All things are interrogated as to their origin, intent, tendency, and lawfulness, without much regard to their antiquity, or the authority with which they are clothed. The cry is everywhere heard for free speech and free inquiry, that Right may prevail, and Imposture be put to flight. It is beginning to be seen, that not only are these the best weapons, but that no others may be innocently used against Wrong. Revolutions are to be wrought out by reason, not by brute force.

It was a bold act when the divine right of kings to rule over the people was questioned and denied; it was a bolder act when it was declared, (as it was by our revolutionary fathers,) that even the toleration of a king was not compatible with the liberty of the people. But other voices are heard, not only protesting against monarchical governments, but demanding that even republican governments, as now constituted, be dispensed with, for something more just, protective, and beneficent. The political views of 1776 have been greatly transcended; and the doctrine, that might is right, when the majority obtain the reins of power, is seen by many to be as essentially despotic in principle, as that of the divine right of kings. Religiously, there are those who go much further than did Luther, when he attacked the Romish Church as inherently corrupt and anti-christian; for they maintain that the Protestant Church rests on no better foundation than the Romish, and is as false in its claims. All the winds of controversy are freshly blowing, and well may they tremble, whose houses are built upon the sand; but those whose cause is just, who are earnest seekers after truth, who are in the right, may join in the song of the royal singer of Israel- God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar

and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swellThey that trust in the Lord shall be as

ing thereof'.

Mount Zion, that cannot be moved.'

If we had not innumerable facts to prove the general corruption of the times, the prevalent fear of free speech and free inquiry would prove it; for where the mind and tongue are fettered, either by imperial edicts, by ecclesiastical bulls, by statutory enactments, by the terrors of summary punishment, by popular sentiment, by the fear of suffering, or by the prospect of beggary, it indicates an evil state of society, and the supremacy of a false and sanguinary religion. It is under such circumstances that hypocrisy and superstition flourish like briars and thorns on an uncultivated soil.

Talk not of this or that subject being too sacred for investigation! Is it too much to assert, that there is but one object beneath the skies that is sacred-and that is, MAN? Surely, there is no government, no institution, no order, no rite, no day, no place, no building, no creed, no book, so sacred as he who was before every government, institution, order, rite, day, place, building, creed, and book, and by whom all these things are to be regarded as nothing higher or better than means to an end, and that end his own elevation and happiness; and he is to discard each and all of them, when they fail to do him service, or minister unto his necessities. They are not of heaven, but of men, and may not, therefore, receive the homage of any human being. Be assured, that whatever cannot bear the test of the closest scrutiny, has no claim to human respect or confidence, even though it assume to be sacred in its orgin, or given by inspiration of God, but must be treated as spurious, profane, dangerous.

Let, then, the mind, and tongue, and press, be free. Let free discussion not only be tolerated, but encouraged and

asserted, as indispensable to the freedom and welfare of mankind. A forcible suppression of error is no aid to the cause of truth; and to allow only just such views and sentiments to be spoken and circulated as we think are correct, is to combine bigotry and cowardice in equal proportion. If I give my children no other precept - if I leave them no other example-it shall be, a fearless, impartial, thorough investigation of every subject to which their attention may be called, and a hearty adoption of the principles which to them may seem true, whether those principles agree or conflict with my own, or with those of any other person. The best protection which I can give them is to secure the unrestricted exercise of their reason, and to inspire them with true self-reliance. I will not arbitrarily determine for them what are orthodox or what heretical sentiments, on any subject. I have no wish, no authority, no right to do So. I desire them to see, hear, and weigh, both sides of every question. For example:-I wish them to examine whatever may be advanced in opposition to the doctrine of the divine inspiration of the Bible, as freely as they do whatever they find in support of it; to hear what may be urged against the doctrines, precepts, miracles, or life of Jesus, as readily as they do any thing in their defence; to see what arguments are adduced for a belief in the non-existence of God, as unreservedly as they do the evidence in favor of his existence. I shall teach them to regard no subject as too holy for examination; to make their own convictions paramount to all human authority; to reject whatever conflicts with their reason, no matter by whomsoever enforced; and to prefer that which is clearly demonstrative to mere theory. And why do I intend to pursue such a course? Because I am not infallible, and therefore dare not put on the robes of infallibility. Because I think free inquiry is essential to the life of truth among mankind.

Because I believe that right will prevail over wrong, and all the sooner in a fair conflict.

Because,

'Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again;

Th' eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,

And dies among her worshippers! '

It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore,' says Lord Bacon, and to watch the ships tossed upon the sea; but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth - a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene - and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below: so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in Charity, rest in Providence, and turn upon the poles of Truth."

'Whoever is afraid,' says Bishop Watson, of submitting any question, civil or religious, to the test of free discussion, seems to me to be more in love with his own opinion than with the truth.' A noble sentiment for a man,—much more for a prelate !

No sentiment has been more greatly admired, or more frequently quoted, since it was uttered, than that of Jefferson-Error of opinion may be safely tolerated, where Reason is left free to combat it.'

'Philosophy, wisdom, and liberty,' says Sir W. Drummond, support each other. He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.'

'The imputation of novelty,' says John Locke, 'is a terrible charge amongst those who judge of men's heads as they do of their perukes, by the fashion and can allow none to be right but received doctrines.'

Coleridge tersely says He who begins with loving Christianity better than Truth, will end by loving himself better than either.'

'There is nothing more unreasonable,' says Lord Mansfield, more inconsistent with the rights of human nature, more contrary to the spirit and precepts of the Christian religion, than persecution for opinion.'

It was the complaint of Cicero' Most men - alas! I know not why prefer to rest in error, and defend with pertinacity their cherished dogmas, than to examine without bigotry, and seek out what is rational and most consistent.'

'A theological system,' says Dr. Jortin, is too often a temple consecrated to implicit faith; and he who enters in there to worship, instead of leaving his shoes, after the Eastern fashion, must leave his understanding at the door; and it will be well if he find it when he comes out again.' What can be more brave than the words, what more sublime than the front of M. Antoninus, when he exclaimed — 'I seek after Truth, by which no man ever yet was injured!'

'I am in the place,' said the intrepid John Knox, on one occasion, where I am demanded of conscience to speak the truth, and therefore the truth I speak, impugn it whoso list.' It is Truth that results from discussion and from controversy,' says Paley — not confusion and error.

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Among all the noble sayings that fell from the lips of that great champion of English freedom, John Milton, none deserves to be eternized more than this:- Let Truth and Falsehood grapple who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter?'

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The spirit of Jesus,' says the amiable and courageous Abbe de la Mennais, is a spirit of peace, of compassion, and of love. They who persecute in his name, and who search men's consciences with the sword; who torture the body to convert the soul; who cause tears to flow, instead