to the ten commandments,-not to the precepts of Christianity, but to the ceremonial observances of the Jewish people. And by faith is to be understood, the Christian system, as is evident from the general bearing of the chapter, from its being contrasted with the requirements of another dispensation, and from the use of the term in other parts of the Christian writings. And hence we learn from the text, that a man is justified, by the terms of the gospel, without observing the ceremonies of the old dispensation, and have an illustration of the woeful consequences of careless and desultory reading of scripture. The apostle too, when reprobating the errors of the Jewish people, says, "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3. The evident meaning of which is, that they claimed salvation exclusively to themselves, that "they shut the gates of mercy on mankind," and represented the conditions of the Gentiles as deplorable and hopeless, because they were not the descendants of Abraham, and, consequently, not included in their peculiarity. Yet, nothwithstanding this, from this text, The Orthodox Presbyterian, Methodist Magazines, and the pious tracts that are put into the hands of innocent children at Sunday Schools, take occasion to undervalue and deride morality, and recommend wrongheaded enthusiasm and presumption. Many other portions of the word of God might be adduced to show the woeful effects to truth and righteousness of a careless perusal and ignorant exposition of the divine oracles.

But, to obtain a correct knowledge of the sacred writings, it will be necessary for you to study them in the original. And it is to be lamented, that churches in general are becoming comparatively indifferent to the classical education of the candidates for the ministry: and there is no church with which I am acquainted has retrograded so much, in this respect, as the Synod of Ulster. High was the position which she held among the churches, when she could boast of the Nelsons, a Shaw, a Malcom, and a Davis, and many other profound scholars and pions But the fine gold has become dim; she has fallen very low in the estimation of the scientific portion of every church by which she is surrounded. And the conse

men.

quences to society, of this neglect, are truly deplorable. "Instead of the spirit and power of love, and of a sound mind," "there is the hanging head, and the rueful look." Instead of that charity which is 'the life pulse of our holy religion, there is bitterness, contention, and hatred; and instead of the reasonable service recommended by the scripture, there is often the canting of the hypocrite, or something approaching the extravagant buffoonery of Kilsyth. As you look forward, however, to the society of men of reflection and intelligence, and as it is probable that you will be called upon to minister among persons of cultivated understandings, it greatly behoves you to endeavour to keep pace with the intelligence of the age. And even if this were not the case, a sense of duty should impel you to use all the powers which God has given you to become acquainted with his word; and you know that this is impracticable, unless you make yourselves thoroughly acquainted with the languages in which the scriptures were originally written. This will be necessary in your defence of maligned, persecuted, but hallowed truth; "in your giving an answer to every one that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you."

(To be continued.)

RHO.

DEDICATION SERMON BY THE REV. O. DEWEY. [The following extract, which our readers will not think too lengthened, is from a sermon lately preached at the dedication of the Church of the Messiah, in Broadway, New York, by the Rev. Orville Dewey, the pastor of the congregation. We learn that the building is a very magnificent one; the cost was ninetysix thousand dollars, which has been already nearly paid off by the sale of pews.]

No place, however sacred-no occasion, however interesting, can be so great, as the principle which consecrates it. Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.

When I think of this spiritual consecration, all outward adornments, decent rites, visible prosperity-the thronged gates and the gathering of a multitude sink to nothing before me, and I feel that the great and sacred interest for which we have built this structure could make any place

sacred and sublime. Nay, my brethren, I can well conceive of circumstances in which loneliness, and desertion, and danger, would ennoble and endear to us a scene like this. If this, instead of being a temple of prosperous worship, were the altar of a forlorn hope; if we were met here to-day, to pledge a lofty and solemn fidelity to a rejected and scorned faith; if this were the cave or the catacomb, to which the early Christians stole in silence and darkness; greater and dearer might it be to us, than this fair sanctuary. Better than cushioned seats and painted walls, might be the ragged stone or the cold sarcophagus on which they leaned; and sweeter than chant or anthem, the stern and deep-toned voice of their great resolve.

I speak thus, my brethren, not to praise goodly temples the less, but to praise sanctity and solemn intent the more. Meet it is, that the temples of a nation's worship should be goodly and fair. I cannot think that this is the only point at which liberality is to pause, and expense to be carefully restricted. Every large city in the country is, each year, lavishing upon luxuries, entertainments, spectacles-upon things that perish with the passing yearenough to build ten noble churches; and every town and village is doing the same thing in its proportion. Now surely, if there is any thing for which a people should be willing even to strain their resources somewhat, it is to do that well which is to be done but once in the course of some hundred years; to bestow some unusual care and expense on that which is to be associated with religious ideas, and in that important relation to be viewed with pleasure or disgust, by the eyes of passing generations.

Architecture is a language, as truly as sculpture and painting-nay, as truly as literature, as poetry. The front of a majestic and beautiful church is known and read of all men. The stranger, the gazer, the passer-by, though he read nothing else, reads that. And there are religious edifices in the world, whose effect in elevating the mind cannot be transcended by any painting or statue, by any poem or eloquent discourse. And suppose that such poem or discourse could be so depicted as to be set up in an enduring form, and to make an instant and inevitable impression, by the very way-side where multitudes and generations are walking: would it not be a

goodly work to place it there? Would not the very idea, the bare possibility of it, awaken the utmost enthusiasm? But a magnificent piece of architecture is such a poemis such a discourse; insomuch that I il venture to say, and I say it advisedly and deliberately, at I should value as much, in any city or town, the effect of the York minster in England, as of that great work of England's sublimest bard-" the Paradise Lost." He who gazes

upon such a structure is melted, enraptured, overwhelmed, with delight and veneration; he feels as he does when he gazes upon the sublime objects of nature. And to place a majestic cathedral in one of our cities-would that it might yet be done here! would be, as if you could place the loftiest mountain of the Alps in its neighbourhood, to bear up the thoughts of its inhabitants to sublimity, to beauty, to heaven!

A church, too, is more than a work of art; it is a symbol. It is a symbol of religion; a visible sign and setting forth of the religious sentiment. Churches are the outward consecration of our cities, of our villages, of our country, of the world. They are visible tokens of the invisible; they lead the thoughts to the unseen and infinite. Their rising towers, their pointed spires, recognize a communication between earth and heaven. They are like the ladder which Jacob saw in vision, on which the angels of God were ascending and descending; and he who pauses beneath them in the sacred hours, to meditate and pray, is sometimes led to exclaim, with the ancient patriarch, How dreadful is this place! this is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!" What would a city or a village be, even in appearance, even to the passing traveller, without churches!-a city of habitations and warehouses, and houses of entertainment for the wayfaring man, and houses of pleasure for the gay, but without one structure to recognize the sense of devotion and of duty? Would not the very traveller hasten for his life from such a city, as the city of destruction? And what a striking testimony is it to the universal sense of some kind of religion, that one such city was never found in the world!

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Man is ever struggling upward to something above and beyond him. I do not say that he is always making the right moral effort; but that his thought, his mind, his

feeling, never satisfied with the earth, soars, instinctively soars, away from it even though he scarcely knows whither. But, my brethren, do not we know whither our thoughts soar? Have we not a purpose in this erection ? Do we not feel that we have need of such a place of resort? We know that the lights of heaven are often obscured by earthly mists, and we build here a tower of observation, where we may come up and gaze upon their unclouded brightness. We know that the waves of our earthly fortunes and experiences roll in wild and fearful commotion around us, and we build here a Pharos, a light-house, to guide us upon the dark and stormy sea. And long as that lofty tower stands, may it bear the blessed light of guidance and hope to us and our children!

We have departed from the custom of our churches, by giving this structure a name. We denominate it the Church of the Messiah. We did not wish that it should bear down to future times a sectarian title, or that its name should change with successive pastors. We are sensible that it will often be called by these names, and we pretend not to force a name upon any one; though the congregation have unanimously adopted the one now designated. But we hope that in process of time it will come to bear this title in familiar usage. We hope that this name one permanent name-a name most sacred, will become venerable and hoary, through the associations of coming years and the attachment of succeeding generations. At the same time, we do not lay aside our denomination as a religious society. We are "The Second Congregational Unitarian Society," worshipping in the Church of the Messiah.

I have thus spoken in general, of the consecration of this place to the great sentiment of religion. But this naturally leads us to something more specific; in other words, to the distinct views and uses which have been contemplated in the erection of this building.

Let me then say, that our main desire and purpose is, to consecrate this place of worship-not to any extraordinary novelties, not to any strange and singular opinions, not to any controversal doginas, not to any vain presumption, that we alone, on all points, are right, and that others, on all points, are wrong. We would consecrate this church,not to pride of opinion, but to modesty