The man who pursues this end is the genuine Christian philosopher. To know God, and the means of acceptance with him, is real wisdom. There is but one way in which a guilty creature can be made happy, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a revelation of that way. If, therefore, we remain ignorant of this, or disinclined to accept it, we know nothing to any good purpose· we fail of real wisdom, and commit the greatest folly and crime. "There is none other name given under heaven amongst men, whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus." To neglect this salvation is, consequently, the highest offence against God, and a sacrifice of our own souls; it is in truth the most deliberate, the most awful act of suicide which a rational being can commit. Religion, or spiritual wisdom, induces a joyful acquiescence in this manifestation of mercy. The spirit imbued with this influence, like Zaccheus, beholds the Saviour with infinite admiration, listens to his voice, descends to sit at his feet, and welcomes him home.

From these considerations it is evident, that the principle which regulates worldly minds, merits no better name than folly. It terminates in a low object, in self, in personal aggrandizement and honour-it pursues a mean, selfish, and sordid purpose. It rises no higher than the petty distinctions, the transitory hopes, and the fleeting pleasures of the present world. Instead of terminating in the greatness of God, it is wholly absorbed in the littleness of man. What a majesty is there-what a glory then in the Christian character! He is the only wise man. In a just estimate of things, how does religion dignify our nature! It elevates us not only above the brute, but above the man. It brings us into close affinity with superior spirits, into converse with Heaven. It enables the poorest of Christ's disciples, the most feeble in intellect, to look down with pity on the most splendid rank, the most exalted talent, as infinitely below them. If wisdom is to be estimated by its results, then the disciple of Jesus is wise. Worldly wisdom conduces to opulence, fame, and earthly enjoyment; but the wisdom which is "from above," secures the bliss of eternity.

It is not meant to be affirmed, that what is revealed in the Scriptures, ought to be the sole object of reflexion or inquiry; that to be a genuine Christian philosopher, the attention must be exclusively directed to that holy Volume. May we not pursue moral, metaphysical, or other investigations? Certainly we may. Are we to close our eyes upon the fair scenes of nature, or check all curious research into her

recesses and laws? By no means.

But this we assert with-. out hesitation, that the Bible is the grand test by which truth is to be tried the principle by which conduct is to be regulated - the guide we must implicitly follow. Whatever in morals is not built on this foundation, must inevitably fall: whoever contradicts the dictates of this instructor, must at last be silenced. The philosophy of mind must comport with the philosophy of God. This is the only " lamp to our feet, and light to our path." Truth is conformity to this revelation. Error is inconsistence with it. Whatever system of morals may be erected, unless founded here, will prove but like "the baseless fabric of a vision." Some of the most celebrated productions of human genius we should have admired as ingenious, had we not seen reason to condemn them as untrue; and untrue, because unscriptural. The third time, therefore, let this advice be repeated. Study the Scriptures." The present age may be justly congratulated, and this country in particular, for the zeal which it has shown in circulating these inestimable writings. All classes, and nearly all nations in Europe, have united in giving currency to them. Divine wisdom is now flowing through a thousand channels. By the translation of heavenly inspirations into the various languages of mankind, the confusion of Babel is about to be rectified; and "from the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same," every man is about to "hear in his own language the wonderful works of God."

A docile and humble spirit is essentially requisite, in order to eminent proficiency in the great science of Christian philosophy. Nothing so completely disqualifies the learner as vanity. The heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths of this divine science, are open to the humble mind; but concealed in impenetrable darkness from the proud one. Humility inspires caution, but does not extinguish zeal. This disposition differs most entirely from a servile submission to the opinions of men. A variety of errors have prevailed in the world, and even whole nations have been carried about by every wind of doctrine," from negligence of the Saviour's command, "learn of me." Through forgetting or despising it, presumptuous tyrants have dared to decree the faith of others, and too tractable slaves have permitted the imposition. Assuming the dictator's chair, how often has the infuriated persecutor thundered forth his anathemas against all who have not worshipped him instead of Jesus Christ, and demanded their blood as the price of their temerity in main

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taining the "liberty with which Christ hath made us free." How many monsters of impiety have, through this cause,' dyed their hands in the blood of martyrs; and with more than wolfish ferocity, torn in pieces the flock of Israel. When the great day arrives to disclose the characters, and to fix the destinies of mankind, what myriads of these sanguinary reactors of the awful tragedy of Calvary will rise to shame and everlasting contempt! and what myriads will receive a crown of glory from the final Judge, who have been influenced by the principles of a Peter and a John, "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye!"

We recommend further, as pre-eminently conducive to the same great end, the habit of thinking. Activity is indeed the element of mind, and to be totally devoid of thought is impossible to a rational being. The absence of all thought is the state of a stone. But it is to be apprehended that few, very few comparatively, use their rational faculties to any good purpose. They do not think in a train, or with profound and continued attention. Thoughts indeed dart through the mind like images across a mirror, leaving no trace behind. The airy fugitives are not often detained, as they ought to be, or rendered subservient to improvement by reflection. It is this which tends to correct mistakes, and to regulate inquiry. Reflection is the nurse of sentiment. It will be found expedient, in order to derive the greatest advantage from reflection, as well as to secure opportunity for it, to practise occasional and not unfrequent retirement, to withdraw from the crowd of tumultuous engagements and promiscuous society, to sit and to think alone. When the Redeemer of the world was about to favour his disciples with the brightest manifestation of his glory that he ever made on earth, or ever will, till he returns in the clouds of heaven, he "took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain APART, and was transfigured before them." It has been justly remarked by Mr. Bates in his "Rural Philosophy," that "when a man is left to his own reflections, and is deprived of the countenance and approbation of those around him, his solitary opinion is less able to resist the convictions of truth; he is more at liberty to search into the motives and principles of his conduct, and his conscience is more likely to speak home to the reality of his situation. How many are there who are borne up in a conceit of their superior virtue, by the judgments or flatteries of the world, who would soon be reduced to a mortifying sense

of their true character, if this fantastic support was happily withdrawn from them!-Nor ought a deviation from ordinary life, in pursuit of such an object, to incur censure, while it is allowed to studies of far less importance or dignity. While the literary man is permitted to separate himself from society, and to devote his days and nights to disquisitions concerning ancient laws and manners, which bear little rela-' tion to us in the present circumstances of the world, it would seem unjust not to grant the same privilege to the Christian moralist, who would carry his researches up to the primitive state of human nature, from which our departure is the source of all the evils that we either feel now, or that we fear hereafter. Or while the virtuoso is allowed to wander to Rome or Athens, that, by a critical survey of the noble remains of ancient architecture he there discovers, he may be enabled to trace out the original models, we cannot fairly deny to the Christian philosopher an occasional retreat into shades and solitude, in order to look narrowly into himself, and to trace out, in the ruins he finds there, the perfect model of our nature as it came first from the hands of the Creator, and thence to ascertain its present state of degeneracy."

Let us be unceasingly grateful for that glorious pre-eminence, which Infinite Wisdom has assigned the human species above every other part of the vast creation. The skilful architect usually finishes his work by the choicest selection of materials, and the most exquisite specimens of workmanship. So the "great Builder" of this varied universe first created matter the most inferior production, then imparted life, and produced instinct, and lastly inspired reason. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." The superiority of man to matter, however fair, to life however pleasing, to instinct however perfect, appears in this, that he alone is capable of contemplating and admiring the works of God. He alone possesses an eye that opens upon the heavens, and a mind capacitated to investigate its own faculties and movements-to appreciate its own principles and motives—and, above all, to receive the revelations of an infinite Intelligence. We cannot indeed but deplore the present degraded state of reason in a fallen and sinful world. Averse from God, plunged into an abyss of cares and anxieties, aiming only to acquire gain, or chained to the

They live with

oar of constant, unvarying labour, the great mass of mankind is disregardful of these momentous truths. out reflection; without reflection they die. all their thoughts."

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God is not in

Let us, however, look forward a few short ages to the great renewal of our character, and the grand regeneration of our being; to that period when the various impediments to knowledge and happiness which now exist, and amongst which our degeneracy is most conspicuous, will be eternally removed; when our progress will be commensurate with our opportunities-our sanctification proportionate to our privileges and our station, and our intellectual capacities, and moral feelings, attempered to the light of heaven, and perfected in the splendours of an ever present Deity. It is then that every other philosophy will prove "vain" but the Christian; that, and that only, will prove to be true wisdom. Every attainment the Christian philosopher makes on earth -every degree of knowledge he acquires-and every holy principle he cherishes and practises, connects him with that final state of blessedness. His preparation for it is daily progressive, and his assurance of it every moment brightens. He possesses this peculiar and exclusive privilege, that whatever he discovers is his own. "We who believe do enter into rest," and his final inheritance exceeding in vastness and value his most rapturous anticipations, will be "incorruptible, undefiled, and that which fadeth not away."

C.

An Essay on the Religion of the Indian Tribes of North America: Read before the New York Historical Society. By SAMUEL FARMAR JARVIS, D. D., A. A. S.

PART I.

THE religion of the Indian tribes of North America has not been viewed with that largeness of observation which is the characteristic of enlightened philosophy. Various causes may be mentioned, which have hitherto conspired to prevent, or to impede such an examination. In the first place, the horror proceeding from the cruelties of their warfare forbade the calmness of investigation. As long as they were formidable, curiosity was overpowered by terror; and there was neither leisure, nor inclination, to contemplate their character