136 ON NOVEL OPINIONS to be allowed. If by rational religion is meant a religion singularly adapted to rational beings, no church on earth has a fairer claim to the appellation than the Church of England. It is rational to exercise our reason in examining and weighing the evidences of Christianity.; and, having clearly proved the authority on which they are grounded, it is then rational to submit our reason to its doctrines. It is rational to believe that we are apostates from our original bright- ness ; not only because we perceive it to be a scriptural doctrine, but because we see it in all around us, and feel it in all within us. It is rational fora being conscious of its weakness, to desire to lean upon something that is strong ; we therefore lean upon a rock, and that rock is Christ. Our church is a rational church ; for it:is sober without coldness, and ani- mated without enthusiasm. Its service unites the affections of the heart with the faculties of the mind ; it teaches to
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