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It is here distinctly intimated that the great propitiatory sacrifice which our Blessed Lord offered for the sins of the world, and which possessed an infinite value from the mysterious union of the Divine nature with the human, was such an evidence of the love of the Deity, as ought to kindle in our breasts a corresponding love to God and man. And can it for a moment be questioned whether love be not the most acceptable, as well as the most efficacious motive to obedience that can actuate a rational and intelligent being? Or can it be supposed that a system which has a palpable tendency to create doubt, distrust, and terror, is more likely to reclaim the wicked from their fatal wanderings, than one which possesses every requisite for inspiring hope, confidence, and love?

To the preceding consideration it may be added, that the principle of reserve in communicating religious knowledge in general, as well as with reference to the doctrine of the atonement in particular, has not only a withering and blighting influence on the palmary grace of love, but is also equally injurious to the Christian's peace and joy. Peace was the precious legacy which our Blessed Lord bequeathed to his disciples,-peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. St. Paul affectionately prays in behalf of his Thessalonian converts,-now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means! But his words to the Colossians are still more to the point-For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile

all things to himself. No arguments need be advanced to shew that this peace cannot be enjoyed by any one who is ignorant of the availableness of that blood, which was shed upon the cross, for the purposes of pardon and reconciliation; or, who is taught to believe that it is only through a long course of preparatory discipline that he must expect to become a partaker of the benefits of his Saviour's passion. So likewise with regard to the sensation of joy: it would be mockery to call upon a man to rejoice in the Lord alway, who, when labouring under the anguish of an accusing conscience, was left in doubt and uncertainty with regard to the only effectual mode of relief.

At the same time it is carefully to be noted, that any degree of peace and joy which is dissevered from holiness of life and consistency of practice, cannot originate from a legitimate source. It may proceed from a constitutional buoyancy of spirits-or from great outward prosperity or from mistaken views of Scripture—or from fanaticism-or from satanic delusion. It cannot flow from a justifying faith. The effect of such a faith must necessarily be to purify the heart. All the doctrines of the Gospel, which are its object, are doctrines according to godliness: and, therefore, when we teach the sinner to derive peace and joy from the cross of Christ, it is in order that the joy of the Lord may be his strength to enable him to vanquish temptation, and that, by a lively faith in the atonement, he may be encouraged to triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is clear that both St. Paul and St. Peter

recognised in the doctrine of Christ crucified the most powerful incentive to a godly life. The former reminds Titus that our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. The latter speaks of our Lord's bearing our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness: and then he subjoins in the words of the prophet Isaiah,-by whose stripes ye were healed.

Let it also be observed, that when preferring the example of the Reformers to that of the ancient Fathers, we preach without reserve, to all indiscriminately, the doctrine of a gratuitous remission of sins through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the cognate and equivalent doctrines of justification by faith and salvation through grace, we do not fail at the same time to inculcate the indispensable necessity of repentance towards God, and of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. We do not, indeed, like the contemners of Jewel and the Reformation, confound faith and works, justification and sanctification: but we assign to each it's appropriate place in that dispensation of grace and mercy, under which it is the privilege of the members of the Church of England to live. To adopt the language of the judicious Hooker," We ourselves do not teach Christ alone, excluding our own faith, unto justification; Christ alone, excluding our own works, unto sanctification; Christ alone, excluding the one or the other unnecessary unto salvation. It is

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a childish cavil, wherewith in the matter of justification, our adversaries do so greatly please themselves, exclaiming, that we tread all Christian virtues under our feet, and require nothing in Christians but faith, because we teach that faith alone justifieth: whereas by this speech we never meant to exclude either hope or charity from being joined as inseparable mates with faith in the man that is justified; or works from being added as necessary duties, required at the hands of every justified man: but to shew that faith is the only hand that putteth on Christ unto justification; and Christ the only garment, which being so put on, covereth the shame of our defiled natures, hideth the imperfection of our works, preserveth us blameless in the sight of God, before whom otherwise, the weakness of our faith were cause sufficient to make us culpable, yea, to shut us from the kingdom of heaven, where no thing that is not absolute can enter."*

* Discourse of Justification. Hooker's Works, p. 508, fol. edit.-To those who admire the writings of Hooker, and the formularies of our Church, it is interesting to trace the exactness with which he treads in the footsteps of the Reformers, upon this vital question. The coincidence between the extract from his celebrated Sermon given above, and the following quotation from Cranmer's Homily of Salvation is very striking, and, in my opinion, of great importance.—“ St. Paul declareth nothing upon the behalf of man concerning his justification, but only a true and lively faith, which nevertheless is the gift of God, and not man's only work without God. And yet that faith doth not shut out repentance, hope, love, dread, and the fear of God, to be joined with faith in every man that is justified; but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying. So that although they be all present together in him that is justified, yet they justify not altogether: neither doth faith shut out the justice of our good works, necessarily to be done afterwards of duty towards God; (for we are most bounden to serve God, in

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Having considered the case of the inconsistent member of our Church, who has incurred the awful guilt of falsifying the engagements of his baptismal covenant, by living in the practice of habitual sin, with reference to the means and possibility of pardon; I come now to consider the same case with reference to the equally important subject of sauctification.

It has always appeared to me that it would be a much more profitable employment of our time, and tend much more to that peace and union amongst ourselves, which are in every point of view so desirable, if, instead of engaging in interminable controversies relative to the measure and degree of regenerating grace imparted to infants in the sacrament of baptism, or to it's indefectibility, we directed their attention to the proofs of it's existence, when they became adults. With regard to the former point, all our debates and speculations can lead to no definite and certain conclusions: with regard to the latter, the Scriptures furnish us with criteria, which will, in most instances, preclude the possibility of any very material mistake. It is unnecessary for me to remind you, my Reverend Brethren, that these tests are profusely scattered throughout the first epistle of St. John.* As the epistles of St. Paul

doing good deeds, commanded by him in his holy Scripture, all the days of our life :) but it excludeth them, so that we may not do them to this intent, to be made just by doing of them."-Homilies, p. 19, 8vo. edit.

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I will here subjoin the passages to which I have alluded, in order that the reader may compare them together, and with those which are cited in the Charge. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 1 John, ii. 29. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth