cept the Socinian, Christianity is a provision of mercy for an apostate and sinful world, through a divine Mediator, will acknowledge that something more is included in the idea of preaching the gospel, than the inculcation of moral duties; and that he, who confines his attention to these, exchanges the character of a Christian pastor for that of a fashionable declaimer or a philosophical moralist. If we turn our eyes to the ministry of the Apostles, we perceive it to have consisted in testifying repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ;' repentance, which is natural religion modified by the circumstances of a fallen creature, including a return to the path of duty; and faith, which is a practical compliance with the Christian dispensation, by receiving the Saviour as the way, the truth, and the life. Faith and repentance being the primary duties enjoined under the gospel, and the production of these the professed end of the inspired writers, we need not wonder that those, who are ambitious to tread in their steps, insist much, in the course of their ministry, on the topics which supply the principal motives to these duties;-the evil of sin, the extent of human corruption, together with the dignity, power, and grace of the Redeemer. Remembering that the object of repentance is God, they do not, in treating of sin, satisfy themselves with displaying its mischievous effects in society; they expatiate on its contrariety to the divine nature; they speak of it chiefly as an affront offered to the authority of the Supreme Ruler; and represent no repentance as genuine, which springs not from godly sorrow, or a concern for having displeased God. In this part of their office, they make use of the moral law, which requires the devotion of the whole heart and unfailing obedience, as the sword of the Spirit, to pierce the conscience, and to convince men that by the deeds of it no flesh living can be justified, but that every mouth must be stopped, and the whole world become guilty before God. The uniform course of experience serves to convince them, that, till a deep impression of this truth be made on the heart, the character of the Saviour, and the promise of pardon through his blood, will produce no gratitude, and excite no inter

In inculcating faith in Christ, they cannot satisfy themselves with merely exhibiting the evidences of Christianity; a mere assent to which upon historical grounds, undeniably fails, in innumerable instances, of producing those effects which are uniformly ascribed to that principle in the New Testament,-neither overcoming the world, nor purifying the heart, nor inducing newness of life. They are of opinion, that the external evidences of the Christian religion are chiefly of importance, on account of their tendency to fix the attention on Christ, the principal object exhibited in that dispensation; and the faith on which the Scriptures lay

so much stress, and connect with such ineffable benefits, they conceive essentially to involve a personal reliance on Christ for salvation, accompanied with a cordial submission to his authority. Attempting to produce this Scriptural faith, in a dependence upon the divine blessing (without which the best means will be unsuccessful,) they dwell much on the dignity of his character as the Son of God, the admirable constitution of his person as Immanuel, God with us, the efficacy of his atonement, and the gracious tenor of his invitations, together with the agency of that Spirit which is intrusted to him as the Mediator, to be imparted to the members of his mystical body. In their view, to preach the gospel is to preach Christ; they perceive the New Testament to be full of him, and while they imbibe that spirit with which it is replete, they feel a sacred ambition to diffuse the savor of his name in every place.'

Let it not be inferred from hence, that they are inattentive to the interests of practical religion, or that their ministry is merely occupied in explaining and enforcing a doctrinal system. None lay more stress on the duties of a holy life, or urge with more constancy the necessity of their hearers shewing their faith by their works; and they are incessantly affirming with St. James, that the former without the latter is dead, being alone. Though in common with the inspired writers they ascribe their transition, from a state of death to a state of justification, solely to faith in Christ previous to good works actually performed, yet they equally insist upon a performance of those works as the evidence of justifying faith; and, supposing life to be spared, as the indispensable condition of final happiness. The law, not altered in its requirements, (for what was once duty they conceive to be duty still)— but attempered in its sanctions to the circumstances of a fallen creature, they exhibit as the perpetual standard of rectitude, as the sceptre of majesty by which the Saviour rules his disciples. They conceive it to demand the same things, though not with the same rigor, under the gospel dispensation as before; the matter of duty they look upon as unalterable, and the only difference to be this, that whereas under the covenant of works the condition of life was sinless obedience, under the new covenant, an obedience sincere and affectionate, though imperfect, is accepted for the sake of the Redeemer. At the same time, they do not cease to maintain, that the faith which they hold to be justifying comprehends in it the seminal principle of every virtue, that if genuine, it will not fail to be fruitful, and that a Christian has it in his power to show his faith by his works,' and by no other means. Under a full conviction of the fallen state of man, together with his moral incapacity to do what is pleasing to God, they copiously in-.

sist on the agency of the Spirit, and affectionately urge their hearers to implore his gracious assistance. From no class of men will you hear more solemn warnings against sin, more earnest calls to repentance, or more full and distinct delineations of the duties resulting from every relation in life, accompanied with a peculiar advantage of drawing, from the mysteries of the gospel, the strongest motives to strengthen the abhorrence of the one, and enforce the practice of the other. In their hands, morality loses nothing but the pagan air with which it is too often infested; the morality which they enjoin is of heavenly origin, the pure emanation of truth and love, sprinkled with atoning blood, and baptized into an element of Christian sanctity. That they are not indifferent to the interests of virtue, is sufficiently apparent, from the warm approbation they uniformly express of the excellent work of Mr. Wilberforce, which is not more conspicuous for the orthodoxy of its tenets, than for the purity and energy of its moral instruction. If we look at the effects produced from the ministry of these men, they are such as might be expected to result from a faithful exhibition of the truth of God. Wherever they labor, careless sinners are awakened, profligate transgressors are reclaimed, the mere form of religion is succeeded by the power, and fruits of genuine piety appear in the holy and exemplary lives of their adherents. A visible reformation in society at large, and in many instances unequivocal proofs of solid conversion, attest the purity of their doctrines, and the utility of their labors; effects, which we challenge their enemies to produce where a different sort of teaching prevails.

The controversy between them and their opponents, to say the truth, turns on a point of the greatest magnitude; the question at issue respects the choice of a supreme end, and whether we will take the Lord to be our God.' Their opponents are for confining religion to an acknowledgment of the being of a God, and the truth of the Christian revelation, accompanied with some external rites of devotion, while the world is allowed the exclusive dominion of the heart; they are for carrying into effect the apostolic commission, by summoning men to repentance; and engaging them to an entire surrender of themselves to the service of God through a Mediator. In the system of human life, their opponents assign to devotion a very narrow and limited agency; they contend for its having the supreme control. The former expect nothing from religion, but the restraint of outward enormities by the fear of future punishment; in the views of the latter, it is productive of positive excellence, a perennial spring of peace, purity, and joy. Instead of regarding it as a matter of occasional reference, they consider it as a principle of constant operation. While

their opponents always overlook and frequently deny the specific difference between the church and the world; in their views, the Christian is a pilgrim and stranger in the earth, one whose heart is in heaven, and who is supremely engaged in the pursuit of eternal realities. Their fiercest opposers, it is true, give to Jesus Christ the title of the Saviour of the world; but it requires very little attention to perceive, that their hope of future happiness is placed on the supposed preponderancy of the virtues over the vices, and the claims which they thence conceive to result on the justice of God; while the opposite party consider themselves as mere pensioners on mercy, flee for refuge to the cross, and ascribe their hopes of salvation entirely to the grace of the Redeem

er.

For our parts, supposing the being and perfections of God once ascertained, we can conceive of no point at which we can be invited to stop, short of that serious piety and habitual devotion which the evangelical clergy enforce. To live without religion, to be devoid of habitual devotion, is natural and necessary in him who disbelieves the existence of its object; but upon what principles he can justify his conduct, who professes to believe in à Deity, without aiming to please him in all things, without placing his happiness in his favor, we are utterly at a loss to comprehend.

We cannot dismiss this part of the subject, without remarking the exemplary moderation of the clergy of this class on those intricate points which unhappily divide the Christian church; the questions, we mean, that relate to predestination and free will, on which, equally remote from Pelagian heresy and Antinomian licentiousness, they freely tolerate and indulge a diversity of opinion, embracing Calvinists and Arminians with little distinction, provided the Calvinism of the former be practical and moderate, and the Arminianism of the latter evangelical and devout. The greater part of them lean, we believe, to the doctrine of general redemption, and love to represent the gospel as bearing a friendly aspect toward the eternal happiness of all to whom it is addressed; but they are much less anxious to establish a polemical accuracy, than to win souls to Christ.'

The opposition they encounter from various quarters, will not surprise those who reflect, that they are not of the world, that the world loves only its own, and naturally feels a dislike to such as testify that its works are evil. The Christianity of the greater part of the community is merely nominal; and it necessarily follows, that, wherever the truths of religion are faithfully exhibited and practically exemplified, they will be sure to meet with the same friends and the same enemies as at the first promulgation; they will be still exposed to assault from the prejudices of unrenewed

minds, they will be upheld by the same almighty power, and will continue to insinuate themselves into the hearts of the simple and sincere with the same irresistible force.

We hope our readers will excuse the length to which we have extended our delineation of the principles of the clergy styled 'evangelical,' reflecting how grossly they have been misrepresented, and that, until the subject is placed fairly and fully in view, it is impossible to form an equitable judgement of the treatment they have met with from the writer under consideration.

The first charge he adduces against the evangelical clergy, is that of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm, according to Mr. Locke, is that state of mind, which disposes a person to give a stronger assent to a religious proposition than the evidence will justify. According to the more common and popular notion, it implies a pretence to supernatural communications, on which is founded a belief in certain doctrines and the performance of certain actions, which the Scriptures have not authorized or revealed-a dangerous delusion, as it tends to disannul the standard of religion; and, by the extravagancies and follies it produces, to bring piety into disgrace. We hold enthusiasm in as much abhorrence as our author does ; but we ask, what is the proportion of the evangelical clergy, who are guilty of it; and for every individual among them, to whom it attaches, we will engage to produce ten among their opponents who are deficient in the essential branches of morality. Yet we should esteem it extreme illiberality in a writer to brand the clergy in general with immorality. There may be some few, among the many hundreds whom the author has undertaken to describe, who are real enthusiasts; but where is the candor or justice of mingling this feature in the delineation of the body? We appeal to the religious public, whether they are not, on the contrary, eminently conspicuous for their close adherence to the law and to the testimony,' and for their care to enjoin nothing on their hearers without direct warrant from the bible. If every one is to be charged with enthusiasm, whose piety is of a more fervid complexion than the accuser is disposed to sympathize with, or can readily account for, we must indeed despair of convincing this writer of the futility of his allegation. They have the zeal, which, to him who makes what is most prevalent in the church his model, must look like innovation.

He frequently insinuates, that there is a disposition in them to symbolize with the Dissenters, though he had allowed, at the very outset of his work, that they most strictly conform to the prescribed ritual, have no scruples against canonical obedience, and are most firmly attached to the ecclesiastical constitution. Speaking of the Established Church, he says,