imperfect state on earth, he may not be delivered from all the natural consequences of sin, and he may be the subject of frequent chastisement for his faults. But these are needful for discipline, and do not imply that any sin is unforgiven. On his first act of faith he is adopted into the spiritual family, and is henceforth only to be trained for heaven. Dr. Emmons thought that the Atonement of Christ secured only pardon to the believer, and that personal obedience is the ground on which he is to be rewarded,* and many divines think that the passive obedience, or sufferings of Christ, makes it proper for us to be forgiven, but that his active obedience, or holiness, is the ground of our title to life.† Others think that all such distinctions are by no means clear, and that they have no warrant in the Scriptures, which seem to ascribe the whole work of justification to the blood of Jesus.‡

Such is the "Creed of Christendom" relating to this fundamental doctrine of the Bible. There are certainly no indications from what we have seen, that the doctrine of forgiveness through the blood of propitiation, violates the true theology of natural conscience, or that its professed advocates only half believe it. On the other hand, never was there a larger number of humble and enlightened persons, who glory in it, as their only and sufficient ground of hope. The best, the truest, and the most earnest hearers of the Gospel fasten upon this, as affording them the most perfect satisfaction. The countries where it is received and most esteemed, are those in which the Christian virtues most abound. Even Speculative Philosophy, after long wandering in regions where Revelation is denied, has returned, and is endeavoring to effect a reconciliation with the language and the spirit of the Bible. Its most destructive school has shown the actual dangers of its earlier path, and made others appreciate better the value of revealed truth. It has always been thus. True science, in its bold advances into some new path, sometimes appears to come into collision with received views of religion, but though it has often modified our

* Sermon, On Holy Obedience, the only Title to eternal Life.

† Griffin, On Atonement. Appendix. Ebrard, Chr. Dogm. & 427. Symington, Substance of the Atonement, p. 5.

Knapp's Theol. § 115.

sin.

philosophy, it has never been found ultimately inconsistent with the great doctrine of Christ crucified. The present earnest age will not give up the great principle of satisfaction for But it needs a more living faith. Our essential doctrines need not modification but life. We want no "absolute Deity,' or "ideal Christ," or "new creeds." Our present Christianity has shown by actual fact, that it can adapt itself freely to all the exigencies and wants of humanity. It has been proved to be true to the intellect, the conscience, and the heart of man, and that it can stir up all classes of mind by a resistless and living power.

ARTICLE III.

RECOLLECTIONS OF ERSKINE MASON, D. D.

IT is beneficially ordered of Heaven, that the sharpness of grief consequent upon sore personal bereavement, should be mitigated by the lapse of time. Did every sorrow retain all its peculiar poignancy, how soon would the stricken spirit be overwhelmed by an aggregate of woe, and, either reason be dethroned, or its earthly career be terminated. This merciful provision, however, seems necessarily to involve a partial loss of that vivid and perfect remembrance of both the countenance and character of the departed, which so saddens our hearts while we are depositing their remains in the inevitable tomb. Observed through the lengthening perspective of multiplying years, the receding outline becomes less and less definite, as the mountains at the horizon are slightly veiled by the intervening atmosphere. Relatives and other endeared friends, may be scarcely conscious of any such advancing process of obscuration, but beyond that limited group it is quite palpable. Indeed, no one can doubt that the memory of even the most valuable of men, or at least a proper sense of that privation which all suffer at their death, is but too quickly obliterated

from the public mind. Those, therefore, who survive, not only recognize and perform a duty, but experience a real, though chastened satisfaction, when they place upon the enduring page received impressions of their greatness and goodness. Such an act is a virtual ascription of praise to Him who gave them being, that, by illustrating in their own persons His creative, renewing and sanctifying power, they might commend Christianity to the unbelieving world. Furthermore, inasmuch as no two persons occupy precisely the same point of view, it is manifest that a fuller conception of one who has passed from our sight may be preserved, if his portrait be sketched by more than one pen. We derive our idea of Luther, or Calvin, or Washington, from several biographies of each; and to say that different features or phases of character will stamp themselves more or less strongly upon different minds, is but another form for the acknowledgment that human finiteness sees nothing, as does Omniscience, in all its relations, and full-orbed.

Soon after the decease of Rev. Erskine Mason, D.D., the community were gratified by the publication of a sermon upon his life and character, by Rev. Dr. Cox. It was followed by a volume of Dr. Mason's discourses, to which was prefixed a Memoir by Rev. Dr. Adams; which volume was ably reviewed by another distinguished Pastor, in the March number of this Quarterly. It must, therefore, be supposed that some such. thoughts as the foregoing, have inclined the Editors to allow a fourth individual to step forward, from that large circle of young men whose hearts have been penetrated with feelings of profound admiration and affection for Dr. Mason, and, as their representative, reverently place another wreath upon his honoured grave.

It may not be amiss, then, to enter upon this work of love by remarking, that the power which he possessed to attract this class of persons-especially theological students-was one of the most significant features of his ministry. The seats reserved in the Bleecker Street Church, for the under graduates of Union Seminary, were invariably occupied by a large number of auditors. A student coming, as a stranger, to connect himself with the Institution, at once found a public sentiment prevailing within it, which led him to direct his steps

thither; and it was not unusual to hear such an individual soon maintaining, with others, that the incidental privilege of hearing Dr. Mason upon the Sabbath, was one among the many strong reasons why a course of study in New York was preferred. We can distinctly remember several instances, where, in the progress of three years, his preaching exerted an influence upon the mind and character, so thoroughly moulding and elevating, that it was remarked by associates; while all were gratefully conscious of having received invaluable benefit therefrom, in the matter of mental and moral discipline and development. Such facts are worthy of especial notice, for they constitute, in themselves, strong testimony as to the magnitude and variety of Dr. Mason's natural gifts and attainments. Perhaps there is no class of hearers whose judgment upon the merit of pulpit ministrations is more critical and decided. Having but recently left those centres of intellectual stimulus and culture, where the principles of all reasoning and rhetorical discourse, as exemplified in the best models of ancient and modern eloquence, have been made familiar; and, at the same time, being filled with a desire to discover and master the elements of success in their chosen profession, it would be natural to expect that their analysis of a distinguished preacher's claim to his celebrity, would be most searching. In such cases, perhaps the inquiry is not always tempered by that sympathy and leniency, which an actual experience of the difficulties to be overcome, is calculated to suggest. However that may be, the single circumstance of his having borne such a test, through so long a period, is not to be thrown out of the reckoning when we form our estimate of Dr. Mason.

But more obvious, if not more conclusive, proof of his power, is found in the fact, that for twenty years he was the profoundly respected and beloved pastor of a congregation, which was equal to any other in discrimination and ability of every kind to judge of a preacher's talents and spirituality. The late Chancellor Kent was, for a long time, a regular attendant upon his ministry. And it is not too much to say, that, in the admiration of a people composed, to an unwonted extent, of prominent members of the legal, medical and mercantile professions, Dr. Mason rose, steadily, higher and higher, until the end.

His resources wherewith to interest and profit such an audience, instead of becoming exhausted by that large and continuous demand, only grew ampler and richer in kind. When called away by death, he seemed to them but just entering, with matured faculties, upon a great work of investigation and instruction, which he had been commissioned, by their common Lord and Master, there to do.

A corresponding reputation had Dr. Mason acquired throughout the entire ecclesiastical connection to which he belonged. He was justly regarded as one of its foremost and representative men. The views of theology and of church-order held by him, were coincident with those generally held by his brethren; and his Christian consistency and his great abilities were so marked, that he was always referred to with feelings of respect and satisfaction, bordering upon denominational pride.

A fame so legitimate and substantial, of course could not be circumscribed and retained within the pale of a single branch of the Church. Though not possessing those eccentricities of mind or manner with which a sudden and ephemeral notoriety among the masses may be gained, there was yet abundant evidence that his name was known and honoured far and wide, in his own land, and to quite an unusual extent in the evangelical circles of Europe. This was constantly proved by the presence of clergymen, with many other transient visitors, in his audience upon the Sabbath. It was remarked that when the late Daniel Webster tarried over that day in the city, on his way between Marshfield and Washington, his imposing form might commonly be seen, moving slowly up the broad aisle of Bleecker Street Church, at the appointed hour of worship; and those familiar with the intellectual endowments of both, will readily imagine that the sagacity and comprehensive judgment of the great statesman, must have found much that was congenial in the elevated and eloquently-truthful discourses of the divine. Although no expression of Mr. Webster's opinion respecting him has been made public, his conduct evinced that estimate to be in harmony with the general verdict, pronouncing him one of the ablest preachers of this age.

It will well repay us, therefore, to look somewhat carefully