Holy Scriptures, but the entrance to them." Men who are born of God, are begotten through the truths of the Bible; they are, as it were, born into them, and they form the aliment of their spiritual being. They have had access to the tree once guarded by flaming cherubims; they have plucked its fruit, have breathed its fragrance and perfume, and know indeed that it is the tree of life.

Nor is it a consideration of little moment, that the Scriptures fix the certainty of religious truth. Few principles are of higher importance than that truth, so far as it is attained, can be known with certainty. It is one thing to be on the whole persuaded, and another to be assured. It is one thing to view a proposition undulating between the dif ferent gradations of probability, and established only by the preponderance of probabilities; and another to consider truth beyond the influence of a doubt. If, after patient investigation, there were few subjects but may be unsettled by a corrupt philosophy; if, after a laborious, impartial, and prayerful study of the Scriptures, it were impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than conjecture, we might well feel ourselves involved in "an horror of great darkness." I cannot easily conceive of a more painful state of mind. Perhaps, indeed, there is no feeling in the human bosom so distressing as suspense and uncertainty, be the subject what it may. Man needs firm ground whereon to place his feet, and not the marsh or quicksand, that trembles beneath him. He has a singular

power to brace his courage to a level with his condition, and to endure with fortitude those evils which, before their arrival, seemed almost insupportable. But a state of hesitation between hopes and fears is, if possible, more tormenting than the fulfillment of his worst apprehensions. The haunting fear, the agony of suspense, prostrate his energy; and to escape these, he often leaps to grapple with the dread realities. Where then can be imagined a more dreadful state of mind than one of uncertainty as to the most important and vital moral subjects? Is there such a being as God? Is there a future state of immortal existence? Is there pardon for the guilty? At what rate shall we estimate the misery of the mind that ponders upon these momentous questions with doubt and uncertainty? To hang over the deep current into which generations have sunk, while the eye finds nothing but darkness, nor even a ripple which shows the spot where they disappeared; to lean over the abyss to see whether perhaps it might discover some faint outline of the world beneath; whether some gloomy echo, or some response of joy, some sound of mourning, or some song of praise, shall tell the dreadful mystery; what indiscribable anxiety is this! But not thus is it with men who have the Bible. From these unerring pages speaks a voice that is echoed back from every bosom of the living, every tomb and monument of the dead. If every thing were conjecture elsewhere, here every thing is certainty. We

know now the value and the true business of life. And if we are misled and perplexed by the shadows of uncertainty, it is because we "love darkness," and prefer to trace our dubious, hesitating course, under the dim torchlight of reason, to being led by that book which eternal wisdom has revealed to be a "light to our feet and a lamp to our path."

But you will ask me, Has human reason no place in the pursuits of moral science? She has a definite and definable place. It is her province to as certain that there is a God, and that he is a being of infinite power, knowledge and rectitude. It is her province to ascertain that he is able to make a revelation of his will to men, and with such evidence of its reality that she can believe and know that it comes from him. It is her province to inquire and judge whether the persons who speak in his name were truly sent by him, and to become assured that what they have spoken and written is in sober verity his own word. It is her province to look at the difficulties, and weigh well all the objections, to the plenary inspiration of the sacred volume; and to be the more severe in her scrutiny because this volume claims to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice. Nor does her province terminate here. While it belongs not to her to erect herself into a tribunal before which the truth of God must appear to be judged, it at the same time belongs to her to inquire and ascertain what this divinely inspired book contains. This she must

do diligently, humbly, and with becoming meekness. Having ascertained that this is the book of God, she may task all her powers and all her learning, and what is more, all her fairness and candour, to ascertain the true sense and import of the sacred writers. Her views of religious truth she must draw directly from the Scriptures. She is not merely to call in the aid of the Bible in confirmation of her own opinions, but to begin her investigations with this divine source of knowledge. The evidence of the truth she receives is the divine testimony, and she has nothing to do but ascertain and receive it. She may not interfere, nor hesitate, where the God of truth has decided. Her business is to stand a silent inquirer at the shrine of these Oracles, and there hear what God the Lord hath spoken. Her object is to get at their philosophy, and not her own. She must take leave of her lofty independance and dignity, if she would learn of Christ. Her philosophical speculations have nothing to do in ascertaining the meaning of the Scriptures. Nor can we give too great emphasis to this thought. Men are very apt, where they have any fixed views of the laws which regulate mind, to look at God's truth through the medium of their own philosophy. If for example, God declares that the human race are sinners from their birth, they hesitate at such a statement, because according to their received opinions, the infantile mind is not capable of sin. If God declares that the moral renovation of men is effected by his own

mighty power, they call in question this decision, because, according to their philosophy, the mind is an existence which is incapable of being acted upon except by light and motives. Instead of allowing the Bible to influence their philosophy, they allow their philosophy to become the arbitrary interpreter of the Bible. Instead of submitting their judgments to the decisions of the uncreated intelligence, they require that his intelligence should be subordinate to their own. There are few Christian divines that have not to some extent fallen into this error. This was eminently the error of Ori gin, of Cocceius, of Hutchinson, and of Swedenborg. This is the error of the Pelagians and Arminians of ancient and modern times. This is the error also to some extent of the Calvinistic and Hopkinsian schools. Nay, this is the error of most of us, heterodox and orthodox. Strange to say, we cannot forbear inweaving the shreds of our own philosophy with the wisdom of God. We do it insensibly. But human reason was never given to man for such a purpose. When she has ascertained the true import of God's revelation, her work is done. To attempt more than this, is rebellion against God-nay it is rebellion against herself; for reason decides, and decides intuitively, that "if we believe the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater." It has been well remarked, that "periods in which the pride of philosophy has been most exalted, have often been distinguished for the widest departures from the sim