expressly says, “the natural meaning is not to be departed from without evident reason or necessity.”* And Ammon, his annotator, a more thorough Neologian than himself, remarks, “We are not to quit the natural meaning unless it be frigid, ridiculous, or contradictory.”† In all cases, then, we are bound to adhere to the literal until we can show reasons for departing from it. These reasons ought to be well weighed and found sufficient before we venture to disturb the plain meaning of God’s own words.