1. The Bible has by these means been preserved uncorrupt. The collision between Jews and Christians in the primitive age, and when that ceased, between Christians and the early heretics, and when these passed away, between one sect of Christians and another, has rendered it impossible for any one at any time materially to alter the sacred text. Christians were not allowed to do it by the enemies of the cross; and heretics were forbidden to do it by the vigilance of Christians; and rival sects were soon allowed to arise to guard the sacred volume. In this manner the wrath of man has been made to praise God. The enmity of man against God, and his hatred of the truth, and all the sinister passions of man have in this manner been made to stand as sentinels around the sacred volume, and guard it from corruption; and though these have been evils, how much greater had the evil been, of the corruption of that holy book!

2. The correctness of the translation of the Bible into all languages is made singularly manifest by the existence of different denominations of Christians.

Had they all remained of one harmonious communion, the question might be urged with great plausibility, How do we know that these Christians have not accommodated their Bible to their wishes? But when we find all denominations appealing to the same original record, and all of them encountering texts in the translation which it would be for their interest to alter, and save a multitude of words; and when we find these texts, for or against particular doctrines, stand substantially the same in all versions of the Bible, in every language and in every age, it is manifest that there has been no sectarian tampering with the translation, and that it declares truly, in every tongue, the wonderful works of God. It is no small advantage that the Bible, now about to become universal, should go out to the world with such evidence that it still speaks on all subjects as the Holy Ghost gave utterance to those who were inspired at first to indite the word of life.

3. These divisions of Christians, sinful as they may have been, and, in themselves considered, to be deplored, may be the providential means by which it has pleased a holy God to prevent, at any time, the total extinction of the truth.

When there was but one denomination in the Jewish church, the Law of the Lord was for a time lost, and the true religion almost supplanted by superstition and idolatry. And when the papal hierarchy arose, and by fire, and bribery, and fraud, deceived and coerced the Christian world within the limits of one communion, and exhausted all the powers of civil and ecclesiastical despotism to create and perpetuate unity of faith: then, had it not been for the few confessors who lifted up their dissenting voice, at different times, and for the sects of the Waldenses and Albigenses, and for the strong notes of remonstrance raised at length by Luther and the

heroes of the Reformation, the moral sun had endured a perpetual eclipse, and all the nations had worshipped idols, or wandered after the beast.-Religion is a treasure too important to be entrusted to a single vessel, whose shipwreck might bury it in the deep; and therefore God may have permitted different denominations to launch each its own frail bark on the tumultuous ocean, freighted with the heavenly treasure.

4. The existence of different denominations has secured to the church a wider range of practical knowledge, and a greater amount of salutary usage, than could have been expected from one great, prosperous, unmolested denomination.

If we are correct in the opinion, that God has not tied his people down to any exact pattern in respect to forms, but has wisely given to them some latitude for the exercise of human discretion, adapted to times and circumstances; then it is not to be expected that any one denomination has hit upon the way which is in all respects absolutely the best, and which is absolutely perfect, more than that one class of husbandmen have hit upon the best mode of agricultural management, to the exclusion of all possibility of improvement from the wisdom and experience of another class. Indeed, if we consider the diversities of human intellect, and knowledge, and taste, and habit, and condition in society, it may be questioned whether any one mode of worship or manner of administering the laws of Christ can be exclusively and universally the best, any more than some one mode of husbandry can be the best, in all countries, and climes, and soils.-No one denomination is perfect in its own way, though probably every denomination has some peculiar excellencies which others have not; and many of these may be peculiarities which belong to the system, and can no more be blended in any one system, than all the advantages of the frigid and temperate and torrid zones can be concentrated on some

single spot of earth.

In some respects, the Moravians excel all other denominations; but in acquiring these advantages they are obliged to forego others of great magnitude, which are possessed by some other denomina

tions.

The Methodists embody a great amount of practical wisdom in their system of itineracy. It grew up gradually, under the eye of a wise man, who lived to a great age to revise, and enlarge, and amend it; and is made as perfect, perhaps, as the nature of that system can be made. But while it embraces advantages, and answers ends which other systems do not, it is obliged, in order to secure these peculiarities, to forego, in a measure, advantages which other systems do enjoy.-And in like manner, the Friends have some points in their worship and discipline pre-eminently good; while, probably, they lack some things of great importance, possessed by others.

The Congregationalists also, and the Presbyterians, and the Episcopalians, and the Baptists, have each their excellencies and defects, which cannot easily, if at all, be separated from their respective systems. But though all the excellencies of each denomination cannot be compiled into one system, at all, more than motion and rest can be united, or extemporary freedom with set forms; yet there is room for correction and revision in every denomination, and a fund of practical wisdom among the different sects, for each sect to avail itself of, in the improvement of its own system. Hitherto, prejudice and self-sufficiency have prevented the intercommunion of experience and practical improvements; and it has been a sufficient reason for not adopting a salutary practice, that it was the peculiarity of some other denomination. But when this foolish and criminal selfishness shall sink and disappear, as the tide of holy love rises in the hearts of Christians, each denomination will be as ready to avail itself of the discoveries of others, as philosophers now are to avail themselves of each other's discoveries in philosophy and mechanism. And when this time shall come, and I trust it is near at hand,--then the end which God saw from the beginning, may begin to disclose itself. Then we may perceive that all his people, in all their different wanderings, have been employed by heaven to explore different fields, and to bring in, each, their treasures of experimental knowledge, to assist in building, in the most perfect practical manner, the universal temple in which all nations shall worship God; and happy is that denomination which, in the light of that trying day, does not, in some respects, suffer loss; and thrice happy that community of Christians which shall bring in, as the result of its researches, the greatest amount of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and the least amount of wood, and hay, and stubble.

5. Another obvious design of Providence in permitting the division and alienation of Christians has been, to prevent inactivity and sloth, and to provide an effectual stimulus to fidelity and enterprise.

Notwithstanding the powerful action which we witness on every side, man is by nature slothful, and needs to be pushed into action by a stimulus as constant and powerful as the vis inertia to be overcome. That entire course of miscellaneous industry which blesses the world, moves on under the impulse of a constant and stern necessity; few being able to hold, without it, their relative station, and none, without it, to rise to those higher places of ambition, or wealth, or pleasure, which they covet. But place the ministers of Christ in such circumstances of ease and safety as shall supersede the necessity of constant vigilance and constant faithfulness in their high calling; and, however the stern piety of a single generation might grapple with the temptations to indolence, and escape absolute defeat, the second, or at most the third, would settle down

contented in a condition of inglorious indolence. The protection, and wealth, and power, and honor, awarded to the clergy in the papal church, produced in the mass, ignorance, imbecility, and a moral putrefaction, which will ultimately bring her to the dust. The vast revenues of the English church, lavished on her clergy, though they have produced, occasionally, able champions, are gradually weakening her defence, and increasing the relative power of seceding communions. No plan was ever more at war with philosophy or religion, than that which would make men learned, by giving them leisure, without the stimulus of necessity; or good men and good ministers, active and faithful, by removing far from them all care and all personal responsibility. No Christian communion can long flourish, whose clergy are chosen and supported by the government, or by patrons, and who are wholly irresponsible to the people whom they serve. Ministers of Jesus

should be elected by their people, and should receive a competent, but not an affluent support. But, as all people will endure, and all ministers and churches, without excitement, will indulge, negligencies and deficiencies injurious to the cause; it seems to be necessary that there should be applied, providentially, some powerful stimulus to good works, if not to love. And this stimulus our heavenly Father finds in the sinful selfishness, and ambitions, and aggressions of Christians of various denominations. He could still this rising and dashing of wave against wave,—but in the present low state of holiness it might produce a dead calm, in which every living thing in the sea would perish. What would become of the population of great cities if no motive but prospective benevolence excited one great, safe, powerful denomination to build churches, and multiply the means of grace? In England the churches of the Establishment will not accommodate half the population.-Goaded as she has been by Dissenters, almost to desperation, what then had been the condition of the population of England if all the places of worship built by Dissenters had never been, and all the excitement of the established church to build churches, applied by Dissenters, had been withheld? In all the cities of our own country, after all that religion and ambition have done in the various denominations, nearly a quarter of the population could not be accommodated with places of worship, if they should be disposed to attend. What had been their condition, then, had no enterprise been put in requisition but the unstimulated, unambitious, indolent enterprise of one denomination? Who would provide teachers equal to the rapid increase of our population, if all our twelve millions were of any one denomination? The efforts of all denominations, stimulated by each other's provocation to good works, lag and fall far behind the tremendous exigency of our land. Oh what if there had been but one organized body, to explore, and see, and feel, and lift up the voice,

and put forth a helping hand! Surely, with all that has been done by the rivalry of all, we are still in a condition so appalling, that if any denomination will send out a single additional laborer to cast out devils in a manner ever so feeble and imperfect, we may all bid him God-speed; we may all rejoice in his success as a glorious achievement, compared with the demoniacal possession which would have remained in every place where he sets his foot, and exerts the power of Christ.

We may observe, also, that in every religious society there will be a given number of active, influential men. There might be more, were there anything to do; but the exigencies of each society not requiring a greater number, these will take the lead in active enterprise. But suppose the society to consist of two thousand persons, able to support two ministers: if you divide it, you double the number of active and influential men devoted to the cause of Christ; and under this double moral influence, a much greater proportion of this two thousand will attend worship in two places of public worship than in one, and double the amount of pastoral labor will be performed, and probably nearly double the number of souls will be saved. This subdivision has its limits, within which it is salutary, and beyond which it is pernicious. When it has descended until the parts are unable to sustain the responsibility of supporting the Gospel, then each denomination ope rates as a sentinel to exclude the stated worship of God in any form, and to perpetuate ignorance, and bad passions, and irreligion, and immorality. But the distribution of the population of the land to a certain extent into separate communions, answers, undoubtedly, the good effect of the division of labor in the arts, and of a spirit of vigilance and energetic rivalry on any subject.

6. The temporary alienation of different denominations may have been intended, by heaven, to prepare the way for the unparalleled efficacy which will attend their evangelical concurrence in the great operations which are to terminate in the subjugation of the world to Christ.

When all denominations of Christians unite for the attainment of one great object, their concurrence baffles opposition, and surmounts obstacles, and achieves wonders; and the efficacy of this voluntary concurrence is greater than the energies of one homogeneous body can be made to be. Bible societies rise under the patronage of all denominations with a moral sublimity and power greater than if all the Christians of the world had always been of one heart and one way. The consideration that Christians of all denominations are united to spread the Bible, without note or comment, pays a noble homage to that holy book, secures a salutary vigilance and a holy emulation, while it renders opposition hopeless, and makes it even an excitement to increased energy of action. Nor is it a small item, in the list of providential good brought