whole of his character and conduct. Through the veil of celestial radiance, you see the full workings of a human mind and a human heart. And for myself, I know not how any one can read many incidents recorded by his historians, and yet remain insensible not only to the reality of his character, but to its beauty, grandeur, and attractiveness. The appeal of the sympathies and charities of that holy and affectionate friend of man, would surely, but for the counteracting influence of prevalent corruptions, prove irresistible. However this may be, the character exists, the picture has been painted, and remains to all generations. It is a fact in human history for which we have to account. What shall we say of it? If not the representative of a reality, it must be a creation of the imagination. Consider it the latter;-does that abate your difficulty? The creation supposed is more wonderful than the actual existence. Could such a creation be the work of Jewish fishermen? I am bold to affirm, that the highest efforts of cultivated intellect have never produced a creation approaching in excellence -in truth to humanity, in grandeur of details, and in harmony of the blended whole-approaching in excellence to the character of Jesus Christ. Much less could it have been the fiction of men, who appear from their own narratives to have been unable to comprehend many of the best features of the character which they unconsciously pourtrayed.

My main position then is, that the histories of Jesus bear in themselves the impress of truth; for they appeal to the essential principles of our common nature. Whatever you may think of the miracles they record, you cannot deny that the histories present an aspect of humanity; sympathies which, in kind, are felt wherever a human bosom throbs; truths which are of universal acceptance, and of imperishable utility; a spirit, in a word, which harmonises with what is best in our nature, and would, if generally felt and acted out, prove the consummation

of man's happiness. This you cannot deny, except you are prepared to maintain that human nature has undergone, or will undergo, an entire revolution; that there are no essential features by which we can recognize the family likeness, and no moral principles on which we can augur the future, from the present or the past.

Beyond these claims of authority for the Christian Scriptures, I do not consider it necessary to proceed at present. I will ask you to study these books, to see whether these things are so or not. I will ask you to place yourselves in contact with the character of Christ; to meditate on his spirit; to follow him in his labors of love; to listen to the gracious words which proceed out of his mouth; to witness his tenderness to the young, his sympathy with the bereaved, his pity for mothers. about to become desolate, the warmth of his friendship, the earnestness and elevation of his patriotism;-I will ask you, if he knew not how to rebuke the corruptions of the Priest, the iniquity of the Politician, and the craft of the Hypocrite ;-I will ask you if he did not prove himself emphatically the poor man's friend, in word and in deed; if every form of human distress did not meet with succour at his hands; and if, while pouring out the full stream of his benevolence on the needy, the ignorant, the afflicted, and the sinful, he manifested hostility to any human thing, but moral and social dishonesty? Such was Jesus Christ. The contemplation of so holy and benevolent a character will, I must think, not only convince you of its reality, but bring home his virtues with authority to your breasts, so as to purify, refine, and exalt them, thereby increasing your happiness and the happiness of your families, and giving you strength and impulse in your efforts to further the improvement of society. And, for myself, I never expect to see the reality of anyNew Moral World' in any institution where the spirit of Jesus is not enshrined as its life-giving principle.

LECTURE II.

THE Corruptions of Christianity are frequently pleaded in disparagement of its claims; and even in cases where the charge is not put into language, it is found to operate with a destructive power. Men take Christianity as it offers itself to their eyes, and finding much of a repulsive character mixed with it, they give themselves no trouble to separate the chaff from the wheat, but condemn the whole without discrimination.

I state a fact, I do not offer an apology. On the contrary, I think that such hasty and indiscriminating judgments are very alien from those qualities of mind which mark a genuine love of truth. Indeed, such conduct men would not yield to in any other concern but religion. If they wish to pursue a course of social policy which, in their opinion, the condition of their age and country and a regard to general principles require ; -if they wish to become the disciples of any teacher of philosophy; nay, if they wish to enjoy the pleasures and advantages of friendship, they are not at once deterred by the appearance of disparaging circumstances, but carefully sift the matter before them, and where they are unable to separate the bad from the good, strike a just balance, and pass over to the side where the preponderance lies. But in religious matters, the ordinary rules of fair dealing are, with but too many persons, set aside. The labor of discrimination is refused; enquiry is abandoned almost as soon as it is entered on; and there are men who, in this high concern, applaud themselves for the very neglect which they would be among the first to

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condemn in morals, philosophy, or business. Yet why? religion is either a splendid fiction, or the grandest truth which the human mind is capable of entertaining; and surely, while we are careful to employ all the energies of our minds in buying, selling, amassing riches, in devising schemes for social improvement, in deciding between rival theories of government, or conflicting schools of philosophy, we cannot do right, we cannot act consistently, if we refuse a calm and diligent investigation to the highest topic which can engage our attention. Such a refusal appears to me not only highly culpable, but to involve the very spirit of unfaithfulness. The worst state, short of vice, in which a mind can be, is one of unconcern respecting questions of the highest possible import ;-questions which relate to God, duty, and eternity. These questions may have their foundation in error; but this no one can know for himself, who has refused to enquire: they may also rest on the most satisfactory basis, and lead on to the most salutary results; but whether they involve good or ill, the man must be wrong in regard to them, who either receive them without evidence, or rejects them without due examination. Mental honesty is the great quality which all who have the light of reason should, before all things, labor to preserve; and, for myself, I see no essential difference between the hypocrite who, to serve a purpose, affects to believe that of which he is not convinced, and the sceptic, who, under the impulse of his prejudices, refuses to enquire, or enquires only so far as he may find agreeable. Both are false; the one to his light, the other to his opportunities. The one professes what he does not believe, the other believes what he does not know;-I say what he does not know, for whoever declares that religion is false without due and faithful enquiry, makes a positive assertion while he seems only to deny, and entertains a conviction for which he has no sufficient warrant.

It is no exculpation to allege as an undoubted fact, that corruptions do prevail in religious concerns. For where are corruptions not to be found? When did truth pass unsullied through the hands of man? Is there a single department of the knowledge which pertains to our moral life, free from human corruptions? And, in general, the more important the interest, the deeper the stain. Go to the pages of the historian, you will find darkness mingled with light. Give ear to the lessons of the moralist, you will find what to reject, as well as what to receive. Mark the career of the politician, listen to his exposition of principles, and if your admiration should be kindled, your sense of right will also be revolted. Have not the dreams of Astrology been blended, if not confounded, with Astronomical discoveries? Will it be maintained that even Socialism is as pure in the rivulets which pour forth its influences around our villages, as in the fountain itself whence these tiny streams are understood to take their rise? It requires no depth of moral insight to discover the unworthy human passions which trouble and darken their waters; nor is the gift of prophecy necessary in order to foretel, that this new philosophy will assume another and still more repulsive character, so soon as the powerful benevolence is departed with which Nature has endowed its promulgator. Indeed, truth must of necessity take a coloring from the medium through which it passes. Look at the rivers, and ask yourselves what gives them their hue. Travel from clime to clime, and notice how the same light of the skies varies in its aspect. Mix among the different nations and races of men, and see what multiform changes the essential affections of human nature undergo. And does not the harvest depend on the soil no less than on the seed, and the effect of every lesson given, every page that is read, every moral and intellectual influence, take its character, almost entirely, in each individual case,