clusions of our own minds. What we may have dimly seen to be wise and right we here receive on the authority of God. No hesitation can therefore be experienced in endeavouring, upon all occasions, to mould our conduct on this standard, for what is right must necessarily be wise. Religious duty and the highest human prudence must ever be coincident. A clear principle will guide our path as a light from Heaven, where, amid questions of mere expediency, we might be hopelessly perplexed.
The fact that the Spirit of God should have put on record such detailed instructions, illustrates the inseparable identity between Christian doctrine and Christian practice. Both have the same author, and therefore carry with them the same obligation. The details of life likewise acquire dignity from the majesty of the Being who regulates them. No detail of conduct can be thought unworthy of the attention of the Christian when it has not been thought unworthy of the attention of God himself.
I commenced these Essays in the earnest desire to contribute, in however small a measure, to the edification of the Church of Christ, and with the