us, are prominent in proportion to their importance, whether the subject be a doctrine to be believed, or a duty to be performed; a grace to be cultivated; a sin to be avoided; or a corruption to be subdued: if it can be proved that just in proportion as the subject is connected with our salvation, so is it made plain and frequently recurred to; while matters more remotely connected with that primary object are more obscure and less frequently brought forward; if this feature of Revelation can be established as existing, it is certain that it would not only tend to assist the Bible student in his enquiries, but supply us with a standard by which deviations from truth might be detected, and defective, or erroneous systems be rendered apparent.

Such a standard, if practically and fairly applied, might, under the Divine blessing, be productive of extensive and salutary results. Many objections and difficulties may, at first, appear against the establishment or application of such a principle of Divine Truth. But while the writer feels the caution that is requisite, he feels confident that if the subject be attentively examined, all reasonable objection will be removed; and that those who might at first imagine that such a principle would afford a dangerous latitude to opinion, or tend to depreciate any part of Revelation, will find directly the reverse to be the case. For while this principle fully re

cognises all that is “noted in the Scriptures of truth," it exhibits that truth in the beauty of its proportions," according to the proportion of Faith," and thus discovers where any part of the Word of God is neglected, perverted, or distorted.

The first enquiry ought to be-"Is this principle a distinguishable feature in the composition of the Scriptures? Can it be proved to be so, without entering on the region of speculation? The subject is at least worthy of examination, particularly as it can be so easily disproved if incorrect; nor should. it be condemned previous to examination, as repugnant either to reason or the nature and design of Revelation.

We may suppose, in order simply to illustrate the latter assertion, the case of a wise and anxious parent, tenderly solicitous for the welfare of children who had removed from his paternal care to a foreign land, of which they knew but little, and of which he possessed the most accurate knowledge. The pursuits and engagements most likely to answer the purpose of their emigration were known to him; he understood the line of conduct most calculated to promote their welfare; knew the many temptations they would meet to pursue the contrary; and was aware that many plausible plans would be proposed for their adoption, holding out the prospect of advantage, but sure to entail loss or inflict injury in

the result. And must we not believe that the directions which such a parent would naturally give to his absent family, both for the government of their lives and the pursuit of their designs, would be guided by his knowledge of what was really most important to them; and that in proportion to his own estimation of the importance of each particular, would be its prominence in his directions, and the frequency of his recurrence to it, that it would be the most obviously pressed on their attention, whether it related to some evil to be avoided, or some good to be obtained.

If, then, the reasonableness of such conduct in a human parent be admitted, is it unreasonable to expect that Our Father in Heaven, the moral Governor of the Universe, in giving us a Revelation of His Holy Will to direct our lives, to teach us all that is important for us to know, to fortify us against temptation, and enable us so to pass through things temporal as that, finally, we lose not those things that are eternal-would, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so form the Revelation of that will, as that the most important points for his creatures to know, believe, practice, or shun, should be the most prominent, the plainest, and the most frequently laid before them. And if it can be shewn that such a mode of composition does indeed distinguish the Revelation of our heavenly Father's will, such a

fact should not only encourage us in the investigation of truth, but would furnish such internal evidence of the truth of Holy Scripture as would stamp upon its pages the broad impress of Deity; proving them to be inspired by the Omniscience of Him "to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid ;" and thus proving their sufficiency as a rule of faith and practice.

At a time like the present, however, the special advantage to be derived from ascertaining such a principle of Divine Truth is, that it affords the simplest and safest guide to the relative importance of subjects on which the Church of Christ is now divided; some persons attaching undue value to the observation of some particulars, and neglecting or depreciating others of equal, or, perhaps, greater moment; and vice versa.

Our own conviction of the existence of this interesting feature of Revelation is, independently of Scriptural proof, warranted by the incidental observations of many eminent writers, who have never gone so far as to establish the point and apply it as a test of the comparative importance of Scriptural truth.

The following quotations will prove that others, as well as the author, here concurred in the general truth of this principle; and while their observations by no means contain a full exposition of the nature and design of the work he has undertaken, they

do contain some valuable remarks and suggestions on topics connected with it.

"Take heed unto the doctrine, not only that every part be according to the rule, but all parts, in their several relations, so held and exhibited as to be according to the proportion of faith."

There is a proportion of faith, because there is a body of faith-a system of faith, with a beauty of symmetry in the whole, as well as in the parts; a harmony of relation, without a discernment of which the full value of no one member can be understood. In one sense, it is right to say that all parts of the system of revealed truth are essential : essential to the complete integrity of the system they certainly are. In another sense, it is right to say that all parts are not essential: essential to the vitality of religion they certainly are not. There are truths, without the confession of which the soul can live unto God, though it may suffer loss; and there are others, without which it cannot; just as there are members of our bodies without which we can survive; and others without which life must be extinct-all essential to integrity; not all to vitality. The pattern of the tabernacle which was shown to Moses in the Mount had its various parts, from the net-work of the outer court to the most fine gold of the inner sanctuary, and every cord of that net-work was as essential to the perfect integrity