frequent perusal, perfectly familiar to your mind, and ready in your recollection; the natural result will be, a full reliance on its truth, an intimate persuasion of its divine authority, and a wish to pay obedience to its precepts, to the utmost of your power." These are the foundations of the faith; and the deeper they are laid in the general knowledge of those Scriptures, and acquaintance with them, the firmer will be the edifice of faith erected in the mind.

In laying this foundation, you will have learned also, as before suggested, to love the study of God's word; a study of which there is, in fact, no end. After making so excellent a beginning, many other branches of sacred knowledge will naturally attract your curiosity, and excite your desires. Every part of the sacred volume, from Moses to the last of the prophets, will be found to claim and to reward attention; but the first foundation, the knowledge of the New Testament, every one may lay for himself.

The humblest Christian may make himself acquainted with that sacred volume throughout, by mere repetition of reading. He may commit to memory all the acts of Christ, and all his divine discourses. By perseverance, he will soon extend his knowledge to all the acts and writings of the Apostles. He will know these things, if not in the original language, yet in a translation by which he cannot be misled; since, in general, it faithfully represents the sacred words, as the Apostles themselves would

have given them, had they written in our language. Other sacred knowledge may require more or less of learning, but this is open to all; and when this has been duly learned, much more will be desired, and more will easily be gained. But whether more or less be acquired by learned or unlearned Christians, the most important acquisition will be the love of sacred knowledge, the desire of knowing

more.

Imperfect knowledge of these things produces feeble faith and wavering resolution. They who in any age or in any manner have been enabled to fight against the world, its temptations, or its terrors, have always been strong in the knowledge of the Scriptures: they have been able manfully to wield the sword of the spirit, "which is the word of God."

They who are so prepared, will not require exhorting to any act of piety. They will be glad when it is said unto them, "let us go into the house of the Lord." They will pour out their hearts to God in private prayer, in the morning, in the evening, at night, and in every time and place, when they feel the want of strength, support, encouragement, or consolation. These, then, are the persons who will perceive and know, by their own experience, that, excluding only the expectation of miraculous powers, which are no longer given, "nothing is impossible" to those who thus faithfully believe.

The exceptions to this assertion are so few and so inconsiderable, that, by such readers, they may be wholly disregarded, without the smallest peril to their faith.

Whoever would desire to feel the same persuasion must follow the same mode of instructionmust become learned in the Scriptures, and powerful in the word of God. The rest, through his grace, will follow as of course; and the truth of our Lord's words, in this sense also, will be fully established.

This experience let us all and each of us endeavour to obtain; and may God, of his great mercy, assist us in acquiring it.

LOVE THE PRINCIPLE OF TRUE

RELIGION.

HOSEA, xi. 4.

I drew them with the cords of a man, with the bands of love.

THEY who place religion on the basis of fear alone have regard principally to such religions as man has usually invented for himself. A heathen writer, therefore, said with some show of truth, according to his own confined knowledge, that "fear first made gods."-The fear of death, and of the greater calamities of life, might very probably have suggested, to uninstructed mortals, the idea of some tremendous beings from whom those dreaded evils proceeded; whom, therefore, they would naturally seek to propitiate by gifts and supplications. But such was not the origin of true religion, which was given to man entirely by Divine love; and though fear was afterwards introduced, being made necessary by the transgressions of men, it has maintained its great and distinguishing character of love through four successive revelations.* If man could be ren

The revelation originally made to Adam; the covenant with Noah and Abraham; the Mosaic revelation; and the Gospel.

dered perfect by any discipline, fear would be altogether excluded from true religion; as, in fact, it was excluded from the devotion of that Man who alone was without sin: in conformity to which his Apostle tells us, that "perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment." 1 John, iv. 18. He adds, "He that feareth is not made perfect in love." Our blessed Lord, therefore, being perfect in love, divine and human, could not have known religious fear.

Love was always the foundation of true religion.* God was first made known to the parents of mankind by his goodness. He created them; he placed them in a paradise of delights; he informed and assisted them by beneficent revelations of himself. It was not possible that they should fail to love him: they could only love him. But as soon as they had sinned, immediately they began to fear. "When I heard thy voice, I was afraid, and hid myself." Gen. iii. 10.

The increasing depravities of men soon made the fear of God a necessary part of religion; and many awful judgments proved to them, that though God is in truth the giver of all good things, he is also a severe avenger of obstinate iniquity. When the world in general became lost to the love of God, he

* Human mythology had made some advances to improvement when it had learned to consider its gods as givers of good things (dwrpas ĕawv); and the idea of deifying human benefactors might have been suggested by the desire of having some certain friends in their imaginary heaven.