"She perplexes and puzzles me," said Mr. Roscoe; "no, her reason is not impaired; it is acute and vigorous, and she is moving in a new pathway of religious inquiry, but I cannot follow her. Some new chapter is opening in her mental history. She talks both rationally and incoherently. We must wait the issue, and hope for the best."
THE SOCIAL PARTY.
The day at length arrived when the Roscoes came to dine at the villa. I had previously seen Mr. Roscoe, and had become somewhat acquainted with his character; but there was such a peculiarity in his manner, that I could not approach him with ease. He was affable, yet reserved; high, yet condescending; polite, yet spoke and acted as though conscious that he was about to engage in a disputatious combat. The cloth was no sooner removed, than Mr. Lewellin, who had recently attended the anniversary of the Shaftesbury Bible Society, informed us that a medical gentleman moved one of the resolutions, who confessed that he had been for many years an avowed infidel; but, on application, he became a subscriber to the Bible Society: and then he thought it proper to read the Bible, to see if it was a proper book for circulation. After alluding to the instruction and pleasure he had derived from its histories and its parables; from its unique doctrines, and its pure morality; from its development of the character of Christ, and its delineation of the human heart and character, he concluded his speech by saying, "I am satisfied, from what I have read, that the Bible contains a revelation of grace and mercy from heaven. I deeply regret that I ever despised it, or spoke against it; and I think it a duty which I owe to the Redeemer, and to this society, thus publicly to say, that I renounce my infidelity as the bane of human felicity, and take my Bible as my guide to everlasting life!"
"Infidels," said Mr. Stevens, "very rarely read the Scriptures, except to ridicule them. They take for granted that they are the compilation of men, who have successfully palmed an absurd system of superstition on the world, which but few have courage enough to expose and condemn. But as the age is rapidly advancing in knowledge, they are sanguine in their expectations. Hence, David Hume prophesied that, at the conclusion of the last, or the beginning of the present century, Christianity would be exterminated from the earth. But this prediction has failed, for Christianity is now diffusing itself with almost unprecedented rapidity through every part of the world. Paine boasted that he had cut down every tree in the spiritual Eden. 'Priests,' says he, 'may stick them in the ground again, but they will never take root.' Foolish man! did he not know that there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease, 'yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.'"
"I think," said Mr. Lewellin, "that the Bible Society is the glory of the age and country in which we live, and if Britain, who now stands on the highest pinnacle of fame, should ever fall from her eminence, and become, like modern Greece, the land of moral and political darkness and desolation, I have no doubt but the adventurous of a distant posterity will visit her national ruins, giving to her the tributary tear of gratitude, as the birthplace of an institution whose benevolent design includes the whole family of man."
"But I do not think," said Mr. Roscoe, "that the Bible should be indiscriminately circulated. A person of education, like the medical gentleman of whom you have been speaking, may read it, but I do not think that it should be distributed among the ignorant and the poor, because it is impossible for them to understand it; and if so, it is nothing less, in my opinion, than an act of folly, or mistaken kindness, to give it to them."
"They may not," replied Mr. Lewellin, "be able to understand every part of the Scriptures, but I think they will be able to understand those parts which are of great importance to be known. For example, suppose a Sabbath-breaker was to read Ex. xx. 8, 'Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy,' would he not understand it? Suppose a thief was to read Ex. xx. 15, 'Thou shalt not steal,' would he not understand it? Suppose a calumniator were to read Ex. xx. 16, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour,' would he not understand it?"