of

Vast range most sublime

death are exhibited; in all our devotions we are instructed to have recourse invariably to his mediation and grace. Consider the Gospel as a practical code, and you will be convinced that Christ is entitled to give the name to our religion, because he both confers upon his people the principles and the powers of new obedience, and presents them, in his own conduct, with the most perfect model, in the Scriptures, with the most prevalent motives of a holy life. Consider the Gospel, in fine, as a system of consolation amid the ills of life, and still it may justly be denominated Christianity, because it uniformly directs us to the " grace that is in Jesus Christ," raises our thoughts to his celestial intercession and authority, invites us to contemplate him as seated on the throne of the universe, presiding over the whole administration of government in the kingdom of God, controuling every event, dispensing every blessing, opening and ascertaining the brightest prospects of eternal glory.

But our holy religion, considered in a large sense, is the and useful in- religion of the Scriptures; and while every part of her inti

formation.

mations leads to the most interesting of all discoveries, the mediation of Jesus, she does not confine her instructions to this subject. Accompanied and attested by very many evidences of inspiration, internal and external, the Bible blesses mankind with a greater portion of important information

than ever was otherwise communicated to the world. Opening the counsels of heaven; delineating the character of God; explaining the origin of the universe; sketching the early history of man, of his primitive innocence and subsequent apostacy and corruption; ascertaining the introduction of moral evil, misery, and death; detailing the history and the institutions of that singular people, who were, for ages, the sole depositaries of the knowledge of the true God; supplying us with the varied materials and models. of acceptable worship; establishing our faith in the future, by recording many illustrious predictions concerning the past, which have been exactly fulfilled; narrating the wonderful life and death, resurrection and ascension, of Jesus Christ; giving us, especially in his admirable discourses, a perfect code of morality sublimely illustrated and happily enforced; suggesting the means of propagating his Gospel, together with the form of government assigned to the evangelical church; illustrating the nature, spirit, design, and influences, of his high mediation; opening our view into remote futurity; announcing the consummation of all things ; introducing us into eternity,-what a mighty accession does the sacred volume bring to the knowledge of the human race! Who, considering these things, is not prepared to join

Ritual.

*, and,

in the soliloquy of a noble and celebrated personage*, laying his hand on the Bible, to exclaim, " Here is true philosophy. This is the wisdom that speaks to the heart. A bad life is the only grand objection to this book!" Who is not disposed to adopt the encomium of a great eastern luminary? "The collection of tracts, which, from their excellence, we call Scriptures, contain, independant of a divine origin, more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, purer morality, more important history, and finer strains both of poetry and of eloquence, than can be collected within the same compass from all other books that were ever composed in any age or in any idiom†.”

Incomparable in her intellectual information, Christianity, as an institute of worship, is also unrivalled. Her ritual is the most simple and spiritual that was ever inculcated by any authority. Her forms of devotion are few and inexpensive; such as all may observe, and natural religion might sanction. Her chief ordinances are venerably plain, and sublimely significant. Recalling mankind from an excessive regard to elegance of exterior in the rites of worship, she fixes their attention on the sentiments of the mind, on the state and

* Earl of Rochester.

+ Sir William Jones.

frame of the heart. Raising them above the degrading slavery of sense, she teaches them to aspire after converse with heaven and with God. Rescuing them from low and mercenary views of obedience, she invites them to serve the Father of all and the God of salvation, from a principle of faith in his high discoveries, from a sense of gratitude for the inestimable gift of his Son, from confidence in his character, and from love to him on account of his excellence and his liberality.

holiness.

Far from injuring morality, or overlooking its interests, the Influence on Gospel has incorporated with her system, and enforced by considerations the most sublime and the most affecting, a code of duty the most pure, the most generous, in every respect the most admirable, that ever was given to the world. Here religion is not divorced from righteousness. On the contrary, all her ordinances are calculated to inspire, to cherish, to excite, a love of practical goodness in all its forms. A high and faultless example, which even unbelievers have been compelled to admire and recommend, illustrates her precepts, and gives life and the most engaging beauty to the dead letter of the law.

Such is the frailty of our nature, that there is nothing which mankind feel so much in the hour of trial, as their

Agency of the Holy Spirit.

View of future state of being.

absolute dependence upon divine aid. All religions, ac

cordingly, have supposed the inspiration and agency of celestial beings; but it was reserved for revelation and Christianity, not only to confirm this assumption, but to give the conception transcendent dignity and interest, by assigning this important work to the third Person of Godhead, by connecting it with the plan of redemption, and by applying it to the consolation of good men under all the varied services and sufferings of life. The spirit of God is represented as dwelling in the saints; so that, by a sublime figure, their bodies become his temple. He perfects the work of God within them. He supports them under all the pressures of the present existence. He leads them to the land of uprightness.

And these intimations which the Gospel gives of a future existence, are incomparably superior, in evidence and in elevated interest, to those of Pagan superstition in any of its forms. How pure and sublime that heaven which Christianity reveals, and after which the saint is taught to aspire! There, according to the delineation of the Scriptures, around the throne of the Eternal, in the regions of immortality, are assembled all good and great beings. There are no sensualities, no frivolities, such as the Hindoo heaven or Ma