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ADDRESS OF THE REV. J. CLOWES. 285
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. (John iii. 20. )
"If this consideration is permitted to have its due
influence, it will, doubtless, lead you and every reader of
the writings in question, to attend well to the spirit and
disposition in which you read, from a prudent and
profitable suspicion that something may be wrong in
the state of the person’s mind who reads, as well as in
the matter of the book which he reads, and that it is not
always the fault of an author that his works are not
generally received and approved. You will therefore
begin like pure lovers of the truth, before you read to
remove from your hearts all those unreasonable prejudices
and partialities, which might tend to blind your eyes, and
pervert your judgments. You will recollect your Lord’s
words, where He says, ’ I thank thee, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto
babes ; (Matt. ix. 25. ) and with these words in your
remembrance, you will see the expediency of putting
away from you all that mere worldly wisdom and pru
dence which they condemn, as tending to hide the things
of God, and the equal necessity of cherishing that child
like and simple temper of mind, to which alone the things
of God ever have been, and ever will be made manifest.
You will be taught also by the same divine words, in
your examination of truth, not to place an ill-grounded
dependence on any attainments of mere human science,
or on any natural talents or intellectual abilities you may
possess, knowing that such advantages, unless under the
guidance of a humble and teachable spirit, have in all
ages of the church excited the bitterest persecution against
the truth of God, insomuch that when this Truth appeared
on earth in Person, the cry of crucify Him, crucify
Him,’ was principally at the instigation of learned critics,
deep-read scholars, admired orators, inquisitive philo
sophers, and especially of what were deemed at the time,
able expositors of the divine oracles. You will be further
cautioned by the above words, in your examination of
truth, against that servile attachment to great names, and
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