would not repent gnashed upon him with their teeth. The sermon on the mount is full of doctrines; scarcely one of them all is omitted from its deep and solid substratum. It was the hated doctrine of God's sovereign grace which he was preaching in his native village of Nazareth, when all they in the synagogue were filled with wrath, and rose up, not allowing him to finish his discourse, thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of the hill to cast him down headlong. And no preacher ever drew the lines so distinctly between the penitent and believing on the one hand, and the impenitent and self-righteous on the other; or made the strait gate so narrow, and the crooked way so broad, as did the greatest preacher, the Son of God. It is a desire, deepening and increasing in the churches, to return substantially to these models for the study and preaching of principles, that is so encouraging an omen in the New England skies.

We have at hand also other presages of good in the significant calls of State Associations for a return to principles.

At the last meeting of the General Association of Massachusetts there was a refreshing variety of assertion of doctrinal soundness in the reports from the local associations, and in the various discussions, as if there was a felt necessity of reassurance. There was, however, one strangely discordant note from a corresponding body. A professor of Christian Theology, in a letter, insinuates that to "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints," specially to question any one's soundness, is but "quarrelling and arid speculations." Then we could dispense with some of our theological professors, certainly! He says, "Our ministers and churches, without suspicion or jealousy, believe each other sound in the faith and devoted to the Master. We have too great a work to do and too little strength with which to do it, to permit us to waste our energies in quarrelling, or to leave us any time for arid speculations which minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith."

"Believing each other to be sound in the faith" is what might easily be said of any denomination, Jews or Mahommedans; but it is not quite so satisfactory as the taking of a little precious time and energy to know. Too busy, too great

a work for the Master, to care much what exactly the Master taught! We thought of Jehu, who said, "Come see my zeal for the Lord," while inspiration says of him, "But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin." Yet the general tone of the meeting was unusually encouraging to the cause of truth.

Again, At the meeting of the General Association of Connecticut, held in Rockville, June 19, 1860, the following resolutions were passed and ordered to be published in five religious papers:

"Whereas, it appears that sundry pulpits of Congregational Churches in this State are occupied on the Lord's Day for public preaching, by persons without commendation, as competent for such service, by any Association of Pastors, or other proper body, according to our usage and order and whereas this practice tends to the perversion of a pure Gospel to the disgrace of the Sanctuary, and the dishonor of the Christian ministry, therefore,

"Resolved, That we, in General Association, do express our disapprobation of this irregularity, and warn the Churches against employing any man as a public preacher of the Divine Word, unless accredited by a formal certificate of his examination and approval, by some body of ordained Christian Pastors and Teachers.

"Resolved, Further, that we recommend to the Associations represented in this General Association, greater carefulness in the examination of those desiring to be commended to the Church as suitable candidates for the Gospel ministry, and the adoption of a rule not to entertain such requests, unless proof is given that the applicant has spent two years in diligent preparation for the Christian ministry in some Theological Seminary or its equivalent."

But the most significant omen is the resolution adopted by the Pastoral Union of Connecticut, at its annual meeting, July 18, 1860. The resolution was offered by Rev. Elias R. Beadle, of Hartford, and was passed in the most emphatic manner, the members rising to their feet and standing :

"Resolved, That in consideration of the growing laxness in doctrine and practice which prevails in the licensing of candidates, and ordaining men as pastors over the Churches, we do solemnly reaffirm the articles of faith adopted as the basis of this Pastoral Union, and that, in our opinion, it is inconsistent with Christian integrity and good faith to license candidates for the Gospel ministry, and to ordain men who cannot cordially assent to the doctrines of the Westminister Catechism."

Here is a very important utterance.

This influential body of pastors is prepared openly and solemnly to testify that there is a "growing laxness in doctrine and practice;" and that the remedy is to be found in a closer adherence to the doctrines of the Westminister Catechism.

There is a close and indissoluble connection between "doctrine and practice;" and we shall be justified in a fresh attempt to satisfy more fully both clergymen and thoughtful reading laymen, that there is a vital necessity for the earnest and unremitting study of principles in religion.

The statement of what is meant by principles will help us to see the prominence which must ever be given to them.

The word is from the Latin, principium, beginning. More, however, is implied than the source, origin, or cause of anything. It is the operative cause, that which produces. Thus we have the principle of motion, the principles of action. The soul of man is said to be an active principle; and resentment is a principle of human nature. Even in the more general use of the term, for opinions, tenets; that which is believed, whether true or not, the same element of energy is necessarily included. The principles of the Stoics, or of the Epicureans, being believed, serve as rules of action and bases of systems; and so were operative causes, producing evil. Whatever power, whether for good or evil, there is in any system, inheres in the principles of that system.

The principles of science are the originating, guiding, and producing causes of the arts. Dead principles are a contradiction, an absurdity. That which is dead produces nothing, and so excludes the idea of principles. Principles also contain the main facts, the elements of a system. They are the constituent parts, the foundations which support all assertion and action. The principles of language, e. g. are its grammar. Not the mere formulas of the books; but the hidden, springing powers which these formulas strive to define, and which necessarily govern the speaker, whether consciously or unconsciously. They are wrought into the speaker's or writer's mind so as to underlie and form the warp of all he says and writes. When he turns aside from, or ambitiously rises above, these elements, he is no longer using language, but gabbling.

So the instant a speaker or writer steps clear from religious doctrines, perhaps under the plea of being practical, his language is no longer religious in the least. It may be literary, it may be sentimental, or poetic, it may please, but it is wholly without spiritual life, and beyond the pale of the Divine promise and blessing.

In the arts, principles are those general and fundamental truths from which all art is deduced. Under each art particular principles lie, shaping and supporting everything which can relate to that particular art. The difference between music and painting is a difference in principles, or producing causes. In the one, principles of harmony and rhythm rule; in the other, principles of perspective and coloring. So also with agriculture, manufactures, and all the arts of life.

The whole system of chemistry is built upon the principle of the combination of elements in definite proportions. It is the principle of crystalization that causes all the wide difference between diamond and charcoal. Both are pure carbon. The principles of science and nature are all exact and inevitable in their operations. And religion is a perfect system, its Author being the same with Nature's. The grass, the flowers, the medicinal shrubs, and the poisonous plants, all grow and develop their natures and powers by fixed principles and operative laws. The planets and starry worlds move on in their orbits and observe their seasons and changes by the nicest and most unvarying laws.

What would be thought of the scholar or teacher who should boast of great liberality in his interpretation and belief in the principles of science, having but vague and indefinite views of them, and regarding them as of little importance, in his zeal for the practical and substantial? What downright empiricism would the artist or the physician display, and what distrust and scorn would they merit, who should abandon the guide of estab lished principles, and give themselves up to the capricious currents of impulse and appearance!

Not less truly or potentially are the principles of revealed and experimental religion general laws and guiding truths, which comprehend and control all the subordinate parts and practical results of Christian life. Whatever of life and power are to

be found in practical religion, are to be found as the results of principles. And when a preacher bases his discourse upon no definite and clear doctrine to give it support and shape, let him not wonder that he loses all religious power over his congregation. He is taking his stand upon animal feeling, upon science, philosophy, or he is adroitly attempting to balance himself upon little or nothing. He is catering to the sickly appetite of that numerous class of persons who, in their large liberality and morbid desire for the new and the practical, are willing to attend upon the ministry of almost any man who "dispenses with the Gospel." If he be a If he be a man of great, specially of eccentric, talent, he is performing a grand Blondin feat, and multitudes eagerly shout, "May we be there to see."

Religious principles are just as truly realities as that religion is real; they are its very life, supporting and guiding all the assertions and revealings of moral truth and of religious character and conduct. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do!" Take away, or remove into the background any of the great principles of revealed religion, and how soon the whole system crumbles, and falls shapeless, its potential spirit vanishing "like the baseless fabric of a

vision."

The existence and character of God, once allowed to fade and grow indistinct to the mind, corruption of morals, idolatry, and heathenish superstition inevitably follow, as night follows the setting sun. The mind of man is so constituted that its idea of God and his attributes forms its highest possible conception of moral excellence. As the stream can rise no higher than its fountain, so the aim and character of man can rise no higher than his conceptions of the Divine Being. There is found no other means of elevating and civilizing a benighted nation than unfolding the knowledge of God clearly to the mind. All else fails but the preaching of God, God manifested in Christ, God in his attributes, God in his law, in his government, in his works, and in his ultimate aims. and eternal purposes.

In a Christian society, let God's character be blemished by being partially seen, and darkness and chilliness rest over that society, as when the sun is behind a cloud; let God cease to