the Bible has been extended to the nations, have these evils been diminished, or entirely removed. "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me," says the anointed king of Israel," and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God: and he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." The relation existing between the State and its citizens, the Bible recognizes as of divine appointment. The foundation of civil government is the will of God. Life, liberty, and property, peace and order, public morals and religion, have never been left by the benevolent author of our social existence, to chance, or anarchy, or the social compact. Government is an ordinance of heaven. "The powers that be, are ordained of God," not for their own honour and aggrandizement, but for the good of their subjects-not to gratify the pride, minister to the lusts, and subserve the ambition of rulers, but for the tranquillity, virtue, and prosperity of those they govern. Where, in pagan, and Mahometan lands, are rulers taught this important and salutary lesson from any such sources as make them feel its authority, or constrain them to respect the rights of the people? Or where, except in lands illumined by the light of supernatural revelation, do the people, on the one hand,

know and feel that they have rights, and are themselves clothed with the authority to see that they are respected; or on the other, know and feel that government is an institution of heaven? Christian princes, it is true, have not always exerted the happy influence which the God of nations requires them to exert. Nor have Christian nations always respected their rulers, or asserted their own rights with firmness, and with the meekness of wisdom. But where have antichristian and pagan princes done it? And where have pagan nations, in a single instance, been influenced by any other motive than the restive, factious determination to put down one despot for the sake of elevating another? But look through Christian lands, and see how often the prerogative of the prince has been limited, and the rights of man asserted by a free and virtuous people. Witness the condition of England from the time of Alfred to the present hour. Witness the condition of France, though more often scourged by severe persecutions, from the reign of Clovis to the accession of Louis Phillippe. Witness the triumph of Germany over Leo X. and the fifth Charles. And witness our own memorable revolution. What had been the condition of this brave and highminded people in those days of peril, but for the Bible? And what had been our condition at many a fearful crisis of our public affairs, since that period, had these American States not been restrained and governed by the spirit of that holy

book? Our obligations to the religion of the Bible, are not always, in this respect, duly appreciated. Why is it, that at every popular election, instead of some petty broil, we are not involved in oceans of blood? It is because there is found, through the blessing of Almighty God, a mass of public virtue, a weight of moral principle,— virtue and principle founded on the word of God,— that subdues and restrains the "wrath of man." Why is it, that with every calamitous and disastrous measure of our government, we do not witness the scenes that were exhibited in Rome, under the reigns of Tiberius and Nero? It is because we have been taught from the lips of the divine Saviour himself, to "render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's." It is because his holy apostles have given us the injunctions, "Let every soul be subject to the higher powers; submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." It is because we have been taught to respect, and reverence, and pray for our rulers, "that we may lead a quiet and peacable life, in all godliness and honesty; knowing that this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." Such a spirit constitutes a virtuous community; and with such a spirit no people can promote discord and revolution, until "patience has had its perfect work," and the last limits of Christian forbearance have been far exceeded. Who does not see with how much more benevolence the Scriptures con

trol the relation between the state and its citizens, than any other book, or any other set of opinions, or any other maxims, however high their authority, or however extensively received? Who does not see that the crimes and sufferings so long attendant on the administration of human governments, would soon be unknown, and the contentions, revolutions and blood which have so long desolated the earth soon disappear, if the Scriptures were once duly honoured, and the voice of God regarded in preference to the seductive influence of aspiring, designing, and corrupting men?

The most important of the all social institutions is marriage, the primoval, parent source of all the other relations. Nor is there any expression of the divine wisdom in determining the condition of the human race, more significant and delightful than this sacred institution. It is by this relation, that the world we inhabit is constituted a collection of families; where the best natural affections are cherished, and the worst subdued; where there is a community of affections and interests; and where are the highest inducements to a reciprocal and virtuous influence, and especially in forming the character of the rising generation. The inhabitants of this earth are not brought into existence by a single act of creative power, such as gave existence to the angelic creation. These unfallen existencies, with all their shining hosts, and in all the variety of their rank and excellence, were formed at once, and with no successive de

pendance of one generation upon that which preceded it. Nor has there probably been any increase, or diminution in their numbers, since that early dawn of the creation, when these "morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." And such will be the relation of the "spirits of just men made perfect,” after the resurrection. "They neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God, in heaven." The race of man, on the other hand, is perpetually increasing, and the current of human existencies flowing on, augmented by almost innumerable tributary streams to the end of time. It required more than finite wisdom so to arrange this perpetually augmenting population, as most effectually to consult its social interests, its honourable, virtu ous character, its immortal destiny. And who does not see with what admirable efficiency these ends may be secured, and secured only by the nuptial bond? To test the verity and importance of this remark, let us bestow a few considerations on the methods by which human society may be supposed to be organized and continued

The first is by a promiscuous intercourse of the sexes, unrestrained by any law, and uncontrolled except by the consent of the parties. Such has been the usage of a few barbarous lands; such is the doctrine of Robert Dale Owen and other modern reformers; and such are the habits of a few gregarious, anomalous communities, even in Christian countries at the present day. From the