truth of this greatest and most important of all doctrines. It is by such fatal misconceptions that so many worthy and earnest men have been driven into fanaticism, on the one hand, or infidelity on the other; to abandon the light of reason altogether as a most treacherous guide, or to cast away the authority of Inspiration, and justify the act by insisting on the repugnancy of its dogmas to the best and noblest feelings of the human heart. What better and more obvious plan can be devised for preventing such deplorable mistakes, than that of making the works of the Creator the commentary of his written Word."

This is, and ever will be, the language of every one imbued with the spirit of true science.

There can be no real moral or religious improvement, where men's views of moral and religious principles are vague and obscure. Great principles, and important truths, must be distinctly recognised before they can be duly appreciated. Our Saviour says, "My Father worketh and I work,” and man must work too, before he can be "wise unto salvation." All creation declares that man's true happiness, here, must be the product of his own labour. And the precepts of Revelation uniformly inculcate the same all-important principle. "We must work out our salvation through fear and trembling." Nothing can be conceived more dangerously erroneous, than the doctrine, which holds that the object of Christianity is rather to purify the affections, than to enlighten the intellect. All true moral and spiritual improvement must ever be the result of Intellectual culture. In every instance, the development of the intellectual must precede the growth of the moral nature of man. In proportion as man knows the moral character of his Maker, he is enabled to imitate it. "This is life eternal, (everlasting happiness) to know thee, the only true God." That knowledge is power, is the dictate of universal nature. "Knowledge is the principal thing," is the language of all Revelation. Intellectual progression is the great element of all moral greatness; of all true happiness in the present state. Intellectual progression will constitute also the happiness of Heaven. The ultimate object of Christianity is to make men wise, to make all men wise, to make them wise unto salvation. Without wisdom there is no salvation in the physical world around us. And it is equally true that without wisdom, there can be no salvation in the moral. In all the physical sciences, truth is the "pearl of great price;" and in Christianity, that perfect science of Morals, which has emanated from the Source of all wisdom, truth is the only "treasure" that can really and eternally enrich the human mind. It is "truth"

creatures.

and truth alone, that can make all men free; free, ultimately from all error, and therefore free from all pain, misery, and imperfection! All error, whether physical or moral, leads unfailingly to suffering. This solemn and important truth, is, unfortunately, either misunderstood, or over-looked by many of our modern Moralists. The laws established in the moral, are as regular and perfect, as those recognized in the physical universe. And it is the great object of Him, who is emphatically styled "the light of the world," to guide us to that knowledge which is essential to the observance of God's laws, and therefore to all moral progression. Nature, Reason, and Revelation, teach us that it is the will of God, the decree of Heaven, that the rectification of error, and the discovery of truth, should be the proper and only means for the attainment of the end and aim of our being, even our eternal welfare. No one that entertains comprehensive and enlightened views of the Creator and his works, can doubt but that his providence has planned the happiness of all his Whatever, therefore, throws the greatest light upon the whole plan of providence, must be the highest boon that can be conferred on man. And hence the incalculable importance of a Revealed Religion, which alone can enable man to have just conceptions of his relations to his Maker, of his high origin, and noble destiny; as well as of the means by which he is to be trained for solid happiness here, and the coming immortality. It is to Revelation, then, that we owe all real wisdom. It is here alone that we are taught, that there is but "one God the Father," who maketh all things to work together for good, for good to the whole human race. It is here alone that the great principle of human brotherhood is discovered, which is destined to transform all the moral creation of God, from glory to glory, into the blessed image of their Heavenly Father. However valuable and glorious may be the dictates of modern science, it could never have unravelled the fundamental and everlasting principles of the Christian religion. It is Revelation alone that lays down the broad bases of the sole Deity, and universal Paternity of the only "true and living God;" who has in his eternal counsels destined all his moral creation for glory and immortality. All creation displays goodness and wisdom, but it does not enable us to refer all the manifestations of that goodness and wisdom to the One "God the Father.”

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. H. WARE, JUN., D.D., OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY, MASSACHUSETTS.

*

(Concluded from page 162.)

Mr. Ware's second marriage took place in June, 1827, a little more than three years after the death of his first wife. It was a union peculiarly favourable to his own and his children's welfare, and to the successful accomplishment of his ministry. His usefulness steadily increased with his labours. But he wrought on with a zeal and ardour, for which he had not the adequate physical strength. He took (if it be just to speak such a word of censure,) he took too little care of himself. He was too self-forgetful, too regardless of himself, in his zeal to promote the cause of Christ. He saw the great work that needed to be done to promote the religion of Jesus among men, and, in the lack of labourers, he went both up to his power and beyond his power.

It is to be observed, too, that he came into the ministry at the time that the lines began to be drawn between the two great bodies of Congregationalists, which have been respectively denominated the Orthodox and the Unitarian. It was to this latter denomination that Mr. Ware belonged. His firm conviction that what he believed and preached was the truth as it is in Jesus; that no more was essential to salvation; that Christianity, as he understood it, was the faith once delivered to the Saints; his ardent desire also, that the divided body of Christ might be re-united, and that Christians everywhere might love and harmonize with one another, and not hate and contend; these motives called upon him to labour, which, indeed, he did with all his soul, and with more than the strength he really possessed, but which, however, he thought he possessed.

In the year 1828, on a journey to Northampton, he was taken with a severe illness at Worcester, whose violence was attributable to that gradual exhaustion of the powers of his system, which had been produced by his unsparing application to his various labours. From this illness, though he for

*From "The Christian Register" of April 14, 1849, we have intelligence of the decease of this amiable and excellent Woman. "In Milton, 4th inst., (April) Mrs. Mary L., relict of the late Rev. Henry Ware, Jun., of Cambridge; 59." In another portion of the paper, the Editor, Rev. Nathaniel S. Folsom, remarks, "We knew not until recently, that Mrs. Ware had been for some years so great a sufferer, so cheerful was she ever. Nor did her countenance wear the traces of

a season gradually regained health, he perhaps never fully recovered.

On March 27, 1829, a little more than twelve years after his ordination, and in the thirty-fifth year of his age, he was compelled to resign the charge of that church, which had been so long the chosen scene of his usefulness, and where was the united flock of a most beloved minister. He had been appointed Professor of Pulpit Eloquence, and of the Pastoral Care at Cambridge Theological School; which he accepted. Before entering on his new duties, he embarked for Europe, on a voyage for the benefit of his health, and was absent about seventeen months. From this voyage he returned, though not with health perfectly restored, yet sufficient for his new office, and with that rich and varied improvement derived from visiting the numerous objects of interest in the Old World, and from communion with minds abroad.

It had been desired by many of his people, that his relation to them as minister might not altogether cease, though he was at the same time occupied with the duties of Professor. But this was impracticable. He removed to Cambridge, October, 1830, where a new path of honour and usefulness opened before him.

Soon after his removal to Cambridge, he completed his tract on the "Formation of the Christian Character." The publication of this work had been preceded by the beautiful stories of Jotham Anderson and Robert Fowle, and also by a volume of sermons on the Character and Offices of our Lord Jesus Christ. But perhaps this little book, the "Formation of the Christian Character,” has been the most useful of all his works. It has gone through fifteen editions of a thousand copies each, and has been often republished in England. It had occupied much of his thoughts as far back as the year 1827, but he found little unoccupied time, and less strength to complete the work. Most of it was written in journeyings, at inns, in this country, and in Italy. The last chapter was added at Cambridge, and the whole revised and published in the year 1831. This work has aided multitudes in the labour on which it treats. Had the

suffering, so much power did her spirit shape to its own nature, the features through which it expressed its loveliness and Christian excellence, and rich intellectual culture. We learn that her death-bed was remarkable for the calmness, and disinterested love, and thoughtful regard for others, and holy trust, which were exhibited amid intensest suffering, from the disease of cancer, of which she died. Some memorial of her, we hope, will be given to the world."-EDITOR.

author lived for nothing else, had he done no more than write such a book, he would not have lived in vain. "The Rise and progress of Religion in the soul," by Doddridge, has doubtless led many to heaven, and will yet lead many more. "The Formation of the Christian Character," will not be pronounced unworthy to be classed with that in the usefulness of its effects. The spirit of Ware, though indeed of different mould and manifestation from that of Doddridge, was more perfect in every respect, from early youth to the hour of death. In mental power and culture, though of less varied attainments, especially in Biblical literature, he was also superior to Doddridge.

His connexion with young students, for the ministry, was most auspicious for the interests of the denomination with which he was connected. The influence of a man of vital piety and sterling influence in such a station, is most intimately connected with the life of the churches. A few men of living, glowing spirituality, especially if they be men of commanding intellect, will send life far and wide; and dead churches, with or without creeds, whether the truth in them be preached according to the theology of Wesley, or Calvin, or Channing, will awake to life, as ministers go forth from beneath the influences of living Christian teachers. It would not be just to say, that until Henry Ware, Jun., went to Cambridge, there was no life among the preachers and churches which held to his own faith They have had the reputation of being cold and formal, when there has been to say the least of it, as much warmth and spirit as among those who reproached them with coldness. But the state of religious feeling was of a very high tone under the influence of H. Ware, Jun. At a philanthropic meeting of the students on a certain evening, Father Taylor of Boston was invited to be present. As he rose to address the assembly in the Chapel, he exclaimed, "I am astonished; I had heard you were all cold Christians, philosophers, who would make the world stop to hear you think. But there's fire amongst you; there's fire amongst you."

Henry Ware, Jun., continued most faithfully to devote himself to the duties of his office, and perform labours which ought to have been distributed among two or three men, striving to promote an interest in religion among the students of the university, besides taking also an active interest in the churches; still projecting and sending forth useful religious works; taking an active part also for the emancipa