fectly realize for the people of Israel, we mean the unanimous feeling of the presence of the Most High. For the moral condition of man before the fall was more than equivalent to that economy of miracles, which was hardly capable amongst the Hebrews of overcoming the resistances of individuality. This is the society we seek, and in which, without difficulty, the Church and the State would be but one; but in order to find such a society we must first discover the man from whom it sprang; that man, identical with himself, from generation to generation,—that man in whom sin and suffering have not yet created individuality. But such a man can nowhere be found, he has disappeared for ever; the means which divine mercy has adopted for the restoration of man may indeed elevate him to a glory as great, perhaps greater, than his primeval glory, but it will be of another order; the consequences of sin may be annihilated, but nothing can do away with the fact that it has existed; virtue is not innocence ; that perception of truth which man enjoyed as man, he can enjoy no longer, save in his individual character, by virtue of his individual efforts, and according to those efforts; faith, being personal, has taken the place of sight; religion, which, prior to that event, would have been the property of all, since that period has become the property of each in particular; and it is collective only in consequence of the agreement of several individuals in one and the same conviction, and exactly according to the measure of that agreement. This state of things may be as much, or perhaps more to be desired than the first state, but it is another; and doubtless to another *We may represent to ourselves the condition of man, not before the fall, but before the temptation, as that of a profound but unconscious unity between man and the truth-between man and his Maker. The knowledge of this unity is derived from the fact which has destroyed it, or, rather, from the temptation which threatened it. Whether man had or had not yielded to this temptation-whether vanquished or victorious, he would obtain from it the consciousness of his original unity; vanquished, -to regret it unceasingly; victorious,— to enjoy it sensibly and distinctly. Man has been vanquished; but divine mercy has offered to him a noble revenge; he may again man, corresponds another society. The ancient economy, or to speak more correctly, that which would have existed had man remained in innocence, is no longer possible, even had we been able to call society an aggregate, which was not formed under the auspices of liberty; the proper designation of that economy would have been the theocracy; and, moreover, we must attach to this word a more energetic and absolute signification than that which arises in our minds, when we apply it to the economy under which the Jewish nation was placed. We say that this primitive and perfect theocracy has given rise to a society-that is to say, to a voluntary association, and an active combination of individuals, whose consciences have conducted them in a similar direction. This society is the more intimate, in proportion as the individuality of its members is more definite and more complete, its strength is proportioned to their spontaneity, its existence to their individual vitality. It is a body become a conqueror, through Jesus Christ, the second Adam, in whom humanity triumphs, as she fell in the first. United to Christ, man possesses all that he would have possessed, had the temptation of the first Adam been resisted; something better than unity ;-union. This was the design of God in subjecting man to this trial; in leaving him free; he wished that his union should be one of choice; should be his own act; this was an immense improvement upon his preceding condition; and this caused one of the fathers of the Church to say, speaking of the fall, “felix culpa." It is not, however, that man's fault is happy, since without a reparation, which depended not on him, that fault would have been fatal; that which was happy ("felix") was the trial; it was that simple question which, put by our Creator, revealed our true position, clearly pointed out to us the distinction between his will and ours, separating us from him, the better to re-unite us, and impressing on a union, in some measure fatal and without moral character, the glorious seal of liberty. It follows that, to identify the Church with the State, is to forget, not only the fall, but the trial, that is to say, the design of God; who designed man to be responsible, and who could not make him responsible without making him individual, and who consequently has made religion a matter of certainty, but not of demonstration. When man places himself distinctly in the view of God, he places himself distinctly in the view of man. The same action constitutes the man and the individual. deriving all its strength from its head it is true, but "according to the effectual working in the measure of every part." (Ephes.iv. 16.) Now this society, produced by faith and walking by faith, is not identical with the State which springs from sight and walks by sight; this society, founded upon the subjective element of assurance, is not identical with the State founded upon the objective element of demonstration; this society, the starting point of which is liberty, is not identical with the State, whose starting point is necessity. The State having its foundation upon what is common to all men, comprises all within its pale by absolute right; the Church sprang from an element which is not that of identity, receives into her bosom only those in whom she finds this element. We repeat it, however; it is not surprising that the Church and State should mutually seek each other, like the two halves of the same being. They do, in their way, just what every man does to some extent. There may be said also to exist in every man, two halves which seek to be united together. And the difference between different men does not consist in the fact that some do, and some do not attain to this amalgamation; for it would be impossible in every case; the difference is, that in some there is a reconciliation, a treaty of peace, a good understanding felt and enjoyed between the two parts heretofore disunited; whilst amongst others such reconciliation is never effected. Now how, when this internal reconciliation takes place, only amongst a certain number of men, some at an earlier, others at a later period-here under one form, and there under another—how can all men be united together in an aggregate, which supposes an operative reconciliation amongst all? The instinct which pervades humanity in the sense that we have pointed out, is then incontestable and worthy of attention; but this instinct, so true in one sense, is blind in this; society is ignorant that unity is lost for ever both to itself and to man; and that the reconciliation destined to replace this unity, is a circumstance purely individual, and not tran sferable from man to the State. PRINCIPLES OF DISSENT, AND THE DUTIES OF DISSENTERS. A Pastor's Address to his People. BY JOHN ANGELL JAMES. "Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world." A NEW EDITION. LONDON: SOCIETY FOR THE LIBERATION OF RELIGION FROM STATE PATRONAGE AND CONTROL, 2, SERJEANTS' INN, FLEET STREET, AND ARTHUR MIALL, 18, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET. |