and regard among many of those whose good opinion is most valued and desired.

If this were a subject upon which mankind employed their intellectual powers, if opinions were adopted as the result of attention to the evidence of the authority of the Bible, and of studying the oracles of Truth, employing the common sense rules of language in interpreting this record, trusting to the intellect which the Creator bestowed for this purpose, to the sincerity of the desire to learn truth, and to continued diligent and patient investigation and comparison of all that is written for our instruction; if this were the common method by which men acquire their opinions as to what the word of God teaches, the wide spread dissensions of the Christian world, would indeed give countenance to the fear, that 'Revelation is of no essential aid in imparting assurance, as to what are the instructions of the Creator to his creatures.

But the diligent and faithful seeker of truth, after having patiently examined the overwhelming evidence of the truth of Christianity, the authority and accuracy of its records, the faithfulness of their preservation and translation; after having obtained and arranged the rules which he employs in understanding other books and the common language of life, and secured the knowledge necessary to apply them to the word of God; after having applied these rules, on every subject of enquiry connected with the doctrines and duties of religion, by collecting and comparing all that the Bible teaches on the several points of importance, can make up his mind with a degree of certainty known on no other subject of importance, and of which no other subject, from its very nature, can furnish such complete satisfaction.

Such a man never can have his "faith," though he may often find his "patience" greatly tried, when he goes out into the world. He will sometimes be met by the Infidel, who, with a supercilious sneer, will question his intellectual powers, and pity his bigotry, and smile at the narrow prejudices of

education; but who, when called to defend his own faith, to exhibit proofs of his knowledge on this subject, and his skill in reasoning, exhibits the most shameful ignorance, and the most pitiable weakness.

Again, he will meet those who assail the word of God as a mixture of truth and falsehood, as a collection of wise sayings and Jewish fables, as a medley of pure truth, and blinding errors, as a record made up of the blundering accounts of the Apostles, interspersed with the blundering errors of transcribers and translators. From such he will hear of his blind attachment to creeds, of his strange neglect of his reasoning powers, of the puerility and absurdity of the dogmas of his cruel and bigoted faith, of the importance of reason, and the dignity and independence of the human mind. He will be told that men should throw off the shackles of prejudice, and think for themselves; that there are but a few such independent minds in the world, and that his admonisher, by good fortune, happened to be born as one among such minds. And yet when such pretensions are examined, in all probability, he will find himself in collision with a man, who never read a volume on the subject of the Evidences of Christianity in his life, who does not even know where to look for the mode of establishing the Sacred Canon, who could not tell, when or where it is pretended the several books were written, or how they were preserved, or how they found their way into the Sacred Volume; who knows not from any examination, by whom, or how, or when the Bible was written, preserved, and translated. He encounters one, who has never acquired the knowledge necessary to enable him to judge whether there are mistakes in the Bible, or not, who, if he is asked what are the rules of interpretation employed, and the method used in studying and digesting the Bible, would be astounded at the irrelevancy of the question. He meets with one, who pins his faith on the information he occasionally obtains from the pulpit, and from the anonymous writers

of periodicals, pamphlets, newspapers, and tracts; who retails the slang about reason, and interpolations, and one hundred and forty thousand various readings, and the independence of the human mind, and the nobility of man, without knowing what reason is, or what its fair deductions are; who never examined any legitimate source of information, to learn the nature of these various readings and interpolations, and never turned his thoughts long enough from his business, or pleasure, to give his mind a chance to gain independence, or to develope its nobility.

Or if he should chance to encounter one of this class, whose information and research was more extended, he would find him busily employed, on the one hand, in praising and illustrating Christianity, in descanting on its evidences, and labouring most faithfully to prove that its truth was established by competent witnesses; while on the other hand, he is labouring as hard to prove the Bible full of mistakes, its authors encumbered with Jewish prejudices and ignorance, and guilty of such tremendous mistakes in their records, that men of common sense, would not admit them as competent witnesses on any subject less important, than that of religion. He will find such an one, toiling to beautify the superstructure of Christianity, clearing away its rubbish, and re-polishing its front, while ever and anon, he plucks from the foundation its very corner stones; and if any one attempts to stay his daring hand, he points to all he has done for the ornaments above, still toils at the destruction below, and alternately smiles at the weakness, or mourns over the uncharitableness, of those who deny his claims as a "wise master builder." As time passes on, the results of such labours are disclosed. There is beheld the once glorious structure, its walls fallen down, its arches unlocked, its polished shafts all broken, its entablatures defaced, its graceful ornaments all entombed in decay. Above the mighty ruin cowers the demon of Infidelity. Beside it sits the mournful author of the evil, apparently unconscious of his

guilty agency, and repining that its Maker should suffer so beautiful a fabric thus to perish away.

But this is not the most grievous trial. He meets those who acknowledge the Bible as the infallible word of God, demanding their diligent and faithful study; who pride themselves on their belief of the solemn truths it reveals; who are offended at the suspicion of denying themselves to be in such awful danger, and under such tremendous obligations; who are ever ready to join in the hue and cry against infidelity and heresy, and yet who knows no more about the authority, origin, and preservation of the Records of their faith, than they do of those of the Alcoran; and by reason of the information conveyed by popular histories, many know more of the origin of the Alcoran, than of that of the Bible. He meets those who will most strenuously defend every article of their faith, without ever having looked into the Bible to see if it should chance to be there; with many who believe every thing their ministers and parents teach them, and never imagine that any other evidence of truth is necessary but such assurances. He meets with thousands that would be shocked to have their faith in the Bible questioned, who could not urge a single rational cause for believing it; who are high in their self-complacent zeal in maintaining the true faith, without being able even to state what it is.

Thus mankind put the light of Heaven "under a bushel," and rush into darkness; and as they grope their way amid mazes, and briars, and bogs, are wondering why they meet so many difficulties, and why they encounter so many opponents, and why every one is taking a different course, and why the Maker of the world has put them into such disastrous circumstances. And thus the pitying and gracious Creator and Redeemer, as he dwelt on earth, describes the causes of all these ills. "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth

evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest."

CHAPTER XX.

ON KNOWLEDGE GAINED BY REVELATION.

The causes of the various opinions of men, on a subject - where certain knowledge is attainable, have been pointed out, and from these, in a measure, may be inferred the correct mode of obtaining the knowledge revealed, and such evidence of its truth as affords certainty. The first thing necessary is, to obtain the evidence that the Book which any person adopts as the standard of faith, is a true and accurate record of the will of God, faithfully preserved and translated.

The next thing is, to obtain the rules for interpreting language. This, if it can be done in no other way, could be effected by observing how, in common life, and common books, we distinguish figurative from literal language, and how we interpret both; for the Bible is to be interpreted on exactly the same principles. To aid also, in understanding the Bible, the knowledge of the geography of the countries alluded to, their productions, the manners and customs of their inhabitants, and various particulars of this kind must be sought. When this is done, a person is ready to study the Bible as a rational and independent mind should do it. Various modes might be adopted in examining the Bible. None is more interesting or satisfactory, than selecting the various points of