The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-10-21 00:00:00

Scotland since I was able to knoW right front isrolig---,since I
could distinguish love from hatred. Ibis is the third, visit I
have paid to Scotland. I was here about six-and-twenty years,
ago—a holiday-keeping school-boy-7-withiny mind just opening
to the extra-romantic interest which your poets and your novel-
ists haye thrown around your romantic history;
,and I was
here nearly forty yeah; ago—a:fugitive infant carried away in
haste from the threatening desolation of the Irish iebellion.
Scoiland supplied me with a cradle of refuge from the mnrder-.
one barbarians of my native land; end I am here now a third
time, a minister of Christ's church, my..mind opened to higher
ed,nobler objects connected with your national. institutions.
(Cheers.) Invited by your committee, and urged, sir, by your
own kind solicitations. to take- part in the procedings of this
evening, and feeling much interest in the great übjectyou have
in view, 1 readily consented, although at the expense of eon-
siderable personal inconvenience, to contribute any littleassist-
once in my power to promote the object of your meeting. If I
understand that object aright, it is to improve, to extend, and,
in hio doing, to secure a snfficient system of parochial education'
for Scotland. You judge that such a system, in order to-prove
a real blessing to your country, must be based upon the funda-
ineptal truths revealed in the word of. God, and carried op un-
der the wise suPeriuteiieuce, watchful control, and, paternal,
solicitude of your national church. Such a view of the subject
is not novel, such an arrangement. of the system is not an un-.
tried theory iu Scotland. You have the best possible-reason
fur approving of such a system—the benefit, the great benefit
derived to your country from the long experience of its work-
ing, so fur as it has gone. It is to your national church, under
the good providence of God, that you are indebted fur the nitro-
duction and support of such a system of parochial instruction,
as has caused Scotland and education to be associated to a peo•
Iu the'earliest standards of your national church' (the
first and second book of discipline) conpesed, by men Who, in
the midst of persaual dillieulties- and destitution, forgot their
own temporal poverty. in the noble ambition and unwearied'
efforts to bequeath spiritual wealth to• their country, thereby ex-
hibiting that sublime feature of the apostolieatcharactet, " poor,
yet making.roany rich,"—it was recommended that the youth
of every parish Should be brought under instruction. that provi-
sion should' be. made to maintain schoolmasters; and, until
schools were set up, the duty of teaching the children devolved
up-on the readers. These readers, as I understand the arrange-
client, wire subordinate to the ministers and elders of the
parish; so that the education of the country was thus ar once
placed under the immediate direction of the national church.
To carry this into effect, the land
.of tire. pariah was taxed iu
1633 to supply the salary of the schoolmaster. A similar
act was passed after the, revolution. The consent
.of
the lauded proprietors, and the successes of the measure
in parliament, were believe I might say en-
tirely—owing to the eaertious of the church: The first_
appointment of the. schoolmaster , was vested in the land-
ed proprietors; hut, no sehoolmaater could..oblaiii the ne-
cessary certificate for entering on his important avocation, till
he had been examined by the. preshytery. His religious epi..
'lions, his moral habits, and his literary attainments, were thus.
subjected to a competent scrutiny. It was Morally impossible,
that the presbytery could be materially deceived. The literary
qualifications of the candidate could obviously and easily be al;•
certained even by strangers—not so his moral habits; but the
presbytery being resident on the spot, and conversant with all'
the individuals and all the runioifts of the neighbourhood, were
in the best possible situation for guarding against deception;
and with tegard to religious opinion, they not (idly subject‘d
the candidate to an oral examination, but required of him to
sign the confeision of faith. Such were the jertioui and salutary
guards which your forefathers erected around the well-springs
of the parochial education of their beloved country. They knew
that, securing the fitness of the toasters, they were securing,' as
far as human power can reach, the value and efficiency of the
schools. I have seen with pain; in the appeal of your Glasgow
Educational Society, the assertion, that the character of your
popular parochial education is now low ; that nut the continu-
ance, but the restoration, of a good system is now required.
Permit me, sir, to say, as a stranger, that I trust Scotland has
rather slumbered than degenerated; that although her hands
may have been slack for a season, not keeping pace with the
increasingtlemands of her, toultiplying population, yet her heart
waketh—that the sound, steiling,.indomitable principle of chris-
tiauity is still within her, and ready, in the hour of ascertained
peiil, td put on a vigour, and assume an attitude, and utter a
voice Which Will make the shill:est of the enemies of her ancient
institutions. to quail—which will extend her national education
over the multiplying thousands of her national familY; and
preserve and perpetuate it, in its fountain and in, its streams,
under the' chriitian superintendence of her national church ;
and which, with a look of lofty, stern, and righteens. decision,
will wither the arch enemy of God and man, Who, under any
pretence whatsoever, would deprive the least or poorest of her
sons or daughters of the unrestricted use of the uniuutilated
word of God. (Loud and 4:Makatea cheering.) I hail that
cheer as a token for good. Whatever may be said of some
persons and some places in Scotland, it is perfectly:clear that
at:Scotland is not asleep. (Heat, hear.) But permit me to
sac, without offence, cheers are cheap—means must be used.
We are engaged iu a warfare, where not the shout only, but the
sinews of the soldier are required. The church cannot no* so
prevail with men of property as to secureparliamentary success
to measures in support of Christian education. Whit then is the
church to du? Much his been said, and Much is likely to he
said, unen the voluntary system. What seems to he commonly
intended by that phrase cannot be too strongly reprehended ;
but I confess, I cannot but apprehend that, owing to the"
treachery of the human heart, there is some danger, that while
we repudiate the Voluntary principle, we may neglect, or omit,
or postpoue what ought to be our voluntary sacrifice, The vo-:
luntary system, if pleaded as a substitute for, national support iu
order to exculpate the nominally christiau governthent which
withholds such support from the christiau church, is nothing else
but disguised infidelity. But if it be insisted upon as an addi-
tion to any amount of national support, it is an imperative
christian
.diity. We, may truly say, woe, to the government
which leaves the christian chnrch, to the unassisted support of
its own voluntary contributions ! and with equal truth we may
say, woe to the church which is not liberal in, voluotary coutri,
butique, whatever support it may receive. from government !
(Applause.) And I would add, that owing to the perverseness
of our nature in abusing our blessings, the blessing of national
support to the church has been abused. We have grown up so
much in the. habit of having our church and our ministers main-
tained for us, almost without perceptible cost, that we are now
unaccustomed,, and coriespoudiogly unwilling, to make any-.
thing amounting to sacrifices for them. While, in the mean-.
time, the poptilaition of our country has so oulgroWn the ecconi-
niodatiou in our churches, the harvest has become co hopelessly
impracticable to the present number- of labourers, that if sacri-
fices be not Wade, and sacrifices on a scale of primitive benefi-.
sense, the surplus uuredaimed population Will soon Outnumber
and overwhelm all the rest, in the rising tide of atheism and
unrighteousness. An effort then must be made. Money must
be given. Churches and ministers, and schools and schoolmas-
ters, must be multiplied. It is my. privilege to reside: in a town
where, in the hour of ascertained peril to the principle of scrip-
tural education, a string was struck, the vibrations of which
warmed so many hearts and hands into a glow of voluntary
liberality, that above £ll,OOO in donations, and £5OO a-year in
subscriptions, have been. placed. at the disposal of our Church
School Committee—attesting the sincerity of our, friends and
supporters. (Loud applause.) We would respectfully say to
the men of Glasgow, go and do likewise. It is true that the hour
of peril to your scriptural education is not yet so fully and pub-
licly ascertained. But it exists; and it is right, nay, it is im-
perative, upon the true friends of scriptural education, to make
known the nature and the urgency of that concocting danger.
You are possibly aware that the subject of Normal,Seminaries,
for the taaining of schoolniasters for Scotland, has attracted the
attention of government; and that the estimates passed for the cur-
rent year coutaiu au item of £lO,OOO, voted for this purpoSe. ton
may also perhaps be aware that
.application has been made to
government ou behalf of vuur edUeational institution, connected
as it is with Sour national chUrch. That application has not been
attended to; and it well becomes the vigilance of a wise, and
understauciing, and christian people, to take warning of the
coming storm by the gathering symptoms of the atmosphere
around us. (Hear, hear.) It well becetnes you to gland
upon your, watchjtoler and ask—Why this item is in the
estimates of the year ? (Hear.) Is the object of the grant to
aid edUcatiou iii Scotland in connexion with the church? If
50, Why is the application (rom Glasgow unattended to? If not,
to what. is • the money to be applied ? Is it to establish a go-
vernMent board, or government trustees, who shall take the
suyerinteudeace of the Normal seminaries out of its connexion
with the national church; and thni prepare a set of blasters
more liberal, as the phrase is, than those whom the church can
sanction ? It is, a vital question. For if masters of that de-
scription gain admittance to your national nurseries, in. vain
Will your ministers toil afterwards to alter or modify, or counter-,
act the bias thin given to your rising generation. From this it.
appears, not only that you have no reason to expect a grant'
from government in aid of your scriptural system; but that have reason to apprehend that your christian systeni will be
superSeded by a gevetntuentsystem, not christian, unless by
your prompt and overflowincentrihntionS, ?roll tell the govern-
i
ment.yOu h
ints no help at alt'
But why do
say
that a
sv,tem
of educstion oduced by government, and Managed by trus
tees, or by a board, appended by government, would be not
ciiristian ? I say it be-cause it is true. Both words and deeds
attest it. For what is the avowed principle upon which the
government proceeds in arranging the details of an educational
,acid denominations, so that nothing shalt he insiaid an, i„
sects, system. ? It is thus Stated—" The equality of all creeds, and
which any class of the communqy:eonscientiously ohjects..,
We
are told .hy the advocateliof this principle, that "ytwernment are
irittiCCS fur all denonauulions, drat they are the guts; dicuis,z,in
411
al;
te
proprietors, of the public purse that, conseguentlY, shay are bound
to pay
o'irge,matihree7e can 4 ito
nsist t°Poinn.ino.°l7hainlctltnat ica °e/c7eldi ;to by any,
Be:attic, there. is not the slightest difference, either- ihfact or in
reason,. between a systein which eseiades by a postare prohibition,
and a s+/stein .which
.e.cclutls by enforciny ternis which cannot i,
complied with. It is no libel, then, upon a system constructed
upon this ininciple, to say, that it, cannot be a christian. system.
Nay, more—it is true of such a system• thatitiuusttheaxtcltuiudee
christians. 11. opens its arms to such bad company,
christians, who know that evil conimunications corrupt good
mariners, must, shrink from its contaminating einfirace. Setbat
the beatsideal of liberalism, a non-eicluding systeni, is, in the very
nature 'of things, an impossibility iii a country where t here are any
christians..Cliristianity cannot be arnalgainated with the
It possesses a chemical test, which separates and precipitates all
the dregs of falsehood. All the images"of the false gods Of the
Arnorites Might have been brought into the house of Dagon, and
all stood quietly together; but when the Ark of the. God of
Israel was introduced, the idol of the Philistines tottered, and
fell, and was broken. All the dregs, may agree, or wear the
hypocritical semblance of agreement. The philosophy, falsely
se called, of the Socinian—tbe Maus-book of the Papist---the
Jewish Talmud—the Mahomedan Koran—the Hindoo Shasters
—the Classic Pantheon—all these may be cast by the witchery
of liberalism into one cauldron—

" Black rpirits ftild white.
Red ipiritti and grey ;
Mingle, mingle. mingle.
You that Mingle may." (Loud laughter.)
But attempt to add the bible to this heterogeneous mixture, and
you raise a storm. All these are against the bible, and the bible
against all these. The attempt to niii them must lead to in-
cessant contention—

lorslteayn'sa
(Laughter.)
" Till
ll
thette hurley burley's
A reference to the facts, as well as an examination of s the prin-
ciple, Will shoW that what our present rulers call a liberal system,
cannot he a christiau system. the attempt has been made iu
Ireland, and has signally failed. In both cases, it is proved—
proYed by the test of experiment. which is worth tin 'thousand
theories-that Which is called a liberal system, is, and must be,
an exclusive system. In Ireland, the national -system has, with
little exception, become practically a Popish sysient. In Liver-
pool, the saute. In the Liverpool, the, fact cannot be
,disputed, It is within -small.compeAs, in a single locality; Au&
-not liable to the distracting effect of counter ohsetvation from
other. places. In. the Corp.) ratitin, Nutt h School, previous to the
alteration, were 400 boy's, 260 girli„ and 160 infants, making a
total of 820. The present fiatnber in the Corporation schoiii,
Septeinber `2S: h. Were -394 boys. of Which 41 are protestantit;
311 girlS, of which 30 are.Protestants'; 130 infants, of which 24
are pitiitestants ; makinga total.oft3s. of'which 710 are papists,
and 95 profestants; out of the 95 protestants 30 ?wend! the
elitirch, and the remaining 45 go where they please. In'
Ireland, it Would. be actually miraculous it' no exceptions
occurred; and it is easy to perceive hew the exceptions are

laid hold' of, and magnified, by persons who are interested in
keeping the general, fact out of sight. . Yes ; exceptions
have occurred among protestants. I blush for my own church,
to be obliged to. add, among her ministers ; and I. hltish
for your church, . when I reflect that one of her ministers
occupies a place at the board in Dublin. The exceptions,
however, have been few, and of these, some have seen their
error, and renounced their connexion, with the system. The
advocates of the system, however, when compelled to ad-
mit the fact, have retorted uptin us that the blame ef it rests
upon the protestant clergy—that we should not have forsaken
it—that if we had continued in it and worked it, we might have
Made it as comprehensive as our liberal rulers desired; but that
through out perverseness we have thrown it almost exclusively
into. other hands. Now mark the consistency of such an ergo-
went Proceeding from such a quarter. The government, we
are told, are trustees fur all denominations; that they tare the
guardians, not the proprietors, of the public purse; that conse-
quently they are bound to pay equal respect to the, opinions and
-conscieneei of all, and that; therefore, they can insist on nothing
that is objected to by any. Because these is not the slightest dif-
ference, either in fact or in reason, between a system which ex-
clude: by a pqoire prohibition; and o- s-ystem which excludes by
enforcing-urns: Oath cannot be complied with. Thiseuunda'Well;
hitt what next? The men who speak thus proceed to establish
a system which enforces terms with which christians cannot
comply, thereby, upon their own showing,excluding christians.
No, they reply, it is the perverseness of the bigots that excludes
therm not our terms;—our terms are most reasonable, anti-libe-
ral, and comprehensive. So, then, the objectiouriof liberals to
terms they cannot comply with are conscientious objections,
• detierving respect and defence; and the objections of Boman
'Catholics to terms they cannot comply with are conscientious
objections, equally entitled to respect and defence; but the ob-
jections of christians to terms they cannot comply with arc not
conscientious objections, and are nut entitled to respect and de-
leoce. I object, says the infidel; to the Bible duriug school
hours in a system intended for the whole nation. For peace
Sake, and to hoodwink the saints,- I have no objection to saying
that those children whose parents approve of it may read the
Bible, if they choose, after school hours. But, if such reading
during school hours be insisted on, I am excluded; and, then,
if I be compelled to pay towards the system, I am persecuted.
And 1, says the papist, object to the Bible, the whole Bible,
during school hours in a system intended for the whole oatiou.
I Object to sanction that pernicious principle, the right of pri-
vate judgment. I agree with my brother liberal (brother for
the present, till 1 have made use of him to attain my purpose,
and then I'll squeeze him to death,)—(much -laughter)-1
agree with bun in saying, if this reading be enforced,
am excluded, and then, if I be compelled to pay towarde
the •system, I am persecuted. Gentlemen, replies our. li-
heralgovernreerit to these objections—gentlemen, your objec-
tious are entitled to out highest respect. Cuuscience is sacred.
We cannot, and will not attempt to force it. We will not insist
upon Wins with which youcannot comply. NI a will uot,itsit
you to pay towards a lys4en of which you cannot avail your-
selves; but we will muddy the system to meet your reasonable
F Scruples. And I, says the.christian,' object to a system intended
for the whole nation, wherein the bible shall not be read duriug
'school hours. Ido not, indeed, intend to have it read at all
hours • but I will out, and cannot consent to give a Pledge that
it shaknot be read at any hour. lam not to be hood-witiked
by this strange fraternity. If this pledge be insisted on, I am
excluded; and then if I be compelled to pay towards such a system,
I am, on your own principle persecuted. What is the reply of
the liberals ? Bigots, perverse bigots Your objections are not
entitled to our respect—Your conscience is not sacred—we can
and will force it—we willinsist upon terms with which you cannot
complp—we will Make you pay towards a system of which you
eanuot avail yourselves—we will not modify that system to meet
your unreasonable scruples. Oh ! excellent liberality ! oh !
most impartial respect for conscience t Infidelity is a noble ani-
mal, and has a right to exercise conscientious Sagacity. Popery
too is a tine creature—tamed and harmleSs—and should be
treated with tenderness and respect. But as for the chrittian—
bigutted dog ! how dares he talk of conscience !—What then
is to be done? It is clear that it comes to this—lf thir be no-
revealed truth, and if the matter be a matter of population and
preference, then assuredly they are right who say, pay all or
none; and since opinion, like matter, is infinitely divisible, and
the pay-all principle would involve at last the paying of any or
every individual who chose to dissent from other individuals,
the only practicable scheme would be to pay none. But there
is revealed truth,--'-and it is curious and instructive to mark the
animus of the powers that be in different ages of the world to-
wards that truth. History supplies us with two remarkable in-
stances 'of toleration; they vary in detail; and are charac-
teristic of the feelings towards christianity of the respective
parties: The first is the emperor Constantine—l follow an
authority which will -not be suspected of partiality to-
wards our religion the eloqnent but sceptical historian
of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Concern-
ing Constantine he says He invites and exhorts, in
the most pressing terms, the iobjects of the Roman enapire•to
imitate the example of their master: but he declares, that those
who still refuse to open their eyes to the celestial light, may
• freely enjoy their temples, and their fancied gods." 'I it is
clear that he gave free toleration to the religious rites of the
pagan idolaters. But what follows in the history proves that he
suppressed by authority those practices of the idolaters which
Were of injurious tendency to the community. "After the ex-
ample of the wisest of his predecessors, be condemned, under
the most rigorous penalties, the occult and impious arts of di-
vination ; which excited the vain hopes and soMetimes the cri-
naival attempts of those who were discontented with their pre-
Sent condition. Au ignotoinoug silence was imposed on the
oracles which had beenpublicly convicted of fraud and false-
r hood; the effeminate priests of the Nile were 'abolished, and
Constantine discharged the duties of a Roman Censor when he
gave orders for the demolition of several temples of Plicenicia,
in which every mode of licentiousness was devoutly practised in
the fate of day, and to the honour of Venus."—Gibbon': Dec.
and Fall; vol. iii. pp. 405, 406.—1 t appears from this that he
acted on A distinction which was well expressed at a late meet-
ing in this town, by our eloquent friend Mortimer O'Sullivan—
a man whose labours for the defence and diffusion of genuine
religion entitle him to the gratitude of the christian church,
while the corruscations of his genius have enlightened and elec-
trified thronging multitudes of his admiring countrymen.
' (Cheers.) The distinction, I allude to, is between the truth
and the tendency of religious opinion. Truth justifies prefer-
ence; but it is only well-ascertained injurious tendency to the
community that justifies prohibition. We have not far to look
for the modern parallels to those evil practices and licentious
rites
.which were prohibited, and those lying oracles which were
silenced by Constantine. I need scarcely mention what will be
at once suggested to every intelligent inquirer, the Rheimish
Notes, Peter Deus, and the Confession-box, in which it is diffi-
cult to say which is most triumphant—divided allegiance, sys-
tematic perjury, absurd superstition, or contaminating immo-
rality. (Cheers.) These are before the country, with the in-
structivedisclosures connected with them in these our own days.
I perceive there is also before the country a soft, archiepiscopul
disclaimer, combined with- an extorted archiepiscopal Omis-
sion. This address, fresh as it is from the the Vatican, dealing
in the hardihood of assertion, and clothed in the dignified dis-
dain of argument, which characterise productions from that
quarter,
.will not make much impression against the facts, dates,
documents., and arguments so ably advanced by a man to whom
I rejoice iu this opportunity of bearing my feeble testimony-
-a man, whose extensive learning, persuasive eloquence,
burning zeal, christian spirit, and unblemished reputation,
kept the whole crew of radicals and Bomanists at bay
for years, while he successfully exposed their wicked secrets,
They affected to despise him, while they really feared and de.
tested him. This is proved, because the moment he made
mistake—and who is the man that liveth and maketh no mis-
take ?—" quandeque donnitat Homerus"—the moment be made
a mistake the whole paCk opened upon him a savage yell Of in-
furiated delight—too plainly betraying the bitter pain they had
experienced during their long silence. They had been cut to
the heart, while they could find no occasion for retort; but the
moment an occasion offered, the life blood of their rankling en-
mity gushed forth upon their victim. But Robert M' Ghee
stood before the church in the white raiment of a candid con-
fessien of his fault, and he remains unscathed. (Loud cheers.)
But to returnthe second instance of toleration to which I re-
ferred, was by Julian the Apostate. It is thui described by
Gibbon :—of Julian he says—" Actuated
.by these motives, and
apprehensive of disturbing the repose
•of au unsettled reign,
Jnliiin Surprised the world by an edict, which was not unworthy
of a statesman or a philosopher. He extended to all the Mho-
bitanta of the adman world the benefits of a free and eqtial to-
leratiom" But instead of exhorting him subjeets to embrace
Chriatiarkity, after the example of Constantine, be encouraged
the various existing heresies. "The pagans received a gracious
permission, or rather an e.vpresserder, to open all their temples;
and they were At once delivered from_ the oppressive laws and
arbitrary vexatious which they had sustained tinder the reign of
Constantine Mid his sons. At the saute time, the bishops and
clergy, who had been banished by the Mien monarch, were re-
called front exile, and restored to their 'respecti've churches—
the Donatists, the NoVatians; the INlat•edodiaus,the Emulation's,
and those who, with a more prosperousfortune, adhered to 'the
doctrine of the council .of Is ice. Julian, who understood and
derided their theological disputes, invitetto the palace the lead-
ers of the hostile sects, that he might enjoy the agreeable spec-
tacle of their furious encounters. The clamour of controversy
sometimes provoked the etoperer to exclaim, ," hear me !: the
Franks have heard me, and the Allemanui ;" but lie soon
covered that he was now erieiteed with More obstinate and
plarable enetnies."—Gibbon, to!. iv. pp. 8.3, 84.. The distinc-
tion between the two cases is remarkable; and what have we
hoe ? is it- Constatitinus, or is it Juliabus RediVivus ? Is it
the enlightened and disciitninating toleration of the christian
emperor? or the indiscriminating encouragement of the apos-
tate? Not Constantiue—but Juliau. (Applause.) Error of all
sorts is encouraged. The clemour of contending parties is ex-
cited, and the voice of-authority in Great Britain hips fair to
.hare the fate of the imperial voice at Rome. (Maar, hear)
.1.,01-liweiaerssn,lemlay the Frankihave heard lime, and the Allemanni !'
Yea—but you have now roused a power which will not hear
you, but . under Which yourselves must fall. (Tremendous
cheering.). But though union in religious opinion appears
ated from religious there not he unity of plan in communicating
literary information ? We answer, no, if literature be dissoci-
ated
speed principle;sow t
inle,hoe because achosiel
s'uthnel
et
thee time Christian
ut. cahoot
consent.
tiiiiitawhoaftlittis2so7listuilewtii)tuh hlmithaesteitilTriassa. with hip
ter, ihe main object to which every other consideration must be
subservient. General literature ly itself has Ms tendency to
Connected with Christianity we Vejiiice to
dll9;elDPlPthisatelViattfianril.and wide, but not by itself. General know-
' ledge hap nu power to alter the human will. We deny not that
it has power to reline the inautiers; but we strenuously deny
giLlie any wan hate sin, as coin-
that it h4ll any. power or even tendency to renew the heart. It
opt- description oif,icskiiiifn.o.kreat_n-
r to
to convert the bold iohutdil etler)dr against ts
tshnisokilne.o InploCtwaheacrs4tiFtendency
riletnaeszsatitsfteueurtrfhaelleit:enacieturte,o likethe
out-
rageous highwayman into the sly gentleei,thlike
the midnight but glar into the midnight forger or coiner—the
cheek of a veiled and painte'd
savage into the member of society. It can im'ent and multi-
plybnal'in to the wooed, or convey the pulse of
feverishe
frame of this ballot world.
thdisguises
haggard to
misery
soenrcye conceal theap otah,
power
f(E)rgiytsp taswt
iaasaemi
as
It is power-
wretched—toll
healtha r ot ; t
abtuhtei t
a phi
hi to eivilize—it is iMpotent to save. (Cheers.) With all its
knew
celebrated
God.
bye
hwaisiddeoam
was
cele-
brated-for its learning ; vet Egypt continued idolatrous of a
wisdom, the world
et Chaldea continued sunk in
cowca aatntadinanrieppnttile;. y
idolatry.
_Greece and ItoMe sere celebrated for orators, and statesmen,
and poets, and painters and sculptoi I, such its never have been
excelled; and yet the cliinax of their attainment* in religion is
the memorable symbol of -their ignorance. In the emporium
city of
s Athens,intt• the altar erected by the
inscribed, " To the unknown
woti.
stehset
irocfi
philosophers vilization, th ect
a
-(sod!" The youngest child of intelligence in any of your
palish schools, is wiser unto salvation than were the milted
.sages of Greece and Home. (Applause.) To know Ged is
eternal life--to ktiow him in Christ- Jesus, our Father and our
Friend—just, and the justifier of the ungodly—perfectly just,
i
cud the free justifier of the most ungodly—not to guess at Faris as
a CoMpound of impetfections—iinpei fcctly just in order to be
merciful, and imperfectly merciful in order to be just. The
idol of the deist. it this compound of impeifeetions. But our
God is perfea—infinitely just. without the slightest tai List' on
the equity tif his government in heaven; and infinitely merci-
ful, without remising for acceptance, condition. ur qualifit•utiou
whatsoever in a sinner upon earth. To know God thus in hiS
Son—to breathe the holy atmosphere of peace in his knamm,
and feel ourselves embraced into sanctification h>, the assur-