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    evil with tlie latter is incidental , and therefore may he remedied ; while , with the former , as it is constitutional , it is hardly in any degree susceptible F of correction . "—P . 19 . ° In the conclusion of his first section , our author endeavours to describe the extent in which it is safe to clothe religious truth in philosophical modes of thought and expression . He appears to us to be rather too much afraid of the union of philosophy and religion ; unless , indeed , he includes in the term philosophy all the " vain deceit '* that has ever passed under that venerahle name :

    " Christianity , " he says , " has , in some short periods of its history , heen entirely dissociated from philosophical modes of thought and expression : and , assuredly , it has prospered in such periods . At other times it has scarcely been seen at all , except in the garb of metaphysical discussion ; and tiien it has lost all its vigour and glory . "

    But surely the wild reveries of the monastery , and the absurd abstractions of the schools , are not to be put on a footing with the philosophy of the present day , whose kindred with religion is apparent to all who know them both . They are sisters , though one may only walk the earth , while the other descends from heaven ; and to those who see them together , their answering smiles are a token of their congeniality . We are unwilling to allow , as our autnor

    requires , " that it is only by a temporary concession to the spirit of the age , that the philosophical style is used and allowed . " We believe that as the world advances , and the minds of men become more enlightened , the union which he admits may not be undesirable at the present time , so far from being repealed , will be drawn closer , till it ends in identity . We agree with him , that ' « whatever is practically important in religion or morals may at all times be advanced and argued in the simplest terms of colloquial expression . " But we do not think that *< from the pulpit , perhaps , no other

    style should at any time be heard ; for the pulpit belongs to the poor and uninsiructed . " If to advance and argue truths were the only business of preaching , the more simple the thoughts and language the better ; but is there no need of illustration , of development , and of application ? And if these were invariably clothed in " the simplest terms of colloquial expression , " the uninstructed , as well as the educated , would grow weary of listening . We would bring in all the aids in our power to the service of religion :

    whatever enlargement of views , whatever extension of knowledge , whatever refinement of taste , are the fruits of improved education , should be employed in the illustration and applied to the enforcement of Scripture truth . As Dr . Channing says , " The present age has quite a different illumination from that in which ancient philosophy prided itself . It is marked by great and obvious improvements in the methods of reasoning and inquiry , and by the consequent discovery of a great mass of physical and moral truth , wholly unknown in the time of Christ . Now we affirm that such an age demands an enlightened ministry . We want teachers who will be able to discern

    and unfold the consistency of revealed religion with the new lights which are breaking in from nature ; and who will be able to draw , from all men ' s discoveries in the outward world and in their own souls , illustrations , analogies , and arguments for Christianity . " * Such a mode of preaching will tind its way to the hearts and minds of the poor , provided the language in

    * Chaiuiiiig ' s Sermon at the Rev . E . S . Gannctt ' s Ordination .

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    Natural History of Enthusiasm . 421

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1829, page 421, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2573/page/53/