man has existed on earth for the lengthened period of 9,000,000 years.*

We must likewise choose between the conflicting opinions put forth by the scientific world in reference to the Origin of Man; whether with Professor Huxley, who appears seriously to have adopted the extraordinary theory originated by the Scotch Lord Monboddo during the last century, that man's perfect resemblance to the genus Simia clearly shows where his paternity may be found; or with the author of the "Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation," who traces the organization of man in the descending scale, from "the lower mammalia to a worm;" or with Mr. Darwin, who surpasses all others in the extravagance of scientific speculation, by "inferring from analogy, that probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some one primordial form into which life was first breathed by the Creator," i.e., in other words, that man, who was originally "made in the image and likeness of God," must trace his ancestry to the primeval vegetable world.

Such are the current theories which the Rationalists are putting forth in opposition to the sober and consistent statements of Holy Scripture. Far be it from any Christian to undervalue the discoveries of true science, which man, after having nearly completed his full age on earth, has been enabled, by Divine permission, to effect. But it is necessary to distinguish between such valuable proofs of the harmony between God's word and works, and speculations like those referred to, which must be considered, by every believer in the infallibility of Scripture, "profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science, falsely so-called."

Never was the truth of the maxim, "A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men about to religion," more clearly manifested than in the contrast exhibited between the intellectual gifts of such men as Bacon, and Newton, and Locke, and Butler, and Chalmers, with that of the Rationalists of these days, whose glory (though it is in reality their shame) seems to consist in endeavouring to make the word and the works of God contradict each other. God has created this world which we inhabit, and has condescended to reveal to us our knowledge of it in the dignified language of Holy Writ. His two great books of Nature and Revelation cannot speak in contradictory language. It is impossible that anything can be found in the volume of His works which shall be opposed to what is written in the volume of His word. And the true way of showing the reality of our faith in the Divine origin of Scripture, is by leaving science

* Meeting of the British Association at Newcastle, August, 1863.

perfect liberty to work out her own conclusions, in the full assurance that true philosophy can never contradict the Oracles of God. When men, who, however learned in secular knowledge, prove by their mode of reasoning that they are only half informed on the subject of their criticism, attempt to distort the facts which science reveals, into conformity with what they, in their ignorance, conceive to be the meaning of Scripture, they are justly open to the censure of the illustrious philosopher to whom reference has just been made, -"Being guilty of the impiety of thinking that they honour the Author of Truth by offering to Him the unclean sacrifice of a lie."

We have no difficulty in accepting the language of Dr. Baylee, the distinguished principal of St. Aidan's, that "modern science, with all its wonderful advances, has not discovered one single inaccurate allusion to physical truth in all the countless illustrations employed in the Bible;" even though this loyal sentiment may have earned for its propounder the reprobation of a professed Christian bishop, who has recently merited the indignation of every upright mind for his wanton attack upon the supremacy of those Scriptures which he is bound by every moral tie to defend. This is he who boasts of having accepted his fetters voluntarily, and of still continuing to wear them, while, by a process of reason suitable only to perverted minds, he scorns the notion that they can restrain him. The man who could calmly receive, as he has done, a remonstrance, the mildest and most Christian which was ever addressed to a very grave offence, from more than forty of his brethren, and who could quietly assure them that they were all wrong, and he alone right, must either have a supernatural assurance of infallibility, or a superabundance of another quality of less uncommon occurrence.

The phenomenon of a Christian bishop, who appears from his writings to be but the feeble plagiarist of more honest infidels, heading a foray upon the supremacy of Scripture, is a lamentable spectacle in these days "of rebuke and blasphemy,' though its rarity cannot surely be without some effect upon the public mind. Happy would it be for the individual, whose name has now become too notorious to require to be mentioned, if he could profit by the lesson which St. Augustine has given to the Church respecting the reason why neophytes in biblical criticism are sure to fail in the object which they profess to have in view. "When I was young," said that master theologian, in one of his sermons, "I came to the study of the Bible with shrewdness of disputing, and not with meekness of inquiry; and thus, by my own perverseness, I fastened the door of Scripture against myself. And why? Because I sought with pride for what can only be found with humility." "Let

no man," says Bacon, "upon a weak conceit of sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain that a man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God's word, or the book of God's works, divinity or philosophy; but rather let men endeavour an endless progress or proficiency in both; only let them beware that they apply both to charity, and not to arrogance; to use, and not to ostentation; and again, that they do not unwisely mingle or confound these learnings together."

The grand remedy for Rationalism, whatever form it may assume, must necessarily be sought in those holy oracles, which, as the experience of ages has proved, can make man wise for time and eternity. For they alone can convince without controversy, and build up the temple of God in the soul of the awakened sinner without the noise of human instrumentality.

Powerful indeed is the very silence of Holy Scripture. Simple in all its grandeur, and grand in all its simplicity. And if it be lawful to compare great things with small, heavenly things with earthly, like some of those useful discoveries which have largely benefitted the human race, and which when discovered appear so simple that we wonder at their having remained so long unknown, so the power of Holy Scripture is best seen in its marvellous simplicity. "The wayfaring men," taught the Prophet of old, "though fools, shall not err therein." The little child, like Timothy, the unlettered working man, like the first called disciples of Christ, when taught by the Holy Ghost, the promised Comforter for guidance into "all truth," may alike attain a knowledge, relating to things not of time, but of eternity, which all the boasted wisdom of the age has been unable to acquire: "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should glory in His presence."

The internal evidence of these Sacred Oracles shows them to be "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." By this we understand that the Scriptures contain the plan of salvation, sufficiently made known in the Old Testament, and more fully revealed in the New, to enable all who seek Christ, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to become "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Such appears to be the doctrine of the Psalmist, when affirming that "the law (marg. doctrine) is perfect, converting the soul;" which includes the law of nature, as seen in the visible creation; the law of Moses, as setting

forth God's order and man's duty; and the law of grace, as including, and as inculcating, the doctrines of Ruin, Redemption, Renewal, and the Resurrection. This is that law of which St. John speaks when affirming, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son." The practical importance of this truth is to be discovered in its marvellous effects. It has proved sufficient to turn the worst of mankind "from darkness unto light, from the power of Satan unto God;" to teach them how to live, and above all, to teach them how to die.

The Scriptures should be to us as a Directory in our pilgrimage through the wilderness, ever bearing in mind that sufficient grace and strength for the journey are afforded by Him who has been given to comfort and edify the faithful, and to guide the Church through all ages into all truth. We are taught that it is the special work of the Holy Ghost to take of the things of Christ, in order to show them unto us. And surely it is not for us to boast, as the Jews did of old, of our outward privileges, or to talk of the greatness of the promises, unless we know what part or lot we have in them. The utility of the Bible consists in the practical application of its doctrines, and its precepts to our own individual consciences, as our Master taught on earth, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." The fairest and most useful impression of the Divine Word is to have it legibly printed on the reader's heart, so that he may daily manifest his light before his fellow men as a living epistle of the living God. How useful this unceasing search must be to us here, and how profitable hereafter, eternity alone will be sufficient to disclose. There is such a variety, such a fulness in Holy Scripture, whether it be under the head of doctrine, precept, or prophecy, that our finite minds are unable to fathom its exceeding great depths. "It so speaks," writes St. Augustine, "that with the height of it, it laughs proud and lofty-spirited man to scorn; with the depth of it, it terrifies those who with attention look into it; with the truth of it, it feeds men of the greatest knowledge and understanding; and with the sweetness of it, it nourishes babes and sucklings." It behoves us to be daily sounding with the lead these precious waters of life, to see how deep our finite minds are permitted to fathom. True, we can see but little of the rich ore of virgin gold, which bespangles every sentence of God's Holy Word. As it is with the rubbish drawn from the bowels of the earth by the laborious miner, to the unpractised eye there is apparently nothing but stones and dirt, while in reality it contains particles of the purest gold; even so is it with the imperishable gold which lies hid in every

vein and verse of the Oracles of God. His Word, like His works, must of necessity be "very good." Every sentence of the Bible is, as it were, a link which binds the faithful to the throne of God. Its high sublimities, its wonderful simplicity, its holy morality, its comprehensive depths, its majestic poetry its glorious principles, its Divine precepts, its holy doctrines, and its blessed examples, have never been equalled by man, apart from the power and teaching of the Spirit of God.

Through the mercy of our Heavenly Father, we have been brought in safety thus far on our pilgrimage, and another year has opened upon our view. The present is a period as interesting and as solemn, perhaps, as any which has been known in the whole flight of time. The scenes of Providence thicken upon us so fast, as if the great drama of the world were drawing to a close. All things appear to be winding up to a pitch unknown before. Wars, and rumours of other wars, appear to be more prevalent at this very hour than at any period of history. The spread of missionary enterprise, the wonderful discoveries of science, the intellectual development of the age, the subtle advance of Rationalistic infidelity, the manifest distress of the nations of the earth with perplexity, all alike seem to indicate that the end of this age draweth nigh. And though the scoffer may continue his cry, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation," it behoves those who believe in the reality of the Divine promises, and who take God at His word, to be standing, like the mother of Sisera, listening for the sound of His chariot wheels. It behoves them to beware that the calls of a too engrossing world without do not foster the procrastinating spirit within. The warning, to be "ready," "watching," "hasting unto," "looking for" the return of the absent bridegroom, is ever and anon repeated in Holy Writ, like a succession of alarm bells, breaking on the ear of the watcher in this night of weeping, amid chimes of heavenly music, to arouse a drowsy Church and a sleeping world. Indeed, it may be said, that ever since that memorable day, when the Lord of Glory ascended up on high from the hill of Bethany, and the promise of His return was given as the object of hope to the infant Church, it has been in some sense fulfilling. Some glow has never ceased to rest on the Eastern skies. And it is no less true, that, as the time for the complete fulfilment of the promise draws nigh," the signs of the times" wax clearer and more defined. The gleaming streaks of the coming morn, that morn which will arise "without a cloud in the land that is afar of, when our eyes shall see the King in His beauty," already appear on the horizon; the signs of the times, which usher in its presence, are gathering rapidly around us; the hum, and the crowd, and the tread of an awakening world,