the cheaper plan, and had almost prevailed with me to comply with their representations; but the Lord strengthened my faith, and seemed to say to me, 'Build thou it of stone, and I will pay the charge.'

"Thus this important work was begun, and the Lord from time to time seconded our exertions, with interferences so marked, that the workmen laboured with cheerfulness and satisfaction. To many of them, it was a source of no little pleasure, that the business of each day was begun with prayer; and that on Saturdays, when they received their weekly pay, they were at times dismissed with admonitions, and prayers, and thanksgivings, for the providential assistance which we had that week witnessed.

"The building was raised with great celerity, and though the nature of the ground required that the foundation should be peculiarly deep and strong, a circumstance which at first protracted our labours, yet they were prepared to cover it by July, 1699, one year after it was commenced. Thus the Lord confounded the unbelief of that man, who, when the wall was half done, impiously exclaimed, If this wall ever be finished, I'll hang myself on it.'

"In Easter, 1700, the orphans and students began to dine in the hospital, and shortly after, a part of it was completed for their reception. The rest of the house was finished for habitation, by Easter, 1701."

The Charity School which was set on foot by the Professor in 1695, and which was begun with the small provision of eighteen shillings and six-pence, so prospered, as to lead eventually to the erection of the Orphan-House. Some of the difficulties with which the learned and eminently pious Founder had to contend, and the providential supplies by which, in answer to prayer, he was enabled to surmount them, will appear by the following extracts.

"About Easter, 1696, I found the provision for the poor almost entirely exhausted, and did not know where to get money for defraying the expenses in the ensuing week, when it pleased God to incline the heart of some person, still unknown, to present us with a thousand crowns for the relief of the poor.

"At another time, all provision was gone, when the steward declared that there was a necessity of purchasing some food for the table; and of providing twenty or thirty bushels of flour, beside a quantity of wood, wool, &c. These necessities were made known in prayer to Him, who is the Father of the fatherless; and an opportunity was afforded of making our case known to a person, who would, in all probability, have supplied our wants. I thought, however, that it would be more consistent to give God the glory, and not to stir from before the door of his providence, as, by this means, his name might be the more glori * 3 S2*

fied; and I inclined the rather to this resolution, because the person in question had already afforded us some assistance. In the midst of these pressing necessities, I experienced one comfort, namely, presence of mind in prayer, and an unshaken dependence on that Being, who heareth the young ravens when they cry. When prayer was ended, and I had just taken a scat at the table, some person knocked at the door; on opening which, I beheld an acquaintance of mine, with a letter and a packet of money. It contained fifty crowns, was sent from a considerable distance, and was soon after followed by twenty crowns more. This proved to be a seasonable supply, and was an evidence that the Lord had heard even before we cried; and his name was not a little magnified.

"In Feb. 1699, I was in great straits, and found it to be an hour of probation. All our provision being spent, and the daily necessities of the poor calling for large supplies, I closely adhered in my mind to that saying, 'Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you'avoiding temporal cares, and directing the whole bent of my soul to a close union with God. When I was laying out the last of the money I had, I mentally said, Domine, respice ad indigentiam meam! Lord, look upon my necessity; and going out imme diately after to deliver my Public, Lecture at the University, I unexpectedly found a student waiting in my house for me, who presented me with seventy crowns, remitted by some friends no less than two hundred (English) miles distant. This, however, was barely sufficient for half a week, in consequence of the heavy expenses I was then obliged to defray; but the Lord supplied all my wants as they presented themselves, and I was so carried through these trials, that neither was my mind discomposed, nor was our want discoverable by any external evidences.

"About Michaelmas, 1699, I was again reduced to great want. Contemplating, on a beautiful day, the blue expanse of heaven, I found my faith remarkably strengthened, which I ascribed, however, to the Spirit of God operating on my soul, and not to any disposition of my own. I fell into a train of thought, and among others, this idea impressed itself very forcibly on my mind: How blessed is it, when deprived of every visible help, and having nothing on which to depend but a confidence in the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, to rest satisfied nevertheless in the extremity of poverty.' I returned home, not at all cast down; and it being Saturday, the steward came immediately for money in order to pay the men. He inquired whether there were any brought in: my reply was, No; but I trust in God.' Scarcely had I pronounced the words, when a student requested to speak with me, and brought thirty crowns from a person whose name he would not discover. On returning

to the steward, I inquired how much he wanted: he answered, 'thirty crowns.' But do you require no more?' said I: his reply was, 'No.'-Here we plainly discovered the hand of God, in that we not only had a seasonable supply, but one exactly corresponding with the demands made on our finances."

The narrative to which Mr. Jaques is indebted for these, and several other extracts with which he has enriched the memoir under consideration, was drawn up originally by Professor Franck himself, at the request of four members of the Privycouncil of Frederic I.-It is evident from the foregoing extracts, that the Professor took no pains to accommodate his narrative to reasoning or philosophical pride. He was truly a man of God, and hence related, with almost the simplicity of an Evangelist, such interpositions of Divine Providence as he well knew would be laughed at, not only by Infidels, but also by many nominal Christians: but, being a man of great faith and fervent prayer, and living in the secret of the Divine presence, he possessed too much of that true dignity of character which is consequent on eminent holiness, to be elated or depressed by the clashing opinions of erring mortals.

When piety, strength of understanding, solid and extensive learning, and general knowledge, meet in the same writer, they qualify him for producing works of inestimable value. These qualifications were possessed by Professor Franck in an eminent degree; hence the excellence of his "Guide to the Reading and Study of the Holy Scriptures."

Under the head "Grammatical reading," we find the following observations :-" If we wish to interpret the Original Scriptures with propriety, and to form a right judgment of translations, it is indispensable that we be acquainted with the idiom of the Old and New Testament. It will be highly necessary, however, to ascertain what is meant by the term itself, before we proceed to treat of it as a branch of study; the doctrine may, otherwise, be extended to phrases, which it by no means comprehends; or it may be thought, on the other hand, that all idiomatic expressions can be included in a few rules; and the major part of them would, thus, be overlooked."

'An idiom,' observes Danhauerus, is an expression common to a whole language, and common to it as well exclusively as universally: common to a whole language, because, for the most part, employed by writers in that tongue, when they wish to convey the same idea: common to it exclusively, because cminently peculiar to it; and universally, because so in its strict meaning, and not from mere accident, or from casual analogy.'

"Danhauerus also makes a just distinction between idiom and signification; intimating that the signification of words is not in itself to be referred to idiom, but is antecedent, and re

quires a separate and previous study.
learned from etymology, and from the use of words.---It may
It is likewise chiefly
also happen, that, through the mere signification of words, espe
cially when translated, expressions may sometimes be deemed
idiomatic; as when a word cannot be rendered in another language
by a word synonymous, or only by one that very rarely conveys
the meaning proposed.

"That is properly an idiom, which cannot be rendered, word for word, into another language, without violating its native purity, and wounding the ears of those who are conversant with it. Danhauerus cites a remark from Augustine, that is extremely pertinent: We should learn how the language of inspiration is to be received, consistently with the peculiarities of the respective languages employed; for every tongue has modes of expression peculiar to it, which, if literally translated, would appear absurd.' If this observation be duly weighed, we shall readily apprehend the nature of idiom."-(p. 25-27.)

The following directions which occur in the chapter that treats of "Logical Reading," are worthy of the serious and close attention of every Biblical Student, who wishes to found his system upon the holy Scriptures.

"Read, re-read, and repeat the whole Epistle, (for here we allude more particularly to the Epistles,) from beginning to end, in the original Greek; and, if possible, in an ancient copy, where the text is not divided into verses: read it, as an cpistle from a friend, three or four times over without interruption, until you fully apprehend the meaning, and the subject of the whole Epistle become clear. In fact, it should be perused, as it may be supposed, the Epistles which Paul addressed to the Corinthians were perused by them-frequently; not with many interruptions; not by chapters; but the whole read at once, and until they perfectly understood the Apostle's mind. Much perplexity has certainly arisen from the manner in which most persons read the Scriptures. They mangle and dismember a text; and consider that separately, which should always be connected with antecedents and consequents. On this account, we again recommend the advice given by Franzius, to read without observing the arbitrary divisions of chapter and verse.

From this perusal, re-perusal, and repetition of the Epistle, the student must take care to derive a right knowledge of the scope which the Apostle had in writing it, and thus obtain an acquaintance with the general argument of the Epistle.

In order to succeed in this effectually, let the subsequent precautions be attended to.

1. Remark the words by which the Apostle himself declares his object and scope, which he frequently does in express terms. 2. Remark the historical incidents noticed in the text; from

which some judgment may be formed of the state of the controversy, as well as of the circumstances of the church or person to whom the Epistle is addressed.

Weigh every word attentively; (not however spending much time over little words ;) and consider whether it contain any thing which may lead to a more accurate judgment of the scope and argument of the whole Epistle. No one can easily be so dull of apprehension as not to attain, by this means, the object he should have in view.

When all this is done, the student should resume the Epistle, and sedulously weigh the conclusions interspered through it. These are best ascertained by means of the particles wherefore, therefore, &c.-(p. 59-62.)

The concluding paragraphs of the chapter on "Doctrinal Reading," contains the following very judicious and truly Evangelical observations:

"The consideration of the abstruser Doctrines may be deferred until the student have made greater advances in the knowledge of fundamental truth. Those which are most essential to salvation and to a full assurance of faith, should be first learned by a living and practical knowledge of them; and, then, the transition to doctrines more profound, but less essential, will become pleasant and easy.

"When doctrines are well known, they may be digested into a certain order, which must nevertheless comport with the subject, and the intention of the Holy Spirit. All of them may be referred to God, to man, or to Christ, the Mediator between both.

"Inasmuch as Jesus is the soul of Scripture, and the Way by which we have access to the Father, he who, in Doctrinal Reading, does not fix his eyes on Him, must read in vain: truth and life are attainable only through the Way. To know Christ, and the doctrines concerning Christ, only in theory, is not the soul of Scripture: it is faith in him, and that imitation of him which flows from faith. It is, however, to be remarked, that some texts treat expressly of Christ, and inculcate either faith in him, or the imitation of him: some contain prophecies concerning the Saviour fulfilled, or remaining to be fulfilled; others exhibit a type and figure of Christ; while others are to be referred to him by the analogy of faith, which, as to all the articles of faith, is entirely founded on him."-(p. 99, 100.)

In no part of this excellent work does the Professor appear to more advantage than in his Chapter on "Practical Reading." It will appear to the judicious Reader, by the following extracts, that he is as skilful in raising the superstructure as in laying the foundation of true religion.

"Practical Reading is essentially necessary, and eminently useful; and its object is the application of the Scriptures to