the same with that on which the philosopher
reposes his trust, when he sees things that yet are not as though they
were,--the revelations of the grave, the spiritual and intellectual
communion of a higher state, and the blessed results of the trials and
privations of the present. And a similar congeniality prevails
respecting every other essential doctrine and principle of the Gospel;
and even respecting its minor details. The universal spread of Glad
Tidings is a fit subject for universal rejoicing. The moral beauty of
the Saviour's character is recognizable by all; the spirit of his
teachings is congenial to all; and the very illustrations in which they
are set forth are of a universal nature. Storms everywhere beat on
human dwellings, and in all regions flowers spring, and the lights of
heaven shine and are obscured. The filial and fraternal relations
subsist everywhere; widowed mothers mourn over the bier of a son, and
rejoicings are witnessed at marriage feasts. The parables of the Gospel
are the most appropriate elementary teachings for all minds from pole to
pole; and the principles which Christ proposed command the assent of
every intellect, from that of the child whom he set in the midst of his
followers, to that which, exalted by all holy influences, is surrounded
on its release from the grave by a throng of perfected spirits. It is
for man to beware how he limits what God has thus made universal; how he
monopolizes what God designs to be diffused; how he encumbers by human
inventions that truth which Divine wisdom has made free to all.

By the Gospel, a new relation is established between Him who gives and
him who receives it; and it is for man to beware how he attempts to
modify this relation, or to intrude on the special communion which it
establishes. It is not in the power of man to take away any thing from
the Gospel, though he may narrow the capacity of its recipients; but he
must beware how he adds to it the teachings of his own low and vain
imaginations. He can do nothing to impair Divine truth, for it is made
invulnerable by God: but he may impair and destroy its efficacy for
himself and his brethren, by mistaking its nature and perverting its
influences; by transferring to others the task which he may not
delegate, of admitting its evidences and interpreting its commands. It
is not in the power of man to silence the voice of God speaking on earth
through Christ; but he must beware of listening to any