While he that scorns the noon-day beam, perverse,
Shall find the blessing, unimproved, a curse.
Let heathen worthies, whose exalted mind
Left sensuality and dross behind,
Possess for me their undisputed lot,
And take unenvied the reward they sought.
But still, in virtue of a Saviour's plea,
Not blind by choice, but destined not to see.
Their fortitude and wisdom were a flame
Celestial, though they knew not whence it came;
Derived from the same source of light and grace,
That guides the Christian in his swifter race;
Their judge was conscience, and her rule their law
That rule, pursued with reverence and awe,
Led them, however faltering, faint, and slow,
From what they knew, to what they wished to know.
But let not him that shares a brighter day,

Traduce the splendour of a noon-tide ray;
Prefer the twilight of a darker time,
And deem his base stupidity no crime.

The wretch who slights the bounties of the skies,
And sinks, while favoured with the means to rise,

Shall find them rated at their full amount;

;

The good he scorned all carried to account." " COWPER.

With these sentiments of the Christian poet I cordially concur, and especially solicit the attention of my young friends to the cautionary lines with which he concludes.

Every doctrine of religion must be held in its just proportion, and kept in its right place; otherwise it will be sure to invade, and perhaps displace, some

Truth, line 515.

other truth, which equally belongs to the revelation of God. While I have no doubt that the ancient heathen enjoyed some light, independently of all outward information, and while I believe this light to have been of a nature and origin truly divine, I would, on no account, exaggerate either its brightness or magnitude. The early twilight, and the blaze of noon, equally proceed from the sun; but could they be contrasted, it would be almost like the comparison of night and day. Just such is the difference between the degrees of moral and religious light bestowed upon Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, on the one hand, and upon the prophets, the evangelists, and the apostles, on the other.

The contrast between the mental condition of the wretched idolaters of modern times, and that of Christians who are acquainted with the Holy Scriptures, is perhaps still more palpable. In contemplating these differences, we ought always to remember, that God deals with all his rational children after a rule of perfect equity; and that in exact proportion to the measure of light bestowed upon them, is their moral responsibility. Where the law of God shines very faintly, the guilt of transgressing it is, in the nature of things, comparatively small. On the other hand, how awful will be our condition, if we neglect or despise the noon-tide ray, with which we are so mercifully blessed in the gospel of our Redeemer ! The law of Christ is pre-eminently a law of love; let us then be willing diligently to labour for the diffu

sion of the gospel among our fellow men; and let us, at the same time, dearly prize our own privileges. Let us be diligent in the daily perusal of the Holy Scriptures. Let us come to Christ in simple faith, not only for the forgiveness of our sins, but for those more abundant measures of the light and influence of the Comforter, as they are bestowed on believers, which shall guide us into all truth, and sanctify us wholly "in body, soul, and spirit!"

With these precautions, we need fear no danger in the Christian doctrine of universal light and grace. On the contrary, a hearty acceptance of it will be one important means of enlarging our hearts and understandings, and of animating and increasing our love both to God and man. Happy shall we be, if we individually discover, from our own experience, the benefit and importance of this precious truth!

CHAPTER II.

66

ON DISTINGUISHING RELIGIOUS VIEWS-GENERAL REMARKS ON THOSE OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.

UNITED as are the living members of the universal church of Christ in the fundamental principles of repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," they are often distinguished one from another by different, and sometimes even opposite views on points of a less important character.

When we consider the infirmity and deceitfulness of the heart of man, and remember how often the power of habit and prejudice is found to interfere with a just and enlightened apprehension of truth, it is no matter of wonder that such a result should have taken place. Nor ought we, in tracing the causes of these differences, by any means to forget, that on many points of a secondary nature-those particularly which relate to modes of worship and of church government-there is to be found, in the divinely authorized records of the Christian revelation, very little of precise direction; and thus is there obviously

left, in reference to such points, a considerable scope for the formation of different views.

While indeed these differences afford many humbling proofs of weakness and imperfection, and, in some instances, of degeneracy from the strength and purity of truth, we ought to acknowledge that they are, in some respects, overruled for good. The existence of different opinions, respecting minor points, entails on us the necessity of a careful selection of our own particular course, and thus operates indirectly as a stimulus, by which we are induced to bestow a closer attention on religion in general. Such a difference of sentiment brings with it, moreover, a course of moral discipline; for many occasions arise from this source, which call for the exercise of Christian charity-of mutual liberality, meekness, and forbearance: nor is it unreasonable to suppose, that, as we rightly avail ourselves of this discipline, it will be one means of preparing us for a perfect unanimity in a better state of being. Lastly, it may perhaps be allowed, that, in that variety of administration, through which the saving principles of religion are for the present permitted to pass, there is much of a real adaptation to a corresponding variety of mental condition. Well, therefore, may we bow with thankfulness before that unsearchable Being, who, in all our weakness, follows us with his love, and who, through the diversified mediums of religion, to which the several classes of Christians are respectively accustomed, is still

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