which they had lost. And in the same way, how is it that noble and generous sacrifices have been made for a good and a noble cause? Has it not been by having the warm affections of the heart called forth-by having a sense of the obligations under which we are placed to that cause or to our country deeply engraven upon the soul? It is thus, that individuals have been led to exult in an opportunity of shedding their blood, in behalf of the truth they loved, or the country which gave them birth. Now, brethren, the great feature of Christianity is this that " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life." God took hold of our sense of gratitude, which He had never allowed to be totally extinguished in the human breast. He took care, that it should never be entirely destroyed amidst all the evil influences which sin produced. And in order that it might effect its full impression upon the mind, when God brought forth His scheme of redemption He determined that the kindness He would display should be without precedent or parallel. He determined, that whatever the annals of the universe could present, that was kind and noble and generous, should be infinitely surpassed in the sacrifice which He made. And whether we look at the majesty of the Being we had offended, or at the glory of the Being who came to bear our iniquities, or at the extent of the evils which He averted and the blessings which He purchased, or at the sympathy and compassion manifested in the whole course of His earthly sojourn and in the legacy of promises and consolations which He has bequeathed to us, or at the provocation given by those to whom such mercy is extended, we have every thing that can work upon an ingenuous mind. Now what is the effect of speculative infidelity? It not only disbelieves and rejects the statement in respect to the mission of God's own Son, but it treats the whole as a mere mockery, as an artful device, as a baseless fabrication; and accordingly it shuts out the mind entirely from all the healing influences of that amazing remedy, which God has at such expence, and with such infinite wisdom, furnished for all the moral disorders of our ruined world. The man who regards what is said of this medicine, the prescriptions and the qualifications of the Divine Physician, as the impudent pretensions of quackery, deprives himself of the most powerful motives which can be employed for the recovery and regeneration of the human race; and without which, in his, as in every other case, a cure is impossible. He is thus led either to regard his case as desperate; or, what not seldom happens, his mental vision is so distorted, as to regard the worst symptoms of his malady as so many signs of a vigorous and flourishing health.

But, thirdly, another principle of great influence, is that of example. If there be any thing, that is fitted to stir us up to activity, to determination, to the exercise of self-government, it is the sight of others, who have been placed in similar circumstances and who are "men of like passions with ourselves," buffeting with the waves of difficulty, and becoming "more than conquerors" over formidable enemies, in a state of weakness displaying amazing strength, advancing from one degree of vigour and exertion to another, until they have attained a state of obedience and of self-sacrifice, of which human nature seemed at first sight incapable. The very contemplation of such characters is of an inspiring tendency; and the more we consider their circumstances and their attainments, and the longer we gaze upon them, the more are we fired with a desire to tread in their footsteps, and to imitate their virtues. Accordingly, if there be any thing that has had a better influence than another, it is the example of Jesus Christ, of His apostles and disciples, and of the Christians of every age who have been "followers of God as dear children," and who "for the joy set before them endured the cross and despised the shame," keeping their eyes fixed upon Jesus "the author and finisher of their faith," the great pattern for their own deportment. Now the evil of speculative infidelity is, that so far from allowing these examples to produce any influence upon the mind, it denounces them all as mere exhibitions of trickery, imposture and deceit. It treats them as if, so far from being the benefactors of the human race, they were its worst enemies. The most splendid instances of integrity, of generosity, of self-sacrifice, they treat as instances of deceit, self-aggrandisement, sanctimonious hypocrisy. Those instances, in which the greatest devotedness has been shown to the best interests of their fellow men, they regard as so many steps in the ladder to raise themselves to power, and to exercise a spiritual domination over the minds and consciences of others. And thus every thing that is

excellent and praiseworthy in human nature, is looked at through a suspicious medium, and treated as an object of their special abhorrence; and so far from being filled with any desire to imitate their excellence, they think they cannot depart too far from their example and too carefully. Every disposition which the others prized, they shun and avoid. It is thus, that they denounce humility, penitence, temperance, chastity, self-denial of any kind which interferes with the gratification of predominant desires; and they teach those doctrines of selfishness and those principles of expediency, as if man should live solely to promote his own interest without regard to the welfare of those around him.

In the fourth place, another principle which exercises a mighty influence over the character, is that of hope. Hope is a principle, which animates all mankind, in their labours, in their sacrifices of the present for the sake of the future, and in the various schemes which they form either for bettering their own circumstances or for the amelioration of mankind. Accordingly Jesus Christ has in the Gospel set before our minds an indefinite career of improvement. He has shown Christians, that they ought to be holy as their Father in heaven is holy, perfect as their Father in heaven is perfect; He has told them, that their light ought to be that of the just man, "which shineth more and more unto the perfect day;" that they are to "forget the things which are behind, and reach forth to those which are before;" that they are never to suppose that they "have already attained or are already perfect," but they have to press on from one degree of holiness, of obedience, of service, to another, and never to rest until they find themselves in the embrace of their Saviour in heaven. Accordingly you will see, that Christians, when they are rightly actuated by the spirit of their calling, invariably say, that whatever they lose they can never be deprived of a treasure which compensates for every loss; they have a hope which "maketh not ashamed," a hope which "enters into that within the veil," a hope of " an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." And it is impossible to tell how much the hope of meeting beloved relatives, from whom we have been separated by the stroke of death, cheers and supports the mind, and often soothes the heart that is heaving with unspeakable sorrow. It is impossible to tell how it sustains the Christian mourner, and nerves him to the discharge of his duties in life, and to go on his way rejoicing in the expectation of meeting at the right hand of God with those whom he has lost on earth. It is hope, which draws the sinner to the foot of the cross, and brings him again and again to those waters of healing. But the unbeliever excludes all this. No hope of pardon, no hope of future happiness-no certain hope of it. There is a cloud drawn over their future prospects, which their eye cannot penetrate; and they do not allow any of those brilliant views, which are furnished to us in the book of God, to have any effect upon their minds. It is the same, brethren, as if you were to shut up all the doors and windows of your houses, and never allow the sun to penetrate your dwellings from year's end to year's end, never to allow yourselves to know that the bright light of heaven was shining around you, to involve yourselves in wilful darkness, and then persuade yourselves that that darkness covers all nature, and that nothing whatever is to be seen or discovered.

In the fifth place, what exercises a great influence over the human mind is, a knowledge of means of recovery from the mistakes we have committed and the errors into which we have fallen. It is of the utmost moment, when our affairs have gone to ruin, that we should know how they are to be retrieved; when our bodies have been smitten with disease, that we should be acquainted with a remedy; when we have committed sin, that we should know how to obtain pardon. All men have a consciousness of guilt; all know that they have violated the laws of reason and of conscience, and that they therefore deserve punishment. And how are they to be forgiven? This is a question, which the speculative infidel cannot answer; and therefore he resorts to a thousand expedients, in order to persuade himself, that man is not an accountable creature, that it is impossible for any one to be guilty of sin, that the word is a term without meaning, "that all the authority ascribed to conscience is a mere fancy, that there is no God to call us to account, that there is no hereafter in which we are to exist, that our being is limited by the grave, and that all the faculties which God bestowed upon us are annihilated the moment we breathe our last. They are fain to betake themselves to such vain fictions as these, in order to calm the perturbation of their own hearts, and to

persuade themselves that they may go on "after the sight of their own eyes." Now observe a great advantage of the Christian. He knows how pardon is to be obtained, how God has been propitiated, and at the same time how the power of sin is to be broken. We find that we are continually coming short; but then we know that " we have an advocate with the Father." We feel that we are weak in ourselves; but then we know how almighty succours may descend from above. And so far from objecting that these influences are spiritual and invisible, we remember, that this is the case with our own souls, and with all the attributes of Deity, from whom we have our faculties; that the influence which one mind exercises upon another is secret and precisely of the same description. We know how one powerful mind is able to diffuse its feelings and impressions through a whole nation, and to transmit them with unimpaired energy through distant times and ages; and if one mind can thus act upon other minds, we believe that the omnipotent Being can with still greater effect act upon His rational offspring. We know too how this influence is to be obtained. As we must sow and cultivate the land, if we would obtain the harvest; as we must build ships, if we would traverse the mighty ocean; as we must take food, if we would preserve natural life; so is it necessary for us to use prayer, if we would " open the windows of heaven" and obtain a spiritual blessing. And as certainly as by taking food we support life, so certainly by prayer in the name of Christ do we obtain every spiritual blessing, of which we stand in need.

In the sixth place, I remark, that one important principle, by which we must be guided in all our investigations, is the exercise of honesty and candour in seeking after truth; and that without this, it is impossible for us to obtain the least satisfaction to our own minds. We may be the sport of every prejudice; any statement, that appeals to our passions or that favours our peculiar propensities, may command our assent for the moment; but there is no conclusion to which we can come, which will satisfy our judgments and our consciences, to which we are likely to adhere, but that which has been formed under a calm and clear deliberation, and with the conviction that we have impartially examined both sides of the question, and that we have been seeking to ascertain the truth.

Now the man who labours under the misfortune of entertaining speculative objections against Christianity, shuts himself up against the entrance of truth. He has taken his stand, and resolves to abide by the conclusion at which he has arrived, however flimsy the sophistry by which he has been led to it. The practical unbe liever resembles the troops, that have invaded the territory of another, but have not yet formed a camp; they may be easily dispersed by the enemy coming down upon them. But the speculative infidel has surrounded himself by ramparts, has planted his artillery on the fortifications, has cast up his redoubts, and is firmly determined to repel every individual that may seek to bring him over to the cause of Christianity. So far from being pleased with attempts to satisfy him of the fallacy of his conclusion, he hugs that conclusion as if it were his best inheritance or his dearest birthright. He resembles those, who should plunge themselves into a captivity from which they could be rescued, and when friends come to aid them should take up arms in the cause of their task-master; they hug their chains, they rattle them in the faces of their friends, and by the most violent and frantic gestures they show their determination to abide by the lot in which they are placed, and by the master in whose service they are detained.

In such a state of mind candour and impartiality are out of the question. They call evil good, and good evil. They put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Instead of wheat, they sow tares in their hearts; and in place of "trees of righte ousness" which are to the glory of God, their souls, so far as religious feelings are concerned, are overgrown with briars and thorns.

Thus the speculative infidel not merely rejects all the advantages which Christianity offers, but exposes himself helpless and unprotected to all those influences by which his eternal ruin can be most surely effected. He is thrown upon a wide field of uncertainty and debate. For it is remarkable, that whenever you enter into conversation with an unbeliever, you find that he is never satisfied with the views and theories of any one who has gone before him; he always finds flaws and imperfections in every species of reasoning employed to discredit any part of Christian truth; he must construct a theory peculiar to himself. And hence in ordinary cases there is a perpetual source of uneasiness under all the pretexts on which

he rejects a Divine Revelation. He cannot tell whether to believe with Voltaire, or Gibbon, or Hume, or Paine; he cannot tell in what school to take his degree, or to what individual to look as a faithful and safe guide into the eternal world; and hence it is entirely according to the complexion of his own mind, the character of his associates, and the nature of the training he has received, what may be the sentiments which he adopts. But still further: he is not only in a state of intellectual doubt and difficulty, but he is exposed to the unmitigated influences of a world lying in wickedness. He takes off all the armour, that would protect him from the attacks of sin; and though his circumstances, under the care and providence of God, may sometimes prevent him from running headlong into vice, there is nothing in his principles to protect him from its worst excesses. And hence you see that speculative infidelity is very often employed as a cloak for that which is practical. A man hates revelation, because it condemns his proceedings. He finds it necessary to discover cavils and objections, that he may run his own career and indulge his passions, without having a perpetual monitor to reprove him. It is necessary to his peace, that he should forget the glittering sword that is suspended over his head, and which his crimes may cause one day speedily to descend. He takes off the drag-chain, which might have prevented his carriage from going so rapidly down the declivity; and with a fierce excitement, or with an affectation of coolness under which he masks the fear and trembling which conscience excites within him, he allows himself to be carried along the road, that leads to the chambers of eternal death.

I have thus endeavoured to point out the advantages, so manifold and powerful for his recovery and salvation, from which infidelity excludes its victim, and the increased virulence which it gives to all the spiritual maladies under which we suffer, removing every remedy, and making every disease rage with tenfold violence. I would now conclude, by addressing a few words of exhortation to three classes of individuals.

I would speak first to the speculative infidel, if there be any such present-or any who have a tendency to entertain doubts or difficulties respecting the Divine origin of the Scriptures. And I would say, reflect upon the origin and cause of all the doubts and objections, which ever have been brought against the Scriptures as the Word of God. They originate from the following causes. One of them is, that some individuals have been found, of such inordinate vanity, that whatever opinions were commonly received among men were those which they were most anxious to attack, in order to attract public notice; and the more formidable their attack, and the greater the alarm and noise they occasioned, the more was their vanity flattered, and they exulted in secret at the eclat they obtained. It is this, which has led the recluse student very frequently to advocate principles, which he never meant to adopt in his own practice himself; he rejoices to lead a multitude, and to be greeted with their acclamations; he is willing to expose himself to any risk in time and for eternity, that he may inhale the incense of their giddy applause. With another class—and a vast number-the grand objection to the Bible is, that they lead bad lives. They cannot believe in the Scriptures, and at the same time sleep with ease in their tent, or have any rest or peace of conscience, while they pursue their present practices and indulge in their present gratifications. They know that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness of men;" they know, that if the Scriptures be true, they are lost and undone, unless they change their ways. And rather than abandon their pleasures, give up their evil courses, they will find out and bring forward all the objections which the ingenuity of man has been able to think of against the Bible; and if they succeed in giving them a plausible appearance, they are pleased and satisfied. Brethren, this is the grand cause; and it was with truth that the witty Earl of Rochester said, when he became a convert after being for so many years an infidel, "Here" (laying his hand on the Bible) "is true philosophy; this is the wisdom that speaks to the heart; a bad life is the only grand objection to this book.” accordingly if you look at its principles, you will see that the precepts of God are in all respects excellent and right, and ought to be valued by us more than the choicest treasures. I would say, then, to the speculative infidel, Take heed how you disseminate your principles. Is it not enough, that your own minds should be overcast with the blackness of despair, that you should be convinced yourselves that there is no hereafter, and that your existence is limited by

And

the grave? Allow other people to cherish their hopes and expectations. They serve to cheer them; to restrain, to guide, to elevate them; they do unspeakable good; and if all at last die and are no more, they do them at least no harm. You indeed must be in danger, if Christianity prove true; but they lose nothing by it, even if it be false; and therefore the chances are all in favour of receiving Christianity-the risk is all on your side. When I see such multitudes disseminating their sceptical principles and endeavouring to seduce the Christian from his faith, I look upon them in this light: so long as they were infidels in secret, though I could weep over them, yet I could bear with them; but now they are like persons labouring under a mortal disease—miserable, unhappy, dying—but it is infectious, and when I see them running out into the streets and diffusing the plague all around them, my pity yields now to detestation and horror.

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To the young I would say, be not easily seduced to believe that Christianity is a fable. The greatest intellects that ever the world could boast of, have bowed at the foot of the cross. Those that have most investigated the subject, are fully satisfied of the Divine origin of this book. Those that have most frequently gone to "the fountain of living waters," will bear the most decided testimony to the truth and reality of their power to refresh and revive the fainting spirit. Those that have most frequently gone to the consolations of the Bible, will tell you how they have been carried through seasons of sorrow and distress, and how their broken hearts would have given way, if it were not for this Divine support. Be not easily seduced, then, by the scoffs, sneers, and cavils, to which you may listen. They tell you to rejoice in your youth, and walk in the counsels of your heart and in the sight of your eyes," and that you cannot sin. This may be alluring; but are you sure it is safe? Remember another, who tells you that "His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace." Listen to Him, who offers to be your guardian in youth, and says, They that seek Me early shall find Me." Be not flattered by the compliments paid to your penetration and understanding, that you may reject the great doctrines of Christianity; as if that alone could prove you to see further than others. It will not be that you see more, but it is that you see less, if you arrive at such a conclusion. It is because anything in the shape and show of reasoning has been sufficient to seduce your mind, and because you think you have exhausted the subject before you entered even into its borders. If you investigate it for ten or for twenty years, you have not ascertained all its merits; and there is not a page of the Bible, but has still new proof to render, that it is the Word of the living God.

To Christians I would say, take heed lest there be in any of you "an evil heart of unbelief." A faith which takes hold of things unseen and brings them to act with power on the mind, differs exceedingly in degree; and in proportion as you loosen your hold on things eternal, be assured that there is a secret infidelity stealing in upon your souls. If it be so, go back again to first principles. "Remember from whence you are fallen; repent, and do the first works." And as Christians, take heed lest there be anything in your deportment, in your spirit, in your principles, that may create an objection or a difficulty in the minds of spectators. It is expected of those who profess the name of Jesus Christ, that they will reflect the bright image of His excellence; and if they be self-conceited and self-willed, if they be arrogant and overbearing, if they be selfish and contracted, if they be unprincipled and dishonest and marked for want of integrity, if their tempers be bad, harsh, morose, severe, what can they expect but that the most serious of all objections will be created in the minds of those, who are inquiring the way to heaven. They say-If this be Christianity, we cannot endure it; instead of our minds receiving benefit and improvement by it, they would be degraded and debased.' It is the duty of Christians too, to make themselves so well acquainted with the argument in all its bearings, and with the state of mind of their friends and acquaintance, as to be able to remove stumbling blocks out of the way. Christians cannot be better employed, than in removing those objections, which they may hear in the workshop and in daily intercourse with their associates, and in showing forth in their conduct what real Christianity is; thus inducing men around them to fall down at the feet of Jesus, to become His disciples and followers, to partake of the blessings of a full and free salvation, and to assist in extending the interests of a kingdom, which consists entirely of peace and righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost.