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to the reformation of their souls, to the guidance of their external, and the invigoration of their internal life. Let no man say that this is philosophizing too much on sacred matters, and mixing human wisdom too presumptuously with divine. Let him observe how divine wisdom stands forth bright and clear when developed by these means. Let him estimate the difference of profit derived from the public reading of the Scriptures according to the different methods pursued. One preacher reads regularly a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New. They must be such as will stand alone; and they must be, on the face of them, practical. His choice is necessarily very limited. His flock hear what they have heard a hundred times before, in the same manner, and with a view to no ulterior purpose; and the familiar words pass over the ear and are forgotten. teacher with different views, does not confine himself to chapters, or to one or two portions. He brings together passages from various departments of the sacred volume: passages whose connexion has never before perhaps been apparent to his hearers. New relations are discovered between various facts: many minor truths are combined in the support of a great one: light breaks in on the mind of the intelligent hearer, and a glimpse is obtained of the grand principle which it is the object of the subsequent discourse to set forth in completeness and beauty. That, by this process, the intellect is exercised and the taste gratified, is a recommendation rather than an objection to its adoption: and there is no fear but that those hearers whose intellects are sluggish, and whose tastes are uncultivated, will listen to as much purpose as to a moral essay, or a piece of textual criticism. Their little urns are full, and are more likely to be kept brimming than if exposed

to the evaporating heats of controversy, or the dry winds of antiquated ethics.

It is a delightful privilege, and one of modern date, to be enabled to describe what preaching ought to be from the observation of what it is. To own the truth, we might not have formed so clear a conception of what it ought to be, if we had not had the experience of what, in a few instances, it is. This conception will probably be originated in many minds; in many more, exalted and enlarged, by the sermon before us, which, while it amply fulfils the avowed design of its author in the scope and power of its reasonings, answers also the unintentional purpose of a perfect illustration.

The inseparable attributes of Christianity having been described, — those features which preserve an immortal youth and beauty amidst the revolutions of ages,- the institutions of the primitive Christians are shown to have been adapted to the circumstances of their times, but in no degree to have involved the essence of truth. The mistake of regarding the Scriptures, which are only the records of revelation, as the revelation itself, having been exposed, the two causes from which the Christian dispensation appears to have suffered most in its influence on mankind are declared to be, the concealment of the Scriptures during the ascendancy of the Church of Rome, and the misconception and injudicious application of them subsequent to the period of the Reformation.

"In the first of these crises we see the spirit of the dispensation buried under the weight of its secular institutions; in the second, extinguished by a minute and scrupulous interpretation of its historical records: and in both, we perceive Christianity identified with what is really distinct from itself, and is but a mode or a means of its existence."

Into the first of these errors there is little fear of our relapsing; but we are far from having outgrown the other

Whatever we may have owed to the prevalence of a rigid and literal principle of scriptural interpretation, the possibility of its producing any advantageous result is over, while it is still regarded by many with respect. The time for it is past; and nothing but evil can arise from the habit of looking to the Bible for rules for the regulation of every thought, word, and action, and for precedents for the decision of minute points of faith and conscience. It is not enough to declare the Bible to afford the rule of faith and practice; it is now time to discover what is the essence of that faith and the principle of that practice; - to infer, and not to quote, that rule.

A distinct conception of what Christianity really is, is the first requisite for the work of developing its two preëminent proofs: namely, the one derived from its miraculous origin, and the other from its adaptation to our moral wants, and its striking coincidence with all the more prominent indications and analogies of our moral being. In order to obtain this conception, the freest investigation of the historical sources of the revelation, and the fullest participation in its spirit, are necessary.

The labors of the biblical critic, which are too often made to supersede those of the preacher, ought always to be considered subsidiary to them. The second of the grand proofs of the truth of Christianity resides in the heart of every man, and needs none of the resources of biblical learning to bring it to light, though such aid may confirm and extend the evidence in a very important degree. The office of the student is to uncover the springs of truth: it is for the religious teacher to open the sluices, and shed abroad the streams of living waters. Let them but be pure, and no thirsty soul will long refuse to drink.

To this great cause the writer of this admirable discourse is rendering the most important aid which it is in the power of an individual to confer. Having employed the powers of a strong intellect in its season of utmost vigor, on the noblest range of subjects which is presented to human speculation, he offers with frankness, and with that modesty which is the concomitant of eminent desert, the fruits of his labors, matured by reflection and arranged with grace. His views have obtained, as they richly deserve, the ptaise of originality: we hope and believe that the time is at hand when they will have become common, and when there will be a fair prospect of their universality. Yet never will due honor be withheld from the first percipients and promulgators of truth. Those who have witnessed the betrothment of philosophy with religion, and who keep their lamps burning for the marriage, shall be the first to join in the nuptial rejoicings, and to interpret the epithalamium, which, sung by the guardian spirits of humanity, shall echo from earth to heaven,

CROMBIE'S NATURAL THEOLOGY.*

It would be well for society if such philosophers as Dr. Crombie were more common than they are. He is a Joseph Hume in philosophy, an acute detector of errors, a persevering rectifier of abuses. Highly as we respect his talents, we respect yet more the love of truth which has determined

* Natural Theology; or Essays on the Existence of Deity, and of Providence, on the Immateriality of the Soul, and a Future State. By the Rev. Alexander Crombie, LL. D., &c. 2 Vols. Hunter, and T. Hookham. 1829.

his choice of a field for their exercise. To apply the fruits of laborious research, and the powers of a discerning intellect, to other purposes than the increase of his own fame, argues no small self-denial; and less gifted inquirers after truth are not a little indebted to the friendly guide who is more careful to remove stumbling-blocks from their path, than to find a new one for himself where they might not be able to follow him. We know not whether most to admire the spirit of enterprise which prompted to such a task as the work before us, or the patience and fidelity with which it is executed. It is irksome enough to a Theist to go over, in conversation, the arguments for a belief which has long been the groundwork of all his other convictions, and of his whole course of action. It is painful enough to be occasionally reminded of the depths of absurdity and the heights of impiety which the human mind has reached, in the endeavour to compass the most stupendous object of human inquiry. How much more irksome and painful must it be to refute by so slow an instrument as the pen, arguments which have been already a thousand times refuted, and to bring together systems of false philosophy so absurd as to make it scarcely credible that they can have been so mischievous as it is well known they have been! How great must be the courage and zeal of him who voluntarily engages in another struggle with the hydra-headed monster of Atheism! And what do we not owe him if he should succeed in showing that the world has beheld the upper parts of the monster through a multiplying glass; or, at least, that many of the heads sprout from one neck, and may be struck off by a single blow! It has been a common error to suppose that there have been almost as many systems of Atheism, as there have been Atheists; and hence has arisen an excessive dread of the effects of the Atheistical philosophy, and an exaggerated estimate of its strength. Dr. Crombie has rendered an important service