racter which we have already described, but to many others, who may seem exempt from the sordid spell of worldliness and the grosser forms of sensuality. Even those who may boast of intellectual, refined and spiritual natures, but whose moral habits are opposed to the dictates of true piety, will display, not merely the absence of any attraction, but the presence of a positive repulsion towards the entire system of Christianity. If any man has lived in habitual forgetfulness of God, regardless of his relations to such a being, without realizing his dependence on Divine protection, or feeling his responsibility to the divine law, he must, of course, therefore, be ignorant of his own character, proud, self-willed, and conscious alike of alienation and guilt. Not liking to retain God in his knowledge, he would recoil from that scheme of reconciliation, which aims to restore him to communion with God. Walking only in the sight of his own eyes, and after the desires of his own heart, he would revolt against the precepts and penalties of the Gospel, which impose restraints on his self-will. Ignorant of his own character, proud, and self-reliant, he would spurn that economy of redemption, which abases man before God and ascribes his salvation to free unmerited grace. Conscious of guilt, and exposed to danger, he would gladly be rid forever of that unwelcome Gospel, which reveals a remedy which he dislikes, and a doom which he dreads. With such moral habits as these existing, it is manifest that, if such a character be led cordially to believe and embrace Christianity, it must be in direct opposition to the tastes, tendencies, and sympathies of his nature. Pride, selfwill, and guilty fear pertain to the fallen nature of man, until renewed by the grace of God; and these secret, moral antipathies are so many smothered and subterranean fountains of unbelief in the heart. They may either be drained off as it were, by a blind ditch of practical unbelief, or they may flow forth in an open channel of avowed infidelity.

To sum up then, our conclusions on this whole subject, -we have seen that true faith moves the heart and moulds anew, the moral character,-that where professed belief was not followed by such results, it was be

cause the light admitted by the understanding was resisted by previous moral habits, and shut out from the heart, that these moral habits were common to unregenerate mankind, and were sufficient in other cases to prompt the entire rejection of truth by open infidelity,that these moral habits were founded on a previous resistance to the light of nature,-that where such previous resistance prevailed, there arose a threefold obstruction to the exercise of faith,-that the mind, ignorant of first principles, could not advance to a knowledge of higher truth, that the power of moral vision was impaired, and the prospect of gracious illumination lessened by previous abuse of light. And that the mind. in such a case, was unable to discern and appreciate the strongest evidences of the truth of Christianity, the internal and experimental evidences. Again, supposing a character of worldliness to exist, we have seen, that the mind, pre-occupied with opposite interests, refused to consider the credentials of Christianity. Nay, that, by the very fact of this pre-occupancy, it had already pre-judged and condemned, without investigation, the claims of all religion,-that the mind, familiarized with the uniformity of secondary laws and sensible effects, is startled with surprise, and staggered with incredulity at the testimony of invisible and spiritual realities,that the mind, assimilated in its tastes, aspirations, and hopes, to the low scene of its sinful habits, refuses to rise to the apprehension and belief of the high disclosures of the Gospel of Christ. And finally, we have seen, that even in characters exempt from the sordid spell of worldliness, there yet existed secret moral antipathies, such as alienation, pride of intellect and of heart, independent self-will, and guilty fear, which served as sufficient sources of unbelief.

The Gospel of Christ makes its appeal before a prejudiced tribunal. It does not find the nature of man in an attitude of preparation to welcome its heavenly light. It does not meet him already advancing on his way in pursuit of truth and holiness. It does not approach him at that point of progress in the right direction, where, after following the light of nature as far as it shone, he stands waiting and watching for the light of VOL. VIII.-No. 3.

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Heaven, which comes in as a mere supplement to the light of nature. No! It pursues and overtakes him afar off, going astray, with his face averted, his eyes closed, and his back turned on the light, not seeking for the truth, not feeling after God, if happily he might find him, not crying from the heart, "O that I knew where I might find him! Then would I approach even to his seat, and order my cause before him!" But exclaiming "Depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways!" The known features of man's character, the moral habits of his life, the history of the Christian religion, the plain and positive declarations of the Bible, -and the very structure of Christianity itself,-all unite and conspire to prove, that the Gospel comes, not to ignorant beings who desire light, but to depraved beings who love darkness. So, that if Christianity had met with a welcome reception in the world, we then would have had reason to doubt its divine origin.

In view of these facts, what is the course of true wisdom, what are the dictates of right reason? To assume at the outset, that the heart is pure and the mind unbiassed?-deny the influence of taste, prejudice, and passion,-assert the rectitude of the will, ignore the blinding and perverting power of moral habit,-and set up reason as an infallible Judge, to discern at a glance and pronounce by intuition, on the truth or falsehood of God's word? No, "If any man seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise." Let man assume that attitude which belongs to a finite creature, before an infinite Creator and a guilty sinner, before a holy God,-the attitude of a little child, conscious of his ignorance and anxious for instruction. Sincere in his desire for light, and aware of his liability to delusion, let him go back to the first principles of truth, review and examine those plain, familiar lessons, which he has never fully comprehended, nor honestly applied, and aware of the adverse tendencies of an evil heart and an ungodly life, let him, with humble prayer, seek the illuminating spirit of God, and with childlike docility, read and study the word of God. This is not to renounce, but to release and liberate reason. This is not to enslave, but to exalt and enlarge the soul of man.

"If the truth shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

ARTICLE IV.

THE ROMISH CONTROVERSY, ITS PRESENT ASPECT, AND THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH WITH REFERENCE TO IT.*

The incidents of sacred story may furnish us instruction, either by the examples which they contain, the principles which they involve, or, as simple illustrations of the truth.

The 12th Chapter of 1st Chronicles, records the number and the strength of the tribes, that came up to David, at Hebron, themselves, or by their representatives, to make him King over all Israel, after the death of Ishbosheth. And with the characteristic terseness of the sacred writers, we have also, in a few words, the qualifications of each tribe, to meet any anticipated emergency that might arise from the opposition of the house of Saul. It is said of some, that they were mighty men of valor;" of others, that they were "expert in war," and of others, that they "were not of double heart." To the men of Issachar belonged the proud distinction, of combining with an equal zeal for the cause, a superior intelligence, and a perfect organization: they "had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred, and all their brethren were at their commandment."

Now, without even approximating the exploded principle, which sought a type, in every notice or allusion of Old Testament history, and allegorized the simplest state

*The following article is the substance of a sermon, delivered before the Synod of Virginia, at their late meeting in Alexandria, Va., from 1st Chronicles, 12th chapter, 32d verse: "And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred, and all their brethren were at their commandment."

ments, into the most wonderful theological dogmas; we may yet avoid the opposite extreme, which is, to treat a large portion of Scripture as if it were a mere collection of bald and barren annals, standing in no immediate relation to the dispensation of grace in the Gospel. The recorded events, in the establishment and progress of the Hebrew monarchy, have, certainly, something more than a bare historical interest: they stand in a more intimate relation to the kingdom of Messiah, than those which attended the founding of the throne of the Cæsars, the reign of Henry the Fourth, or the downfall of the Stuarts. By the authority of prophets and apostles, the throne of David is the standing type of His dominion, whose righteous kingdom shall extend from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Admitting then, as we must admit, from the essential difference in nature between an earthly sovereignty and the spiritual dominion of Jesus Christ, that the means of founding the first, have not the force of an authorized example in extending the second, yet it is not too much to say, that the record is of more value than any uninspired narrative, and its incidents are something more than mere historical illustrations. As we think there is here, a designed analogy, by which we may learn, from the method of God's dealings in one case, the designs of his providence in another, and emulating the recorded courage, devotion, and skill of those who, in other days, were the instruments of his power, in fulfilling his purpose, we may more successfully marshal the sacramental host of God's elect, in the contest with opposing errors.

Taken in this light, the pertinence of the context referred to will be easily apparent. Among the errors which oppose the progress and full establishment of the kingdom of grace in all the earth, Romanism is justly regarded as one of the most inveterate and dangerous. There are those, indeed, who do not hesitate to give it the bad preeminence of being the very master-piece of Satanic ingenuity, for withstanding and subverting the truth. But it would require an investigation more difficult than profitable, accurately to estimate the comparative influence for evil, of this, and other forms of error and unbelief. It is enough to know that it is a system