actual divisions of Christians, the spirit in which they too often conduct their theological controversies, and the feelings and treatment which too many of different views exercise towards one another. And I am free to confess, that this result has not struck me with any surprise. I am not surprised that men, especially those whose religious affections have not been early and faithfully cultivated should be disgusted and driven away from a religion, which, however it may inculcate universal good will, brotherly kindness and charity, they perceive to exert so partial a sway over the passions of its followers. They will be apt to judge the tree by its fruits, and to distrust the faith of Christians, however loudly or confidently its claims may be set forth and asserted. In saying thus much, however, I by no means intend to justify unbelief in any shape or degree. If any circumstances may exist by which it can in some instances be justified or palliated, they must be more than mere disgust at the unworthy spirit manifested by professed Christians. The disgust may naturally, indeed, be strong; but a religion sent from God, or even alleged to be sent from God, must be judged upon its own merits and evidences, apart from its corruptions.

I need not spend much time in pointing out the duties of Christians in the present state of things. The cause of my remarks naturally leads me to say, that the mode of conducting religious controversy, needs to be carefully weighed and considered. It should be always borne in mind that we are not contending for victory, but striving for the truth. Too often it appears the determination to force down one's own particular

creed as true, instead of honestly endeavoring to test its intrinsic worth. We should be ready at all times, to give those who differ from us a patient hearing; to treat them with that charity which rejoiceth at the truth' wherever found, and which 'hopeth all things,' even of those the most opposed to our modes of thinking and acting. We should meet the unbeliever not necessarily as the enemy of all that we believe to be good and holy. In the various constitution of minds, and the different influences and associations to which we are respectively subjected, the same evidence is not, even if presented, equally convincing to all. In some cases, too, the mind of an individual has never been addressed upon the subject of Christian truth, except under some corrupt form of the religion :—and who shall say if it were offered him in its simplicity, that he would still reject it? What we need then, to feel on this subject is this; that all who are around us, be they of one name or another, Trinitarian or Unitarian, Calvinist or Arminian, nay, believer or unbeliever, are still our brethren ;-children of the same Almighty Parent, and responsible to Him-to Him alone, for their faith. Did all who profess to be Christians, feel, truly and deeply feel this, they might win many to their faith, who are now disgusted with the intolerance or selfishness of some of its professors.

I would say, then, to all, keep your minds open to whatever of truth God may yet permit to enter there. Embrace every means to understand more thoroughly the nature and the evidences of your religion. Candidly consider every good means which may be offered you for diffusing more widely its blessings, and aid

such as you approve, according to the ability God has given you. But whatever else you do, remember, I beseech you, that personal religion, the purity and holiness of your own souls, your advancement in all true knowledge, and all Christian virtue, your individual salvation, is the great end for which you should seek. You cannot do this faithfully and as you ought, and not be a blessing to all around you. Let not the advantages which you enjoy in the age and land in which you live, be misapplied or neglected.

F.

THE RELIGIOUS OBLIGATION OF GAINING KNOWLEDGE.

There are so many motives for the acquisition of knowledge, that we do not often think of it as a religious duty. Knowledge is easily understood to be wealth, distinction and power; it is not so readily seen to be virtue.

I propose to offer some considerations on the religious obligation of gaining knowledge.

Knowledge, the pursuit of truth on any or on all subjects within the scope of human powers, is intercourse with the divine mind. It is the perception of things as they really exist, and consequently it is entering into the purposes and intentions of the Supreme Intelligence who constituted them what they are. When the naturalist studies the structure of a flower, when he investigates the delicate mechanism, the habits and instincts of an insect or a quadruped, or searches into

the laws of animal or vegetable life, support and reproduction; when the chemist detects the original elements of which all things are composed, describes their properties, and the laws of their combinations; when the intellectual philosopher traces the operations of mind, and distinguishes its various faculties; when the astronomer watches the courses of the stars in heaven, and predicts with certainty their future appearances and changes; when the student of history observes the rise, progress and various fortunes of the nations that have figured on the earth, and searches into the causes of their prosperity and decay, then, with reverence be it spoken, they have in their minds, so far as finite capacities are capable of comprehending them, the same ideas which were in the mind of Infinite Wisdom, when, ere creation had commenced, it determined what should be the existences, the laws, and the events of the spiritual, the moral and the material universe. I mention this as the highest and purest motive for pursuing knowledge. I say that it is communion with God. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, by understanding hath he established the heavens; and when we study the traces of wisdom of which the earth and the heavens are filled, we hold intercourse with his all-wise spirit; we become conscious of an all-pervading mind. Direct exercises of devotion, are an interchange of affectionate sentiment between man and his Father in Heaven; but the study of His mind in his works, is like sitting at his feet and listening to the counsels of paternal wisdom. I am well aware, that knowledge has sometimes led men away from God. The habit of attending to the second causes by which he op

erates, has occasionally led them to forget or deny the original cause of all things. But this has been the effect of knowledge when it was pursued in pride or self confidence; I am speaking of the pursuit of it with religious motives, and in a meek and pious spirit. Its effects upon the greatest minds, have been such as I have endeavored to describe. Knowledge led such men as Milton and Bacon, Locke and Newton, to the Father of lights and God of truth.

In the second place, the acquisition of knowledge, is the intended exercise of man's intellectual powers. Those powers are capable of indefinite improvement. I do not say that every human intellect is capable even by the most judicious culture, during the longest life, of becoming equal to the most gifted minds which have occasionally adorned our race. Divine wisdom appears to have dispensed mental powers in various degrees, to suit the various offices which individuals have to perform in society. But that portion which each individual has received, may by careful and diligent cultivation, be indefinitely developed. A single article of knowledge, thoroughly mastered, naturally leads to many others. The exercise which the mind has had in the acquisition, encourages, and invigorates it for a fresh effort. Thus the power and the facilities of attainment increase at every step. The mind proceeds with a continually accelerated progress. No human mind, whatever may have been the degree of its previous cultivation, can determine what stores of knowledge it is incapable of accumulating; how deeply it may not attempt to search into the mysteries of God's creation, how widely it may not aspire to comprehend the laws of the Universe. No