gence of sin, with the purpose to repent at some future day: the second evil will be, that multitudes, under superficial convictions, being told that they have the power to turn to God, will, upon entirely insufficient grounds, take up the opinion that they have complied with the terms of salvation, because they are conscious they have exerted such power as they possess; and thus, false hopes will be cherished, which may never be removed. We are of opinion, therefore, that what is cried up as "new light," in regard to the proper method of dealing with sinners, is really a dangerous practical error; or, if what is inculcated can, by any explanation, be reconciled with truth, yet this method of exhibiting it is calculated to mislead, and has all the pernicious effects of error.

The truth is, that no unregenerate man can change his own heart, and yet he is accountable for all its evil, and culpable for all the inability under which he labours. Man is a moral agent, and free in his sinful actions; that is, they are voluntary. He does what he pleases, and he wills what he pleases: but when his heart is fully set in him to do evil, there is no principle from which a saving change can take place. He must be renewed by the Spirit of God. He must be created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works.

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ART. VII.-THE RELIGIOUS PROSPECTS OF FRANCE.

THE year which is now drawing to a close, has been one pregnant with momentous results to the French nation. We leave to others the discussion of the probabilities regarding the political destiny of this tumultuous people, and turn with greater pleasure to the tokens which are held forth, amidst popular commotion and ministerial discord, of living and reviving Christianity. Our imperfect file of the Archives du Christianisme, brings down the current history of the Reformed Church to the month of May, and it is impossible to look at these numbers, indicative, as we suppose, of the pervading spirit of evangelical Protestants, without observing that they are animated with a new and most cheering spirit of Christian hope. From a variety of interesting details, such signs of the times as these may be presented to our readers without comment. The press, which, day by day, is becoming a more VOL. III. NO. III.-3 C

efficient engine in France, is giving to the people reprints and translations of such works as these: Milner's Church History, the works of Mrs.Hannah More, of Bogue, and Bickersteth, of Calvin, Beza, Saurin and Abbadie; and, most important of all, the commentary of Thomas Scott. In the midst of all the political disturbances which inevitably distract the attention even of good men, the receipts and labours of benevolent societies have in general been increased, and new societies have been formed. The questions respecting Sunday schools, the sanctification of the Lord's day, the qualifications for church fellowship, the supply of the world with the Holy Scriptures, and the revival of pure religion, are agitated with a new zeal, and the principles involved held up in a new light. If American Christians contemplate a mission to Roman Catholic Europe, as possible or desirable, at any period, they are seriously admonished by the finger of Providence to explore the present condition of France, and to inquire whether a door more invitingly open has ever been presented to them in the old world.

It was to be expected that the revolution of July would cause itself to be felt both in the Papal and the Protestant community. It has been thus felt, but to a degree beyond what we could have anticipated. In order to exhibit briefly and authentically a view of this influence, on the one part and on the other, we subjoin a translation (1) of an article from the Archives for November 1830, occasioned by the noted appeal of M. de la Mennais; and (2) a striking communication of M. Monod, who is said to be considered the most effective master of eloquence in the French Protestant Church.

1. Prospects of the Roman Catholic Church in France.

Nearly eighteen centuries have elapsed since the time when John, an exile in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ, was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and received from the Lord this solemn revelation, which comprises all the destinies of the church, and embraces those of empires, so far as they have an influence on the lot of God's servants, and on the manifestation of the glory of his name. The revolutions which have overturned states and changed the face of the world; the errors which have mingled with truth; the superstition and profound darkness which have in a manner suffocated it; the persecutions excited against believers who have been willing to profess itin such sort that the two Testaments have been like the wit

nesses who prophesied clothed in sackcloth; the rise of this monstrous beast, who has spoken great things and blasphemies, made war with the saints and overcome them, to whom power has been given over all kindreds and tongues and nations, to be worshipped by all that dwell upon the earth, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world;-all these things have been predetermined by Jehovah, who sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.

At the very time, however, that he announced the coming of this great enemy, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the names of blasphemy, he also determined, for the consolation of his people and the vindication of his power, a precise time at which the reign of the beast should end, and at which it should be said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Why may we not say, independently even of the events which strike every observant man, that the designated time draws near? We are not very far removed from the days announced by the prophets for that great judgment which is to come in a moment.* Overturned first in one of the ten great divisions of its empire, the papacy must, not long after, entirely vanish from the earth. We do not here endeavour to exhaust the meaning of the declarations made by the Spirit of Prophecy respecting this great event; at this time, our intention is only seriously to invite the attention of Christians to the ways of Jehovah, to the consideration of those great things which he has done and will do, and to the study of Revelation, with a view to its connexion with the designs of their God.

The spiritual revolution which is in preparation for the world, and of which all things indicate that France will be the first theatre, will undoubtedly take place through human instrumentality; as it pleased the Lord to use the same agency in producing the Reformation in the sixteenth century-the harbinger only of that which we are permitted to await. Let those then, who, like Joshua, are resolved to serve the Lord, who are willing to contend for his cause, and enter the lists for his just claims, prepare themselves from this time forth, and put on the Christian armour.

We have had an opportunity of seeing, within a few months,

* See French Version of Rev. 18: 10.

how small depth of root Catholicism has in the soil of France. Infidelity, contempt of superstition, weariness of the yoke, or thirst for that truth which is still unknown, meet our view according to the various minds of men; but scarcely any where do we observe any attachment or veneration towards the corrupt system, or sincere faith in her doctrines, or obedience to the observances which she imposes. There remain, nevertheless, some men, endowed with talents and energy, who, after having sustained Catholicism in her decrepitude, with a species of enthusiasm worthy of a better cause, would now give her a youthful air, and by adding a new coat of embellishment, render her attractive. We believe that the experiment will fail, and that they will realize effects very different from what they intend. Enthusiasm will never replace fanaticism, and the charm of liberty sits awkwardly on such as have themselves clenched the fetters. Let us now listen to the Coryphæus of the new Catholic school, and take a view of the boldness of this scheme, which makes him willing to hazard the whole in the hope of gaining a part. We shall be amazed to behold the papacy, it may be, like one dying in a delirium, exclaiming that she is in full strength, and can walk without support— raising herself by a mighty effort, and then, with all her weight, falling back in death! M. de la Mennais looks for a very different result from the appeal addressed to his church, in which he invites her, inasmuch as she can no longer rule the state, to sever the ties by which they are still mutually bound, and to refuse the stipends, which he regards as the instruments of subjection. We quote a part of his manifesto, entitled, "On the Separation of Church and State." It is a piece of history which, at some future day, it may be important to have within reach.

"Catholics, let us fully understand it; we must preserve our law, and we will preserve it by means of liberty. We have it promised to us; let us loudly demand, unceasingly demand the accomplishment of this promise: it constitutes our right, and this right is sacred, and none can wrest it from us, if we claim and defend it with courage and perseverance. Henceforth, the state should, upon no consideration, participate in the election of bishops and cures; to the pope alone it appertains to determine the mode of their choice and presentation. Government should no longer interfere with what relates to worship, instruction or discipline. Spiritual order should be independent-completely independent of temporal order; and

without this the Loi fondamentale would be disgracefully violated, both in letter and spirit. And if ever it is suffered to be violated in one point, who can guaranty that it will not, ere long, be violated in every other? All Frenchmen, whatever the diversity of their opinions, have the same interest in maintaining the execution of this law, in good faith and to its entire extent; and the rather as it respects the most important kind of liberty-religious liberty, in which not Catholics only but universal France is interested.

"Nevertheless, we are bound to say, and to say loudly, no liberty is possible for the Church, except on this condition, (the occasion no doubt of some embarrassment) the suppression of the salary which the state annually gives to the clergy. Whoever is paid depends on him who pays. The Catholics of Ireland have fully understood this, and have always rejected this servitude which the English government has many times. endeavoured to impose on them. So far as we neglect their example, Catholicism will have amongst us a frail and precarious existence. The morsel of bread thrown to the clergy, will give title for their oppression. Free by law, they will become enslaved by stipend; and is not this the very method already employed by certain prefects to secure what they are pleased illegally to exact of the Church? It is time, high time, that the priest should reassume his independence and his dignity; no advantage can ever compensate for the loss of these. He must live, it is true, but first of all the Church must live, and her life, we repeat it, is bound up in the sacrifice which is to be made to her by liberty. Then, the political enmities of which she has become the object, will die away; then, renewing herself from her own resources, by discipline and by science, she will appear to the eyes of the nations what she is, what God has made her, raised far above the earth, to shed over it the illuminations and the comforts of heaven-rich in her deprivation, and mighty in the only power which excites no envy and provokes no opposition-that of virtue.

"And lest alarm should be created by the inconveniences which at first view might be threatened by the suppression of salaries-even granting that they are real, it is still a duty to yield without hesitation, since the safety of the Church depends on her separation from the state. But they will be, in fact, far less grievous than is feared. Providence forsakes not those who confide in it. Zeal will create immense resources. The greater the disinterestedness and self-denial of the priest, the more will