tament itself includes, will form the chief subject of study; and other histories will only be consulted or read in proportion as they refer to this, or contribute to throw light upon it. At the point where these records of the Old Testament begin to fail us, or the period of the captivity of Judah, the great work of Prideaux, "The Old and New Testament connected in the History of the Jewish people," &c. immediately presents itself, and carries on the thread of history to the time when the Gospels resume it. This, therefore, is a book which must be regarded as forming an essential part of the study which is here being traced.

The Gospels and Acts of the Apostles follow in course, as being parts of that chain of history which God has seen fit to reveal by inspiration. With them, and subsequently to them, Josephus should be read, on account of the light which his independent narrative tends to throw on the later period of the Jewish

people. With his work ceases their history as a nation; and we cannot but adore the providence, which in this way, permitted a Jewish pen to convey to all the world, the narrative of the tremendous judgments by which God cast off the people whom He had chosen, and executed the sentence they had brought upon themselves by their unbelief.

In the history of the church of Christ, which from this time occupies its proper place as the peculiar people, the chosen generation, two lines are to be followed.

The external history may be pursued, which is occupied with the circumstances in which the church was placed, with its trials, its struggles, and its progress as a community ;-or that which is internal may be preferred; the line which traces the existence of the real people of God, as a people separate and distinct from others. The first is found in the Ecclesiastical History of Mosheim, chiefly known in England through its transla

tion by Maclaine. The other is offered to us in the work begun by the Rev. Joseph Milner, carried on by his brother, the Dean of Carlisle, and still proceeding under the Rev. John Scott. Neither of these works can be neglected by him who wishes to become acquainted with the history of the church; for neither by itself would be sufficient. The work of Mosheim, if read alone, might seem to impugn the very fact of any other than the nominal existence of Christianity; and we should doubt whether a spark of real piety remained, amidst the accumulations of folly and corruption which he records. That there was such a remnant still existing, is shown with sufficient probability by Milner; and though from the very nature of things, truth was likely to be hid out of the sight of any general observer, and to be mixed with much alloy even in the minds where it was retained; no one can read Milner's history without secret delight at observing

the succession of men who were raised up from time to time, and by whom the lamp of life was conveyed from one to another through the darkness of the middle ages.

With the era of the Reformation a new state of things began. Different nations, in succession, threw off the yoke of the See of Rome; and in different degrees and forms asserted their independence, and adopted distinct religious establishments. The histories, before alluded to, give general information as to the measures which were pursued on the Continent, and the peculiarities of the Lutheran and Reformed churches. The Reformation in this country proceeded in a somewhat different order: and as it had the advantage of commencing with the higher classes, and was chiefly accomplished by the means of men who added, in no ordinary measure, learning and wisdom to piety and zeal, it had less of a revolutionary character than the

changes which were effected abroad, and more completely realized the idea of reformation which its name implied. On this account, as well as others, the history of the Reformation in England deserves a specific and attentive study; and the materials are abundant and of no difficult access.

The History of the Reformation, by Burnet, will naturally be first suggested; and though, as a composition, it is uninviting, and destitute of the warmth and interest which personal feelings threw into his History of his Own Times; it has received such sanction from the highest authorities of the land, and includes so many documents of importance, that it will ever form the standard of such inquiries. Strype's Annals may be consulted by those who have leisure for more accurate research; and Collier's Ecclesiastical History, or Fuller's Church History, may be read instead of Burnet, if they fall into the student's hands. But in