4 ... renounce the hope of obtaining an infallible creed. True that the Consciousness which remains for basis is often obscure and variable . . . Still, still we say, let it be done! It is worse and more dangerous to stand still than to go forward. If an historical Religion be built on the sand, the sooner we learn it, ore the storms boat it down and overwhelm us in its fall, the safer shall we be." "3 When the law is engraven on the tablets of the mind, it cannot be lost, it cannot be destroyed, it is living and working, and streams forth incessantly in deeds of charity and good-will. If the voice of reason is hushed, man is certain to sink into idolatry; it matters little whether the idol is a figure of stone or a Book that petrifies the mind. That Book was sacred and Divine as long as it represented man's innermost emotions, and was honestly acknowledged by him as the chief guide of his life; it ceased to be sacred and Divine when it began to fall upon our minds with a strange accent, and reflected a world which we felt had passed away. We may still study it for understanding a most romarkable phase of human civilisation; we may cull from its pages many a practical and spiritual truth conveyed in language of unsurpassed sublimity; but, as a whole, it cannot edify us; it cannot fully uplift us to the height of our nature. It will always be cherished with gratitude and reverence as the educator of many generations and centuries; but it must yield the precedence to the new light, which the exploration of the forcos of naturo and the powers of tho human mind have thrown upon the gonoral economy of the world. Its blessing is changed into a bane if it presumptuously claims to be the sole legislator for all times; it has, in a great measure, at present fulfilled its mission; it can henceforth only be an individual element among numerous means of human culture. Yet many have argued, that the Bible with all its deficiencies ought to be maintained in authority for ever, because it offers great consolation to the less strong-minded, is useful to the state, and can in no way be injurious to the believer; its truth can indeed not be proved, but this matters little, as most human actions are uncertain and full of fluctuations an opinion which necessarily involves the most serious errors, and leads to the obnoxious distinction between a creed for philosophers and a creed for the vulgar mass, as if that 3 Cobbe, Broken Lights, p.149. Comp. also Arnold, Sermons, pp. 485-192, "If ever they (discrepancies in the Bible) are brought before us, let us not try to put them down unfairly... Let us not do evil that evil may be escaped from; and it is an evil, and the fruitful parent of evils innumerable, to do violence to our understanding or to our reason in their own appointed fields, to maintain falsehood in the despite, and reject the truth which they sanction." 4 Comp. Deut. XXX. 6; Jer. XXXI. 33; 2 Cor. III. 3. which is illusion and falsehood for the former could be truth and light for the latter. A belief which does not satisfy the most acute enquiror, can by honest mon never be doomed sufficient for the simpleminded. Many pretend that the distinction is demanded by policy and expediency; but it is generally prompted by pride and arroganco, and always engenders hollowness and hypocrisy. And these characteristics are almost glaringly manifest in the singular observation, "the Law was given to those only who are devoid of reason and the supports of natural intelligence": the pride lies in the assumed superiority over tho groat majority of men, and the hypocrisy in the ostensible profession of "revelation"; for if revealed truths were sincerely believed. in, they would not, with evident contempt, be described as important for the silly only, but would be held to be valuable even for the most gifted. Every man is, by his nature, subject to superstition, because he is by his nature subject to fear; but by knowledge he must subdue fear and superstition; he must, on the one hand, rise to the consciousness of his dignity and power, and ho must, on the other hand, modestly subordinate himself as a serving link of the univorso, convinced that no evil can happen to him whatever happens to him as a member of universal creation. But how does ho riso to his dignity? If his mind strives to penetrate into the first causes and the essence of things; if his heart conquers every passion and all base emotions; if his actions, guided by love, aim at promoting the welfare of mankind, or of that part of it with which his destiny is connected. Therefore, TRUTH, VIRTUE, and ACTIVE LOVE these three form the creed of the Futuro, but the greatest of these is TRUTH; for enlightenment leads to self-control and to self-denying doods; knowledge alone is able to keep man on the path of moderation and thoughtfulness, and thus to secure, through virtue, his inward peace and happiness. A. FIRST CODE. CHAPTERS I TO V. 1. THE BURNT-OFFERING. CHAPTER I. SUMMARY.. God speaks to Moses from the Tabernacle, and communicates to him the laws of the Burnt-offering which is to consist of male cattle, whether bullocks, sheep, or goals (vers. 1—13), or of fowls, whether turtledoves or young pigeons (vers. 14-17). If the victim is a quadruped, it is to be burnt entirely on the altar, with the exception of the hide (VII. 8), while the blood is sprinkled on the altar round about; if it is a bird, the head and then the rest of the body are to be burnt, except the crop and its contents, while the blood is pressed out along the side of the altar. 1. And the Lord called to out of the Tent of Meeting, children of Israel, and say to 1-9. All the Israelites, both men and women, had, with readiness and zcal, co-operated in the completion of the holy Tabernacle; the skilful rejoiced in being permitted to bestow upon it their talents, and the wealthy contributed the costly and multifarious materials till at last the offerings were far too abundant even for that magnificent structure, and their discontinuance was enjoined by a public proclamation. Every detail was so scrupulously exccuted in accordance with the Divine command, that Moses felt induced to pronounce a blessing upon the pious people. The time had arrived for arranging the component parts and erecting the edifice. The first day of Nisan, in the year after the Israelites' departure from Egypt, was appointed for the task. In systematic order, and under .the direct supervision of Moses, the labour was performed. First the external framework of the Tabernacle was Moses, and spoke to him saying, 2. Speak to the them, If anyone of you joined together: the boards of nencia wood, twenty on the northern, as many on the southern, and eight on the western side, were fixed in the ground by means of tenons and silver sockets, two for each board; the poles of acacia wood covered with gold were fitted in five golden rings fastened at the outside of the boards, to render the structure conveniently portable during journeys; the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold, at the eastern side of the Holy of Holies, and the five at the entrance of the Holy, were duly fastened by hooks and sockets; and the beautiful hanging of twined byssus, and blue, red, and crimson, with figures of the Cherubim woven upon it, was suspended by small hooks within the Tent, forming the ceiling, and falling down on the sides; while the three other coverings of goats' hair, of rams' skins, and of badgers' skins, were spread over it from with bring an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of the cattle, whether of the herd or of the flock. 3. If his offering be a burnt-sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting for his acceptance before the Lord. 4. And he shall put his hand upon the head out, partially reaching down to the ground to protect the gold-coated acacia boards against the injury of the weather. The exterior having thus been reared, Moses put the holy implements in their prescribed places within. Beginning at the western extremity, he furnished the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the Covenant, not, however, before he had deposited therein the two tablets of the Law or "the Testimony", had also, for the purpose of transportation, drawn the two gilded slaves of acacia wood, never again to be removed, through the four rings at its four feet, and had put the golden mercy-seat with the sacred figures of the Cherubim on its upper side. Then he closed the Holy of Holics by the splendid curtain which was suspended immediately under the loops and hooks of the first covering. Ile next removed into the Sanctuary or Holy its three chief utensils. to the northern side, the Shew-bread Table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with its enclosure and wreath, its golden rings and staves, and the golden vessels belonging to it, the dishes and bowls, the cans and cups, arranging upon it the shew-bread, twelve cakes in two rows, and probably adding the first frank-incense to be burnt upon them; to the southern side, opposite the Table, the magnificent Candlestick, weighing with its appendages one talent of gold, consisting of seven branches and seven lamps, beautifully ornamented with calyxes of almond flowers, apples or pomegranates, and blossoms; and between the Table and the Candlestick, just before the curtain of the Holy of Holies, the Altar of Incense, of acacia wood overlaid with gold, with its rings and slaves. Then he fastened the vail which formed the entrance of the Sanctuary. Lastly he placed in the Court the Altar of Burntoffering, of hollow boards of acacia wood covered with brass, and probably filled with earth, adding its vessels, the pots and shovels, the bowls and forks; and the Laver to the left of the altar, nearer the Sanctuary, made of brass, like the base on which it rested. And having fixed, by hooks and sockets, the fifty-six columns which marked the area of the Court round the Tabernacle, and fastened the hangings to the columns, and having, at the eastern side, suspended the curtain to serve as the entrance door, he could well consider the noble work as entirely completed and declare it ready for the sacred purposes which it was thenceforth destined to serve. In order to mark these purposes symbolically, he anointed both the whole structure and all principal utensils with the holy oil, and thus consecrated them; and as a sign and confirmation that the task had in every respect been accomplished in conformity with the Divine will, a heaven-sent cloud covered the edifice, and the glory of God filled it. Moses, unable to enter, remained before the Tabernacle, while God communicated to him His commands from within (vers. 34, 35; Lev. I. 1; and in general Exod. XXXV. 1 sqq.; see also notes on. VIII. 1-5). This is the connection intended of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5. And he shall kill the young bullock before the Lord: and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round. about upon the altar that is by the door of the Tent of Meeting. 6. And one shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it into its pieces. 7. And the sons of Aaron between the second and third Book of the Pentateuch; it is plain and unforced, and its continuity is only once interrupted, at the conclusion of Exodus, by the insertion of a general notice, in harmony with the pragmatical nature. of Biblical history. The narrative is indeed perfectly consistent with itself, and the general arrangement of the sections is logical and judicious; for as the second Book concludes with the erection of the Tabernacle, the third fitly begins with commands concerning sacrifices and priestly functions, succeeded by civil and moral laws; and whereas previously the ordinances were issued from Mount Sinai, they were now, since Moses had descended from the mountain, proclaimed from the Tabernacle; and the "Tent of Meeting", from where God promised to commune with Moses and the priests, was indeed appropriately made the scene of the proclamation, as it was to be the scene of the execution, of the sacerdotal precepts. God had visibly manifested His love of Israel by filling the Sanctuary with His glory, and Israel was thenceforth to receive, from the same place, the injunctions by the observance of which they might preserve that love for ever; and these laws were addressed to all the children of Israel because they immediately concerned every member of the holy community. But it is needless to point out the legendary character of the whole account. It contains many essential elements of religious fiction: God holds direct and personal intercourse with Ilis servant Moses; Ile reveals to him orally all the details of a complicated sacrificial and sacerdotal service; He fills the Tabernacle with His glory so visibly that Moses is unable to enter. It is throughout pervaded by anthropomorphic notions utterly incompatible with the spiritual and incorporcal nature of the Deity. Therefore, the manner in which the sacrificial ordinances are set forth, deprives them necessarily of that higher authority, with which the author of Leviticus deemed it desirable to invest them. The stamp of Divine origin, claimed for all the laws and institutions, was considered pre-eminently important for those regulations which concerned the innermost centre of religious life, formed the chief national bond, and were designed to exhibit man in his most essential relations to God and his fellowmen, and to secure peace and purity of mind. Yet these laws, though not possessing the fictitious support of an alleged supernatural suggestion, deserve the most careful investigation; for they are the combined result of tradition and thought; they reflect, on the one hand, the sacrificial practice current among the Israelites in the compiler's time, or deemed by him possible and expedient; and they embody, on the other hand, a complete system of statutes thoughtfully deduced from the leading doctrines of Hebrew theology by carnest and cultivated minds; they have, therefore, at once a positive or historical, and a speculative or dogmatical importance; and though, in |