Let, therefore, the knowledge of physical science be widely diffused, but let the basis of Christian principles be first laid; for thus not only may the evil of scepticism be provided against, but the field of moral and intellectual enjoyment and improvement will be enlarged to the student; for never does the study of the material universe more elevate the mind, and expand the heart, than when we are accustomed to refer every thing to a great and gracious Creator,—to look habitually “Through nature up to nature’s God.” “We know that there is a superficial philosophy, which casts the glare of a most seducing brilliancy around it; and spurns the Bible, with all the doctrine and all the piety of the Bible, away from it; and has infused the spirit of Antichrist into many of the literary establishments of the age: but it is not the solid, the profound, the cautious spirit of that philosophy, which has done so much to ennoble the modern period of our world; for the more that this spirit is cultivated and understood, the more will it be found in alliance with that Spirit, in virtue of which all that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God is humbled, and all lofty imaginations are cast down, and every thought of the heart is brought into the captivity of the obedience of Christ.” {171} The first great principle, therefore, which all must steadily keep in view and strenuously advocate, is that _the Bible should form the basis of education_. It is not sufficient to say, that education is to be conducted on religious principles, for on the subject of religion there exists, in this day, a most unfortunate and mischievous variety of opinions, which would be much diminished if the Holy Scriptures were made the real, as they are the professed, groundwork of every system of Christian instruction. Two other great principles, which the true servants of God should strongly recommend and enforce, as being intimately and necessarily connected with the first—that the Bible is to be the basis of education,—are, that _the Bible is to be the rule of faith_, _and the guide of public and private life_. From a neglect of these three great principles of Christian conduct, it is hardly too much to say, that almost all the evils which afflict society have arisen: for they all reciprocate, and mutually contribute to their common perpetuation. The man of the world educates his son in the way best calculated to promote his temporal advancement: and that son, in his turn, when he becomes a father, is regardless of the eternal interests of his child, which he has never been taught to value. For the system begun in childhood is continued through all the stages of life; and “the spirit returns unto God who gave it,” having been occupied almost to the last moment of human existence with the pursuit of worldly advantage and enjoyment. Here we have, consequently, only the name of Christianity;