There is a striking analogy here tion and the other works of God.

between revelaThere is system

in all the divine works.* That system is not in general self-apparent; but it discloses itself to the studious humble inquirer. The facts both in nature and providence, as well as in grace, appear generally unconnected, not unfrequently incompatible; and the only way satisfactorily to explain and reconcile them, is not ingenious conjecture, but patient investigation. The true account is to be found in the facts themselves; but they must be carefully studied, in order to discover it. Philosophers, by following this course, have done much to unfold the system of nature; and were divines steadily to pursue a similar track, they would be more successful than they generally have been in unfolding the system of Christianity.

That system which pervades all the works of God, is to be traced ultimately to the perfect order which characterizes the divine nature. The order of his works, and the regularity of his dispensations, are, as it were, an imperfect transcript of the ineffable symmetry of his attributes. It has been remarked, with equal truth and beauty, that "the bosom of

"God in all his works has proceeded by system. There is a beautiful connection and harmony in every thing he has wrote. We sometimes speak of a system of nature, a system of providence, and a system of redemption; and as smaller systems are often included in larger, the language is not improper: in reality, however, they are all but one system; one grand piece of machinery, each part of which has a dependence on the other, and altogether form one glorious whole. Now, if God proceed by system, it may be expected that the Scriptures, being a transcript of his work, should contain a system; and if we would study them to purpose, it must be so as to discover what this system is.”. *FULLER.

God is the seat of law;" and hence, all that he does is done in "measure, number, and weight." Our God is the author, not of confusion, but of order, The human constitution is a beautiful specimen of that systematic order, which forms one of the sig natures of divinity impressed on every thing God has made. Man, to a careless observer, may seem a strange combination of heterogeneous materials. Much of this appearance arises out of the moral derangement which sin has introduced; and when the subject is thoroughly investigated, it appears, that in the primitive order of things, man's various capacities of thinking, and feeling, and acting, were admirably adjusted to the place he was appointed to occupy, and the design he was intended to serve. And notwithstanding all that sin has done to unhinge the primeval order of man's nature, it still so far prevails as to give a kind of systematic character even to that state of moral disorder in which he is now involved. Man, in his present state, is not so much like a majestic edifice fallen into a shapeless heap of ruin, as like a curious machine which has been disordered in some of its principal parts, but which still continues to move, and in its systematically irregular movements attests the ingenuity of its inventor.

Man, in his original state, was the object of the kind regards of the Supreme Being-he knew and loved his Creator-he was innocent, obedient, and happy. His state and character were in perfect harmony, and calculated to perpetuate each other. His intellectual and moral faculties were in complete He was good, and he was happy; and his goodness and happiness were plainly fitted, by their

unison.

re-action, to secure an indefinite progress in both. "How is the gold become dim! how is the puré gold changed!" Man, the sinner, is the object of the righteous displeasure of the Moral Governor of the world. He misconceives the true character of God, and hates it; he violates his law, and renders himself miserable. Guilt, ignorance, error, depra vity, misery-these are the leading characteristics of man in his present state. These circumstances bear the same relation to each other that their opposites did in the primeval state. Ignorance, and error, and depravity lead to guilt. Guilt perpetuates and increases ignorance, error, and depravity; and all work together, with a fearfully systematic regularity and certainty of result, in sinking man in a bottomless pit of degradation and wretchedness. The machinery of man's constitution remains, in a great measure at least, unaltered; but it has got under a malignant influence, and works as steadily and powerfully in destroying, as under a happier influence it would have done in perfecting his moral nature. TRE

If these views are correct, it follows, of course, that there must be system and order in any dispensation, or series of dispensations, which has for its object the restoration of human nature there must be something, which, according to the laws of the divine moral government, shall lay a foundation for a change of man's relations in reference to the Supreme Being there must be something, which, according to the laws of the human constitution, will effect a complete transformation of the character and these, whatever they may be, may be expected to have a close connection. The Bible is substan

tially a revelation of such a restorative dispensation, --an account of the way in which ignorant, guilty, depraved, miserable man may, in a consistency with the perfections of the divine character, and the principles of his own constitution, be forgiven, and be made truly wise, and good, and happy for ever. In

that revelation which contains a detail of those divine dispensations, which have the restoration of man for their object, we are led to anticipate, and we do not anticipate in vain, certain grand principles which bind together what, at first view, may appear unconnected statements, and give a character of consistent regularity to the whole.

The want of these leading principles of a comprehensive knowledge of Christian truth, goes far to account for the employment, and the fruitless employment, of a variety of schemes of human origin, for making men good and happy. The very partial success, or, to speak the truth somewhat more plainly, the nearly total failure of all such schemes to correct the follies and faults of mankind, may be traced at least as much to radical insufficiency in the plans themselves, as to mismanagement on the part of those who have attempted to carry them into execution; and this radical insufficiency has originated principally in deficient and mistaken notions respecting the nature and extent of the moral disorder which they undertook to cure. A great many of these reformers proceed upon the principle, that man's errors in conduct are rather accidental than constitutional, and that if he be but set right when he goes wrong, and be properly guarded against the seductive influence of temptation, he may soon be made every thing he

ought to be. These men have obviously no notion of the true state of the case. They are not aware that the whole inner man is in a state of moral disease that the very heart and conscience are infected -and that the outward faults, which they have set themselves to cure, are not a mere local affection, requiring external applications, but are symptomatic of a disorder of the system, which call for remedies of a different nature and of more potent efficacy. To change the figure, such attempts to make men good by curing them of their particular bad habits, without using appropriate means for effecting a general change in the habitual mode of thinking and feeling, is like an attempt to dam up a stream of water while the fountain continues to flow; the con-sequence of which is, either the accumulated mass of water bursts its confinement, and carries all before it, or, meeting an obstruction in one direction, seeks and finds for itself another channel. Such attempts to mend the human character often deteriorate itand even when they succeed in part, the result is alteration rather than improvement. The current is diverted-not dried up.

Another class of improvers of the human character, who have seen distinctly that topical remedies will not serve the purpose-that in some cases they palliate, in others they aggravate, but in none do they entirely remove the evil-cannot help admitting, however reluctantly, that human depravity extends to principle as well as to action, and therefore that to make man good, not merely must his particular intellectual and moral faults be treated with appropriate remedies, but means must be employed