vivid and interesting conception of the scene which was exhibited when the crowd of angry Jews rejected the Saviour, and called for his crucifixion. He painted this scene and the great picture which he thus produced has been gazed at, with intense interest, by many thousands. I saw this picture in the Gallery of the Athenæum at Boston. The gallery is a large and lofty apartment, lighted by windows above, and containing seats for hundreds. As I came up the stairs which lead into the room, and stepped from them upon the floor of the apartment, I found a large company assembled. The picture, which was, as I should suppose, ten or fifteen feet long, stood against one side of the apartment; and before it, arranged upon the seats, were the assembled spectators, who were gazing with intense interest, and almost in perfect silence, upon the scene. As we came forward before the canvas, we felt the same solemn impression which had silenced the others; and it was interesting and affecting to observe, as party after party came up the stairs, talking with usual freedom, that their voices gradually died away, and they stood silent and subdued before the picture of the Saviour. Yes; there stood the Saviour, in the middle of the picture, passive and resigned, and with a countenance whose expression plainly said that his thoughts were far away! The Roman Governor stood before his palace, endeavouring to persuade the mob to consent to their prisoner's release. The uncovered and hard-featured soldiery sat, at his feet, upon the cross which they had been carrying; and were holding in their hands the spikes with which the limbs of the innocent one before them were to be pierced. All the other attendant circumstances were most vividly and strikingly represented. The mob were there, with fury and rage and hate, in every variety, upon their countenances. Barabbas was there, with his look of hardened and unsubdued guilt. And the Centurion's little daughter, whose life Jesus had saved, stood by her father, apparently entreating him to interpose his power, to rescue her preserver. Now, West must have possessed, in order to succeed in executing such a work, the power, first, of forming a clear mental conception of the scene; and, secondly, of representing this scene by colours on the canvas. The former only of these is the one necessary for the object I have above described; and you ought, while reading accounts of Scripture scenes, to form as vivid and distinct conceptions of the scenes described as if you were actually intending to represent them by the pencil. 2. Writing questions.—A young man, with pen and paper before him, sits down, I will suppose, to the examination of some portion of the Bible; intending to write questions upon the passage; such as he would ask, if he were hearing a class in a Sabbath-school recite the passage. Suppose he opens to the account of Abraham's offering Isaac. The following is the passage. I copy it, that the reader may the better understand the questions. 1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham; and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the Land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering, upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. 3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and clave the wood for the burnt-offering; and rose up, and went unto the place which God had told him. 4 Then, on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. He reads this narrative carefully, verse by verse; and writes a question for every important fact stated. Perhaps the questions might be somewhat as follows. The reader, in examining them, is particularly requested to compare the questions individually with the verses in which the answers are contained. I ought also to remark, that I do not offer these as examples of good questions, but only as a specimen of such as I suppose most young persons would write. 1. To what land did God command Abraham to go, to offer up his son ? 2. How was he to be offered? 3. Was he to be offered on a mountain? 4. How did Abraham travel? 5. What time did he set out? 6. How many attendants had he? 7. How long a journey was it? 8. What is stated in the fifth verse? I have written these questions as I imagine they might be written by intelligent young persons. Some of them are, however, evidently not good. A leading question ought not to be asked, i. e. one so written as to imply what the answer is. Nor ought it to be so written that the answer should be simply Yes or No. No. 3 of the above is a leading question. No. 8, too, is a bad question. It is not important that one should remember what is told in any particular verse. It would have been better in some such form as this: 8. What arrangement was made, after they arrived at the mountain? In order, however, that my readers might understand what is actually attainable by young persons in such an exercise, I asked a boy to write for me some questions on Acts xix.; and I insert them just as he gave them to me. It was his first attempt. When Apollos was at Corinth, what did Paul do? What did he say to them? What answer did they make ? What did he then ask them? What did Paul then say? When they heard this, what did they do? When Paul had laid his hands upon them, what happened? How many men were they? Where did Paul then go? What did he do? What did he do, when divers were hardened? For how long a time did this continue ? What happened to those who dwelt in Asia? By whose hands did God perform special miracles? What is said in the thirteenth verse? What is the meaning of exorcist? How many were there that did so ? What did the evil spirit say? What did the man, in whom was the evil spirit, do? What did they do? To whom was this known? What fell on them? Whose name was magnified? What did many do, who believed? What did many do, who used curious arts? After these things were ended, what did Paul design to do? Where did he say he must go, after he had been there? Who did he send into Macedonia ? What were their names? Where did he stay? What happened at that time? What was the cause of it? Who was Demetrius ? What accusation did he bring against Paul? What did he say was in danger? What did they do, when they heard these things? What happened to the city? What else did they do? What kept Paul from going in to the people? My readers will all see that these questions are, many of them, quite faulty. A second attempt, if the writer had read the remarks I have made, or if he had actually tried his questions upon a class, would probably have been much better. If any person will attempt such an exercise as this, he will find it among one of the most efficient means of fixing upon his mind the facts contained in any portion of history, which he can possibly devise. In order to make out the question, you look at the fact in various aspects and relations. All its connexions are considered, and the mind becomes thoroughly familiarised with it: for you will find, after a very little practice, that the same fact may be made the subject of a great number of different questions and looking at these, and choosing between them, is a most valuable intellectual exercise. Take, for instance, the very question I have already spoken of, particularly No. 8. See how many different questions, or rather in how many forms the same question can be asked, some bad and some good, upon the single verse to which it relates. 1. What did Abraham say to the young men, when he reached the mountain? 2. What plan did Abraham form, when he reached the mountain? 3. Did all the party go together to the place where Isaac was to be offered ? 4. How was the party divided, when they reached the mountain ? 5. How many persons went with Abraham to the place of sacrifice? 6. When Abraham went with Isaac alone to the place of sacrifice, what did he say he was going for? 7. When Abraham left the young men behind, to go with Isaac alone to the place of sacrifice, did he tell them what he was going to do? 8. What did he tell them he was going to do? Was this the truth? Was it the whole truth? Are we always bound to tell the whole truth? The reader will thus see that one and the same fact may be viewed in so many aspects and relations, as to suggest a very large number of questions. After a very little practice, several questions will accordingly suggest themselves, to any individual who attempts the exercise, at each verse. He will consider which to choose. He |