the true and only religion of nature; fo fecondly, It is univerfally congenial to the constitution and frame of the human mind.

MAY the great Parent of mankind, the God and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, make us all perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasing in his fight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory "for ever and ever.-Amen."

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LECTURE II.

Genesis 22.-15. 18.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the fecond

time.

And faid, By myself have I fworn, faith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hath not witheld thy Son, thine only Son: · That in bleffing I will blefs thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy feed as the stars of the heaven, and as the fand which is upon the fea fhore; and thy feed fhall poffefs the gate of his enemies.

And in thy feed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thea haft obeyed my voice.

Acts 1.-7, 8.

And he faid unto them, It is not for you to know the times, or the fea fons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

But ye fhall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye fhall be witnesses unto me both in Jerufalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermoft part of the earth.

WE make frequent ufe in fpeech of the phrases,

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every corner of the globe-the whole world

"the whole univerfe-universal nature," and the like. But we know not "what we fay or where"of we affirm." Grafping objects fo vaf, we remain in ignorance of those with which we are in close contact, and which are level to our capacities. He alone who made the worlds, un

derstands the nature and extent, the uses and end, of his own work. While man is permitted to contemplate, and to enjoy, the beauty har mony and beneficial influence of diftant fpheres, his activity and exertions are limited to his own. To climb to the summit of that mountain, or defcend to the bottom of yonder valley; to dig a few inches into this corn-field, or a hundred fathoms into yonder copper-mine; to skim along the surface of the ocean, or to plunge a few feet under it; to ascertain the qualities of this plant, or of that animal, by the indications of nature or the results of experience; thus far, and no farther, do the human powers extend. But man himself poffeffes a peculiar quality. Of the innumerable tribes which people this great globe, he alone is able to exift, and to enjoy life, in every latitude, and in every climate. To each particular region, particular fpecies of plants and animals are adapted, in which they live, thrive and attain perfection; but they cannot bear tranfplantation. Conveyed to a different fituation, they become feeble and puny; they languish and die; or are preferved with fo much trouble and expense in a fickly ftate, that curiofity or pride alone would be difpofed to make the experiment. But man is every where man. He can bear transplantation from the frozen horrors

of the polar circles to the burning heat of a vertical fun; and to be reconveyed to the torpid gloom of the icy zone from whence he came. With fhades of character various as thofe of ftatue, features and complexion, the same characteristics of humanity are to be found, in the eaft and in the weft, to the north and to the fouth.

THE religion of Jefus Chrift poffeffes a correspondent character of univerfality, and proves its original to be divine, from its complete adap tation to the nature and condition of man; not in this district or in that, living under this or the other form of civil government, in a lofty or a lowly estate; but man univerfally, Geek or bar barian, Roman or Scythian, bond or free. As Deity"hath made of one blood all nations of "men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth," fo he is presenting unto all nations of men, a religion which addreffes itself to the understanding, the heart, the conscience of every man, let his endowments, his rank in life, his worldly poffef fions, be what they may. If this fhall be made to appear, from a fimple elucidation of the nature and defign of Chriftianity, as it appears on the face of Scripture, we fhall have a powerful pre. fumption at least, if not a proof, that the God of human nature, and "the God and Father of No. 12. c 3

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our Lord Jefus Chrift," is one and the fame. This we are now to attempt, by fhewing in a few particulars, that the religion of Jefus Chrift is congenial to the conftitution and frame of the human mind.

Now there are three well-known univerfal characters of humanity, to which the gospel, and the gospel alone, moft happily applies, ignorance, guilt, and fubjection to bondage. In other words, all men ftand in need of an inftructor, of an interceffor, of a deliverer; and Jesus Christ undertakes, and fulfils, all these gracious offices to the human race.

I. MAN is born, and continues long, in a state of ignorance. During the earlier periods of his existence, he is of all animals, at once the most interefting and important, and the feebleft, most helpless, and moft dependant. He must be clothed and fed by the hands of others. And when he comes to look about him, and to dif 'cern object from object, he discovers an inftinct far inferior to that of many of the brute creation. He is flow of apprehenfion; and to tardiness of apprehenfion is generally added a certain degree of perverfity of difpofition. And, unhappily, those who are about him, and to whom he looks up for inftruction, are themselves ignorant and perverfe; unwifely fevere, or unwifely indulgent,