And now, my friends and countrymen, with sentiments of the most benevolent and affectionate regard, both for you, and

of his age, about the year 1494, after he had for some time quitted all his great employments under Charles the fifth, emperor of Germany, was esteemed the most beautiful person of that age, and a man of the most exalted genius; and yet, after having read all that could be read, and learned every thing that could then be learned, wrote to his Nephew, an officer in the army, in a style worthy of the above example of Janeway:-"I make it my humble request to you," says he, "that you would not fail to read the Holy Scriptures night and morning with great attention; for as it is our duty to meditate upon the law of God day and night, so nothing can be more useful; because there is in the Holy Scriptures a celestial and efficacious power, inflaming the soul with divine fear and love."

Our celebrated Spencer, though a man of dissipation in his youth, in his more advanced years entered into the interior of religion, and in his two hymns on Heavenly Love, and Heavenly Beauty, hath expressed all the height and depth of Janeway's experience:

"Then shalt thou feel thy spirit so possest,
And ravisht with devouring great desire
Of his dear self, that shall thy feeble breast
Inflame with love, and set thee all on fire
With burning zeal, through every part entire,
That in no earthly thing though shalt delight,
But in his sweet and amiable sight.-
Then shall thy ravisht soul inspired be

With heavenly thoughts, far above human skill,
And thy bright radiant eyes shall plainly see
Th' idea of his pure glory present still
Before thy face, that all thy spirits shall fill
With sweet enragement of celestial love,

Kindled through sight of those fair things above."

Spencer's religion, we see from the above extracts, is, like that of the Quaker's, "a religion of feeling." This too is unquestionably the religion of the Bible. Whom having not seen ye love: in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. See this subject considered at some length in Mr. Wilberforce's Practical View, chap. 3, sect. 2d & 3d. The same devout and heavenly spirit breathes strongly in all the old ascetic authors. Augustine is famous for it; so were several others of the ancient Fathers of the church. Thomas A. Kempis is excelled by none in this way. St. Bernard is very pious.

hymn on the name Jesus is in a high strain of this kind.

"Desidero te millies,

Mi Jesus! quando venies?
Me lætum quando facies?
Me de te quando saties?"

St. Augustine's hymn, which begins,

SS

His

every human being, whether Jew, Turk, Infidel, Heretic, or Christian, I submit these reflections, concerning Religion and the Sacred Writings, to your most serious consideration. What impression they may make upon your minds, is known only to the God of the spirits of all flesh.* My earnest request to you,

"Ad perennis vitæ fontem

Mens sitivit arida:"

is in the same strain; and has been imitated in that favourite old hymn recorded in the Pilgrim's Guide:

"Jerusalem, my happy home,

O that I were in thee.

O would my woes were at an end,

Thy joys that I might see! &c. &c."

Almost every thing of this kind, however, which has been left us by our forefathers is written in a style highly depraved, and is usually equally devout and superstitious. The pious reader, therefore, will be upon his guard in the perusal of such authors, and take the good, and cast the bad away. The Bible alone is free

from human weaknesses.

*If the reader should find himself dissatisfied with the Plea for Religion and the Sacred Writings, which is here put into his hand, let him by no means give up the cause as desperate, but rather let him lay it aside, and have recourse to those more able and explicit Treatises, which I have occasionally recommended in the Notes. Or, if he thinks himself capable of rendering a more effectual service to the cause of evangelical truth, let him take up his own pen, and confound the enemies of religion. Learned laymen, especially, should come forward in vindication of the Gospel; since every thing which proceeds from the clergy on religion, is supposed to spring from a self-interested source. Mr. Wilberforce has done himself much honour. He is a bold and able advocate for a much injured cause. Nor less so is the excellent Miss Hannah More. She is a credit to her sex, and a blessing to her country. It is scarcely possible, however, for authors on this subject to be too numerous. We are not wanting in clerical writers; but those who have treated on subjects purely religious, among the other ranks of society, are comparatively few; and especially among the Princes and Nobles of the land. Mr. Horace Walpole has given us a catalogue of the royal and noble authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland, since the conquest; and, I think, he produces, during all those ages, only 10 English Princes, 92 Peers, and 14 Peeresses. To these he adds 24 Scotch royal and noble authors, with 11 Irish Peers: In all about 150; a small number when it is considered that they are usually the best educated men in the country.

In Germany have been published in the course of six years, from 1785 to 1790, no less a number than 27,372 books, on the following subjects, and in these proportions:

is, that you will give them a fair and dispassionate hearing, and seek truth, at least, with as much warmth and assiduity, as we usually employ in our secular pursuits. No man ever succeeded greatly in life, who did not embark zealously in its concerns. No man ever became a good scholar, without much time and application.-And no man ever made any considerable proficiency in things divine, till all the leading powers of his soul were engaged therein. Permit me then to exhort you to be in earnest in your religious enquiries. Apply your minds with zeal and impartiality to the investigation of sacred wisdom. This is the concern, the duty, the privilege, the glory of every human being. The most ancient and sublime author in the world hath exhausted all the treasures of nature to express its intrinsic value: Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the chrystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls;

From the Monthly Mag. for June 1798, it appears, that the average number of books published in Germany, from 1785 to the close of the year 1797, is 5,360 annually.

for the price of wisdom, is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?-Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

If such is the value of wisdom, the search will undoubtedly repay the labour. But, have we any assurance that the inestimable treasure may be found? The wisest of men will answer to our satisfaction: My son, if thou wilt receive my words; and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thy ear unto wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding: yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding: if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God-thou shalt understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. All this implies the greatest possible attention to our religious concerns.

With these fine sentiments I take my leave, commending you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, if you will submit to its authority, and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. If you are right, in your present state of mind, may you continue in the right way to the end of your days, and increase and abound therein more and more. I think, however, you should be extremely cautious how you contradict and blaspheme what so many wise and good men esteem the truth of God, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets—Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish!-Speaking modestly, your situation is not altogether without danger. It is impossible you should be perfectly satisfied that all is as you could wish.*

"Since then we die but once, and after death

Our state no alteration knows,

But when we have resign'd our breath

Th' immortal spirit goes

To endless joys, or everlasting woes;
Wise is the man, who labours to secure
That mighty and important stake,

* He was no inconsiderable man who said, "To doubt of the Gos

pel is folly, to reject it is madness."

Jortin's Sermons, vol. 4. p. 111.

As to myself, I am thorougly satisfied with that God, that Redeemer, and that Sanctifier which the Christian Scriptures hold out to the view and acceptance of mankind. I am perfectly pleased with those Scriptures,* and with all the divine

Let the sceptical reader consult Dr. Robertson, the Historian's very sensible discourse on the situation of the world at the time of Christ's appearance, and its connection with the success of his religion. A conscientious reader cannot fail of being edified by such a discourse.

*When I have spoken above in such strong terms of the volume of Revelation, it is by no means intended to cast any slight upon the volume of Nature. While we daily study the former, we shall do well to pay all due attention to the latter, according to our opportunities of investigation. To an enlightened observer, they both carry indubitable marks of their great original. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the earth is full of his riches. The most perfect catalogue of stars, before the present ingenious and indefatigable Dr. Herschel appeared, did not contain quite 5,000; but by the vast superiority of his glasses, he hath discovered 44,000 stars in a few degrees of the heavens;* and by the same proportion it is supposed, that 75,000,000 are exposed in the expanse to human investigation. † All these stars are of a fiery nature, and conjectured to be so many suns with their systems of planets moving round them. We know the sun to be the centre of our system. It is accompanied with 19 planets, besides about 450 comets. What an amazing idea does this give us of the works of God! And if such is the work, what must the workman be!

Every part of nature, moreover, with which we are acquainted, is full of living creatures, with stores of every kind to supply their necessities. This little globe of ours is known to contain within its bowels a great variety of valuable minerals, and to be covered with about 20,000 different species of vegetables, 3,000 species of worms, 12,000 species of insects, 200 species of amphibious animals, 550 species of birds, 2,600 species of fish, and 200 species of quadrupeds. How immense then must be the number of individuals! One fly is found to bring forth 2000 at a time, and a single cod-fish to produce considerably more than three millions and a half of young. Nay, Leewenhoek tells us, that there are more animals in the milt of a single cod-fish, than there are men upon the whole earth. Over all these creatures preside upwards of 730 * See the dissertations of Dr. Herschel, relative to this brilliant portion of the heavens, in the Philosophical Transactions.

+Jerome de Lalande, director of the French Observatory, supposes that a glass of Herschel's powers may discover 90 millions of stars in the whole surface of the heavens, and that even this number is but small, in comparison of what exists. -Monthly Mag. for Oct. 1798, p. 265.