pleasure from an increase of his knowledge, than could be enjoyed from all the exercises of sense, or the delights of imagination. The discipline of his mind, indeed, was truly remarkable. By habits of abstraction and rigid thinking, the superior principle seemed to have acquired an almost complete ascendancy over the corporeal part, and the processes of meditation and argument were pursued without interruption from the disturbing influence of passion or fancy :

Till oft converse with heavenly habitants

Began to cast a beam on the outward shape,
The unpolluted temple of the mind,

And turn it by degrees to the soul's essence,
Till all was made immortal. MILTON.

Aware of the different sources of error, he was ever upon his guard; particularly as to the ambiguities of words and the imposing influence of customary phrases. The powers of his mind were employed on things rather than terms, and till he had completely grasped and rendered secure from change of attitude, the first principles and chief topics of any designed treatise, he did not proceed a step. He cannot easily be detected in the common fault of attaching to an important term more at one time than another, or in admitting the slightest diversity in its application. Whenever for a moment we have suspected incorrectness in his argument, a reference to his definitions, by convicting us of some unperceived association, has rendered what before appeared obscure, clear and convincing. With such a guide, we may enter with confidence and pleasure, upon paths, where not a few, and those of no vulgar name, have found themselves bewildered.

In the Introduction,' which is written with a singular union of candour and firinness, of mildness and force, the author acquaints us with the course of study and the gradations of thought which led to this work; with the radical principles on which it is founded;-with their salutary influence on his own mind, as well in public and official duties as in private life; as well in health, as in the solemn times of sickness, and the expected approach of death. He also states the reception with which some of the leading thoughts had met, when previously submitted to the public in a detached form, and of the increasingly firm persuasion, which these various tests had produced, that they were founded in immutable truth. He then proceeds to mention the following specific objects at which he had more particularly aimed; viz.

—to counteract the spreading and growing influence of what he considers a false and pernicious moral philosophy;-to exhibit the divine character in an honourable, amiable, and attractive light ;VOL. XI.

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to reconcile seeming inconsistencies respecting the divine conduct:to confirm serious Christians in the radical principles of revealed truth, against the subtleties of scepticism; and to vindicate the rationality of experimental religion against the too prevalent charge of enthusiasm.'

Of the high importance of these objects, no one can entertain a doubt they are equally interesting to the philosopher, the scientific theologian, and the humble practical Christian ; alike worthy the exertion of the greatest intellect, and suited to affect the most pious heart. The false philosophy examined and refuted, is of two descriptions: the one attributing a strange kind of self-sufficiency to the active powers of man, in opposition to the gracious influence of God,' unhappily sanctioned by the names of Reid and Beattie: the other imputing to the Supreme Being effes which he expressly hates and condemns;' and which under the specious name of philosophical necessity, is espoused by Hartley and Priestley. The former of these is justly characterized as the philosophy of conjecture; and yet with peculiar concern we have observed the influence it is acquiring in the minds of many who would shrink from the consequences which it necessarily involves. That we are indebted to Reid for many valuable researches respecting the intellectual powers of man, must be admitted; but his notions respecting the active powers of the human mind appear to us opposed to the dictates of reason, no less than to sentiments of genuine piety. They would lead us, however different might be the intention of the philosopher, by ascribing to ourselves the good which we can have by derivation only, to rob the first cause of that "glory" which he justly claims, and which he will " by no means give to another." To conceive of the human will as possessed of the high prerogative of being a first cause of positive excellence, to speak of it as a self-determining power; because we are conscious of liberty in our actions, appears to us to betray at once an inaccurate notion of that faculty, inattention to the nature of liberty, and a disregard of the essential attributes of him "in whom we live and move, and have our being." The will is not power itself, but the medium of power; and liberty implies the free exercise of that medium; while the origin of the power which by the will passes into act, is to be sought elsewhere, and if good, doubtless in him from whom "every good and every perfect gift" proceeds. As Reid, in his zeal for freedom, seems, with rash hand, to release the creature from an essential part of his dependence upon the Creator; so, with equal temerity, Priestley and his followers, would so surround him with the chains of God's decrees, as to destroy his agency, and either

annihilate moral evil, or preposterously ascribe it to the source of all good. From each of these systems, thus erecting themselves into tribunals to try, on opposite allegations, the doctrines of the Bible, the work before us appeals to a more consistent view of things, by which religion is found to harmonise with "right reason," and "faith" with "sound philosophy."

All false systems of morals, as well as all incongruous and dangerous tenets in theology, spring from inconsistent notions of the Divine character. On the one hand, the pride and self importance of man, has led him to limit the unalienable prerogative of the Supreme Being to dispense favours according to his holy pleasure, and to ascribe to him an undistinguishing mercy; while on the other, injudicious assertors of his sovereignty, by representing it as capricious, have tarnished its glory, arrayed it in inconceivable terrors, and rendered equity itself dependent on its decisions. The result of the first of these errors is dangerous presumption; and of the second, a superstitious dread, which either sinks into despair, or takes refuge in infidelity. The idea that justice is constituted solely by uncontrolable will, may make us tremble, but cannot inspire love; and to represent the supreme will as bounded by any thing but wisdom and equity, is to speculate in a manner alike repugnant to plain fact, to the becoming humility of a created being, and to divine independence. Just views on these subjects, encourage the hope of the humble, check the arrogance of the vain, invigorate the piety of the devout, and refute the objections of the sceptical. They lead us to contemplate the Deity, not as possessing any undefinable and dreadful property, which disposes him to seek glory from the misery of his creatures, which confounds the ideas of cruelty and justice, and which renders power synonimous with equity; but as in himself infinitely amiable, and worthy of confidence; an object in which the understanding fully acquiesces, and the heart finds ineffable repose; a being terrible only in virtue of his unchanging rectitude, to which if we oppose ourselves, we seek our own ruin, and dash ourselves to pieces on a rock. God is the immutable standard of truth and happiness, from which if we depart, it is not He, but we ourselves, who are the authors of our own destruction. The second object of this work, therefore, claims peculiar attention.

The facts-that God could have prevented, and yet has allowed, the occurrence of sin-that moral disqualification for obedience does not diminish obligation-that God wills the salvation of all, and yet all are not saved-and that while

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events are decreed, man is a free agent,-are some of the difficulties, the solution of which forms the third object. These difficulties have been painfully felt by most reflecting minds; and to the faith of some haughty spirits, who were incapable of tracing out the clue which the scriptures afford to guide us through these labyrinths, and determined not to believe what they could not comprehend, they have even proved fatal. Because the sunshine of revealed light was not to be enjoyed without the interruption of here and there a cloud, these rationalists in their wisdom, have preferred total darkness, and abandoned themselves to all the gloom of unbelief. Such conduct, whether a satisfactory elucidation of these mysteries be obtained or not, is without excuse; for surely but a small portion of modesty is required to attribute seeming inconsistencies of this kind, rather to a defect in our own understanding or industry, than to contradictions in a revelation attested by evidences without number. The man who suspends his belief in inspired records, on the success of his endeavours to comprehend all their mysteries, and to explain all their difficulties, is not less the creature of folly and the object of pity, than he who should assign as the reason of his atheism, that he had tried in vain to understand all the laws and operations of nature. Error and delusion are the only fruit to be reaped by such temerity, for "the wise is suared in his own craftiness;" but "the meek will he guide in judgment" We are taught that "secret things belong to God, but things which are revealed to us and to our children;" not to interdict enquiry; not that we should sit down contented in our ignorance, and account every thing which we know not at present to be locked up in the impenetrable councils of heaven; but to remind us that our faculties are limited, and that, when expanded to their utmost, much will still remain which is placed far beyond their boundaries; much which will lead us to prostrate ourselves before infinite wisdom, and exclaim in adoring humility: "O the depth both of the wisdom and the goodness of God; his judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." Things, however, which can be known by the exertion of our intellect, and the use of lawful means of enquiry, are virtually revealed, are "for us and for our children," and it is at once our duty and our privilege to discover them. Speculation indeed is not to interrupt practice, but, believing whatever is attested by suitable evidence, and turning whatever we believe to purposes of piety, we are still to look farther, and to continue researches, which, far from being bounded by time, even eternity itself will neither ar

rest, nor fail to reward. If it be asked, therefore, how far an attempt to explore the mysteries comprized under the third object is right, the reply must depend upon the conditions, that other things more pressing in their claims are not neglected; that the means employed are legitimate; that practical ends are proposed; and that humble piety is the guide. If the demand be, how far is such an object important; the answer refers us to the comparative magnitude of those practical ends; and, in the present case, they are to wrest from the infidel his instruments of mischief;-to relieve the embarrassments of the believer;-to rectify erroneous interpretations of scripture ;-to restrain the wicked by exhibiting his obligations; and to guard the righteous from the dangers of self-dependence.

The sacred Scriptures reveal a great variety of truths, all of high value towards the complete formation of the Christian character, but differing from each other in relative importance, and designed for various purposes. Some are fundamental, while others are adapted to the "building up" of the edifice of Christian piety. These, however, are not communicated in a regular series, arranged precisely acording to the order of their magnitude, or the way in which they may most profitably be contemplated and applied to practice; but they are distributed through the sacred volume without method, being introduced apparently as circumstances directed the minds of the writers. Conviction of sin must precede application to Christ for Salvation; faith in the Redeemer is requisite before there can be acceptable obedience; and unless good works follow, faith is inefficient; but we do not find the parts of Holy Scripture which are more especially adapted to each of these states, uniformly exhibited without intermixture in this order. Some statements apply to persons in one moral condition, others refer to characters of a different description: some address man as a free, accountable agent; others regard him as under benevolent influence resulting from preordination and purpose: at one time the same things are spoken of as the work of man, which, at another, are described as the gift of God; and what here we are taught to consider as our duty, is there represented as inestimable privilege. This apparent confusion is suited to the ends of moral government, and doubtless designed to engage the attentive study of mankind. To have clear views and right practice, it is necessary for us diligently to apply ourselves to the divine word; to compare its respective parts, to arrange its principles, and to appropriate its facts, declarations, commands, threatnings, exhortations, and promises,