Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

reason for assigning to the words of the prophecy the idea of power and authority, conveyed by the terms sceptre and lawgiver; and, if the sense was to be determined by history and matter of fact, he was able to shew that the temporal kingdom of Judah, which began only with David, ended with the Babylonish captivity; after which, though the royal line of David was still preserved, yet did his descendants never enjoy nor lay claim to any thing like temporal sovereignty. All that the inspired patriarch had in his view, and all that his sublime language announced, when explained by other passages of scripture, and properly understood, is plainly this, that "the Tribeship should not depart from Judah, nor a

Typifier from between his feet, or from among his "descendants, till Shiloh (the Messiah) should come, "and till the gathering of the peoples should be to him:" that is, in other words, Judah should not cease to be a tribe, his rod, or emblem of tribeship, should not be lost, neither should he want a typifier, or be deprived of the worship in God's holy place, with all its mystical rites, and figurative institutions, till the Messiah should come, and people of all kindreds, nations, and languages be gathered to him. Then indeed were Judah's privileges all to cease scattered over the face of the earth, his descendants would no longer be able to shew themselves a distinct and separate tribe; their temple would be laid in the dust, with all the types and shadows which its services exhibited; for now Shiloh himself, the typified One, was come; the promise made to Judah, by the mouth of his father Jacob, was now literally and exactly fulfilled, and the God of Israel was no longer under o

bligation

bligation to take care of that once elect, but now apostate race. To deduce all this from the beautifully expressive language of scripture, was the design of Mr. Skinner's excellent Dissertation on Jacob's prophecy; a design highly approved by the learned Dr. Sherlock, then Bishop of London, and by other biblical critics of acknowledged eminence.

It was several years after the appearance of his "Dissertation on Jacob's Prophecy," before Mr Skinner had occasion to offer any farther specimen of his literary labours to the notice of the public. His mind however was still employed in some one branch or other of theological research. The reader of this account will readily excuse a short digression from its main design, to exhibit an instance of paternal solicitude, displaying at the same time a proof of Mr. Skinner's taste and skill in lyric composition, as well as the extent of his professional knowledge. His eldest son was bred in the seafaring line, and afterwards settled as a merchant in Philadelphia, where he suffered severely by the American rebellion; his second son, having in the year 1761, completed his studies at Marischal College, Aberdeen, was employed, for two years after, in the capacity of tutor to a Gentleman's son near Stirling, where he received from his father, the following Sapphic Ode, written in December 1761, and conveying a most pleasing picture :—

*

AD FILIUM SUUM APUD BANNOCKBURN.

Quam sibi vellet tibi dat salutem

Corde devinctus Pater, ac amoris

Plenus

* Mr. Paterson, grandson to Sir Hugh Paterson of Bannockburn.

Plenus in qualem bona mî dederunt
Numina prolem.

Qualis in campis modo tranfretanis
Bruma sit; Tu nunc quid agis, studesve;
Musa perquirit, varios doceri

Anxia casus.

Heic furit nimbis pluviosus Auster
Sævus ut nunquam, in vetulas, ovesque,
Et simul nigris madefactus alas
Imbribus Eurus.

Me domi totis triduis reclusum
Inter ancillas querulum canoras
Languidus torpor premit, et pererrans
Lumina somnus.

Hinc sedet, ridetque operosa conjux,
Inde veloces digitis puellæ,
Me tenet mollis gravido stupentem
Corde cathedra.

Perlego interdum, simul ac redit mens,
Sive quæ risum moveant faceta,

Sive quæ sacri referant Poetæ
Carmina nomen.

Nunc et inviso pecudes equosque,
Nunc per agrestes vagor, et paludes,

Rite quæ debet populo ministrans
Jura sacerdos.

At tibi currunt hilares et albi
Temporis fluxus, tibi floret annus,
Te decet risus levis, et venusta
Fronte juventas.

Forte mireris lyrici moventem
Carminis plectro leviora Patrem,
Talibus forsan nimium jocantem
Cætera pigrum.

Pone me latos ubi tendit agros
Fertilis frugum Buchanæa tellus,

Pone

Pone me pulsant ubi nigra Thules
Littora fluctus.

Lætus et duro vacuus dolore

Tædium seræ peragam senectæ

Musa dum solvat tetricas jocoso
Carmine curas.

Knowing that his son was now devoting all the time, that could be spared from the duties of his office, to the prosecution of those studies which might fit him for the service of the Church, Mr. Skinner sent him the following directions on that subject, as extracted from a letter written in May 1762; "Your course of divinity reading, I presume, is under the Bishop's* management, " and consequently is in good hands. You will find it "very amusing, as well as edifying, to observe, as you

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

go along, the various characters of the FATHERS, and "the different constitutions of the times in which they "lived. I do not pretend to a very extensive reading of "the Fathers in their own writings, and yet I think I "have a pretty clear notion of the several turns of ge"nius and disposition, by which they were distinguished. "From this it is, that I am fondest of Chrysostom aઃઃ mong the Greeks, and of Ambrose among the Latins. "I know that Augustine is generally reckoned the ora"cle;-but I think he rather wrote too much, and was "too universally engaged in controversy. You will "find this a pretty good method of acquiring a general notion of church history, to draw comparisons, and thereby learn to form characters of the several Fa"thers;

[ocr errors]

The worthy and learned Bishop Alexander, then residing at Alloa, not far distant from Bannockburn.

"thers; by which you will be able to discover what they "advance, as narrators of facts, and what they say, as

[ocr errors]

following the bent of their own natural tempers and "turns of mind. Thus in Basil and Jerom, it is easy to "discover a sort of morose austerity, which leads them "to speak so much in favour of a recluse or monastic "life. In Gregory Nazianzen, a talent for poetic eloquence draws from him many rhetorical flourishes, "which have, in after times, been interpreted into doc"trines. I need not be more particular. It is making "distinctions of this nature that will, in a great measure,

[ocr errors]

lighten and recommend the reading of Church History, "which otherwise is but a dry and burdensome study. "And be sure always carefully to keep an eye over the "Bishops of Rome, by which you will be able to mark "the various steps whereby, and the long course of "time wherein, their stupendous fabric of universal supremacy was reared to its greatest height."

[ocr errors]

These were excellent advices to a young examiner of the old ecclesiastical records; and a short extract from another letter will shew that the writer looked still farther back, and was in the habit of drawing conclusions equally sound and instructive, from records of a much older date. In February 1763, he writes to his son thus ;-"You will wish to know, perhaps, how I have "been spending part of this dreary winter: why, I have "been reading Rollin's Ancient History, Prideaux's "Connection, &c. reading them for a second time; and "the more I renew my acquaintance with these old heathen times, I am brought still more to value the antiquity of the Old Testament Scripture History, "which,

66

« AnteriorContinuar »