himself to an examination of the Scriptures, according to the established principles of criticism and interpretation; and by avoiding, as far as he is able, all immediate contact with systems of mere human invention.

in

There is nothing novel in the assertion that instructors

every other branch of knowledge are careful to direct the attention of their pupils to universally-recognised principles, and regard the consideration of disputed questions as a matter of secondary importance. Nor has any sufficient reason ever yet been assigned why the same plan should not be adopted in teaching Theology. Unfortunately, however, for the interests of sacred truth, this is the only department of human inquiry in which generally-received principles are abandoned for the purpose of entering upon the discussion of doubtful points. The mind of the student is commonly pre-occupied by notions which have been engrafted upon Christianity, rather than imbued with the principles of Christianity itself; and he thus too frequently becomes the prejudiced advocate of some exclusive system of dogmas, instead of the able and faithful expounder of the oracles of God. This is the natural and unavoidable result of seeking for the fundamental principles of the Gospel in the subtle distinctions of the Schools, rather than in the plain and simple declarations of the New Testament. If we would understand Christianity, and gain a clear perception of the important truths which it unfolds, we must study it in the form in which it is conveyed to us in the writings of the Evangelists and Apostles. In those invaluable records is contained all that mankind can

ever learn respecting the religion of Jesus Christ. The doctrinal schemes which have prevailed in different ages and countries owe not their development merely, but their origin, to the controversies which have sprung up from time to time in the bosom of the Christian Church; and as matters pertaining to the province of the ecclesiastical historian, it cannot be denied that they possess a high degree of interest. But beyond this, I conceive they have no more claim upon the attention of the theologian than the speculations of the Gnostics, or the dreams of the Millennarians.

Before I bring this address to a close, it will be expected that I should allude to the method of lecturing adopted, and consistently followed out, by my immediate predecessor, the Rev. Charles Wellbeloved, and in doing this, "I may be allowed," in the words of my friend Mr. Robberds, "to thank him for the respect which he always paid to the rights of the human mind; for the care with which he always abstained from attempting to influence, to bias our inquiries; for so regularly reminding us of our responsibility to the God of truth, for the manner in which we used the opportunities and means which God had given us of attaining to a knowledge of the truth. We know that, in this age and country, there are many persons who cannot understand how this should be the duty of a theological tutor; many, who would have him not only superintend and assist the studies, but anticipate and provide for the conclusions of the pupils; who would have him do his utmost to make the succeeding generation, in all its opinions, in all its feelings and sentiments, no more than an exact counterpart of all preceding generations.

We all appreciate and thank him for the manner in which he discharged his sacred trust in respect of us. We can thank him, and I am persuaded that we all of us do thank him, for the entire absence of dogmatism which there ever was in his instructions to us. We thank him, that instead of labouring to make our minds the passive recipients of his own or of other men's opinions, he sought rather to awaken in us the love of truth, wherever it might appear to be found, and wherever it might seem to lead us."

Cordially concurring as I do in the feelings which dictated this expression of grateful obligation to Mr. Wellbeloved, I shall regard it as my sacred duty, in the capacity of his successor, not to inculcate any formal scheme of doctrine; but simply to conduct my classes through a critical investigation of the Bible, and to supply them with the means of ascertaining for themselves what it teaches. By pursuing this course, with a steady view to the interests of truth, and the sacred rights of conscience, I trust I shall be enabled to avoid the evils inseparable from every scheme of Systematic Divinity; and, at the same time, to steer clear of the not less dangerous error of presenting to the youthful mind, under the notion of a rigid impartiality, nothing more than a heterogeneous mass of discordant and conflicting opinions.

However strong our prepossessions in favour of any religious sentiments may be (and none of us is entirely free from such prepossessions), every single-minded Christian will prefer truth to system. In all his inquiries truth will be the one object to be sought. To aim at anything short of this were to practise upon oneself

the grossest of all delusions. Next to virtue, truth is the most valuable of all earthly acquisitions, and whatever may be the aim of other teachers of Theology, for myself I can say that I shall have no higher ambition, in the situation to which I have been appointed in this institution, than to act as a pioneer in leading others on to truth.

"Patiemurne igitur extingui, aut opprimi veritatem? Ego vero libentius vel sub hoc onere defecerim."Lactantius de Opificio Dei, c. xx.

E

IV. The Interdependence of Practical Religion

and Theological Learning.

BY JOHN JAMES TAYLER, B.A.*

THERE

ERE are two tendencies powerfully at work in the present day, both referring to religion as their common subject, and each having a worth and significance of its own, which are nevertheless often considered antagonistic, and the results of which, it must be confessed, are not at first view always easy to reconcile. There are, first, the men of action and feeling, weary of controversial strife and longing for some positive, substantial faith, who want a religion that comes home direct to men's business and bosoms, and attests its origin by its effects; who care nothing for evidences and theological theories, and are willing for the sake of peace to acquiesce without question in the traditional formulas of their own church, if they can find in them any elements of practical truth and any power of efficient religious influence. All that such men ask about a religion, is whether it works well-whether it meets and satisfies a great social want. Besides these, there is a smaller but not uninfluential class, who cannot be content to leave the deepest interests of the human soul so entirely in the dark; who are driven by a sort of mental

* An Address delivered at the Opening of the Session, October 14, 1861, by the Rev. J. J. Tayler, B.A., Principal.