THE OLD PATHS, WHERE IS THE GOOD WAY: OR THE NOTES OF THE CHURCH, IN CONNECTION WITH WHICH THE CHILD OF THE CHURCH IS EXAMINED CONCERNING Ecclesiastical Principles. BY THE REV. J. B. PRATT, M.A. EPISCOPAL MINISTER, ST. JAMES', CRUDEN, AND DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN TO THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF ERROL. WHAT IS TRUTH? St. JOHN Xviii. 38. BL THIRD EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED. OXFORD, JOHN HENRY PARKER: J. G. F. AND J. RIVINGTON, LONDON: BROWN AND CO. ABERDEEN. MDCCCXL. 1009. "The grand, and indeed the only character of truth, is its capability of enduring the test of universal experience, and coming unchanged out of every possible form of fair discussion. "Before experience can be used with advantage, there is one preliminary step to make, which depends wholly upon ourselves; it is the absolute dismissal and clearing the mind of all prejudice, from whatever source arising, and the determination to stand or fall by the result of a direct appeal to facts in the first instance, and of strict logical deduction from them afterwards."-Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, by SIR J. F. W. HERSCHEL. "READ-not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse;-but weigh and consider " LORD BACON. THE OLD PATHS, &c. Part First. Q. GOOD CHRISTIAN, you no doubt consider it a matter of very great importance to be a member of the Church of Christ? A. I consider it a matter of the very greatest importance. Our Lord came to re-establish the Church of God in the world, that, through this means, men might be taken out of the kingdom of darkness, brought into the kingdom of righteousness, and trained up for the kingdom of heaven hereafter. It is by being a member of the Church, that I have an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the will of God, and of being supported by the Divine aid; it is thus that I am joined to Christ, as a member to the head. "I am the Vine," says our Lord, "ye are the branches." Hence I look on my connexion with the Church of Christ, as the ground B |