would make use of those ideas
which were best adapted to His purpose, but not that He should transcend
the ideas themselves. If, too, we suppose that a new perception is
given, that perception could not be explained to others, except through
the instrumentality of such ideas as those to which we have referred.

Our object hitherto has been to explain the conditions under which a
direct revelation from God may be expected to be _given_. If we have
been able to remove from the minds of our readers vague and indefinite
notions on the subject, and to put, in their place, something clearer and
more distinct, our object thus far will have been answered.

It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to state that, by what has been said
above, we do not intend to intimate that the recipient of a direct
revelation must, necessarily, always understand the exact meaning of such
a revelation. It may contain a hidden meaning, to be evident at some
future time. Thus, for instance, on the supposition that the first
chapter of Ezekiel is a revelation from God, it is probable that the
meaning of it was as unintelligible to Ezekiel, as it is generally
considered to be at the present time. But the meaning of the words
themselves, and their connection with each other are clear. It is in the
application that the difficulty arises. So, too, as advances are made in
knowledge, words, and the ideas belonging to them, acquire a more
extended and fuller meaning. The ideas involved in the word, _sun_, are
very different to the philosopher and the peasant; and some ideas
contained in a revelation may be of such a kind as not to be fully
understood till more knowledge has been acquired, than existed at the
time when the revelation was made. But to suppose that the words convey
no meaning to the original recipient of the revelation, is to say that no
revelation is made to him at all, and it certainly hardly appears
probable that the Divine Being should make a communication which could
answer no end to the person to whom it was addressed.

* * * * *

3. We now proceed to an examination of the conditions under which _a
revelation may be recorded_, _or otherwise made known by the person who
has received it_. Here we see at once that, for all practical purposes,
the method of communication must be _words_; for it is not necessary to
take into account such visual representations as might be made to the eye
by painting or