of the whole heaven. We do not ask for a religion that is fitted for the arctic, and yet has no fitness for the antarctic circle; a religion that is adapted to the language and manners of the east, and yet has no adaptation to those of the west; but one that has in it nothing local, nothing restrictive, whose principles are applicable every where, and whose institutions may every where be practised. We are mainly thankful for a religion that consults our interests for eternity; while, at the same time we need one that consults our true and permanent interests for time. We need one, too, that consults all the peculiarities and variety of human condition; one that is fitted to satisfy all the faculties of the soul; one which, instead of retarding, advances the progress of the human mind, satisfies the conscience, encourages the imagination, and enobles all the natural and moral affections. Every faculty of the soul, as well as every individual of the race, is diseased and infirm, and needs some catholicon, some universal remedy, some specific that can operate on every malady, and that proves itself worthy of confidence by its actual and well attested results.

Have we not seen that such a religion is found in the Bible, and only there? Just in proportion to the degree of practical influence which the Bible has exerted on the more limited or more enlarged circles of human society, on the intellectual, political, and moral condition of men, on their inquiries and motives, on their principles and con

duct, and on their enjoyments and expectations, may we discover its universal adaptation to the great family of man. No where are its effects confined to time, or place, or age, or sex, or condition. No climate, no degree of intellectual culture, no form of government, however despotic or however free, is above, beneath, or beyond its power. No physical or moral constitution has proved a barrier to its access. The civilized European, and the savage Hottentot, have alike found its "yoke easy and its burden light." Every where and at all times, it has found minds to whom its regeneration was necessary and its Redeemer precious. Its followers are found in the camp and in the forum, among the rich and the poor, among the learned and ignorant. It has found its way to the shop of the artisan, the prison of criminals, the tribunals of justice, and the thrones of kings. It is a religion that is never insipid and dull, never grows old, or vanishes away. It is a religion that is never behind the spirit of the age, but always in advance of it, leading it onward, and inscribing on all its improvements, "Holiness to the Lord." Other things may change; but the religion of the Bible never changes. What it was in the day of Christ and his apostles, it is now, and always will be. It has nothing pliable and temporizing in its principles, and yet is it alike adapted to all. Every

*For the illustrations on this page, and for some of the phraseology, the author is indebted to a discourse of A. Vinet. Professor of Theology, in Lausanne.

where its effects are the same. These things can be affirmed of no other religion, and of no system of philosophy. Other religions have been instituted, and flourished, and died, because they were adapted to the times and the spirit of the age. Neither paganism nor Mahomedanism can ever become the religion of the world. Nor can the religion of Zoroaster, destined as it is, to live only under its own native skies, and that, no longer than the gospel has an opportunity of superseding it. The Bible alone can ever become the religion of the world, because this alone corresponds to the universal exigencies of men, to the constantly recurring wants of humanity independent of accidental circumstances, and irrespective of place and time. Some of my most admiring views of the Bible arise from contemplating its wonderful adaptation to all times and places, and to every variety of character which this fallen world presents. The enlightened and the ignorant, the lofty as well as the abject, the meanest as well as the most splendid forms of human sin and misery, the living and the dying, ignorance, wickedness, sorrows and helplessness, which no other counsels of love and tenderness can reach, are all accessible to its transforming influence and precious consolations, and while convinced, rebuked and humbled by its censures, are comforted by its hopes.

But there is another inquiry :- IS NOT THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE A BENEVOLENT RELIGION? Is not the world, in every view, the better and the

happier for this wonderful book? Has it not exerted a favourable influence upon the learning, the laws, the liberties, the social institutions, the morality, the holiness, the happiness of mankind? Have any forms of government, any political systems, any theories of social order, any refinements of human philosophy accomplished for men what the Bible has accomplished? Wherever you trace its circulation, you see blessings every where accompanying its progress. Nothing has contributed so largely to the temporal comfort of mankind. It has scattered the darkness of intellect; it has given security to life, liberty and property; it has imparted mildness and efficacy to law; it has elevated woman from the degradation of a slave; it has set in motion a thousand systems of sacred charity to bless the poor, the diseased, the widow, the orphan, the blind and the dumb. It has strengthened the weak and confirmed the strong; it has convinced the thoughtless, reclaimed the wandering, comforted the mourner, and directed the eye of untold millions to an "exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Wherever it has come, it has been a stream of health and salvation. It professes a benevolent design; it has openly pledged itself to become a blessing to the world; and it has been redeeming this pledge and accomplishing this design, ever since it was first published to men. Though the experiment has not been so full and thorough as it will have been hereafter, it has been sufficiently full to evince its triumphs. Had it

failed, how many myriads of tongues would have proclaimed its defeat! Every one who looks into the Bible can see that its great object is to make men good, useful and happy. Such is the obvious design and tendency of its precepts, its prohibitions, its doctrines and principles, its institutions and privileges, its punishments and rewards. Whatever is pure, honest, true, lovely, and of good report, it encourages and requires; while all that is impure, dishonest, false, unlovely and uncommendable, it discourages and forbids. All that can assimilate a creature of yesterday to his Maker, and prepare him for the family and fellowship of angels, it requires; while all that renders him deformed and odious, that severs the bonds of moral union and fits him to become the companion of foul and miserable spirits, and an eternal outcast, it forbids. It encourages no vice, no sinful passions and propensities ; while it discountenances and condemns every corrupt principle and every lurking source of evil. Wherever it has exerted its appropriate influence, it has imparted new affections, new hopes, new motives of conduct, and a new and happy character. It imparts views and affections which resemble those of the redeemed in heaven, and differ from them only in degree. They are the opening blossoms, the unripe fruit which will hereafter hang in all its richness and maturity on the Tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. By gradually diffusing its own spirit of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy