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they think of taking any themselves; notwithstanding there is this peculiarity about the supplies of the Bible, that, however large a quantity any one may take to himself, there is just as much left for every body else as there would have been if he had taken nothing. The well is always full, for it is living water that supplies it, and it runs in as fast as all men together can draw it out.

Read the Bible, then, with self appropriation of its instructions and its admonitions, its warnings and its rebukes. Never fear that you will deprive your neighbor of any thing that rightfully belongs to him, for there is not the least danger of that; and in regard to your spiritual improvement, at least, there is no harm in your taking care of yourself first; and, by the way, this is the very best method you can adopt to take care of others. First, cast the beam out of thine own eye, then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

8. They read without devotion.

The Bible is peculiarly a devotional book, and to be fully comprehended it must be read with a devotional spirit. No learning, no attention, no study will compensate for a lack of this-there is no substitute for it whatever. There is a peculiarity in this which lies deep in human nature. Anatomists tell us that when a limb is amputated, the nerves and tendons which originally terminated in the severed part and connected it with the brain, are liable to painful convulsions and throbs, which the patient seems to feel in the limb that is lost. So by sin we have cut off our soul from its natural connection with God, and the severed nerves and cords which bound the soul to its Creator are continually vibrating and throbbing towards him, and thus fill the heart with_unutterable emotions, which can find their centre and resting point only in God. (See Rom. 8: 16, 26, 27).

The Bible is full of passages designed to meet and relieve those billowings and heavings of the soul, but without a devotional spirit such passages can never be appreciated or comprehended. A man utterly destitute of poetical taste might as well undertake to read Homer or Milton with the expectation of pleasure, as to attempt to enter into and feel the sublime beauties and pathos of the Bible without a devotional spirit. The truly devotional reader seldom goes far wrong in any part of the Bible, however poor his opportunities or limited his means of information, for the spirit itself beareth witness with his spirit; and the habitually undevotional reader, however powerful his talent or great his attainments, can very seldom reproduce to his own mind a Biblical thought in its exact Biblical shape-for the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God, they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually derived.

BRETHREN OF THE COLLEGE OF TEACHERS,

The circumstances under which we are assembled remind us. that we have a deep personal as well as professional interest in the Bible. It is the only luminary to cast light on the stupendous realities of eternity, and that we are all fast hastening to eternity we have recently been most affectingly reminded. I look over this assembly, but one who has always been among its chief attractions, one on whom we have all been in the habit of relying to give interest to our discussions, and inspire our meetings with spirit and life, one in whose talents, singleness of purpose, and entire magnanimity we placed implicit confidence, ALEXANDER KINMONT, is not here. His body is at rest in the tomb, his spirit is with God who gave it.

Kinmont was a man of great simplicity-he was willing to appear just what he was-he did nothing for ostentation, he was entirely above the littleness of wishing to render himself conspicuous, and the deference which he always commanded was the pure homage of willing hearts to his intellectual power and moral worth. He was a man of unsullied integrity, his aims were elevated, his means of reaching them upright. He was a man of independence his opinions were his own, and he took the responsibility of them. He never censured others for not thinking as he did, but freely accorded to them the same independence of judgment which he claimed and exercised for himself. He thought no worse of others for not thinking as he did, than he did of himself for not thinking as they did.

Kinmont was a man of singular frankness. He could afford to change his opinions and unhesitatingly to avow the change whenever he saw good reason for it-and all the good or evil which he thought of any measure or any man he was always ready to speak out, whenever the occasion seemed to him to demand it. He possessed a richly classical mind, and was one of the very few who in this utilitarian age of the world, could enter into the spirit and the sympathies of the great minds of antiquity; and it was because he was familiar with the classic authors that he vigorously defended them whenever they were assailed by ignorance and prejudice. Plato was his favorite, and his researches into the spirit of the Platonic philosophy extended to the writers of the middle ages. With all his admiration of other minds, he was singularly original in his own conceptions and expressions. He never doled out dull quotations-his thoughts were always clear and sprightly as the voice of birds in their native woodland, and if by chance there was a foreigner there, he came on account of his relationship to the native species.

Kinmont believed, reverenced, loved the Bible. The spirit of

the sacred pages breathed in harmony with the music of his soul. The character of Christ he loved with all the warm enthusiasm of his nature, and rested on Him his hopes for eternity,

"No further seek his merits to disclose.

Or draw his frailties from their dread abode,
(There they alike in trembling hope repose,)
The bosoni of his Father and his God,"

ADDRESS

ON

THE FORMATION OF SOCIETY; ITS LEADING DEVELOPMENTS, AND ON THE PROPRIETY OF INCLUDING THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF OUR GOVERNMENT

IN A COURSE OF POPULAR INSTRUCTION.

BY HON. JOHN MC LEAN.

THERE are few subjects connected either intimately or remotely with education, which have not lost much of their novelty by frequent discussion. No one at this day can hope to present views original and striking, on themes which have called forth the research and exhausted the thoughts, of so many distinguished minds. He must be a gleaner who passes over the fields, which have been harvested by others. But the ever varying circumstances of society afford new aspects to the subject of popular education; which justly entitles it to the highest consideration.

I shall not enter upon this subject at large, but having been invited to attend this Convention, and deliver an address appropriate to the occasion, I shall present a few general thoughts on the formation of society, on its leading developments, and on the propriety of including the elementary principles of our government, in a course of popular instruction.

Much has been spoken and written on what has been called the golden age; an age in which man existed in comparative innocence, and was governed by his own impulses free from all restraint. This age, as represented, never existed, except in the imaginations of poets and novelists. It is a state contrary to the order of our being.

Combinations for purposes of protection and depredation result from the nature of man. Unrestrained he seeks things which are not his own, and is ready to defend those of which he is in possession. His revenge leads him to trespass upon the persons of

others, and his fears cause him to rely for safety in the power of numbers. This, if not the universal propensity, pervades the mass of men, in a state of nature, to so great an extent as to agitate and give character to the whole. And here is the origin of government. It is founded in necessity; a necessity which results from the passions of our nature.

This view is not in accordance with that which has been taken on this subject by some distinguished writers. In his Republic, Cicero says, "a nation is a collection of individuals united by a common law and a common government. The origin of such an union is not the weakness of man in an individual state; but the social instinct of our nature. We are not formed to live separately from each other, and wherever men are found it is in a state of society." The same doctrine is held by Grotius. Montesquieu says, are all united by birth. A son is born by the side of his father, and there he stays. This is society and the origin of society."

"men

That the social instinct of our nature and the ties of relationship have always had their influence, no one can doubt; but they can only lead to the formation of society on a very limited or patriarchal scale; and an association or government beyond this, must have a wider basis; and a government once formed becomes more or less perfect, as circumstances tend to advance or retard the progress of society.

In its first stage it may be a simple association, for the subjugation of enemies or protection of friends. But this step when once taken, necessarily leads to the adoption of rules for the government of the associated community. These rules are modified and enlarged, as the association requires.

The simplest form of government is that in which all powers are vested in an individual, and this is called à despotism; the most complicated, is that of a federal republic, consisting of distinct sovereignties like our own.

There

Whatever form the government may assume to sustain itself, it must concentrate the energies of those who formed it. must be means provided to carry into effect the sovereign will, whether that will shall reside in an individual, in the people at large, or in a selected number of individuals. Isolated, man can accomplish but little; associated, it is difficult to fix the limit of his power. His concentrated energies change the face of the world, and bring into subjection the most powerful agents in nature. War, it has been remarked, seems to be his natural element. Whether this be true or false, war has called forth his first, his highest and most destructive energies.

The early history of our race contains little else than an account of battles lost and won, of cities overthrown, and empires ravaged by fire and sword. Countries favored by nature with the most

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