diverted from the other. And in this, let us add, we are not stating a theory, but a fact.

The special subject now under notice is very comprehensive, and cannot receive justice in any thing less than an elaborate and extended treatment. This we do not purpose now; and hence we barely state, without elaborating, the difficulty which it seems to us is irremovable, in the way of completely enthusiastic preaching, so long as custom compels the preacher to work with a divided mind, a divided effort, and a divided energy. Concentration, entire and undisturbed concentration, is a prime requisite of power; and until the pulpit can have this, whatever other conditions of zeal it may possess, its enthusiasm must be seriously impaired.

In the elucidation of our general theme, which we must now bring to a close, it has, we trust, been shown, that in all that contributes to persuasion, in the action of mind upon mind, enthusiasm, which always accompanies sincere and earnest conviction, is the element of power, and that it holds a coördinate rank among the several objects to be aimed at as preparatives by all who aspire to teach their fellow men on any subject, more particularly on religious themes ;—. that of its many conditions, all that simple integrity enjoins -particularly embracing honesty of word and position, disinterestedness of aim and application, and an unswerving confidence in the immutability of truth-are absolutely indispensable, bearing as direct a relation to the enthusiastic fervor as light to vision; and we also trust that other considerations offered, as bearing upon the profession of the Christian minister in relation to his habits of study, method of preparation, and frequency of pulpit effort, have suggested aids to enthusiasm, if not positive essentials towards securing and maintaining it. The subject, imperfectly as we have treated it, makes its own appeal to all who are personally concerned. To all who would be either happy or useful in the sacred calling, it comes with the authoritative entreaty to shrink from no possible labor however arduous, from no sacrifices however great, which shall establish in their souls, as a never failing impulse and power, that healthful glow, that ardor of desire, that resistless energy, without which the task of seeking to convert

and influence human souls is as irksome and slavish as it is fruitless of result. When in the course of our professional life, we find our spirits flagging, our minds becoming sluggish, our devotions formal, our energies uncertain, we may know that something is radically wrong; and it becomes all who would redeem toil from the drudgery of mechanical routine, to seek out the cause, and, at whatever present cost, apply the remedy. If we have lost any degree of our sincerity, if we have grown away from old convictions and have been deterred by selfish considerations from making a corresponding change in our enunciation and position, we cannot too resolutely proceed to the work of restoring our integrity and recovering our manhood. If we are in all things but true to ourselves as responsible beings, the enthusiastic tide will surely flow in the arteries of our spiritual being, and give a joy to our inward life, a halo to all our outward endeavors, and a triumph to every rational aim.

G. H. E.

ART. II.

Truth, as a Dogma and as a Principle.

THERE is a natural tendency among sects and parties to magnify the importance of their own particular dogmas and platforms. Each sect is gathered around certain ideas and doctrines, to which it stands pledged, and which it naturally regards with something of the disposition that the miser regards that part of the domain of nature that he holds in fee simple. These fields and this forest," he thinks, as he looks out upon them, "are mine." And a great part of their value lies in the peculiar relation which he holds to them. All that lies beyond his own enclosure, he regards somewhat the same as the Israelites regarded the possessions of their Canaanite neighbors. Strictly speaking, he has no interest in the landscape that he owns it is so many acres of red earth which will produce him sundry bushels of

of corn and wheat. But the true lover of nature, though he may not own a foot of the soil, has a large interest in the landscape. As far as the eye can see over hill and valley, mountain and plain, field and forest, his domain extends. His enjoyment, therefore, is not selfish and sensuous, but genial and spiritual. His satisfaction has also a social character; he loves nature the more because others can enjoy it with him. Being a lover of nature, and of the great Author of nature, who has spread so rich a table before his children, his own heart partakes in some good degree of that wide charity which characterizes nature. He can even sympathize in the calm pleasures of the cattle that graze upon the hill-side, and the redundant joys of the lambs that in their gladness bound from rock to rock. And yet his pleasure would be but a small fraction of what it is, if he were not conscious that there are other intelligent beings like himself who can look upon the same great picture, and drink pleasure from the same fountains whereat he quaffs such sufficing happiness. Were he a Robinson Crusoe here upon this earth, with no man Friday by his side, it could afford him but a feeble delight, even were the landscape ten times more beautiful than it is.

The point we would illustrate is, that we should love truth in the same spirit that the true poet loves nature. Not selfishly, as the miser loves his farm and his cattle; but devoutly and worshipfully, as the revealed thought of God. We should love it as a spirit whose presence is everywhere, -in earth, and air, and water, and in the human mind; in the chemist's laboratory, in the mathematician's problems, in the mechanic's wheel, in the poet's sublime conception, and in the tranquillizing thought of the saint. We should love it as that element in the universe of God's works which is as necessary to the moral and intellectual nature as air and food are to the physical nature. But sects, as we have said, are apt to become selfish; and that which the great Father diffuses free as the mountain air-saying unto all who thirst," Come and drink, without money and without price," they try to turn to some outward and temporal advantage. It is not enough that the light should spread, and truth have free course and be glorified. It must also go in their name, that a liberal share of the glory may redound to them,-like the Dutch Doctor, who, when his

patient thanked God for the assurance which he had just given him of a speedy recovery, replied, somewhat testily, that he thought some thanks were due to the doctor."

There is, we think, a general and growing distrust of sects among all classes. People of free and generous minds, who stand outside of the church, have a strong distrust of every thing that has a sectarian odor. Any enterprize that is set on foot by any particular sect, however laudable it may be, meets with little favor. And the reason of this lies in the fact that the different sects have so generally been actuated by a culpable selfishness in their movements, and their views of men and things have been characterized by so much narrowness. Among theologians of the present day, we do not know of one who can be said to be a popular man,—we mean, popular in a large and worthy sense. Among clergymen of the present day, those whose sermons are read with most avidity, are such men as Beecher, Chapin, Parker and King,-men who talk little of dogmatic theology, but chiefly of those great practical themes that most stir the world's heart. We do not think it is so much the might and majesty of their intellects that constitute the power of their enchantment, as their lively sympathies with humanity. They are not mere hewers and choppers of logic, but living men, whose hearts throb in sympathy with the struggling heart of humanity. Their thoughts and feelings are in the present time. They gather the manna that falls to-day. The great interests which so much engross the thoughts and feelings of the masses find a place in their hearts, and get utterance from their mouths.

New issues are constantly arising in the world, presenting new themes for the religious teacher, new problems for him to solve. And that church which truly lives, will adjust itself to the new circumstances and conditions as they arise. One of the lessons that the subdivisions of the church into so many different sects has taught the word, is a lesson of toleration. For, among so many different varietics, we have learned that no mere doctrine possesses a sufficient vitality and force to charm the soul away from its worldliness, and lift the believer into those regions of pure and ineffable light, whence nothing but holy living can flow. We have seen that each draws into its fold the good, the bad and the indifferent; that each, in the spirit and

aims that characterize it, is very similar to its neighbor; that the same old nature clings fast to us all, into whatever communion we have entered. Amidst all the discussion, also, men have become more familiar with the arts of the dialectician, and have seen how easy it is for an ingenious man to press the Bible, or some parts of it, into the service of his own creed.

It seems evident that the age of dogmatizing is passing away. Cool and dispassionate men, who have not got too much mixed up in the strife of the different sects to be able to judge with candor, will be slow to put great faith in the vitality of any doctrines that are not more productive of good fruit than any they can see. They will be slow to believe that that way of worship, or that system of doctrines, which does not imbue the heart with charity here, and make the life beautiful, is any more likely to lead to heaven than another. The letter, which has been preached so long and with results comparatively so poor, has nearly worn itself out. True, there are still many old watchmen standing upon their sectarian towers, who continue earnestly to ply the people with their old doctrines, and warn them against false teachers and false prophets, who, as they say, are bringing into the church "damnable heresies;" but they get very little heed from the men of this busy age. The world rushes on, busy with its schemes of moneymaking, or of pleasure, or other absorbing things, and leaves the ecclesiastic to croak to the winds.

Let not what has already been said be understood as disparaging, at all, the great subject and science of Theology. Thinking people will always feel an interest in the "deep things" that pertain to God and the divine government. But in the future the discussion of the subject will be conducted upon broader principles. It will be more philo sophie and less partizan. It will be less a warfare between texts of Scripture. The character of God, as it is written in the volume of nature; as it is revealed in human experience, and in the deep and searching truths of the gospel, will always be appealed to as the basis and groundwork of every moral principle-as the great incentive and inspiration to the cultivation of a pure and holy life. The present condition of the world, in respect to religion, is not very satisfactory. Doubt and indifference are not signs of spiritual health.