At the end of a period of four thousand years, man was not only worse than at his creation, but had apparently been growing continually more vicious, and more ignorant of his duty and happiness. Many bright and shining lights had been displayed; and they had been all, like the miner's lamp, that guides him through the dark, subterraneous labyrinth, extinguished by thenoxious and pestilential vapours of a corrupted world. Not only, therefore, were the peculiar graces of their Creator forfeited, but his displeasure was most justly incurred. The depravity of mankind may not only have excited the displeasure of a pure and holy God, but have actually disqualified them for enjoying the happiness, for which they were designed. Their guilt may not only have disqualified them for happiness and immortality, but have rendered punishment indispensable, on the part of a righteous moral governor. It may have been indispensable in the abstract, as essential to the attributes of God, or on account of themselves, or with a reference to that vast chain of intellectual beings, who may be all witnesses of the conduct of Providence on this earth; or in various other respects, of which we can now form no adequate conception.

What then was to be done? Was mankind to continue to be a disgrace to the moral government of God, and an evil example to the higher orders of his spiritual creation? Were they to

be reserved for a future period, at which the measure of their wickedness might be full, and the justice of God be vindicated in their extinc tion? Were they at that moment to be blotted out of existence; or were they to be consigned to a state of punishment and infamy, that would render them monuments of the divine justice and holiness, and examples to the whole system of rational and moral intelligences? Or, on the other hand, were they to be redeemed from this state by a process, that should, at the same time, vindicate the ways of God to men and angels; and give this fallen and abandoned race every opportunity, every encouragement, every assistance, every allurement, to rise to a blessed state of everlasting existence? Unquestionably the last is the plan, that accords best with our ideas of the gracious Father, and righteous governor of the world.

But how was this to be done? We cannot enter upon a discussion of this subject without the most awful sensations. After what has been said of the state of man, can any of that wretched and guilty race presume to say, how they ought to have been treated; and still less, what mercy and grace they should receive; and least of all, by what means it should be conveyed, so as to answer the eternal purposes of the divine mind, with respect to the whole system of intellectual, rational, and moral intelligences? Shall we pre

sume to make our partial, corrupt and ignorant minds, the arbiters and judges of what "the angels desired to look into?" Yet there is perhaps a stage, to which the human understanding may advance with safety: there are other points on which it may, without presumption, hazard a conjecture; and others again, in which we can judge of what should be, only by what has actually been. Let us attempt to mark these limits, advancing with all due reverence and circumspection, and remembering, that "the place on which we tread is holy ground." What must be done by man? what by his Redeemer? and what by the mercy and grace of God? These three questions seem to embrace the whole of the subject.

First, what was to be done by man? To repent of his sins. But how could he repent? How could creatures abandoned to a reprobate mind, who mistook vice for virtue, and virtue for vice, repent? How could they be sensible of shame, who gloried in their shame? How could they be sorry for atrocities in which they triumphed? How could they turn to God, who knew not God; who turned aside from the wonders of creation and Providence, to worship stocks and stones, the work of their own hands, and the most infamous of their kind? What human influence could regenerate their deluded minds; and, if any, where was it to be found? The most per

fect models of human perfection, both in intellect and conduct, had been occasionally exhibited on the most conspicuous theatres, but all in vain: and the last period, capable of producing these rare examples, was just then passing away, with the philosophy, learning and liberty of Rome. But why should they repent? Why should they repent of crimes in which they gloried, or abandon sins which constituted their supreme felicity? Would the voluptuary repent of his plea sures; the miser hate his wealth; the philosopher abjure his pride; or the hero be ashamed of his conquests, fame and triumphs? and what could they substitute in their place, they who were as ignorant of virtue as they were attached to vice? But all these questions are superfluous. No man living believes, that the Roman world could have reformed itself. Without the assistance of divine wisdom and supernatural power, nothing could be done by man.

But grant, that mankind might have been brought to a sense of sin; and even a portion of them to sincere repentance, and newness of life; could this have altered the condition of the whole human race? Suppose that a whole generation of men had been so reformed, might not the suc ceeding generation have relapsed? With respect even to the penitents, are we sure, that without the special grace of God, repentance entitles to exemption from punishment; or if it did, that

penitence is equivalent to innocence? Suppose it was; can it give any claim to blessings? In short, can the most complete amendment of our lives give us any right to immortality? Surely not. The world, therefore, could not reform itself, or be redeemed by any human exertion.

If it be inquired, what was to be done by the Redeemer, the answer is, in part, easy: for it is what has actually been done within our own knowledge.

It was necessary, first, to make men sensible of their sins, and excite them to repentance; then to instruct them in a true system of religion and morals, and engage them to carry the principles of both into execution: and then, in order to produce these effects, it was absolutely necessary to impress them with faith in the authority of him, who recommended these new doctrines, and this new rule of life. In order to effect these ends, it was indispensable, that the Saviour should himself exhibit an example free from sin, and distinguished by every virtue, human and divine. This office could not be filled by any mortal man without supernatural assistance; not only because this wisdom, this influence, and this display of sinless perfection, are incompatible with human nature; but because even these qualities could not have produced their effects, without a display of miraculous powers, and a prophetic insight into futurity. These, therefore, were ne