which such humiliating facts are meant to teach. But whatever credit the world may give such persons for ingenuity and power of mind, they cannot receive from their consciences that high praise, which would be a source of richer satisfaction than the world can give, and would continue long after the world shall have ceased to be ;— the high praise of having used rightly their reasoning powers; which not always belongs to the clearest or the profoundest reasoner, but to the man of the fairest and most unbiassed mind, of the greatest openness to the truth,— to the man of the most caution and modesty in his inquiries. A clear and profound mind shows us that nature has done much for the man. A fair and ingenuous mind, wary and distrustful of itself, indicates that by the grace of God he has done much for himself. The world bestows its praises on the former; God adjudges the reward to the latter.

Another, and the last quality we have to consider of the spirit proper for religious inquiries is a firm though modest reliance on this guide and counsellor given us by God, notwithstanding it cannot claim to be a perfect guide nor an unerring counsellor.

It is not a perfect guide; but it is the best and indeed the only one we have. God gave it to us for our use, and it is right we should trust in it and follow it. Let us remember too that He, who gave man a feeble guide, can, when he pleases, assist its weakness. He has done so by the revelation of his will. He will do so further to those who ask his aid in sincerity, by the imperceptible influence of his good spirit. But still we have not a new and a different guide; it is still reason that we follow, though, by the goodness of God, exceedingly raised and improved in its character. It is to be lamented that the vanity

and credulity of some men, by filling them with a notion of their being the favorites of heaven, and gifted with supernatural light, should have led them to undervalue and despise their natural reason, and even to treat it as the enemy of revelation. It is hardly less to be regretted that other men, pretending to reverence this faculty almost to deification, have yet proceeded in their inquiries with so much boldness and precipitation as to increase the outcry which has been raised against the use of our own understandings and common sense in religious inquiries. The vanity and credulity of the one class, and the carelessness, boldness and precipitation of the other, are equally to be avoided as injurious to the cause of truth and piety. If we are in earnest seeking for truth, we may learn wisdom in the use we are to make of our faculties from both these descriptions of men. Convinced that the fanatic, who abandons his reason, and the careless or rash man, who abuses his, while he seems to honor it, are neither of them fast friends to the truth, we should be taught by the former, never to slight or think meanly of the understanding our Creator has given us for the attainment of truth, and by the latter, never to use it boldly or carelessly. When its light fails us, we must stop in our inquiries; but not distrust it when its light is sufficient. He, who gave us the faculty, never intended it should, at least in this life, guide us into all truth. Yet on subjects of importance to us to be acquainted with, there is no reason to fear that in the modest, guarded use of it, which conscience enjoins, it will either mislead us, or leave us in darkness.

We must therefore determine to follow reason, as the lamp of God within us, not indeed with boldness, but

with caution;-because, though it is the best light we have, it is not so bright or so safe that we can walk by it, in security from error, without care and anxiety. We must follow it with trembling steps, and a prayerful spirit, but still follow it. We must follow it with a modest disposition, and an humble sense of our weakness and liability to err, but still follow it. It must be our guide in examining the scriptures in reference to the doctrines they teach, and the duties they inculcate; and when its light ceases, we must be contented to remain in the dark.

We would seek the middle path between too much and too little confidence in our faculties. We condemn boldness in the use of them, as if they could never lead us wrong in religious inquiries, but still do not recommend a total distrust of them, as if they could never carry us right. Our natural weakness and exposure to error, and the rashness of others, as we have said, enjoin upon us cau. tion and watchfulness and dependence on God, in our researches; but not a timid shrinking from the whole duty of religious inquiry.

The whole protestant world have separated themselves from the Romish communion on the ground of the right of private judgment. But how this right is to be exercised, we should rather say this duty performed, except by the use of our understandings, we are at a loss to determine. Yet there are many pious, though not very consistent protestants, who start at the suggestion of bringing human reason to sit in judgment on the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. But without this faculty to judge of the evidences of revealed religion, we could never have known that we have in these writings a revelation from God. Besides, if we give up our own reason or judgment in exam12*

VOL. I.-NO. III.

ining the records of revealed truth, what have we left with which to investigate them. It has been well said that when God speaks to his creatures he does it in language that they can understand. Indeed it seems but a mockery to say that any thing is revealed, that is, unfolded, made clear, which still cannot be understood.

It must be admitted on all hands, that many parts of the scriptures are obscure, especially to the unlearned reader. There are some passages expressed very strongly, which, taken literally, seem irreconcilable with the great, broad principles that run through the rest of the volume. There are many other sources of difficulty in understanding the sacred writings, more or less removable by careful and patient investigation. But if the difficulties were more numerous and formidable than they are, we ought to remember that they belong not intrinsically to the sacred books;-that when these were first written, they probably contained nothing irreconcilable or difficult;—that in the lapse of many ages, it was to be expected that much absurdity should gather about such compositions ;-and that we may hope it will gradually disappear, as men, in the unbiassed, the circumspect, yet steady and persevering use of their reason, apply to the investigation of the scriptures, the simple rules by which they determine the meaning of all other books. After all, should many serious difficulties remain, as it would be too much to hope there will not, after our most unwearied and careful examination of holy writ, we may cheerfully suspend our judgment on such points, until God, either here or hereafter, vouchsafes us clearer light in regard to them.

It is sometimes laid to the charge of those who advocate the use of reason in religious researches, that they wrest,

and torture, and explain away the scriptures, in order to make them speak the language of their favorite system. If there is any foundation for this remark, they have the misfortune to fail in the very point they are zealous in urging and defending. It certainly is not reason; it is prejudice, self-opinion, pride of intellect, a bad heart,— it is any thing rather than the cautious though decided. use of the truth-exploring faculty given us by God, that prompts to such a course. Reason, on the contrary, would teach us that in regard to the Holy Scripture, it is our most edifying and most comfortable duty to dwell upon what is plain and obvious; and as to what, after deliberate and prayerful inquiry, we cannot understand, to think no longer about it, but to remain contented with the ignorance which is unavoidable. Some persons seem to have an ambition of knowing every thing, and being able to solve every difficulty. There are others who consider every thing they cannot understand as a mystery rendered sacred and venerable by being unintelligible. They take comfort in seeking out and contemplating such passages. But the humble inquirer, who realizes that a revelation was given to the world to regenerate and sanctify it, loves to search for that plain, practical truth which he knows is profitable to godliness, by its enforcing duty upon his mind with the most effective sanctions, by its rendering him more capable of a life of self-denial, and by its making him feel his obligations to God and his Saviour, the value of his immortal soul and the hatefulness of sin, with emotions of a deeper and intenser cast; and looking to God for assistance, he tries to bring to the search the best use of his faculties.

We cannot but hope that they who are startled at the