Just what he means by the essential doctrines of religion, may be known from his own formula:

"First, the existence of a Supreme Mind; second, the communication of truth by that Mind to men; third, the power of a Divine Person representing Deity; fourth, the reality of a celestial influence imparted by the Deity through the Christ, whatever be his name; fifth, the experience of an eternal or supernatural life; and sixth, the necessity of self-abnegation as a means of attaining to it."

If a freethinker, of acknowledged intellectuality, concedes so much as to "a permanent element in Christianity which appeals to man's inner consciousness and experience so powerfully that it can never be disbelieved," how complacently, indeed, may those who "do his will and know the doctrine whether it be of God," settle down in the conclusion that the Christian religion is indestructible. Just as surely as a Supreme Mind exists, and communicates truth to men, imparting a celestial influence through the Christ, giving to man an experience of an eternal or supernatural life, so surely will there ever be found earnest teachable, obedient and humble souls in large majority among the devout, who hold to the necessity of regeneration, as well as "self-abnegation," as a means of attaining to the comforting experience of a life hid with Christ in God. The Christian religion carries with it evidences of its own divinity. Its truth depends upon nothing external to itself. It is the voice of God speaking to man, sometimes in tones of thunder, sometimes in great tenderness and quietness, but always with godlike energy and power, of human guilt and divine pardon, of man's sin and God's redemption. It commends itself to every reasoning mind, and to those who accept it, it brings convincing proofs that it is none other than "the power of God unto salvation." "For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.' "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God, which he nath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself." The internal evidence of experimental religion, to all who know what that evidence is, becomes absolute ground of assurance that it shall never be severed from

quotation from the writings of John Wesley on the question of a 'second probation.' Until he read this he says, 'I had nearly gone over to the enemy, but his opinion soon brought me back to the old standard.' He says the occasion of his Imper from the orthodox lapse 'view was the fact that he had been reading for some time a certain weekly newspaper whose columns are open to, and freely used by, the advocates of more liberal interpretations of the doctrines of the New Testament, and his mind had been strongly moved in this direction.

"Now, the one important truth we desire to illustrate by this familiar incident, is the serious one, that we constantly and imperceptibly assimilate the thought that meets us in our daily reading, until, without our being aware of the successive steps, it ultimately changes us into its own image. We do not for a moment mean to say that a man should not make bins If familiar with other and opposing views than those he has been accustomed to hold. An intelligent man ought not to fear to survey all sides of a subject. A Christian disciple need not eschew all the criticisms of derde, nor be reluctant to know what unbelievers can say against, what is to him, divinely-revealed truth. But what we want to say, and to in-i-t upon with all the solemn emplasis as can totumond, iz, t) # no man, expofally no young man, without very firmly-neral Mister} opinions and habits of thought, can say zie h'malf on some exclusive reading, for any length of time, of deste uti so poliglons on Biblical criticsın. We have knows a gang ruum p of OetecteGR church relations to fo dy surround kicsit einn such Premation, He gloried in his indenlenen, but he ultimate male ta slave to be bett He dictué mest pronotaced Box "are satis ical literature. He pur hand or obraised fom

fresh bow of sharp and harsh criticism apen the Bi de up in the latest views of the Pentatonet, and • P Te dot chapters of Genesis were simply parades to had reached neh an at Feetan! maneiration that he wnded no hacer to dedend the m'racies of Ge New Testament la under no Chirazite as the world's ruligion, and he wie omgetod fr any new and radical tri-statement" „f' the traditik ngr altitu the Church. We find no fault with this 'mmataro yung livine în

the life of man. Individuals may fail and fall, doctrinal theories and speculations may come and go, but vital piety—the conscious union of the soul with God-is as enduring as the throne of the Infinite itself. Religion is in the world and cannot be got out until sin is eradicated, the course of time brought to a close, and mortality is swallowed up of life.

Let men do their worst, they cannot destroy the body of revelation, nor cause it to relinquish its grip upon the settled convictions of the race. In no event will the civilized world become atheistic or infidel. Christianity, without material modifications, will stand forever, and we believe will evangelize the nations. The raging conflict may sorely try the faith of individuals, proving whether they are born of the Spirit and have the inward evidence of divine life, but nothing more. Jesus meant what he said in uttering, "Heaven and earth shall pass away but not one jot or one tittle of the law shall fail."

Do not give yourself over to the companionship of skeptics, or the exclusive perusal of their writings. You do not need to do so in order to keep yourself well informed. You cannot afford to do so if you are not well versed in the evidences of Christian truth, or if you are given to skeptical thoughts of your own. Doubt hurts. It disturbs peace, dampens ardor and blasts hope. It robs the mind of solid comfort, and fills it with a sense of dreariness, loneliness and despair. The old poet Hudibras must have written the following from experimental knowledge:

"He, like a mountebank, did wound

And stab himself with doubts profound,

Only to see with how small pain
The sores of faith are healed again.
Alas! by woful proof we find

They always leave a scar behind."

Rev. B. K. Peirce, D. D., the accomplished editor of Zion's Herald, has written upon this subject so wisely and well that we accord more than usual space to the words of his testimony. He says: "We received, the other day, a very suggestive letter from a young friend, in which he thanked us for bringing to his notice a

quotation from the writings of John Wesley on the question of a 'second probation.' Until he read this he says, 'I had nearly gone over to the enemy, but his opinion soon brought me back to the old standard.' He says the occasion of his lapse from the orthodox 'view was the fact that he had been reading for some time a certain weekly newspaper whose columns are open to, and freely used by, the advocates of more liberal interpretations of the doctrines of the New Testament, and his mind had been strongly moved in this direction.

"Now, the one important truth we desire to illustrate by this familiar incident, is the serious one, that we constantly and imperceptibly assimilate the thought that meets us in our daily reading, until, without our being aware of the successive steps, it ultimately changes us into its own image. We do not for a moment mean to say that a man should not make himself familiar with other and opposing views than those he has been accustomed to hold. An intelligent man ought not to fear to survey all sides of a subject. A Christian disciple need not eschew all the criticisms of doubt, nor be reluctant to know what unbelievers can say against, what is to him, divinely-revealed truth. But what we want to say, and to insist upon with all the solemn emphasis we can command, is, that no man, especially no young man, without very firmly-established opinions and habits of thought, can safely give himself up to the exclusive reading, for any length of time, of destructive religious or Biblical criticism. We have known a young minister of Orthodox church relations to fairly surround himself with such literature. He gloried in his independence, but he ultimately made himself a slave to unbelief. He took the most pronounced liberalistic periodical literature. He purchased or obtained from libraries every fresh book of sharp and harsh criticism upon the Bible. He was up in the latest views of the Pentateuch and the Prophets of Israel. " The first chapters of Genesis were simply parables to him. He had reached such an intellectual emancipation' that he needed no longer to defend the miracles of the New Testament in order to accept Christianity as the world's religion, and he was prepared for any new and radical 're-statement' of the traditional creed of the Church. We find no fault with this immature young divine in