in their general nature with the case in question.

With respect to the Old Testament, I believe it may be asserted, that wherever a divine benefit, or blessing, whether to individuals or to the whole people, was of such a nature as suitably to admit the intervention of a sensible instrument, or medium, something bearing that character, in itself, perhaps, of the humblest nature, was almost uniformly employed. To particularize the various instances would be to transcribe a large portion of the sacred history. It may be sufficient to adduce some of the most striking examples.

It is, in the first place, worthy of remark, that in this precise way, even innocent man in Paradise, was to enjoy the blessing of immortality. Instead of possessing this privilege as an inherent property, he was to derive its continuance from eating the frui of a particular tree; and accordingly, when through disobedience, the threatened mortality was incurred, the sentence was executed by an exclusion from that tree. It must not be omitted, that from the earliest

ages of the Christian Church, it has been usual to regard the tree of life in Eden, as a significant type of the eucharist; and in admitting this correspondence, the idea of a similar mysterious efficacy in the eucharistical symbols, for sustaining spiritual life and immortality, was naturally, if not necessarily implied.

At a subsequent period, when, in the great progressive scheme of divine beneficence, Moses was commissioned to work miracles, he was not directed to perform them merely by a word. The shepherd's rod which, at the moment of the divine call, he had in his hand, was from thence to be, not only the ensign, but the instrument of the power with which he was endued. "Thou shalt take "this rod," said Jehovah, "in thy hand, "wherewith thou shalt do signs." We accordingly find it afterward denominated the rod of God; and the numerous instances in which it was used, are so many exemplifications of omnipotence acting through a material medium. There was a profound fitness in this mode of proceeding, else it would not have been adopted. It obviously gave a palpability to the divine interposition, which

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accommodated it with peculiar aptitude to the complex nature of man;

while the simplicity of the means evinced the unseen agency, by which the effect was accomplished.

We may also observe, that not only where miraculous acts were to be performed, but even where settled purposes were to be notified, and habitual impressions produced, sensible expedients were equally employed. Thus, to give sustenance through the bodily senses to the faith and devotion of the heart, the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night, accompanied the children of Israel through the wilderness; and thus, when that miraculous token of the divine Presence ceased to appear, the ark of the covenant to which it had been used to attach itself, and which was thereby sealed as the perpetual symbol of God's special residence, became the point of inexpressible attraction to every true Israelite, as the place where God was infallibly to be found, and from whence mercy and goodness were sure to flow forth upon every faithful worshipper.

The depth of this feeling might be illus

trated by numerous examples. The care which God was pleased to take for its confirmation and continuance at the consecration of Solomon's temple, by the re-appearance of the same divine cloud attaching itself to the same ark, in proof that the same presence would reside in the new mansion, unspeakably evinced the value of such a support to faith, and such an excitement to devotion. Its actual influence on minds, the most capable of appreciating it, is manifested in the case of Daniel, who so venerated and loved, even the desolated spot which had been thus distinguished, that in defiance of the king of Babylon's edict, he persevered in praying, as he had been wont, three times a day, "his windows being open in his cham"ber toward Jerusalem."

It will be hardly be said, that the eyes of pious Israelites were directed to the ark, as the pledge and symbol of providential, rather than of strictly spiritual blessings. An expectation of these latter is continually expressed in the devotional language of the Old Testament; and it is every where evident, that in the inmost concerns of the heart, access to God was facilitated, reliance

on God strengthened, and fixedness and concentration of mind secured and heightened by the settled assurance of his specially present Majesty.

But it particularly pertains to the main question to remark, that amongst extraordinary effects produced in the Old Testament times, through material instruments, those of a strictly mental and spiritual nature are not wholly wanting. One instance, at least, of this kind is found in the impression on the mind of Elisha, through the touch of Elijah's mantle. Elijah had been directed to appoint Elisha his successor in the prophetic office. It may therefore be concluded, that the general dispositions of the latter fitted him for such a distinction; but he himself seems, at the moment, to have had no apprehension of what awaited him, as he was busily occupied in agricultural labour; but as soon as Elijah cast his mantle upon him, he is drawn, as if by irresistible attraction; and only wishes to have time for bidding his father's house farewell; the prophet, probably, had been led to throw his mantle by a special impulse, and scarcely foresaw the fulness of the result; for he answers, as if in