Excerpt from Adeline, or Mysteries, Romance, and Realities of Jewish Life, Vol. 1 It has always been my conviction that, if Christianity shall ever occupy its proper exalted position - if its glorious ideality shall ever have its full influence on mankind, it will be done by works of imagination. I still think that in the ministry of the pulpit, its wondrous beauty, its lofty poetry, and its sublime philosophy, should not be so lost sight of as they are - things Of which the Bible is so full. And yet more to be deplored is it, when it is exhibited, as so often it is, in hardly any other character than a dry, wearying, and, it may be, stern sort of thing. Very opposite is God's own picture of His service. Well would it be if we did not receive our notions of our Maker from men, rather than Him self. Habit holds Over us a more than despotic power. Passing the undisturbed crystal in the fountain, we are content to drink from the dirty, tumultuous brook. If we would allow to human authorities only their proper influence; and, taking up the Bible, make what god says about us and Himself chiefly our study, we should no longer stand as in a low confined valley, but as 6h a mighty mountain-top, where the whole wide unmeasured future would be constantly unfolding to our adoring eyes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.