nourishment at its root from the conceit, that God absolutely and irresistibly forms every man's sinful character; then surely they who hold to the doctrine of necessity must have a difficult task to prove, that all these conclusions, in which men of different ages and nations and intellect and moral character have concurred, are really illegitimate deductions, and that man, though bound in chains of iron, walks forth unshackled, free, and moveable as the air of heaven. The present most distinguished philosopher in France, after describing the succession of what he deems the four great and best systems, into which the philosophy of every age may be resolved, sensualism, idealism, skepticism, and mysticism,-all, in his opinion, very good and useful, though in part erroneous, comes to this conclusion, which strikes as with a thunderbolt the pretensions of philosophy," Error is the law of our nature; we are condemned to error; and in all our opinions, in all our words, there is a great mixture of error and even of absurdity." Such is the sentence, which the eloquent lecturer at Paris pronounces upon the host of philosophers, who have preceded him for three thousand years. His own attempt to present an eclectic system, in which the wheat is winnowed from the chaff, shows very clearly, that his sentence upon others is not inapplicable to himself. Such is the judgment of a distinguished meta

physical philosopher : "Error is the law of our nature.' But Jesus Christ says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. He that believeth in me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

After examining the history of philosophy in the different ages of the world one is constrained to believe, that, by the wild, contradictory, incredible, monstrous philosophical systems, which have risen one upon the ruins of another, it has been the purpose of Providence to "stain the pride" of human reason, and to show to the universe, that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." The mere philosophy of man is thus brought into contempt, that the revelation from God might be honored, and that men might see the wisdom of receiving with the docility and the implicit confidence of children the instructions which their omniscient Father has given them.

-we must come to the When the Scriptures are meaning of the revelation

The conclusion from this survey of philosophy is this,Bible as the fountain of moral and religious wisdom. proved to be the word of God, and the plain, obvious from heaven is unfolded; when the truth is thus brought to the mind of the sinner; then and then only can we hope to see the blessings of salvation descend upon the soul. Philosophy is powerless in this work of saving. If it does not lead down to hell, it can never guide up to heaven. The Bible, the Bible only, contains the true philosophy, which, accompanied by the Divine Spirit, reconciles man to God, changes the depraved character into the form of excellence, and conducts the poor child of mortality through the dark valley of death to mansions of eternal light and glory.

5. The general happiness of the world can never be secured by irreligion, nor by any erroneous and corrupt form of religion.

What has been accomplished by atheism and infidelity for the benefit of mankind? You may learn by looking at ancient Rome, when the retraints of superstition were loosened by the prevalence of the atheistic system: for soon the general dissolution of manners destroyed the foundations of public order, and despotic power rose upon the ruins. From the horrors of the revolution in France, at the close of the last century, it is impossible to separate the systems of atheism and infidelity, which, by the banishment of all moral restraints, had

prepared the minds of men for every enormity of crime. A decided and thorough spirit of irreligion pervaded the people. Infidelity extinguished the fear of God; it resigned conscience to passion; it rescued no victim from the bloodthirsty aspirant, nor lifted a voice of mercy against the ferocious madness of the times. No. It is not by denying a God, a Providence, a future reckoning, an eternal judgment, that the dagger is wrested from the hand of the assassin; that property is secured against the grasp of covetousness; and that the pollution of universal lust is changed into purity and honor. There must be divine law of unchanging rectitude, and a stern sanction, which is competent to bend the iron sinew of pride, and to bring the terrors of eternal justice to bear upon the solicitations of appetite, and the otherwise ungovernable energies of passion.

Infidelity in Great Britain and America is seen in a different point of view from the public theatre on which it was displayed in France; its appropriate influence is to be sought in the professed principles and in the more private lives of the masters of the school. In their lives we shall find either degrading vices and crimes, or a dearth of the great and generous virtues; and in their doctrines we shall find loose moral instructions, accommodated to the unholy passions of the heart, and designed to fortify the depraved spirit in its hostility to the pure and perfect law of God. It has been manifested and proved to the world, that the system of infidelity, by denying the righteous government of God and the rewards and punishments of eternity, subverts the foundation of morals ;-that it breaks down the distinction between right and wrong, substituting every man's variable judgment in the place of the immutable standard of heaven;-that under powerful temptations to crime, arising from insatiable cupidity or raging ambition, it removes, if there be a prospect of present impunity, all restraint ;and that it cherishes an absorbing egotism or vanity, an unpitying ferocity, and an unbridled sensuality, by the indulgence of which the tranquillity and happiness of society are laid waste.

Paganism is the great parent of iniquity and of unutterable abominations among several hundreds of millions of the human family. Shall we ask for truth, for instance, from the religion of India? Among the sects of the Braminic system, to which shall we apply? Shall we ask the followers of Vishnoo, of Sheeva, or of Bramhu? The voice that responds to us will speak of numerous forms and incarnations of male and female gods; of successive annihilations and reproductions of all created existence, including the gods; of interminable and ridiculous fables; and of idolatrous and shameless worship, which in a Christian country cannot even be named. Shall we ask for virtue, purity, goodness, from the religion of India? Alas, the question will excite only a smile. Indian idolatry is drenched in pollution, and the idolatry of every other country is associated with crime and misery.

Mahomedanism is the religion of sensuality and of violence, awakening the spirit of scorn instead of a spirit of benevolence, and cherishing with the utmost care and as the first object the ferocious energies of war. Ignorant, degraded, profligate, enslaved Turkey, exhibits at the present day the benefits which the world may expect from Islamism: the millions who have perished by the sabre of the prophet and his followers, could they rise from the dead, would speak aloud of the character and tendency of the Mahomedan religion.

Romanism has set up an authority on the earth, which comes in the place of God, and exhibits an ecclesiastical monarch at Rome, often of a notoriously profligate character, who either by himself or a council, claims the right of set

tling for the whole human race the faith of the understanding and the decisions of conscience, and which thus would enslave to ambition, pride, lust, and covetousness, the intellect and moral feelings of all mankind. Popery appears under the double aspect of a frightful persecuting power, and the teacher of most pernicious and fatal error. In its history we may see mingled the flames of persecution, the blood of the martyrs, the tortures of the inquisition, the various massacres of heretics, with the idolatry, covetousness, pollution, pride, and horrible crimes, which have marked the seat of the beast on the seven-hilled “eternal city." Is the dread of popery an idle apprehension, produced by a bugbear? We trust it may be so soon. It may be so now, in some Protestant countries: it may be so in our own. But popery has been in past ages, and is still, in many nations, a most terrific power. We may indeed look without trembling on the yellow-maned lion of Africa, who is brought to America in a strong cage. But on his native sands, where he roams in majesty, king of the desert, there is neither man nor beast that can abide his roaring. Has not the foot of the pope trodden on the neck of monarchs? It was but a few years before the French revolution, that the degraded, enslaved states of Europe annually poured into the treasury of the Roman church more than two millions of dollars, while the revenue of the papal territory itself was three millions, making an income to the pretended vicar of Jesus Christ of five millions annually. Had the pope been indeed the vicar of Jesus Christ, with this sum annually put into his hands, it would seem, that in any period of half a century it would have been in his power to have sent out such an agency of truth, as would have converted the whole family of man to the Christian faith, and made this desolate earth as the paradise of God. But instead of being employed in building up the kingdom of Jesus Christ, the revenue of the Catholic church has been wasted in supporting the regal splendor of the servant of servants; in providing for his nephews, as a nearer relationship is conveniently expressed; in purchasing curious works of art; in building splendid churches and palaces; in keeping up a standing army, and in carrying on war; and the consequence is, that this god on the earth is now burthened with a public debt of a hundred millions of dollars, which he will never be able to pay. Popery, as to its physical power, is now comparatively weak. Its spiritual dominion also has been much curtailed by the resistance of reason and common sense to absurdity and tyranny, resulting, from the want of Protestant light, in a wide-spread infidelity in the Catholic countries of Europe. Still a great part of the people of Europe know nothing of the Christian religion but in that new form of idolatry, into which it has been cast by the great magician at Rome. And who is not aware, that popery exerts in no country a powerful moral influence, and that the history of the past forbids the hope that it will ever be able to meliorate the condition of the pagan nations of the earth? We may hope, that at no remote period, as the authority of Romanism sinks into contempt, and the judgments of God strike the guilty city, the kings of the earth, whose fetters shall be broken, will say,—Alas, alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. Then will the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, saying, alas, alas! that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And then will all, who love the truth, say,-Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.

The various forms of error among the Protestant Christian sects cannot be

pointed out. Happily, most of the principal sects have a considerable degree of harmony in respect to the most essential articles of their faith. If some sects deny the great and essential doctrines of the Gospel, and discharge the conscience of the sinner from the dread of future retribution ;-we cannot be ignorant, that their errors have no tendency to restrain men from criminal indulgence, nor to lead them to the abandonment of iniquity, nor to excite them to the generous toils of a self-denying charity, without which the face of the earth will never be renewed.

Thus it is obvious that civilization, mechanical invention, intellectual culture, government, philosophy, and false religion, are incompetent to secure the happiness of man.

II. The GOSPEL has power to liberate enslaved man, and to render him holy and happy.

That, when the earth was the abode of error and crime, and the unhappy race of man was corrupt and lost, God so loved the world as to send his Son, the brightness of his glory, by whom he created the universe, down from heaven to appear in the form of man as the minister of his mercy,-to expiate sin by his death upon the cross, to rise from the dead as a victorious king,--and to disclose the laws, truths, and motives, pure, sublime, and energetic, by which, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the human character is transformed, and depraved man is made the friend of God,-seem to be the chief elementary principles of the religion of Christ.

1. The power of the Gospel is seen in the nature of its instructions. The Gospel frowns upon and banishes those pernicious maxims of conduct, by which the peace of society is destroyed and communities are laid waste. The eager thirst for honor, the insatiable ambition which preys on many a mind, often leading to the commission of great crimes, and in a powerful monarch leading to the destruction of thousands or millions of lives in war, is not tolerated by the Christian morality. The honor which cometh from God, may be sought, but not the honor which cometh from man. In like manner the maxims of retaliation and revenge are condemned; and instead of being devoted to the busy cares of covetousness, occasioning injustice, fraud, and oppression, men are required to toil chiefly for incorruptible treasures.

Besides interdicting all false principles, the Gospel makes known and enjoins right rules of conduct, the observance of which by all men would completely change the face of human affairs. Were the precepts universally obeyed, "As ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so unto them;" "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;"-much of the complicated machinery of government would be superseded and rendered useless. As no wrongs would be suffered, so there would be none to be redressed. Courts might be generally abolished; prison-houses pulled down; chains, and bars, and bolts thrown away. Wise legislators might certainly rest from many of their labors, together with scheming politicians and subtle statesmen; and the affairs of the world would go on prosperously without the pageantry of a court and a throne. It is to be considered also that the gospel, in order to promote virtue, and consequently happiness, not only prescribes right rules of conduct, but also presents motives to obedience, powerful at all times and in all circumstances. The fine-spun theories of moralists relating to the beauty of virtue and the fitness of things are at once brushed away by any strong temptation. Even a regard to

present interest is often borne down by violent passion. But the gospel demands obedience with the threatening of everlasting punishment, and invites to holiness with the promise of everlasting joy and glory. Its influence is felt in all the conditions of our being, binding the soul in secret as well as in public, addressing with authority the reason and conscience, warning of a greater evil than death, and urging to the resolute performance of duty in the midst of scorn, obloquy, and persecution, with a firm confidence in the promised favor of the Almighty.

There is one peculiar principle of action inspired by the gospel of amazing efficacy; and that was announced by the apostle, when he said, "the love of Christ constraineth us." When the sinner, condemned and perishing, becomes a true believer in the crucified Son of God; when by faith he is redeemed, pardoned, justified; when he is led forth from his prison by the hand of his Savior, and through grace breathes the air of freedom; his heart swells with unutterable emotions of gratitude and love to his great Deliverer, and he is impelled to live, not unto himself, but unto Jesus Christ, who loved him and died for him. This is the principle which causes liberality to abound even in the depth of poverty; this is the principle which carries the missionary of the cross to the heathen, and the martyr to the stake, and which in every age since the gospel was made known has achieved wonders of beneficence that have surpassed the comprehension of a selfish world.

While the gospel produces the character of true virtue, it also confers permanent felicity on those who feel its influence. Under the unavoidable trials of their condition, in poverty, affliction, and sickness, it gives them submission to the correcting but merciful hand of God. The raging passions, which cause much of the misery of men, are quieted. The fury of the tempest is converted into a calm. The selfish toils of men are changed to honorable and joyous labors of charity, which bring their own reward with them.

But the gospel also inspires the loftiest hopes of good beyond the grave,—of new and perpetual discoveries of God's character,-of pleasures which eye hoth not seen, nor ear heard, nor the imagination conceived,--of visions of the grace and mercy of Him who died for sinners, and who is altogether lovely,--and of communion with all that is venerable, and holy, and majestic in the universe. Under the inspiration of such hopes the Christian meets the king of terrors without dismay. He goes down into the grave, as the Ceylon diver after pearls plunges into the wave, with the certainty of coming up, loaded with treasures, to behold the splendors of heaven.

2. The gospel has already wrought a great change in the condition of the world, and when its influence shall be universal, all nations will be made virtuous and blessed. The power of the Christian religion, it is well known, has changed many of the evil customs of the world. It has abolished many cruel superstitions, and banished many enormous crimes; it has cast down the idols from their pedestals, and purified the temple of worship; it has mitigated the ferocity of war; it has broken the fetters of the slave; it has made provision for the poor, and established hospitals for the sick; it has promoted civilization, refinement, learning, charity, and every thing that tends to enlarge the mind and ennoble the character. In this country, which owes its form of government to the early Christians of New-England, it has created for ten millions of men free institutions, which are perceptibly spreading their leaven through the earth.

When the influence of the gospel shall be universal, the horrible superstitions