world by logic or reasoning-you perceive it by the senses. You cannot prove the existence of the spiritual world by reasoning - you perceive that by inward consciousness. Sight is the evidence of things seen; faith is the evidence of things not seen. And by faith, in Scripture, is never meant the belief of a proposition, but always active trust in spiritual realities.

The more we exercise the spiritual faculty, the more certain do spiritual things become. He who habitually obeys conscience sees, more and more clearly, the eternal distinction between right and wrong. He who habitually disobeys his conscience, at last can hardly discern any law of duty. To him who constantly looks forward, with trust, to a future life, immortality becomes more and more certain. The pure in heart, who habitually look up to a heavenly ideal of goodness, see God more and more. He who trusts in providence, comes at last to stand so firmly on that rock, that no doubt can disturb, no disappointment shake his confidence that all things are working together for ultimate good.

Man has faculties by which he perceives God, duty and immortality. But these faculties must be exercised, or they lose their power. If one should live in a dark room, and cease to use his eyes for a long time, at last he would lose the power of discriminating objects. To distinguish objects by the sight is an art. To the infant, all things seem painted on the retina, and the moon seems as near as his mother's face. He learns to distinguish sizes and distances by practice. If the eye was not used at all, it might at last shrink up and disappear, like the eyes of the sightless fish in the solid darkness of the Mammoth Cave. So, if a man does not use his spiritual powers at all, he gradually loses the power of distinguishing between matter and spirit, time and eternity, nature and God.

Law is a noble profession. If a lawyer makes himself the servant of right, the advocate of justice, then he becomes a minister of God on earth. He can protect the weak, restrain the powerful, and pluck the prey from the jaws of the wicked. But if he makes of law only a trade, by which to make money, sharpening his wit to put black for white, making it his ambition to confuse witnesses and deceive the jury, then, at last, he is punished by losing the power of seeing the difference between right and wrong, truth and falsehood. Reason, the divine light in the soul, is dimmed by sophistry. He may be as keen, bright, smart as you please; but the higher light within him is darkness. Take his opinion, if you will, on the best way of getting a verdict in a bad case. But what is such a man's opinion worth on a question of conscience, honor or religion? Take into account the personal equation, and you see that it is good for nothing.

Public life and political action is a sphere for grand achievement. The happiness of millions depends on wise laws, faithfully administered. A slight alteration in a tariff may make the difference between the comfort and want of thousands. A law allowing too great an expansion of currency may promote wild speculation, followed by panic and ruin. A legislator who goes to his work with thorough training and knowledge, may be a great benefactor to his

race.

But suppose the majority of members of Congress are mere trading politicians, creeping up to power by low ways, where an honorable man disdains to climb. The elevation of such men, however brilliant and popular they may be, is a disaster to the country. Such men, giving all their time to personal ends and selfish ambition, at last lose the power of seeing the true issues of the hour. They flatter the passion of the moment, and are ignorant of the solemn destinies depending on their voice and vote.

I think, considering the ignorant way in which laws are passed by Congress, that the principles of the civil service examination ought to be applied to it, and no man should be admitted to Congress till he has passed an examination in some standard works on political economy, constitutional and international law, social science, and history.

Ignorance in some situations is a crime. An incapable person, taking a place for which he is unfitted, commits a grave offense. Jesus found fault with the Pharisees because they could discern the face of the sky, and tell what sort of weather it was likely to be the next day, but could not discern the signs of the times. It was their duty to study the signs of the times as faithfully as they studied material interests, and they did not care to do it. Their ignorance was a sin.

Theology, the science of divine truth, is the queen of all other sciences, when it is regarded aright. But sectarian theology, which seeks only to build up a party—controversial theology, which sets fellow Christians at war-these make men's minds narrow, cold and hard. I know no worse influence than that exercised by purely sectarian pulpits and a purely sectarian press. They substitute hatred, jealousy, envy, spiritual pride, for love, peace, long-suffering and humility. I read an address, delivered the other evening, at the great Roman Catholic meeting in this city, in which the object of the speaker was, apparently, to stimulate the party spirit of his denomination, and fortify their self-esteem, and their contempt for their fellow-Christians. He might have urged brotherly love, gentleness, and goodwill towards Protestants. But instead of that, he told them to contend for their own rights and privileges, and to show by their demeanour that they alone " were capable of fulfilling the functions of a freeman." He told them to act as those who belong to "the only church which is support

ed by reason and logic," and "the only church which is worthy the allegiance of a gentleman."

"He who loves his sect more than he loves Christianity," says Coleridge, "will love Christianity more than truth, and end by loving himself most of all." In sectarian theologians, the personal equation is very large. Every opinion they have is biased by it; they look at everything from the point of view of their church and its interests. To build up their church becomes the great object of their lives. What are such men's judgments worth on the subject of popular education, scientific discovery, the treatment of criminals, or the like? It is all looked at in the interest of sect, creed, party. Such men opposed the antislavery reform; they now oppose the elevation of women, and similar movements. They do not discover the signs of the times any more than the Pharisees did. They can tell if to-morrow is to be a fair or foul day for their own church, but not whether it is to be fair or foul for mankind and the world and for the church universal, for they care for none of these things. Thank God, there are now, and always have been, in every denomination, a different class theologians who have risen above creed, sect, party; and are servants of the truth, with minds open to all that God's spirit may teach. These are the heralds of the universal church of God and man. Inferfees krout of ge

Things look differently to one at rest and to one in motion. What astronomers call "the aberration of light," and have to make allowance for, is owing to the fact that the earth is in motion. We do not see the stars exactly where we should see them if the earth were at rest. If I am running during a shower, when the drops are really falling perpendicularly, they seem to fall obliquely. If I throw something from a car-window when the car is moving, it falls obliquely, but seems to fall perpendicular

ly. There is, therefore, the equation of motion, which has to be attended to, in physical science.

So in morals, there is an aberration of light caused by our own motion. When we are full of business, going to and fro, actively engaged in our work, there is very little power to listen to the deeper voices of the soul. "Stand still, and consider the works of God," says the Book of Job. "Stand thou still awhile," says the Prophet Samuel, "that I may show thee the word of God." "Now stand

still, that I may reason with you," is another practical suggestion. When ́men are moving about, they can hardly hear the voice of man-how much less the voice of God! A man who knows how to travel does not rush hastily from place to place, but takes time enough, so that everything may make an impression, and leave some permanent experience.

The Quakers have always believed that, to see divine truth, quiet is necessary. We must be still in order to hear the voice of God in our souls. If we are still, and shut out external influences; divine inspiration will flow in always, to tell us what to believe and what to do.

For the same reason, we have, in all Christian lands, set apart the first day of the week as a day of rest for body and mind. On this day we can "stand still, and consider the works of God." The rest of this day would be a blessing, if it only gave a pause to the roaring flood of incessant labor; but it is more a blessing that in this sacred human quiet man can better see God, truth, duty and immortality, and go back to his toil refreshed by this great vision.

Heat, no less than motion, is an element to be taken into account in all measures of space or time. Heat changes the size of bodies, and their rate of movement, and has to be allowed for. So heat enters into the personal