READING.-Rapid

The best way of reading books with rapidity is to acquire that habit of severe attention to what they contain that perpetually confines the mind to the single object it has in view. When you have read enough to have acquired the habit of reading without suffering your mind to wander, and when you can bring to bear upon your subject a great share of previous knowledge, you may then read with rapidity: before that, as you have taken the wrong road, the faster you proceed the more you will be sure to err.-S. Smith.

READING and THINKING.

It is good to read, mark, learn; but it is better to inwardly digest. It is good to read, better to think-better to think one hour than to read ten hours without thinking. Thinking is to reading what rain and sunshine are to the seed cast into the ground, the influence which maketh it bear and bring forth thirty, forty, or a hundred-fold. To read is to gather into the barn or storehouse of the mind; to think is to cast seed-corn into the ground to make it productive. To read is to collect information; to think is to evolve power. To read is to lay a burden in the bank; but to think is to give to the feet swiftness, to the hands strength. Yet we have a thousand or ten thousand readers for one thinker, as the kind of books sought after in circulating libraries bear witness.-Cameron. REASON.-Attempting to Prove Religion by

They who would prove religion by reason, do but weaken the cause which they endeavour to support; it is to take away the pillars of our faith, and to prop it only with a twig; it is to design a tower like that of Babel, which, if it were possible, as it is not, to reach to heaven, would come to nothing by the confusion of the workmen.—Dryden.

REASON. The Culture of

Reason requires culture to expand it. It resembles the fire concealed in the flint, which only shows itself when struck with the steel.-Gerdil.

REASON.-The Dwelling-Place of

Within the brain's most secret cells

A certain lord chief justice dwells,

Of sovereign power, whom one and all,

With common voice, we Reason call.-Churchill.

REASON. The Endowments of

Reason superadded to man, gives him peculiar and characteristic views, responsibilities, and destinations, exalting him above all existences that are visible, but which perish, and associating him with those that are invisible, but which remain. Reason is that Homeric, golden chain, descending from the throne of God even unto man, uniting heaven with earth, and earth with heaven; for all is connected, and without a chasm;-from an angel to an atom, all is proportion, harmony, and strength.-Colton.

REASON-Estimated by Christ.

'Tis Reason our great Master holds so dear;
"Tis Reason's injured rights His wrath resents;
'Tis Reason's voice obeyed His glories crown;

To give lost Reason life He poured out His own.-Dr. E. Young.

REASON.-The Glory of

Reason is the glory of human nature. He is next to the gods whom reason and not passion impels.-Claudian.

REASON-Immortal.

Reason the root, fair Faith is but the flower;
The fading flower shall die, but Reason lives

Immortal as her Father in the skies.-Dr. E. Young.

REASON.-The Insufficiency of

Reason is always striving, always at a loss; and of necessity it must so come to pass, while it is exercised about that which is not its proper object. Let us be content to know God by His own methods, at least so much of Him as He is pleased to reveal to us in the Sacred Scriptures. To apprehend them to be the Word of God is all our reason has to do, for all beyond it is the work of faith, the seal of Heaven impressed upon our understanding.—Dryden.

REASON.-The Laws of

The laws of reason are the voice of Deity.-Zschokke.

REASON-Leads to Religion.

Even reason, which is nature, leads a man up to religion's palace, though it shows him not all the private rooms within it. It brings him into the presence, though not into the privy chamber. It ushers him to faith, which rightly understood, is little more than ratified and pure celestial reason for of faith, there is reason to be given; and though it be set in a height beyond our human percep tion, it is rather super-elevated, than contradictory to our reason. When man comes to faith, he then runs out of himself, but not at all against himself. He but lifts up nature to a higher scale.-Feltham.

REASON.-Liberty Accorded to

Reason should have free course through the whole empire of religion-length, breadth, depth, height: it should not be hindered, but expedited; we should wish to give it wings; we should wish it to be as swift and as free in its movements as the heart ought to be in loving God, and the feet in running the way of His commandments. It is not the exercise of reason which is to be guarded against, but those perversions of reason which spring from pride, the spirit of sect, pre-conceived opinions, and depraved inclinations and habits.-Dr. Skinner.

REASON. The Object of

Truth is the object of reason, and this is one.-Colton.

REASON.-The Submission of

We will not give up Reason to stand always as a priestess at the altars of human philosophy. She hath a more majestic temple to tread, and more beauteous robes wherein to walk, and incense rarer and more fragrant to burn in golden censers. She does well when exploring boldly God's visible works. She does better when she meekly submits to spiritual teaching, and sits, as a child, at the Saviour's feet; for then shall she experience the truth that "the entrance of God's words giveth light and understanding."-Canon Melvill.

REASON and FAITH.

By day the eyes of Reason are the guide of Faith, and by night the ear of Faith is the guide of Reason.-Professor Rogers.

It is not fineness of discourse, nor the sharpness of arguments, or the witty rencounters of disputing men that can penetrate into the mysteries of faith: the poor humble man that prays, and enquires simply, and listens attentively, and sucks in greedily, and obeys diligently, he is the man that shall know the mind of the Spirit. God hath confounded Reason that Faith may come in her place.Bishop Taylor.

REASON and the GOSPEL.

When the Gospel gains admittance into the human mind, it is far from superseding the use of the reasoning faculties; but rather, by enlarging the bounds of the Christian's knowledge, provides it with a new province, wherein it may exercise itself with greater certainty and delight. It affirms in the strongest manner all the declarations of God, all the reason of duty naturally imprinted on his conscience; and adds to them what was entirely wanting before—“ a divine reason of hope." The strictest reasoner can have no valid objection against the Gospel, unless he will quarrel with it: it provides a sinner with a source of comfort, without the aid of his reasoning faculties, where all his natural funds for reasoning proved utterly insufficient.-Sir W. Jones.

REASONING-Carried too Far.

This may be done many ways: as by long trains of reasons composed of a number of propositions chained together, or of principles and consequences— which way of reasoning is embarrassing and painful to the auditory; or by making many branches of reasons, and establishing them one after another, which is tiresome and fatiguing to the mind. The mind of man loves to be conducted in a more smooth and easy way; all must not be proved at once; but supposing principles which are true and plain, and which you, when it is necessary, are capable of proving and supporting, you must be content with using them to prove what you have in hand. Yet I do not mean that, in reasoning, arguments should be so short and dry, and proposed in so brief a manner, as to divest the truth of half its force, as many authors leave them. I only mean that a due medium should be preserved; that is, that without fatiguing the mind and attention of the hearer, reasons should be placed in just as much force and clearness as are necessary to produce the effect.-Claude.

REASONING.-The Preacher must Use

Though we are occupied in the study and diffusion of Revelation, yet with reason we have something to do, or how can "we put to proof the things that differ?" How compare a false position with a true one that directs itself against it? St. Paul says "Judge you what I say;" by which he intimates that what he had been stating was reasonable, or it could not have been referred to the decision of a sound understanding. Again: Paul before Felix "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come;" and so forcible and convincing was his reasoning, that the tyrant, whose frown was sufficient to strike terror into the hearts of his subjects, now trembled under an appalling consciousness of guilt. It is true that human reasoning is capable of perversion, and sometimes makes "the worse appear the better cause," at least to carnal minds, who greedily adopt the sophistries of those who lie in wait to deceive; still, it has

its uses and rules, which are not to be neglected or shunned by a preacher of the Gospel.-Dr. Sturtevant.

RECAPITULATION.-The Design of

Recapitulation is bringing the several lines together, as rays are collected in the focus of a burning glass, to inflame the hearts of the auditors.-Keckerman. RECAPITULATION.—The Importance of

Recapitulation is very important to gain the attention; and it is equally important to fix on the memory the things heard, lest at any time they slip therefrom, and, consequently, no practical use can possibly be made of the knowledge communicated.-Pardee.

RECAPITULATION.—Railing against

It has been common to rail against the practice of repeating the heads of a discourse towards the close, and referring in some sort to the chief points of the subject in the closing prayer. The latter requires great delicacy; but the former cannot be given up, as it is one method out of many of oratorical skill for the purpose of giving effect to a discourse; and, if the recapitulation be coupled with strong and appropriate comments on the general subject, it will form one of the most powerful methods of concluding. There is nothing artificial in this method of peroration; for when many things have been said, and many words employed to illustrate and confirm them, what can be more natural than to bring the main points together in close order, to prevent their escape?—Dr. Sturtevant. RECTOR.-The

God is the supreme rector of the world.-Hale.

RECTOR.-The Responsibilties of a

Whether a rector be the clergyman of a parish, or the chief elective officer of a university, or the head master of a public school, his responsibilities are such that he may well exclaim with the Apostle of the Gentiles-"Who is sufficient for these things!" In the first case he has to do with souls; in the two latter with minds; and the influence which he exercises over both will pass into eternity, and confront him at the bar of God.-Dr. Davies.

RECTORY.-The Scenery about a

A beautiful and pastoral scene,

A painter's study meet to be,
Or such as bard, in mood serene,
Might wish to roam in, fancy free:

Mark how that river to the sea

Wafts the fair vessel on its tide,
Breasting the rippling waves with glee,
Herself their ornament and pride!

How gracefully, in towering height,
Those venerable cedars rise !
How beautiful, with foliage bright,
That laurel of gigantic size!
Here the tall cypress proudly vies
With ilex, chesnut, fir, and pine;
And there with bloom of richer dyes,
Those tulip trees in glory shine.

Nor lacks the spot that softer grace

Which Flora's sweetest charms bestow;
Her votary's eye may quickly trace

In many a floweret's gorgeous glow
And simpler beauties, traits that show
Throughout the changeful circling year,
As varying seasons come and go,

A gentler taste has lingered here.-Barton.

REFLECTION-Described.

Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance.-Tupper. REFLECTION.-The Pleasure of

Of so exalted a nature is this enjoyment, that theologists have not hesitated to assert that to recollect a well-spent life is to anticipate the bliss of a future existence.-Dr. Knox.

REFLECTION.-The Practice of

They only babble who practice not reflection:
I shall think, and thought is silence.-Sheridan.

RELIGION. The Adaptation of

True religion is adapted to the sound capacities of all men,-to that condition of mind which the individual experience of good and evil of the world, sooner or later, brings with it: it is suited to man in every stage of the progress of society, -to his weakness and to his strength; from which it becomes the real dispenser of equal rights.-Sir C. Bell.

RELIGION. The Arguments of

True religion abhors all violence; she owns no arguments but those of persuasion.-St. Athanasius.

RELIGION.-Definitions of

Religion is, in the beginning, the learning of God: hence the great name— divine, one learned about God. Truly, religion is the blessedness arising from a knowledge of God.-Richter.

What is religion? The derivation of the word will somewhat help to the explication of the thing. The Latin word religio, from which our English word comes, some derive à relegendo, because men, by serious reading, come to be religious; grace sometimes findeth a passage through the sight into the soul: the eye hath affected the heart. Others derive it à religendo, or rather à re-eligendo, from choosing again; or a second time, because a religious person chooseth God for his chiefest good or portion. His first choice was carnal, of the flesh and the creature; but his second choice is spiritual, of God and Christ; and this choice is religion. Others derive it à religando, from binding or knitting, because it is the great bond to join and tie God and man together. As the parts of the body are knit to the head by the nerves and sinews, so man is knit to God by religion. Sin and irreligion separate God and man asunder; godliness and religion unite God and man together.-Swinnock.

RELIGION.-The Dispute and Practice of

The dispute about religion, and the practice of it, seldom go together.Dr. E. Young.