Jay's publications be correct, it must be obvious to every one that they are destined to have an important influence in forming the religious character of the age; to say nothing of the more remote influence which they must exert upon posterity. We will consider under a few distinct particulars, what are the effects which have followed, or may be expected to follow, from the labors of this popular and excellent author.

Mr. Jays writings, if we mistake not, are peculiarly adapted to promote the study of the bible. Not only are the Morning and Evening Exercises for the closet directly of a biblical character, being designed as a sort of practical commentary on various portions of divine truth, but nearly all his other writings abound in scriptural illustration, and are pre-eminently fitted to invest the study of the bible with strong attractions. No writer of the present day makes a more copious use of scripture than Mr. Jay; and we might say, that in his sermons he sometimes carries this to an extreme, were it not for the uncommonly felicitous manner in which his quotations are made. It would seem as if the whole bible were in his memory, and he had the power on every occasion of selecting the very passage that is most to his purpose; and where a writer quotes scripture with such an advantage, we can scarcely call any degree of quotation excessive.

If Mr. Jay should be thought by some to verge to an extreme in respect to the direct use which he makes of scripture in his public discourses, we are constrained to believe that there is a tendency among many preachers, in this country at least, to the opposite end. We certainly do not wish to be brought back to the practice of some of our venerable fathers, who not only were accustomed to string together many passages of scripture, often without much regard to connection, but detained their hearers by turning over the leaves of the bible to look these passages out; but we do wish that every sermon should have so much of the bible in it, either as it respects language or spirit, that it shall be obvious to every hearer that it is drawn directly from that sacred book. It were reasonable to expect that God should put special honor upon his own word; and hence we find that the frequent introduction of scripture language into a sermon imparts to it in the view of the pious, a kind of unction which it can derive from nothing else. So, too, all experience proves, that there is no argument so strong as "thus saith the Lord;" and many a mind which has wavered through a long course of metaphysical reasoning, has been fixed in its convictions by one plain declaration of the bible. It were well for ministers whenever they are discussing any subject upon which the language of inspiration can be properly employed, to draw from the sacred record to a greater or less extent; and if they find themselves upon a subject which does not admit of this, they may VOL. V. 2

well inquire whether they have not wandered into the mazes of unprofitable speculation, if not of absolute error.

But while we are free to express our conviction, that there is at the present day, too little use made of God's word in the public. discourses of the sanctuary, we think it is still more obvious that the bible is far too little consulted by christians, as the great rule of their faith and practice. It is true, indeed, that our sabbath schools and bible classes are doing much, and may ultimately in a good degree remedy the evil; for while it is the tendency of these institutions to imbue the youthful mind with scripture knowledge, they serve to impart a relish for the study of God's word, which will be likely to continue, and be some security for future theological improvement. Nevertheless, there is in most of our churches, especially among the older members, a most culpable degree of ignorance in respect to the great facts and doctrines of the bible. The consequence of this is, that many are unstable in all their ways; they are, in a great degree, at the mercy of every sectary, and fanatic, and errorist, whose claims may happen to be advanced in their hearing; and hence it comes to pass that some of whom in the beginning we had ventured to hope well, have ultimately gone off, as it would seem irrecoverably, into the wilds of error and extravagance. And then again, even where these greater evils do not exist, and where there is, on the whole, evidence of piety, we are sure to find in connection with great ignorance of the scriptures, a low state of sanctification. Truth is the instrument by which the Holy Spirit accomplishes his work upon the hearts of men, and the greater the degree of truth that is in the mind, or the more clearly and correctly it is apprehended, other things being equal, the more rapidly will the soul become conformed to the divine image. If ignorance of the bible impedes the believer's growth in grace, it stands no less in the way of his christian enjoyment. There may, indeed, be a strong commotion among the animal feelings; there may be bright visions of fancy which are mistaken for visions of faith; there may be a wild imaginary joy mounting up well nigh to delirious ecstacy; but there is not the calm, and rational, and enduring joy of the true christian; or if it exist at all, it is only in a measured degree, and sadly mixed with alloy. As truth is the basis of the believer's sanctification, so holiness is the great spring of his enjoyment of course the more conversant he is with God's word, the more he may expect of that joy which a stranger intermeddleth not with. And his happiness is increased not merely by the indirect influence which the bible exerts through the medium of his sanctification, but by having his mind turned directly upon the bright, and transforming, and ennobling truths which God's word reveals.

We know not, then, of any better means of elevating the stan

dard of religious character-of promoting the usefulness, the comfort, or the stability of christians, than to elevate the standard of bible knowledge. We would urge on christians of all classes, the importance of making this sacred book part of the study of every day; and we would recommend to them to avail themselves of some judicious commentaries or expositions of scripture, as a help in this important undertaking. We would especially press those who are just commencing the religious life, not merely to gain a superficial knowledge of God's word, but to become thoroughly acquainted with it; as nothing else can constitute so good a pledge that they will be fruitful, growing, enduring christians. There is reason to believe that many who have been regarded as the fruits of revivals, but who have subsequently exhibited at least a very equivocal course, if they have not deeply wounded the cause of religion, might by being early established in the truth, have been enabled in their subsequent life to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. We hardly need add, that with these views of the importance of scriptural knowledge, we are prepared most heartily to commend, and so far as we can, to forward all those institutions which are designed to make our children and youth early acquainted with the bible. We would cheer on all those who are immediately engaged in this benevolent work; and we have no doubt that, whatever else they may do for the interests of religion and for the benefit of their generation, they will have occasion to reckon their efforts in this cause as among the most useful of all their labors.

Mr. Jay's writings are also eminently distinguished for their practical tendency. They are indeed by no means deficient in the exhibition of scripture doctrine; but whenever doctrines are discussed, it is always in a practical way. They are not taken up as abstract propositions, but are presented just as they are found in God's word, and as they stand related to the experience and conduct of men. They are uncommonly adapted to make men acquainted with their own hearts; to carry them back to the very springs of their actions; and to impress them with the conviction that the whole nature of religion is a practical reality. We are not aware that Mr. Jay has written any thing of a merely speculative character: whatever has come from his pen, so far as we know, has an important bearing upon practice, and is fitted to exert a benign and elevating influence upon human character.

It has been a characteristic of some periods of the church, that they have been distinguished by a rage for speculation. No one can go back to the time of the latter christian fathers, or to the days of Thomas Aquinas, without being forcibly struck by the endlessly diversified and hair breadth distinctions which were then resorted to, in the illustration and defense of scripture doctrine; and it were

hardly necessary to say that an age which had so much in its character that was speculative, could not be distinguished by religious action. It was common in those days for men to exhaust all their powers in endeavoring to settle points which did not admit of being settled, and which if they had been, would not make one hair white or black, as it respects the salvation of men or the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. The lamentable result was, that while men were spending their lives in metaphysical quibbling, the great cause for which the Savior shed his blood, seemed to stand still, if not to be on the retrograde: and the revival of the spirit of religious action did not take place until the rage for vain speculation had begun in some measure to die away. If we do not greatly mistake, wherever the doctrines of the gospel are exhibited in connection with much of human philosophy and encumbered by the technology of the schools, they will be found to a great extent inefficacious, and the church will be found proportionably listless and inactive. But where these truths are presented in their naked simplicity, and brought home to the mind and heart as common sense realities, without having their influence in any degree neutralized by foreign admixtures, they will be found quick and powerful; and it may reasonably be expected that in such a community there will be a waking from the dreams of carelessness, and a spirit of benevolent activity going forth to bless the world.

Notwithstanding the present age has so much of a practical character, and a large part of the preaching at least in this country, is designed to rouse men to effort, and is in that general sense practical, we think it may reasonably be questioned whether it is in all cases sufficiently particular as it respects the various duties. of life. For most men who hear the gospel, it is not enough that general rules of living should be exhibited; but these rules should be carried out into the various details of duty as they occur in every day experience. True, the great object of the minister is to convert sinners and to edify the body of Christ; but it may reasonably be doubted whether he will accomplish either of these objects best, by simply urging the general duties of repentance and faith and obedience. Let him descend to the minuter parts of human conduct, let him illustrate the various duties which men owe to each other in the various relations of life, and the different tempers which they ought to cherish in different circumstances; and while he will be likely to render the christian more exact and faithful in the discharge of his duty, he may also by this very course turn the eye of the sinner inward upon his own deficiencies and neglects, and show him his need of an interest in the great salvation. We have known some good ministers who have rendered their preaching with most of their stated hearers extremely uninteresting, and as it has seemed to us, have greatly mistaken

their duty, by confining themselves to a few favorite topics instead of preaching the whole counsel of God. We have no hesitation in saying, that this is wrong in itself; for it were an unworthy reflection upon the wisdom that dictated the bible, to suppose that it should reveal any truth which it would be unprofitable to inculcate; and what does that minister do who selects a few truths from the bible as topics of public instruction and passes over the rest, but virtually decide that a large part of the whole counsel of God might have been omitted, and neither the church nor the world have been the losers by it. Besides, it seems to us, that the wisdom of heaven is manifest in scarcely any thing more than thisthat so many truths are exhibited and in such a variety of forms, that the inculcation of them in their proper order and their due proportions, is fitted to make the strongest and best impression. One reason why so many preach with so little permanently good effect, is that they awaken in their hearers so little interest; and this is to be referred in no small degree to a perpetual recurrence of the same topics under precisely the same forms; and this again is to be set down as the effect of their not taking advantage of the suggestions of divine wisdom in preaching the whole truth in its scriptural connection. One great secret of the charm which pervades Mr. Jay's writings, is that he ranges through every department of human experience, and shows that the Spirit has its appropriate teachings for every condition. Their tendency is not only to make men do right in all circumstances, but to do right intelligently and upon principle.

It is another characteristic of Mr. Jay's writings that they are eminently fitted to cherish a devotional spirit. We have already had occasion to remark that his "family prayers," while they show the fertility of his mind, the purity of his taste, and the originality and beauty of his conceptions, also breathe, in an uncommon degree, the spirit of genuine devotion. But most of his other writings, though they are designed primarily to instruct, and are indeed, in a high degree, instructive, are delightfully pervaded by the same spirit. His Morning and Evening Exercises are particularly designed to be the companions of the closet; and it would seem scarcely possible that they should be used by any christian, as they were intended to be, without bringing him into an appropriate frame for communion with God.

It will be obvious to any one who reflects how much the present age is characterized by the spirit of active enterprise, that there is danger that it will suffer in its devotional character;danger that while christians have their hands full of work, their hearts will be comparatively barren of devout exercises; that their active efforts in building up the kingdom of Christ will be suffered to interfere with the more retired business of keeping their hearts,