stock of general knowledge. Not a little of such knowledge is communicated by the pastor in his pulpit services; sometimes by direct statements, more frequently perhaps by incidental allusions. And then the general mental elevation produced in society by these institutions awakens a livelier sense of the value of knowledge; while, at the same time, the increased activity of conscience which they produce withdraws a portion of time from unprofitable employments, and thus affords more time for the acquisition of knowledge. Thus these institutions furnish increased facilities for the acquisition of general knowledge, add to the amount of time devoted to such acquisition, and render that knowledge more profitable when acquired. In addition to all this, when a pastor is, as he ever should be, a well-informed man, his influence, as a citizen, will bear strongly in favor of the diffusion of general knowledge. And this influence will extend beyond the limits. of his own society. If he is respected and beloved by his parishioners, there will be a gradual assimilation in their tastes and mental habits to his own. And thus the love of knowledge which he feels will be communicated to them. And from them it will spread, in the daily interchange of thought and feeling, to their neighbors, and so ultimately be diffused in a greater or less degree through the community.

3. Social advantages. Whatever tends to enable and dispose men better to discharge the duties devolving upon them in consequence of the social relations which they sustain, may be reckoned among social advantages. The support of religious institutions tends, in several different ways, to do this. In the first place, assembling for public worship brings people together, and gives them opportunity to become acquainted with each other. Many an individual, on going to reside in a new place, has experienced advantages flowing to him in this way. But this is not all. In this case people are brought together under circumstances which are, in some respects, peculiarly favorable. The collision of interests, which, in the everyday intercourse of life, not unfrequently gives undue harshness to manners and language, ceases, in a measure, to exert its baleful influence, when men are assembled for the worship of God. That watchful jealousy lest our rights should be invaded or infringed upon, which often

gives to character an aspect of narrowness and illiberality, presents itself less prominently and loses something of its acerbity, when men, in obedience to divine authority, withdraw their thoughts and attention for a while from the interests and concerns of time. Thus there is often a perceptible diminution of repulsive traits of character; and the members of a community are exhibited to each other in a light well calculated to allay suspicion and lead them to look favorably upon each other, and thus to prepare them for a more judicious and more appropriate discharge of social duties. Let it not be said that this is holding up man in a false light to the view of his fellow man. It is rather throwing a light on human character, which is needed to dispel the shades too often cast by selfishness, and jealousy, and passion over the intercourse of men with each other. Too often does prejudice resulting from these feelings lead us to put the most unfavorable construction on the conduct of our fellow men, and to attribute to wilful, determined malignity every case in which their interests have interfered with our own, or their path has crossed that which we had marked out for ourselves. Too often does it whisper to us that the virtues of our fellow-men are specious, and that those actions which appear noble in them flow from sinister motives. Surely then, influences antagonistic to these are needed,-influences which shall lead us to feel that the man who is our rival in business or our competitor for public favor, may still be a man of generous views and noble spirit; and that an individual who, viewed in one light, appears far from estimable, may, when viewed in another, be found to have substantial claims on our approbation and esteem. Again, religious institutions often furnish matter for interesting and profitable conversation in the occasional meetings of neighbors during the week. At one time, some interesting topic of conversation may be suggested by information coinmunicated from the pulpit; at another, by some text of Scripture alluded to or explained, and at another by some striking application of an important principle to cases in real life. The conversation suggested by such topics as these will generally be of an improving character, such as is in some measure worthy of an immortal mind. True it is that there are minds which will find, even in subjects connected with religious worship,

materials for trifling conversation or slanderous remarks. But such minds would find poison any where. And the fact that they find it in the sanctuary does not therefore invalidate the position that the natural tendency of religious institutions is to furnish materials for profitable and instructive conversation.

Again, religious institutions tend to produce refinement of manners and to promote correct taste. The grosser exhibitions of roughness and vulgarity, disgusting as they are at any time or place, are felt to be peculiarly so in the presence of large assemblies. Many a man who, in the presence of a few, would place no restraint either on his words or actions, would, if conscious that his course was observed by a large assembly, guard carefully against rudeness of speech or vulgarity of behavior. Besides this, the tendency of all truly religious influence is to restrain those selfish and worldly passions and propensities, which generate a large part of that boisterous, profane vulgarity, so disgusting to the man of refinement as well as to the Christian.

4. Pecuniary advantages. At first view it may seem as if the institutions of religion had no relation to the pecuniary interests of men. And probably there are not a few who refuse to do any thing to sustain these institutions, on the ground that it will be so much money expended without an equivalent, and therefore, in financial language, an unprofitable investment. But a little candid reflection will correct these superficial views. There is a great variety of influences flowing forth from the institutions of religion, which tend, more or less directly, to promote pecuniary prosperity.

In the first place, wherever religious institutions are valued by a large or even a considerable part of a community, readiness of access to places of religious worship will be one of the elements which determine the value of real estates. The price rises with the demand; and there being many in such a community who prefer to live near a place of worship, the demand for residences thus situated is greater than for others, and therefore the market price, other things being equal, is higher. Accordingly it is very common to see, in advertisements of real estate, this very thing mentioned as enhancing the value of property offered for sale. The shrewd calculator well knows,

whether he cares for religion or not, that there are many to whom the announcement of such a fact would render the property offered more desirable, and that it is therefore sound policy to make that announcement.

The same causes tend to increase population, where religious institutions are sustained. Many persons would forego important advantages of a secular nature rather than deprive themselves and their families of the opportunity of attending public worship. And thus the fact that religious institutions are sustained in a place tends to make the population of that place greater than it would otherwise be. Nor is this the only way in which it tends to produce this effect. The moral character of a community which sustains religious institutions is generally far higher than that of one which does not. Hence there is a greater degree of mutual confidence, and pecuniary investments are consequently felt to be safer. As a natural result of this, exchanges are effected with greater ease and rapidity; returns from investments are more speedy and sure; litigation is less frequent; business is conducted more promptly and with less expense, and the number of different kinds of business which can profitably be carried on in the place, is materially increased. All these things operate as causes tending to increase population, to render business more active, the prospect of success in secular pursuits brighter. Intelligent business men understand this, and anticipate these results. Accordingly it is often observed that the introduction of a stated ministry and the other usual means of grace into a town is, very frequently, soon followed by a rise in the value of real estate, an increased appearance of comfort and respectability in the dwellings of the inhabitants, and a quickened movement of the whole current of business operations.

It is worthy of remark in this connection, that religious institutions exert an important influence in diminishing many sources of expense in a community. Ignorance is often a cause of serious losses. Vice, in many of its forms, is prodigiously expensive. Nor are their immediate victims the only persons whom they involve in expense. By the careless or unfaithful discharge of duties devolving upon them, by mistakes or wilful violations of trust in agencies and other similar relations, and finally by becoming a public charge, the ignorant and the vicious of

ten entail expense on a considerable portion, and sometimes on the whole mass of the community to which they belong. The contemplation of individual cases may not always make this obvious, because those cases may happen to be exceptions to the general principle. But let the principle be applied on a broad scale, and few will see reason to doubt its correctness. Who, for instance, would say that a merchant, a mechanic or a manufacturer would probably be able to carry on business as economically in a community composed principally of ignorant or abandoned men, as in one in which few, if any, such men were to be found? His taxes would probably be higher, the expense of collecting his debts greater, and his losses, from the ignorance or the wickedness of those whom he might have occasion to employ, more frequent. In addition to all this, his neighbors, suffering from the same causes, would be less able to afford that patronage which is the life of business. In view of all these facts, it need not seem surprising that it has sometimes been found easier to meet the usual expenses of a community and sustain religious institutions in addition, than to meet the former without sustaining the latter. Could business men, in towns where religious institutions are not enjoyed, see what would be the result of establishing those institutions, they would probably come to the conclusion. that a liberal expenditure for the purpose of establishing them would, in the end, prove to be, in the strictest sense, a profitable investment of capital.

5. Political advantages. To a mind accustomed to carry on extended processes of generalization, it will appear obvious that between the religious and political relations of a community there is a close connection. Let all sense of moral obligation be withdrawn from the minds of those who control the political condition of a nation, and it is easy to foresee that ruin will soon overtake that nation. No special interposition of Providence would be needed to bring upon such a nation the fearful retribution which it would justly deserve. That retribution would be speedily and terribly accomplished by the furious passions, which would then rage through the country with unrestrained violence. Every section of such a country would be a moral volcano, pouring its streams of desolation and death in every direction. Wild, tumultuous, fu