"the end of the commandment" to be "charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned;" he charges him to "war a good warfare, holding faith, and a good conscience2;" and, in setting forth the qualities and duties of Deacons, he bids them hold "the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience." Thus too, in his Second Epistle to the same, he thanks God, whom he served from his "forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing" he had remembrance of his beloved Son in his "prayers night and day." And upon the very same ground, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he entreats the help of their intercession, saying, "pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly "."

These and other passages of similar import, which occur in the Epistles of St. Paul, are sufficient to prove the stress which that Apostle laid upon the authority of conscience, the obedience which he paid to its dictates, the care with which he sought to protect its privileges; and the recollection of them, as I have already remarked, may well serve to illustrate the earnest anxiety wherewith he appeals, in the text, to the fact of his exercising himself “to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men," albeit that persecu

1 1 Tim. i. 5.

3 Ibid. iii. 9.

5 Heb. xiii. 18.

2 Ibid. 19.

42 Tim. i. 3.

tion the most oppressive, and dangers the most appalling, were then his portion.

Need I now lay before you the evidence which is furnished by other faithful servants of the Lord, to show their sense of the precious gift which St. Paul was so anxious to preserve? Need I repeat the testimony of St. Peter, telling you that "this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God, endure grief, suffering wrongfully1;" and that the saving power of baptism is felt, not "in the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God 2?" Or need I pass on to the assurance of the Beloved Disciple teaching us that, "if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God?" Truly it were superfluous to multiply these, and testimonies like these, to the fact of the supremacy which conscience holds in man's nature; for it is a fact which men generally admit. It is one of the many precious convictions of human belief which force themselves upon the mind, without hesitation or doubt; a truth rather to be recognised by experience, than deduced by arguLike the sun which shines in the firmament of heaven, we feel that it exists, by the light which it spreads around us. Be it, as some have thought, a certain modification of reason, founded upon an

ment.

1 1 Pet. ii. 19.

2 Ibid. iii. 21.

3 1 John iii. 21.

original instinct, called a moral sense1; or as others have maintained, one of the original and uncompounded elements of our nature; be it derivative or inherent; be it designated by whatsoever title you will,- by that of the moral sense, or moral sentiment, or informing faculty, or reflection, or practical dictate of the understanding,—it is still that principle which, from its very nature, manifestly claims superiority over every other principle, and passion, and motive of action, inasmuch as it surveys the operation of all, and 'without being consulted, without being advised with, magisterially exerts itself?,' and approves the right, or condemns the wrong. 'Had it strength,' (are the well known words of Bishop Butler, in his admirable Sermon on human nature,) as it has right; had it power, as it has manifest authority; it would absolutely govern the world 3.

6

It is, in fact, that principle which made even the Gentiles "a law unto themselves;" for they, as the Apostle tells us, "shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another +." And not only was this law in the heart, this witnessing conscience, this accusing

1 See Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments, part iii. c. v. p. 186.

2

Bishop Butler's Second Sermon upon Human Nature, Vol. ii. p. 56.

3 Ibid. p. 60.

4

Rom. ii. 15.

or excusing thought, ascribed to the Gentiles by the enlightened teacher of Christian truth, but it was felt, and claimed, and professed by themselves, to be a glorious and mighty privilege. The manifestation of its power may be traced among them, under every possible variety of aspect. The researches of their moralists, the reflections of their historians, the visions of their poets, each and all of them are commentaries upon the existence of this belief, upon the universality of its dominion. It mattered not that the gloom of heathen ignorance darkened its surface, or that the intricacy of heathen superstition perplexed its character, its native energy was still felt, its undying voice was still heard. And that voice, observe still further, was lifted up on the side of truth and righteousness. 'If not forcibly stopped, it always went on naturally, and of course to anticipate a higher and more effectual sentence, which should hereafter second and affirm its own '' However appalling might be the anomalies which accompanied the acknowledgment of it, or however perverse or misapplied the devices which issued from it, there was still some form of good, some undoubted principle of morality which might be discerned in the progress of their development. The exception only proved the priority of the rule. The malady bore witness to the

ii.

1

Bishop Butler's Second Sermon upon Human Nature, Vol. p. 56.

reality and capacity of the functions that once were healthful. The aberration was a sign that there had been a path of rectitude, from which the deviation was made.

I stop not now to show in what manner the existence and operation of this faculty in man's nature, so acknowledging, so testifying the obligations of virtue, afford an evidence of the moral attributes of the Creator: since, however distinctly the record of its dictates may be perceived to be the impress of His hand who gave them being, or however clearly the acknowledgment of this truth may involve the still further and blessed conclusion, that duty and interest are perfectly coincident ';' and that conscience can add the warmth of an affection to the inflexibility of principle and habit 2;'—such an enquiry, together with the precious inferences resulting from it, has been carried on by others in works of easy access, in works already familiar to the public mind 3. A closer consideration, therefore,

6

1

2

See Bishop Butler's Third Sermon on Human Nature, ad fin. 2 See Sir James Mackintosh's Dissertation on the progress of Ethical Philosophy, p. 384.

3 I need scarcely remind the reader that I refer particularly in this place, to a well known work of one of the brightest ornaments of the Church of Scotland, Dr. Chalmers. The First Chapter of his Bridgewater Treatise, is 'On the Supremacy of Conscience,' and his main object therein is to show the argument derived, from the phænomena of conscience, for the moral attributes of God.

Bishop Butler, it will be seen, adverts to this