What, then, shall we say, was the emblematical meaning, or mystery, shadowed forth under the form and texture of the Saviour's robe?

May not the texture of this robe-woven of one entire piece, without a seam-have been intended as an emblem of the uniformity, consistency, and close indissoluble connection, subsisting throughout every part of the Sacred Scriptures? Whether it have

been so intended or not, the parallel between them, in these respects, holds in a remarkable degree: and if this is admitted, the question of intention is one of very inferior consequence; but some circumstances make it probable that this parallel is not altogether accidental.

The mere writings or compositions constituting the Holy Scriptures, expressed in human language, in accomodation to human weakness and ignorance, cannot of themselves be considered as the "Word" (or message) of God; but merely as the vehicle by which it is conveyed to the human understanding. Much of the language of Scripture is figurative, and the true meaning concealed under a variety of types, and dark metaphorical allusions. This was necessarily the case, for the things of heaven cannot be directly and literally expressed in the language of the earth. By a too literal interpretation of their own prophetical writings, the Jews failed of discovering their true scope and meaning, and their

minds are not opened to the genuine sense of them, even to this day.

ture.

The true "Word"-the real import and meaning of the Scriptures-the Spirit which animated the prophets, and which lives and breathes in their writings-is, we are told, "quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow." This cannot be said of the mere letter of the Scrip"The letter killeth; the Spirit maketh alive." Holding then the Scriptures taken as compositions—considered merely as a book, or a series of books-not to be themselves "the Word," but merely the outward vehicle or covering of the Word— the garb or clothing in which it is exhibited to man— perhaps it may be permitted us to imagine, that the vesture worn by the Saviour, the real living "Word made man,"'-was formed as it was, as a sensible emblem or type of those sacred writings by which his mind and will are made known to the human

race.

Let us consider the parallel a little farther. The robe, (or coat,) "was without seam, woven from the top throughout."

And do not the Scriptures agree with this in a most remarkable degree? Though written by various hands-in distant ages and countries, and in different languages-the whole hang together with

a closeness and consistency in the substance and matter—an unity of purpose and object, which no other writings equally extensive possess, and such as to render them one entire and indivisible whole. There is no artificial joining of parts-nothing in their union that appears the result of human contrivance. The manner in which one part grows upon, and is united to another, more resembles the successive additions to, and growth of some productions of nature.

As the garment was "woven from the top throughout," we may trace this oneness and consistency of purpose, from the very commencement to the end of Scripture-from the first chapter of Genesis to the last of Revelation.

Throughout the Old Testament, history, law, and prophecy are so interwoven with one another, that there is no possibility of their being torn asunder. The first dark promise or prophecy of a Saviour, is given even in the words of the sentence pronounced on man at the Fall. The whole history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is interspersed with a vein of prophecy. The call of the former patriarch to leave his people and his kindred, was connected with a prophecy, often renewed, that " in him, and in his seed, should all the families of the earth be blessed." A particular promise was afterwards given to him of a son, and another that his des

cendants should possess the land in which he then dwelt as a stranger. The fulfilment of the first of these predictions, afforded an earnest and a pledge for that of the second, although this last was delayed for the long space of 400 years.

The intermediate history of these patriarchs and their descendants, in Canaan, in Egypt, and in Arabia Petrea, shewed them to be peculiarly under the protection of heaven. The great historical epoch of the Old Testament—the Exodus, or departure of the Israelites out of Egypt, accompanied with the most astonishing miracles,-their passage of the Red Sea, and long sojourn in the wilderness under the guidance of Moses-and their establishment in the promised land under Joshua, are constantly referred to as the peculiar work of God in their behalf. These facts are incorporated and intertwined, not merely with the history, but with the laws, the poetry, the religious ceremonies, and the civil institutions of this singular people, in such a way, that the memory of them could never by possibility be lost. No mere historical record could so effectually have accomplished this object. The institutions of the passover, and of the feast of unleavened bread, which were appointed to be observed annually by the whole nation for ever, were of themselves sufficient to perpetuate the remembrance of them. The Moral Law is introduced

with the declaration,-"I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage." Many other laws contain similar allusions. Numerous laws command them to shew kindness to the poor, the fatherless, the widow and the stranger,-" seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." They are constantly reminded of God having brought them out of Egypt, "with an high hand, and a stretched-out arm." They are reminded of this in all exhortations to obedience, and in all rebukes for their frequent contumacy and rebellion on all occasions of greater or less importance, when addresses, admonitions, or reproofs were administered to them by their leaders. The references to these facts in the Pentateuch and other historical books, amount to several hundreds, so that they must have been indelibly imprinted, and we may say, burnt in upon the minds of the people, and so long as a shred of their sacred books remain, never by any possibility to be forgotten.

I need not attempt to trace particularly the history of the Jews after their establishment in Palestine, contained in the books of Judges, Ruth, the two books of Samuel, and the two books of Kings, bringing down our accounts of the nation, and of their transactions to the time of the Babylonish captivity. All the most important events during this long period, particularly in the reigns of the three first