tent and compass of religious truth with which the the Scriptures are so perfectly familiar. We listen to their instructions so frequently, that the thought is not always present to our minds, that they are inculcating truths, which none but God knows. They point us back to the eternity which the Creator inhabited before the foundation of the world, and forward to the eternity we shall inhabit after this world shall have passed away. They lead our minds up to Him, who, though he dwells in light unapproachable and fills the universe, is about our path and about our bed; on whom all beings depend from the archangel to the worm; and who, while he is slow to anger and of great kindness, is terrible in majesty. They make us acquainted with his vast and perfect purposes, comprehending all his works and all the events of his providence in this world and other worlds, in time and through interminable ages. They direct our thoughts to the great law which he has published, and by which he establishes the moral order and harmony of the universe. They lead us to take a view of that world of wonders-man-a mystery to himself, and yet more than all the works of God, the means of eliciting the manifold glory of his Maker. They proclaim to us the glad tidings of great joy through the incarnation and death, resurrection, intercession, and mediatorial reign and triumph of the Son of God. They make us acquainted with the character and cffices of the Divine Spirit, under whose transforming

influence the soul is brought out of darkness into marvellous light, and though by nature guilty and impoverished, is enriched and adorned, and made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance with the saints in light. They make us familiar with the import of momentous and melancholy themesdeath and the grave; with the resurrection both of the just and the unjust. They pour a light upon our path by which we descry the vast continent, the boundless immortality that stretches itself away immeasurably beyond our thoughts, and then lift the curtain where scenes and prospects rise that alternately appal and enchant us-the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven-the throne of judgment-the final sentence-the everlasting retribution. How long would human reason have been clouded in mist, how long groped in darkness, had not the light dawned that has made such disclosures? He who knows all things, and sees as clearly at midnight as at noon day, not only becomes the light of reason, but even condescends to reveal to faith what our limited and imperfect reason may not in many instances comprehend. His intelligence is everlasting; he is the centre of thought, the law of all laws, and the last and supreme reason of all things. It belongs to him to originate and reveal the truths we are to receive; and even though they may not be comprehended by us, yet are they all clear and plain to him. Let the man who thirsts for knowledge, who is wearied in his pursuit of truth, and who

feels dissatisfied with all that reason has ever taught him, repair to the Scriptures and see how fast he will learn under such a teacher. What amazing resources does he possess, when he becomes the possessor of the Bible! What an ocean of knowledge does he carry in the hollow of his hand when he grasps that sacred book! What uncreated wisdom seems then to be contained within the limits of his finite intelligence! When once a mind eager in the pursuit of knowledge begins in earnest to learn from this book of God, it continually advances. There are no limits to these exhaustless instructions. As the intellectual powers and faculties expand and brighten by thought and prayer, as sinister and unworthy ends are lost sight of and superseded by the more steady and unalloyed love of the truth, the sphere of vision is enlarged-one degree of attainment facilitates the acquisition of another-the more is known, the greater will be the capacity of knowing, till light poured is upon the hitherto benighted mind from every opened page, and it increases in the knowledge of God till it beholds him as he is.

But the Scriptures do not merely extend the limits of moral science. In the second place, they fix its certainty. They reveal nothing as the object of conjecture, but every thing as of absolute knowledge. The truths they disclose are not matters of opinion; they are facts, facts ascertained by the God only wise, and the reality of which depends on his veracity speaking in his word.

There is no foundation in the nature of things, for uncertainty in moral, rather than in natural, or mathematical science. Every thing which men perceive, and about which they think and reason, is either certainly true, or certainly false. Independently of all our views and the views of others, distinct from all the notions we derive from custom and education, irrespective of all our caprice, prejudice, and ignorance, there is such a thing as religious truth. There is in the nature of the case, no ground for doubt and uncertainty.Though not decided by the same kind of evidence by which we resolve an equation, or demonstrate a theorem, or determine the nature and causes of disease, it is not on that account the less certain Where infinite intelligence and integrity bear witness, there can be no room for uncertainty. All farther inquiry is out of place. One declaration of the God of truth is paramount to all the philosophical theories, and all the opposing systems of faith the world ever beheld. It is amusing to hear some modern religionists talk about a more rational religion than the religion of the Bible! What can be more rational than the wisdom of God? "Who hath been his counsellor, and who hath instructed him?" A suffering, but godly man, was once asked if he could see any reason for the dispensation which caused him so much agony. "No;" replied he, "but I am as well satisfied as if I could see ten thousand. God's will is the very perfection of all reason."

So of the revela

tions of his truth. They are the perfection of all reason. The reason that is opposed to them is not reason, but folly. We need not be surprised, therefore, that the Scriptures claim for themselves certain knowledge; for how can it be otherwise, since they come from God? Nor should it be any matter of surprise to us that those who truly receive the Bible should regard it as an unerring standard, and be established in its truths. "Lord, to whom shall we go, but unto thee? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God!" Men who love the Bible, know that it is true. They have not merely learned to bow their understanding to the decisions of infinite wisdom, but they have felt its power. Its truths accord with their own experience. They perceive their excellence and beauty. They have felt them; they have handled them; they have tasted and enjoyed them; and those wants of the soul which have so long been mocked, and deluded, and unrelieved, have found in them that satisfaction and peace which have elsewhere been sought in vain. "Do not wonder," says the devout Pascal, "to see some unsophisticated people believe without reasoning. God inclines their hearts to believe. They judge by the heart, as others do by the understanding. The Holy Scripture is not a science of the understanding, but of the heart. It is intelligible only to those who have an honest and good heart, Charity is not only the end of the