INTRODUCTION. Lxvii 



instituted by him in consequence of that sad 

 event, the fall of man from his primeval state 

 of holiness and happiness ; I shall next en- 

 deavour to ascertain what these multiform 

 images represented. But I must first premise 

 a few observations upon the legitimate mode of 

 collecting truths of this description from Holy 

 Scripture, and I must here recall to the reader's 

 recollection the observation of Solomon before 

 quoted It is the glory of God to conceal a 

 thing. A number of important truths are 

 delivered in Holy Writ, which are veiled 

 truths, which we shall never discover if we 

 adhere to the letter, and content ourselves 

 with admiring the richness and beauty of the 

 setting, without paying any attention to the 

 gem it encircles or conceals. Some writers 

 require a clear, distinct, and explicit state- 

 ment, before they will admit any thing as 

 revealed in Scripture, be the circumstantial 

 evidence of the fact ever so strong. For in- 

 stance some eminent theologians deny the 

 Divine origin of sacrifices, because no com- 

 mand of God to Adam or Noah to offer them 

 is recorded to have been given ; yet one 

 should think the practice of righteous Abel, 

 and of Noah, perfect in his generations, and 



