part of the larger portion of the congregation, the manifesta- tion of the warmest afiection for the apostle, relieved his mind from a load of anxiety, and filled his heart with grati- tude to God. On the other hand, the increased boldness and intiiience of the false teachers, the perverting errors Avhich they inculcated, and the frivolous and calumnious charges which they brought against himself, tilled him with indigna- tion. This accounts for the abrupt transitions from one sub- ject to another, the sudden changes of tone and manner which characterize this epistle. When writing to the Corinthians as a church obedient, aifectionate, and penitent, there is no limit to his tenderness and love. His great desire seems to be to heal the temporary breach which had occurred between them, and to assure his readers that aU was forgiven and forgotten, and that his heart was entirely theirs. But v/hen he turns to the wicked, designing corrupters of the truth among them, there is a tone of severity to be found in no other of his writ- ings, not even in his epistle to the Galatians. Erasmus com- pares this epistle to a river which sometimes flows in a gentle stream, sometimes rushes down as a torrent bearing all before it ; sometimes spreading out like a placid lake ; sometimes losing itself, as it were, in the sand, and breaking out in its fulness in some unexpected place. Though perhaps the least methodical of Paul's writings, it is among the most in- teresting of his letters as bringing out the man before the reader and revealing his intimate relations to the people for whom he laboured. The remark must be borne in mind (often made before), that the full play allowed to the pecuh- arities of mind and feeling of the sacred writers, is in no way inconsistent Avith their plenary inspiration. The grace of God in conversion does not change the natural character of its subjects, but accommodates itself to all their peculiarities of disposition and temperament. And the same is true with regard to the influence of the Spirit in inspiration.
The salutation in this epistle is nearly in the same words as in the former letter, vs. 1. 2. Here also as there, the intro- duction is a thanksgiving. As these expressions of gratitude are not mere forms, but genuine efl'usions of the heart, they vary according to the circumstances under which each epistle was written. Here the thanksgiving was for consolation. Paul blesses God as the God of all mercy for the consolation which he had experienced. He associates, or rather identifies himself with the Corinthians ; representing his afflictions as