The present volume is in a great measure a review of men who have brought their learning, either, on the one side to assail Christianity, or on the other, to defend it. I have endeavored to do full justice to the attainments and the characters of both; and have been careful to draw my conclusions not only from their published writings but also from their biographies as prepared by themselves or by their chosen friends. I have made it my object to look not only at their productions but at the men themselves; not only at their learning but at their lives.

Here I have derived much assistance from our Periodical Literature. I had occasion to observe in a previous publication, that the Reviews and Periodicals of our day are no longer to be viewed as mere fingerposts pointing to the stores of knowledge. They are the channels through which many of the best writers pour forth their intellectual treasures, giving us their own views combined with the views of other men, and generally not diluted, but distilled and condensed. It ought to be a source of sincere thankfulness in the mind of every Christian, that whatever might have been the deviations of former times, there is scarce a Periodical in the English language of a high reputation for talent and learning, which does not avow itself as an advocate of Christianity; nor do I know of any subject on which they have shown more ability, than when they have set themselves to analyze the character and the spirit of Infidels and of Infidelity.

I have made several quotations from these articles, and

am indebted to them for many valuable suggestions.

I have taken an unusually large space in this volume for notes; and I had thought, at one time, of incorporating much of the matter which they contain, in the body of the Lectures themselves. But as many of those who had heard the Lectures wished them published as delivered, I have complied with their preference. Much that is contained in the notes, however, could not well be dispensed with when the discourses were to be issued as a work from the press.

In our contest with Infidelity, the war cannot be car ried into Africa with too much perseverance and determination. When the spirit and aim of the Infidel are analyzed with a careful scrutiny, "the whited sepulchre " will often be found to be so "full of all uncleanness " as to furnish an important comment on his creed. It has been too much the practice to consider the rejection of Christianity rather as an error or misfortune, than as a crime. The Bible describes it as heinous sin against God, as a wilful war against truth, and not only against the truth which lies at the foundation of whatever is stable and precious in this world, but against the sacred truth on which rests all our hope for the world to come. In this light I have endeavored to present it, and as I have not shrunk from imputing insincerity and a want of good faith, to the men who have distinguished themselves by their infidelity, I have felt it due both to my readers and

to myself, that the proof of the charge should be within easy reach of the reader. On such points I have accordingly furnished evidence in the notes, which could not so conveniently be introduced into the text of the Lectures.

Besides; as some of the positions which I have taken may seem new, such as the indebtedness of the Greeks to the Hebrews, in science and art; and as many of the authorities by which I sustain the views that I present are not easily accessible, I have extended the notes on such subjects, that my readers might have some of the principal references brought at once before them.

It is not to be expected that in the Lectures which are to follow the present volume, I would presume to cover every branch of science which should be rescued from the hands of infidelity, and shown to be in full harmony with the Scriptures. This must be the work of successive writers. I hope to do part of it; and will endeavor so to classify the subjects which I may take up, that each volume will form a work complete within itself, independently of the others which may precede or follow it. How far I may go, must depend on the good pleasure of Him who has fixed the measure of my days on earth. I have thus far found the employment a source of pleasure, and intend to pursue it as the main object of my future years, in the hope that, with the Divine blessing, it may be somewhat useful to the great cause of inspired truth. In

the next volume, I take up a subject, which during seve ral years past, has occupied a large share of attention in both the religious and literary worlds. It will be entitled

THE BIBLE AND GEOLOGY WITH ITS RESULTS;

in which, I hope not only to show the entire harmony of the Bible with the settled principles of Geological Science, but also to point out various portions of Scripture which are signally illustrated by Geological discoveries, and which must otherwise have remained obscure and perplexing.

FIRST LECTURE.

Men of Learning who have fallen into Infidelity.

I Cor. i. 20.

"Where is the scribe?

Where is the disputer of

this world?"

The two great enemies of Divine Revelation are Superstition on the one hand, and Infidelity on the other. The former professes to believe in Christianity, but obscures and often buries it beneath the inventions and traditions of men. The latter rejects it, either in whole or in part, as untrue and irrational. But in nothing is the difference between the two more decided and marked, than in their mode of assailing the truth. Superstition generally makes its assaults openly and without disguise, "going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom it may devour." Infidelity, at least in its beginnings, is usually both timid and treacherous. It masks