ing of Solomon's Temple; with a confirmation of some subordinate facts recorded in the scriptures:

11. The captivities of Israel and Judah: 12. The life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, proved as matters of fact: 13. The character of the writers of the Old and New Testament:

14. Concluding Lecture-the unsearchable God; or, an attempt to prove an analogy between the religion of nature and that of the Bible, by shewing that the same obscurity which overshadows revelation, equally overspreads nature and providence.

The present subject of discussion is,

THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION.

A FAIR trial of the powers of human reason was made during that long and dreary period in which the scriptures were confined within the walls of Jerusalem, and the world at large was left in the unmolested exercise of all the means furnished by nature and philosophy, to conduct the mind to God. To that period we shall therefore recur; and shall endeavour to ascertain what were the discoveries made by the most enlightened among the Heathens, respect

ing the nature of Deity, the relation which he bears to us, the obligations under which we are laid to him, the consequences of death, the secrets of faturity, and all those things which are so interesting to man, as an immortal being. It is fair to judge of the powers of nature and of reason, from the effects produced by their agency, when they were left altogether to themselves. It is unfair in the advocates of scepticism to avail themselves of the superior intelligence afforded by revelation, and to use this knowledge against the volume from which they derived it. It is not possible to determine with any degree of precision, what discoveries the unassisted light of reason is capable of making, while it is aided, and indeed absorbed, by the superior illumination of revealed religion; it must therefore be admitted, that a fair and accurate investigation of it's powers, can only be made by looking at it as it really appeared when it was seen alone. We ask with confidence, whether at that period of the world, when science unveiled all her splendours, and irradiated the discovered globe from pole to pole; when philosophy sat upon her throne enjoying the zenith of her power; and when reason had attained the méridian of her glory; a system more honourable to God, more adapted to the wants and the

felicity of man, and more productive of moral excellence, than that which is suggested in the scriptures, was produced? We defy scepticism to answer in the affirmative. Did the mild philosophy of Socrates and of Plato; did the elegant mind of Cicero; did all the heathen philosophers in their combined exertions, ever produce such affecting elucidations of divine goodness, such consoling demonstrations of divine mercy, such delightful discoveries of life and immortality? They never did. And we shall attempt to prove to you the necessity of a divine revelation from the state of the world, at that very period when these eminent persons flourished. We shall not cause to pass before you, rude and barbarous nations; but we shall bring to the test, scientific Greece, learned and polite Athens, polished, proud, imperial Rome. We solicit your attention to

I. THEIR SUPERSTITIONS AND RITES OF

WORSHIP:

II. THEIR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR

DEFECTIVE MORALS:

III. THEIR UNCERTAIN CONJECTURES IN RELATION TO FUTURITY.

I. THEIR SUPERSTITIONS AND RITES OF WORSHIP. And in contemplating the state of religion

during the boasted reign of reason and philosophy, we cannot but be struck with their ignorance of

1. THE NATURE AND THE ATTRIBUTES OF God. When man was left to wander over this wide globe without one cheering ray to guide his feet, the light of nature excepted, the progression of erroneous conclusions founded upon one false principle was rapid and extensive. He beheld this fair world covered with every thing. necessary to his existence, and to his enjoyments. Spring enchanted all his senses: a summer's sun poured his glories around him: autumn furnished his table; and experience taught him to secure her bounty in his rude habitation, while the blasts of winter howled round his dwelling, and spread desolation over the plains. He perceived that these seasons regularly returned, and that they departed in their order. He concluded that they had their appointed periods; and this suggested to him the conviction of a supreme, over-ruling Intelligence. In every nation, and in every age, the conception of the being of a God, presented itself to the human mind; and an Atheist was a monster even in the days of heathenism. He had no clear conception, however, of spirit distinct from matter; and therefore conjectured that this God might be visible. HERE COM

MENCED HIS ERRORS. He looked around in search of this great first cause. He beheld the sun as he performed his apparent journey round the globe. When his beams were tempered with gentleness, it was spring: when they poured their most fervid radiance upon the earth, it was summer: their continued vivification produced the maturity of autumn; and their total absence, or partial influence, the storms and the gloom of winter. But, when he re-appeared, the snow dissolved, rivers flowed afresh, and the face of nature was renewed. Of all the objects around him, which could be so likely to be the God of nature? or, in the eye of philosophy itself, what presented so perfect a resemblance of the Deity? The Persian raised him an altar, and bowed with fervour before his shrine.

man.

But the sun was not the only benefactor of Night spread her mantle over him, and he sought repose. The moon lighted him from his labour, and diffused a silvery, partial illumination upon the face of creation, which before her rising was enveloped in perfect obscurity. In her appearance she resembled the ruler of the day; and the conclusion was irresistible, that she ought to divide with him the honours of worship. Thus while the sun scorched the head of the adoring Persian: the worshippers of