viction, far surpassing the utmost evidence afforded by the pure sciences, and satisfy the mind both of their unerring truth and of their divine descent.

An attentive perusal of the ARGUMENT above alluded to will at once remove all difficulty, and shew that a "Divine Revelation" cannot be made to the SENSES, but only to the REASON of man. The proud distinction of man, REASON, which has by some been lauded as the sole arbitress of the world, and the only sure guide of our actions, and by others condemned as the weakest and vainest of all powers, and the most certain to misguide us in our aspirations after that kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of the world, will be found, when kept within due limits and employed solely in its practical use, to be the faculty that generates both religious ideas and the desire to act up to the divine precepts of the Gospel.

The will of God revealed to his creatures through the medium of Jesus Christ is, therefore, addressed to the Reason of Man, with this happy result, that while this faculty remains in its purity no human being can refuse its testimony, which is confirmed and corroborated by the tests given by our heavenly Father to his creatures, CONSCIENCE and CONVICTION. Had this revelation

been addressed to the SENSES, it could have affected only the contemporaries of Christ. Laws, however, are not facts; the latter only address the SENSES, but laws never can. Who ever saw his own REASON, much less the laws which emanate from this spiritual faculty! Whatever Confucius, Socrates, or others, may have advanced on the subject of virtue and the moral laws, Jesus Christ alone is the instrument employed by Divine Providence for the complete development and establishment of a Doctrine so consonant with REASON, that the more it is investigated and compared with that preeminent faculty of man, the more exalted and sublime will it be found.

Fatal, indeed, is the mistake of mixing up historical relations with pure doctrine. They differ essentially in their nature; neither can they be substituted for each other. Christ's doctrines are pure precepts and moral principles, which can be contemplated by REASON alone, and need only be clearly expounded to be indelibly fixed in the heart, and to become guides for our conduct even to salvation. Historical Facts, on the contrary, must have addressed the senses of the narrator, but can never constitute a universal principle, or command universal assent; as well might we hope to advance

the truth of the forty-seventh proposition of the first book of Euclid, by adding the well known history of its discovery. When Pythagoras, in the energy of enthusiasm at the happy effort, commanded a splendid sacrifice, he decreed a hecatomb, crying, Eűpŋxa! sŭgŋua! Euclid has not embellished his "Elements" with this narration, nor would it have made truth more true! It is a universally acknowledged position that every event must have a cause; but it is equally certain that all the facts in the world will neither make a mathematical figure nor constitute a pure moral principle. Never will I cease to employ my pen on this subject, whether I am seconded or not in my efforts, to establish a principle of such vital importance for the interest of Religion; and finally I hope, like the great Hindoo philosopher, Rammohun Roy, to be able to eradicate the baneful prejudice of confounding history with principle, a prejudice more mischievous in its consequences than that of the immolation of the Indian widows, because it entails an error that subjects the "Scriptures" to perpetual cavil and misunderstanding, thus defeating the object which our "Saviour" had in view—perfect unanimity in his only true Church. This prejudice must and shall be conquered, or the "CHRISTIAN

RELIGION" will not be what its founder intended-the

“UNIVERSAL RELIGION OF MAN".

because it is the

Religion of Reason.

66

This exposition of the "Sacred Book" cannot be considered as destroying one doctrine, without giving a more sublime substitute nay, the very substance instead of the shadow; for, by eradicating error, pure truth finds no obstacle to its adoption in the mind. The propriety and principle of this treatment of the Scriptures" is fully displayed in the INTRODUCTION; but as it has not, from its novelty, made that impression on the religious public which its importance demands, and as this principle entirely secures the Scriptures from the mutilation so much dreaded and so justly deprecated, it is hoped that a further illustration of the principle will be greeted with that warmth which the vital importance of the subject demands, when we reflect that unanimity and concord on all religious points must be the result.

An obscure feeling has long pervaded the mind, that there are certain precepts in the "Holy Book" which command universal assent; but we have never beheld till now a decided touchstone, an unerring principle laid down, by which every individual may decide for himself,

on perusing the "Sacred Volume," whether the text under consideration is wholly or partially a precept, a rule, a maxim of conduct, to guide us in our probationary state; or, whether the point under discussion is an historical narration of events that has been employed expressly to introduce and enforce this rule of conduct. When we have duly considered and thoroughly understand the distinction between facts and principles, which is pointed out in this test, and have referred each to its proper head of DOCTRINE OF HISTORY, all difference of opinion must for ever cease. We may illustrate this position by a familiar instance" Jesus went up into a mountain." Now, the act of ascending a mountain contains no rule of conduct, no precept; but it is a most important fact, on account of the sublime doctrine that he taught his disciples and the multitude who were with them. The fact of ascending the mountain occurred at one point of time, and must have affected the senses of those who accompanied him to that important place where our Saviour chose to enlighten the multitude with precepts whose influence is so universal, that, as principles of conduct, they being once divulged, must last through all time, and exist in absolute purity in eternity. It really seems in this case to be totally