vealed religion. In the observations which I have here made on the subject, as well as through the whole course of the treatise, I have in a great measure confined my remarks to the direct connexion which subsists between the doctrines of the Bible, and the character which the belief of them is fitted to produce in the mind of man: And with this view, I have called the attention of the reader principally to the superiority in real efficiency which palpable facts, as illustrative of moral principles, possess over a statement of the same principles when in an unembodied and abstract form: But I should be doing a real injury to the cause which I wish to advocate, were I to be the means of conducting any one to the conclusion, that Christianity is nothing more than a beautiful piece of moral mechanism, or that its doctrines were mere typical emblems of the moral principles in the Divine mind, well adapted to the understandings and feelings of men. Supposing the history of Codrus to be true, he was under a moral necessity to act as he did, independently of any intention to infuse the spirit of patriotism into his countrymen; and, supposing the Bible to be true, God was under the moral necessity of his own charácter, to act as he is there represented to have done. The acts there ascribed to him are real acts, not parabolical pictures: They were not only fitted and intended to impress the minds of his creatures-they were also the necessary results and the true vindications of his own character. This belief is inseparably connect

ed with a belief of the reality of Christ's sufferings; and if Christ's sufferings were not real, we may give up the Bible. The sufferings are the foundation of a Christian's hope before God, not only because he sees in them a most marvellous proof of the divine love, but also because he sees in them the sufferings of the representative of sinners. He sees the denunciations of the law fulfilled, and the bitter cup of indignation allotted to apostacy drained to the very dregs; and he thus perceives that God is just even when justifying the guilty. The identity of the Judge and the victim dispels the misty ideas of blind vindictiveness with which this scheme may sometimes have been perversely enveloped; and he approaches God with the humble yet confident assurance that he will favourably receive all who come to him in the name of Christ. Whilst he continues in this world, he will remember that the link which binds heaven and earth together is unbroken, and that his great representative does not in the midst of glory forget what he felt when he was a man of sorrows below. This relation to the Saviour will spiritualize the affections of the believer, and raise him above the afflictions of mortality; and will produce in him a conformity to the character of Christ, which is another name for the happiness of heaven.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is also connected with most important moral consequences. He is represented as dictating originally the revealed word, and as still watching and

assisting its progress. He is where the truth is, and he dwells in the hearts where it operates. The general idea of the omnipresence of God is chiefly connected with the belief of his providence and protection, his approving or condemning; but the doctrine of the Spirit is connected in the minds of Christians simply with a belief of his accompanying and giving weight and authority to revealed truth. The truth becomes thus closely associated in their minds with a sense of the presence and the gracious solicitude of God.

With regard to the mode of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the human mind, the Bible says nothing;-it simply testifies the fact, To this divine agent we are directed to apply, for the enlightening of the eyes of our understanding, for strength in the inner man, and for all the Christian qualities. These effects are in other places of Scripture referred to the influence of revealed truth itself. We are also told, that the Spirit takes of the things relating to Christ, and presents them to the soul. We may gather from this, that the Spirit never acts, except through the medium of the doctrines of the Bible. He uses them as instruments naturally fitted for the work. He does not produce the love of God, except by the instrumentality of that divine truth which testifies of the moral excellency and kindness of God. He does not produce humility, but through the medium of that truth which declares the extent and spirituality of the requirements of God's law. This doctrine, then,

does not in the slightest degree invalidate the argument in favour of revelation which has been deduced from the natural connexion between believing its doctrines and obeying its precepts. These doctrines would of themselves persuade and sanctify a spirit which was not by inclination opposed to their tendency. This divine agent does not excite feelings or emotions in the mind, independent of reason or an intelligible cause: The whole matter of the Bible is addressed to the reason, and its doctrines are intelligible causes of certain moral effects on the characters of those who believe them. The Spirit of God brings these causes to act upon the mind with their natural innate power. This influence, then, is quite different from that inspiration by which prophets were enabled to declare future events. It is an influence which probably can never be distinguished, in our consciousness, from the innate influence of argument or motive. firm-minded man, unused to the melting mood, may on a particular occasion be moved and excited by a tale of wo far beyond his common state of feeling: His friends may wonder at an agitation so unusual; they may ask him how this story has affected him more than other stories of a similar nature; but he will not be able to give any other reason than what is contained in the distressing facts which he had been listening to. His greater susceptibility in this instance might have originated from some change in his bodily temperament, or from certain trians of thought which had previously

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been passing through his mind: But these circumstances did not make the impression; they only made him more fit to receive the impression from an object which was naturally calculated to make it. The impression was entirely made by the story,-just as the impression upon wax is entirely made by the seal, although heat may be required to fit it for receiving the impression.

I have used this illustration to show that the influence of the Spirit does not necessarily destroy, and is not necessarily independent of, that natural relation of cause and effect which subsists between the doctrines taught and the moral character recommended by the Bible.

But why was this doctrine revealed, and what benefit is to be derived from believing it? What effect is the belief of it calculated to produce on our characters; and what light does it throw on the character of God or on the condition of man? As the work of the Spirit is to enlighten the eyes of our understanding with regard to divine truth, and to take of the things of Christ and show them to us, the belief of this doctrine of course includes the conviction, that we stand in need of this light, and that the inclination of our hearts naturally leads us from the things of Christ. This conviction, if real, will humble us before God, and excite us to a jealous vigilance over every motion of our minds. In this doctrine, also, God gives a manifestation of his own character. He presents himself to his weak and ignorant creatures as ready to meet all their wants, and