will, as a matter of fact, produce invariable uniformity of belief; we only declare that our intellects were given to us by God for the purpose, that by the honest employment of them we might learn the pure truth, that they are designed to bring about a perfect unity of faith ; and that it is the gross abuse of this divine right which has in all ages been the fertile source of mistake and folly. We do not pretend to say that the private judgment of the believer will, in all circumstances, lead him to a knowledge of the orthodox doctrines of the Gospel; he must add to his reasoning faculties, caution and humility, industry and a single-eyed desire for the truth, or the gift with which he is entrusted will become his ruin. And it is fully evident that this liability to perversion supplies no valid argument against the right thus misused; for, (1.) there is not one of God's gifts which we may not equally convert into a cause of mischief; (2.) the objection applies with equal force against the divine origin of Christianity itself, and being in that case rejected as of no weight, must be similarly disregarded in the question before us; (3.) the opposite theory is found to be insufficient to produce a unity of creed in those who profess to be bound by it;

(4.) it is by means of this very possibility of going astray that a very important part of our probation is carried into effect; and, lastly, the objection destroys itself, proving its own contradictory, and thereby showing that it cannot possibly be worthy of consideration.

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And, therefore, we heed not the taunts with which our adversaries would meet our reasonings; they may gather together into one mighty list every heresy that the sin and foolishness of man have devised in past generations, and charge them all upon the principle we maintain; but we will be content to show that these follies have sprung from the abuse to which every blessing of our Lord is exposed; we will remember that the truth is with us, and that where truth is, learning and abilities, authority and power, the pomp of numbers and the boast of antiquity, may oppose themselves in vain.

CHAP. XII.

RECAPITULATION.

Ir now only remains that a brief summary be given of the chief points urged in the argument of the preceding pages.

We commence our inquiry by examining how far God's government of the present world justifies us in anticipating in the scheme of revelation an institution commissioned by Him to teach religious truth without risk of error. Such an examination is manifestly of the most reasonable character. Our knowledge of our Creator, apart from the truths which He has himself made known to us, is so dim and scanty, that it is both hazardous and presumptuous to assert, that any one law or doctrine cannot be of divine origin, on the ground that it is repugnant to our preconceived notions of the attributes of the Eternal. There remains for us but one justifiable course; which is, that we trace, as far as our present faculties are able, the great characteristic prin

ciples of the system on which God directs the constitution and present course of nature, and thence deduce what presumptions we may, with respect to the probable character of the doctrines and duties made known by special revelation.

1. Do we, then, observe in the laws by which the framework of society is sustained, any justification of the idea, that at some one period in our lives God would put us in possession of a certain infallible touchstone, by which we should be enabled on all material points to separate truth from error? The course of nature leads us to the directly contrary conclusion. We find by our daily experience, that our intellectual and moral probation must be carried on even to our dying day; that we are compelled to exercise our free judgment in every action of our lives; that if we ever entrust ourselves to the guidance of any leader of whose qualifications we know nothing, we run into extreme peril of being severely punished for our rashness. We observe, also, that there is no one source of temporal blessing which is not perpetually perverted into a cause of wretchedness, by the folly and the wilfulness of misguided men. So that no argument, against the free use of the personal judgment in religion,

can be drawn from the infinitely momentous character of the truths which are brought under its cognizance.

2. In the next place, we gather from experience that the present well-being of man, as a creature of time, is contingent upon the mutual adjustment of all the feelings and passions of his heart. God governs us upon a system of counteraction. Our souls are filled with longings and desires which draw us in different directions, and it is only when these independent influences duly counterbalance one another, that any just harmony and excellence of character is attained. Consequently, there exists a strong presumption against any institution in matters of revelation, which can only be put into operation by giving unchecked power to one or more passions of the breast.

Now we find that there is seated in every mind a powerful tendency to take up opinions without any reasonable examination into their truth and justice. We all long to repose on authority of some kind or other. Many remarkable facts go to establish this truth: (1.) the sentiments of whole nations vary from time to time by simultaneous movements, when it is utterly impossible that their reason can have been