this world, is declared by Christ Himself to be the eternal life of our souls — that is, to be the necessary and undoubted means of acquiring that eternal life, and of bringing us to the full knowledge and possession of God in the world to come — how much ought we to esteem that Divine knowledge! How assiduous and careful ought we to be to get ourselves fully instructed in it!
What will it profit a man to know all things else, if he be ignorant of his God and of his Saviour? What though he understand the motions of the stars, the measure of the earth, and the whole circle of human sciences, if he be ignorant of that important science, the science of the saints, which alone will conduct him to eternal bliss? " If any man consents not," says St Paul, " to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to that doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but sick about questions and strifes of words," I Tim. vi. 3. To promote this heavenly wisdom among men, to instruct the ignorant in the knowledge of the great truths of God and of eternity, has at all times been esteemed by the Christian world as a most sublime employment: and God Himself has promised a most ample reward to those who practise it, saying, by His holy prophet Daniel, " They that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity," Dan. xii. 3. Hence it is, that, in every age, we find men of the greatest genius and learning, who have employed themselves with great zeal in instructing the ignorant in the truths of salvation, both by their apostolical labours during their lifetime, and by the pious monuments of their charity and zeal which they have left behind them in their valuable writings, for the benefit of future ages. ' To contribute my mite towards so laudable a purpose
