adaptation of his light and warmth to the wants of
every living thing--his wonderful and beneficent effects on plants and
trees, on animals and man, are the strongest proofs of His Divine
original. And so with Christianity, the Sun of the moral and spiritual
world. It proves its heavenly origin by its amazing adaptation to man's
nature, and by its almighty tendency to promote his improvement and
perfection; by the light, the life, the blessedness it gives; by the
love it kindles; by the glorious transformations which it effects in
depraved individuals and degenerate communities; by the peace, the hope,
the joy it inspires; and by the courage and strength it imparts both in
life and in death.

19. The form in which Christianity presented itself to me, and the way
in which it operated on my soul, may be seen from the articles I wrote
on "Christ and His teachings," about the time of my conversion. They
refer to the doctrine of Christ with regard to a Fatherly God, and His
loving care of His creatures. The first thing that struck me in this
doctrine was its beauty and tenderness. It is just the kind of doctrine
which the hearts of the best of men would wish to be true. It answers to
the weaknesses and the wants of our nature; to the longings and
aspirations of our souls. It is full of consolation. It makes the
universe complete. It makes man's life worth living. It makes the
greatness, the vastness, the infinitude of our intellectual and
affectional nature a blessing. It gives peace--the peace that passes
understanding. It gives joy,--the joy that is unspeakable and full of
glory. It opens our lips in the sight of sorrow, and enables us to give
the sufferer consolation. It gives the universe a head. It gives it
unity. It gives to man a Ruler. It gives to law a commanding force. It
gives to conscience a controlling power. It makes virtue duty, while it
gives to it fresh grandeur and beauty. It exalts it in our eyes; and it
endears it to our hearts. And it furnishes the all-perfect example. And
it makes reasonable the inculcation of humility and charity, of
forbearance and forgiveness. And it dignifies the work of beneficence.
It makes us the allies and fellow-workers of the infinite. It makes us
one with Him. In teaching the ignorant, in bringing back the erring, in
strengthening the weak, in reforming the vicious, in cheering the sad,
in blessing the world, we are working as children in fellowship with
their infinite Fathe