long as the principle of charity and peace prevails; but let charity wax cold, and that which was intended for food is converted into poison. Variety of views is changed into diversity of opinions; every one is determined that the religious world shall be shaped exactly after his own image, and that all other Christians shall think, feel, and speak as he does himself, or incur a sentence of condemnation. A principle of repulsion succeeds to the principle of attraction. He who forms a party and a peculiar creed, not only injures himself and his followers, but his opponents also. His heresy gives rise to an opposite heresy in them, and the truth is torn asunder betwixt them. On the contrary, love allows, admires, and consecrates to the service of man, and to the glory of God, every variety of gifts and of views; views which, though various, all terminate in the central and supporting truths of Christianity. And while party spirit turns variety into jangling and discord, love unites variety with uniformity that union which is the seal of all the divine works, and the evidence of the Divine existence.

VI. Not only the partial insisting upon some truth, but even the undue importance assigned to some rite or institution, has been productive of many heresies. Many do not distinguish between the essentials of Christianity, and its accessories ; they lay almost as much stress upon a mean as

upon an end; upon that which is relatively good, as upon that which is absolutely so. Christianity consists of truth, of holiness, and of happiness. That the truth should be presented before the mind, and continually kept there, by human means, and by divine aid, is all that Christianity can require. To contribute to this end we have two signs, baptism and the Lord's supper, answerable to the two parts of salvation which are carrying on on earth, justification and sanctification, the washing away of sin, and the living by faith upon the Lord Jesus. Concerning the things signified by these signs, there is no dispute amongst those who take the Bible for their guide; concerning the mode of administering these signs, there are endless controversies amongst inquirers after truth, who, to all appearance, are equally sincere. Whatever is important in the Scriptures is clear in proportion to its importance; we may conclude, therefore, that the signification of these signs is highly important, but that the mode of administering them is not so, because very doubtful. It is clear that every one should be allowed to choose for himself, and to use the sign in that way which most directly carries the mind to the thing signified. Controversy here is entirely out of place. It makes the sign of no effect, it distracts the attention from the thing signified, which alone is the useful contemplation, to the mode in which the sign is admin

istered, which is altogether an unprofitable subject of thought; for the use of a sign is, that the mind may pass immediately from it, to the thing signified. Thus, these signs not being received in peace and faith, but being continually disputed about, are to controversialists, not so much the signs of salvation, as the emblems of a peculiar party.

Nearly the same observations apply to disputes about church government. Government is not a thing valuable in itself, it is only the means of attaining some valuable end, and has therefore no excellency apart from its utility. The end of churches, and, of course, of church government, is to display and perpetuate religious truth throughout all generations. It is a matter of some difficulty, as we have already observed, to ascertain the exact form of the apostolic churches; what we know best of their structure is, that they were exceedingly simple, and that these little "republics," as Gibbon well calls them, owed their prosperity less to any positive, and municipal regulations, than to their innate energy and freedom. But suppose that we had a precise model handed down from the times of the apostles, its whole excellency would consist in its aptitude to preserve and to spread the truth; and if, instead of directing our eyes to the Gospel, it withdrew our attention to contemplate its own structure, so far, it would be not only useless, but hurtful.

VII. Sects, however deplorable, are evils which counteract still greater evils. They have their present use, and will cease at the moment when they become no longer useful. All human institutions, like man himself, have their determined periods of existence, and pass from the energy of their early growth to their full maturity, and certain, though gradual decay. Religious institutions and bodies follow the same law; and it seems impossible to transmit the zeal of their first founders and advocates to their distant successors. A gradual languor creeps over ancient establishments; they require continual renewals of life, or other denominations spring up to supply their vacant place, and to run the same career of energy, prosperity, and decay. It is not that the change is immediately visible to the outward eye, and the form may long remain after the spirit has fled, and opinions may continue to be professed when they are no longer accompanied by the same intimate conviction. But the truths which are still professed are either neglected or imperfectly brought forward, until they meet with a new advocate, and have the public attention again strongly directed to them. Then the keenness of dispute, and the eagerness of controversy, supply the place of the love of truth, and will not suffer the understanding to slumber in total listlessness. Thus neglected, truths are brought forward with full prominence,

if not in their fair and just proportion; and the heat produced by discussion is better than the total numbness of death, though it cannot be compared with the warmth and life which are derived from a higher source. But when a larger influence is vouchsafed from the divine Spirit, and the minds of men are led into all truth by their divine guide, there will be no need of the fires of controversy, while his pure and peaceful light is shining every where around us. When all are cherishing the truth for its own sake, the weapons of controversy will be thrown aside as useless, and sects will cease, for there will be no further occasion for them; earnestness for the truth will supersede all party zeal for peculiar opinions, and full knowledge of the truth will set aside all partial views.

VIII. What a number of differences would immediately be terminated by Christians adhering to the apostolic rule of walking together as far as they are agreed. The very first result would be that they would find many more points of agreement existing between them than they had previously suspected. And every day's observance of the rule would make the agreement greater. They would understand each other better, and, what is more, they would understand themselves. Their own views of the truth would become much clearer, and walking in the atmosphere of peace and love,