UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 153 



Levitical church. The light of the gospel was 

 preceded by a faint knowledge of the truth which 

 began to spread into other parts of the world. 

 The Babylonish captivity left some traces of it 

 in the East; the emigration of numerous Jews 

 into Egypt carried it there likewise ; and the 

 translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek 

 opened the eyes of many pagans, so that several 

 proselytes to the worship of Jehovah were re- 

 ceived into the Levitical church. 



(t Such were the preparatory steps to the abo- 

 lition of paganism, and to the introduction of 

 the last, and most important, of the three dispen- 

 sations ; that which was to do away with all 

 other codes and rituals which was to put an 

 end to all emblematic sacrifices and which was 

 to collect into one fold, under one shepherd, all 

 the nations of the earth." 



. This evening I was talking away at a 

 great rate to Caroline probably a great deal of 

 nonsense and having frequently used the ex- 

 pressions, I conceive, I imagine, my uncle at 

 last asked me if I could explain the distinction 

 between those two words. 



I considered for a little while, and then said, 

 that though I had been using them very negli- 

 gently, yet I thought I could point out ' the 

 principal difference. Conception is the calling 

 up an absent but distinct idea of something we 

 have already perceived or felt-^a complete pic- 



