regard to the doctrines and tenets of that church as set forth by him, I fully agree with him that that church must have a strictly national growth and a national organization. Neither will Germany adopt the religious life of China, nor will India accept blindly that of England or of any other European country. India has religious traditions and associations, tastes and customs, peculiarly sacred and dear to her, just as every other country has, and it is idle to expect that she will forego these; nay, she cannot do so, as they are interwoven with her very life. In common with all other nations and communities, we shall embrace the Theistic worship, creed, and gospel of the future church, we shall acknowledge and adore the Holy One, accept the love and service of God and man as our creed, and put our firm faith in God's almighty grace as the only means of our redemption. But we shall do all this in a strictly national and Indian style. We shall see that the future church is not thrust upon us, but that we independently and naturally grow into it; that it does not come to us as a foreign plant, but that it strikes its roots deep in the national heart of India, draws its sap from our national resources, and develops itself with all the freshness and vigour of indigenous growth. One religion shall be acknowledged by all men, One God shall be worshipped throughout the length and breadth of the world; the same spirit of faith and love shall pervade all hearts; all nations shall dwell together in the Father's house,-yet each shall have its own peculiar and free mode of action. There shall, in short, be unity of spirit, but diversity of forms; one body, but different limbs ; one vast community, with members labouring, in different ways and according to their respective resources and pecu

liar tastes, to advance their common cause. Thus India shall sing the glory of the Supreme Lord with Indian voice and with Indian accompaniments, and so shall England and America, and the various races and tribes and nations of the world, with their own peculiar voice and music, sing His glory; but all their different voices and peculiar modes of chanting shall commingle in one sweet and swelling chorus,―one universal anthem proclaiming in solemn and stirring notes, in the world below and the heavens above," the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.' May the Merciful Lord hasten the advent of the true church, and establish peace and harmony among His children! And as His name has been solemnly chanted to-night in this splendid hall, by an immense concourse of worshippers of various races and tribes, so may all His children assemble in His holy mansions, and blending their million voices in one grand chorus, glorify Him time without end!

I

AM not going to read to you a chapter from the theological records of the past. It is far from my object to trouble you with the dogmas of books or the opinions of conflicting churches on the subject of inspiration. It is simply my purpose, this evening, to present to you my own thoughts and sentiments on the true philosophy of prayer and inspiration, and expound certain truths of deep importance and interest, which an humble traveller in the spiritual world has gathered by his own personal observation and experience. These truths, however, are not without evidence. For corroborative testimony I appeal to all the seers and prophets and martyrs who lived in ancient times, and who, if history is to be believed, proclaimed in burning words, and at last sealed with their blood the true principles of inspiration. I appeal to the experiences of all spiritually-minded men, and to the natural instincts and convictions of unsophisticated humanity. I am ready to appeal also to the facts of your consciousness, and the results of your daily devotion and struggles; and I am sure if you honestly and impartially refer to your own experiences, you will there find an emphatic and living response to what I am about to say. Although we may differ from each other on certain questions of speculative and sectarian theology, I believe we all agree in the vital and fundamental principles of inspiration. The facts of divine inspiration, as actually realized in all ages, challenge universal assent, however, widely divergent men's theories and doctrines may be.

It must be confessed that the traditions of anti

quity and the civilization of the present day conspire to quench the fire of inspiration. Men who profess ancient systems of faith have been taught to believe that the golden age of inspiration has passed away, that modern nations have been banished for ever from the garden of Eden, and excluded from direct access to the Great God, that the kingdom of heaven is not before, but behind, It is the opinion and feeling of almost all religious sects that there is no hope whatever of being directly inspired by God in these days. It seems we have consented to learn true wisdom at the feet of earthly teachers alone, and seek the voice of God in the dead letter of books. Inspiration is treated, in this degenerate age, as a commodity which can be purchased only of booksellers. On the other hand, we find that the tendency of modern civilization and refinement is to "quench the spirit." The inertia of a massive and materialistic civilization has so affected us, that we feel we cannot rise into the higher regions of the spirit-world. Thus is it that in consequence of these adverse influences the tide of inspiration has ebbed away, and our religion is landed in dry and spiritless dogmatism.

But is it true that God has excluded us from direct communion with Him? Are we to depend wholly and exclusively upon human agency for revelation and inspiration? While we possess temporal advantages and material comforts vastly superior to those enjoyed by our forefathers, are we destined to stand behind them in the higher matters of faith? While the Merciful Father so freely vouchsafes unto us the superior benefits of modern advancement, has He resolved to deny us the one thing needful? Is it true that inspiration is altogether unattainable by men and women in this

age, and

that we must drink of the dry wells of theology, while our ancestors drank of the Living Fountain of eternal life? Against this anomaly the entire economy of Providence solemnly protests. If it be true that the same God reigns over us to-day who ruled the destinies of nations in days gone by, then it follows necessarily and inevitably, that His love is working as actively and tenderly in our midst as ever it did before, and that man is as near His loving spirit now as he was centuries back. Surely we are not less in need of Divine guidance than our forefathers. On the contrary, we feel that the peculiar temptations and trials inseparable from modern civilization, to which we are subject, render the direct action of God's spirit the more needful. With all the lusts of the flesh and the cravings of carnal humanity within us, and the new dangers of modern materialism around us, we have reasons to hope that at least the same means and opportunities of attaining inspiration and grace will be vouchsafed to us as were enjoyed in the earlier epochs of society. Our God lives,-the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. We do not and cannot believe that the God of the modern world is a sleeping or a dead God. No, He lives. He is always I AM. "In Him we live and move and have our being"-is as true of men to-day as it was in ancient times. We, too, like our ancestors, have been made in the image and likeness of our Father. His inspiration is as fresh to-day as it was yesterday. The light of His face and the power of His voice may be as fully perceived and felt in the depths of our inner consciousness as they were in the so-called age of inspiration. I say empathically, inspiration is not only possible, but it is a veritable fact in the lives of many devout souls in this age.