intelligent inquirers, in relation to the divine origin of the Christian religion. Subsequent reflection has confirmed this opinion. Convinced himself of the divine origin of the religion of the Bible, the author commenced a series of letters to convey to his friend the evidence which had satisfied his own mind beyond the possibility of doubt. The correspondence was, by the pressure of business engagements, interrupted. The investigation was continued, however, when leisure would permit, for a number of years. The results of this investigation are contained in the following chapters. The epistolary form in which a portion of the book was first written will account for some repetition, and some varieties in the style, which otherwise might not have been introduced. Reasons for presenting the work to the public. Book-making is not the author's profession. But after examining his own private library, and one of the best public libraries in the country, he could find no treatise in which the course of reasoning was pursued which will be found in the following pages. Dr Chalmers, in closing his Bridgewater Treatise, seems to have had an apprehension of the plan and importance of such an argument; and had he devoted himself to the development of the argument suggested, the effort would have been worth more to the world than all the Bridgewater Treatises put together, including his own work. Coleridge has somewhere said, that the Levitical economy is an enigma yet to be solved. To thousands of intelligent minds it is not only an enigma, but it is an absolute barrier to their belief in the divine origin of the Bible. The solution of the enigma was the clue which aided the writer to escape from the labyrinth of doubt: and now, standing upon the rock of unshaken faith, he offers the clue that guided him to others. A work of this kind is called for by the spirit of the age. Although the signs of the times are said to be propitious; yet there are constant developments of undisciplined and unsanctified mind both in Europe and America, which furnishes matter of regret to the philanthropist and the Christian. A struggle has commenced-is going on at present --and the heat of the contest is constantly increasing, in which the vital interests of man, temporal and spiritual, are involved. In relation to man's spiritual interests, the central point of controversy is the "cross of Christ." In New England, some of those who have diverged from the doctrine of the fathers, have wandered into a wilderness of speculation which, were it not for the evil experienced by themselves and others, ought, perhaps, to be pitied as the erratic aberrations of an unsettled reason, rather than blamed as the manifestation of minds determinately wicked. The most painful indication connected with this subject is, that these guilty dreamers are not waked from their reveries by the rebuke of men whose position and relations in society demand it at their hands. The West, likewise, is overrun by sects whose teachers, under the name of Reformers, or some other inviting appellation, are using every effort to seduce men from the spiritual doctrines and duties of the gospel, or to organise them into absolute hostility against Christ. These men are not wanting in intellect nor in acquired knowledge, and their labours have prejudiced the minds of great numbers against the spiritual truths of the gospel-and rendered their hearts callous to religious influence, These facts, in the author's opinion, render such a volume as he has endeavoured to write necessary, in order to meet the exigencies of the times. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. The increasing demand for the "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation," and the general and very favourable notices which it received from the secular and religious presses of the country, as well as from distinguished individuals, had produced in the mind of the author the desire to make some additions to the volume, with the hope of rendering it more worthy of the favour with which the first edition was received. A second edition, however, being called for so soon, and the copyright being transferred to a publisher who desires to stereotype the work immediately, leisure has not been obtained to make the designed additions; and, furthermore, it has been doubted whether any enlargement of the volume, at the present time, would add much to its value, or to its circulation. It is issued, therefore, in its original form, with only a few verbal emendations. It is a fact grateful to the feelings of the author, and one which perhaps ought to be mentioned, that copies of the first edition were put into the hands of several intelligent sceptics: in all but a single case the individuals expressed a favourable change in their views, either in relation to the truth and authority of the dispensations proper of Moses and Christ, or of the exclusive adaptedness of the Christian dispensation to meet all the spiritual wants of men. In the reviews of the book, the final conclusion derived synthetically, by combining the results produced by an analysis of the different propositions examined, is not noticed so fully as some other features of the work. The book is a series of independent demonstrations, the results of which accumulate to the conclusion, that the Christian religion is necessarily the only religion possible to meet the spiritual wants of mankind. In arriving at this conclusion, the different parts and processes of revealed religion are examined, and their adaptedness to perform their several functions in elevating, purifying and actuating the human soul to benevolent effort, is determined, and, finally, the practical operation of the system is shown, as a matter of undeniable experience, to produce the complete and necessary result required. By this method the conclusion is brought out with a degree of accuracy approaching, if it does not reach, mathematical demonstration, that the truths and manifestations of the Christian religion are adapted to carry forward man's moral powers to their ultimate developmentthat the power applied fills the capacity of the human soul. -As 4 is contained in 12 three times, and as 12 is the only number in which 4 is three times contained; so the capacities and susceptibilities of the human soul being given, and the power and adaptations of revelation being ascertained, the result is obtained (may it not be said with mathematical certainty) that Christianity, as taught by the interpretation and experience of evangelical Christians, is the true religion, and the only religion possible for human nature. CONTENTS. CHAP. I.-Man will worship-he will become assimi- lated to the character of the object that he wor- ships-Character of heathen deities defective and CHAP. II. Concerning the design and necessity of CHAP. III.-Concerning Miracles-particularly the CHAP. IV. Concerning what was necessary as the first step in the process of Revelation, CHAP. V.-Concerning the necessity of affectionate CHAP. VIII. Concerning the origin of the ideas of CHAP. IX.-Concerning the transition from the ma- terial system, by which religious ideas were con- veyed through the senses, to the spiritual system, in which abstract ideas were conveyed by words CHAP. X.-Concerning the medium of conveying to men perfect instruction in doctrine and duty, CHAP. XI.-Concerning some of the peculiar proofs CHAP. XII.-Concerning the condition in life which it was necessary the Messiah should assume, in order to benefit the human family in the greatest degree, by his example and instructions, CHAP. XIII.-Concerning the essential principles CHAP. XV.-Concerning the manifestations of God which would be necessary, under the new and |