It is but the visible character or monogram of those high and spiritual and eternal truths, which we have shown to be the direct conclusion of sound and accurate philosophy. Our Lord himself declares that it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.

Behold here Christ the wisdom of God! Philosophy has toiled two thousand years to reach that high and glorious truth, which Revelation has from the beginning made known to the humblest of her children, to the veriest babe in Christ. Drop thy boasted flight, O Reason! acknowledge now that God only is the author of that most blessed book, and of our most holy faith. Christianity, founded and advanced by illiterate and ignorant men, in a nation not addicted to philosophize, embodies the highest and best philosophy. Can this be human? Is it not evidently Divine? God's own handwriting at once bursts upon our astonished sight, in characters of light, of mercy, of love, of glorious holiness. GOD'S

TEMPLE OF UNIVERSAL TRUTH IS OPENED,

THE VAIL OF THE UPPER SANCTUARY IS OPENED, and we behold in the holy of holies, in the innermost shrine of truth, THE ARK OF HIS MOST HOLY COVENANT.* Blessed God! we humbly adore, we gratefully acknowledge thy truth and

*Rev. xi. 19. and xv. 5.

goodness; henceforth be it ours humbly to receive thy testament, in the submissive and teachable spirit of little children.

In thus unfolding the philosophical basis of Christianity, let it not be supposed that I slight or undervalue the historical truth of scripture. Far from it: I admit the evidence as fully satisfactory on the most impartial examination; I desire to record my belief as the humblest and most unworthy of the followers of Christ. The bare and unveiled truth man cannot long or steadily contemplate; at least not in such a manner, as that it may affect his heart, and regulate his life, amid the changing scenes of this busy world. In the wide regions of universal truth, the mind is lost and overwhelmed amid the greatness of the subject, and like the dove, sent forth over the waters of the flood, can find no resting place suited to its nature, till it returns to the ark of refuge. Having proved this by repeated and most painful experience, I could wish to spare others the difficulty, pain and danger of the experiment, by thus recording my humble, but assured testimony of the fact. But there is a far greater testimony: Christ himself declares "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." Nor would I, if I could, approach God, otherwise than through Jesus, the blessed Mediator. In him Divine truth is so graciously tempered with the engaging sentiments of humanity, and all the en

dearing sympathies of kindred and of brotherhood, that I love to look upon it thus, nor can easily withdraw my mind from the delightful contemplation. "For we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Farther, as we have proved that pardon and reconciliation, if received at all, must be received of God's free and unmerited goodness, and have shown also the necessity of severe sanctions to his eternal law, it follows that mercy and goodness can be extended only by means of a message sent by God to man. It is one thing for a man to take pardon and reconciliation to himself, and quite another to receive them freely given.. The first he has no right to do, otherwise what shall become of the sanctions of the law; the second he cannot have without an accredited message from God, nor can that message be accredited otherwise than by miracles. Thus we prove the absolute necessity for a Divine Revelation, as well as the entire philosophical truth, and God-like wisdom, of the fundamental doctrines of ourmost holy scriptures.

Finally, let it be observed, that the mere reading and by words acknowledging the truth of these

doctrines, will be of no avail to any man. But they must be received so as to be continually acknowledged, in thought, word, and deed. The life and conduct must be formed upon them: they must be wrought into the whole frame-work of our manifold associations and ideas, so as to be continually at hand, continually alive and operative they must be, as it were, incorporated in the mind itself, and become a living principle of holy and righteous and devotional feeling. To accomplish this is a difficult matter, requiring time and perseverance and constant vigilance. Frequent meditation and self-examination are evidently most proper instruments; but the man who has made the experiment finds these insufficient of themselves. The work is too great, indeed, for mere human power: - this I state, not as a philosophical deduction, but as my conviction from experience, as well as that of all experimental Christians; and, moreover, it is plainly acknowledged and declared in scripture. God has there revealed the effectual means for our sanctification, namely, his Holy and Living Spirit, which he has promised to those who ask him. We have formerly shown that the doctrine of spiritual influences, and of the direct answer to prayer, is not contradicted by any principle in philosophy. But the farther consideration of these and other mysteries of Christianity, we reserve for another chapter.

CHAPTER XXVI.

INTRODUCTION TO THE DEEPER MYSTERIES OF REVEALED RELIGION. DIGRESSION CONCERNING FUTURE PUNISHMENTS.

THE truth of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity having been demonstrated, in such a manner as directly proves it to be a revelation from God, it will not be thought unreasonable that it should contain some farther truths, the certainty of which cannot be established by mere reason, though their antecedent probability, and their consistency with philosophy, may be satisfactorily shown. In treating of these it is necessary to take higher ground, founding upon scripture as the very word of God. This we are entitled to do by the result of our previous argument, especially when taken in connection with the historical and prophetical evidences, in which, if the reader is not already informed, he may be instructed by many excellent writers. The subjects on which we are now about to enter are, indeed, the mysteries of revealed religion, to the