Chase.] \&2i [ Fcb . 7. 



are given, with more or less clearness, to all men, arc shown in the lasting 

 vitality which pervaded the teachings of the great questioner and the 

 8 ' academic swan ;" the triumphs of faith, when moulded by the sturdy 

 intellects <>f skilful priests and devotees, maintained the old religions 

 during their severally allotted reigns ; the joint triumphs of reason and 

 faith, under " the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the 

 perfeel day," are henceforth to be won by Christian champions, through 

 such diligence of labor and harmony of action, as will promote a thoroughly 

 symmetric spiritual and intellectual growth. 



Christianity, as thus interpreted, becomes the culmination of all philoso- 

 phy, as well as the culmination of all religion, for any system of complete 

 truth must satisfy all the demands of secular investigation, as well as all 

 the needs of eternal warfare. Few, perhaps none, are fully aware of the 

 mighty influence which the Christian training of nineteen centuries has 

 exerted on the habits of thought, and on the mental calibre, of every in- 

 dividual in modern civilized communities. Scoffers, wearied with the in- 

 consistencies which mar the characters of professed religionists, and dazed 

 by the enchantment which is lent by distance, sometimes extol the purity 

 of heathen faiths, or the superiority of philosophical systems to all forms 

 of faith. But impartial observers find in the Bible, as nowhere else, an 

 embodiment of the best truths of all ages, expressed with a grand simpli- 

 city which is without parallel, and suitable for a ready application to all 

 wants. 



There will always be a large intellectual class, acknowledging an Omni- 

 present Ruler who is All-loving, Almighty and All-wise, whom they de- 

 light to worship as their Heavenly Father, but of whom, through fear of 

 "dividing the substance," they hesitate to speak in terms which might 

 be interpreted as claiming a knowledge of mysteries that are beyond their 

 comprehension. There will always be a much larger class, so filled with 

 a sense of their own weakness and unworthiness, that they yearn after 

 a still closer and, as it were, brotherly relationship of sympathy and suf- 

 fering, under which they may be emboldened to approach the throne of 

 grace with the prayer of David : "Let the words of my mouth, and the 

 meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength 

 and my redeemer." There will always be a third class, rejoicing in the 

 belief that G-od is a Spirit, who is to be worshiped in spirit and in truth, 

 who oilers them at all times the spiritual guidance which is best suited to 

 their immediate spiritual condition, and who will require nothing at their 

 hands but a simple, childlike acceptance of that guidance and consequent 

 obedience to their clearly perceived intimations of truth and duty. Each 

 of these views is a relative and partial view. In each class there will al- 

 ways be many who think, that even if it should be true that partial truths 

 may answer all the positive requirements, the bare necessities of our na- 

 ture, such liaiino nous development of our faculties as is most desirable, 

 can only be attained through the study and acceptance of all the primary 

 phases of belief, aid the search for the fundamantal postulates which 

 unite them all and give them all their vitality. 



