t--is sweeter, infinitely sweeter than all. It is the life and
blessedness of the soul. It is its greatness, its strength, its glory:
its joy, its paradise, its heaven.

4. If the churches abound with defects, the cause is in humanity, and
not in Christianity. Men are not imperfect because they are Christians,
but because they are not Christian enough. The worst men are the
farthest from Christianity, and the best are nearest to it. And the
worst creeds are the least Christian, and the best are the most
Christian. And Christianity is better than the best. There is not a
virtue on earth, nor a truth in the universe, which does not form a
part, or a consistent and fitting appendage, of the Christian system.
The best, the wisest, the noblest man on earth is no better, no wiser,
no nobler, than the teachings of Jesus tend to make the whole human
race.

5. The influence which Jesus exerted on the world, and the influence
which He is still exerting, is the mightiest and most beneficent ever
experienced by mankind; and the monument which He has raised for
Himself, the Christian Church, with all its institutions, its
literatures, its agencies and achievements is, beyond all comparison,
the grandest, the noblest, and in all respects the most magnificent and
glorious that the history of the world can boast. He has indeed gained
for Himself a name above every name; a glory and a power which have no
equal and no resemblance; and His followers may well adore Him as the
brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His love and
majesty.

6. And what can we do better than chime in with the anthem of His
worshippers? What can we do better than teach His beneficent doctrines,
and follow His glorious example? Talk as we will, the noblest and the
happiest life a man can live is a life of Christian love and
beneficence. And the best association on earth is that which is
organized on the principle of love to Christ, pledged to the
self-sacrificing labors of a wise philanthropy, the work of serving and
blessing mankind.

7. A belief in Christ gives one a power to do good to mankind which no
skeptic can have. It kindles love, and stimulates to activity, as
nothing else does. And it inspires courage, and produces patience, and
gives comfort under persecution. And it lays on us no unnecessary
restraints. It leaves us free to every good word and to every good work.
And it is friendly to science and to unlimited progress. It off