But it is the dictate of reason, the moment it is illumined from on high, that the truth should take the control of the conscience, the understanding, and the heart, in all we find to do. It is to preside over thought, word, and deed. It is to direct us not merely in actions which are strictly and properly religious, like praise, and prayer, and public worship. It is to give a religious character to all that we attempt; and one great reason why religion is often despised is, that not a few of those who profess to hold the truth forget its righteous claims in their dealings with their fellow-men. There is a parent sitting by the couch where his first-born is stretched--a corpse. As he gazes on the pale features, more beautiful, he thinks, than ever now, because death has turned them into marble, what consolation can the truth yield to him, if it has been his habit to confine its influence to a corner, a fragment of life, instead of regarding it as the sunshine or the vital air of the soul? There is a sister weeping by the grave of one who has just become a prey to corruption. Her heart is lonely, and stricken, and sore--she feels it would be a relief could it break. And what blessing can the truth, the very truth as it is in Jesus, yield to that wounded spirit, if it has been its habit to seclude and sequester religion, to keep it apart from the business of life, like some portion of our dress, meant only for solemn seasons or for holidays? OUR HOMES. There is another. The hand of death is on him. He cannot be blind to its approach. He /must/ take home the warning, "Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die and not live." And of what avail to that man is the very truth which came from heaven, if it has been kept at a distance from the heart, like something which we dislike or dread? Can a name, an echo, a phantom, a shadow, really avail that dying man's soul? THE PROVINCE OF TRUTH. Or there is another still. The Spirit of God has fastened conviction upon his conscience, and he feels now what it is to be a sinner. "What must I do to be saved?"--"O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me?" now embody the fears of his awakened spirit; and to soothe that spirit, or hush these fears, what avails the solemn ceremonial or the decent form, while that is all? Can a form atone for guilt? Can a pageant cleanse the conscience? Can some occasional observance of a religious rite operate like a charm, and either silence the demands or uphold the purity of the law of God? Nay, "miserable comforters are they all." It is truth in the heart guiding to Him who is the truth itself, which alone can yield the troubled conscience peace.