As the design of this Epistle is excellent, remarks Dr. Macknight, so is its execution, in the judgment of the best critics, does not fall short of its design. Ostervald says of the first Epistle of Peter, "it is one of the finest books in the New Testament." Erasmus pronounces it to be "worthy of the prince of the Apostles, and full of apostolical dignity and authority;" and adds, "it is sparing in words, but full of sense - verbis pauca, sententiis differta." "As the true church of Christ," says Dr. Clarke, "has generally been in a state of suffering, the Epistles of St. Peter have ever been most highly prized by all believers. That which we have just finished is an admirable letter, containing some of the most important maxims and consolations for the Church in the wilderness. No Christian can read it without deriving from it both light and life. Ministers especially should study it well, that they may know how to comfort their flocks when in persecution and adversity. He never speaks to good in any spiritual case who is not furnished out of the Divine treasury. God's words invite, solicit, and command assent. on them a man may confidently rely. The words of man may be true, but they are not infallible; this is the character of God's word alone." To these valuable remarks on the varied excellences and uses of this inimitable Epistle, it may be only necessary to add, that it is not only important in these respects, but is a rich treasury of Christian doctrines and duties from which the mind may be enriched and the heart improved, with the most ennobling sentiments.