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of the wise; but to use again an expression of an apostle, it is in the whole, and it is in each component part, the wisdom of God. Human sciences differ in their nature from christianity; the former may not improperly be called a collection of speculations regularly arranged, the latter is a narration of facts, few in number, but full of vigour. What we call doctrines of the gospel are, strictly speaking, facts, and to preach the gospel is to state these facts in their native purity and perspicuity. Human sciences differ from the christian religion in the sort of evidence produced to give conviction, and to engage belief. In the first, arguments are conjectural, one wise and learned man affirms, another as wise and learned as he denies, the disciple hesitates, suspects both, thinks for himself, and finds himself out at sea: but our prophets and apostles come without a peradventure, and thus saith the Lord, is the introduction to all they say. Hence this exulting language of a disciple of revelation, he brought me up out of an horrible pitand set my feet upon a rock-and established my goings, and put a new song into my mouth, even praise unto our God. Christianity is superior to human sciences in motives to action, for the magnitude of the objects proposed to examination at once commands the attention, and sways the affections of the soul. Finally, human sciences are accompanied here with an imperfect pleasure, and with a momentary reputation, and at the grave the first expires, and the last takes its leave, and the man of science, disrobed of literary attain

ments, sinks into moral size, ranks with the vulgar, and is left to perish with the idiot. The christian, on the contrary, derives from his religion, even in this life, a joy unspeakable and full of glory, a joy that indemnifies him for all he suffers here, and in the world to come he drinks rivers of pleasures for evermore.

Survey, christian, the heavenly design; a God of infinite perfection, whose wisdom is equal to his power, whose justice and goodness are equal to both, a God necessarily exalted above all blessing, and praise, behold him uniting your happiness with his own honour, sending the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person, to relieve you from the misery of ignorance, the agony of vice, the displeasure of your Judge, and the horrors of hell; behold him opening the invisible world to your faith, and treating you not as a servant but as a friend; hear words dropping from his lips sweeter than honey, and the honey-comb; imbibe the spirit of this religion, altogether divine, and exclaim, this is not the manner of man, Q Lord! Thy gospel is not a human science! Thy kingdom is not of this world.

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Many are the practical uses of this doctrine, at present I content myself with one. Let us estimate, but let us not over-rate human literature.

Learning, we confess, gives one man a great superiority over another, and makes one differ from another almost as much as man differs from a beast. It informs the judgment, fires the fancy, redeems, if not creates taste; it casts the conduct

and moulds the man; it capacitates for many offices in life; it expands, refines, and elevates every operation of humanity, it takes a hint and trains it up into a noble science, full of beneficial effects to mankind; it throws a sunshine over whole kingdoms, and adorns every individual.

Literature, too, opens to all its disciples ample fields of pleasure, and we are not afraid to affirm, that there is nothing in all the scenes of dissipation and rounds of pleasure, nothing in all the sensual gratifications, or even lawful amusements of an illiterate youth comparable in point of pleasure with that sober, rational, heartfelt joy, which an industrious investigator of science feels. His retirement is absence from perplexing incidents, his application is an approach to peace, pleasure and joy.

The bible, we allow, is a learned book, the language, the geography, the history, the chronology, the natural philosophy, yea any part of it, the botany, the scripture herbs and plants, all find honourable employment for learning; and sound critical knowledge can do much to unravel some difficulties, and to elucidate many passages in these original records of the church. For these reasons, and for many more of the same kind, you will think yourselves obliged, young gentlemen, so to run the literary race that you may obtain a prize.

Yet, after all, should you take me aside, and coolly ask me, is human learning essential to preaching the gospel, I would reply by requiring you to define your terms. Do you mean the gospel of the church of Rome? Do you mean to include

in

your term, gospel, all the incidentals recorded in the bible? If either of these be intended, I af· firm, human literature is essential to preaching the gospel.

Behold the holy catholic and apostolic church of Rome, opening her arms to receive a minister. Observe that harmless youth doomed to spend his life in her service. Hark! she requires him to take a book, which says, my kingdom is not of this world, and by that very book to prove that this kingdom is of this world. She requires him to offer violence to revelation, reason, and common sense, by affirming that each particle of a piece of consecrated bread is in a thousand places at one time the whole flesh, and blood, and bones of a

person now in heaven. Alas! devoted youth! All my soul dissolves in pity for you! you need the subtilty of a thousand capacities. You want an inexhaustible fund of ingenuity and depravity. You should possess all possible literature, that what artifice and sophistry cannot do, a well-wrought vail of words may effect. You should avail yourself of learning at least to conceal the horror of charging all your monstrous propositions to the account of that plain man, Jesus Christ. But have you forgot the fate of the jesuits? How can you hope to succeed in an attempt, in which a whole order of the most acute geniuses, and most accomplished scholars in Europe have failed, so failed, that, at last, for overacting their part, for exposing what ought to have been concealed, their goddess was obliged to suppress their order, and

dismiss them from her service? And you, I ask again, who are you to undertake to support such a desperate cause?

If by gospel you mean all the incidents record ed in the bible, you must have literature. If you would give us the etymology of words, the weight of the shekel, the capacity of the homer, the learn→ ing of Egypt, the history of places and persons in the holy land, you must be learned. If you would describe the architecture of the temple, the jewellery of the breast-plate, the tapestry of the vail, you must have genius and literature. If you would number the passovers in Christ's ministry, the weeks of Daniel, and the years in which each part of the canon was written, you must be learned: but all this is not what I mean by gospel, all this is a sort of accompaniment only to be used in preaching the gospel as the Holy Spirit has set us an example in writing the gospel, that is incidentally.

Remember, gentlemen, I am not speaking of the ornaments of preaching. Preaching admits of all the ornaments, that accuracy of language, elegance of style, truth and beauty of imagery, sweetness of pronunciation, and universal knowledge can afford. Collect as many of these beauties as you can, use them as your own good sense directs, and according to circumstances of time, place, and persons, grace, (if this be grace) grace the christian pulpit with eloquence of speech, and elegance of action; do more, defend, elucidate and illustrate the facts recorded by the evangelists; yet

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