ne, for it became
infinite, and was thrown open to all. He first of all opened the
consolations of free thought, of freedom from old superstition, of love,
and strength, and inward joy, to the whole race of mankind. No narrow
limits of sect or caste or nationality cramped him, the first great
Cosmopolite. We cannot sufficiently admire the infinite adaptability,
the universal knowledge of humanity, the boundless sympathy with man,
which are everywhere manifest in the original Christian philosophy of
life. What a depth of meaning in the symbolic bread and wine, typical of
the life which flows through eternity and all its changes, of human love
and birth and death, of bounteous, beautiful nature, with its
continually renewed strength--the whole given, not in funereal guise,
not with sombre fasting, but as a joyous feast.

The New Testament abounds in symbols, parables, and proverbs, taken from
ancient tradition, but beautifully woven into a purer faith, which
taught that the healthy joys of life, and all knowledge of divine truth,
should be given not to a few kings or priests, a few favored with
initiation into divine mysteries, as of old, but to the whole world; for
the spirit of Christianity was identical with the genius of
republicanism. As taught by our Lord Jesus Christ, it was eminently
healthy, brave-hearted, and joyous. It did not commend celibacy, nor
excess of fasting, nor too long prayers, nor righteousness overmuch. It
did not approve of a plethora of outward goods, while the culture of our
highest faculties was neglected. It condemned all excess of care, even
in our daily duties, at the expense of that 'better part' which
distinguishes us from mere ants or bees. It gave no warrant for the
dismal dirges and melancholy groans which are raised in its name, by men
whom Jesus would have been the first to reprove. 'It was a religion of
life and of beauty, of friendship and temperate mirth, of love, truth,
and manliness; one which opposed neither feasting at weddings nor "going
a fishing."'

The temptation to find a refuge from the evils of life in active
exertion, instead of cultivating the sources of joy in our own nature,
is the subject of an ingenious and striking chapter. In a land, where
enjoyment in many minds is connected with a sense of sin, it is
doubtless better that the overflowing energy of character, which is a
trait of the population, should seek vent in the excitements of labor,
than in poisonous li