the rich, extensive and varied literature of the Hebrews 
 that once cultivated the minds and enriched the thoughts 
 and imaginations of the early oriental nations. We 
 eannot be surprised at the scarcity of the literary remains 
 of this ancient people when we remember that oblivion 
 rests upon so much of the literatures of other nations of 
 a subsequent age who were more closely connected with 
 
196 
 
 the history of modern times. We possess comparatively 
 few of the productions of Grecian and Roman genius. 
 The fable of the Sibyl seems to represent the fate of an- 
 cient literature, of which only a few precious volumes have 
 been left for the instruction and delight of mankind. 
 The rude hands of the Vandal and Goth not only over- 
 turned many of the palaces and temples of ancient 
 Rome, but also destroyed a large portion of the treasures 
 of ancient learning, art and poetry. We are informed 
 that the Alexandrian library contained seven hundred 
 thousand volumes, which the torch of Omar scattered in 
 ashes over the desert. In every literature there were 
 thousands of the productions of the human mind which 
 exerted a beneficent influence in their age which have 
 been lost forever in the whelming tides of time. 
 
 We may well believe that a people as highly intellec- 
 tual and imaginative as the Hebrews, with such a rich 
 store of legendary memorials, and surrounded by so 
 many influences which have produced poetic inspirations 
 in other nations, must have had many odes and songs 
 commemorative of past history, legends and traditions that 
 existed among them during the period of their national life. 
 
 Where are the thousand and five songs which Solomon 
 wrote ? Where are many of the sublime utterances of 
 Elijah and Elisha and other prophets who guided and 
 instructed Israel ? The " Schools of the Prophets " were 
 schools of poetry, music and polite learning, and must 
 have produced many songs and poems of the highest 
 excellence. Where are the simple and soothing lullabies 
 of childhood, the joyous epithalamiums of the marriage 
 feast and the sweet harmonies of the happy home ? 
 Where are the plaintive elegies with which affection 
 consecrated the graves of the loved and lost ? Where 
 are the cheering songs of the vintage and harvest home, 
 and the soul stirring odes with which patriotism celebrat- 
 ed the triumphs of national valor ? 
 
i 9 7 
 
 The simple shepherd must have carolled many a sweet 
 pastoral song as he sat beneath the fig-tree or spreading 
 vine and watched the sportive gambols of the lambs of 
 his flock and the lambs of his household upon the beau- 
 teous greensward near the crystal fountain. 
 
 The ardent Hebrew lover must have sung many a soul 
 stirring lyric as he wooed the warm-hearted daughter of 
 Shem; and the silence of the hazy twilight must often 
 have been broken by the tender lays of the dark-eyed 
 maiden of Israel, as like a nightengale, she breathed 
 the minstrelsy of love upon the balmy breezes as they 
 kissed the cheeks of the sleeping flowers. 
 
 Our regrets for the loss of the uninspired poetry of the 
 Hebrews are in vain. It must have contained many 
 beautiful gems, which have gone down to the deep 
 unfathomable caves of the deluge of time. Only the 
 poetry that was vitalized by the spirit of divine inspiration 
 has, like an ark, moved in safety amidst the wrecks and 
 drifts of time over the stormy billows of the ages. 
 
 The word and works of God are alike indestructible 
 by force or time. We know that many of the objects in 
 the material world are subject to disintegration and 
 decay, but science informs ■ us that not the smallest 
 particle of matter has ever been annihilated. God has 
 told us that not one jot or tittle of his word should fail. 
 That word has been translated into various languages 
 and although it may have thus lost to us some of the 
 original literary elegancies with which it was adorned, it 
 still teaches the loftiest truth and wisdom in language 
 of wondrous melody and beauty, and touches the same 
 sweet chords in the human heart which it touched three 
 thousand years ago, and makes them thrill with glorious 
 harmonies. 
 
 Man and time may change some of the features of 
 nature, and form natural elements into new combinations, 
 but they cannot dim the brightness of the sun, or turn 
 
198 
 
 the shining" planets from their orbits; they cannot control 
 the swelling tides of the ocean, or remove from their 
 deep foundations the everlasting hills. Thus the word of 
 God will endure forever, have free course and be glorified 
 in fulfilling its divine mission. God has preserved as 
 much of the history and literature of the chosen people 
 as was necessary for the guidance and instruction of 
 mankind, and this record will remain unchangeable and 
 indestructible. He has also wonderfully preserved the 
 identity of His chosen people. 
 
 Their history is eventful, peculiar and full of sadness. 
 They forgot the sacred covenant, rejected and crucified 
 their Messiah, and their beautiful house was brought to 
 desolation — not one stone left upon another — and for more 
 than eighteen centuries they have been outcasts and 
 exiles from the land of their fathers and their sacred 
 and ruined altars. 
 
 •' The wild dove hath her nest, the lox his cave, 
 Mankind their country, Israel but the grave." 
 
 The story of the Wandering Jew is a fit representation 
 of the destiny of the race. It is said that he offered 
 indignities to Christ while on the way to Calvary and 
 was cursed with an immortality of wandering and suffer- 
 ing. He is represented in the legend as visiting every 
 part of the earth in his endless pilgrimage; always weary 
 but never resting; mingling in society without receiving 
 any of its love, comforts or blessings; passing unharmed 
 through torrid heat and arctic winter; through the storms 
 of the ocean and the dangers of the land; through the 
 carnage of battle-fields, the blazing ruins of sacked cities, 
 and the charnel houses of the pestilence, always seeking 
 destruction but never destroyed; he seems to have had 
 nothing of life but the anguish of suffering, and all of 
 death but the rest and quietude of the grave. 
 
 Thus the Jews, since the destruction of their Holy City, 
 have been outcasts and wanderers. They are found in 
 
199 
 
 all periods of history mingling with other races and 
 always remaining a separate and peculiar people. They 
 are to be found in every clime, and the tireless foot of 
 the Jew has trod every shore. They have been succes- 
 ful in collecting the riches of commerce and controlling 
 the finances of the world. They have entered every 
 grade in society from the hovel of the peasant to the 
 palaces of nobles and kings. They have led conquering 
 armies, and with thrilling eloquence commanded the 
 applause of listening senates, and as powers behind the 
 throne, have directed victorious legions and controlled 
 the jurisprudence and diplomacy of States. They have 
 guided the advancing march of civilization and have 
 ever been the earnest advocates of social order, freedom 
 and justice. 
 
 During the supremacy of the Moors in Spain, the Jews 
 for eight centuries found a home and protection in that 
 land of sunny skies, fertile plains and vine-clad hills, 
 almost as beautiful as their motherland; and by their 
 talent, learning, industry and energy greatly assisted in 
 building up a civilization in the splendid cities of Anda- 
 lusia whose intellectual light and glory have scarcely yet 
 been excelled in human progress. But the time for their 
 permanent rest from wandering and freedom from perse- 
 cution had not yet come. The bigotry and fanaticism of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella drove them from their new 
 Palestine and scattered them again amongst the nations, 
 and a gloom of ignorance, superstition and despotism 
 settled upon that devoted land which has not yet been 
 dispersed by the glowing light of modern civilization. 
 
 The sacred books of the Hebrews, which contain but a 
 portion of the learning, wisdom and genius of the race, 
 have given religions, laws and the highest literatures to 
 the civilized nations of the world. They have given 
 vitality, cohesiveness and power to Islam and much of 
 the elevating, enlightening and civilizing spirit of Chris- 
 
200 
 
 tianity. In all the noble contests of the human mind 
 against prejudice, oppression and wrong, and in the 
 progressive advancement of mankind towards enlighten- 
 ment, truth, freedom, justice and right, their sacred books 
 have led the vanguard, even as the pillar of cloud and 
 fire led the wanderings of their forefathers through the 
 wilderness to the Promised Land. 
 
 The history of four thousand years shows the Hebrews 
 to be not only the oldest but one of the noblest and most 
 enduring races of men. In all the departments of learning 
 and intellectual effort, in creative genius and cultivated 
 taste they have stood as peers with the most gifted of the 
 sons of men. They have won some of the richest trophies 
 in the fields of science and philosophy, added invaluable 
 treasures to literature, beautified the noblest galleries of 
 art, and thrilled the hearts of mankind with strains of 
 the loftiest melody. 
 
 There is something sublime in the spiritual solitude of 
 the Jew. He mingles freely in all species of business, 
 and sometimes enters into familiar social intercourse, but 
 still there is a penetralia in his heart to which no Gentile 
 influence can obtain access. There he enshrines the 
 tenets of his religious faith and the enduring love of his 
 fatherland, clustered round with memories and hopes 
 which are undimmed by disappointments and unshaken 
 by disasters; and how earnestly and continuously does 
 his heart breathe the prayer of the Psalmist, 
 
 " Oh ! that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion ; when 
 the Lord bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall 
 rejoice and Israel be glad." 
 
 "Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion, build thou the walls of 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 What natural principles and elements could have 
 produced such a national phenomenon as the Jews, having 
 no parallel in history. God does nothing without some 
 purpose and " He hath not dealt so with any nation." 
 He is fulfilling the sublime prophecy which He spoke 
 
201 
 
 more than three thousand years ago through the unwilling 
 lips of Balaam. 
 
 " Lo, the people shall dwell alone 
 And shall not be , eckoned among the nations." 
 
 He has preserved this remarkable people in their 
 distinctive character and nationality to accomplish some 
 great end in the future. The Jews are as numerous now 
 as the Hebrews were when Joshua led them into Canaan. 
 Among all nations they are remarkable for their thrift, 
 industry and commercial energy, and for them the 
 streams of trade seem to flow over golden sands. They 
 have generously cared for their indigent people, and the 
 name of a Jew is never found on the lists of pauperism. 
 They generally practice the virtues of temperance and 
 chastity and observe most of the duties of citizenship. 
 
 When we consider the insults, vexations, wrongs and 
 oppressions which they have endured; the cruelties and 
 calamities which they have suffered; the scorn, contumely 
 and contempt which have been heaped upon them in 
 every age of modern times, by Pagan, Moslem and 
 Christian, by serf, freemen and king, we cannot be sur- 
 prised that many of them have exhibited the vices of avarice, 
 hypocracy, cunning and deceit. These vices were learned 
 by the Jews in the schools of their bitter experiences as 
 the only means of self-preservation and protection, and 
 we are surprised that in passing through such a terrible 
 ordeal they have preserved so many of the human virtues. 
 Until a recent period they have scarcely found a land 
 that afforded them a secure home and the equal benefits 
 of its laws, and could they be expected to love a country 
 in which they were oppressed and regarded as aliens and 
 outlaws ? They have scarcely ever mingled with a people 
 who extended to them the sympathies of human brother- 
 hood, or the courtesies and amenities of ordinary social 
 intercourse, and could they reasonably be expected to 
 exhibit the highest social virtues and charities in return 
 
202 
 
 for distrust, scorn and reproach ? Has the 'conduct of 
 Christian nations in their continual strifes and revolutions — 
 deluging the earth with all the sins and sorrows of war — 
 been well calculated to inspire the Jew with admiration 
 for our Christian institutions, and give him confidence in 
 our sincerity and reverence for the religion which we 
 profess, and which teaches as a primal doctrine, "On earth 
 peace, good will toward men ?" 
 
 The unparalleled problem presented in the social, 
 political and intellectual condition of the Jews can be 
 solved in no other rational way than by attributing the 
 highest principles of conservatism to their religious faith, 
 and by supposing that still, for some wise and beneficent 
 purpose, The Lord of Hosts is with them, the God of 
 Jacob is their refuge. 
 
 The dark and cruel prejudices of eighteen hundred 
 years are passing away before the advancing light of a 
 purer and holier Christianity and a nobler civilization, 
 and the political skies of the Jews are brightening around 
 them. In most civilized countries they are no longer 
 subjected to tortures and oppressions, but receive the 
 protection and benefits of the laws; and in England and 
 in the United States they enjoy as much freedom as their 
 ancestors did in the palmy days of the Hebrew common- 
 wealth. Profane history furnishes no information by 
 which we can account for the long preserved and distinctive 
 existence of the Jews, and it fails to afford any light in 
 forecasting their religious and political future. On this 
 subject we must look to the books of prophecy and the 
 blessed promises of the Gospel of the Prince of Peace. 
 God alone can solve the mysterious problem of Jewish 
 life. 
 
 As God in His corrective providences has dealt sorely 
 "with the Jews, so He has dealt with the beautiful land 
 which He gave to their fathers as a habitation and 
 inheritance. Both the people and their land are witnesses 
 
203 
 
 of the curse of the broken covenant, of Jehovah's right- 
 eous judgments and of the truths of divine prophecy. 
 
 Once this land was garnished with all the lavish 
 bounties of nature and was filled with abundance, but 
 now it is barren like a desert, and her beauty and fertility 
 have been trodden down by oppressors and strangers. 
 Once it teemed with a free, intelligent, industrious and 
 prosperous population whose homes were flourishing 
 hamlets, ancient towns and splendid cities, but now it is 
 sparsely inhabited by slothful peasants, decrepid beggars, 
 dejected slaves and vicious robbers, dwelling in miserable 
 villages in filth and poverty. Its cities are wasted and 
 its sanctuaries brought to desolation — it is a field of rubbish 
 and ruins. How truly has the prophecy been fulfilled: 
 " Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with 
 fire, your land strangers devour it in your presence, and 
 it is desolate as overthrown by strangers." "And the 
 daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a 
 lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city." 
 
 As God has kept the Jews in all ages and in the midst 
 of all nations a separate and peculiar people, so has He 
 kept the land which He gave their fathers from being the 
 distinctive home of any other nationality. It was over- 
 run by the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, 
 Greeks and Romans, and in succeeding ages by still 
 greater destroyers, the Arabians, Saracens, Crusaders, 
 Mamelukes, Tartars and Turks, but to none of these 
 nations and races has it been a permanent and prosperous 
 home. Palestine seems to have ever been conscious of 
 and responded to the undying love of her exiled and 
 scattered children; and for centuries in dust and ashes 
 she has mourned for their absence, their sorrows and 
 misfortunes. 
 
 Since her bereavement she has put off her beautiful 
 
 garments and clothed herself in the habiliments of sorrow 
 
 ^and woe. Her breezes are no longer balmy with their 
 
204 
 
 former delicious perfumes and she smiles no more in 
 fresh and dewy verdure. Many of her gushing springs, 
 musical rills and singing birds are silent, and many of 
 the beauteous wild flowers that bloomed on her bosom 
 have faded. The stately forests that once crowned her 
 mountains with regal pride and glory, and the fruitful 
 fig trees, olives and vines that mantled her hillsides have 
 been trodden down by the Gentiles; and golden harvests 
 no longer wave in her valleys and over her plains ready 
 to fill storehouses of plenty. The sound of tabret, viol 
 and harp are not heard in festive homes and the voices 
 of rejoicing are all at rest. Her once crowded highways 
 are desolate and her now barren fields are not covered 
 with flocks and herds, and resound not with the blithesome 
 songs of the vintage and harvest. Once with maternal 
 fondness she lavished rich blessings upon her children, 
 and now that they are gone she refuses to bestow boun- 
 ties upon the oppressors and heedless strangers.' She 
 will put on her glorious apparel no more or yield her 
 hidden treasures until the set time to favor Zion shall 
 come, and the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of 
 Judah shall be gathered into the dwellings of Jacob. 
 
 The restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land is 
 distinctly foretold in prophecy, but the time of its accom- 
 plishment is known only to God. We fully believe that 
 the Jews will in some coming age recognize the Messiah 
 promised unto their fathers, and with pride and holy joy 
 will acknowledge the truth of the superscription placed 
 by the infamous Pilate in mockery on the Cross, " Jesus 
 of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," and will see the 
 truth and beauty of the prophecy: He shall be " a light to 
 lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel. 
 
 When that grand event shall occur then the time of 
 the Gentiles will be fulfilled, "And the ransomed of the 
 Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and 
 everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy* 
 
205 
 
 and gladness and sorrow, and sighing shall flee away." 
 They shall come from the four corners of the earth and 
 from the islands of the sea and be gathered into the 
 land long since promised unto Abraham and his seed 
 forever, and there show forth the praises of the Lord. 
 
 " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and 
 the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rope." " It shall blossom 
 abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon 
 shall be given unto it — the excellency of Carmel and Sharon ; they 
 shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God." 
 
 Then all the blue mountains of Israel shall put off their 
 garments of desolation — be crowned with garlands of 
 vines, fruits and flowers, and grow green with pastures. 
 The hills on every side shall be covered with flocks and 
 herds, and shall flow with milk and honey, and the valleys 
 become fat with wine and oil and abundant harvests. 
 The fountains and streams and birds and trees and 
 breezes, with songs of rejoicing, will join in the glorious 
 jubilate that welcomes the return of the redeemed exiles 
 of Israel to the "goodly land" of Promise. Then the 
 waste places of Jerusalem shall be built up, the place of 
 the sanctuary shall be beautified, and the place of His 
 feet be made glorious, and again shall she be " beautiful 
 for situation, the joy of the whole earth." Then the 
 daughters of Zion shall arise from the dust and put on 
 their beautiful garments and have beauty for ashes, the 
 oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for 
 the spirit of heaviness. Then the poets of Israel will wake 
 again the long, silent Hebrew lyre to sing in the lofty 
 strains of Christian millennial joy, the fulfilment of those 
 divine promises and purposes which the Old Hebrew 
 Bards saw in the glorious visions of prophecy three 
 thousand years ago. 
 
G-REENSBORO ; 
 
 LAW SCHOOL. 
 
 The Sessions will commence on the First Monday in 
 January and Third Monday in August, and terminate the 
 Second Monday in June and December. 
 
 * 
 
 TUITION. 
 
 $80.00 for entire course, or $50.00 per session, to be 
 arranged in advance. 
 
 There will be six examinations and lectures each 
 week. 
 
 Board can be obtained in private families at from 
 $12.00 to $16.00 per month. 
 
 Course of Study. 
 
 Blackstone's Commentaries (2d book) diligently. 
 Coke, Cruise, or some other standard work on Real 
 Property. 
 
 Stephen and Chitty on Pleading. 
 Adams' Equity and 1st Greenleaf on Evidence. 
 Some standard work on Executors and Administrators 
 Code of Civil Procedure. 
 
 ROBERT P. DICK. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00033939784 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION