deformities of heart and life. It is here, perhaps, that the barrister is more peculiarly exposed than in other professions. He has in active practice such frequent occasions of detecting the covert motives of men. Daily, almost hourly, disclosures of insincerity and double-dealing are made known to him; in some instances affecting those who hold high positions in the community, and whose honesty and integrity are unquestioned; in other instances, attacking the fair fame of Christian professors. These are but too well calculated to make the lawyer a sceptic in the matter of sincerity, and to cause him to doubt whether the observances of the Christian temple, and the seeming worship of an Infinite God are not mere cloaks to conceal lives of impurity and dishonesty. If lawyers doubt more the sincerity of Christian worship, it is attributable to the fact that they see more in daily life to shake their confidence in the integrity of their fellows. Sadly true is it that each of them has a tale to unfold-a chapter of experiences to disclose, which would make many a professing Christian blench before his fellows, and drive from the communion table many who with sanctimonious air and solemn countenance, now outwardly partake of the sacred elements, without having inwardly experienced the grace of which they are at once the type and the encouragement. It is too, a matter of sufficient importance to note that the lawyer, more perhaps than one engaged in any other calling-certainly more than any class whose life is not so exclusively devoted to subjects of thought-discovers in a nasal tone and canting phrase neither eloquence nor sanctity; but is sometimes deterred from the regular attendance upon a ministry whose chief recommendation consists in these very questionable attainments. John Foster has shown, however, that this aversion is not exclusively confined to members of the bar; that intelligent men of all classes are sometimes driven from a decent respect for the worship of Jehovah because of the ignorance of his worshippers. True, intelligent men are guilty of ill logic in this. They should reason that the adoration of an Infinite God ought not to be measured by, ought not to depend upon the feeble and imperfect devo

tions of men confessedly ignorant; but after all that is said, that can be said upon the point, even the most thoughtful are swayed more by these external exhibitions of Christianity than by any amount of abstract truth. Let us point such, however, to the career of one who began as a contemner of Jesus and persecutor of the saints, who subsequently became a zealous defender of the Gospel, and who with a force of logic almost unparalleled, and eloquence at once natural and impressive, reasoned with the men of Athens, caused guilty Felix to tremble upon his throne, and compelled from Agrippa the surprising confession, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian;" a man of faith and power, of energy of character, and sincerity of purpose; with whom the life of the Christian was a reality to the apostle of the Gentiles. Or, if a higher example be needed, let us point them for imitation to the perfect example of Jesus, the son of Mary, as the model, and challenge at once their respect and their love for his faultless character.

Why, in the nature of things, we again ask, may not the lawyer be the sincere and devout Christian? We have al ready shown that there is nothing essentially variant in the profession of Christianity and the practice of the law; that so far from there being such variance, there is a designed coincidence and harmony between them; that the study of the sacred Scriptures is enjoined upon the young profess+ ional student as a fit preparation for the solemn and responsible duties of the bar; and that while, on the one hand, there is no external circumstance attending the study of the law, in itself considered, preventing the prosecution of biblical and religious truth, on the other, the mere study and practice of the law as a mental exercise, calling for the use of the highest powers of the mind, in severe analysis, in the investigation and elimination of principles, and in their practical application to human relations, will help and not hinder the student of the law in his study of the truths contained in the Word of God, and make him more profited by the teachings of the Gospel minister, following him with delight into new realms of thought, and investing

by his daily experience even trite themes with freshness and force. We have also shown, that while Infidelity has reared its head among barristers, it has done the same no less boldly in other pursuits in life; and that there is nothing in the daily exercise of the profession, even in the defence of criminals justly found guilty, to cause the Christian lawyer to swerve from the pursuit of right; why then, we ask, may not the lawyer be sincere and devout as a Christian? Do hindrances encounter bim in the path ?-the like encompass the goings of every man. Do peculiar temptations beset him?—peculiar powers and gifts to resist them are his. Does the prevailing tone of a bar, half-enlightened and with no Christian sentiment to curb them, in any wise hinder his advancement in the Christian life?— he would find the same in all the departments of business, in every employment. We see then nothing to deter the Christian from the proper pursuit of the profession, and nothing to keep the lawyer from being a Christian in devotion and life. But we must not content ourself with this merely negative argument for Christianity as addressed to the bar; the claims of Christianity upon the bar are manifold and urgent, and we are authorized in declaring that in a peculiar degree the lawyer is a minister of justice. His practical dealings with men and with human motives are mainly designed to further this end. In the prosecution, as in the defence of causes, this is, it ought to be his chief, and only purpose. And in furthering justice, he not only regulates the motives and actions of men by human law, but applies as well the sanctions of the Divine law. He finds, as we have already said, the most powerful motives furnished by these sanctions.

Will he wisely apply to the conduct of others a test which his own will not stand? Will he willingly measure the motives of parties, and the responsibility and credibility of witnesses by their adhesion to moral duty, while he himself disregards it? Will he utter as decisively true, and as not admitting of contradiction or doubt, that the Infidel is unworthy of credit; and shall he be an Infidel? Aye more, will he vindicate the claims of human justice, and demand

the enforcement of its penalties, while he disregards and disavows the claims of Divine justice? True, we have seen such anomalies; but are such persons consistent? Do they act wisely or well? Will they can they plead in extenuation of their conduct any plea which would be received by the candid and intelligent? We ask, in all sincerity, what right have such men to prefer for themselves the claim of wisdom and righteousness? Ought they not to be covered over with confusion, when these glaring inconsistencies of conduct are brought to view.

As a teacher of moral truth, then,-an expounder of the laws (which are but moral truths condensed) in their applications to the varying circumstances of life, we call upon the lawyer to be a Christian. We will not say he may not properly discharge some of the offices of a lawyer without being a Christian; we will say he cannot properly discharge all of them without it. Weight of character necessary for making due impression upon the minds of men, for influencing aright courts as well as juries, in some measure may be secured outside of the Christian Church; but it will not be denied that the mere worldly-minded barrister, the frequenter of feasts and revelry, the champion of quoitclubs and race courses, is less likely to secure confidence, and command respect in his vocation than the Christian. One not in the habit of attending courts might be surprised at the potency of moral character-might stagger at the assertion that as much depends upon the confidence of a judge or jury in the truthfulness of the advocate, as upon the merits of his cause. To secure our rights, to vindicate justice, it is not unfrequently of paramount necessity that we should have one espouse our cause who can secure confidence not only in his ability, but also in his integrity; and who so likely to command respect and to secure success, as the Christian lawyer who, by a life of devotedness to the right, has won for himself the confidence of the community? If then, as is undoubtedly true, weight of character is an essential ingredient in the successful prosecution of the profession, and if to enforce one's views of truth and to vindicate justice, he ought in his own life to exemplify its

excellence, may not the lawyer earnestly covet, even for success in his profession, the special gifts of the Christian? Again the study and practice of the law, when associated with sincere Christian principle, afford opportunities of almost unparalleled usefulness.

Second only, if second at all, is the vantage ground of the advocate to that of the minister of the Gospel. The intimate relations subsisting between pastor and people are copies of those subsisting between the counsel and his client. In some respects, the latter are more closely intimate and blended. A pastor experiences no little difficulty in getting at his people; there seems to be a something (he cannot tell what) which hinders his full access to their hearts, and the pious minister is stripped of the opportunity to do much good which he would do if he knew how to make his people unbosom themselves to him. Very little of this embarrassment attends the conferences between the lawyer and his client. The merely perfunctory in his legal character is lost sight of by the applicant for legal aid, in his anxiety to secure assistance; and all embarrassment is taken away. The man shows more of his heart and of his motives to the lawyer than he would dare to do to his preacher. He unfolds with specific minuteness, and in detail, his condition. in life, it may be, or some sad chapter in his experience, needing a skillful and a faithful hand to bind up the wounds. He knows-that is, he sometimes knows that to protect his interests, he must be honest; and he tells the whole, as well the questionable and doubtful as that above suspicion and beyond doubt. How ample then the opportunity to direct to the right-by a suggestion of the proper course of conduct to incline to it by a word of counsel wisely given to save one from ruin or from shame. These are not merely imaginary cases. The history of every sincere, conscientious, Christian lawyer, in full practice, would disclose not a few such examples. We know that this is not the feature of the legal character usually presented to the public; but it is nevertheless true, and faithfully drawn; and in nothing have even wise and good men more greatly erred, than in the harsh judgments they have rashly and indiscriminately pronounced against the bar.