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CONVERSATIONS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE BIBLE 
 
 WRITTEN FOR THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL UNION. 
 
 Jet cob Abb c>"V1~ 
 BY ERODORE. 
 
 REVISED BY THE PUBLISHING COMMITTEE. 
 
 Boston : 
 
 PRINTED BY T. R. MARTIN, FOR THE 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS SABBATH SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 And sold at their Depository. 
 
 1829. 
 
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS to wit : 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 Be it remembered, that on the seventeenth day of November, A. 0. 
 1829, in the fifty fourth year of the Independence of the United States of 
 America, Christopher C. Dean, of the said District, has deposited in 
 tins Office the Title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor, 
 hi the words following - , to wit : — 
 
 u Conversations on the Bible. Written for the Massachusetts Sabbath 
 School Union. By Erodore." 
 
 In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United State3 ; entitled 
 a An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, 
 charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the 
 times therein mentioned :" and also to an Act entitled " An Act supplemen- 
 tary to an Act entitled An Act for the encouragement of learning, by 
 tecuring the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors 
 of such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the 
 benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving and etching historical 
 and other prints." 
 
 TMr\ \\r n a T7TC 1 Clerk of the District 
 J^O, W. DAVIS, £ 0/ M ^ sachusau , 
 

 ***% 
 
 - 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 A child who has been accustomed to read the 
 Bible from infancy, may 4 , and in fact generally does, 
 acquire a minute and familiar acquaintance with all 
 its parts, while he is entirely destitute of any general 
 and comprehensive conceptions of its character and 
 design as a whole. The manner in which the Scrip- 
 tures are read, for the ordinary purposes of devotion, 
 does not commonly encourage the attainment of any 
 general views. A new chapter is not read until at 
 least all vivid recollection of the preceding has passed 
 away ; — one book is not collated with another ; the 
 subjects of allusions are not sought for and examined ; 
 and thus a great many of the beauties, as well as a 
 great many of the difficulties of the Bible, remain 
 unobserved, for want of the very little spirit of investi- 
 gation which would be sufficient to discover them. 
 There are probably many, very many, families in 
 New England, which have for years listened morning 
 and evening to the reading of the Gospels, and yet 
 whose inmates would now be surprised to learn, that 
 our Saviour was clothed by his enemies, on the testi- 
 mony of one evangelist, in a scarlet, and on that of 
 another, in a purple robe. 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 It is the design of the following Conversations to 
 co-operate with many other works now in circulation, 
 in assisting the young to acquire a thorough and a 
 connexted knowledge of the sacred Scriptures. It was 
 the original design of the writer to discuss the follow- 
 ing subjects in addition to those presented in this 
 work, viz. : the times and circumstances in which 
 some of the principal books of the Bible were writ- 
 ten ; — the lives and characters of their authors ; — the 
 manner in which the books were at first written, pre- 
 served and circulated ; — an account of the principal 
 versions and translations which have appeared ; — de- 
 gree of circulation which the Bible has had at different 
 periods ; — efforts which have been made to oppose its 
 influence, or to destroy its authority ; — extent of its 
 present circulation and influence in the world ; — and 
 finally, the efforts now making to translate it into every 
 language, and to carry it to every family upon the 
 globe. 
 
 This was the original design ; but the writer of 
 these sheets is unavoidably prevented from completing 
 it. It is highly desirable that some one should pre- 
 sent these subjects in a familiar manner, to the 
 throngs which are now collected around Sabbath 
 school libraries. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CONVERSATION I. 
 
 DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 Occasion of these conversations. Sunday school class. Names and 
 characters of the boys. Nature of inspiration. Proofs of it. 
 (1.) Presumption in its favor from internal evidence; comparison of 
 the Bible with the Koran in this respect. (2.) Proof from 
 prophecy. Striking- examples of prophecy ; viz. predictions of the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, and of the coming of Christ. Some 
 predictions not proofs of miraculous power. (3.) Proof from 
 miracles. Different ends accomplished by miracles and prophecy. 
 Recapitulation of the whole subject; by the boys, on their return 
 home. 
 
 CONVERSATION II. 
 
 NATURAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SCENE OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY, 
 
 Meeting of the class. Map. Distinction between Natural and Civil 
 Geography. Scene of Scripture History. Five principal seas 5 
 Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea. Four 
 principal rivers; Tigris, Euphrates, (Mesopotamia; sources of 
 rivers.) Nile, (its peculiarities ; crocodiles ; Moses,) Jordan. 
 Natural divisions of land. (1.) Fertile regions pointed out and 
 described. (2.) Deserts. Mode of travelling through deserts. 
 Abraham's journeys. (3.) Mountainous regions; Lebanon, Cau- 
 casus, Ararat. Uncertainty about the position of Mount Ararat. 
 
 Page 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Degree of dependence to be placed upon maps of ancient countries. 
 The teacher's questions. Examination of the mouths of rivers. 
 Evidence of the real age of the world, derived from them. Extract 
 from Mr. Wood's travels across a desert. Walk with the teacher to 
 see the mouth of a brook. Illustration of the reasoning from the 
 mouths of rivers. Reasoning" of the boatman. Degree of accu- 
 racy attainable in such calculations. 12 
 
 CONVERSATION III. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 
 
 Object of going over the Scripture history in these conversations. 
 Explanation of the map illustrating this period. The creation. The 
 Sabbath the first divine institution ; its intended perpetuity. Adam 
 and Eve. Nature of their sin. The guilt of disobedience. Flood. 
 Questions about the antediluvian world. Method of calculating from 
 the Bible the time of the flood. Conduct of men after the flood. 
 God's design in separating Abraham and his family from the rest 
 of mankind. Time of the call of Abraham. Uses of the chapters 
 of names. Abraham's journey. A famine. Tents. Isaac. Ja- 
 cob in Egypt. Bondage and escape of the Israelites. Their 
 journey. Laws of God. Manner in which they were written and 
 preserved. Arrival at Canaan. Right of the children of Israel to 
 Canaan. Tribes. The snow storm. Morning. John's morning 
 prayer. Cruden's Concordance 5 description and use. Search for 
 a list of the tribes. . Lists compared. Difficulty. Explanation. 
 Thirteen tribes. S3 
 
 CONVERSATION IV. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 
 
 The double map. Description of Canaan. Tribes which settled 
 east of Canaan. The camp at Gilgal. Original inhabitants of 
 Canaan. Judah and Benjamin. First form of government} 
 judges. Circumstances of the appointment of Saul, the first king. 
 Saul's character ; his gradual declension and final ruin. Delay of 
 Christ's coming 5 possible reasons for it. David. Jerusalem. 
 Solomon. The temple ; its structure and use. Secession of the 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 Page 
 ten tribes ; two histories, Kings and Chronicles. Two kingdoms. 
 Guilt and punishment of the ten tribes. Prophets. Isaiah. Ob- 
 stinacy of the Jews. Siege of Jerusalem. Captivity. Release 
 and return. Books of Daniel. Ezra and Nehemiah. Grecian 
 and Roman conquests of Palestine. 53 
 
 CONVERSATION V. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 
 
 Divisions of Palestine in the time of Christ. Judea, Samaria, and 
 Galilee. Character of the Samaritans. Parentage and birth of 
 Christ. Cause of Herod's alarm. Commencement of Christ's 
 public preaching. Its effect. His missions. His enemies resolve 
 upon his death. His trial, first before a Jewish, and then before a 
 Roman court. His death. Time of his remaining in the tomb. 70 
 
 CONVERSATION VI. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. 
 
 Description of the map ; seas 5 countries. Account of the condition 
 of the Roman empire at this time. Christ's last command to his 
 followers. First public preaching of the gospel after Christ's 
 death, to the Jews. Success. Stephen's death. Persecution. 
 Preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. Difficulties in the way; 
 qualifications necessary in the individual appointed on this service. 
 Saul selected. Reasons why he should not commence this service. 
 Peter's preaching to Cornelius. Paul's missionary excursion. 
 Synagogues. Second excursion. Controversy in regard to Gen- 
 tile converts. Decision. Visit to Greece. Athens, Corinth. The 
 epistles ; their nature and design. Paul's return to Jerusalem ; his 
 trials; voyage; arrival at Rome. Chronology. Mode of repre- 
 senting the times of events. Chronological line. Uses of the 
 chronological line. Chronological week. Attempts of the boys 
 to draw chronological lines. 80 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CONVERSATION VII. Conclusion. 
 
 Page 
 
 The boys assemble. A siek room. The pious physician. Uncer- 
 tainty of health and life. Advantages of sickness $ it teaches pa- 
 tience 3 humility j sense of our dependence. Sickness not always 
 improved aright. The minister's visit. Close. 104 
 
<\ - c '0r 
 
 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 CONVERSATION I. 
 
 DIVINE AUTHORITY OF THE BIBLE. 
 
 In the fall of the year, when it began to be cold 
 and stormy, it was decided to discontinue the Sabbath 
 school during the winter months. The reason given 
 was, that the scholars, especially the small children, could 
 not conveniently come over the bleak hills, through the 
 deep snow; and that the classes, while they were together, 
 would be uncomfortable, and could not therefore well at- 
 tend to the lessons. A few of the teachers, however, 
 thought that it would be better to continue the school. 
 They said that the small children might stay at home 
 when it was very cold and stormy, and they supposed 
 that the rest would rather go on studying the Bible, and 
 learning to be good and happy, even if* they did suffer in 
 coming to the school. 
 
 One of these teachers had a class of boys, and on 
 the last day of the school, he proposed to them to come 
 one evening in each week to his house, where he said 
 he would give them some information in regard to the 
 Bible, which would enable them to understand it better. 
 
 There were five boys in the class : only three of them, 
 
 however, accepted this invitation. One of these was the 
 
 minister's son. His name was Samuel, and he was the 
 
 eldest of the three, being about 14 years of age. The 
 
 1 
 
CONVERSATION'S ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Class assembles. The Bible God's Book. 
 
 second was about a year younger : his father and mother 
 were wicked people, who seldom went to meeting, and 
 who were very reluctant that Roger, (for that was the 
 name of this boy,) should go to the Sabbath school. 
 Roger was a very intelligent lad, and was quite desirous 
 of learning, but he had received very little instruction. 
 The third boy was the youngest : his father was not liv- 
 ing ; but his mother, and his sister older than himself, 
 took great pains to teach him every thing important 
 for him to learn. His name was John, and he was 
 about 10 years of age. 
 
 On the appointed evening, Samuel, Roger, and John 
 assembled at the teacher's room. They all sat down 
 around a table, before a pleasant fire, and the teacher 
 had before him a map, like the first one in this book. 
 The following conversation took place. 
 
 Teacher. Well, boys, I am very glad that you three 
 have come to hear what I am going to tell you about 
 the Bible. It is the book of God; it contains what God 
 says to us, and we ought to do all we can to be able 
 to understand it rightly. 
 
 John. Sir, how is the Bible God's book : he did not 
 write it, did he, as men write ? 
 
 Teacher. No, God did not write the Bible himself, 
 at all. He caused good men to write it, and they wrote 
 what he wished them to say. 
 
 John. Did he tell them, then, with his voice, and did 
 they afterwards write it down I 
 
 Teacher. No, he did not even tell them by a voice 
 which they could hear. But he taught them by an influ- 
 ence upon their minds, so that they should know what 
 was true, and he made them faithful and careful to write 
 it down correctlv. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Inspiration. Its nature. Proofs. 
 
 Samuel. I do not think 1 know exactly, Sir, what you 
 mean by an influence upon their minds. 
 
 Teacher. God has power over men's thoughts and 
 feelings, as much as he has over the winds and the waves. 
 The trains of thought in our minds are very different, 
 and in some instances God regulates them by what is 
 called a divine influence. He can make a person un- 
 derstand a truth without teaching him by words, or by 
 writing, and this is the way by which those who wrote 
 the Bible knew what God wished them to say. 
 
 Samuel. But did not God tell Moses on the mount 
 what he wished him to write about the ten command- 
 ments, and the law ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, he did ; and there were some other 
 cases of the same kind, but generally the sacred writers 
 were taught in a different manner. 
 
 Roger. Sir, will you tell me how we know that God 
 caused this book to be written, and that he taught the 
 men what to write? Do not some people think that the 
 Bible does not come from God, but that it was made up 
 by men alone ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, some men do say so. I did not mean 
 to talk on this subject this evening, because you cannot 
 understand it very well until you are older. Yet, as you 
 have mentioned it, I will explain to you a few of the 
 principal reasons why we believe the Bible comes from 
 God. But I do not know that you, little John, will be 
 able to understand what I shall say. But you must listen 
 attentively, and try. 
 
 John. I will, Sir. 
 
 Teacher. The first reason then is, that it is very proba- 
 ble that God would adopt some way to teach us his will, 
 and to inform us what will become of us when we die. 
 And therefore we should expect to find, somewhere in 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Internal Evidence. Koran. Mahomet. 
 
 the world, a book in which these things are written. 
 Now the Bible is exactly such a book. We find in it 
 exactly that kind of information which we should expect 
 to find in a book from God. It tells us who made the 
 world, and the first man; how that man sinned, and what 
 is the character of all men now ; what the cause is of 
 all the suffering in the world, and why men must die. 
 It tells us what characters we must form to please God ; 
 how we can form them ; how our past sins can be for- 
 given ; where our spirits will go when we die, and what 
 will be done with the holy, and with the unholy, in 
 another world. Now this is exactly what God would tell 
 us, if he was to send a message to men ; and therefore 
 there is a probability, or a presumption, as it is called, 
 that the Bible is from him. 
 
 Roger, But are there not any other books in the world 
 which say they are God's books ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, but if any body should read those books, 
 and especially if he should compare them with the Bible, 
 he would at once be satisfied, that it was altogether most 
 probable that the Bible is the genuine book. For in- 
 stance, there is the Koran, which was written by a man 
 named Mahomet, and which he pretended was written 
 according to God's directions. Now, one great object 
 of this book was to make good soldiers for Mahomet 
 himself, instead of making holy and happy men. And 
 it is much more probable that Mahomet tried to deceive 
 the people, for the sake of getting a great army, than 
 that God should cause such a book to be written. 
 
 Samuel. Did Mahomet ever have a great army of sol- 
 diers, by means of this book ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and he conquered a great many coun- 
 tries, and obtained a great deal of wealth and power. 
 But the writers of the Bible never received, and never 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Story of the Robbers. 
 
 tried to obtain, any advantage from it, and therefore it 
 is probable that they were sincere. 
 
 Roger. But I do not see that this makes it quite cer- 
 tain that the Bible came from God. 
 
 Teacher. No, it does not. This is one reason or argu- 
 ment ; but this only makes it probable. I am going to 
 mention the second and the third arguments, which will 
 make it certain. 
 
 Samuel. I should have supposed, Sir, that if God had 
 directed any persons to write what he wished to say to 
 mankind, he would give them some way to prove that 
 he commanded them to write. 
 
 Teacher. Well, can you think of any way of doing 
 this? 
 
 Samuel. No, Sir, I do not know of any. 
 
 Teacher. Well, I will explain it to you, by telling a 
 story. Once there was a man, who was travelling in a 
 wild country, far from home, when he was attacked by 
 robbers, who took away all his money, and carried him 
 into a gloomy cave. They kept him here some time, 
 when at last they told him that if he would give them a 
 certain sum of money more, they would let him go free 
 again. He told them he would willingly give them the 
 money if he had it, but that they had already taken all 
 which was in his possession, and that although he had 
 more at home, he did not know how he should obtain it. 
 
 The captain of the robbers said he must send a mes- 
 senger for it. But the traveller asked how his family 
 would know that he sent the messenger. " You have 
 not," said he, " any paper and ink here in the cave, 
 and so I cannot write ; and if the messenger goes and 
 merely says that I sent him, my family will not believe 
 him, and so will not give him the money. What shall 
 we do V s 
 
 1* 
 
COxWERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Difficulty about sending a Messenger. 
 
 The robbers were for a little time at a loss to know 
 what was best to be done. Now can any of you tell how 
 they could get over the difficulty? John, what would you 
 propose ? 
 
 John. Might they not let the traveller go with the mes- 
 senger and get the money, and then let the messenger 
 come back alone ? 
 
 Teacher. Roger, what should you think of that plan? 
 
 Roger. I should think, that when the traveller found 
 himself safe at home, he would refuse to give the messen- 
 ger the money. 
 
 Samuel. And besides, perhaps he would tell the people 
 in the town, and they would put the messenger in prison, 
 and punish him for being a robber. 
 
 Teacher. Those would be the difficulties. But I will 
 tell you what they did. The traveller had in his pocket 
 a very curious key, which belonged to a casket in his 
 house. So he gave the messenger this key, and the 
 messenger carried it to the traveller's family, who, when 
 they had tried it in the lock of the casket and found that 
 it fitted, knew that it was brought from the traveller him- 
 self, because they knew that nobody else had such a key. 
 
 John. How did they know but that the traveller had 
 lost the key, and the man who had brought it to them 
 had found it, and so was not sent by the traveller ? 
 
 Teacher. They could not know certainly, and therefore 
 this was not a certain way of proving that the messenger 
 was really sent by the person from w r hom he pretended 
 to come. But the method which God took with his 
 messengers is not liable to this uncertainty. The keys 
 which he gave them could not possibly have been ob- 
 tained by any other way than by receiving them directly 
 from God himself. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Prophecy. Death of Christ foretold. 
 
 Roger, What do you mean by the keys which God 
 gave ? 
 
 Teacher. Of course I do not mean real keys ; but I 
 will explain to you what I do mean. He gave them two 
 things, which they were to show to men, and thus con- 
 vince them that they came from God. 
 
 The first was the power to foresee and to foretell future 
 events, which they could not have possessed without 
 receiving it directly from him. 
 
 Samuel. What events did they foretell ? 
 
 Teacher. A great many. I will tell you one or two. 
 The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of Christ. He 
 described particularly his character, his object in coming 
 into the world, the circumstances of his life, and of his 
 death. He foretold that the Saviour would be put to 
 death with malefactors, that the soldiers would draw lots 
 for his clothes, and that he would be buried in a rich 
 man's tomb. Now all this came to pass exactly as it had 
 been foretold, hundreds of years afterwards. Another 
 instance is our Saviour's predicting the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. When he lived, Jerusalem was a great and 
 populous city, and in peace and safety ; but he foretold 
 that within about seventy years it should be conquered 
 by foreign enemies, and totally destroyed. He said also 
 that the inhabitants of the city, and of the surrounding 
 country, would suffer dreadfully from hunger, and from 
 diseases, and from the cruelty of their enemies. 
 
 Roger. And did it turn out so ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, precisely. At the time mentioned by 
 Christ, a large Roman army came to Jerusalem, and laid 
 siege to it. The inhabitants tried to defend themselves ; 
 but after they had endured the most dreadful sufferings, 
 the city was conquered by the Romans and destroyed, 
 and vast multitudes of the people were cruelly murdered. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Predicting Eclipses. Miracles. 
 
 Now, this power of foretelling what a man could not 
 possibly know without God's assistance, is called prophe- 
 cy ; and the possession of it proves that those to whom 
 it is given, are God's messengers. 
 
 Samuel. But sometimes men can foretell what is future 
 by their own knowledge, — can they not? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, some kinds of things. Such, for ex- 
 ample, as an eclipse of the sun. The motions of the 
 heavenly bodies are so regular that astronomers can cal- 
 culate all the changes a long time beforehand. But it is 
 not so with such things as were predicted in the Bible. 
 No human knowledge or skill would enable any person to 
 tell exactly how Christ would be tried, and executed, and 
 buried, hundreds of years before the time. 
 
 Samuel. Well, Sir, I believe we understand this ; but 
 you said that there were two things, which the writers 
 of the Bible had, to prove that they were sent from God. 
 
 Teacher. The other was the power of working mira- 
 cles ; that is, of doing things which men cannot do 
 without God ; such as healing sicknesses by a word, 
 calling down rain from heaven, and even raising the 
 dead to life. These things, and many others of similar 
 character, were often done by those who wrote the Bible, 
 and it is proof that God was with them. 
 
 Roger. Yes, Sir, Jesus Christ worked a great many 
 miracles. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and so did Moses, and the Prophets, 
 and the Apostles. 
 
 Samuel. But why did they have both these powers, 
 prophesying and working miiacles ? I should have 
 thought one would have been enough. 
 
 Teacher. I have sometimes thought this was the rea- 
 son. Those, who lived at the same time with any par- 
 ticular writer would be better satisfied with seeing mira- 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON TIIE BIBLE. 
 
 Samuel's Question. 
 
 cles, because they could see the miracle fully performed. 
 But prophecy would do them no good, because they 
 could not tell whether it would come to pass or not. On 
 the other hand, those who should live in after ages would 
 be better satisfied with prophecy, because they would 
 read the prediction in the Bible, and know that it had 
 been written a great while before, and would see the 
 event coming to pass accordingly ; while the miracles 
 would have been ended long before they lived to see 
 them. 
 
 The teacher then told his class that it was time to 
 close the lesson ; and they all, except John, rose to go. 
 Samuel looked at John, and found that he was fast asleep, 
 with his head leaning upon his hand, which rested upon 
 the table. Samuel gently waked him, and at first he 
 looked a little ashamed. But the teacher told him that 
 he supposed it was hard for him to understand what he 
 had been saying that evening, and therefore he did not 
 wonder that he was sleepy. He told him, however, not 
 to be discouraged, for what he was going to explain to 
 them the next time would be much more interesting. 
 
 The boys then took their hats, and were going ; but 
 before they went out, Samuel said, — There is one thing I 
 wish to ask, Sir, before we go. I understand that there 
 are things foretold in the Bible, which came to pass ex- 
 actly, and there are miracles described there ; and if it is 
 true that these things were done, the persons who did 
 them must have come from God. But how do we know 
 that the miracles were ever actually performed, it was 
 so long ago ; and how do we know but that somebody 
 wrote the predictions after the events took place, and so 
 made them agree ? 
 
 Teacher. That is a very proper question : do you know, 
 how to answer it, Roger ? 
 
10 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Samuel's recapitulation. 
 
 Roger. You told us a little while ago that the predic- 
 tions were written hundreds of years before the events. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, but how did I know ? 
 
 Roger. I do not know, Sir : I suppose you read it in 
 some book. 
 
 Teacher. That would not be proof, because the writer of 
 the book might be in an error. It requires a great deal of 
 knowledge, and of reading, to be able to judge of the truth 
 of ancient history, and of the order in which events so an- 
 cient took place. Those, however, who have been able 
 to examine and to understand the subject, have found 
 abundant evidence that the predictions were written at 
 the time they purport to be, and that the miracles were 
 really performed. 
 
 After the teacher had said this, he bid the boys good 
 night, and they went away together. On their way, 
 Roger asked John why he did not keep awake better. 
 
 John. I did try ; but I could not understand the teach- 
 er very well, and pretty soon I got very sleepy. 
 
 Samuel. Well, I will tell you what he said were the 
 reasons for believing that the Bible came from God. 
 There are three. 
 
 1. That it is most likely that God would send some 
 message to mankind, and there is no book in the world 
 which is such an one as God would probably cause to be 
 written, except the Bible ; that makes it probable that 
 the Bible is from God. 
 
 2. The second reason is, that the men who wrote the 
 Bible had the power to foretell future events, which 
 nobody but God could have given them. 
 
 o. And the third reason is, they could work miracles, 
 which they could not have done without God. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. H 
 
 The boys return home. 
 
 John. I believe I only heard the first one. The last 
 thing I remember is his telling a story about some 
 robbers. 
 
 Roger. I wonder whether the messenger, who carried 
 that curious key, got the money. 
 
 John. I do not know : I believe he did not tell us. I 
 mean to ask him next time we o- . 
 
12 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Subject, — Natural Geography. 
 
 CONVERSATION II. 
 
 NATURAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SCENE OF SCRIPTURE 
 HISTORY. 
 
 When the appointed evening of the next week arrived, 
 the boys again assembled around the table in the teach- 
 er's room. The teacher himself sat at the head of the 
 table, and unrolled a large map, like the one at the begin- 
 ning of this conversation. While he was opening it, he 
 made the following explanation of the general contents of 
 the Bible, and of the plan he designed to pursue, in giv- 
 ing them information concerning it. 
 
 Teacher. We have the Bible almost always in one 
 book, but it is composed of what were at first a great 
 many separate books, written by different persons, and 
 at very different times. A large number of them are, 
 however, historical, and contain a connected account of a 
 series of events extending through a period of many thou- 
 sand years. I mean, this evening, to give you some de- 
 scription of the natural geography of the countries in 
 which these events took place. 
 
 Samuel. What do you mean, Sir, by natural geog- 
 raphy ? 
 
 John. I know, I believe ; geography means an account 
 of the rivers, and mountains, and towns, &,c. in a 
 country. 
 
 Samuel. I knew that was the meaning of geography, 
 but I thought that perhaps you meant something a little 
 different by natural geography. 
 
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CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 13 
 
 Civil Geography. Countries. Seas. 
 
 Teacher. I do. I mean an account of what by nature 
 belongs in a region — such as the rivers and seas, the moun- 
 tains, deserts, and plains. There is, besides this, civil 
 geography, which is a description of what is artificial ; 
 that is, what has been made or done by man, such as 
 countries, cities, buildings, &c. It is the former only 
 which I mean to bring before you this evening. 
 
 Roger. Would it not be useful to us to hear something 
 about the cities and the people ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and I shall endeavor to give you some 
 information concerning them, as we proceed. But I think 
 it would be of advantage to you first to have a general 
 view of the situation of these regions, — the rivers, seas 
 and mountains, the climate and productions ; — in a word, 
 to see the whole, just as it was before man made any 
 changes in it. We shall then be prepared to take up 
 the line of history, and trace the effects produced by 
 human power, the establishment of empires, the building 
 of cities, and the progress of civilization. Can any of 
 you tell in what part of the world those regions are, in 
 which the events recorded in the Bible took place ? 
 
 John. Yes, Sir ; they are in Asia. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, principally ; but not wholly in Asia. 
 They were where Europe, Asia and Africa join ; and ex- 
 tended into all three of these continents. I have drawn 
 this map of the countries for you. 
 
 John. (Pointing to the sea marked M, on the map.) 
 Sir, is not this the Mediterranean Sea ? I believe I 
 learned it in my geography lesson at school the other 
 day. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. This is the largest of the five great 
 seas, in and around this portion of the earth. It was 
 on this account called the Great Sea, and sometimes only 
 2 
 
14 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Mediterranean Sea. Black Sea. Caspian Sea. 
 
 the Sea. Roger, can you tell which way this sea is from 
 the middle of the map ? 
 
 Roger. It is West. I see it is not very wide from 
 North to South, but extends much farther towards the 
 West. Why is the coast unfinished here ? (Pointing 
 to a a.) 
 
 Teacher. Because the countries mentioned in the Bible 
 did not extend any farther towards the West, and so it is 
 not necessary to draw the coast any farther. 
 
 John. Did they sail on this sea much ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, in the later periods of scripture history. 
 In fact, this sea is remarkable for being the one probably 
 upon which men first built ships, and commenced the 
 arts of navigation and commerce. It was here that Paul 
 was sailing when he was shipwrecked. 
 
 Roger. Here is another sea, (pointing to B,) North 
 of the Mediterranean. What is the name of it? 
 
 Teacher. It is not exactly North, but North-East. 
 Samuel, can you tell, by its shape and place, what is 
 its name ? 
 
 Samuel. It is the Black Sea ; but I did not know it 
 was mentioned in the Bible. 
 
 Teacher. I believe it is not ; but the country South of 
 it, between it and the Mediterranean, is the scene of a 
 very important part of scripture history. This sea, you 
 observe, is connected with the Mediterranean by a pas- 
 sage here, (pointing to b.) 
 
 John. What is this next sea, (pointing to C,) which 
 stands out by itself? 
 
 Teacher. It is the Caspian. It is entirely surrounded 
 by land, except that some rivers flow into it. It is 
 remarkable, on account of its waters being salt. 
 
 Samuel. I thought that the water in the sea was always 
 salt. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 15 
 
 Red Sea. Persian Gulf. Pharaoh. Five seas. 
 
 Teacher. It is, in all seas connected with the ocean ; 
 but inland bodies of water, I mean those which are sur- 
 rounded by land, are usually fresh. 
 
 Samuel. The great lakes in North America are fresh 
 water, — are they not ? 
 
 Roger. They are connected with the sea by the river 
 St. Lawrence. 
 
 Teacher. That is true ; but this river only carries water 
 from the lakes into the ocean, and is not such a passage 
 as would make an open channel, so as to make the lakes 
 salt. This Caspian Sea is the third great body of water, 
 around the countries mentioned in the Bible ; the fourth 
 is here, (pointing to P,) towards the South-East. It is 
 the Persian Gulf. You observe these two great rivers 
 flowing into it. We shall speak of them, however, by 
 and by. 
 
 John. Here is a fifth sea, (pointing to R.) 
 
 Teacher. It is the Red Sea. The children of Israel, 
 under Moses, passed across this extremity of it, (point- 
 ing to c.) 
 
 John. And Pharaoh was drowned, in trying to follow 
 them. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. These, the Mediterranean, the Black 
 and the Caspian Seas, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, 
 are the five great bodies of water in and around the 
 regions mentioned in the Bible. The most important 
 events in scripture history, took place in the country 
 within these, especially near the eastern coast of the 
 Mediterranean Sea, here, (pointing to d.) 
 
 John. Is there not a little sea marked here ? (point- 
 ing to D.) 
 
 Teacher. Yes, the Dead Sea, and the River Jordan 
 flowing into it. It is quite small, in comparison with 
 the others, but there have been a great many singular 
 
16 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Rivers ; Tigris, Euphrates. Sources of rivers. 
 
 stories about it. It is called the Salt Sea. We shall 
 speak of this, however, more particularly hereafter. 
 
 The next thing to be attended to, is the rivers. There 
 are four principal rivers in these regions. These two, 
 (pointing to T, and E,) are called the Tigris and Euphra- 
 tes. John, can you tell in what part of the sacred re- 
 gion these rivers are ? 
 
 Jolin. Yes, Sir ; in the Eastern part. 
 
 Teacher. In which direction do they flow? 
 
 John. They run towards the South-East, into this sea, 
 (marked P.) I forget what its name is. 
 
 Roger. It is the Persian Gulf. 
 
 Teacher. These two rivers rise not very far from each 
 other ; and they run so as almost to enclose this space 
 (M,) which was called Mesopotamia. 
 
 John. How is it that rivers rise ? I never understood 
 exactly. 
 
 Teacher. Generally they begin among the mountains, 
 from springs, where the water boils up out of the ground. 
 This forms a little brook, which runs along and meets 
 other little brooks, and thus gradually increases, until at 
 last it becomes a large river, and empties into the sea. 
 
 John. Do all the little brooks which we see, become 
 rivers ? 
 
 Teacher. No. Most of them run into other rivers, be- 
 fore they become very large. 
 
 Roger. Does all the water in the rivers come up out of 
 the ground ? 
 
 Teacher. No. Much of it comes from the rain which 
 falls upon the surrounding country : and the melting 
 snows too in the spring swell the streams, and sometimes 
 cause them to overflow their banks. 
 
 Samuel. Do you know, Sir, what is the cause of the 
 water's boiling up, out of the ground, in those springs ? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 17 
 
 Nile. Crocodiles. Jordan. 
 
 Teacher. No. I do not exactly. But we must go on 
 with the examination of the rivers. I have mentioned 
 two, the Tigris and Euphrates. The third is the Nile. 
 This is it, (pointing to N.) Roger, can you tell in 
 what part of the sacred regions it is ? 
 
 Roger. South- West. It flows North, into the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. This river rises among high moun- 
 tains, and at certain seasons of the year the snow melts, 
 and causes the river to swell, and to overflow its banks. 
 At such times the whole surrounding country was cover- 
 ed with water. After a time the waters subsided, but 
 they left a sort of sediment upon the land, which enriched 
 it, and made it very fertile. This river had in it many 
 noxious animals, such as crocodiles, &>c. 
 
 Roger. What sort of an animal was the crocodile ? 
 
 Teacher. It was shaped something like a lizard, but 
 was much larger, and very voracious. 
 
 Samuel. Egypt is the country through which the Nile 
 flows, — is it not ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : and it was on the banks of this river 
 that Moses was laid, in his little ark of bulrushes. 
 
 Roger. Are these three, all the rivers ? 
 
 Teacher. No : there is one more, the Jordan, here, 
 (pointing to J,) East of the Mediterranean Sea. You 
 see where it rises : it flows through a small sea, called 
 the Sea of Galilee, and at last it empties into the Dead 
 Sea, or the Salt Sea, as it was sometimes called. 
 
 Samuel. The Jordan is often mentioned in the Bible, 
 I believe. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. It is on the eastern side of the country 
 which the Jews inhabited, and where Christ lived. The 
 Israelites crossed it, when they came out of Egypt, on 
 their way to the promised land. These four, the Tigris, 
 
18 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Fertile Regions. Deserts. Mountainous Regions. 
 
 the Euphrates, the Nile, and the Jordan, are the princi- 
 pal rivers. 
 
 Roger, I suppose the five seas and the four rivers are 
 not all the bodies of water in these countries. 
 
 Teacher. No. There are several smaller seas and 
 lakes, and also brooks and small rivers ; but I am now 
 only endeavoring to give you a general view of the 
 natural geography, and of course only mention the more 
 important ; and I shall now proceed to the natural di- 
 visions of the land. 
 
 John. I believe, Sir, I can tell some of the divisions 
 of the land. 
 
 Teacher. Well, what are they ? 
 
 John. Egypt, Judea, 
 
 Teacher. (Interrupting him.) No : those are not natu- 
 ral divisions. Those are names, which were given to the 
 various parts of the country, according as it was divided 
 among the different nations. Such divisions as these 
 were made by men, and are called civil divisions. 
 
 John. Then I do not know what is meant by natural 
 divisions. 
 
 Teacher. I mean divisions made in consequence of 
 some difference existing in nature. There are three, 
 which I shall describe. 
 
 1. Fertile regions. 
 
 2. Deserts. 
 
 3. Mountainous regions. 
 
 Samuel. Is that what these colors on the map mean ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. The fertile regions are colored green. 
 There are several of them. One is on the banks of the 
 Tigris and Euphrates, here, (pointing to the map) this 
 part, colored green. It was on this spot that the garden 
 of Eden is supposed to have been. The Babylonian and 
 Assyrian empires were seated here. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 19 
 
 First and second Fertile Regions. 
 
 Samuel. Is it probable that this spot was made fertile 
 by the rivers ? 
 
 Teacher. I do not know that it was. It is at least 
 probable that the rivers increased its fertility. This spot 
 is the scene of scripture history, from the creation to the 
 time when Abraham was called out of his country. 
 
 A second fertile spot is here, (pointing to d.) 
 
 What sea is this, John, West of it? 
 
 John. The Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 Teacher. And what water, Roger, is East of it ? 
 
 Roger. The river Jordan, and the Dead Sea. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : this fertile spot, though smaller, is more 
 important in scripture history than the others. It was 
 here that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived. The He- 
 brews too, returned here after their captivity in Egypt ; 
 and here our Saviour lived and died. 
 
 Roger. Ought we not to know something more about 
 it, than what is drawn on the map ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : and by and by I mean to show you a 
 larger map of this spot, in which will be put down all 
 which it is important for you to know. I am now, you 
 know, only trying to give you a general idea of the whole, 
 and do not therefore stop to examine the particular parts 
 carefully at present. This will be done hereafter. Let 
 us therefore pass on to the third fertile region, here on 
 each side of the Nile. 
 
 Samuel. This is the country of the Egyptians, — is it not? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, it is. It was a very fertile spot, and its 
 fertility was caused by the overflowings of the Nile, of 
 which I have spoken before. 
 
 Samuel. Was not this the country where the children 
 of Israel were in bondage ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, it was. These three territories are the 
 most noted in scripture history, though you see there are 
 
20 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Deserts. Mode of Travelling. 
 
 other regions here, (pointing to r r r,) North of the 
 Mediterranean, which were fertile, and in later times 
 became very populous. The Grecian and Roman em- 
 pires were established upon them. They are, however, 
 of less importance in the study of the Bible. We will 
 pass on, therefore, to the deserts. 
 
 John. What are deserts ? 
 
 Teacher. They were barren, sandy plains, uninhabited 
 and desolate, almost entirely without plants or animals, or 
 streams of water. They were sometimes hundreds of 
 miles in extent. 
 
 Roger. How dismal and dreary they must have been. 
 
 Teacher. They were so. Sometimes the air over these 
 deserts was calm; and then the sands were heated in- 
 tensely by the rays of the sun, and almost every living 
 thing exposed to them was scorched and destroyed. 
 There were also, at times, hot winds, storms and tem- 
 pests, which filled the air with dust and sand, and made 
 the surface of the plain roll like waves of the sea. 
 
 Roger. I suppose, then, that no men ever lived upon 
 these deserts ? 
 
 Teacher. No : but men travelled across them some- 
 times. They rode, in such cases, upon camels, large 
 animals, which have the power of supporting themselves 
 at a single draught with drink for many days. 
 
 Samuel. Has not the camel a large bunch on his back? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : some kinds have two bunches. These 
 animals were very docile and gentle. They would kneel, 
 at the command of their drivers, to be unloaded. 
 
 John. Why ? Were they so large that they could not 
 put on the loads without ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : they were very large. But I must tell 
 you where these deserts were. They are colored yellow 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 21 
 
 Arabia. Abraham's Journey. 
 
 on the map. One was here, (pointing to D, 1.) Samuel, 
 can you tell between what seas it lies 1 
 
 Samuel. This sea, (pointing to P,) on the East, is the 
 Persian Gulf, and this, (pointing to R,) is the Red Sea, 
 on the West. 
 
 Teacher. This desert was very large and barren. It 
 was called the Desert of Arabia. It separates this fertile 
 district, (pointing to the green spot about the Tigris 
 and Euphrates,) from this one near the Mediterranean, 
 (pointing to d.) Now you remember that man was crea- 
 ted on the first of these ; and after some time, Abraham 
 was called to come out from that country, and to go to 
 another land, which was this, (pointing to d.) On the 
 journey he had to cross this desert ; but he crossed it 
 here in the North part, (pointing to n,) near the border 
 of it, where it was not so sandy and barren, and where 
 there were many trees and plants. 
 
 John. Did he travel upon a camel ? 
 
 Teacher. We might learn, perhaps, by looking into the 
 Bible ; but we will not stop now, as we shall examine that 
 account some other evening. I will now show you the 
 other deserts. There are two of them here, (pointing 
 to D, 2, and D, 3,) on each side of the fertile region 
 made by the Nile. 
 
 Roger. Was it probably all desert between these two, 
 until the Nile made it fertile 1 
 
 Teacher. It is very probable. The Nile, as I said be- 
 fore, brings down great quantities of rich soil, and deposits 
 it upon this plain. Much of this is, however, carried 
 down to the mouth of the river, and deposited there ; so 
 that the land now extends out farther into the sea here, 
 (pointing to m,) than it does on each side. 
 
 Samuel. That is very remarkable. Is it so with any 
 other rivers ? 
 
22 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Wildernesses. Mountains. 
 
 Teacher. You can tell, by looking at maps, when you 
 get home. You can find the mouths of great rivers, and 
 see what is the shape of the coast there. 
 
 John. I mean to look in my atlas, this evening. 
 
 Teacher. Well, we must not forget that w T e are studying 
 about the deserts. I wish you all to look here, at the 
 North part of this desert, on the East side of the Nile, 
 (pointing to the country about c,) where it joins the desert 
 of Arabia, round the northern extremity of the Red Sea. 
 There was a tract of land here, called a wilderness, 
 which was not entirely sandy, like the desert, but it was 
 quite barren, supporting but very few plants or trees, and 
 consequently uninhabited. It was through this that the 
 children of Israel travelled forty years, in going from 
 Egypt to Canaan. Here you see is Egypt, (pointing to 
 the country on each side of the Nile,) and here, (point- 
 ing to d,) is Canaan, to which they were going. 
 
 John. Are all these deserts there now ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and travellers very often cross them, and 
 write accounts of them, which are afterwards printed. 
 But I must go on to describe the mountainous regions. 
 They are shaded dark upon the map. 
 
 John. Yes : here is one, (pointing to L.) 
 
 Teacher. The mountains marked there are called the 
 Mountains of Lebanon. They covered a very large tract 
 of country, making it rough and broken with rocks and 
 precipices. Down near the level country, where the 
 ranges were not so high, the hills were covered with 
 very lofty cedars, very often spoken of in the Bible ; but 
 farther back, the land rose higher and higher : it became 
 barren and desolate, and the loftiest summits were cover- 
 ed with perpetual snow. 
 
 Samuel, What is the reason that high mountains are 
 always covered with snow ? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 23 
 
 Snow upon Mountains. Ararat. 
 
 Teacher. I do not know what the reason is. But it is 
 a fact, I believe, that it is always very cold at great 
 heights above the surface of the sea, even in the warm- 
 est countries. 
 
 Roger. That is very singular, certainly. Does not any 
 body know the reason ? 
 
 Teacher. I believe several explanations have been made 
 of it ; but they are not very easily understood, and not 
 very satisfactory. But there is no doubt about the fact. 
 
 Roger. Is there not a branch of these mountains here, 
 (pointing to d,) running down through the land of Ca- 
 naan ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : I shall describe this range, however, 
 more particularly by and by. Here is another moun- 
 tainous region, (pointing to U.) The range of moun- 
 tains is called Caucasus. There is one more which I 
 shall mention ; here, (pointing to A,) the mountains of 
 Ararat. It is supposed that the ark rested here, after 
 the deluge. 
 
 Roger. Is it not certain that the ark rested upon Mount 
 Ararat 1 The Bible says so. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, it is certain that the ark rested upon a 
 mountain then called Ararat ; but this may be a different 
 mountain, though it has now the same name. There has 
 been a great deal of debate on this subject. Several 
 mountains have been supposed, by different writers, to 
 be the one mentioned in the Bible ; but most writers ap- 
 pear to suppose it was here. 
 
 Samuel. Is there any uncertainty about other places 
 mentioned in the Bible ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, about the precise situation. Ancient 
 writers were not so accurate in mentioning distances 
 and directions as is common now. No geographies were 
 written, and no maps drawn, so that the means of infor- 
 
24 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Maps. The Teacher's Questions. 
 
 mation are very small, and our knowledge must of course 
 be very general and imperfect. 
 
 Roger. But I thought there were maps of these coun- 
 tries, with all the places marked exactly upon them. 
 
 Teacher. No : the places are not always marked cor- 
 rectly. They are put down as nearly as they can be 
 ascertained. You will find, however, by looking at any 
 two ancient maps of the same countries, which are 
 made by different persons, that they are very different. 
 All the small turns in the rivers, the direction of the 
 coasts, the precise places of the towns, and the shapes of 
 the countries, vary much. In almost all important re- 
 spects, however, they agree ; for almost every thing 
 which is important, in enabling us to understand the 
 Bible, is certain. 
 
 Roger. How far is it from America, Sir, to those coun- 
 tries which you have been describing ? 
 
 Teacher. Oh, it is several thousand miles — almost half 
 around the globe. 
 
 As he said this, the teacher told the boys that it was 
 about time to close the lesson for that evening ; but 
 before they went away, he wished to ask them some 
 questions, so that he might see whether they remem- 
 bered what he had told them. He then pointed to vari- 
 ous parts of the map, asking them a great many ques- 
 tions, such as, What sea is this ? What is the name of 
 this river ? What is this spot, colored yellow ? And a 
 great many other similar questions. He then rolled up 
 the map, and asked them how many great seas there 
 were about the countries mentioned in the Bible ; — what 
 their names were ; — where each one was, and for what 
 it was remarkable. He did the same with the rivers, 
 and with the natural divisions of the land : and when he 
 had thus ascertained that the bovs had remembered well 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 25 
 
 Curious circumstance; — Mouths of rivers. 
 
 what he had told them, they all rose from the table, and 
 the boys went away. 
 
 They walked along together, talking of what they had 
 heard, until they arrived opposite to the house where 
 John lived. John asked them to go in and look with 
 him into his atlas, at the mouths of the rivers, to see 
 whether the land was extended out into the sea, as at 
 the mouth of the Nile. They accordingly went in, and 
 they found John's sister and his mother sitting by the 
 side of the fire, at work. John told them that they were 
 come to look at some maps, and went and brought his 
 atlas, and they all sat down around the table and looked 
 at it, but they could not find any rivers whose mouths 
 looked like that of the Nile. While they were examining 
 the atlas, John's sister went out and presently returned 
 with another atlas, which she said was an ancient one. 
 She brought it to them, and asked whether it would not 
 help them in finding what they wanted. 
 
 Samuel. We are looking at the mouths of the rivers. 
 The teacher told us that the River Nile washed down 
 from the mountains a great deal of soil every year, and 
 deposited it along the banks and at the mouth of the 
 river, and that by this means the land at the mouth had 
 been gradually forming out farther and farther towards 
 the sea. We were trying to find some other rivers that 
 are so. 
 
 John. And we have looked at a great many, and they 
 are all different. 
 
 The Sister. Have you looked at the Mississippi ? 
 
 Roger. No. That is in North America. Here it is. 
 
 The boys examined the Mississippi, and found that it 
 
 was like the Nile. The land at its mouth extended out 
 
 into the sea, forming a cape, and the river flowed over 
 
 it, and emptied into the sea at the extremity of the 
 
 3 
 
26 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Age of the world. Travels in the Desert. 
 
 cape. And they supposed that this land had been formed 
 by earth, which had been washed down by the river 
 and deposited at its mouth. 
 
 Roger. I wonder whether these capes grow any now, 
 every year, by the earth that is washed down 1 
 
 The Sister. I have read that they do. Some men once 
 tried to prove that the Bible is not true, by bringing 
 reasons to show that the earth has existed a much longer 
 time than the Bible says, 
 
 John. What were the reasons? 
 
 The Sister. I do not know exactly, but it was proved 
 by these rivers, in some way, that the world has not ex- 
 isted any longer than is said in the Bible. 
 
 Roger. We will ask the teacher more about it the next 
 time we go. 
 
 The boys then looked into the ancient atlas to find a 
 map like the one which the teacher had shown them. 
 They found one which had the seas upon it, and the 
 rivers ; but the mountains were made quite different, and it 
 was divided into countries, and was covered with names. 
 John tried to find some of the deserts colored yellow, 
 to show his sister, but they were not represented upon 
 that map. His sister said that she had been reading 
 lately an account of travels in the desert, and she would 
 bring the book and show them the place. She w r ent out, 
 and soon returned again, bringing a book, which she 
 said were the travels of a certain Mr. Wood. She read 
 from it the following passage : — 
 
 " We left Hassia with an escort of the best Arab 
 horsemen, belonging to the Aga, armed with guns and 
 long pikes." 
 
 John. What is the Aga ? 
 
 The Sister. I believe it was a sort of a chief, who gave 
 Mr. Wood some of his soldiers to protect him. (She 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 27 
 
 Houses. Water. Caravan. 
 
 reads.) " And having crossed a barren plain, which 
 scarcely produces vegetables sufficient to feed the ante- 
 lopes we saw there, we arrived at Sudud. This is a 
 small village ; the houses are built of bricks, dried in the 
 sun ; and the inhabitants cultivate only as much land 
 about the village as is barely sufficient for their sub- 
 sistence. The next day we continued to travel in the 
 same direction, and arrived at Carieteen. We thought 
 proper to remain here the rest of the day, as well to wait 
 for the rest of the escort, which the Aga had ordered 
 to accompany us, as to prepare our retinue and our cattle 
 for the fatigue they were to suffer during the rest of our 
 journey. For, though we could not perform it in less 
 than twenty four hours, we were obliged to travel so long 
 without repose, there being no water in that part of the 
 desert. 
 
 " We left Carieteen at ten in the morning, which was 
 much too late ; but our company became much more 
 difficult to manage in proportion as they became more 
 numerous. This bad conduct occasioned our being ex- 
 posed to the heat of two days before our beasts could 
 obtain either rest or water ; and, though it was early in 
 the season, the sand reflected the heat of the sun with 
 great violence, while we had neither the slightest breeze 
 to refresh us, nor the least shade to shelter us from its 
 beams. 
 
 " Our company was now much increased by its being 
 joined by some merchants, so that it consisted of about 
 two hundred persons, and nearly the same number of 
 beasts of burden, which formed a grotesque mixture." 
 
 Roger. Why did they travel in such a large company ? 
 
 The Sister. I believe they always do go across these 
 deserts in large companies, called caravans, to protect 
 
28 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Arab horsemen. Mock fights. 
 
 themselves better from robbers and wild beasts. (She 
 reads.) " Our guide told us we were now in the most 
 dangerous part of our journey, and desired us to submit 
 entirely to his orders, which were, that the domestics 
 should keep" with the baggage, immediately behind our 
 guard of Arab horsemen, from which were dispatched 
 one, two or more horsemen on the discovery, to all the 
 eminences before us, where they stayed till we came 
 up with them. These horsemen always quitted the cara- 
 van on a full gallop. 
 
 " The road here was through a level sandy plain, 
 bounded by a chain of barren mountains. Through the 
 whole course, there is neither a tree nor a drop of water. 
 But to take off our attention from the fatigue we endured, 
 our Arab horsemen diverted us, from time to time, by en- 
 gaging in mock fights. At night, they usually sat in a 
 circle to drink coffee and smoke a pipe ; and in the mean 
 time one of the company diverted the rest by singing 
 a song, or relating a piece of history, or a tale." 
 
 After John's sister had read this, she said that she be- 
 lieved that this was all which related to the desert ; and 
 she shut the book, and the boys soon after went home. 
 
 It was two or three days after this, that Roger met the 
 teacher, walking in the road ; and he stopped to inquire 
 of him about the mouths of the rivers. He said that 
 John's sister had told them that there was some way of 
 proving how old the world was by these ; and he asked 
 him if he would explain it to him. The teacher stood 
 a moment thinking, and then said that if Roger would 
 speak to John and Samuel, and all three would call at 
 his house on Saturday afternoon, he would take a walk 
 with them, and talk about it. They accordingly did so. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 29 
 
 * The walk. The brook and the pond. 
 
 Early on Saturday afternoon they called at the door of 
 the teacher's house, and he very soon came out, and they 
 commenced their walk. 
 
 After they had proceeded a little way, they turned 
 aside from the road, through a gate, and went across a 
 field. Soon they entered a wood, and began to descend 
 a hill ; and in the valley below, -hey saw a brook running 
 very rapidly over rocks and sands. When they came to 
 the brook, they found that in many places the rocks were 
 decayed and crumbling, and the banks had evidently 
 been worn away by the water, and had caved in. The 
 teacher explained to them that the water was constantly 
 washing away the banks, and w r earing the decayed stones ; 
 and he pointed out to them little banks of sand in the 
 bottom of the brook, which had been formed by the 
 water. He then told them that much of the earth thus 
 washed away was carried down and deposited in the 
 level land below, near and around the mouth of the 
 brook ; and as it emptied into a large mill pond, not far 
 from them, he said they would walk down and see it. 
 
 They walked on accordingly, along the bank of the 
 brook, until at last they came in sight of a large pond, 
 into which the brook flowed. The water was very shal- 
 low in that part of the pond, and there were large sand- 
 banks there. The solid ground too, at the mouth, ex- 
 tended out a considerable distance into the pond. After 
 the boys had looked at this some time, they saw a boat 
 with a man in it, upon the pond, coming towards the 
 place where they were. When he had rowed the boat 
 up to the shore, and fastened it, the following conver- 
 sation took place : — 
 
 Treacher. Can you tell us, sir, whether the shore here 
 was always shaped as it is now, — or was this land made by 
 the brook ? 
 
 3* 
 
30 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The experiment and calculation. 
 
 Boatman. Oh, the land makes out here every year, by 
 the brook ; and it has ever since the dam was built. 
 Here is a stake (pointing to a low stake about ten feet 
 from the place where the brook ran into the pond,) which 
 I drove down to fasten my boat to, about a year ago. 
 It was then upon the shore of the pond, and now you see 
 the land has made out as much as ten feet beyond it. 
 
 Roger. Does it make ten feet every year ? 
 
 Boatman. I do not know that it does exactly as much 
 as that every year. It depends some upon the rains. I 
 should think it was not far from that. 
 
 Teacher. Then you see, boys, if we knew how far this 
 land projects into the pond, and allow one year for every 
 ten feet, we can tell pretty nearly how long it is since this 
 pond was made by building the mill-dam below. 
 
 Samuel. I wish we could measure it. 
 
 Teacher. I think I can measure it tolerably well by 
 pacing it. 
 
 So saying, the teacher paced the ground, and said he 
 thought it was not far from forty feet from the present 
 mouth of the brook, into where he supposed the brook 
 met the shore of the pond at first. He then asked Sam- 
 uel to make the calculation ; and, after thinking a moment, 
 Samuel said that it would take four years to make forty 
 feet, if ten feet was made every year. The teacher said 
 that was right ; and then asked the boatman, if he could 
 tell them how long it was since the pond was made. 
 
 Boatman. It is not so much as that. I believe it is 
 only about three years. 
 
 Roger. Then we did not get it right. 
 
 Teacher. No : not exactly right ; but it is as near as 
 we could expect by such a kind of calculation. 
 
 By this time, the boatman had gone away into the 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 31 
 
 Natural indications of the age of the world. 
 
 bushes, and the teacher and the boys began to walk slow- 
 ly along by the shore of the pond. They continued 
 talking as follows : — 
 
 Teacher. It is in the same way that they make calcu- 
 lations from the mouth of the Nile, to prove about how 
 old the world is. Some men have said that the world is 
 a great deal older than the Bible says, and have therefore 
 tried to make men believe that the Bible does not come 
 from God. 
 
 Samuel. What reason have they for thinking so ? 
 
 Teacher. They have thought so from the appearances 
 of some rocks, in various parts of the world ; and then 
 there are some books in eastern countries, which say 
 that the world has been made hundreds of thousands of 
 years. 
 
 Samuel. And did they make a calculation from the 
 land at the mouth of the Nile ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. A man endeavored to ascertain how 
 much has been made, during fifty or a hundred years past, 
 and from that to calculate how long the whole has been 
 making. He made similar calculations from some other 
 changes which are taking place in various parts of the 
 world, such as the crumbling down of the sides of preci- 
 pices, filling up of bays, and the progress of the sands of 
 deserts, moved by the winds. 
 
 Roger. How did these calculations come out ? 
 
 Teacher. It is impossible to ascertain from them, with 
 accuracy, how long it is since the creation of the world ; 
 but they show that it must be about as long as the Bible 
 declares. They prove positively that it cannot possibly 
 have been as long as is stated in these other accounts. 
 
 You will find, boys, the older you grow, and the more 
 you read and study, that many arguments have been 
 
32 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The end of the walk. 
 
 invented against the Bible ; but when they are thoroughly 
 examined, they are always overthrown. 
 
 The party walked on, talking upon this and upon 
 similar subjects, until they at last came out into the road 
 again, and they then separated, and went by different 
 ways to their several homes. 
 
Aomin-Ac Smith S onef«U«i' LatTx. Co 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 33 
 
 Scripture History. Map. 
 
 CONVERSATION III. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD OF SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 Teacher. Samuel, can you tell me what was the sub- 
 ject of our first conversation, which we had a fortnight 
 ago? 
 
 Samuel It was the reasons for believing that the Bible 
 comes from God. 
 
 Teacher. And, Roger, can you tell me what was the 
 subject of the last conversation ? 
 
 Roger. It was the geography of the Bible. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : it was a general view of the natural 
 condition of the countries which were the scene of scrip- 
 ture history. We now come upon another great subject, 
 Scripture History, itself. 
 
 Samuel. Can we not read this history in the Bible, and 
 so have you explain something else to us now? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : you can read it ; but it is very long, and 
 contained in a great many books, scattered along through 
 the whole Bible. Now it will help you very much to un- 
 derstand and to remember the whole of this, if first I give 
 you a general view of the whole, mentioning the princi- 
 pal events in their order, and showing you the places 
 where they happened, upon the map. 
 
 John. Upon the map which you showed us last week ? 
 
 Teacher. No : upon some other maps which I have 
 drawn. Here is one for this evening, (unrolling a map 
 like the one opposite this page.) 
 
34 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Explanation of the Map. 
 
 John. This is just about as large as the other one, but 
 it looks very different. 
 
 Roger. Is it a map of the same country 1 
 
 Teacher. You may all examine it, and see if you can 
 tell. 
 
 Samuel. I should think it was a map of part of the 
 same country. Here is a part of the Mediterranean Sea, 
 and of the Persian Gulf; but the Black Sea and the Cas- 
 pian Sea are not put down. It does not reach so far 
 North as those seas. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. It is a map of part of the region laid 
 down on the other ; and I will show you what part it is 
 that is marked upon the other. 
 
 So saying, the teacher took down tha other map, and 
 showed them the square marked by the dotted line, 
 
 y y y y> upon it. 
 
 Teacher. This second map contains only what is with- 
 in these dotted lines on the first. But you see the paper 
 is just as large as the other, and therefore all the parts 
 may be made much larger, and you can see them more 
 distinctly. 
 
 John. But this map is colored very differently from the 
 other. I do not see the deserts and mountains. 
 
 Teacher. No. I have marked the countries on this 
 map, because this is to study the history with. 
 
 Roger. But why do you take this particular portion of 
 the other map ? 
 
 Teacher. I am going to explain that to you. I shall 
 divide the whole time of the history into several portions, 
 and shall make a map for each portion or period. This 
 one is for the first period. Under each period I shall 
 describe the principal events which took place ; the man- 
 ners and customs of the people ; also their government 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Creation. Sabbath instituted. 
 
 and laws, and the particular geography of the country. 
 To-night we shall attend to the First Period. 
 
 Samuel How far does the first period extend ? 
 
 Teacher. From the Creation to the settlement of the 
 Jews in the land of Canaan. I shall go on now to give 
 you a short account of what took place in that time ; and 
 I wish you, whenever you please, to ask me any questions 
 about what I shall say. 
 
 The Bible begins with an account of the creation of 
 the world. God spent six days in this work, and when 
 they were ended, and he had created the sun, the moon, 
 and the stars, — the ocean and the land, — trees, plants 
 and flowers, — the various tribes of animals, — and lastly, 
 Adam and Eve, he rested from his labors on the seventh 
 day. He commanded also that all mankind should ob- 
 serve that day, and keep it holy. 
 
 Samuel. I never thought before that the establishment 
 of the Sabbath was the first command that God ever gave 
 to men. 
 
 Teacher. It is a remarkable fact. His making the 
 command at this time, and without limiting it to any 
 particular people, shows that he meant it to be observed 
 by all nations, and in all ages. And yet some persons ha've 
 thought that the observance of the Sabbath was required 
 of the Jews alone ; that God only meant the command to 
 be a part of the law of that nation. They forget that it 
 was established long before the Jewish nation existed. 
 
 Roger. But is it put down among the laws of the 
 Jews ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : but God seems to have taken special 
 pains to prevent our supposing that it was for them alone. 
 We shall find, by and by, that the laws of the Jews were 
 of two kinds : one kind were those which were for that 
 nation only ; they related to ceremonies, &c. The other 
 
36 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The sin of Adam and Eve. 
 
 kind were those which it is the duty of every person in 
 the world to obey. These are the ten commandments, 
 as they are called. Now the command to keep the Sab- 
 bath holy, was written with these, upon tables of stone, 
 while the others were only written in a sort of book ; as 
 if God wished to show us that the Sabbath, which he 
 had instituted as soon as the world was finished, was 
 designed for all mankind. However, we must proceed 
 with the history. 
 
 When Adam and Eve w T ere created, God placed them 
 in the garden of Eden. They were perfectly innocent 
 and holy ; but you remember how they disobeyed God, 
 by eating of a particular tree, which he commanded them 
 not to eat of. In consequence of this, God sent them 
 away from the garden, out into the wide world. 
 
 John. Why did God forbid them to eat of that tree? 
 Teacher. I do not know, and I suppose they did not. — 
 But that was of no consequence : they ought to have 
 obeyed God, whether they knew the reason of his com- 
 mand, or not. Perhaps it was to try them. 
 
 Roger. Do you think, Sir, it was a very great sin, — just 
 eating a little fruit ? 
 
 Teacher. Certainly it was, — a very great sin ; because it 
 was disobedience of a plain command of God. It makes 
 no difference, whether it was eating fruit, or any thing 
 else. Suppose a mother should lay any thing down in a 
 chair, and tell her child not to touch it ; and the child 
 should disobey. Would it make any difference whether 
 it was a pin or a silver dollar ? 
 
 John. No, Sir : I should not think it would. 
 Samuel. I should think it would be rather worse to 
 touch the pin than the dollar. 
 Teacher. Why? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 37 
 
 Eden. The flood. Mount Ararat. 
 
 Samuel. It would be worse to disobey his mother for 
 the sake of so little a thing as a pin. 
 
 Teacher. The smallness of the temptation is certainly 
 no excuse. The sin of Adam and Eve was a voluntary 
 and deliberate disobedience of God's command ; and if 
 the command had only been plainly made known to them, 
 as it really had in this case, it makes no difference what 
 it was. 
 
 But I must go on. The garden of Eden is supposed 
 to have been here, (pointing to the place on the map 
 marked Eden, near the mouths of the Tigris and the 
 Euphrates.) When Adam and Eve had left it, they 
 went out some where into the neighboring country, and 
 began to labor for their bread. After some time, their 
 children, and their children's children, became very nu- 
 merous, and filled all this country, (pointing to the coun- 
 try around Eden.) These persons were, however, of 
 very wicked characters ; and God at last, as you undoubt- 
 edly remember, determined to destroy them by a flood 
 of water. I need not describe this to you, for you 
 have often read it ; and you remember how Noah was 
 saved in an Ark, which floated upon the water and at 
 last rested upon the mountains of Ararat, which you see 
 here, (pointing to Mount Ararat in the northern part of 
 the map.) 
 
 John. How far did the ark sail? We can tell, if you 
 know where it was built. 
 
 Teacher. I believe the Bible does not tell us where 
 Noah lived ; and it is not certain, as you recollect I told 
 you before, that this mountain is the one on which it 
 rested. 
 
 Samuel. Is it known how large a part of the earth was 
 inhabited before the flood? 
 
 eacher. No, it is not ; and there are a great many 
 4 
 
38 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Chronological calculation. Babel. 
 
 other questions about this subject upon which little is 
 known. The Bible gives us but little information about 
 the world before the flood. 
 
 Roger. Is it known how long it was to the flood, after 
 the creation ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : the Bible tells that. You will find, by 
 looking into the fifth chapter of Genesis, that the ages of 
 the patriarchs from Adam to Noah are given, and by 
 adding these together we can find the whole length of 
 time. But if you do it, you must be careful only to take 
 the age of Adam when Seth was born, and the age of 
 Seth when Enos was born, and so on. You will find, 
 if you add them carefully, that it makes a little more than 
 1600 years ; — almost as long as from the birth of Christ 
 to the present time. 
 
 Roger. It was much longer than I supposed. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : we consider the time short, because but 
 few events in it are described, and those in so few 
 chapters. 
 
 After the flood, the earth began to be peopled again 
 by the children of Noah. You remember their attempt 
 to build Babel, and the manner in which God prevented 
 it. They separated at Babel, and were scattered over 
 all the countries then known. They continued to mul- 
 tiply and spread for many years, but they retained the 
 character which men had always possessed since Adam's 
 fall. They disobeyed God, neglected his worship, and 
 broke his laws. 
 
 John. Did he destroy them by another flood ? 
 Teacher. No. He had promised not to do that ; and 
 he had determined on a very different plan. 
 
 He resolved to choose some one family, and to take 
 it, and all the descendants of it, under his special care, — 
 to keep them together in a nation by themselves, and 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 39 
 
 Object of the call of Abraham. The time. 
 
 to give them a fertile and pleasant country to dwell in ; to 
 make known to them his commands and laws very fully, 
 and at last to bring from among them the great Saviour, 
 which he had promised to man immediately after Adam's 
 sin. The person, whose family was selected, was Abra- 
 ham, a man who, at the time when God chose him for 
 this purpose, lived at Haran or Padan Aram, which you 
 see here, (pointing to Padan Aram on the map.) 
 
 Samuel. What was the reason that God chose Abra- 
 ham, rather than any other man 1 
 
 Teacher. I believe no reason is given in the Bible. It 
 was undoubtedly right for him to choose whom he would, 
 and to leave the rest of mankind to themselves ; for all 
 knew, by conscience at least, what God required of them. 
 
 From this time, the Bible leaves the rest of the world, 
 and confines itself to a history of what befel Abraham 
 and his descendants, until the Saviour came. 
 
 Roger. Did Abraham know that God had chosen him ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. God appeared to him, and commanded 
 him to leave his country and go away to a place which 
 he would point out to him, which command Abraham 
 readily obeyed. This is what is meant by the call of 
 Abraham, which is often mentioned in history. You can 
 ascertain how long it was after the flood, in the way 
 which I described to you for finding the time of the 
 deluge. 
 
 Samuel. Are the ages of the patriarchs given for this 
 time too ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : in the eleventh chapter of Genesis there 
 is a list of patriarchs, from Noah down to Abraham. I 
 wish you would all look it out, when you go home, and 
 add the ages, and tell me how long it was, when you 
 come, next week. 
 
 Roger. We will. I never knew before what those 
 
40 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Chapters of names. Abraham's journey. 
 
 chapters of names were for. I used to think it would be 
 better not to have them in the Bible. 
 
 Teacher. We must never suppose any part of the Word 
 of God to be useless, even if we do not know what its 
 use is. 
 
 John. But why could not the whole time be put down 
 at once, without writing this whole chapter of names ? 
 
 Teacher. There is a very good reason, which, however, 
 I cannot stop to explain now. We must go on with the 
 story of Abraham. He set out from his home, with his 
 wife and family, and travelled westward, under God's di- 
 rection, towards the Mediterranean Sea. There was a 
 large company with them. He was a man of great pro- 
 perty ; and in those times men's property consisted not of 
 houses, and lands, and money — but of great flocks of 
 sheep, and herds of cattle, and servants to take care of 
 them. Abraham had a large train of this kind to follow 
 him. He travelled slowly, stopping in fertile spots to feed 
 his animals ; and he built tents wherever he stopped, for 
 himself and his people. His nephew Lot, too, went with 
 him ; and after some time, the whole company arrived in 
 the North part of Canaan, here, (pointing to the map.) 
 I marked his track by a dotted line. He then went to- 
 ward the South, through the land of Canaan ; and God 
 repeatedly appeared to him — told him that this country 
 was the one which his descendants were to live in — and 
 promised to be with him, and to protect him, if he con- 
 tinued obedient and faithful. Abraham journeyed on, 
 stopping at several places which are mentioned in the ac- 
 count in the Bible, and which are marked upon the map ; 
 until at last, when he was in the southern part of this 
 country, there was a famine. 
 
 John. What is a famine ? 
 
 Teacher. It is a scarcity of food, occasioned general!/ 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLB. 41 
 
 The famine. EgypL 
 
 . . ■ ■ ——— 7 
 
 by want of rain, so that the grain and the grass will not 
 grow. These were very common in this country : many 
 of them are mentioned in the Bible. In such a case, a 
 man who has a great many flocks and herds and people 
 to feed, must go into some other country, where there is 
 plenty, or they would all suffer, and perhaps die. 
 Roger. Why could they not send and bring food 1 
 Teacher. Because in those days it was much more dif- 
 ficult to transport things than it is now. There were no 
 ships, no roads or wagons ; and it took a great deal to 
 feed Abraham's great company. Besides, they lived only 
 in tents, which were easily taken down and moved. 
 John. How were the tents made ? 
 
 Teacher. There is no way of knowing exactly ; but 
 there are now in those countries many people who live in 
 the same way : they travel from place to place in large 
 companies, ♦ with flocks and herds, and live in tents. 
 These tents are now made of cloth, generally black cloth, 
 stretched upon poles. 
 
 Abraham went down to Egypt, as you see his track 
 marked upon the map, (pointing to the map,) after food. 
 Egypt you know was very fertile, and well watered by 
 the Nile. Here he remained some time, and then re- 
 turned again to Canaan. But I must hasten on more 
 rapidly with the story, and therefore will not stop to de- 
 scribe his offering up Isaac, or the destruction of Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, which took place at this time. lie died 
 at last in C.maan/A. M. 2133, or B. C. 1821, leaving his 
 property in the hands of Isaac his son. 
 
 Isaac and his son Jacob, spent their lives too in this 
 country. They had no settled home in it, but they wan- 
 dered about as Abraham did, among the various tribes 
 who possessed the land. Jacob, you know, had twelve 
 sons ; and you remember how, in consequence of their 
 4* 
 
42 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 God's care of his people. The Exodus. 
 
 selling Joseph to some merchants going to Egypt, and 
 afterwards going there themselves to buy corn, and find- 
 ing him in great wealth and power, — the whole family 
 removed to Egypt and settled there. Here they increased 
 very rapidly, and after some time the Egyptians made 
 slaves of them, and they remained some hundred years 
 in bondage. 
 
 Samuel. But did not God promise to take care of them 1 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and he was taking care of them ; he 
 was constantly watching over them, and preparing in his 
 own time to bring them out free. He undoubtedly had 
 some good reason for permitting them to be enslaved. 
 God always takes care of all who love and obey him ; but 
 notwithstanding this, he often brings them into great diffi- 
 culties, though always for some good reason. 
 
 Roger. How did the children of Israel get away from 
 the Egyptians ? 
 
 Teacher. God appeared to Moses, one" of them, and 
 sent him to Pharaoh, to command him to let the people go. 
 
 John. And did he, Sir 1 
 
 Teacher. No : he refused, and God sent plagues upon 
 him and upon his people, until he complied. The last 
 plague was causing the oldest child in every family in 
 Egypt to die in one night. Then Pharaoh was very 
 eager to have the Israelites go. He hurried them away 
 that same night; and they all set out, six hundred thou- 
 sand of them, immediately, on their journey towards Ca- 
 naan, the land which God had promised to Abraham 
 should be theirs. 
 
 Samuel. Were there six hundred thousand ? They 
 must have increased very much while in Egypt. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : you remember it was only Jacob and 
 his sons and grandsons, about 70 persons, who went down 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 43 
 
 Passover. Journey in the Wilderness. 
 
 to Egypt ; and before they came out they had become 
 this great multitude. 
 
 God commanded them always to celebrate the anniver- 
 sary of their escape from Egypt ; which they did in a 
 feast held every year, called the Passover. This feast 
 is very often mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps I shall 
 explain to you more fully, by and by, how this was kept ; 
 but at present I must proceed with the story. 
 
 They passed across this extremity of the Red Sea, 
 (pointing to a upon the map.) It was here that Pharaoh 
 and his army were drowned, in attempting to pursue them 
 to bring them back. 
 
 John. Then they came over into this wilderness, (point- 
 ing to the wilderness upon the map.) 
 
 Teacher. Yes: you remember I have described to you 
 what sort of a country this was. There was nothing grow- 
 ing there which they could eat ; although there were 
 some trees and plants ; and often there was no water for 
 them. 
 
 Roger. Did they bring their provisions with them ? 
 
 iTeacher. No. They were many years travelling through 
 this wilderness, and they could not carry enough. They 
 were fed with manna, which God caused to come upon 
 the ground every night for them. Water was obtained for 
 them too, by a miracle, and there was a bright cloud, 
 which shone like fire in the night, that always went be- 
 fore them to guide them. 
 
 Roger. -How long did it take them to cross this wilder- 
 ness? 
 
 Teacher. They did not go directly to Canaan. God 
 first led them to the foot of Mount Sinai, where they en- 
 camped for many days ; and God called Moses to go up 
 the mountain alone. Then God gave Moses the laws 
 which the people were to obey, both while they were trav- 
 
44 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Wanderings in the Wilderness. 
 
 elling in the wilderness, and when they should become 
 settled in Canaan. And particularly, he gave him the 
 ten commandments, written upon two flat pieces of stone. 
 These were put into a chest, called the ark, made very 
 handsomely of wood, but covered with gold, and carried 
 by the priests taking hold of poles fastened to it. There 
 were several other things made, which were used in the 
 worship of God, such as an altar, &c ; and there was 
 also a very large and splendid tent, called the tabernacle, 
 under which these were kept when they stopped upon 
 their journey. 
 
 Roger. Where is Mount Sinai? 
 
 Teacher. You may try to find it upon the map. 
 
 Roger. Here it is, (pointing to Mount Sinai,) near the 
 Red Sea. But this is not on the direct way from Egypt 
 to Canaan. 
 
 Teacher, No. God did not design to bring them by 
 the shortest way : he brought them to Mount Sinai, because 
 he desired, for some good reasons, to give them their laws 
 from this mountain. Besides, in consequence of their 
 ingratitude and neglect, shown soon after they left Egypt, 
 he determined that these persons should not enter Canaan. 
 
 John. But he had promised to Abraham that this na- 
 tion should have Canaan to live in. 
 
 Teacher. So he had ; and the promise was to be ac- 
 complished. God only meant, now, to prevent the men 
 who were ungrateful and disobedient soon after they 
 came out of Egypt, from going into Catiaan, and to keep 
 them in the wilderness until their children should have 
 grown up, and they themselves should have died. 
 
 Samuel. How Jong did they stay in the wilderness ? 
 
 Teacher. About forty years. They wandered about 
 all this time, under the direction of Moses, remaining but 
 a short time in a place, and living in tents, as Abraham 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 45 
 
 The Israelites' right to Canaan. 
 
 and his company had done. At last, they arrived at the 
 banks of the Jordan, which was on the borders of the 
 promised land. 
 
 John. Here is the river Jordan : is this (pointing to 
 the dotted line r,) their track ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. God permitted Moses to ascend a 
 mountain, and look over the river into Canaan ; but he 
 was not allowed to cross. He died there, and God ap- 
 pointed Joshua to succeed him. Then the Israelites 
 passed over the river, and began to make war upon the 
 inhabitants of Canaan, and to drive them away. 
 
 John. What right had they to do so ? 
 
 Teacher. They had no right of themselves ; and they 
 would have done very wrong to have taken away from 
 the Canaanites their country, had not God expressly or- 
 dered them to do so. He might have led the Canaan- 
 ites away in a quiet, peaceable manner, to make room 
 for his own people ; but he did not choose to do so. Un- 
 doubtedly for some very good reason they were made to 
 suffer very much, probably because they had been great 
 sinners ; and at last most of them were destroyed. The 
 children of Israel then divided the land among them- 
 selves, giving to each tribe a particular share. 
 
 Roger. What was a tribe ? 
 
 Teacher. Do you remember how many sons Jacob had, 
 when he went down to Egypt ? 
 
 Roger. Twelve. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and the descendants of each of these 
 sons were kept separate, and were called tribes. These 
 tribes were called by the names of Jacob's sons. So we 
 have the tribe of Benjamin, the tribe of Ephraim, &c. 
 
 Samuel. But Joseph was one of Jacob's sons ; and we 
 never hear of the tribe of Joseph, 
 
46 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Tribes. The snow storm. 
 
 Teacher. True. And I will explain it to you next week. 
 It is now time to end this lesson, as we have gone over 
 the first great period in Sacred History, viz. from the Cre- 
 ation to the arrival of the Israelites at the land of Canaan. 
 I wish, however, that before you come next time, you 
 would make out from the Bible a list of the sons of Jacob, 
 and another of the tribes ; so that we can compare them, 
 and explain better why there is not a tribe of Joseph. 
 
 John. I do not know where to look. 
 
 Teacher. You must consider in what part of the Bible 
 it is probable this information would be given, and then 
 look through several chapters, until you find it. 
 
 Samuel. I rather think we can find it. 
 
 The teacher then rolled up the map, and the boys went 
 home ; but on the way, they agreed to stop some day after 
 school, at noon, and find the lists which the teacher re- 
 quested them to look for. They walked on very fast, for 
 it was a dark and windy night ; and before they reached 
 home it began to snow pretty fast. They all hoped that 
 there was going to be a good snow storm, so that they 
 might slide down hill and build snow forts, as they used 
 to do the last winter : John said too that he was glad he 
 was not obliged to live, like Abraham, in a tent, such a 
 night as that. Before they reached home, Roger pro- 
 posed that, in case it should continue to snow the next 
 day, they would carry something for dinner to the school, 
 and remain at noon ; and then they should have full time 
 for the work which the teacher had assigned them. 
 
 The next morning John awoke early, and looked out 
 the window to see if it continued to snow. He saw that 
 it was snowing very fast. The ground was covered, and 
 the windows almost entirely obscured, so much had fal- 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIRLE. 47 
 
 John's morning prayer. Samuel. 
 
 len in the night. John dressed himself immediately, and 
 read a chapter in the Bible, and then knelt down to 
 pray, as his mother had taught him. There were several 
 things which he wanted to ask of God, which were not 
 mentioned in the prayer which he had learnt ; and he 
 knew that it was not necessary to have words to express 
 his requests, as God knew all his thoughts ; so he con- 
 tinued a little time to pray in his mind. He asked God 
 to take care of him that day ; to keep him from sickness 
 and suffering, and above all to keep him from doing any 
 thing wrong. He prayed to be made dutiful and kind to 
 his mother and sister, and grateful for all their goodness 
 to him ; to be kept from idleness and improper conduct 
 at school ; — from anger and pride, and every other wrong 
 feeling towards his play-mates. He prayed too that God 
 would bless his mother and sister, and keep them well 
 and happy ; — and his teacher too, for his goodness in ex- 
 plaining to him the Bible, and in endeavoring to prepare 
 him for heaven. 
 
 When his morning devotions were ended, he went 
 down stairs, and when the school hour arrived he set off 
 for school. He waded along through the snow, with his 
 dinner under his arm, until after a little time he saw 
 Samuel coming up another road which led from his 
 father's. John stopped for a moment to wait for him. 
 Samuel had a little basket in one hand, in which John 
 supposed he had put his dinner, and under his arm he 
 had a very large book. As soon as he came near enough 
 to hear, John addressed him. 
 
 John. What are you bringing that great Bible for, 
 Samuel ? We have plenty of little ones in school, and 
 little ones are the handiest. 
 
 Samuel. It is not a Bible. 
 
 John. What is it, then ? 
 
48 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Cruden's Concordance. SchooL 
 
 Samuel It is Cruden's Concordance. My father lent 
 it to us. 
 
 John. What is a Concordance ? 
 
 Samuel. It is a book for finding texts in the Bible. If 
 you can tell me any text, I can, in a few minutes, tell 
 you in what chapter and verse it is. 
 
 John. How ? 
 
 Samuel. All the words in the Bible are put down in it 
 regularly, beginning at A, and going down to Z ; and then 
 under each word, all the texts which have that word in it 
 are put down, and the chapter and verse of each one is 
 given. 
 
 John. Well, I do not see how you can find the texts 
 by it. 
 
 Sa?nuel. Why, suppose we want to find in what part 
 of the Bible this passage is, "Love your enemies." Now 
 first, we look out any word, for instance, enemies^ just as we 
 should in a dictionary, and then we shall find under it all 
 the verses in the Bible which have the word enemies in 
 them. Then I have only to look along there until I find 
 love your enemies. 
 
 John. I believe I understand it now ; let me try and 
 see if I can find it. 
 
 Samuel. No, not here, — it is snowing, so as to wet the 
 book and spoil it. You shall see it when we get to 
 school. 
 
 John. Would it do to look any word in the text you 
 want to find ? Could you look love and your ? 
 
 Samuel. Yes, I believe so. Father told me, though, 
 that it is best to look for one of the principal words. 
 
 At last, the boys arrived at school ; and when all the 
 lessons were finished, and the school had been dismissed, 
 they sat down together to their work in a seat by them- 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 49 
 
 List of Jacob's sons. 
 
 selves, with their Bibles and Cruden's Concordance be- 
 fore them. 
 
 What we have to do, said Samuel, is to find the names 
 of the twelve sons of Jacob, and also of the twelve tribes 
 of Israel. 
 
 Yes, said John ; and the teacher said we must look 
 along in the chapters until we find them. I will begin 
 and look for the names of Jacob's sons. 
 
 So saying, he opened at the beginning of the Bible, and 
 began to look along the verses of the first chapter of 
 Genesis. 
 
 Stop, said Samuel, you cannot find Jacob's sons there. 
 
 Why not ? asked John. 
 
 Because, replied Roger, that is the account of the be- 
 ginning of the world, and Jacob did not live until long 
 after that. 
 
 Then I suppose we must look farther along, said John, 
 turning over the leaves of his Bible. Here is some- 
 thing about Abraham, added he, looking on one of the 
 pages. 
 
 We must look farther than that, said Samuel, for Abra- 
 ham was the first, — the head of the family which God 
 called. Jacob lived after him, just before they went into 
 Egypt. 
 
 The boys continued to turn over the leaves, until 
 they found where Jacob was mentioned. They found 
 several chapters speaking about him, but there was no 
 list of his sons, which they could find. At last, Roger 
 proposed that they should look at the account of Jacob's 
 going down into Egypt : he said he thought it would be 
 very likely to tell there how many sons went down with 
 him. 
 
 5 
 
50 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Names and number of the Tribes. 
 
 They accordingly looked for that place, and Samuel 
 found it in the 46th chapter of Genesis. They found that 
 at the 8th verse there commenced along list of the names 
 of those who went down into Egypt. There were, how- 
 ever, a great many more than twelve ; and they found, 
 upon examining them, that there were not only the names 
 of Jacob's sons, but of the children of all these sons. 
 Roger thought it would be very hard to pick out Jacob's 
 twelve sons from these ; but Samuel said he thought he 
 could do it ; and began to say, while he was looking upon 
 the chapter, Reuben is one, in the ninth verse — Simeon, 
 tenth verse, two, &,c. He stopped, however, in a mo- 
 ment, and asked John to take a pen and paper, and write 
 them down as fast as he should name them. 
 
 While they were doing this, Roger was looking on 
 farther, in search of a better list, as he said ; and before 
 John had half written down Samuel's list, he interrupted 
 them, saying — 
 
 There, I have found a much better place. Here they 
 are, all the names together — 1st chapter of Exodus, two 
 or three of the first verses. But, continued he, you had 
 better go on and finish your list, and then we will see 
 how they agree. 
 
 When it was finished, John read it aloud, counting 
 them as he read. It was as follows : — 
 
 Reuben, 1 ; Simeon, 2 ; Levi, 3 ; Judah, 4 ; Issachar, 
 5; Zebulon,6; Gad, 7 ; Asher, 8 ; Joseph, 9; Benjamin, 
 10; Dan, 11 ; Naphtali, 12. 
 
 Roger then read the 2d, 3d, and 4th verses of Exodus, 
 counting the names as he read them : Reuben, 1 ; 
 Simeon, 2 ; Levi, 3 ; Judah, 4 ; Issachar, 5 ; Zebu- 
 Ion, 6 ; Benjamin, 7 ; Dan, 8 ; Naphtali, 9 ; Gad, 10 ; 
 Asher, 11. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 51 
 
 Cruden's Concordance. The Tribes. 
 
 There are only 'eleven, said he : what is the reason of 
 that? 
 
 The boys then compared the two lists, and found that 
 Joseph's name was omitted in the last list. They saw 
 too that the reason was, that this was a list of those only 
 who came to Egypt with Jacob ; and as Joseph was there 
 already, his name was not down. 
 
 Now, said Samuel, we must find the list of the tribes ; 
 and I believe we can find it best by Cruden's Concor- 
 dance. 
 
 He explained to Roger, as he had already to John, how 
 this book was used, and then they looked for the word 
 tribe. They found under the word some explanation of 
 it, before they came to the passages of scripture in which 
 the word occurs. Samuel said, his father did not tell 
 him about the explanations under the words, but he 
 thought it would be a good plan to read this. So he 
 read as follows : — 
 
 " Jacob having twelve sons, who were the heads of so 
 many families, which all together formed a great nation, 
 every one of these families was called a tribe. But Jacob, 
 on his death-bed, adopted Ephraim and Manasseh, the 
 sons of Joseph, and would have them also to constitute 
 two tribes of Israel. Instead of twelve tribes, there were 
 now thirteen, that of Joseph being divided into two. 
 However, in the distribution of lands to the people, made 
 by Joshua, by the command of God, they counted but 
 twelve tribes, and made but twelve lots ; for the tribe of 
 Levi, which was appointed to the service of the taberna- 
 cle of the Lord, had no share in the distribution of the 
 land, but only some cities to dwell in." 
 
 This explains the difficulty, then, said Samuel, without 
 our finding a list of the tribes. We have only to take out 
 
52 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Tribe of Levi not reckoned. 
 
 Joseph's name, from the list, and put in Ephraim and 
 Manasseh, and we shall have the names of the tribes. 
 
 But that will make thirteen, replied Roger. 
 
 Yes, said Samuel ; and there were thirteen in fact, only 
 the tribe of Levi is not usually reckoned, as they were 
 only priests scattered among all the other tribes. 
 
Aw-nin &c Smith Sezief«lcl«rIjiiKCo. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 53 
 
 The double map. 
 
 CONVERSATION IV. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD OF SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 On the next appointed evening, the boys again assem- 
 bled, and the teacher commenced the exercise by present- 
 ing before them a map like the one on the adjoining page. 
 The boys observed that the map was divided into two 
 parts, by a line drawn in the middle, and that the two 
 parts were very much alike. They both had a part of the 
 Mediterranean Sea, and the whole of the Dead Sea, drawn 
 upon them ; and the teacher explained to them that both 
 parts were maps of a small portion of the land East of the 
 Mediterranean Sea, and he showed them upon the map 
 which they had examined at the second conversation, 
 this portion marked off by the dotted line. 
 
 John. But why have you made two maps of the same 
 country exactly alike ? 
 
 Teacher. Look at the two parts of this map carefully, 
 and see if they are exactly alike. 
 
 Roger. No, they are not : there are more countries 
 marked upon this, (pointing to the one on the left,) and 
 they are of different shape. 
 
 SamveL Besides, the names of the places are different 
 on the one from those on the other. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. It is only this, (pointing to the one on 
 the left,) that we have any thing to do with now. I shall 
 explain to you the other, when we come to use it. Can 
 you tell me, Roger, where we left the history at the last 
 lesson ? 
 
 5* 
 
54 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Jordan. Mountains and streams. 
 
 Roger. They were, I believe, just about crossing the 
 Jordan, to go and take possession of the land of Canaan. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Ttis is a map of the land of Canaan ; 
 and before we take up the history, I must describe the 
 map to you. 
 
 Here upon the West side is the Mediterranean Sea. 
 Here you see, (pointing to b 9 ) is the commencement of 
 the river Jordan. It flows on a little way, and then passes 
 through the sea of Galilee. Then it flows on South, and 
 empties into the Dead Sea. Between the Jordan and the 
 Mediterranean Sea was the principal part of the land in- 
 habited by the Jews. Through the middle of this, there 
 was a range of mountains running from North to South ; 
 and from this many small streams arose, some flowing 
 West to the Mediterranean, and others East to the Jordan, 
 and the Dead Sea. You see many of these upon the map. 
 
 Roger. Why did some of them run one way and some 
 the other t 
 
 Teacher. Cannot you tell 1 Water always flows 
 
 downwards ; and if there were streams really running as 
 they are drawn upon the map, the land must have been 
 higher in the middle, and it must have sloped both ways. 
 This was the fact. 
 
 Samuel. Yes, I see the mountains here : this range, 
 (pointing to the mountains m m m } ) extends from North 
 to South, through the whole distance. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : they were not very high mountains all 
 the way, but only elevated land. In some places thej 
 rose into lofty summits, and these received particular 
 names. I will not stop to point them out, however, now, 
 because we must go on with the history. 
 
 We left the Israelites about crossing the Jordan, to 
 take possession of the promised land. They had, how- 
 ever, settled some of their number upon the East side of 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THK BIBLE. 55 
 
 Settlement of the Tribes. 
 
 Jordan. John, how many divisions of countries are 
 painted upon the east side of Jordan ? 
 
 John. Three : green, and yellow, and blue. 
 
 Teacher. Can you tell, by looking upon the map, what 
 tribes were settled upon this side ? 
 
 John. The green spot is marked Reuben : does that 
 mean that the tribe of Reuben lived in that country ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : the whole map is divided into portions, 
 according as the country was divided among the tribes, 
 and the name of the tribe is marked upon each. 
 
 John. The others upon the East side are Gad and Ma- 
 nasseh. 
 
 Roger. Half of Manasseh, it says. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : only half of Manasseh was assigned to 
 this side of Jordan. Can any of you find the other half? 
 
 Samuel. Here it is, (pointing to the blue spot on the 
 West side of Jordan.) 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Now these two tribes and a half had 
 their inheritance upon the East side of Jordan, and the 
 other tribes passed over the river, and established the 
 camp at Gilgal. 
 
 John. Where is Gilgal ? 
 
 Teacher. (Pointing to the map.) Here it is, just across 
 the Jordan, not far from where they passed over. From 
 Gilgal, the army of the Israelites went to attack the cities 
 of Canaan. By God's assistance, they were successful in 
 their enterprizes, and they took a great many towns, and 
 conquered a great many tribes. 
 
 Roger. What right had they to take away the land and 
 the towns from the people who lived there ? 
 
 Teacher. They would have had no right, if God had 
 not expressly required them to do so. The country was 
 God's, and the Canaanites who dwelt in it were creatures 
 of his power ; and of course he had a right to do what he 
 
06 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The Canaanites. Judah and Benjamin. 
 
 chose with them, or to direct any others to do what he 
 wished. Now this was the land which he had designed 
 for the country of his people, the descendants of Abra- 
 ham ; and now that they were ready to enter it, he had a 
 perfect right to remove all who were there. 
 
 Samuel. Did the children of Israel destroy all the Ca- 
 naanites ? 
 
 Teacher. No. Some they made slaves, and others 
 God did not permit them to conquer. These remained 
 in various parts of the country, and afterwards caused the 
 Israelites some trouble by making war upon them. You 
 will find, by looking into the first chapter of Judges, who 
 these Canaanites were that were left, and what part of 
 the land they inhabited. 
 
 The land, however, was generally conquered, and then 
 divided among the tribes ; so that there were nine tribes 
 and a half upon the West side of the river, and two 
 tribes and a half upon the East side. I shall not stop to 
 have you learn where all the tribes were settled, but only 
 ask you to notice two, Judah and Benjamin. You see t this 
 large green spot, West of the Dead Sea. This was given 
 to Judah, and Benjamin had a small territory here, just 
 North of it. 
 
 Samuel. Why must we notice these particularly ? 
 
 Teacher. Because Judah was the tribe from which 
 Christ was to be born, and Benjamin and Judah remained 
 together for a long time, as we shall see presently. 
 
 After the Israelites were well established in the land, 
 Joshua, their leader, who succeeded Moses, died and left 
 them without any general head. They were, however, 
 quietly settled in their various districts, and were gov- 
 erned by magistrates scattered over the country. But 
 they soon forgot Jehovah, and began to worship idols, and 
 other gods. In consequence, they were a great many 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 57 
 
 Judges. Samuel. Saul. 
 
 times delivered into the hands of their enemies, who 
 made war upon and conquered them. When they re- 
 pented, and forsook their sins, God raised up some cham- 
 pion to deliver them. This was the case a great many 
 times, and the stories of these deliverances are all very 
 interesting. You remember the account of Samson, the 
 strong man ; he was one of these champions. These 
 stories are found in the book of the Judges. 
 
 Samuel Why is it called the book of Judges 1 
 
 Teacher. Because these champions were called Judges, 
 and this book gives an account of the Israelites, while 
 they were under the government of the Judges. 
 
 Roger. How long was this ? 
 
 Teacher. This state of things continued until the 
 people desired a king, and they made known their re- 
 quest to God, by means of Samuel, a very distinguished 
 prophet, who was living among them at that time. God 
 was displeased with their request, but he granted it, and 
 gave them a king. 
 
 Roger. I should have thought that if he was displeased, 
 he would have punished them by refusing to grant their 
 request. 
 
 Teacher. No : to refuse to give them a king, would 
 have been no punishment. When men have vain and 
 ambitious desires, the worst punishment, which can be 
 inflicted, is to gratify them. The Israelites found this to 
 be the case. 
 
 Saul was the first king. But I cannot stop to go over 
 all his history. You must read it carefully in the Bible. 
 I can only say he commenced by pretending to obey God, 
 but he really aimed at nothing but his own interest and 
 power. He soon began to disobey God, in what he 
 considered little sins : his transgressions became soon 
 more open and more aggravated : he soon suffered the 
 
58 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Why Christ's coming was delayed. 
 
 bitter consequences of disobeying his Creator ; but his 
 difficulties and troubles did not lead him to repent, and to 
 ask God's forgiveness ; and at last he lost every thing for 
 which he had been striving, and died a miserable death. 
 
 John. How did he die ? 
 
 Samuel Was he not killed in battle ? 
 
 Teacher. I believe we must not stop now to speak of 
 the particular manner of his death ; for you can read this 
 and all the other particulars of his history in the Bible. 
 Our object now is, you know, only to run over rapidly 
 the train of Scripture events, so as to give you a connected 
 view of the whole. 
 
 Samuel. I should like to ask one question before you 
 go on. I think you mentioned that the reason why God 
 chose Abraham and his descendants, to keep them a 
 separate nation under his care, was, that he designed to 
 bring the Saviour into the world among them. Why did 
 not Christ come now, as soon as they were well settled 
 in their country ? 
 
 Teacher. The reasons are not given, I believe, in the 
 Bible, though there were undoubtedly good reasons ; as 
 the time when Christ was born, is often alluded to as a 
 time set or appointed long beforehand. There are, how- 
 ever, some reasons which I have thought of. One is, 
 that the coming of a great Saviour was foretold early to 
 the Jewish nation ; and by waiting some time, until this 
 prophecy should become thoroughly made known to this 
 and to other nations, — until they should have waited a 
 long time in expectation of its fulfilment, the appearance 
 of the Saviour at last would excite more general atten- 
 tion, and produce greater impression. The other reason 
 was, that the world was probably in a much better state 
 for receiving the Christian religion afterwards, than it was 
 then. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 59 
 
 David's life and actions. Solomon's Temple. 
 
 But we must go on. God chose David to be the next 
 king after Saul. You all remember something about him., 
 He was at first a shepherd's boy ; and the story of the man- 
 ner in which he rose from his father's cottage to the throne 
 is very interesting. He made Jerusalem his residence. 
 Here you see the city, on the borders between Judah and 
 Benjamin. This afterwards became a great city. 
 
 Roger. Did David build it first ? 
 
 Teacher. No. A city was begun there before the Is- 
 raelites came to Canaan. They did not get possession of 
 the whole of it, however. There were some Jebusites in 
 it, who went into a strong part of it, perhaps a part sur- 
 rounded by a wall, and the Israelites could not drive 
 them out. David, however, attacked and conquered 
 them, and took the whole city into his power. 
 
 Not long after this, David thought of building a great 
 temple for the worship of God. He collected a great 
 many things necessary for building it ; but God said to 
 him that he should prefer to have Solomon, his son, build 
 it. David reigned a great many years very prosperously, 
 and saw the kingdom advancing in wealth, and power, 
 and happiness. 
 
 John. Was he a good man ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : he was a very pious man, and loved and 
 served God. He was, however, guilty of several great 
 sins ; but he sincerely repented of them, and God forgave 
 him. At last he died, and his son Solomon reigned after 
 him. 
 
 The reign of Solomon is remarkable for an important 
 event — the building of the temple of God, at Jerusalem. 
 This building was large and splendid, and is very often 
 spoken of in the Bible. Solomon made great efforts to 
 bring together large quantities of cedar-wood and stone, 
 also gold and silver and brass and iron. He sent into all 
 
60 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Use of the Temple. The revolt. 
 
 the surrounding countries for workmen who were skilful, 
 and did every thing in his power to make God's house as 
 magnificent as possible. 
 
 John. How large was it ? 
 
 Teacher. All the buildings and walls covered a very 
 large piece of ground ; but the principal building was 
 about ninety feet long and thirty wide. Perhaps I shall 
 give you a more particular description of the temple here- 
 after : at present I can stop only to say that Solomon 
 spent many years in building it, and he employed many 
 thousands of men. He also made a large number of ves- 
 sels of gold and silver, to be used in the temple ; and when 
 all was finished, the house and all which it contained 
 were dedicated to God by very solemn ceremonies. 
 
 Samuel. What was the temple for ? 
 
 Teacher. It was to be the place where many of the rites 
 and ceremonies which God required of the Jews, were to 
 be performed, such as sacrifices, &c. The people came 
 here, in great numbers too, to worship God. You will 
 often see it mentioned in reading the Bible. 
 
 Samuel. It is often mentioned in the New Testament. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : though this was after it had been de- 
 stroyed and rebuilt, as I shall soon describe to you. But 
 I must hasten on to give you an account of a great revo- 
 lution which took place in the government of the Israel- 
 ites, after Solomon's death. 
 
 The three kings who had reigned thus far, had govern- 
 ed all the twelve tribes ; but now they were separated. 
 You can read the account of this revolution in the first of 
 Kings, or in the first of Chronicles : it is a very interest- 
 ing story. 
 
 Roger. Are there two accounts of it ? 
 
 Teacher, Yes : the books of Kings and of Chronicles 
 describe the same events, as I shall show you more fully 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 61 
 
 Judah and Israel, two kingdoms. 
 
 hereafter. As I said before, however, the tribes were 
 now separated. The two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, 
 which I showed you on the map, remained under Reho- 
 boam, the son of Solomon, the rightful king ; and the 
 other twelve tribes rebelled against him, and established 
 a separate government under Jeroboam, a man who had 
 been one of Solomon's officers. This event is called the 
 revolt of the ten tribes, and from this time there were two 
 separate kingdoms ; one was called Judah, and the other 
 Israel. 
 
 Roger. Which was called Judah ? 
 
 Teacher. That composed of Judah and Benjamin. I 
 suppose it was called Judah because Judah was much 
 larger than Benjamin. The tribe of Judah was always 
 the largest tribe, and always seemed to take the foremost 
 place. I do not know but that I told you before, that 
 this was the tribe from which the Saviour was to come. 
 
 Samuel. I remember that you did. 
 
 Teacher. The other kingdom was called the kingdom 
 of Israel, I suppose because a great portion of the tribes 
 of Israel belonged to it. These two kingdoms continued 
 a long time ; each had its own kings, and officers, and 
 armies. 
 
 John. Why did not the king of Judah go to war against 
 the king of Israel, and make the ten tribes come back to 
 and stronger the kingdom ? 
 
 Roger. Because the ten tribes were more numerous 
 than the two. 
 
 Teacher. No, that was not the reason ; God might 
 easily have delivered the armies of the ten tribes into the 
 hands of Judah and Benjamin ; but he had resolved upon 
 this separation, as a punishment for the sins of the Israel- 
 ites, and he meant it should continue. There were, how- 
 6 
 
62 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The sins and the captivity of Israel. 
 
 ever, some wars between Judah and Israel ; but they 
 were never united again. 
 
 Very soon after this separation, the ten tribes began to 
 be very idolatrous and wicked. They abandoned God, 
 and worshipped two images of calves which Jeroboam 
 set up. In consequence of their sins, they were for many 
 years oppressed by a line of wicked and tyrannical kings, 
 who grew worse and worse, and who excited God's dis- 
 pleasure very strongly against them, and at last the ar- 
 mies of distant nations were permitted to come and con- 
 quer them, and carry them away into captivity. First 
 those two tribes and a half who were settled on the East 
 side of the river were taken. You see by the map that 
 they were most exposed by their very situation. Not 
 long after, another army came, conquered the other seven 
 and a half tribes, and carried them away into captivity, 
 from whence they never returned. 
 
 Samuel What became of them ? 
 
 Teacher. It is not certainly known. There have been 
 several different opinions about it : but they are not men- 
 tioned any more in the Bible, and of course we cannot 
 positively ascertain; and it is of less consequence to 
 know, as the tribe of Judah, the one from which the 
 Saviour was to come, still remained. 
 
 Samuel. Did Judah and Benjamin continue to serve 
 God? 
 
 Teacher. Not at all times : sometimes the kings were 
 wicked, and established idolatrous worship, and thus led 
 the people into sin. Then perhaps a good king would 
 reign, and endeavor to restore the worship of God. They 
 however grew less and less devoted to the service of God, 
 and offended him much by their sins. God wished them 
 to repent and return to him ; and he accordingly sent 
 several prophets, at different times, to warn them of their 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 63 
 
 The Prophets. Isaiah. 
 
 guilt, and the danger that God would bring some dread- 
 ful punishments upon them, unless they should lead differ- 
 ent lives. 
 
 Roger. Is any thing said about these prophets in the 
 book of Kings ? 
 
 Teacher. Not much ; but their messages to the people 
 are in the Bible, — in the last part of the Old Testament. 
 
 Samuel. I did not know that those prophets lived in 
 the time of the kings. 
 
 Teacher. Many of them did. It tells, in the beginning 
 of many of these books, when the authors lived. Will 
 you find the beginning of one of them? (handing Samuel 
 a Bible.) 
 
 Samuel. Here is Isaiah. 
 
 Teacher. Can you tell now when Isaiah lived, by the 
 first verse ? 
 
 Samuel Yes : it says, " the vision which he saw con- 
 cerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, 
 Jotham, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." 
 
 Teacher. Yes : now look in the book of Kings, and 
 see where the account of these kings is given. 
 
 The teacher then gave the boys Bibles, and they all 
 looked in Kings and Chronicles, and found the chapters 
 in which the reigns of these kings are described. The 
 teacher then requested them to look in those chapters, 
 and see if Isaiah the prophet is mentioned ; because, said 
 he, if he lived at that time, it would be very probable that 
 some mention would be made of him. The boys accord- 
 ingly looked, and Roger found in the beginning of the 
 nineteenth chapter of Kings an account of Hezekiah's 
 being sick, and of his sending messengers to Isaiah the 
 prophet. They also found Isaiah mentioned in Chron- 
 icles. 
 
64 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Captivity of Judah. Babylon. 
 
 Teacher. Now if we should in the same manner ex- 
 amine the other prophetical books in the latter part of the 
 Old Testament, we should find in many of them that the 
 authors lived in the times of the kings, and that they 
 contain many very solemn warnings to the Jewish people, 
 of the danger of exciting God's displeasure, by idolatry 
 and other sins. 
 
 Samuel. Did these messages from God have an effect 
 upon the people? 
 
 Teacher. Sometimes they produced a little effect, but 
 it did not usually last long. The people on the whole 
 grew worse ; and God at last permitted a great and pow- 
 erful king to come with a large army, conquer the coun- 
 try, and to carry away the people captive, just as the ten 
 tribes had been carried away before. 
 
 Roger. Who was this king? 
 
 Teacher. It was Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. 
 Do you know where Babylon was ? 
 
 Samuel. Yes : I believe it was East of the country of 
 Canaan. I saw it upon the other map. 
 
 The teacher then brought the map like the one placed 
 before the third Conversation in this book, and there they 
 found the city of Babylon marked. It was near the river 
 Euphrates. The teacher explained to them that since 
 Abraham had left the region of the Tigris and Euphra- 
 tes, and while his descendants had been growing into a 
 great nation between the Jordan and the Mediterranean 
 Sea, there had been springing up, upon the banks of the 
 Tigris and the Euphrates, a great and powerful empire, 
 whose capital city was Babylon, which was a very spa- 
 cious and magnificent city. 
 
 Teacher. Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon at this 
 time ; and he, as I said before, came to Judea, as the land 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 65 
 
 A siege. Surrender. Second siege. 
 
 inhabited by Judah and Benjamin was called, and con- 
 quered the country. He marched to Jerusalem and be- 
 sieged it. 
 
 John. What do you mean by besieging it ? 
 
 Teacher. He brought his armies all around it, and tried 
 to get into it, to take possession of the houses, and to 
 make the people prisoners. 
 
 John. Why could he not march directly into the city ! 
 
 Teacher. Oh, because it was surrounded by very high 
 and thick walls, and the gates were guarded by the sol- 
 diers of the Jews, who were in the city. 
 
 Roger. How did he get in at last ? 
 
 Teacher. He made engines to break down the walls, 
 and he built forts outside, from which they shot arrows 
 and spears into the city, to kill the men who were upon 
 the walls. But the principal thing was to surround the 
 city with his armies, and so to prevent any body from 
 going in to carry food for the people. By this means in a 
 short time, the people eat all the provisions which were 
 in the city when Nebuchadnezzar came, and then they 
 had nothing to keep them from starving ; so that they 
 were willing to open the gates and let him in, because 
 they had rather be taken prisoners than to be starved. 
 
 John. What did Nebuchadnezzar do, when he was in 
 the city ? 
 
 Teacher. He took all the principal men and the king, 
 *nd all the treasures of the temple, especially the most 
 valuable of the vessels of gold and silver, and carried 
 them away with him to Babylon. 
 
 Samuel. Then he did not carry all the people captive. 
 
 Teacher. No : but he afterwards came again, and be- 
 sieged the city a second time. He took it this time too, 
 and destroyed the wall and the houses, and burnt the 
 6* 
 
66 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Servitude of the Jews for seventy years. 
 
 splendid temple that Solomon had built. He also carried 
 away great numbers of the people to Babylon. 
 
 Samuel. Did he carry them all at this time 1 
 
 Teacher. No, not quite all ; there were a few left, and 
 Nebuchadnezzar placed one of his officers over them, and 
 left them in the land. 
 
 John. What did Nebuchadnezzar do with all the Jews, 
 when he had brought them to Babylon '? 
 
 Teacher. Many of them were made servants, and others 
 settled quietly in Babylon, under the dominion of the 
 king, and probably paying him money every year. They 
 were not happy while they were here, and were always 
 longing to return to Jerusalem. 
 
 Roger. I supposed that God had promised to take care 
 of this nation, and to preserve them until the Saviour was 
 born. 
 
 Teacher. He had done so, and he had not now forgot- 
 ten his promise. The reason why they were carried cap- 
 tive, was to punish them for their repeated and continued 
 idolatries. He had distinctly told them, before they came 
 into Canaan, that if they should abandon him and sin 
 against him, he should not protect them from their ene- 
 mies. And now he was designing, after allowing the 
 kings of Babylon to retain them seventy years, to restore 
 them again to their country. 
 
 John. And did they return after seventy years f 
 
 Teacher. Yes. 
 
 John. How did they get away? 
 
 Teacher. There was another country beyond Babylon, 
 called Persia : we will find it upon the map. 
 
 Samuel. Here it is, (pointing to the map,) near the 
 Persian Gulf; but on the east side of the Tigris. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Now there arose in this country a very 
 wise and powerful monarch, whose name was Cyrus. God 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 67 
 
 Cyrus's stratagem. Return. 
 
 caused him to come to Babylon, and gave him power to 
 conquer it. It is said that Cyrus gained possession of 
 the city in a very singular way. The city was partly 
 upon one side of the river Euphrates, and partly upon the 
 other ; and the wall which surrounded it passed across 
 the river upon a sort of a bridge. Now Cyrus, instead of 
 trying to beat down the wall by engines, set his men at 
 work to dig a new channel for the river just above the 
 city. The water ran off in this new channel, and left the 
 old one, under the bridge into the city, dry. Then Cyrus 
 marched his army into the city on the old bed of the river. 
 
 Roger. Is it certain that this is true ? 
 
 Teacher. I believe it is not perfectly certain ; but at 
 any rate, it is certain that Cyrus conquered Babylon, and 
 not long after made a decree that the Jews might return 
 to their own country. 
 
 Samuel. Is there much account in the Bible of what 
 the Jews did while they were at Babylon ? 
 
 Teacher. Not a great deal. The book of Daniel is an 
 account of transactions there, and contains many interest- 
 ing stories. Some of the prophecies, too, relate to this 
 time. 
 
 But we must pass on to the return of the Jews. They 
 came in companies from Babylon to Jerusalem, under the 
 direction of several leaders, among whom were Ezra and 
 Nehemiah, who each wrote accounts of the transactions 
 which they witnessed. 
 
 Samuel. Are these the books of Ezra and Nehemiah ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. They describe the return of the Jews, 
 the rebuilding of the temple, and the walls of the city. 
 The Jews met with much opposition from the neighbor- 
 ing people ; but, notwithstanding this, they went onward 
 and finished the work, and they at last became comforta- 
 
68 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLH. 
 
 Grecian Conquest of Palestine. 
 
 bly and quietly settled in their former homes. Here ends 
 the Old Testament history. 
 
 Samuel And was Christ born immediately after this ! 
 
 Teacher. Oh, no. There was a long interval of which 
 no account is given in the Bible. We can learn, how- 
 ever, what happened during this time, by other histories. 
 The Jews did not live in peace during this time. After 
 the Persian empire had existed some time, there arose 
 another great empire, the Grecian, which conquered the 
 Persian, and obtained possession of almost all the coun- 
 tries in that part of the world. Can you tell where 
 Greece was ? 
 
 Samuel. Yes : it was North of the Mediterranean Sea. 
 I believe it is on the first map which you showed us. 
 
 The Teacher then showed them the first map again, 
 and Samuel found Greece upon it : it was a green spot, 
 marked r 1, North of the Mediterranean. 
 
 Teacher. The Jewish nation continued some years un- 
 der the power of the Greeks, and a great many of the 
 people learned and spoke the Greek language. There 
 are a great many allusions to this fact in the New Testa- 
 ment. The apostles found Greeks wherever they went : 
 and even the New Testament itself was written in Greek. 
 
 Samuel. I thought the Jews were under the Roman 
 power at the time of Christ. 
 
 Teacher. They were so. Can you tell where Rome 
 was ? 
 
 John. Yes : it was in Italy, upon the Tiber. 
 
 They then looked upon the same map upon which they 
 had found Greece. Samuel said that he thought that the 
 part marked r 2, a spot west of Greece, was Italy ; but 
 he did not exactly know upon what part of it Rome was. 
 
 Teacher. The city was near the West side. It be- 
 came the centre of the wealthiest, most powerful, and 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 69 
 
 Roman Conquest. 
 
 most extensive empire that the world ever saw. It 
 conquered Greece, and almost all the countries which 
 were dependent upon Greece ; and of course Judea fell 
 under its power. The language of the Romans was what 
 is called the Latin language, and this was now spoken 
 some among the Jews. You remember when Christ was 
 crucified, Pilate caused the inscription over him to be 
 written in three languages, — the Hebrew, which was the 
 old Jewish language — the Greek — and the Latin. The 
 facts, which I have been explaining to you, show you the 
 reason of this. 
 
 Samuel. And are not the Romans themselves often 
 mentioned in the New Testament ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. The principal rulers of Judea wera 
 Romans ; and there were officers and soldiers stationed 
 in the large towns, to keep the country in subjection. 
 
 But it is now time to close this lesson, as the hour has 
 passed, and we have finished the Second Period of Sacred 
 History, which extends from the settlement in Canaan to 
 the birth of Christ. 
 
70 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Two Maps of Palestine. 
 
 CONVERSATION V. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD OF SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 When the class had assembled, at the time appointed 
 for the next exercise, the teacher unrolled the same map 
 which he had used on the preceding evening. The read- 
 ers of this book will recollect that this map was divided 
 by a line in the middle, into two parts, which were con- 
 siderably but not exactly alike, and that only the first 
 part was used in the last Conversation. The teacher 
 commenced the exercise by explaining the last half of 
 this map. The reader will find it at the beginning of the 
 fourth Conversation. 
 
 Teacher. You see, as I believe I explained to you at 
 the last exercise, that this sheet contains two maps, both 
 of the same countries ; for you see that both have the 
 same seas and rivers. 
 
 Roger. Yes, but they are painted differently, and they 
 have different towns and countries marked upon them. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Now can any of you tell the reason of 
 this ? 
 
 Samuel. I suppose that the maps were made for differ- 
 ent times. 
 
 Teacher. How ? What do you mean by that ? 
 
 Samuel. Why, this map (pointing to the one upon the 
 left hand) is divided into tribes ; and it shows how the 
 country was, when all the tribes were there : but after the 
 ten tribes were carried away, and the country was settled 
 by others, it was probably divided differently, just as it is 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 71 
 
 Description of the Maps. 
 
 upon this map, (pointing to the one upon the right hand.) 
 Teacher. Yes : the first map represents the country 
 East of the Mediterranean Sea, as it was in the time of 
 the twelve tribes of Israel, when it was called Canaan. 
 The second shows the same country as it was afterwards, 
 in the time of Christ. You will observe that there are 
 several great divisions upon this second. The first you 
 see here, (pointing to the blue spot) upon the southern 
 part, West of the Red Sea. 
 
 Samuel. Is not this the same that was inhabited by Ju- 
 dah and Benjamin ? 
 
 Teacher. It is, pretty nearly. It was upon this that 
 the Jews principally settled, upon their return from Baby- 
 lon. The capital city is Jerusalem, which you see here, 
 (pointing to Jerusalem.) This is the most important part 
 of the map. Directly North of it, you see a large yellow 
 spot : it is called Samaria. John, can you tell me who 
 were the former inhabitants of this part of the country 1 
 
 John. I can tell by looking upon the other map — (after 
 looking) — the«tribes of Issachar, Manasseh, and Ephraim. 
 Teacher. And what became of these tribes ? 
 John. They were carried away with the ten tribes, and 
 never returned. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : but they were not all carried away : 
 some were left, and other persons came in and settled 
 among them. There was a large city, called Samaria, in 
 this country, which was the capital. The people who 
 lived here tried to prevent the Jews from building the 
 temple, when they returned from Babylon ; and there was 
 always after, a great enmity between the Jews and the Sa- 
 maritans. 
 
 John. Were there any wars between them ? 
 Teacher. None mentioned or alluded to in the Bible. 
 There was, however, a great hatred between them. Will 
 
72 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Provinces in Palestine. 
 
 you find, John, (giving him a Bible) the 4th chapter of 
 John, and read the 9th verse ? 
 
 John. (Reading.) " Then saith the woman of Samaria 
 unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink 
 of me, which am a woman of Samaria ? (for the Jews have 
 no dealings with the Samaritans.)" 
 
 Teacher. This verse shows you what was the feeling 
 between these nations. I shall explain to you presently 
 why Christ was in Samaria at this time. North of Sama- 
 ria you see a red spot : it is Galilee. It was in this prov- 
 ince that the Saviour spent a great part of his life upon 
 the earth. You see East of it a sea. Roger, can you 
 read the name of it ? 
 
 Roger. The sea of Galilee. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : it was also sometimes called the lake of 
 Gennesaret. These three provinces, Judea, Samaria, 
 and Galilee, are the most important, and in fact the only 
 important parts of the map. There are one or two coun- 
 tries more North and South, and there is all the country 
 beyond Jordan, called sometimes Perea. « 
 
 I must not, however, spend any more time in describ- 
 ing the map, but must go on with the history of Christ. 
 At the time of his birth, you know, the Jews were under 
 the Romans, and Herod was the king whom the Roman 
 emperor had put over them. He reigned at Jerusalem. 
 
 John. Was Christ born at Jerusalem ? 
 
 Teacher. No. His parents lived in Galilee, in a place 
 called Nazareth. You see it here, (pointing to Nazareth 
 upon the map.) 
 
 Samuel. Were they not Jews ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. You remember I told you Christ was 
 to come from the tribe of Judah. 
 
 Samuel Why then were they living so far from Judea ? 
 
 Teacher. I do not know. But it was a fact that many 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 73 
 
 Christ's parentage and birth. Herod. 
 
 Jews became scattered after the captivity, over all the sur- 
 rounding country, so that there were some in almost all 
 the cities and large towns. I do not know what was the 
 particular reason why Joseph and Mary were settled in 
 Nazareth. 
 
 Christ, however, was not born in Nazareth ; he was 
 born in Bethlehem, which you see here, (pointing to the 
 map,) just South of Jerusalem, where his parents had 
 gone to pay a tax to the Romans. 
 
 Roger. Did his parents carry him then home to Naza- 
 reth ? 
 
 Teacher. No. Herod the king, who was here at Jeru- 
 salem, heard that the Jews expected a king to be born 
 among them about that time, and he heard too, in a very 
 singular way, which you can read in the 2d chapter of 
 Matthew, that a child which had just been born in Beth- 
 lehem was probably the one. 
 
 Samuel. Did the Jews expect a king ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : Christ is often called in the Bible a 
 king ; but it does not mean that he was to be the head of 
 a nation and an army, but only that he was to reign in 
 the hearts of all holy men. The Jews, however, expected 
 that, the Saviour promised in the Old Testament was 
 coming to deliver them from the Romans, and to make 
 them a separate and independent nation, as they were in 
 the time of David and Solomon. 
 
 Now Herod heard of this, and began to be afraid that 
 he was going to lose his kingdom. 
 
 John. What did he do? 
 
 Teacher. He sent to Bethlehem, and had all the young 
 children there killed, in hopes to kill Christ among the 
 others. 
 
 Roger. And how did Christ escape ? 
 
 Teacher. God sent his angel to tell Joseph of the dan- 
 
74 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Christ's childhood and youth. 
 
 ger, before Herod's messengers arrived ; and Joseph took 
 Mary and the child, and fled into Egypt, where they were 
 safe. 
 
 John. Where was Egypt ? 
 
 Teacher. Do you not recollect to have ever heard of it 
 before ? 
 
 John. (Thinking.) Yes, Sir ; it was where the children 
 of Israel were in bondage, down somewhere here, (point- 
 ing to the South West corner of the map.) W T hy is it not 
 put down ? 
 
 Teacher. Because this map does not extend far enough 
 to take it in. We might find it by looking at one of the 
 other maps. 
 
 Roger. How long did they stay in Egypt ? 
 
 Teacher. Until they heard that Herod was dead ; and 
 then they ventured to return home to Nazareth, here in 
 Galilee, (pointing to the map,) where they lived until 
 Christ was about thirty years of age. 
 
 Samuel. I thought our Saviour went to Jerusalem when 
 he was twelve years old. 
 
 Teacher. So he did, but he returned immediately ; so 
 that during all the early part of his life he lived in Gali- 
 lee. ' There is very little account of him during this time 
 in the Bible. 
 
 Samuel. Did he not begin to preach and to work mira- 
 cles before he was thirty years old ? 
 
 Teacher. No. He began but about two or three years 
 before his death. I shall not describe his journeys partic- 
 ularly after this. He used to spend most of the time in 
 travelling about Galilee, only once every year, at the cel- 
 ebration of the passover, that great feast which I have 
 already described to you, he went to Jerusalem, where he 
 had many interesting adventures. In these journeys he 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 75 
 
 Missions established by Christ. 
 
 was of course obliged to go through Samaria, but he sel- 
 dom remained long in this province. 
 
 Roger. Did the people believe him ? 
 
 Teacher. Not a great many, though sometimes he was 
 followed by great crowds, to hear what he said and to see 
 his miracles. 
 
 He chose twelve of his friends, to be with him all the 
 time, and he gave to them a great many instructions. 
 Once he sent them forth, two by two, into all the villages 
 and towns around, to preach and to endeavor to convince 
 the people that the long promised Saviour had come. 
 
 Samuel. Did he not once send away seventy for this 
 purpose ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. But all was not enough to persuade the 
 Jews to receive him as their Saviour. They had set their 
 hearts on having some one come to deliver them from the 
 Romans, and they could not bear to think that the Sa- 
 viour, whom they had been so long expecting, had come 
 only to show them how to be reconciled to God, and to 
 prepare for heaven. 
 
 In consequence of this, a great many of them became 
 his enemies ; and he charged them so plainly and so for- 
 cibly with the great sins of which they had been guilty,, 
 that they became very angry with him. At last, one 
 year when he was at the passover at Jerusalem, they 
 formed a plan to destroy him. Jesus knew all their de- 
 signs, and foreseeing that he was about to die, he spent a 
 great deal of time with his twelve disciples, giving them 
 his last instructions, and endeavoring to prepare them for 
 the great sufferings they were soon to undergo. 
 
 John. Why did not he escape from Jerusalem, and save 
 his life? 
 
 Teacher. Because he came into the world to die for 
 sinners ; and now the appointed time had arrived, and he 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Cedron. Gethsemane. Judas. 
 
 did not shrink from the suffering, or have any wish to es- 
 cape. After he had finished his instructions, he went out 
 of the city, leading his disciples with him across the 
 brook Cedron. 
 
 Roger. Where is the brook Cedron ? 
 
 Teacher. Do you see (pointing to the map) this little 
 brook running by the East side of Jerusalem, and then 
 turning and flowing off into the Dead Sea I 
 
 Roger, Yes ; but it has no name. 
 
 Teacher. The name is not written upon the map, but it 
 was called Cedron. On the other side of this brook was 
 a retired but pleasant place, called the garden of Geth- 
 semane ; and beyond this rose a hill, called the Mount of 
 Olives. Our Saviour spent the night here in prayer ; and 
 he suffered great mental agony, so that he sweat as it 
 were drops of blood. 
 
 John. Was it because he was afraid to die ? 
 
 Teacher. No, probably not. A great many others have 
 met with death in the most cruel form, with perfect com- 
 posure, and Jesus was certainly not deficient in fortitude. 
 No, the great object of Christ's coming into the world 
 was to bear sufferings which we had deserved for our 
 sins, so that we might be forgiven ; and a considerable 
 part of the suffering which he endured for this purpose 
 was his agony in the garden, — though we cannot tell 
 precisely what the nature of it was. Very early in the 
 morning, our Saviour and his disciples saw a large com- 
 pany coming out of Jerusalem, over Cedron, to take him. 
 
 John. How did they know where he was ? 
 
 Teacher. Do you not recollect that he was betrayed ? 
 
 John. Yes, Sir, by Judas. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : Judas, one of his twelve disciples, had 
 been hired by the Jews to show Christ to them. He ac- 
 cordingly brought them to Gethsemane, where he knew 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 77 
 
 The Sanhedrim. Trial in the morning. 
 
 Christ was ; and they took him and carried him into the 
 city. 
 
 But before I go on any farther, I must explain to you 
 how it was that persons were tried, when they were ac- 
 cused of crimes in Jerusalem, at this time. When the 
 Romans conquered Judea, they did not take the govern- 
 ment entirely away from the Jews. There was a great 
 council of this nation which the Romans permitted to re- 
 main, to make some kinds of laws and to punish crimi- 
 nals, in any way except putting them to death. When- 
 ever any one had committed a crime for which the Jews 
 thought that he deserved death, they were not permitted 
 to punish him in that way, without first bringing him to 
 the Roman governor, and obtaining his consent. This 
 great council of the Jews was called the Sanhedrim. 
 
 Roger. I never saw that name in the Bible. 
 
 Teacher. I believe the name is not mentioned in the 
 Bible ; but the meetings of the council are often men- 
 tioned in such a way as this : — " the elders, and the chief 
 priests, and the scribes came together." 
 
 John, How do they know that the name of the council 
 was Sanhedrim ? 
 
 Teacher. From other histories written in these times. — 
 Well, as soon as it was day-light, they brought Jesus into 
 this council. 
 
 John. Why, was it dark when they came out after him, 
 at Gethsemane ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : you remember I said that he spent the 
 whole night there ; and his enemies came out very early, 
 before day, to take him. They had to bring lanterns and 
 torches. 
 
 Samuel. Why did the Sanhedrim meet so early ? 
 
 Teacher. It is said that this was the usual time of their 
 
 meeting. But however this was, they met soon after day- 
 7* 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Roman jurisdiction. Crucifixion. 
 
 light at this time, and proceeded to examine Christ. Caia- 
 phas, the high priest, was at the head of the council. 
 
 Roger. I do not see what crime they could accuse him 
 of. 
 
 Teacher. They accused him of blasphemy, because he 
 said he was the Son of God; and they pronounced him 
 worthy of death : but then, as I said before, they could 
 not put him to death without the consent of the Roman 
 governor. So they carried him away to the governor, 
 whose name was Pilate. 
 
 Pilate saw very soon that he did not deserve to die, and 
 so he told the Jews, and at first refused to have him put 
 to death. But the Jews urged him again and again to 
 
 O D O 
 
 grant their request ; and a great multitude of people col- 
 lected, and kept crying out continually, " Let him be cru- 
 cified. " At last the governor consented ; and they took 
 the Saviour, and, after heaping upon him many insults 
 and injuries, they led him away to a hill called Calvary, 
 West of Jerusalem, and there they crucified him. 
 
 Jesus bore it all with perfect patience and submission. 
 His disciples had forsaken him and fled in terror, so that 
 he was alone among his enemies ; and he made no resist- 
 ance, and no effort to escape. When they reproached 
 and insulted him, he heard them silently, and made no 
 reply ; and at last, when he was dying upon the cross, he 
 prayed to God to forgive them. About noon he died. 
 
 He remained upon the cross during the afternoon, and 
 towards night some of his friends asked Pilate to permit 
 them to take down the body and place it in a tomb. He 
 gave them permission ; and the body was placed in a 
 tomb, where it remained all the next day, which was the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Roger. Then he was crucified on Saturday. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Resurrection. Conclusion. 
 
 Teacher. No, on Friday. Saturday was the Sabbath 
 in those days. It was changed to Sunday afterwards. 
 
 John. For what reason ? 
 
 Teacher. I will explain the reason presently. As I 
 said before, he remained in the grave through the Sab- 
 bath ; but very early on Sunday morning they came to the 
 tomb, and found that the body was gone. There was an 
 angel there, instead, who told them that Jesus had risen 
 
 Oft 
 
 from the dead. 
 
 Samuel. I supposed that he was in the grave three days. 
 
 Teacher. No, strictly speaking, not three full days. He 
 rose from the dead on the third day after he was cruci- 
 fied, and on this account he is sometimes said to have 
 been three days in the grave. 
 
 Roger. Where did Christ go after he had risen ? 
 
 Teacher. He appeared several times to his disciples at 
 Jerusalem, and then directed the eleven to go to Galilee, 
 where he said he would meet them. This you remember 
 was where he had spent his early days. He saw them 
 after this many times; gave them his parting instructions; 
 directed them to go to Jerusalem, to wait there until they 
 should receive power from heaven, and then to go forth 
 and preach the gospel to all nations. At last, one day 
 while they were with him, not far from Jerusalem, he 
 bade them farewell, and ascended from the earth ; a cloud 
 received him, and they saw him no more. 
 
 When the teacher had finished this account, he told 
 the boys that it brought them to the end of the third pe- 
 riod of Scripture History, and that although the hour was 
 not quite spent, there would not be time to finish the next 
 period that evening ; and therefore he would not begin. 
 
80 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Description of the Map. 
 
 CONVERSATION VI. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD IN SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 As the teacher unrolled a map similar to the one ad- 
 joining this page, at the next evening in which the boys 
 were to meet, he told them that this map was a represent- 
 ation of those countries in which the events in the re- 
 maining portion of scripture history took place. Samuel, 
 said he, can you tell any thing about this map ? 
 
 Samuel. This large sea running through the middle of 
 the map, is, I should think, the Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 John. But it is a great deal larger than the Mediterra- 
 nean Sea was upon the other maps. 
 
 Samuel. That is because on the other maps only a par: 
 of the sea is drawn ; for those maps only represented the 
 countries about this end of the map, (pointing to the East- 
 ern part of it,) and therefore only this end was drawn. 
 
 Teacher. Then this map represents the countries drawn 
 upon the last maps, and a great deal more besides ? 
 
 Samuel. Yes, Sir. This yellow spot, (pointing to the 
 yellow spot East of the Mediterranean,) is Canaan; and 
 here is the river Jordan and the Dead Sea. 
 
 John. How small they are. 
 
 Roger. Yes ; because on this map they have only a 
 little corner, but on the other they were spread over the 
 whole paper. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. This map must be made to take in a 
 much larger region, because after the death of Christ the 
 disciples travelled into many countries, and spread the 
 
Anstya vw. 6c Syxn tit S e-n:«te I darl.it h. C < 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 81 
 
 Map. Roman Empire. 
 
 Christian religion far around. I am going this evening 
 to tell you how this was done, and this map shows the 
 countries where the disciples travelled. Can you tell, 
 John, whether they are generally to the Westward or the 
 Eastward of where Christ lived and died ! 
 
 John. To the Westward. 
 
 Teacher. And the events recorded in the Bible which 
 took place before Christ, were they to the Eastward or 
 Westward of Canaan ? 
 
 Roger. To the Eastward. At least, it was East of Ca- 
 naan where man was created, and where Abraham lived. 
 
 Samuel. But the children of Israel remained several 
 hundred years in Egypt, and that is South of Canaan. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. But those Eastern countries had grad- 
 ually declined ; and others farther to the West had be- 
 come populous and civilized, and had risen to power. 
 You recollect I informed you at the last lesson, that the 
 Romans had possession of Judea, in the time of Christ. 
 All these countries upon this map, and many others far- 
 ther West and North, were under the Roman power at 
 this time. Roger, can you tell me where Rome is ? 
 
 Roger. (Pointing to the West side of the map.) Here 
 it is in Italy. 
 
 Teacher. Yes: it was at this time a very great and 
 splendid city, and all these countries were rich and popu- 
 lous, filled with towns and villages, all, however, under 
 the Roman power. But we must begin with our history 
 again. 
 
 Samuel. We left off at the ascension of our Saviour. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : and do you remember his farewell di- 
 rections to his followers ? 
 
 Samuel. He directed them to go to Jerusalem, and wait 
 there some time, and then to go and preach the gospel to 
 all the world. 
 
82 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The gospel preached to the Jews. 
 
 John. How could they preach to all the world ? there 
 were only twelve of them, and I should think it would 
 be impossible for them ever to go over the whole world. 
 
 Roger. There were only eleven. Judas betrayed 
 Christ. 
 
 Teacher. Christ did not consider himself as speaking 
 only to the eleven ; but to all his followers, to the end of 
 time. They were but to begin the work. In obedience 
 to his command, the eleven went to Jerusalem ; and the 
 first thing which they did was to choose one in the place 
 of Judas. Then they remained waiting for the influences 
 of the Holy Spirit, which Christ had promised. This at 
 last came, and they immediately began to preach the 
 gospel to all the multitudes at Jerusalem. 
 
 Roger. What did they preach ? 
 
 Teacher. Peter seems to have been a chief speaker. 
 He endeavored to convince the Jews, for they spoke only 
 to Jews, that Jesus Christ who had just been cruci- 
 fied at Jerusalem, was the Saviour who had been prom- 
 ised in the Old Testament, and he called upon them to 
 repent of their sins and believe in this Saviour. They 
 spoke too in a great many languages, as the persons 
 there were of many different nations ; and as they had 
 had no means of learning these languages themselves, 
 the people who heard, knew that they were taught from 
 God. 
 
 Samuel. I thought you said that the people whom they 
 preached to, were all Jews ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : they were Jews, but they had been set- 
 tled in a great many different countries, and had thus 
 learned these different languages, and forgotten their own. 
 
 Samuel. This was on the day of Pentecost, was it not ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : the account is given in the second 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 83 
 
 Persecution of the Christians. 
 
 chapter of the Acts. Several thousand persons believed, 
 and joined the disciples of Christ. 
 
 Roger. Did not they all believe ? 
 
 Teacher. No : some ridiculed the apostles and opposed 
 them. 
 
 After this, the apostles preached several times in Jeru- 
 salem, and performed many miracles. Great numbers 
 believed and were baptized ; thus being admitted to the 
 Christian church. They sold their houses and lands, and 
 put the money into one stock, so as to have all things in 
 common, and thus they lived together very peacefully 
 and happily for some time. Some of them were once or 
 twice forbid by the Jewish government to preach any 
 more, and even punished, but they did not on that ac- 
 count cease. They rejoiced, as the Bible says, to suffer 
 shame for Christ's name. 
 
 Samuel. Did they preach any, out of Jerusalem ? 
 
 Teacher. No, not yet : though soon after this time a 
 very violent and cruel persecution arose against them, 
 and they then fled into all the surrounding towns and 
 villages, still preaching Christ as the Saviour. This per- 
 secution began by the murder of Stephen : you will find 
 an interesting account of his trial and death in one of the 
 early chapters of the Acts. 
 
 Roger. Was he one of the apostles 1 
 
 Teacher. No : I forgot to mention, that in consequence 
 of the Christians living in common, there was a great 
 deal of business to be attended to, which at first was 
 done by the apostles ; but which they soon found took 
 too much of their time. There were therefore seven 
 officers appointed for this purpose, which were called 
 deacons, and Stephen was one of these. 
 
 Roger. Did they go very far away from Jerusalem ? 
 
 Teacher. No. The Bible does not give any account 
 
84 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Gospel preached to the Gentiles. 
 
 of their going now very far out of Judea. They passed 
 along through the towns and villages of Judea, preaching 
 the gospel, and working miracles ; but they confined 
 themselves entirely to the Jews. Christ had commanded 
 them to publish the gospel first to this people. But he 
 was preparing the way for sending the news of salvation 
 to all nations. 
 
 Samuel. How was it necessary to prepare the way ? 
 
 Teacher. Two things were to be done. In the first 
 place, to choose and to commission some proper individ- 
 ual for this service ; and in the second place, to prepare 
 the minds of the present Christians for this extension of 
 the offers of salvation. 
 
 Samuel. Why, would any of them be unwilling that the 
 gospel should be preached to all ? 
 
 Teacher. Perhaps not really unwilling ; but the Jews 
 had been so long accustomed to suppose that the descend- 
 ants of Abraham were the only nation which God loved, 
 or which he would condescend to save, that they could not 
 be willing to have the gospel preached to any but Jews, 
 without very clear proof that God desired it. But as I 
 was saying before, the first thing was to choose a proper 
 individual, to become as it were the first foreign mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 Samuel. Did it require any uncommon qualities to fit a 
 man for this service ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes ; for as soon as he should leave Judea 
 and the Jews, he would come into countries where there 
 was more learning and refinement, and a higher state of 
 civilization. He would pass from a province in one of 
 the extremities towards the centre of the great Roman 
 empire, and perhaps would be called to speak as the am- 
 bassador of Christ in the very capital itself. To discharge 
 these duties successfully, would require peculiar qualifica- 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 85 
 
 Preaching to the Gentiles. Saul. 
 
 tions. He ought to be a man of intelligence and educa- 
 tion, as well as of active enterprize. 
 
 Roger. I should think, if God could teach the apostles 
 new languages at once, he might make any man, although 
 he was ignorant, successful even at Rome. 
 
 Teacher. So he might have done, undoubtedly ; but 
 God wishes that his servants should at all times exercise 
 ingenuity and diligence in doing his work ; and he has 
 accordingly almost always, in the Bible, given us exam- 
 ples of the kind of characters and of measures best adapt- 
 ed for doing good, so that we may imitate them. 
 
 Roger. Who was chosen to go and preach to the Ro- 
 mans ? 
 
 Teacher. It was not to the Romans merely, but to all 
 nations, that he was to be sent. The person who was 
 chosen was the bitterest enemy of the Christians. 
 
 John. Their enemy ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. His name was Saul, which was after- 
 wards changed to Paul. He was a lawyer, of good edu- 
 cation, and of extensive influence, and had been very ac- 
 tive and cruel in persecuting the Christians ; and it was 
 on his journey to Damascus, a large city here, (pointing 
 to D., a little to the North East of Judea,) where he was 
 going, to take and imprison some Christians, that Christ 
 appeared to him, and changed him from an enemy to a 
 friend. 
 
 Roger. How was it ? I remember something about it, 
 but do not remember it exactly. 
 
 Teacher. I cannot stop to describe it to you now : you 
 can read it at any time, in the Acts. Paul immediately 
 began to preach the gospel, and was soon, in consequence 
 of it, involved in great difficulties and dangers. 
 
 Roger. Did Christ send him away to the other nations ? 
 
 Teacher. He told him that he was going to send him 
 8 
 
86 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 First preaching to the Gentiles hy Peter. 
 
 far away to the Gentiles ; but he did not direct him to go 
 immediately. The second thing which I mentioned 
 just now, had not been done. I mean, the Jewish Chris- 
 tians were not yet prepared to have the gospel preached 
 to any but Jews. 
 
 Samuel. Ought they not to have been willing, without 
 there being any pains taken to prepare them ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, perhaps they ought. But God is always 
 kind and condescending, even in his manner of removing 
 the prejudices and correcting the faults of those who love 
 him. Had Paul been sent away immediately to the Gen- 
 tiles, they might, through the influence of long-established 
 prejudices, have thought it the inexperience and rashness 
 of the new convert, and might have been tempted to 
 commit sin by opposing what Christ had directed. 
 
 Samuel. Well, what was done to prevent this 1 
 
 Teacher. It was so ordered that one of the original 
 apostles, one of well known and established character, 
 and who possessed very fully the confidence of the Chris- 
 tians, should carry the gospel to a Gentile. This was 
 Peter. By God's direction he went to an officer in the 
 Roman army, whose name was Cornelius, to explain to 
 him the character of Christ, and the way to forgiveness 
 of sin, and to everlasting happiness in heaven, through 
 him. Cornelius gladly believed, and joined the Christian 
 church ; and this conversion of a Roman soldier, through 
 the preaching of the apostle Peter, was soon noised abroad, 
 and excited much attention. Peter soon took occasion to 
 explain to the Christians at Jerusalem the reasons for his 
 conduct, and they rejoiced with him, that the way of sal- 
 vation was now opened to all the nations of the earth. 
 
 John. Was Paul now sent away ? 
 Teacher. Yes : very soon after this, he was at Tarsus, 
 which you see here, (pointing to T, near the North East 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 87 
 
 Paal's first Mission. Greeks. 
 
 corner, of the Mediterranean Sea,) where he was born. 
 He had escaped here from the enemies who sought his 
 life soon after his conversion. There was a large church 
 at Antioch, (pointing to Antioch,) near Tarsus. This 
 church was directed to send forth Paul with Barnabas, to 
 accompany him to the work for which they had been 
 called. They accordingly did so, and after a solemn 
 service of fasting and prayer, they sent them away. 
 
 John. Which way did they go 1 
 
 Teacher. They came down from Antioch, (which was 
 back a little way from the sea,) to Seleucia, the nearest 
 seaport, where they embarked in a vessel and sailed away 
 upon the sea. 
 
 John. Upon the Mediterranean Sea ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. They came out to this island, called 
 Cyprus. This was in the hands of the Romans, and 
 was governed by a Roman officer called a deputy. This 
 deputy sent for them, and after hearing them explain the 
 truths of Christianity, believed. They had some diffi- 
 culty here with a sorcerer, which you read an account of 
 in the Acts. They soon left Cyprus, and went to the 
 main land again, at Perga, which you see here, (pointing 
 to Perga.) I have marked the track by a dotted lino 
 upon the map. 
 
 John. Did they not sail any more 1 
 
 Teacher. No, not at present. They travelled about in 
 these provinces, painted different colors. Pamphylia, 
 Pisidia, &c. preaching the gospel in all the large towns. 
 
 Roger. Was this country inhabited by the Romans ? 
 
 Teacher. No : it was under the Roman government, 
 but the people were generally Greeks. This had been a 
 part of the great Grecian empire until the Romans had 
 conquered it. Paul and Barnabas, however, generally 
 preached first in the Jewish synagogues. 
 
88 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Synagogues. Heathen gods. Paul's preaching. 
 
 John. What were the synagogues ? 
 
 Teacher. They were buildings for public worship, which 
 the Jews built in all the towns where many of them were 
 settled. They used to assemble in these to hear the 
 Bible read, that is, the Old Testament, and to pray ; 
 sometimes to these was added preaching. 
 
 Roger. Did the other persons who lived in these towns, 
 the Greeks and the Romans, come to meeting in the 
 Jews' synagogues ? 
 
 Teacher. No, not often. They did not believe in 
 Jehovah, the only God, but they thought there were a 
 great many gods and goddesses — such as one god of the 
 earth, and another of the air, another of water. So also 
 they had a god of war, and of peace, and of wisdom, and 
 a great many others besides. In many places they had 
 temples built for some of these, and they offered sacrifices 
 to them. 
 
 Samuel. Why did Paul preach in the Jewish syna- 
 gogues ? I thought he was sent to preach to the Gentiles. 
 
 Teacher. So he was : but whenever he came into any 
 place, he always first endeavored to convince the Jews 
 that Christ was the Saviour who had been promised in 
 the Old Testament. He usually, in order to do this, 
 went into their synagogues and read the descriptions of 
 the Saviour in their own Bibles, and then showed how 
 they all applied to Jesus, who he told them had been 
 lately crucified, and had risen again from the dead, at 
 Jerusalem. After he had thus tried to convince the Jews 
 that their Saviour had come, he then turned to the Gen- 
 tiles, and endeavored to persuade them to give up their 
 imaginary gods, and to worship Jehovah, and believe on 
 his Son. 
 
 Roger. How long did they stay in this part of the 
 country ? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 89 
 
 Paul's return. A difficulty arises. 
 
 Teacher. Not a great while. They suffered a great 
 many hardships and dangers, and once or twice Paul was 
 almost killed by his enemies, as you may see by reading 
 the account in the Acts. However, a great many be- 
 lieved, and several churches were established ; and at 
 last, Paul and Barnabas came down to the sea-coast at 
 Perga, and sailed for home. They landed at Seleucia, 
 and then went up to Antioch. As soon as they arrived, 
 the Christians, who had sent them, came together, and 
 Paul and Barnabas related to them all that they had done, 
 and all that had happened to them. 
 
 Roger. Why did they not go farther before they re- 
 turned home ? 
 
 Teacher. I do not know : they undoubtedly had good 
 reasons. But they did not remain long at home : they 
 soon set out upon another excursion. Though before 
 this, a difficult question arose, which was to be settled 
 first. 
 
 Roger. About which way they should go 1 
 
 Teacher. No : it was upon a much more important sub- 
 ject. You recollect I told you that the Jewish Christians 
 were at first rather reluctant to have the gospel preached 
 to any but Jews ; but since God's will in regard to this 
 had been plainly made known, they generally acquiesced ; 
 but now some of them said that if the gospel was preach- 
 ed to any of the Gentiles, they could not embrace it and 
 become Christians, unless they became Jews too. 
 
 John. How? What did they mean by becoming Jews? 
 
 Teacher. They meant, complying with all the rites and 
 ceremonies which were required by the Jewish law, which 
 was given to the Israelites, while they were travelling 
 from Egypt to Canaan. Some, I say, thought that all the 
 converts ought to keep this law, as well as obey Christ's 
 commands ; while others thought that the Gentiles, who 
 8* 
 
90 CONVERSATIONS ON THE RIBLE. 
 
 Difficulty settled. A contention. 
 
 believed in Christ, were only to obey the commands, and 
 keep the precepts of the new dispensation. They thought 
 that the Jewish law was designed only for the descend- 
 ants of Abraham until the Messiah should come, and then 
 that the Christian precepts and ordinances should take the 
 place of the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic law. 
 
 Samuel. How was the question decided ? 
 Teacher. They sent Paul and Barnabas from Antioch 
 to Jerusalem, to call together there a council of the church 
 to consider this question ; and this council, after carefully 
 considering the subject, saw that the future converts to 
 Christianity ought not to be burdened with the Jewish 
 ceremonies ; and the council accordingly wrote a letter 
 to the church at Antioch, and made known to them this 
 decision. 
 
 John. Did Paul and Barnabas carry back the letter? 
 
 Teacher. Yes; and soon after they arrived at Antioch, 
 they set out on another mission. They however could 
 not agree who should go with them ; and so, after some 
 contention, they separated, and went different ways. 
 
 Roger. Contention? I thought they were inspired. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, Paul was inspired to write nothing but 
 what was true ; but that does not prove that he never 
 acted wrong : though perhaps it is not certain that he 
 was wrong in this case. But we cannot stop to inquire 
 about that now. Paul set out, in company with one or 
 two others, on his second mission. 
 
 Roger. Did he go by water again ? 
 
 Teacher. No : this time he went by land. He passed 
 around the North Eastern corner of the Mediterranean 
 Sea, towards Pamphylia, where he had been before. — 
 John, can you tell through what provinces he must pass ? 
 
 John. (Looking upon the map.) Through a part of 
 Syria and Cilicia. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 91 
 
 Paul's second Mission. Greece. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : he passed through, in this way, almost 
 all this country lying between the Mediterranean and the 
 Black Sea, which you see is divided into many small prov- 
 inces. At last, he came to the North West part of it, to 
 this province, (pointing to Mysia.) 
 
 Roger. Did he stop here? 
 
 Teacher. He could not go any farther by land ; for you 
 see the country is surrounded by water on the West, and 
 North, and South. There were very rich and populous 
 countries beyond, and many large and splendid cities, in 
 Macedonia and Achaia ; for this was, not long before, the 
 centre of the Grecian empire. Paul, however, seems to have 
 hesitated a little, whether it were best for him to go over. 
 
 Samuel. Did he meet with much success in these prov- 
 inces of Asia ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and with very great success, but also 
 with great opposition. Great multitudes flocked to hear 
 him ; but many were exceedingly enraged against him, 
 and several times his life was in the greatest danger. — 
 There is an account given in Acts, of what happened to 
 him in the several towns as he passed along. 
 
 Samuel. Where did he at last decide to go, from Mysia? 
 
 Teacher. God directed him to go on to Macedonia, and 
 he accordingly did ; and after travelling and preaching 
 some time in this region, he came down here to Athens 
 and Corinth, two of the most celebrated cities in the 
 world. He preached and established churches in almost 
 all the towns and cities which he visited ; and he suffered 
 many hardships, and met with many interesting adven- 
 tures, which we must not stop now to consider. At last, 
 he set out on his return, and arrived safely at Antioch. 
 
 Roger. Why did he go to Antioch every time ? 
 
 Teacher. There seems to have been a large and flour- 
 ishing church at Antioch, and you remember it was this 
 
92 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Paul's letters. His return. 
 
 church which ordained Paul for this work. Perhaps the 
 Christians could be in greater safety at Antioch than at 
 Jerusalem. However, Paul did not long remain at home. 
 He set out again, travelled through Asia, and came to 
 Ephesus, a very large city here, (pointing to Ephesus, in 
 the western part of Asia.) He remained in this city for 
 some time, and then he went over to Macedonia, and 
 travelled down through Greece, visiting the churches 
 which had been planted before in this country. Besides 
 visiting the churches, he wrote letters to a great many, 
 while he was upon these journeys. John, did you ever 
 hear of these letters? 
 
 John. No, Sir ; I do not remember that I have. 
 
 Teacher. What is there in the New Testament after 
 the Acts ? 
 
 John. There are a great many other short books — Ro- 
 mans and Corinthians, and some more : I do not remem- 
 ber all the names. 
 
 Teacher. Why do these books have such names as Ro- 
 mans? What does Romans mean ? 
 
 John. I suppose it means the people who live in Rome. 
 I do not know why the book is called so. 
 
 Roger. It is called the epistle to the Romans. 
 
 Teacher. And what does epistle mean ? 
 
 Roger. I believe it means a letter. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, these books are almost all of them let- 
 ters written by Paul to the various churches which he had 
 established, giving them advice and instruction. A great 
 many of them were written while he was upon these jour- 
 neys. But I must hasten. Paul returned, after a time, 
 to Judea again, where he met with new and great diffi- 
 culties. The Jews determined to kill him ; and soon 
 after he arrived at Jerusalem, one day, while he was in 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 93 
 
 Puul's difficulties at Jerusalem. 
 
 the temple there, they collected in a great mob, took him, 
 brought him out of the temple, and began to beat him, 
 and were going to kill him. 
 
 Roger, How did he escape ? 
 
 Teacher. A Roman officer came down, with some sol- 
 diers, and rescued him, and carried him off into a castle, 
 where he was safe. The next day, the officer told the 
 Jews, that if they wished to try Paul regularly, according 
 to law, he would bring him down before their council. 
 Do either of you remember the name of the great council 
 of the Jews? 
 
 Samuel. The Sanhedrim. 
 
 Teacher. Yes: this council assembled accordingly, and 
 Paul was sent before it by the Roman officer. Here he 
 made a very able defence, and in consequence of it the 
 council could not agree in regard to him. There was so 
 great a contention among them, that the Roman officer 
 feared they would pull Paul to pieces ; and he sent down 
 some soldiers, who took him away from them by force, 
 and brought him back to the castle. 
 
 Roger. What did he do with him then ? 
 
 Teacher. His enemies formed a plot to take away his 
 life, which was very cunningly devised, and it failed by 
 being found out in a remarkable manner. You can read 
 the account in the 23d chapter of Acts. The Roman of- 
 ficer then sent Paul down to Caesarea, protecting him by 
 a strong guard. 
 
 Samuel. Where was Caesarea ? 
 
 Teacher. It was West of Jerusalem, on the sea-coast, 
 
 where the Roman governor resided. The Roman officer 
 
 i who had protected Paul at Jerusalem, sent him down to 
 
 this governor, so that he might be tried there, under his 
 
 authority. 
 
94 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Paul's appeal. Caesar. 
 
 John. What did the governor do with him ? 
 
 Teacher. He sent up to Jerusalem to have his accusers 
 come down, and then he was tried ; but nothing was 
 proved against him. However, the governor kept him a 
 prisoner, though not closely confined, for about two years, 
 and then another man was appointed governor. 
 
 Very soon after the new governor had entered upon his 
 office, the Jews applied to him, with a request that Paul 
 might be tried and condemned. The new governor then 
 called Paul before him, with his accusers also, and, after 
 a slight examination, proposed to him that he should go 
 up to Jerusalem, and there be tried by the Jews. Paul 
 said no : he was not accountable, he said, to the Jews : 
 he was on trial before the Romans, and he appealed to 
 Caesar. 
 
 John. What did he mean by that ? 
 
 Teacher. Caesar was the Roman emperor, the great 
 monarch at Rome,, who reigned over all these countries, 
 appointed all these governors, and commanded all the ar- 
 mies. Paul said, he would go and be tried before him. 
 
 Roger. Suppose the governor would not send him. 
 
 Teacher. I believe he was obliged to, by the laws, in 
 cases of this kind. At any rate, he did determine to send 
 him ; and not long after, Paul embarked in a large vessel, 
 and set out on his voyage to Rome. Can you tell, John, 
 in what direction he was going I 
 
 John. West. 
 
 Teacher. And over what sea ? 
 
 John. The Mediterranean. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, it was the Mediterranean Sea, and a 
 very interesting account of the voyage is given in the 
 Acts. Do you remember, Samuel, whether they reached 
 Rome without anv difficultv ? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Close of Scripture History. 
 
 Samuel. No, Sir, they did not : they were shipwrecked 
 and cast upon the island of Melita. 
 
 Teacher. Yes, and afterwards went to Rome in another 
 ship. Here Paul remained two years, as a prisoner ; and 
 here the history of the Bible closes. 
 
 John. What became of Paul afterwards ? 
 
 Teacher. The Bible does not tell, and it is rather un- 
 certain. 
 
 Samuel. Is this the end of the Bible ? There are seve- 
 ral books after the Acts. 
 
 Teacher. Yes ; but they are not historical books : they 
 are letters, which do not relate the history of any individ- 
 uals mentioned in the Bible. 
 
 John. And is this all which you are going to teach us 
 this winter ? 
 
 Teacher. No : there are several other things about the 
 Bible, which I wish to explain to you. But before leaving 
 the subject of History, I wish to say something to you 
 upon the subject of Scripture Chronology. Do you know, 
 Roger, what is meant by Chronology ? 
 
 Roger. No, Sir. 
 
 Samuel. Is it not the time when events happened ? 
 Teacher. Yes : it is the science of determining the 
 times of events. All, however, which I wish to have you 
 attend to now, is a way of representing the times of 
 events. Do you know, Samuel, how long it is from the 
 creation of the world to the present time ? 
 Samuel. About eighteen hundred years. 
 Roger. I thought it was eighteen hundred years since 
 the time of Christ : and the world was created lono- before 
 
 * o 
 
 that. 
 
 Teacher. How long '? 
 Roger. I do not know. 
 
96 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The Chronological line. 
 
 Samuel. I remember now : it was four thousand years 
 from the creation to the time of Christ, and eighteen hun- 
 dred years from that time to this. 
 
 Teacher. And how much does that make in all ? 
 
 Roger. Five thousand eight hundred years. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : now we may represent this period by a 
 line. 
 
 While the teacher said this, he drew upon a piece of 
 paper a long line, with a pen and a rule, which were 
 upon the table. 
 
 Teacher. Now, as the time from the creation to the 
 present time is nearly six thousand years, we will suppose 
 this line represents six thousand years. If I divide it 
 now into six equal parts, how much will each represent? 
 John. One thousand years. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Now, we may divide each thousand 
 years into ten parts ; and the line will then be divided into 
 hundreds. But I will make the marks at the end of each 
 thousand years larger than the others, and write the 
 figures over each division. 
 
 While the teacher said this, he drew a line, and di- 
 vided it as follows : — 
 
 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 
 
 i i I i i i 1 
 
 Teacher. Now, this line represents the whole number 
 of years from the creation to the present time, and even a 
 little beyond this time, as it is not yet quite six thousand 
 years since the creation. Now, suppose I wish to mark 
 the birth of Christ upon this line, where should it be 
 marked. 
 
 John. Here, (pointing to the division marked 4000.) 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 97 
 
 Times of events; — their places upon the line. 
 
 Teacher, Why? 
 
 John. Because Christ was born 4000 years after the 
 creation. 
 
 Samuel. Was it not 4004 years ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : and will this make any difference in 
 the place of marking it ? 
 
 Samuel. I should think it should be beyond the division 
 for four thousand years, because there are four years 
 besides. 
 
 Teacher. And how much farther 1 
 
 Samuel. (Hesitating.) I do not know. 
 
 Teacher. Should you think it ought to be as much far- 
 ther as to the first small division ? 
 
 Roger. No, Sir : because that is for a hundred years, 
 and it should be only four years. 
 
 Teacher. Right. We cannot tell precisely where it 
 should be marked, but it will be near enough if we maka 
 it a very little farther. 
 
 Samuel. Could we not have the line divided into smaller 
 parts than a hundred years 1 
 
 Teacher. Yes, by making it longer ; then each of the 
 parts would be longer and might be subdivided. Then* 
 would be another advantage of having the line longer : 
 can you think what it would be ? 
 
 Samuel. Yes : we could write more names, and thus 
 represent more events, without having it crowded. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : but I think it will not be necessary 
 now. This line will answer our present purpose very 
 well. You can perhaps make more full and perfect one* 
 yourselves, at some future time. 
 
 The teacher then began to mark upon the line the 
 principal events which he had mentioned in relating the 
 9 
 
9S 
 
 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The Chronological line. 
 
 course of Scripture History. The line appeared when 
 finished as follows : 
 
 1000 — 
 
 1656 - Flood. 
 
 2000 l 
 2078 i 
 
 2308 
 
 2510 j 
 2553} 
 
 5909) 
 299-3 \ 
 
 sooo \ 
 
 3029 j 
 
 3398 ) 
 3468 \ 
 
 4000; 
 4004 
 4037 ! 
 
 Call of Abraham. 
 
 Settlement in E. 
 
 Departure from Egypt. 
 Settlement in Canaan. 
 
 Establishment of Mooa 
 -Building of the Temple. 
 Revolt of the Ten Tribes. 
 
 Captivity of Judah and Benjamin. 
 Return of Judah and Benjamin 
 
 -Birth of Christ. 
 Crucifixion of Christ. 
 
 5000 — 
 
 C000- 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 99 
 
 Advantages of the line. Another method. 
 
 Samuel. What is the use of making a chronological 
 line like this ? It does not learn us any thing, for 
 we are obliged to know the time of each event before we 
 can write it down. 
 
 Teacher. True : we do not learn the times of events by 
 it. But it helps us to gain more correct ideas of the 
 distances between events, and it helps us also to remem- 
 ber them. Can you tell me without looking upon the 
 line, which was the longest time, from the creation 
 to the flood, or from the flood to the settlement of the 
 Jews in Canaan ? 
 
 Samuel. I should think it was much longer from the 
 flood to the settlement in Canaan. 
 
 Roger. Yes, Sir : for the flood you know was the first 
 thing almost after the creation. 
 
 Teacher. Now look at the line, and see. 
 
 Samuel. (After looking.) I see I was wrong, there is 
 a much longer part of the line between the creation and 
 the flood. 
 
 Teacher. Yes : and the reason why you supposed it 
 was a short time is because the Bible gives only a short 
 account of it. Now drawing such a line as this serves to 
 correct all such mistaken notions. 
 
 But there are several other ways of obtaining clear 
 ideas in regard to the times of events. There are, you 
 know, six days in the week, not reckoning the Sab- 
 bath. Now we can let these six days represent the six 
 thousand years, and assist ourselves to remember the times 
 of events by considering in what part of the week they 
 would come. On this plan, Roger, what day would rep- 
 resent the first thousand years ? 
 
 Roger. Monday ; and Tuesday the second, and Wed- 
 nesday the third thousand years. 
 
100 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Days of the week employed. 
 
 Teacher. And can yon tell me what events would hap- 
 pen on Monday 1 
 
 Roger. I can tell by looking upon the chronological 
 line, and seeing what events happened in the first thou- 
 sand years. 
 
 Teacher. Well, look. 
 
 Roger. (After looking.) There are none. 
 
 Teacher. No : we did not mark any, but perhaps you 
 recollect some mentioned in the Bible. 
 
 John. Cain killed Abel then. 
 
 Roger. And the fall of man took place. 
 
 Teacher. Right. Now, can any of you tell in what part 
 of the chronological week the flood took place ? 
 
 Samuel. On Tuesday. 
 
 Teacher. Why? 
 
 Samuel. Because it was in the second thousand years. 
 
 Teacher. What part of Tuesday would it be, forenoon 
 or afternoon ? Can you tell, John ? 
 
 J oh?}. No, Sir : I do not know how to tell. 
 
 Teacher. In what year was the flood ? 
 
 John. (Looking upon the chronological line.) In 1656. 
 
 Teacher. Yes. Now, what is the middle of the second 
 thousand years ? 
 
 John. 1500 years. 
 
 Teacher. Well, is 1656 before or after the middle ? 
 
 John. It is after ; and therefore it would be after the 
 middle of Tuesday, or in the afternoon. 
 
 Teacher. In the same way we may fix the times of all 
 the principal events in the chronological week, and re- 
 member them easier. 
 
 Samuel. The birth of Christ would be on Friday mor- 
 ning — would it not ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes. And when would be the discovery of 
 America ? 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 101 
 
 Times of events. The boys go home. 
 
 Samuel. I do not know in what year it was. 
 
 Teacher. In 1492. 
 
 Samuel. That means 1492 years after Christ : does it 
 not? 
 
 Teacher. Yes ; and we must add the 4004 years before 
 Christ, to find out how long it was since the creation. 
 
 Roger. It would be 5496. So that the discovery of 
 America would be in the fifth thousand years. 
 
 Teacher. No, not in the fifth, because five thousand 
 years had passed, and more than four hundred years of 
 the sixth. 
 
 Roger. Then it would be on Saturday, which repre- 
 sented the sixth thousand years. 
 
 Teacher. What part of Saturday ? 
 
 Samuel. Almost Saturday noon. 
 
 Teacher. And what would represent the present time ? 
 
 Roger. Saturday night. 
 
 Teacher. Not Saturday night exactly. 
 
 Roger. No : because the six thousand years are not 
 yet out. But it would be late in the afternoon. 
 
 The teacher talked with the boys some time longer ; 
 and among other things he said, that it would be a good 
 plan for each of them to make a chronological Jine, and 
 mark upon it all the remarkable events which had hap- 
 pened since the world was created, if they could find the 
 years in which they happened. He told them they might 
 mark down the events which are mentioned in other 
 books besides the Bible, if they chose. After he had 
 finished talking to them upon this subject, the boys went 
 home ; and on the way Roger said he meant to make a 
 chronological line, and that he would carry it to school, 
 and show it to Samuel. 
 
 It happened, however, that Samuel, and Roger, and 
 9* 
 
102 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Attempts to make a Chronological line. 
 
 John, and all the other boys in that school, were very 
 busy all that week, in the play hours of the school, in 
 building a large snow fort, and they did not think much 
 of the chronological line. Samuel did not know whether 
 Roger had tried to make one or not, until the next week, 
 when the boys were going together, on Wednesday even- 
 ing, to the teacher's : and then he asked him about it. 
 
 Roger said that he tried to make one, but that he did not 
 do it very well. He drew his line, and divided it into 
 parts, but he found sometimes a good many events came 
 so near together that he had not room to write them ; and 
 so in some parts of his line the words were crowded and 
 blotted, and in other parts there was nothing at all. He 
 did not see, he said, why the events did not happen equally 
 in all the parts. 
 
 Samuel Perhaps you did not know them all. 
 
 John. Why did not you make the line longer ? then 
 there would be more room. 
 
 Roger. I did make it as long as the paper was. 
 
 Samuel. Where is the paper ? I want to see it. 
 
 Roger. I threw it away. I mean to make a better one. 
 I have thought of a way to make one very, very long, so 
 us to be sure to have room enough to write all the events. 
 I mean to have it as long as I am, from head to foot. 
 
 John. I don't believe you can get a piece of paper long 
 enough for that. 
 
 $er. I am going to paste a good many pieces together 
 in a row, and then draw the line over them ali^ and then 
 when it is finished I shall roll it up. 
 
 Samuel. There is another way in which we might do 
 it. We might make a little book, with six pages, and 
 draw a line from the top to the bottom of each page — and 
 let each of these lines be a thousand years. We might 
 have the lines on one side of the page, and the events 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 103 
 
 Various plans. 
 
 might be written in the middle of the page, opposite the 
 proper parts of the line. 
 
 Roger. I do not think this would be so well, because we 
 should not see the whole six thousand years together. 
 
 Samuel. No, we should not see it all together ; but a 
 book would be so much more handy to carry than a roll, 
 and then it would not wear out. so quick. But I think 
 you had better make a roll, and I will make a book, and 
 then we will compare them. 
 
 Very soon after this, the boys arrived at the teacher's 
 house. 
 
104 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The boys assemble Teacher sick- 
 
 CONVERSATION VII. 
 
 The boys knocked at the teacher's door, and while 
 they were waiting for some one to open it, John observed 
 that there was no light in the parlor where they had been 
 accustomed to meet with the teacher ; but that there was 
 a light in the chamber above. Samuel said he was afraid 
 somebody was sick. Presently the door opened softly, 
 and a woman appeared, and, after looking at them an in- 
 stant, said, Do you want any thing, boys ? 
 
 Samuel. "We came to see our teacher : we always come 
 on Wednesday evenings. 
 
 Woman. Your teacher is sick, and you cannot see him 
 to-night. 
 
 Samuel. What is the matter with him ? 
 
 Woman. I do not know : he has been sick two or three 
 days. The doctor says, perhaps he will not live ; so you 
 had better go home. 
 
 Roger whispered to Samuel to ask the woman if they 
 could not do any thing for him — but just then some one 
 at the top of the stairs spoke in a low voice to the woman, 
 and asked her if those were the Sabbath school boys who 
 were at the door. The woman turned to the boys, and 
 asked, Are you the Sabbath school boys ? 
 
 Yes, ma'am, said John. 
 
 Then, said the voice at the top of the stairs, the 
 teacher says he should like to have them walk up : he 
 wants to see them a few moments. 
 
 Samuel and Roger immediately walked in — but John 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 105 
 
 Appearance of a sick room. 
 
 remained upon the steps, apparently unwilling to follow 
 them. Come, John, said Roger, as he stood holding 
 the door, ready to shut it. 
 
 John said he did not want to go. 
 
 What — don't you want to go and see the teacher? said 
 Roger. 
 
 I don't want to see him, if he is sick, and going to die. 
 
 He is not going to die now, and he wants to see us : — 
 come, you must go. 
 
 With some persuasion he was led in, and they all walked 
 softly up stairs. John had never seen a person danger- 
 ously sick, and he expected to find the teacher suffering 
 a great deal of pain, and looking very unhappy. But 
 when the door opened, and he followed Samuel and Roger 
 in, he was surprised to find every thing looking so cheer- 
 ful and pleasant. There was a bright glowing fire upon 
 the hearth, and it shed its light strongly over all the ob- 
 jects in the room. The teacher lay, or rather reclined, in 
 his bed, his back being raised by pillows. He was pale : 
 but he smiled when the boys came in ; and they thought 
 they never saw him look so happy. Near the bed there 
 was a table, covered with phials and medicines ; and the 
 doctor was sitting by it, doing up some little papers. The 
 teacher's sister was sitting by the side of the fire, with a 
 Bible in her hand. 
 
 I am glad to see you, boys, (said he, in a faint but 
 cheerful voice, as they entered.) Sit down a few minutes : 
 I want to talk with you a little, when the doctor has fin- 
 ished giving his directions. 
 
 The boys sat down, and listened to the doctor, while he 
 
 gave the directions to the nurse about taking care of the 
 
 sick man through the night. At last, he turned to the 
 
 teacher himself, and said, taking hold of his hand, — 
 
 Well, Sir, I must bid you good evening. I hope you 
 
106 CONVERSATION'S ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The pious physician. Sickness sudden. 
 
 will have a comfortable night. You may, however, suffer 
 a good deal, and you are aware that you are constantly in 
 some danger. I should not speak so freely of this, if I 
 did not see that it does not agitate you. 
 
 Teacher. I think, Sir, you will find that the best way to 
 keep me quiet and composed, is to tell me openly and 
 plainly what is my condition. I am not reluctant to die, 
 if it is God's will : but if my dying hour is approaching, I 
 wish to know it. 
 
 Doctor. It may be near — but I hope not. But whether 
 you live or die, I trust God will give you resignation to 
 his will. But I must leave you — for you must not talk 
 much. These boys, (continued he, looking at Samuel 
 and his companions,) must not stay long, or they will tire 
 you. I am glad, however, that they have come ; for you 
 will do them some good. It will certainly do them good 
 to see how a Christian feels and acts upon a sick and per- 
 haps a dying bed. 
 
 So saying, the pious physician bade all in the room 
 good night, and went away. 
 
 Come, boys, said the teacher, come and stand by 
 my bed-side, for I cannot speak very loud. 
 
 They came and stood by the side of the bed, and looked, 
 with very sorrowful countenances, upon the teacher's pale 
 cheeks and wasted form. 
 
 How long have you been sick 1 said Samuel. 
 
 Teacher. Not long. Last Sabbath I was at meeting, 
 and as well as usual ; and now you see how I am. It 
 does not take long for God to take away our strength, and 
 bring us to sickness and pain. 
 
 John. I am very sorry you are sick, Sir. 
 
 Teacher. I thank you for feeling for me, John : but I 
 do not know that we ought to be sorry. Sickness does 
 a great deal of good. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 107 
 
 Sickness teaches patience ; — humility. 
 
 Roger. Good ? What good does it do, Sir ? 
 
 Teacher. Perhaps I ought to have said, it may do a 
 great deal of good. Why, in the first place, it may in- 
 crease our 'patience. 
 
 Roger. I should think, Sir, that to bear sickness and 
 pain, would make men impatient. 
 
 Teacher. No : it ought not to. Consider, for example, 
 my case. God has laid me here, and sometimes I suffer 
 a good deal of pain : but I know it comes from Him ; and 
 I know it is for some good design, and I try to bear it pa- 
 tiently. If I am for a moment, when the pain is severe, 
 
 fretful or uneasy, — when I think of it afterwards again, it 
 grieves. me to think of my repining at an evil so trifling, 
 compared with what Christ willingly suffered for me ; and 
 
 so when the pain returns again, I try to bear it better. 
 
 I remember, too, that God is near me all the time, and that 
 he is noticing all my feelings, and that he hears all my 
 words ; and this makes me careful to try to please him. 
 . Samuel. Sometimes people are sick without suffering 
 much pain. 
 
 Teacher. Yes ; and they may learn patience another 
 way. Perhaps they are confined to their rooms a long, 
 very long time, or perhaps their business is interrupted 
 when there was something they were particularly desirous 
 of doing ; and these things try their patience. 
 
 John. But sometimes people are sick, who are already 
 very patient. I don't think you need to have to bear 
 pain, to prevent your being fretful. 
 
 Teacher. O yes, John, every body needs it. No one is 
 as patient and resigned to God's will as he ought to be. 
 But there are a great many other advantages of sickness. 
 It makes men feel humble. 
 
 Samuel. How 1 
 
 Teacher. When w r e are strong, and healthy, and pros- 
 
108 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. • 
 
 Dependence upon God. 
 
 perous, we are very likely to forget that God's power 
 alone holds us up from day to day. Here is Roger now, 
 young and vigorous, he hardly knows what sickness is, 
 but he is just as weak in himself, and just as dependent 
 upon God, as I am, who lie here scarcely able to turn 
 
 myself over in my bed. But I think it very probable 
 
 that he has not felt how dependent he is upon God, while 
 he has been at his work and his play to-day, as I hav© 
 who have been lying here weak and low. 
 
 Roger. I do not think I have. 
 
 Teacher. Now suppose God should see that Roger, 
 or either of you should be going on from day to day, for- 
 getting your dependence upon him ; feeling and acting 
 as if you were able to take care of yourselves, and thus 
 w r andering in heart from God, perhaps he would send 
 sickness to you, to remind you that you cannot protect 
 yourselves ; — that you are his children, sustained by his 
 goodness, and guarded by his love ; — and if he should do 
 so, it would be a great mercy, and would do you a great 
 deal of good. 
 
 Samuel. But cannot we remember our weakness and 
 our dependence upon God, without being sick 1 
 
 Teacher. Yes : undoubtedly we might, but we do not ; 
 and if sickness is improved aright, it reminds us of these 
 things. But sickness will not of itself make us humble 
 
 o 
 
 and patient without our own efforts, and God's blessing. 
 
 John. Does sickness do any other good besides this ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : it makes those who love God more 
 faithful in obeying his commands when they recover. 
 While lying here, I think how uncertain this world is, 
 and how unwise it is for me to place my hopes upon it. 
 I think how soon I must die, even if I recover from this 
 disorder ; and I think too how many there are in this 
 world who are soon to go to another, for which they are 
 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 109 
 
 Sickness of the wicked. The Bible. 
 
 not prepared, and this leads me to wish when I am well 
 to be more careful in obeying God's commands, and in 
 persuading others to obey them. I form resolutions to do 
 this, and pray God to help me keep them. 
 
 John. Do all people do this, when they are sick ? 
 Teacher. No, John— I am afraid not. There are a 
 great many, who do not think of God while they are well, 
 and then they are afraid to come to him when they are 
 sick : or if they do try to pray, it is only because they fear 
 they are going to die ; and when they recover, they forget 
 the resolutions they made when they were sick. It is 
 very common for wicked men to be very much alarmed 
 when sickness comes, and to resolve to love and serve 
 God, perhaps thinking that they are sincere ; but when 
 they recover, they generally become as wicked as before. 
 John. Do you think you shall get well ? 
 Teacher. I do not know, John. That will be just as 
 God pleases. I wish to have him do just as seems best 
 to him. Sometimes when I think of it, and imagine my- 
 self well, and seated once more with you around the table 
 in our evening lecture, it seems as if it would be pleasant 
 to enjoy health and strength again. 
 
 Samuel. I wish it could be so. But was there much 
 more that you were going to tell us about the Bible? You 
 had gone nearly through it, and we were afraid you were 
 going to stop. 
 
 Teacher. The Bible, Samuel, is an inexhaustible mine. 
 There is no end to the interesting information which may 
 be found in it or concerning it. I once knew a man who 
 informed me that he had read the Bible through twelve 
 times when he was twelve years of age, and once every 
 year up to the time when I saw him, when he was more 
 than seventy years old, — and he said that every time he 
 10 
 
110 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 The minister comes in. 
 
 found many things new and interesting, which he had 
 not observed before.* 
 
 John. Was he a good man ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes : he tried to obey the Bible, as well as 
 to read it. But, as I was going to say, I wished to have 
 had some more conversations with you on the Bible ; but 
 God has thought best to interrupt us, and we must all feel 
 perfectly willing to give up whatever he chooses to take 
 away. Perhaps I may soon be restored to health, and 
 then we may resume our meetings : or, perhaps God de- 
 signs to bring me soon down to the dust. If so, I hope 
 and believe that the Bible has been the means of preparing 
 me to die. You must all read and study it for this pur- 
 pose. It will do no important good to you, merely to un- 
 derstand its history, or take pleasure in its interesting 
 narratives, if you do not learn from it how your sins are to 
 be forgiven, and how you are to be prepared for heaven. 
 
 While the teacher was speaking these last words, a 
 gentle tap was heard at the door of the room : and the 
 teacher's sister, who was sitting by the side of the fire, 
 walked softly across the room, and opened the door. It 
 was the minister. 
 
 Well, my good little girl, (said he, coming in,) I always 
 find you here. I believe you are a very patient, faithful 
 nurse. How is your brother to-night ? (continued he, ap- 
 proaching the side of the bed, and taking the teacher by 
 the hand.) Are you comfortable, and happy ? 
 
 Teacher. Yes, both : and I believe I am a little better 
 to-night than I hare been for a few days past. Though 
 the result is still uncertain. 
 
 Yes, replied the minister, sickness wouH seldom do us 
 much good if we were sure we should soon be well again. 
 Then, turning round to the boys who had by this time 
 * A fact. 
 
CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. Ill 
 
 John's reflections. The boys go home. 
 
 drawn back from the bed-side, and were standing near the 
 fire, — How do you do, John, and Roger ? I hardly ex- 
 pected to find you in a sick room. 
 
 Teacher. They are a part of my class in the Sabbath 
 school. I have been telling them about the advantages 
 of sickness. But, boys, I wish you would sit down by 
 the fire. I wish to talk a little with the minister, and 
 then perhaps I will see you again a moment before you 
 
 go- 
 
 The boys accordingly sat down : the minister and the 
 teacher engaged in conversation, and the teacher's sister 
 was busy at the fire preparing something which the boys 
 supposed was for her brother. Samuel began to talk 
 with her about him. Sometimes the other boys listened, 
 and sometimes they sat still in deep thought. John 
 remembered how differently from the teacher he felt and 
 acted, when he was sick a few months before. He re- 
 membered that he was peevish and fretful, impatient 
 when in pain, and unwilling to take the medicines neces- 
 sary for him. When he thought of what the teacher had 
 said, and saw that that sickness had been sent by God, to 
 do him good, by teaching him patience and submission, 
 he was grieved to think that he had learned it no better — 
 and a tear stood in his eye. 
 
 They sat in this manner some time, until at last the 
 minister arose and said, — Well, boys, I believe we must 
 all go. I am very glad your teacher has had opportunity 
 to see and converse with you, now he is sick ; but I be- 
 lieve he must not say any more to-night. He has talketl 
 too much, and has made himself tired and feverish, and 
 now he needs rest. 
 
 The boys were sorry to go : but they walked up to his 
 bed-side, and one after another bade him good-night, and 
 then, with the minister, went away. 
 
112 CONVERSATIONS ON THE BIBLE. 
 
 Visit occasion? serious impressions and earnest prayer. 
 
 The deep impressions produced by this visit to the sick 
 bed of their dying teacher, did not soon leave them. As 
 they returned home, they dwelt on the subjects which 
 had been brought before their minds ; and as they spoke 
 to each other with strong interest of the teacher's sick- 
 ness and of his wished-for recovery, each one firmly 
 resolved to remember his instructions, and endeavor to 
 follow his example of piety. 
 
 As they knelt that night by their bed-sides in prayer, 
 they did not forget to implore God's blessing upon their 
 suffering friend ; but they prayed more earnestly than ever 
 before, that God would would change their own hearts, 
 and bring them entirely under the sway of the principles 
 and precepts of the Bible. 
 
 THE END