Systematic theology, or indeed deep learning in any of its branches, sacred or profane, Mr. Marsden had never cultivated. His life had not been given to abstraction and close study, but to the most active pursuits. Activity, however, is not inconsistent with deep thoughtfulness, and it affords some aids to reflection and observation, which often lay the foundation for a breadth of mind and a solid wisdom to which the mere student or man of letters seldom attains. Mr. Marsden, too, was well acquainted with his Bible, and, above most men, with himself. Thus, without being in any sense a learned divine, he was an instructive minister, and often an original thinker. His early acquaintance with Dr. Mason Good had led him deeply to consider the question of the deity of Christ and the following letter upon this all-important doctrine proves how capable he was of standing forward in its defence, and how deeply alive he was to its importance. It was addressed to one who had begun to doubt upon the subject of our Lord's Divine nature. "Paramatta, June 13, 1825. "MY DEAR SIR,--I ought to have answered your letter long ago, but was prevented from one thing and another, which called away my attention when I was determined to write. I received the books you sent me. That respecting our Lord's Divinity I read with care and attention. I found nothing in it that would satisfy me; there was no food to the soul, no bread, no water of life. I found nothing that suited my ruined state. I know I have destroyed myself by my iniquities, that I am hopeless and helpless, and must be eternally undone unless I can find a Divine Saviour who is able and willing to answer all the demands of law and justice. If I were alone in the world, and no individual but myself believed that Jesus was God over all blessed for evermore, and that he had died for my sins, that the penalty due to them was laid upon him, I know and am persuaded unless I believed this I could not be saved. I find no difficulty in my mind in praying to him, because I believe he is able to save. The dying thief did this in the very face of death: 'Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.' Jesus promised that he should be with him that very day in paradise. Stephen, we are told, was a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost; he was mighty in the Scriptures, so that none of the Jewish priests were able to withstand his arguments which he advanced in support of the doctrine that Jesus was the Son of God. When he was brought to the place of execution his only hope of eternal life was in Jesus. 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,' was his dying prayer. He fled to him as the Almighty God at this most awful period. No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, says St. Paul, which is Christ Jesus. It is to no purpose to