86 EVOLUTION OF LIFE. 



of a child, follow the means of salvation which 

 are proclaimed in the gospel. By constant 

 watchfulness and humility, by abstraction from 

 passion and from sense, by self-examina- 

 tion and repentance, by imploring, before the 

 throne of grace, aid of the Holy Spirit, man 

 attains that peace of mind which surpasseth all 

 understanding, that assimilation of soul to 

 the divine nature, which enables him to com- 

 mune with his God, and have his redemption 

 from sin secured, through the efficacy of his 

 Saviour's atonement. 



It is the efficacy of his faith in this atonement, 

 which enables him to triumph over indigence 

 and oppression, and rise in full vigor, when 

 appetite is no more ; to bear up against the toils 

 and turmoils of this life ; to smooth the brow of 

 care, and dispel the gloom of despondency ; 

 to sweeten the bitterness of grief, and lull agony 

 to rest. Religion ought, therefore, to consti. 

 tute the base of every national establishment; 

 and be the rock, which the whole nation, as 

 one man, ought to grasp. It ought to form the 

 main spring of man's actions, the beginning, the 

 middle, and the end of his pursuits; and it is 

 humbly hoped, that, although the glad tidings 

 of salvation have been confined to particular 

 people, the efficiency of the atonement will 

 extend to all nations, kindreds, and languages, 



