for religion, produce a constant succession of scoffers, and so blend the excesses of the human mind, upon religious subjects, with its sound, and serious efforts, that men, not caring to disentangle the evil from the good, will cast both the evil and the good away, and live in habitual carelessness for their salvation. But it is urged, in answer to this, that the lives of these men are good: Admit them to be so; are there no good men who are not enthusiasts? Are there no men, deeply impressed with the truth of the gospel, who avoid all singularity, party spirit, and display in their obedience to that gospel? Is there no such thing as earnest, yet tranquil piety? Is a sound understanding really so incompatible with a pure heart, that men must become spectacles, and laughing stocks, in this world, before they consider themselves as fit for another, and a better?" I respect these people," says one of the greatest ornaments of the English church, (now no more.*)" I respect them, * Dr. Paley, whose works have adorned, and whose low situation in the English church has disgraced the age in which he lived. because I believe they are sincere, but I have never been present at their worship, without saying to myself, how different is this from the primitive purity, and simplicity of the gospel." It is possible to love a thing so ardently, and to covet it so much, that we cease to be good judges of the means by which it is to be attained, or preserved when it is attained. We have in our church, and in theirs, one common object,-salvation,—the greatest that the mind can conceive, or the passions covet. We will not believe, that an Allwise, and an Almighty being has made our eternal happiness to depend upon the display of impetuous feeling, or the observance of unmeaning trifles: We will bend our whole heart to the Lord our God, and to the great author of our redemption; but we will do it with calm adoration, and with zeal according to knowledge; these habits may not impose, they may not dazzle, they may not attract :-but they are practical, they are permanent, they will endure; and, while a thousand new sects are swelling into importance, from their extravagance, and dissolving again, when that extravagance |