glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."

The unity, providence, and moral government of the Deity, were unknown or disregarded, and idolatry and polytheism, in all their repulsive forms, universally prevailed in the Gentile world; differing only in the grossness or refinement of their principles, but alike incompetent to form a character worthy of rational beings. The immortality of the soul was a mere subject of conjecture-a vague hope encouraged by some of the wisest among them; but neither taught nor enforced as having an important reference to present conduct: and were it otherwise, the bulk of the people would have derived no advantage from it. It has been observed, that the superstitions of the Heathen world have some, though a remote, resemblance to the true religion; meaning thereby, the Jewish ceremonies. This is admitted: but it is an external similitude only, probably handed down from antiquity by tradition; but so corrupted in the passage, as to have lost every vestige of its primitive value: "they changed the truth of God into a lie ;" and both the objects and acts of worship were alike a lie, and a libel on the unity, spirituality, and purity, of the invisible God. This is especially true of the doctrine of sacrifice which every where prevails, unquestionably an essential feature in the true religion; but in its gross and multiform perversions, has given rise to abominations and eruelties, which civilized humanity cannot contemplate without horror. The best comment on such philosophy and theology is to be found in the characters it formed, and the numberless vices and excesses which it fostered and encouraged examine this picture, and the heart will sicken at the repulsive detail.

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Modern, or more properly infidel, philosophy is far less the friend of man than that which we have considered. If the former class of regenerators fell short of the light of nature, and were without excuse; what are we to say those men who wilfully reject the light of revelation, not only in the doctrines it teaches on subjects confessedly above the province of reason, but also in those moral truths which regard man in his social capacity? The prevalence of their system would inevitably dissolve every tie of mutual obligation, exclude the Divine Governor from the superintendence of his own world, and disseminate the principles of impiety, fraud, and anarchy, far and wide. To speak of ethics in reference to such a system, is to use a term by no means applicable: the direct effect is so obviously to demoralize, that it is difficult, in common candour, to give the projectors credit for any other intention; happily, however, this house also is divided against itself, and the deistical philosophers are not more fortunate than their polytheistic predecessors in devising a code which can lay claim to consistency, for the regulation of human conduct. Many are the modifications, and diverse the principles, which prevail in this school; but they are all far removed from the light, the purity, and the majesty, of truth, who holds not the least alliance with these proud and pompous pretenders to the perfection of human wisdom.

Rel. Mag.-VOL. II.

Thus we arrive at the conclusion, that the light of nature is obviously deficient on the most important points, and by no means adapted to remove the criminality and wretchedness in which the world lies. In the material universe I see, on either hand, the manifestations of wisdom, power, and goodness; order and harmony were Nature's first law, and in these regions they still continue; but in the moral world, amongst the beings who are alone capable of a voluntary homage, who alone can exhibit features of moral good or evil,-all is disorder and discord; what I learn of the Deity is inductive. When I survey his inferior works, I find an entire variance with the lessons I am compelled to learn, when I hold converse with my own species or faithfully examine my own heart; if the Creator resemble his creatures, it is rather the reign of a demon than a deity; if, on the other hand, I arrive at the conclusion, that God is not such a one as ourselves, but infinitely wise, and infinitely good-how am I to reconcile this with the moral evil, which seems so universal as to be an integral part of human nature?

In the region we are now exploring, there is no voice, nor any that can answer this interesting inquiry. The fact is indisputable; to deny it, would be to oppose the general consent of mankind, the verities of history, and the moral consciousness of one's own mind. Reason tells us, that a Being infinitely wise, powerful, and good, cannot be the author of folly, weakness, and evil: yet they exist. Are they to be perpetuated? If not, when and how is the change to be effected? And what shall the end be? Natural religion is silent as the grave; it has neither explanation nor remedy, and it follows that all its disciples are ignorant of the duties, obligations, and destinies of men. They cannot, therefore, furnish a cure for disorders which are not contemplated in that volume, whence they derive all their information: "professing themselves wise, they become fools."

Ye sages of antiquity! ye priests of Baal! whose altars stream with human blood; ye deistical philosophers! with all your boasted rationality;-what have ye done for the world? What light have ye shed on the duties or destiny of your fellow-men? Ye have versed them in the arts of cruelty, fraud, impurity, and oppression; ye have taught them to pass their lives in disgrace, and their end was without honour; ye were instructors of the ignorant, guides to them that sit in darkness; you shed a light across their path, but it was a meteor's glare-a subtle, transient, intermitting flame, which disclosed the tomb, and left the traveller at its brink, alone, and in utter darkness; whither your demons of superstition thronged to make the last conflict more terrible, and chant the funeral obsequies of spirits lost for ever: these are the obligations you have conferred on the world; this your posthumous fame; be the record imperishable, and let the worshippers of reason acknowledge the debt with gratitude, for they alone can estimate the services which imposed it. We turn from this scene, and all its appalling horrors, to welcome the rising beams of a purer and happier day. Well might the whole creation groan to its utmost No. 8.-K

centre, until the morning star from on high appeared as a light to lighten the Gentiles: but now life and immortality are disclosed in all their forms of majesty; and revealed religion appears to supersede the vain and futile inventions of weak and erring man, to supply him with an infallible rule of action, and open a prospect of interminable felicity beyond the dreary regions of death and the grave. The deficiencies and errors of former systems prove the necessity of revelation as the only authoritative rule of conduct-the only sufficient ground of hope; and I shall not stay to discuss the question of evidence, which commends itself to the understanding and reception of every one who examines the subject with attention. I will assume the fact, that it is an accredited revelation from God; and this decides at once two points respecting its contents -authority, and infallibility. To suppose it the vehicle of error on any point, is to deny the veracity of God, who is its author; to reject its decisions, is openly to violate the known will of the universal Sovereign. We must, therefore, receive it as the infallible criterion of moral and religious truth, make our final appeal to it on all subjects of faith and practice, and feel bound to abide by its decisions on all subjects whereon it treats. Thus we shall have what the religion of nature wanted-a standard of right and wrong, of truth and error; a test by which to try philosophy itself; and a rule of conduct, alike honourable to God and beneficial to man: and here it may be necessary to guard the reader against the erroneous supposition, that revealed truth is the enemy of philosophic inquiry: on the contrary, it is the only foundation of true wisdom; it substitutes certainty for conjecture, and light for darkness; increases the sphere of information, and supplies all deficiencies of natural religion. Christian philosophers will rise superior to all the sages of antiquity and the mere disciples of reason, not only in the extent of their knowledge, but the adaptation of their principles to the condition of mankind, while their own lives are ample confirmations of the purity and truth of the doctrines they inculcate. In this divine system are to be found all the leading principles of sacred, moral, and political wisdom. The two grand divisions of revealed religion, are Judaism and Christianity; which ought never to be considered as opposed to each other, but rather as one system, existing under two forms or dispensations, but, in all essential particulars, the same. The light of revelation, like the light of day, had its dawn, its morning, and its meridian truths, which were gradually and obscurely revealed, are now made fully known; and what was communicated in the earlier ages of the world, and especially during the Mosaic economy, through the medium of symbols and typical ceremonies, is now clearly declared. The Jewish institutions were hieroglyphics, the use of which was consecrated by the command of God himself; while their full import was not as yet understood. It is the province of Christianity to decipher them, and apply the truths which they obscurely taught, in a plain, impressive and authoritative manner: those laws which had respect to the Jews, as a distinct na

tion, separated from others for a most import ant purpose, being only of temporary utility, ceased when the object of their institutions was accomplished; but the moral precepts, which regarded them only as members of the human family-those eternal rules of right, which were delivered by Jehovah himself, and are the faithful transcript of his own sacred attributes, -are of universal and perpetual obligation, never either to be superseded or abolished. At the hands of the Christian lawgiver, they receive their highest sanction and authority, were eminently displayed in his great example, and every where interwoven with his doctrines and instructions: to him, therefore, and the religion of which he is the author, we look for the best exposition of the nature and extent of moral obligation. On this subject, the shadows of darkness and ignorance are dispersed; and the true light now shineth, which is the only guide to the paths of purity and peace.

Christian ethics are inseparable from Christian principles; and these are derived from a knowledge of pure unadulterated Christianity. That wisdom which is emphatically said to "descend from above," in opposition to all those false or erroneous systems which have, or do prevail in the world, and are but the inventions of mere human wisdom. This is its glory: it is the product, the plan, and the provision, of an infinite mind, which can take in, at one glance, all the multiform evils of a fallen and degenerate world, and furnish a complete and entire system of recovery and restoration. Wherever it prevails, it is the harbinger of knowledge, civilization, and freedom; the prolific parent of personal, social, and domestic virtues: it breaks asunder the chains of servi tude and the fetters of superstition; darkness flees at its approach, and crimes of the grosser sort, which were not only tolerated but eulogized in the schools of Greece and Rome, are compelled to retire from the indignant gaze of a Christian population. The charities of Christianity embrace the entire man, with all his relative wants; they comprise intellectual, moral, and spiritual benefits: these are the first in order and importance, but are never dissociated from those deeds of kindness, compassion, and beneficence, which are demanded by the numerous infirmities that assail the poor and dependant classes of mankind. Let our public charitable institutions, and the annual sums which fill their coffers, bear testimony to these truths. Again, if we mark the aspect of this divine religion, we shall find nothing exclusive about it: adapted to the necessities of all men, it knows neither country nor clime-has no geographical boundaries, no local partialities; it passes from throne to throne, and from cottage to cottage-proposes its invaluable blessings and pure morality to all the sons of men; passes from east to west, and from south to north, and finds, in all climes and latitudes, amongst all grades and classes of mankind, the happy subject of its moral transformations;—it is, in short, the religion of the world, and it is not presumption, but authorized confidence, to exclaim "Magna est veritas et prevalebit." Such is the practical effect of Christianity, as a system of truth, purity, and benevolence, wherever its standard is unfurled, and its au

thority recognised and, tried by this test on a general scale only, how vastly superior are its claims to human confidence and gratitude! how is it recommended to our homes and our hearts, above and beyond the best code of laws, and the least exceptionable doctrines that have ever been promulgated in either ancient or modern days! It has a primà facie evidence of worth, which commends it to our very instincts, and makes the rejection of Christianity equally a matter of surprise and sorrow.

These, however, are but the collateral effects of this divine religion; they are the blessings and benefits it strews, on either hand, as it journeys through the world; the external evidences of its general tendency, are oblique rays of light shed amidst the surrounding gloom from the countenance of its disciples, and the indirect influence of their example. But to judge of Christianity as a great moral principle, or rather a system of principles, we must refer to the characters formed under their immediate influence. What, then, are we to understand by Christian religion? I answer, a "revealed plan for restoring human nature to purity and immortal happiness, through the mediation and sacrifice of Jesus Christ." This definition asserts or implies all that we require to our present purpose; this, in its origin, is a direct revelation from God himself: in its universal adaptation, it meets the real wants of the human race; in its GENERAL PLAN, it is salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ; and its ultimate design, is the entire restoration of all its subjects to the favour and moral image of God himself, and the everlasting possession of happiness and immortality;-these are the grand characteristics of that religion which is emphatically Christian: to modify is to destroy it, and the denial of any one of these propositions is a virtual renunciation of the Christian faith. If its origin be not divine, it is without authority; if its adaptation be not universal, it is unworthy of God, and useless to man: if we reject its plan, it is no longer the Christian religion; if its objects, it is in no respect superior to any other hypothesis which moralists or philosophers may devise, and is, therefore, equally defective with natural religion.

Now Christianity, in the strict and appropriate application of the term, is a course of conduct in accordance with these principles, and originated by them: it supposes that they are believed and acted upon, approved by the understanding, embraced by the affections, and exhibited in the life and actions. The information which this system imparts, the motives it supplies, the aid it presents, and the prospects it unfolds, are all declarative of its transcendent value as a code of morals, and prove how eminently it is adapted to dignify and ennoble the character, while it sheds in conceivable glory upon the paths of its disciples. In the formation of this character, it is not the improvement of what is imperfect, but the entire renovation of that which is degenerate and totally corrupt, that is here proposed: this, and this only, deserves the name of Christian Ethics, and evinces the novelty and superiority of the system. Nothing like this was ever attempted before ; and had it been, it must

have utterly failed. On this subject a Christian writer of merited celebrity has the following luminous passage:-"Were the change which the Gospel proposes to effect less fundamental and extensive than it is, we might the more easily flatter ourselves with being able to carry its designs into execution; did it aim merely to polish the exterior, to tame the wildness and prune the luxuriance of nature, without the implantation of a new principle,the undertaking would be less arduous: but its scope is much higher; it proposes not merely to reform but to renew-not so much to repair the moral edifice, as to build it afresh: not merely by the remonstrances of reason, and the dictates of prudence, to engage men to lay restraint upon their vices, but, by the inspiration of truth, to become new creatures;"-it is, in short, to replenish, by new productions, a wilderness where only barrenness and desolation reigned before.

If we examine the actual change which Christianity has produced, in all ages, we must admit the universality of its influence, and the sublimity of its character, equally removed, both in kind and degree, from any other system of ethics which has been promulgated: it not only presents a new rule of action, and a series of superior and soul-stirring motives, but inspires the individual, through all the facul ties of the mind and all the affections of the soul, with a living energy, whereby to perform habitually and cheerfully all the duties of a holy life. A true Christian differs from all other men, as beauty from deformity, truth from error, the living realities from their mere portraitures and delineations: he is not a mere imitator of excellence in its outward and visi ble signs, but an actual possessor of the principle which transforms and beautifies; not only reformed but renewed; a piece of workmanship which presents as indubitable marks of the creative wisdom and energy of the Deity, as the lily of the valley, or the flowers of the field. To a change so entire, and to this alone, do the sacred writers assign the name of Christian holiness; because it leads to an entire consecration both of the heart and life, to the service and glory of the living God; and be cause, moreover, it is the immediate effect of the truths of Christianity on the understanding and the heart. Here, then, is the transcendent superiority of the system as a code of morals: it surmounts every obstacle which can be presented, succeeds entirely where all others have failed, and is alone capable of restoring human nature to more than its pristine purity and happiness. In the life of the great Author of Christianity, we have a perfect and spotless exhibition of the moral glory of his religion: conformity to this example is one required duty, the end for which he came into the world, and the grand result, to which, as a system of truth and principles, his religion is made subservient. This is the only path which conducts to life and immortality, and none can walk therein but the disciples of Christ. It is not, then, as a system of opinions merely, that we are invited to contemplate Christianity, but as a pure and undefiled religion, descended from heaven not to gratify speculative inquiry, but to regenerate and save the world; not so