But

not to the Perfect One, the Blessed for Ever. Love is God's as ours; and it is ours only because it is God's; and out of it spring our Hope and Faith. Love is the very essence of the Eternal's Blessedness, the moral Spirit of the Divine Nature. Love is therefore the highest part in Man;-the source of whatever is divine in us;- our only fellowship with the Father, our sole Salvation, and fitness. for the inheritance of the Saints in Light. This is not for a moment to exalt Love above Holiness,— for we speak not of the Love of the Heart only, but also of the Love of the Soul, the Mind, the Strength, and so Love cannot remain inviolate, Self cannot be extinguished, except in a holy being.

Now abide for ever Faith, Hope Charity, these three, but the greatest of these is Charity.

SECTION III.

LOVE GIVES PRECEDENCE TO THE GIFTS THAT EDIFY; AND OBTRUDES NOT ON THE CHURCH WHAT IS PERSONAL TO THE INDIVIDUAL SPIRIT, PRIVATE TO ITSELF AND TO GOD.

FOLLOW after love, and be zealous of spiritual things, 2 and chiefly that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not to men, but to God, for no one 3 hearkeneth, and in spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh to men, edification and exhorta4 tion and consolation. He that speaketh in a tongue edifi5 eth himself; but he that prophesieth edifies the Church. I wish indeed you all to speak in tongues, but rather that ye prophesied, for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh in tongues, unless that he interpret, so that the 6 Church may receive edification. Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I shall speak to you, either in revelation, or in knowledge, 7 or in prophecy, or in doctrine? So things without life,

giving sound, whether pipe or harp, unless they give a distinction to the sounds, how shall it be known what is 8 piped or harped? And if the trumpet give an uncertain 9 sound, who shall prepare himself for the battle? So also, unless ye utter by the tongue well-marked speech, how

shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall be speak10 ing to the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of

voices in the world, and none of them without expression. 11 If then I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that is speaking a barbarian, and he that is speak12 ing shall be a barbarian to me. So also ye, when

ye are

zealous of spirits, seek that ye may abound to the edify13 ing of the Church. Wherefore let him that speaketh in a 14 tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a

tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is without 15 fruit. What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the 16 spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Because, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the place of the ignorant say Amen to thy thanksgiving; seeing that he knows not what thou sayest? 17 For thou indeed givest thanks well; but the other is not 18 edified. I thank my God speaking in Tongues more than 19 ye all but in the Church I choose to speak five words

by my understanding, that I may teach others also, 20 rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brethren,

become not children in understanding: but in evil be 21 ye children, and in understanding be ye men. In the Law it is written, "In other tongues, and with other lips, shall I speak to this people, yet neither then will 22 they hearken to me, saith the Lord." So that tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelieving but prophesying, not for the unbelievers, but for the 23 believing. If then the whole Church be come together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and the ignorant or unbelieving come in, will they not say that ye are mad? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever, or one ignorant, come in, he is convinced by all; he is searched through 25 by all; the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and

so, falling on his face, he will worship God, declaring that 26 God of a truth is in you. How then is it, brethren? When ye come together, each of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an inter27 pretation. Let all be done to edification. If any speak in a tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three, and in 28 succession; and let one interpret. And if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the Church, and speak 29 to himself and to God. And let two or three prophets 30 speak, and let others discern. And if, to another who is 31 sitting, a revelation be given, let the first be silent. For

ye can all prophesy, one by one; that all may learn, and 32 that all may be comforted. And the spirits of prophets 33 are subject to prophets. For God is not the maker of 34 confusion, but of peace. So, in all churches of the saints, let your women be silent in the churches, for it hath not been permitted to them to speak, but to be subordinate, 35 as also the Law saith. And if they wish to learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for women to speak in the Church.

36 Did the word of God proceed from you? Or did it 37 come to you alone? If any one seem to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge the things that I write to 38 you, that they are the commandments of the Lord. But 39 if any one is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore,

brethren, be zealous of prophecy, and forbid not to speak 40 with tongues. But let all things be done decently, and in order.

THE twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth chapters of this Epistle form a connected Argument, and should be embraced in one view. The eminent beauty,

and practical importance, of the celebrated description of Love, has given to the thirteenth chapter an independent interest which has loosened its place in the Apostle's reasoning. The temporary circumstances of Corinthian contentions are forgotten,and the special application of the divine principle of Christian sympathy is obscured by the sense of its still abiding truth and power. So that, even in this respect, it has come to pass, that "the tongues have ceased," and "the prophecies have come to an end," and the questions about "knowledge have vanished away," - and to the eye of the Christian reader, that part of the record which relates to the Corinthian pretensions is dimly marked, and only "the Charity that never faileth" shines forth from out the page.

It becomes necessary, therefore, having paid our separate tribute to the universal and everlasting interest of that divine Sentiment, that we should now exhibit, in a more exegetical spirit, its particular connections with that portion of the Epistle into which it is introduced.

We must, again and again, call upon ourselves for a certain effort of the Imagination, to bring before us the real condition of the primitive Churches, —and on this historic point, as much as with reference to any scientific pursuit, it is necessary to say, that the only preparation for the reception of Truth is the dismissal of all such crude and hastily adopted notions as may tend to preoccupy or mislead. As an eminent modern Philosopher* has

Sir John Herschel.