the writer or speaker; but neither does it produce any effect on the hearer, which will always be in proportion to the degree of feeling or consciousness in ourselves. It may be said that originality is the gift of few no church can expect to have, not a hundred, but ten, such preachers as Robertson or Newman. But, without originality, it seems possible to make use of Scripture in sermons in a much more living way than at present. Let the preacher make it a sort of religion, and proof of his reverence for Scripture, that he never uses its words without a distinct meaning: let him avoid the form of argument from Scripture, and catch the feeling and spirit. Scripture is itself a kind of poetry, when not overlaid with rhetoric. The scene and country has a freshness which may always be renewed: there is the interest of antiquity, and the interest of home or common life as well. The facts and characters of Scripture might receive a new reading by being described simply as they are. The truths of Scripture, again, would have greater reality if divested of the scholastic form in which theology has cast them. The universal and spiritual aspects of Scripture might be more brought forward, to the exclusion of questions of the Jewish law, or controversies about the sacraments, or exaggerated statements of doctrines which seem to be at variance with morality. The life of Christ, regarded quite naturally as of one "who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," is also the life and centre of Christian teaching. There is no higher aim which the preacher can propose to himself than to awaken what may be termed the feeling of the presence of God and the mind of Christ in Scripture: not to collect evidences about dates and books, or to familiarize

metaphysical distinctions; but to make the heart and conscience of his hearers bear him witness, that the lessons which are contained in Scripture - lessons of justice and truth, lessons of mercy and peace-of the need of man and the goodness of God to him are indeed not human, but divine.

V. It is time to make an end of this long disquisition let the end be a few more words of application to the circumstances of a particular class in the present age. If any one, who is about to become a clergyman, feels, or thinks that he feels, that some of the preceding statements cast a shade of trouble or suspicion on his future walk of life; who, either from the influence of a stronger mind than his own, or from some natural tendency in himself, has been led to examine those great questions which lie on the threshold of the higher study of theology, and experiences a sort of shrinking or dizziness at the prospect which is opening upon him, — let him lay to heart the following considerations: First, that he may possibly not be the person who is called upon to pursue such inquiries. No man should busy himself with them who has not clearness of mind enough to see things as they are, and a faith strong enough to rest in that degree of knowledge which God has really given; or who is unable to separate the truth from his own religious wants and experiences. For the theologian, as well as the philosopher, has need of "dry light,” unmingled with any tincture of the affections," the more so as his conclusions are oftener liable to be disordered by them. He who is of another temperament may find another work to do, which is in some respects a higher one. Unlike philosophy, the gospel has an ideal life to offer, not to a few only, but to all.

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There is one word of caution, however, to be given to those who renounce inquiry: it is, that they cannot retain the right to condemn inquirers. Their duty is to say, with Nicodemus, "Doth the gospel condemn any man before it hear him?" although the answer may be only, "Art thou also of Galilee?" They have chosen the path of practical usefulness, and they should acknowledge that it is a narrow path; for any but a "strong swimmer" will be insensibly drawn out of it by the tide of public opinion or the current of party.

Secondly, Let him consider that the difficulty is not so great as imagination sometimes paints it. It is a difficulty which arises chiefly out of differences of education in different classes of society. It is a difficulty which tact and prudence, and, much more, the power of a Christian life, may hope to surmount. Much depends on the manner in which things are said; on the evidence, in the writer or preacher, of a real good-will to his opponents, and a desire for the moral improvement of men. There is an aspect of truth which may always be put forward so as to find a way to the hearts of men. If there is danger and shrinking, from one point of view, from another there is freedom, and sense of relief. The wider contemplation of the religious world may enable us to adjust our own place in it. The acknowledgment of churches as political and national institutions is the basis of a sound government of them. Criticism itself is not only negative: if it creates some difficulties, it does away others. It may put us at variance with a party or section of Christians in our own neighborhood; but, on the other hand, it enables us to look at all men as they are in the sight of God, not as they

appear to human eye, separated and often interdicted from each other by lines of religious demarcation: it divides us from the parts to unite us to the whole. That is a great help to religious communion. It does away with the supposed opposition of reason and faith. It throws us back on the conviction, that religion is a personal thing, in which certainty is to be slowly won and not assumed as the result of evidence or testimony. It places us, in some respects (though it be deemed a paradox to say so), more nearly in the position of the first Christians, to whom the New Testament was not yet given; in whom the gospel was a living word, not yet embodied in forms, or supported by ancient institutions.

Thirdly, The suspicion or difficulty which attends critical inquiries is no reason for doubting their value. The Scripture nowhere leads us to suppose that the circumstance of all men speaking well of us is any ground for supposing that we are acceptable in the sight of God; and there is no reason why the condemnation of others should be witnessed to by our own conscience. Perhaps it may true, that, owing to the jealousy or fear of some, the reticence of others, the terrorism of a few, we may not always find it easy to regard these subjects with calmness and judgment. But, on the other hand, these accidental circumstances have nothing to do with the question at issue

they cannot have the slightest influence on the meaning of words, or on the truth of facts. No one can carry out the principle, that public opinion or church authority is the guide to truth, when he goes beyond the limits of his own church or country that is a consideration which may well make him pause before he accepts of such a guide in the journey to

another world. All the arguments for repressing inquiries into Scripture, in Protestant countries, hold equally in Italy and Spain for repressing inquiries into matters of fact or doctrine, and so for denying the Scriptures to the common people.

Lastly, Let him be assured that there is some nobler idea of truth than is supplied by the opinion of mankind in general, or the voice of parties in a church. Every one, whether a student of theology or not, has need to make war against his prejudices, no less than against his passions; and, in the religious teacher, the first is even more necessary than the last. For, while the vices of mankind are in a great degree isolated, and are, at any rate, reprobated by public opinion, their prejudices have a sort of communion or kindred with the world without. They are a collective evil, and have their being in the interest, classes, states of society, and other influences amid which we live. He who takes the prevailing opinions of Christians, and decks them out in their gayest colors; who reflects the better mind of the world to itself, is likely to be its favorite teacher. In that ministry of the gospel, even when assuming forms repulsive to persons of education, no doubt the good is far greater than the error or harm. But there is also a deeper work, which is not dependent on the opinions of men in which many elements combine, some alien to religion, or accidentally at variance with it. That work can hardly expect to win much popular favor, so far as it runs counter to the feelings of religious parties; but he who bears a part in it may feel a confidence, which no popular caresses or religious sympathy could inspire, that he has, by a divine help, been enabled to plant his foot somewhere beyond