discernible only by those who were in possession of the key which
would unlock their hidden secrets.

Such are the limitations under which the revelation was
necessarily given. We have now to consider our own especial
difficulties, the obstacles which stand in our way when we would
discover for ourselves all the information which the record is
capable of conveying. For if this record be, as we believe, the
work of the Great Architect of the Universe, then it is probable
that its every detail is significant; that wherever it was
possible words were chosen which, when scrutinized, would convey
much more information than appeared on the surface. The great
problem for us to solve is, What are the difficulties which stand
in our way when we would seek this knowledge, and what are the
means by which those difficulties may be surmounted, and the
hidden treasure displayed?

Our first difficulty arises from a matter which, viewed in another
light, is one of our greatest blessings. We are familiar with the
Record through the medium of our own noble version. Probably it is
impossible for any translation more exactly to represent the
original as it presented itself in the first instance to the minds
of those to whom it was addressed. Accordingly we learn it in our
earliest childhood; its majestic phrases imprint themselves on our
memory; our undeveloped minds seem capable of taking in all that
it was intended to convey, and so the impressions formed of it in
our infancy abide with us all our days. We are contented with
them, and do not trouble ourselves to inquire whether there is not
something beyond, which we have not realized.