authenticated account of the creation of the world, the fall of man, and his promised recovery through the Saviour, who was to appear in the fulness of time. Notices of the first monarchies, inventions of art, the deluge, confusion of tongues, and dispersion, are interwoven with the general narrative; and all the researches of the learned shew that the documents of old times are entitled to credibility in proportion as they coincide more nearly with the statements of holy writ.
The same distinctive mark is affixed on the writings of the New Testament, which is the completion of all former promises and predictions. From the Sermons and Parables of our Lord, and the writings of his Disciples, unequalled beauties may be culled; but, transcendently invaluable as they are in other respects, the style is the least quality entitled to admiration; suffice it to say, that the Evangelists have succeeded in drawing the finished por-
