only could inspire, are capable of influencing your mind;
you cannot fail to find, in such parts of his epistles as are adapted to
your understanding, the strongest persuasives to every virtue that can
adorn and improve your nature.

_The Epistle of St. James._

77. The Epistle of St. James is entirely practical, and exceedingly
fine; you cannot study it too much. It seems particularly designed to
guard Christians against misunderstanding some things in St. Paul's
writings, which have been fatally perverted to the encouragement of a
dependence on faith alone, without good works. But, the more rational
commentators will tell you, that by the works of the law, which the
Apostle asserts to be incapable of justifying us, he means not the works
of moral righteousness, but the ceremonial works of the Mosaic law; on
which the Jews laid the greatest stress as necessary to salvation. But,
St. James tells us, "that if any man among us seem to be religious, and
bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, that man's
religion is vain;"--and that "pure religion, and undefiled before God
and the Father, is this, to visit the fatherless and widow in their
affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Faith in
Christ, if it produce not these effects, he declareth is dead, or of no
power.

_Epistles of St. Peter, and the first of St. John._

78. The Epistles of St. Peter are also full of the best instructions and
admonitions, concerning the relative duties of life; amongst which are
set forth the duties of women in general, and of wives in particular.
Some part of his second Epistle is prophetical; warning the church of
false teachers and false doctrines, which undermine morality, and
disgrace the cause of Christianity.

79. The first of St. John is written in a highly figurative stile, which
makes it in some parts hard to be understood: but the spirit of divine
love which it so fervently expresses, renders it highly edifying and
delightful.--That love of God and of Man, which this beloved apostle so
pathetically recommends, is in truth the essence of religion as our
Saviour himself informs us.

_Of the Revelations._

80. The book of Revelations contains a prophetical account of most of
the greater events relating to the Christian church, which were to
happen from the time of the writer, St. John, to the end of the world.
Many learned men have taken a great deal of pains to explain it; and
they have