to it. There is also an inclination to put aside the Old Testament for the more exclusive use of the Gospel itself, which is contained in it. And indeed full statements of religious truth have been thought so necessary, as to have produced ways of thinking often unnatural, of which this is an instance. A writer, investigating the existence of Christian truth in the Church, has thought it necessary to find explicit declarations of the acceptance of the Atonement by the individual, as the only proof of the preservation of the faith. The effect of which becomes equivalent to this, that an affectionate and dutiful child might be condemned for undutifulness, unless it could be proved, that he had made use of expressions of strong filial attachment.

This general tendency of things cannot, I think, be considered in connexion with the former observations, without some serious thought in every reflecting mind, "waiting to see what God will do;" and not without some distrust of popular views, and superficial appearances, and an anxious desire for some anchor of the soul, in this new trial which seems coming upon the world. And cautious as we ought to be in speculations respecting the future, yet there is a thought which occurs, which one is almost afraid to mention, lest it should not be with sufficient seriousness. Whether, when noticed in conjunction with the dangerous consequences which have been observed to follow our LORD's disclosures of Himself, and the fact of those having been pronounced the worst to whom most knowledge was vouchsafed, and that so frequently as to mark a kind of mysterious and perhaps prophetical tendency of things which seem to point that way; whether, I say, all these circumstances may not indicate the coming on of a time when "knowledge may indeed cover" the world, but "the love of the many shall have waxed cold," and faith be scarce found. There is something of prophetic admonition in the advice which St. Paul gives to persons under a similar apprehension, in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, where the stay against Anti-CHRIST is this: "Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or by our epistle." In looking to that epistle for some practical guidance, the general principle on which this stedfastness must be founded

is here given, namely, an adherence to the Catholic truth written and unwritten1.

2. Practical rules afforded by it in the investigation of Truth.

And now the observations which have been made respecting GOD's mode of revealing Himself to mankind will furnish us with some important general rules for the attainment of religious truth. If in the sacraments we have in some especial sense the present power of GoD among us, and the Episcopal and Priestly succession have in them something divine, as channels which convey, as it were, such His Presence to us; according to the analogy of what has been said, we must expect to find in them something that hideth itself, something like the Personal presence of our LORD in His Incarnation, surrounded with difficulties to the carnal mind, withdrawing itself, and leaving excuses for the Divine Power being denied; for did they come to us in a strong, unquestionable shape, with the palpable evidence by some required, they would come to us in a manner unlike all other Divine manifestations. These would lead us to expect, that they should be left in so delicate a manner, that he who wishes to ascertain the truth may find a sufficient and satisfactory evidence, so as by a fine clue to lead him into all the treasures of the Divine blessings, but yet of such a kind that he who will not afford them such affectionate attention will lose all those high privileges. The secret of such inquiries is given us in the injunction (Proverbs xxiii. 26), " My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways." For the whole case, in the

1 It is to be observed that where separatists hold the Catholic truth, they hold it not from Scripture only, for others on the plea of Scriptural authority deny the but from tradition supplied by the Church, which has been to them the key to the Scriptures.

same,

2 The blessings attendant on the reception of this truth seem to be promised when the commission is first given to the apostles, when it was said, that he who would "receive a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive" the proportionate reward of that commission (St. Matt. x. 41); and the word "the sent" (apostles) instead of the preachers, or the teachers, immediately sets before us the value of such being in the commission, leading us to look back by faith, and not merely to apparent fruits.

search after God, is a trial of the affer tions, and whatever that knowledge may be, of which such great things are spoken, it implies affection combined with, and giving life to the understanding, otherwise dead, and after some heavenly manner illuminating and spiritualizing it. To require, there fore, that such subjects should come to us in a more sensible and palpable way, before we will accept them, betrays the same temper of mind as that of requiring a sign; or at best, it is but that weak belief which says, "unless I handle and feel I will not believe," and which therefore loses the highest blessing: "Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed."

If the Divine presence is among us in these things, unbelief must be met as our LORD met that of the Jews. The obstacles to their belief were, first, low conceptions of God's Messiah and His promises. To obviate these our SAVIOUR drew their attention to that prophecy where David himself called Him LORD. And, secondly, their looking out for a sign, which called from our LORD such visible indications of grief. And the remedy which He pointed out for this latter was this, that they should judge of heavenly matters as they did of earthly, such as indications of the weather, by affording them such attention as a person pays to any object respecting which he is solicitous. They who best know those signs of the weather are they whose interest it is to know them.

The outset, therefore of such inquiries is, first, that we should form high conceptions of the Divine promises and expressions, such, for instance, as "this is My Body" (the only expression, I believe, in the whole of Scripture, used, on one single occasion, which has been recorded four distinct times in precisely the same words); and the second requisite is such an interest as would open our minds to acquiesce in the proofs of probable evidence. Both of these would make the reception of the truth to depend upon natural piety. It appears that the temper of mind which is produced by obedience to the fifth commandment, as extending through the various relations of life, is the foundation of that in the character in which piety or devotion consists, producing, as it were, that habitual attitude of the soul. And this piety to VOL. IV. No. 80.

F

GOD gives life again in return to that piety which embraces all those lower relations, considering such superiors as invested in various ways with something of a Divine prerogative, as faint emblems or substitutes of the Supreme FATHER and GOVERNOR. Now, this highest temper of mind in natural religion, becoming spiritualized and exalted in the Christian, is rendered immediately in him the channel by which are conveyed to him all those gifts in which the kingdom of heaven consists. For first of all, by this temper of mind the Christian's affections are carried up through all these inferior relations (by which the knowledge and power of Christianity is brought down to him) to JESUS CHRIST Himself, as the fountain of all good. And then, again, it is impossible to have a high sense of reverence for our LORD's person, without investing all who approach Him with some portion of the same. This Nature itself shows us in the case of any strong attachment: and this would exist in all degrees according to the nearness of such persons. At first it would extend to apostles, then to apostolical men and fathers, and then to those commissioned of the same. This is so necessarily the result of affection, that it is impossible to do violence to it without impairing that affection itself. For instance, we cannot allow ourselves to think slightingly of apostolical fathers without thinking so, in some degree, of apostles and we cannot think slightingly of apostles, without lowering our veneration for our LORD Himself.

The question, therefore, never need be, whether an ordinance, such as that of Episcopacy, can be proved to be of Divine command, for it has been observed, that our LORD never said that He was the CHRIST. But He was not on that account the less so, nor was it the less necessary that He should be received as such. All the external evidence required would be, whether there are indications of a Divine preference given to it, for if this can be proved, it is sufficient for a dutiful spirit. In such considerations, all that can be said is, "he that can receive it, let him receive it," and that "the poor in spirit" occupy "the kingdom."

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It follows, that, although such knowledge be the result of senses exercised in the discernment of good and evil," yet that it depends not on intellectual acuteness, or subtle reasonings.

Religion being a practical matter, a disposition to argument should be discouraged, and the thoughts directed to something practically good; as God does not reveal Himself excepting to a certain disposition, the question is one of natural piety.

As our SAVIOUR pointed to His works, instead of declaring Himself, after the same manner, when, in the times of Origen, the secret Discipline was practised in the Church, which seems to correspond to our SAVIOUR'S concealing Himself, he pointed to the lives of Christians, i. e. to the works of CHRIST shown in them, as the strongest evidence which he could offer to the world. The truth must ever be propagated by some way of this kind, and not by argument. It is perceived whether certain principles are seriously held with that consistency and constancy of endurance which attends the conviction of truth. It is to this evidence that the eye of mankind looks, and from which flow its strong persuasions, otherwise they are not held so as to become a part of the character in those that hear of them, and therefore not in reality held as moral principles of truth.

3. This principle of Reserve applied to prevailing opinions on promoting Religion.

The subject under discussion may in the next place be wisely applied as a test to the popular modes of extending Christianity, which partake of the spirit of the age. And these may be considered under three heads, that of bringing churches near to the houses of every body, cheap publications, and national schools.

With regard to the building of churches, our LORD's testimony to the widow's mite, and the costly ointment, and to the intention of the man after His own heart, prove such works to be in the highest degree acceptable to Him, and therefore necessarily productive of good. And the sacrifices they require are greatly beneficial to the individual, merely as religious sacrifices. It is also very important as setting up a witness, of which character alone many of the best actions must be. It is indeed one of the most natural expressions of a heart rightly disposed, as offerings made to God, arising in Him, and resting in Him as their end; and therefore there can be no means of promoting the cause of