not do here for him to say that Adam's mind, or that of Eve, was corrupt, and so the law worked badly and caused sin; and yet the narrative says they did break the law, which certainly was sin.

To such an absurd view of the divine law, as to its effect and its purpose, does this strange perversion of the text lead its advocates.

But on the other hand, how easy and natural is its whole interpretation, taking Henry's view-the view of common sense. The law, in itself holy, just and good, when revealed or made known to man, makes sin abound in his sight, as the sunshine shows the abundance of dust in a room, where none was seen before. And then, to quote the remainder of the verse, whence the text comes, "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound," that is, the more clearly we see our sins, the more we must admire the grace of God which abounds even beyond our sins.

3:

Mr. Lovejoy's preference for "Light and Love," [p. 5,] as the means of reformation, has our hearty Amen. So, also, do we heartily respond to this sentence, which we quote from page "The gospel brings men up to the mould of the law, by penetrating to the heart, and working there. It sends pardoning love home to the soul, and causes it to thrill with the joys of forgiveness, and then leads it easily in the path of holiness, the way of eternal life."

He is right here; but utterly wrong in supposing that the law creates or makes sin. It gives knowledge of itpunishes it-and as the apostle says, is a schoolmaster to lead men to Christ. It is not Christ; it does not make men holy; but it shows what holiness is, and what sin is; it enables us to distinguish between the evil and the good, the just and the unjust. The law and the gospel are not contradictory; the latter repeals no part of the former. Both are from God, and both alike designed for universal good.

T. H. M.

ART. XVIII.

Our Denominational Liabilities.

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."-1 PETER III. 15.

WHENEVER an individual is favored by heavenly wisdom, and by that wisdom is led into a knowledge of divine truths not seen or known by his religious and pious parents, but contrary to the creed in which he has been taught to believe, and tending to subvert and demolish its very foundation; such favor renders him liable to be called on by his parents to give account, when asked, of the reasons he has for the new opinions which he has adopted. Thus has the son become indebted to the parents who have honestly taught him an erroneous creed; a creed dishonorable to the divine character, and fraught with pernicious tendencies to all who believe it. The more erroneous and perverse this creed may be, the stronger are the demands imposed on the enlightened to render such reasons for rejecting it as are furnished him by the true light, which now shines in his understanding. Such indebtedness has a peculiarity, rendering it different from such as embarrass merchants, causing them to fail in business. The greater its demands are, the larger are the assets to meet them.

So

The text, we have chosen to direct this discourse, is particular as to two important points. 1st. That the enlightened should always be ready for the duty enjoined. He should not say in his heart, I have answered these questions over and over again; and I may now discontinue this laborious work, and devote myself, my studies, and my labor to something more new and pleasing. long as the erroneous creed and its vile doctrines are exerting their baneful influences in the community, dishonoring the adorable character of our Heavenly Father, and rendering Him unlovely in the eyes of his children; so long as fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, are denied the comforts of the blessed hope of the gospel of

our salvation, and are compelled to live in dread and fear, arising from terrors supported by false doctrines, so long should the enlightened be ready to give to every one who may ask him, a reason for the hope that is in him. 2d. Our text is particular to guard the true believer against a wrong spirit. Such are our natural imperfections, that we are unhappily prone to become impatient, especially when opposed by haughtiness and arrogance, which are very apt to discover themselves in the ignorant and bigoted. On this account, our text enjoins on the enlightened to give his reasons in meekness and fear. It would illy become a physician to lose his temper and unkindly neglect his patient, because the unhappy sick man should discover symptoms of insanity. Genuine meekness, united with that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom, will sustain the faithful in all necessary labor, and will seldom, if ever, fail to render such labor successful.

What has already been said, may very naturally lead us rightly to consider our denominational duties, and what we owe as a distinct denomination, to those who have, for ages, remained under the power of that gross darkness, which has held the Christian world in a most cruel bondage for so long a time.

That the circle of our vision may be sufficiently wide to have our subject pretty fully set forth, illustrated and enforced, we may look into history for examples worthy of imitation. The best of these examples we shall, doubtless, find in the New Testament.

When the fulness of time came, which was appointed, in which the promised Messiah should appear on earth, and he, having been inducted into his office by him who was appointed to prepare his way, entered on his ministry, he found the Jewish church in a condition most deplorable. The hierarchy of the nation was involved in doctrinal errors, wrapped up in a dark cloud of superstition and bigotry, truly entitled to the appellation of a "generation of vipers." These held the reigns of government, sat in Moses' seat, taught the unlettered multitude those doctrines and traditions wherewith they had set the law of God at naught; and delighted themselves in making long prayers to be seen of man, profited themselves by devouring widows' houses, made broad their phylactaries, and loved to be called Rabbi.

That the doctrines of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees were false and of a pernicious tendency, we are assured by the caution Jesus gave his disciples to beware of them. Moreover, it is evident that the doctrine which the Saviour taught, was to the multitudes who heard him, such as they were not used to hear, and therefore to them new. Of this we are certified by the fact, that at the conclusion of the sermon on the mount, the people was astonished at his doctrine.

The point, which marks the distinction between the doctrine taught by Jesus and that taught in the schools of the Jewish doctors, is that which, in all ages, has distinguished the doctrine of divine righteousness from that of the wisdom of man. The former represents our Heavenly Father as impartial in his love to the evil and the good, to the just and the unjust; the latter teaches now what it did in ages past, and is thus expressed: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy." In fact, the doctrine of Jesus is universalism, and its opposite is partialism. We find all the elements of the true doctrine of divine wisdom contrasted with its opposite, and the elements of it, in that wonderful and incomparable sermon delivered by Jesus on the mount.

Just as widely as the two doctrines, of which we have spoken, differ from each other, just so widely do their respective fruits differ. In all which Jesus did during his sojourn on earth, and in the discharge of all the duties of his mission, he manifested and brought forth the genuine fruits of his doctrine. His enemies were as true and faithful to bring forth the natural fruits of their doctrine, in all their opposition to Jesus.

Here, let us notice a remarkable difference between the treatment which Jesus received from his opposers, and that which they received in return from him. When fault was urged against the meek and holy, how ready was he always to give a discreet and an instructive answer? But where shall we find it recorded, that his enemies ever condescended to render a reason for their opposition or conduct? All this was natural. The enemies of Jesus owed him nothing; but his liabilities were immense! They, with the rest of their sinful race, were sinful, degraded, and under condemnation; he was sent pursuant to the

Father's love and grace, to redeem and save the world. Who can reckon up the amount of his liabilities? Yet, they are only commensurate with his assets. And, O, how ready, well prepared and willing, to do his Father's will! It was his meat and his drink to do and to finish the work. When Jesus was accused of receiving sinners and eating with them, how ready was he to answer the accusers in those admirable parables, recorded in the fifteenth chapter of St. Luke! It would require no little time for a diligent student to discover one half of the points of doctrine comprehended in this chapter; nor are there means in any of our theological seminaries to impart so much divine instruction as may be learned in this one lesson. When a ruler of a synagogue accused Jesus, alleging, with great indignation, against him the crime of healing a poor woman who had been bowed down with an infirmity eighteen years, on a Sabbath day, with what readiness was the hypocrite answered by the meek and lowly! answered, too, in a most convincing and satisfactory manner. If any owner of an ox or an ass would not hesitate to deliver the beast out of a pit on the sabbath, how could it be wrong to deliver that unhappy woman, who was a daughter of Abraham, from her long endured infirmity, on the Sabbath? To the enemies of Jesus, there was nothing more offensive than his condescension to sinners, and the favor he showed them. These hypo

crites asked why Jesus ate with publicans and sinners? In a moment the answer was readily returned :—“ They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Jesus was equally ready and willing to answer the carping Sadducees to their evilly designed questions, as he was to make suitable and proper replies to the Pharisees. When they proposed their artfully contrived question, which regarded the momentous subject of the resurrection, he was ready to answer them, and to show them, that their error lay in their not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. And in this answer the Lord of life and glory has left us a testimony, the value of which far transcends the whole wealth of the world! In the resurrection all live unto God, are equal unto the angels, are the children of God, and can die no more.

The readiness of Jesus to return suitable and instruc