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the character which the regeneration of society, now anticipated, must necessarily have. That human reforms, political or religious, a new charter of the kingdom, or a new reformation of the outward church or churches, are inadequate to the cure of the evils, and the satisfaction of the wants, of the present age, no one, who has duly weighed either the former, or the latter, will, I presume, call in question. The reform must be a divine one, that is to say, it must be the effect of the divine principle of life, manifested in human existence, in a manner essentially new. What, then, is the reform, of this description, to which we are to look forward, upon the ground of the prophecies-not those from Albury and Sackville-street, but those from the hills of Zion, and from the Isle of Patmos? What is there declared to be the characteristic feature of the last great era of divine dispensations, which remains to be fulfilled? "After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord! For they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Or, as it is expressed by another prophet: "All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." And, as it was declared unto John from Heaven : "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Is it not evident from all this, that that last reform will be both, universal and individual at the same time? universal, inasmuch as it will embrace all men; and individual, inasmuch as every one individually will partake of its effect, viz.: immediate and internal communication and union with God? All the previous reforms, those operated by the will of God, as well as those effected by the will of man himself, though subject to the divine government, have been general reforms, and

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THE IMPENDING REFORM AN UNIVERSAL ONE.

for this very reason none of them was either universal or individual. Thus, for instance, the restoration of the Jewish people from the Egyptian bondage to national independence, and to the purpose of their election, was a divine reform, inasmuch as it was produced by the immediate and visible interference of God; and it was a general one, inasmuch as it only concerned the Jews as a nation, and did not extend to every individual Jew as such; so much so, that the value of the whole dispensation was not diminished by the fact, that but a few individuals did approach, and one only did attain unto that state of passive instrumentality, and absolute obedience, which constituted the fundamental character of righteousness after the law. In the like manner, the next divine reform, viz. the introduction of Christianity, was a general one; for, although it consisted in a proclamation of the covenant of the gospel unto all mankind, yet the spiritual realization of that covenant, could not be anticipated from the beginning, according to the tenor of the gospel itself, to take place otherwise than upon a few out of the mass. It is hardly necessary for me to add, that all the human reforms in religious matters, such as the Christianizing of the Roman Empire, or the different reformations of the church in different nations and ages, were merely general, giving a new character to the mass, and a new form to its institutions, but leaving the characters of, by far, the greatest number of individuals unchanged. Not so the reform to which we are to look forward, and which will not only change the aspect of the whole mass, and all the forms of life, thus constituting " a new heaven and a new earth," but by which also every individual, as an individual, will be reformed-so as to do away with all incongruity and discord, and to make all fit members of one body. If there be, as I apprehend there is, a possibility for mankind, by the use of the means of grace imparted by the two former dispensations, to prepare themselves for the arrival of the third, which is approaching: is it not manifest, then, that

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UNFITNESS OF THE PRESENT GENERATION.

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the preparation must likewise be universal and individual, embracing all and every one, and that it can consist in nothing else than the education of every individual, in obedience to, and consciousness of Him, who is dwelling in all, as a source of light, and as a power of life; that they may be both able and willing to acknowledge Him when he shall come" in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory ?"

of

Such is the claim, which the Most High prefers against the men of this day; its fulfilment would be bliss unspeakable; its neglect will be the burden of this generation, in the day of judgment. The greatest part of that burden will, no doubt, fall upon the religious world, who, by their sectarian bigotry, have not only made the word of God of none effect to themselves, but also have put a stumbling-block in the way of many of their brethren, who would not so easily have slighted and set aside religion, had they seen it practically illustrated, not as a specious cloak to cover inward uncleanness, but as a power truth and love. But, although a candid advocate of religion must admit the heavy sins, of which, in this respect, its professors are guilty, yet this fact is far from forming an excuse for those, who have taken upon themselves to turn away from that, which God has laid down for them, and which he has so clearly put before them. The bigotry of dogmatical men is, no doubt, a very great nuisance, not to speak of the sin; but are liberal men less bigoted, or is their bigotry any better? I, for my own part, confess, that, much as I disapprove of the former, on the grounds which I have stated, I cannot help feeling, that there is more hope of a man who holds and defends an opinion, though a narrow, or even an erroneous one, with great warmth and obstinacy, than of a man who adheres, with an equally sectarian spirit, to the principle of having no opinion at all on the subject of religion. Owing, it may be, in a great measure, to the controversial spirit, and the animosity of the religious world, a fashion has introduced

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THE HAZELWOOD RELIGION

itself in society, which is too often sanctioned even by men who, in private, hold religion in high estimation,—the fashion, in public matters, to pass over religion altogether, as a non-entity, or, at least, a non-essential, or to treat it as a nose of wax, which can be shaped at pleasure, to suit the taste of each individual. This profane fashion, to which no person who sees the full value of religion, can, and no one that professes to know that value, ought to, give his assent, has, as much as the sectarianism of the believers, found its way into the field of education; so that, whilst some teach for doctrines the commandments of men, there is another set, who teach, according to the peculiar wishes of the parents, any doctrines, or no doctrines at all. As an instance of this disgraceful indifference, this "gentlemanly" infidelity, I will adduce the profession of faith, on this chapter, of a celebrated school, or rather connexion of schools, which, as it has, among the recent system-makers for the education of the wealthier classes, the greatest run at present, ought not to be passed over without special notice on the present occasion. In the account of the "Plans for the government and liberal instruction of boys in large numbers, as practised at HAZELWOOD School," the subject of religion is dispatched in the following manner, in a note under the text :- "On the momentous subject "of religion, we feel we ought to say something, and yet “in common, we suppose, with all conscientious teachers, "whose pupils belong to different religious communities, we "have had great difficulty in ascertaining our duty on "this head. It is almost impossible to enter into any "minute course of religious instruction, without entrench"ing upon disputed ground, and yet we feel that no pa"rents, except such as coincide with our own views, "can intend us to influence the religious opinions of "their children; and we should, therefore, conceive such "influence to be a gross breach of trust. At the same "time, whatever religious exercises can be joined by all, "are not omitted. Whatever formularies, too, are in uni

MANUFACTURED TO ORDER.

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"son with the respective religious feelings of the pa"rents, are taught; and provision is made for attendance

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on such public worship, as is best calculated to prevent "the evils, which might arise from any dissimilarity of "religious views between the parent and his child."

Now, I should like to ask the Gentile, who penned these lines, full of hypocritical eye-service and inward infidelity, how he dare to call the subject of religion a "momentous" subject, when, in fact, his own words prove that he regards it as being of little or no moment? I can conceive a teacher stating, coolly, in his prospectus, "Of whatever cut "a father wishes to have his boy's jacket made, we shall "make a point of getting our tailor to do it to his wishes." But that a man should as coolly say :-" Of whatever cut a father wishes his boy's religion to be, we shall take care to have it made to order," is exceedingly base, and betrays the spirit, both of an hireling, and of an infidel. But where is the point on which the whole matter hinges? He considers his pupils, I state his own words, as " belong

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ing to different religious communities." But if he were not as ignorant of religion, as he is indifferent, and affects to be anxious, about it, he would know, forsooth, that there does not exist more than one religious community ; and that the different communities of which he speaks, are (the Apostle is my authority) carnal communities, and, so far as their differences go, irreligious communities, "because the carnal mind is enmity against God." Of a piece with this mistake, is the other, that he must conform, in the religious education of his pupils,—not to the will of God, as made known to him by the Spirit of Truth, on the ground of the revelations extant in Christendom-but to the wishes of the parents, who "cannot intend him to influ"ence the religious opinions of their children, except they "coincide with his own views;" which, I should suppose, will be the case with none, but such as care, in truth, nothing for the religious opinions of their children. It is not in the name of God, but in the name of the parents, that