not such a state itself bring with it the consoling convictions which itself requires, and be regarded as nature's silent but powerful argument, which she has framed in such a manner that its force shall only be understood in proportion as the want of it is felt? The extreme evils to which individuals are exposed, during the slow progress of the race towards perfection, form too conspicuous a feature in the history of man to be overlooked in our review of the final causes of his condition. Why should we not regard these evils, not as unavoidable or permitted imperfections, but as ordained* for a direct and adequate object, to convey a solemn lesson, and to complete the evidence-imperfect if prosperity were the invariable human condition-for an existence beyond the grave? Prosperity is satisfied with the glaring surface of this world's picture, and neglects futurity: adversity leads aside to the contemplation of a more hidden scene, and discloses the necessity and value of a future state. Christianity itself proceeded from a nation in deep adversity; out of the distresses of Israel issued the cry for immortality. May we not regard all irremediable earthly afflictions as intended to suggest Christianity to each sufferer, and to whisper, that there must be a Father in heaven, and mansions of the blessed?

It has not unfrequently happened, that the untutored feelings of mankind have anticipated the results of philosophic investigation. Nature has spoken first; reasoning and science have followed slowly with a confirmation of her voice. Men had not been long upon the earth before the ideas of a great Father of the universe, and of a region of spirits, began to develop themselves. In this, as in every case which exhibits the progress of truth, ra

*The distinction between permitting and ordaining must vanish in the case of a Creator both omniscient and omnipotent.

tional doctrines have had to force their way through a primeval chaos of dark and misshapen notions; and Christianity exhibits the shape to which the workings of the human mind had brought these ideas at a certain stage of the world's progress. The extensive attainments of science in later ages have tended to confirm the former great doctrine; but hitherto philosophical research has not fallen upon the avenues which lead to the development of the latter. Science and philosophy are, however, yet in their infancy, and especially as regards their application to subjects supposed to be connected with morality and religion. The belief that Revelation had assumed these subjects as her own peculiar ground, has hitherto impeded the growth of free inquiry upon them amongst nations most competent to the task.* Released from this

* Whenever any great revolutions in opinion have been in progress, it has appeared to many that the ties of morality were being unloosed, and that the mental world was falling into the darkest confusion. Such was the idea of the heathens whilst Christianity was throwing down their venerable ancient deities. Eunapius, a heathen sophist, who wrote in the time of the emperor Theodosius I., giving an account of an Egyptian Philosopher named Antoninus, says, "He foretold to all his disciples that, after his death, there would be no temples, but that the magnificent and sacred temple of Serapis would be laid in ruinous heaps, and that fabulous confusion and unformed darkness would tyrannize over the best parts of the earth. All which things time has brought to pass."

We see at present the incipient upheavings of another of these revolutions the subversion of the belief in miraculous revelations, and the gradual advance of a system of natural religion, of which we cannot yet predict the whole creed, but of which we may already perceive two essential features, the recognition of a God, and that of an inherent moral nature in man. As the clearing away of the antiquated piles of the old law made way for the simpler structure of faith in Christ, so will the release from the exclusive authority of written precept enable men to hear more distinctly the

restraint, and having unbounded scope to traverse the creation in search of evidence, mankind may reach points in moral discovery which at present would be at once pronounced visionary. The achievements of mechanical and chemical science may be equalled or outdone by those of moral and intellectual research; and a clearer confession be forced out of nature concerning the character of the Creator, and the ultimate destination of man. In the mean time may it not be, that the feelings of the human heart have anticipated the laborious operations of the intellect, and that Christianity has taken the advance of philosophy in ministering to the deepest wants of man?

Let not, then, the mind which is compelled to renounce its belief in miraculous revelations deem itself bound to throw aside, at the same time, all its most cherished associations. Its generous emotions and high contemplations may still find an occasion for exercise in the review of the interesting incidents which have for ever consecrated the plains of Palestine; but it may also find pleasure in the thought that, for this exercise no single spot of earth, and no one page of its history, furnishes the exclusive theme. Whatever dimness may gather from the lapse of time and the obscurity of records about the events of a distant age, these capabilities of the mind itself remain, and always will remain, in full freshness and beauty. Other Jerusalems will excite the glow of patriotism, other Bethanies exhibit the affections of home, and other minds of benevolence and energy seek to hasten the approach of the kingdom of man's perfection.

voice of the moral nature within them. Reformed Judaism will be succeeded by reformed Christianity, and each change appear the transition to a more perfect law of liberty.

B b

Nor can scriptures ever be wanting-the scriptures of the physical and of the moral world-the book of the universe. Here the page is open, and the language intelligible to all men; no transcribers have been able to interpolate or erase its texts; it stands before us in the same genuineness as when first written; the simplest understanding can enter with delight into criticism upon it; the volume does not close, leaving us to thirst for more, but another and another epistle still meets the inquisitive eye, each signed with the author's own hand, and bearing undoubted characters of divine inspiration. Unable at present to comprehend the whole, we can still feel the privilege of looking into it at pleasure, of knowing a part, and of attempting the opening of further leaves. And if, after its highest efforts, the mind be compelled to sink down, acknowledging its inability, in some parts, to satisfy itself with any clear conclusion, it may remain serene at least, persuaded that God will not cause any soul to fare the worse for not knowing what he has given it no means to know. Enough is understood to enable us to see, in the Universe itself, a Son which tells us of a Father, and in all the natural beauty and moral excellence which meet us in the world an ever-present Logos, which reveals the grace and truth of its invisible source. Enough is understood to convince us that, to have a place on this beautiful planet, on almost any terms, is an unspeakable privilege; that virtue produces the highest happiness, whether for this or another world; and that there does exist an encircling mysterious Intelligence, which, as it appears to manifest its. energy in arrangements for the general welfare of the creation, must ensure a provision for all the real interests of man. From all our occasional excursions into the abysses of the unseen world, and from all our efforts to reach upwards to the hidden things of God, both reason and piety bid us return tranquilly to

our accustomed corner of the earth, to use and enjoy fully our present lot, and to repose implicitly upon the higher wisdom in whose disposal we stand, whilst indulging the thought that a time is appointed when the cravings of the heart and of the intellect will be satisfied, and the enigma of our own and the world's existence be solved.