Let the examination be conducted with im partiality. Christianity desires no bias in her favor till examination take place all she requires is, (and is it not reasonable?) that no prejudice should be entertained to her disadvantage. She calls you to banish levity when you begin to read; to proceed with seriousness of mind; and to sumnion up all the energies of the soul to the work. The enquiry, she says, is of infinite importance; and your happiness in a future state depends upon the issue. Will it then be unsuitable, before you proceed, to offer up a supplication to the Father of Lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift; that he would illuminate your understanding to perceive the truth; and incline your heart to embrace it, wherever it may be found?

TRUE RELIGION is the thing sought for; and it will be allowed that it ought to teach us not only what God is, but how he is to be worshipped and served; in what manner we may be admitted to enjoy his friendship; and how we may do the things which please him. A religion which does not give us information on these subjects, is entirely insufficient. That a revelation from God is necessary for this purpose, has been a common sentiment among mankind: and may we not consider it just? Let him who would deny it, take a view of the condition of the world, and of the history of man. What nation in a state of nature, in ancient or mod

ern times, whether civilized or barbarous, has preserved itself from sinking into gross idolatry? Not an exception can be found, unless it be among those rude tribes which are so stupid that no traces of religion are to be discovered among them.-Wherever idolatry reigns, it is an evident proof, that men have stumbled and fallen at the very threshold of the temple; and have not advanced so far as to have a sight of the proper object of worship. Ignorance of the nature of God has been uniformly attended with ignorance of man's duty and condition, and of a future state of being; and likewise, as may naturally be expected, with the most dreadful depravity of manners, and the prevalence of every kind of vice.-Let the description of the ancient heathen world in the epistle of Paul to the Romans, the 1st chapter from the 20th verse, to the end, be compared with the most authentic documents of the state of morals among the pagan nations of antiquity, or those of modern times; and it will be found that the portrait drawn by the apostle is not overcharged in its colors, but is a perfect likeness of the original.

Were this an abstract question, an answer might be more difficult, and less satisfactory but it is a question of fact, and the multitude of idolaters in every heathen land proclaims the necessity of a divine revelation. To alledge that SOCRATES and PLATO by the

strength of reason discovered many noble principles of religious truth, does not solve the objection. The question is, not what a few persons of superior genius have been able to do, but to find a rule of life for the mass of mankind. That they have not been able to discover it for themselves; or if any have discovered it, that they have not been able to render it so far of use, as to banish idolatry from a single city, (and they had hundreds and thousands of years to do it in), ancient Greece and Rome, and modern China and Hindostan afford sufficient proof. If then men are to be made wise, and good, and happy by the knowledge, and worship, and service of God, a divine revelation is absolutely necessary.

If we can

That the possibility of a revelation was ever called in question, may justly excite surprise. If men can convey their ideas to each other, Cannot God convey his to them? send a message by one man to another, or to` many; cannot God employ men as messengers in revealing his will to men?

Arguing from the nature of God, there is

* Even SOCRATES and PLATO were idolaters; they conformed, and advised others to conform to the religion of their country-to gross idolatry and absurd superstition. One of the last acts of the former, who is accounted the wisest and best man of Pagan antiquity, was to offer a cock to EsCULAPIUS. If the wisest, and most learned were so blind, what must the foolish and the ignorant be!

likewise a probability of a divine revelation. His goodness and men's felicity unite in the claim. If religion be lost on earth, who can assert it to be improbable, that God will restore it? The frequent pretensions which have been made to a revelation from God, and the reception they have met with, shew that it is a sentiment congenial to the human mind.

The business then is to endeavor to find out if God has actually given a revelation of his will to man; (you will perhaps add) among various pretensions, to distinguish truth from imposture. Here is a book which professes to contain what we seek for :-but you say, "Let us attend to the claims of the numerous candidates." This, however, is no such Herculean labor as you imagine. The thing which we must seek for, is an UNIVERSAL RELIGION, or a system which professes to be designed for the use and benefit of the whole human race: and no other will answer the purpose, whatever its merits may be. To this honor not one of the Pagan systems, either ancient or modern, prefers a claim. They allow that they are only local institutions; and some of them even refuse to admit proselytes: consequently these are all out of the question, and they cannot be heard. The Jewish religion was intended for the use of one people only, and that for a season the religion of Jesus was the first that ever asserted the claim of universality ;

nor has its claim been ever formally contradicted since. About six centuries after Christ, Mahomet arose. He did not deny the divine mission of Jesus of Nazareth. He spoke of him in high terms of respect : but he said his followers had corrupted the gospel; and that he was come to restore religion to its purity by a new revelation from God. Mahomet then is the only competitor with Jesus Christ, and with how poor a title to competition will be seen in the sequel.

It is proposed to consider maturely what the gospel offers in favour of its being a revelation from God; and your serious attention is required. After Moses and the Prophets had paved the way, in the appointed time Jesus Christ appeared; and declared that he was sent from God to be the saviour of sinners, and the prophet of the human race. He called twelve men to be his disciples, to learn his doctrine from his lips, and to be witnesses of his life and death, of his resurrection and ascension. When he was about to leave the earth, he gave them a commission to go forth unto all the world, to preach the gospel unto every creature, and to convert all nations: and he promised to send his Spirit to assist them in the arduous work. They obeyed their master's voice; and every where they proclaimed his gospel. Their zeal was great, and their success still greater.

Had the doctrine only floated in the living