one's whole life. Here, however, their substantial matter, in its essential bearings, should be our chief concern, apart from all philosophical disquisition with respect to the manner or degree of their inspiration. Particularly we should accustom ourselves to regard and use them, not as an accidental assemblage of various sacred writings, but as a relatively connected whole, of which Christ is the essence, the special subject and object. Any doubtful or difficult passages should never confound or discourage us; but all those evident truths and instructions which pervade them, and which are as easy of attainment as they are essential in importance, should be perpetually commending themselves to the devout student's conscience."

Section 15, "For polemical divinity he should become well acquainted with the notions which Jews, Mohammedans, Freethinkers, &c. teach, concerning the way to heaven, in contradiction to the pure gospel. The subtilest excursions of controversy seem to turn upon the Arminian question, and here particularly Zeltnerus may be of use."

Section 19," It is not wise for the student to purchase many books, were it only for the real loss of time he is likely to incur by them. I prefer recommending him to write down such of his own thoughts as he finds of most importance, and to secure by memoranda the most valuable parts of his reading. In books of his own, a pencil-mark in the margin will serve; and from those he borrows, he can copiously extract the substance, often in the very words of the author, with references to page and edition."

Section 21, "Finally, the less he feels the stimulus of youthful vanity, the more he will aim at what is likely to be of solid and he will ever afterwards be experiencing the benefit of having done so.

use;

"I would finally advise every student to complete these summary instructions from time to time out of his own increasing knowledge and experience; and never to overlook the necessity of continually seeking the Divine blessing. It is God who giveth the increase."

8. Extracts from his letters to different students.-1. "It is only the student who habitually delights in the Scriptures previously to his entering upon philosophy for the clearer arrangement of his ideas, that can study philosophy to good effect; for to stand on the vantage ground of Divine revelation, is the only

security for safely considering and judging of every floating system which may meet the eye. To traverse the mazy round of such systems, one by one, and to examine them by our own unassisted reason, is like seeking our way to the metropolis, by first visiting all its environs, labouring to dry up every puddle, and to remove every stumbling-block out of the circuitous route. Surely, by going directly in the plain public road, we accomplish our journey much sooner. In the study of theology there are a thousand things, especially of a controversial kind, which we can well do without, and the necessity of knowing them is but imaginary. Most of these I would conceal, if possible, from young students altogether; and if this could not be done, I would entreat them to be the more wary and serious about discovering the simple and naked truth; the sweetness of which, once tasted and enjoyed, 'enlightens our eyes'* to surmount all remaining difficulties. We then find it more easy to perceive both sides of an argument, and we, as it were, feel our way to what is true in it. Faith depends on whatever of truth it has already embraced; (follows the guidance of a star it already knows to be that of Bethlehem;) and goes on as courageously as a blind man who leans upon a brother's arm; whereas, the acutest intellect, without faith, is liable to incessant doubt and perplexity."

2. "Our philosophical men make a great parade of I know not what sublimated metaphysical theories of the universe; but solid natural philosophy is most sadly neglected. The ancients did much the same; they disguised their real ignorance or uncertainty in the details of physical science, with a parade of general notions and universal ideas."

3. "Mathematical science is a good collateral help in certain respects; but there are truths of the utmost importance which lie totally out of its province, and which it even tends to unfit us for apprehending and embracing. A mere mathematician, as aiming at definite ideas about every thing, is likely to remain a perfect stranger to many truths which are vital to his welfare; for as truths are of different kinds, they require different means for their apprehension. Thus, as we cannot try acoustic truths by our eyes, nor optical truths by our ears, so neither can religious truth be tried by our artificial definitions of logic, or by any human science. Who can define the human soul? But are we therefore to infer, that we have no souls? Here,

* 1 Sam. xiv. 29.

then, I may remark, that the various susceptibilities or faculties with which the human mind is gifted for entertaining various kinds of truth, have among themselves a kind of natural balance, a mutual equilibrium for mutual strength; so that whichever of them is over-burdened to the neglect of the rest, the equipoise is proportionately destroyed. Thus a too constant exercise in mere mathematics has the effect of impairing the faculty of belief."

4. "The student, by meeting with such a variety of raw notions and strained hypotheses in the works of the learned, is apt to become mistrustful of all; and thus mere learning has given rise to scepticism. But he who makes the right use of learning finds it a worthy handmaid to revelation, and an assistant to him in obeying the truth. Small, however, is the number of those who seem duly aware what an abundant variety of matter may be deduced from human learning for feeding the flame of truly spiritual piety, and for awakening a lively interest in the ways of Providence, and in the cause of God."

9. To a tutor who regretted being " obliged to employ most of his time in the care of very young pupils," he wrote:-"Console yourself for the present with Poiret's maxim, that the humblest engagements in this way are really the noblest; and that the highest are the vainest.' If I ought to add a word of my own, let it be to remind you, that pupils, whether younger or older, are to be managed only with prayer, patience, and love; without which, no instruction of ours, however good, will stand.”

10. To one who consulted him upon subscription to the Symbolical Books, he replied:-" The Symbolical Books are a confession of faith to which our Protestant church has bound herself. The intention of subscription is, not to bind her ministers to every particular contained therein, for example, to every particular interpretation of scripture passages, &c., but simply to testify our renunciation of heresies therein opposed. Thus, respecting the whole controversy (against Flacius,) concerning original sin, the article is, 'Original sin, though it be the most deeply rooted corruption, is no substance.' He who believes this declaration, can quietly subscribe it. There is no pressing of nice particularities on the part of our superintendents; but when a person, coming to subscribe, begins to start one diffi

F

culty after another, they naturally fear that they have to do with a snake in the grass. Many have desired such general formularies for subscription as they think would exempt from all difficulties-but this is impossible; for a formulary that suits one person will not suit another. Let subscription be made with perfect honesty, but in the spirit of christian liberty, (bonâ fide cum libertate animi;) and then let a man be guided by his conscience in the discharge of his ministry. If the governors of the church have any real matter against him, they will be sure to see to that; but to try every one upon all points, is a thing which they neither wish nor are able to do, especially in a great country like this. Luther would have none to be under such restrictions. He said, He that can really improve or amend what I have drawn up, let him do it.""

11. To a young civilian.

"March 8, 1717.

"You ask me, my dear friend, respecting universal positive right:-I am willing to give you my opinion very briefly. Universal positive right is a contradiction of terms. But you may answer, are there not some things in the divine law which, though positive and ordained, are obligatory upon the whole human race, and yet their obligation cannot be inferred from the nature of the things themselves? I answer, whatever things you regard as such, they show themselves to be, not positive, but natural, by their continuing in force; whereas, had they been merely positive, they would by this time have had no force at all. There are natural duties and rights which are enjoined and sanctioned by divine revelation; because the light of nature since the Fall is insufficient to discover them. Those only are known by the mere light of nature which are necessary for the very existence and continuation of society; but the rest must be learnt from God's revealed word. If you mean by positive, those duties and rights which, though founded in the very nature of man, are not self-evident by natural light; I can only say, this is an improper application of the term. You may try the truth of these remarks in any instance at your leisure; and if our modern writers give you any difficulty upon the subject, let me know of it. My conclusion is, that duties and rights may be natural in one respect, and positive in another; in the former, they are founded in the nature of things; in the latter, we can become acquainted with them only from Scripture."

"March 15, 1717.

You perceive, my dear friend, that I have not time to go much farther into the inquiry respecting those natural laws which I have agreed in my own very qualified sense of the term, to call positive; but I will just endeavour to answer one of your objections.

“You say, if there are natural laws which can only be termed positive in respect of written revelation, by which alone we become acquainted with them, how then are mere heathens to know them at all; and, consequently, where is their obligation to fulfil them? Can we suppose any such obligation to result from the originally uncorrupted condition of man, which empowered and obliged him to know them? In other words, is man in his present fallen state, bound not only to fulfil, but to know, laws and things which he would have known and practised, had he continued innocent? Certainly he is. An indubitable instance of this very obligation is attested in the seventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, where lust or covetousness is mentioned as a case in point; and where the obligation to resist this sin is shown to be a natural one, but the knowledge of the obligation is declared to be a matter revealed by the written law of God; whence the obligation is in one sense positive. The light of natural reason is greatly weakened by man's original apostacy. This is evident from the fact, that the very things which to one nation appear most abominable, are by another regarded as perfectly allowable and inoffensive. But that natural knowledge of right and wrong should have been in so many instances lost, surprises us less than to find so much of it in other instances preserved. And preserved it is, that mankind may at least stop short at a limit within which it is possible to turn back into communion with God. What, therefore, may yet be most 'clearly seen' and known by natural light, is just what is absolutely necessary for the very continuance of the human race, and social intercourse. All that we discern beyond this, we discern not so much by any natural light in the mind, as rather by a blind feeling in the soul, by what we may, perhaps, denominate intellectual sensation, or, more properly, moral taste, (as obligations, for example, relating to modesty,) and is, therefore, of less power to convince and persuade, and more subject to change and inconstancy, than what is known by reason and inference. Here, by the way, we may perceive into what absurdities men may wander, who set out with the principle, that