lars. Its boundaries extending north to the Rio Des Moines, east to the Mississippi, west to the Rio del Norte,* and, in some parts, to the Pacific,-including most of that country now occupied by the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas.

In 1819, John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, exchanged Texas for Florida, fixed the Sabine as the western boundary of the United States, and ceded the whole country of Texas to Spain,† from whom she has revolted, and presents herself now as an independent nation, ready to resume her natural connexion with us, and float the banner of the American Republic over her free hearts and noble spirits. D.

ART. III.-LITERATURE OF THE BIBLE. The Holy Bible. Harper's Illuminated and New Pictorial Bible. New-York: Harper & Brothers. 1844.

THE present is an age not only of cheap literature, but of beautiful editions of standard works. The finest paper, the neatest typography, exquisite engravings, whatever genius can suggest or art execute, to render the productions of the mind agreeable to the eye, and, through the eye, to reach the heart and understanding, are employed with excellent effect by our American publishers, among whom, the Messrs. Harper, of New-York, stand pre-eminent for their honorable labors, and for their just appreciation of what is demanded by the literary taste of American scholars, and the advanced condition of the Arts among us. Of the rich and magnificent editions which have emanated from their press, none is more worthy of unqualified approbation than their splendid pictorial and illuminated Bible, which is now in course of publi

* But when retroceded to, and occupied by France, in 1800, she claimed as formerly, and delivered it to us by her officers in 1804, as extending west to the Rio del Norte.-Woodbury's Speech, p. 4.

+ The United States hereby cede to his Catholic Majesty, and renounce forever, all their rights, claims and pretensions to the territories lying west and south of the above described line; and, in like manner, his Catholic Majesty cedes to the said United States all his rights, claims and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line; and for himself, his heirs, etc., etc.-Woodbury's Speech, p. 5.

cation in serial numbers, and which is furnished to subscribers at so very moderate a price, as to render it accessible to the mass of our people. The engravings are chaste and beautiful, and are every where happily adapted to illustrate the subjects of holy writ. The mind itself must be unchaste and perverted indeed, which can find in these apposite illustrations of the characters, manners and customs of the primeval ages, any thing antagonistic to the spirit and general tone of Revelation, or which is inconsistent with the most immaculate purity. It is not our intention, however, to dwell further on the literary merits of the work before us, or its artistic beauty, but rather to embrace the opportunity furnished by its appearance, to offer some remarks on the indebtedness of modern literature to the Bible itself. Our readers a few of them, at least-may recognize our opinions on this great topic as being identically the same with those expressed by us, in another form and on another occasion, but our wish is to place them in a more enduring shape before the public eye, and to give them a more extended circulation; and without arrogating any particular merit to the views themselves, we yet insist, that the subject is one which deserves more attention than it has hitherto received. Wherever man is, there is character, both moral and intellectual; and the doings of the man develope that character. In the actions of his life, in the tenor of his confidential discourse, and in his epistolary correspondence, the individual traces an impress of himself.

But communities, as well as individuals, may be said to have and to exhibit a character of their own. The acts of the government, the statutes of the legislature, the proceedings of public bodies, the prevailing customs, and the tolerated vices, all furnish indication of public character while, in the current literature, the manifestation of that character is more decisive still. National character is often as distinctly marked in national literature, as the character of the individual is marked in letters to his intimate friends. In German literature, in French, in English, in Italian, and in Spanish, there is a distinct character, intellectual and moral, appertaining to each one, and peculiar to itself. La Henriade never could have been written by an Englishman, nor Othello by a Frenchman, nor Goethe's Faust, nor the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, by either of them.

In like manner, each great age of the world, and almost

each successive generation of men, has exhibited its own peculiar literary character. The writings of king David or of Isaiah, the productions of Homer or of Herodotus, could not possibly be confounded with the literature of the Augustan age, nor could the productions of Chrysostom or of Augustine be mistaken for writings of the age of Leo X., any more than the writings of Luther, of Melancthon, or of Erasmus, could be palmed on literary men as productions of the nineteenth century. Constitutional temperament, education, the company a man keeps, the sentiments he hears, the books he reads, the scenes he witnesses, and the objects he pursues, all combine to influence his opinions and modify his character. In like manner, the constitution of society, the prevailing forms of government, political changes, and antecedent revolutions, combine to modify national character, and to determine the features of the age itself, and consequently affect the character of its literature also.

Among the causes thus operating on the human mind, the views entertained of religion cannot be the least influential; and, consequently, the extensive dissemination of writings, such as those of which the Bible is made up, must have had an influence upon the sentiments and the writings, at least, if not also upon the conduct of men. To some few among ancient writers, such as Plato and Seneca, the Scriptures were probably not wholly unknown. But it is in modern times only, that these sacred writings have been made extensively known; it is, therefore, in modern literature, chiefly, that we can look for the influence of revealed truth.

Wherever present, the Bible has certainly fostered the spirit of sound learning. From times of the remotest antiquity, it would appear that learning and religion have been closely connected together. Not to enlarge on the fact, that even among the ancient heathen, their priesthood were usually their learned men, (just as though religion, even in its basest counterfeits, professing, as it does, to deal with the interests of the inner spirit of man, must necessarily cultivate the intellect, as a part of her own peculiar province,) it is obvious that the chief agents employed by heaven to receive and to promulgate revealed truth, were the friends and cultivators of learning. Moses, the Jewish law-giver, "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and was, unquestionably, the most distinguished man of his age. The author of the book of Job was evidently a man of highly

cultivated mind. The royal Solomon, and among the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel, were all accomplished scholars while, even so early as the time of Samuel, seminaries of learning, called "schools of the prophets," were maintained, from among the students in which were selected those on whom God sent the spirit of prophecy.

The first teachers of the Christian faith were trained for years near the person, and under the instructions of their divine Master, so as to be thoroughly versed in ethics and theology; and then they were supernaturally endowed, at once, with a knowledge of the languages necessary for the successful prosecution of their mission,-a knowledge which, otherwise, the tedious labour of years could alone have secured to them. Paul, from whose pen we have more than from any other of the New Testament writers, was a man not only of unusual mental vigor, but also of varied reading, and of extensive, if not profound erudition. But, besides this learning found in some of the sacred writers, the very nature of the Bible is such as to call for attention to learning, at least in those who study in order to expound it. A divine revelation must be communicated in some particular language, or languages, which, to men of other nations, must be foreign and unintelligible without study. The original tongues of the Old and the New Testament have now, for many ages, been dead languages. A knowledge of these languages can, therefore, be acquired only by careful study.

In addition to this, the Bible is, in some parts, of antiquity so remote, it embodies allusions to times, and places, and persons, so very ancient, and so entirely removed out of the range of ordinary research, that, in order to understand it fully, not only must various languages be studied, but a wide range of investigation must be made in history, chronology, geography, and sundry other branches of knowledge. Accordingly it has been found, in every age, that where the Bible was, there learning flourished. Among the most assiduous cultivators of learning, in their day, were the advocates of revealed truth in the first four centuries of the Christian era. During the long night of intellectual darkness, in what are called the middle ages, learning was confined, almost exclusively, to the cells of the monasteries. But in those cells the Bible was, and was studied, while on the great mass of men, from whom the Bible was withheld, the deep darkness of utter ignorance rested. So long as the church taught

the traditions of men, keeping the Bible hid from public view, learning languished, and was found only among the clergy: but when the Reformation insisted on the exclusive authority of revelation in matters of faith and practice, and proclaimed the Bible as the book for the people, learning revived, the study of ancient languages was entered upon with ardour, other branches of learning received increased attention, numerous versions of the Bible in modern tongues were made, and published for the use of the people. Commentaries and expository works of various kinds were produced and published, and the art of criticism was once more called into operation, and greatly improved. So true it is, as the learned Blackstone remarks, when advocating the necessity for a liberal education at the university, as a preparation for the study of law, "The sciences are of a social disposition, and flourish best in the neighborhood of each other: nor is there any branch of learning, but may be helped and improved by assistance drawn from other arts." Blackstone's Commentaries, Book I. § 1. Vol. I. p. 19 And we may add, there is no one branch of learning which can be thoroughly mastered, without attention to many other departments of knowledge: yea, a love for one learned pursuit will inevitaby impel to the study of kindred and illustrative branches of knowledge. Thus, it was actually found that, wherever the Bible was, there learning took up her abode, and multiplied her votaries, and achieved her triumphs. But learning is the foundation of literature. In fostering learning, then, the Bible has rendered essential service to the cause of literature. It has called it into existence, and mainly determined its character.

Some of the profoundest works of modern literature have been called forth by the Bible. Wherever the Bible is known, and duly prized, it awakens a spirit of learned research: ancient languages, the classics of Greece and Rome, as well as of Judea, become objects of diligent study; and learned lexicons, and laboriously compiled grammars, and critical editions of the ancient classics, (those of Greece, especially,) are put forth, as a means of elucidating the sacred text, or of fitting the student of revealed truth, rightly to investigate, property to appreciate, and correctly to expound it. For the same purpose, also, the vast stores of ancient history must be unlocked, to furnish the world with such works as Prideaux's Connection of Sacred and Profane History, the An