By these remarks, I am far from wishing to imply that there is not much to lament in Christian countries, or that since Christianity has been acknowledged and professed by a great part of the world, she has succeeded in making even the noblest of her sons faultless and sinless. Only one such man has ever trod our earth, and He was more than man, and shewed His divinity in the midst of human weakness and pain. All others are liable to error. And we must confess that, when we see the evils still remaining in Christendom, there is room for sadness; but there is none for despair. Moreover, no one would depreciate the Stoic system, because its disciples did not act up to its precepts, in every respect. Epictetus declared[32], there were many who were philosophers in name, far from being so in deed; and Seneca assures us[33], that Stoic philosophers “did not say how they themselves lived, but how men ought to live.” Yet I quite agree with Gataker[34], that there were well-attested instances, in almost every age, of adherents to the system, who, by their faithful observance of their principles in the conduct of their lives, might put to shame many professors of Christianity, and cause them to blush. But I have been speaking of the effect of each system, as a whole, on nations and masses of men, and on individuals. And we see that Stoicism, after centuries of effort, proved itself unequal to the regeneration of men, and as completely failed as any other merely human scheme, in this respect. We should keep in mind, that systems are not relatively superior in proportion to the adherence of their disciples. Unwavering obedience, on the part of certain of its followers, does not necessarily imply the excellence of a system; it simply proves that some of its disciples are faithful. On the contrary, the excellence of a system is seen, when it does a great work and raises a fallen world, in spite of the apparent inadequacy of its means; in spite of the luke-warm attachment and want of consistency, often displayed by its followers. In this way, the more than human perfection of Christianity has been shown. If her children had been as faithful to her, as many of the Stoics were to their school, she had, ere this, made our earth a paradise. Even as things are, notwithstanding the introduction, into her midst, of doctrines and practices, foreign to her in origin, and opposed to her principles; notwithstanding the many shortcomings of her friends, and the unceasing opposition of her foes, and the resistance ever offered by the pride of man’s heart to her humbling doctrines; she carries on her glorious work successfully, and proves herself equal to her destined purpose. Footnote 17: _Adversus Stoicos_, 33. Footnote 18: Lib. XII. Cap. 26, collat. quoq. v. 10. Footnote 19: Plutarch, _De Placitis Philosophorum_, I. 28. Footnote 20: _De Providentia_, Cap. 1. Footnote 21: