fore, we believe with the greatest confidence, that we are immortal, and capable of endless improve ment, we are, by these facts, not only authorized, but compelled to admit, that confidence of belief we derive from the Bible alone.

But allowing the immortality of the soul, and a future state of retribution to be susceptible, not only of proof, but of discovery, without the aid of revelation, the moral government of God suggests questions which, without this aid, appear to admit of no solution. For example, how are we to reconcile the existence of moral evil with the holiness of the Deity? The sufferings of the righteous, and the triumphs of the wicked, with his justice? The pardon of the sinner, with the purity of his nature, and the sanctity of his law? These are questions which, on the supposition that the doctrine of atonement is false, I cannot answer. But admit that doctrine, and the answer to them all is clear and satisfactory.

That doctrine, if it do not fully enable us to account for the introduction of moral evil, at least en ables us to see a great and important moral purpose, of the accomplishment of which, its intro duction has been made the occa sion, the revelation, to men and angels, of features in the moral character of God; the existence of which, or at least the extent to which they do exist, must have otherwise remained unknown. The existence of moral evil, viewed through the medium of that doctrine, throws not the slightest shade over our most exalted conceptions of the glory of God's holiness. In it we perceive him permitting the existence, and the prevalence of a power hostile to himself, that in the process of annihilating its existence, and punishing its preva. lence, his character, and the principles of his government might re

VOL. XXIII. NO. 1.

ceive a development and an illustration, which they could by no other means receive. That doc trine enables us to account for the indiscriminate distribution of good and evil, without the slightest impeachment of divine justice; and to see in the very act of pardoning the sinner, a demonstration, surpassing beyond all conception, every other demonstration, of the inviolable nature of that law, from the condemnation of which the sinner is rescued. By this doctrine all apparent inconsistencies in the divine government are reconciled. Mercy meets with truth, and righteousness embraces peace.

It would be presumptuous to pretend that we can trace all the causes and consequences of either the existence of moral evil, or the atonement; but I think we are entitled to say, that the one of these doctrines forms a necessary coun terpart to the other, that the system must be extremely defective, which admits the former while it rejects the latter. To deny the atonement, is to divest man of all that is dignified in his nature, and soothing and animating in his prospects. It is to exhibit him as the work and the sport of a capricious being, who has formed him without object or design, and has turned him adrift to shift for himself as he best may, on a forsaken and fatherless world; and on leaving it, to go-he knows not whither. This doctrine, on the contrary, exhibits man as the subject of a Being unerring in wisdom and unwearied in goodness, who has made him capable of endless improvement, who is here training him, by trials, to the cultivation of virtue, and is bringing him through great, but necessary tribulations, to everlasting rest. In this doctrine we see the almighty ruler of the universe exercising that prerogative which is his alone, making

F

man's fall the occasion of his higher exaltation,

"From seeming evil still educing good,

And better thence again, and better still,
In infinite progression."

And now, my dear deist, for to you do I particularly address myself, tell me candidly, have I, or have I not, proved the truth of the apostle's proposition, that in deny ing Christ, you are denying God,that for your knowledge of the two great fundamental articles of your religion, the being of God, and the immortality of the soul-you are indebted to the Bible alone? You may say, that, without any refer ence to revelation, you can produce the most complete, and conclusive, and satisfactory, proofs of both these articles. This I most readily admit. The attributes of God are written on all his works in characters so legible, that he who runs may read them; the immortality of the soul can be proved by all but mathematical demonstration. But to prove and to discover are very different things. And, if my reasoning has been successful, I have shown that, though you can prove, you never could have discovered either the one or the other of the fundamental articles alluded to. In farther proof of this, I might refer to those who have paid the most attention to the subject-the modern apostles of infidelity. They are perfectly aware of the truth which I have been attempting to maintain that, between atheism and the Christian doctrine of atonement there is not an inch of ground which a rational man can rest upon the sole of his foot-that

"An honest deist, where the Gospel shines,

Matured to nobler, in the Christian ends." The most heartless and degrading atheism, therefore, is the doctrine that they teach.

And they are right. Yes. Extremes meet; and on this point I perfectly agree with them. Between the Christian, on the one hand, and the atheist on the other, you have not the shadow of an argument left in defence of your system. I may, therefore, terminate my sermon by entreating you to do, what you cannot reasonably refuse, to re-examine that system. And I would gladly enforce that entreaty by any motive calculated to produce compliance with it. I can only say that the subject is of the utmost importance; and he who believes that he has a soul, cannot rationally rest his future hopes upon a system, of the stability of which he is not assured. And a re-examination of your system may haply convince you, that deism only drags you from the rock of certainty, and plunges you in the ocean of doubt and perplexity.

Divest yourself of all that knowledge which you have acquired from the Gospel; place yourself in the situation that men were in before it was written, and I am much mistaken if you will find that your reason can furnish you with one argument against the adoption of the maxim, "Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die." Left in total uncertainty with regard to the being of God, and the immortality of your soul, you will and must conclude, that your only sure way to enjoy life, is to seize the pleasures of this present world, you must feel that the very height of human ambition must be to realize the language of the poet.

"Debilem facito manu,
Debilem pede, coxa;
Tuber astrue gibborum,
Lubricos quate dentes;
Vita dum superest, bene est;
Hanc, mihi vel acutam
Subde, sustineo, crucem."

I need not, and I will not, add another word, beyond begging you to contrast with this miserable ex

pression of a prosperous deist's wish, the triumphant language which the disciple of Jesus has of ten, in the very hour of torture and of death, been enabled to use,"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law: but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus

Christ."

MORDAX.

FOR THE CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTOR.

MR. EDITOR,

WHILE We have every reason to congratulate Christians on the immense good which is every where doing, not only among the benighted nations of Mahometan superstition, but also in our own country, yet we cannot but view, with feel ings of deep regret, the oversight of a numerous class of persons, among whom, we conceive, there subsists

not a little of the enmity of the na tural man to spiritual and divine things, but whose condition we are far from considering so desperate as not to admit of amelioration, We allude to apprentice boys. Having newly arrived at that period of life, when it may be supposed they possess a little money, and too ready, as they always are, to imitate the evil example of their older companions, (we allude to that body of men commonly denominated journeymen,) whose looseness of morals we can trace to neglect in their early education, it is too frequently the case, that, instead of devoting it to charitable purposes, they squander it in the frolics of drunkenness. The idea of sitting in an alehouse all that is manly, cheerful, and is associated, in their minds, with happy; and never do they feel more self-recognition than when mingling with the partisans of drunkenness over a bowl of punch. It is unnecessary for me to say how speedily they acquire tippling habits, or to describe the lamentable consequences which may be expected to result, not only to themselves, but to their friends and the public duct. Now, Sir, could such perat large, from such a line of consons, at this period of life, be rescued from this situation, and have instilled into their minds the principles of Christianity, (of which they are often found lamentably ignorant,) we can conceive the immense advantage which might be expected to result from it. It cannot be supposed that lads, from fourteen to eighteen years of age, would submit to the drudgery of learning tasks for a Sunday school; and as it is only on Sundays that they can indulge their wanton dispositions, owing to the closeness of their confinement during the week, a plan might be devised for assem bling them together on the evening of the Lord's day, and reading and

expounding to them portions of Scripture. That order should prevail among so many youths assem bled together into one place, could not be expected; but let them be assembled in different rooms in different quarters of the town, with a dozen or fifteen in each room, and let a library of moral and religious books be attached to the institution, Let the teachers be men of piety and respectability; and let them endeavour to render favourable to their plans the masters of their respective youths, as this would, we conceive, impose no small restraint on the more turbu

lent part of their pupils. If a Society of this kind could be formed, we question if any institution now in operation would be of more essential service to the interests of the rising generation. And we doubt not that, by the active cooperation of a few gentlemen, such an institution might be commenced. We throw out these hints, hoping, that some of your more able correspondents will resume the subject in a future number of your able work. I am yours, &c. S. B.

Edinburgh, Sept, 1823.

it, embody its principles in their character, and in their several stations and relations, exhibit them in their conduct. And nowhere do they appear to greater advantage than within the domestic circle. Every family should be a seminary of religious and moral instruction, a place of training to the exercise of those virtues which are afterwards to be displayed on the theatre of the world. It must therefore be obvious to every reflecting mind, that it greatly conduces to the benefit of the community at large, for members of families to act a Christian part; and he who employs his talents to aid them in this good work, performs an important service to his country and his kind.

The author of the volume before us is already well known to the public, in directing the exercise of piety in the most solemn service of our religion; and also, in teaching the young to cultivate a growing acquaintance with it, and to manifest it in their deportment; and here he takes a wider range, and shows how it ought to be displayed in

many of the most interesting duties and scenes of domestic life.

In making known to our readers the ends which the author had in view to accomplish by this work, we cannot do better than use his own words: In the Preface, we are told, that though several volumes of discourses have been of late addressed to families, yet "it has ap. peared to him that there were several topics which had been little adverted to, and various scenes which are seldom regarded in the spirit of piety, as to which religious counsel might be given with much advantage; and that those which had been repeatedly handled, required, from their peculiar importance, frequent enforcement; and might be illustrated and applied with the requisite variety. He has endeavoured to frame this work so as to answer these objects," and it appears to us, that in the execution of it he has been very successful.

We presume it must be evident to every reader, that there is no small ingenuity discovered in find ing out, and judgment in selecting, such a great variety of subjects of discourse, none of which very remotely, and most of them decidedly, bearing on the economy, and all of them having a manifest tendency to promote the best interests of families. The subjects are, 1. The value of grace shown in the family of Lazarus. 2. Picus wishes for families. 3. Domestic care. 4. Family worship. 5. On the dedication of infants to God. 6. On the spirit to be exercised at family meals. 7. Husbands and wives expected to promote the salvation of each other. 8. God's care of the outcast. 9. On the misconduct of parents, which produces domestic misery. 10. On the misconduct of children and its bitter fruits in families. 11. Lessons for conversation. 12. Prudent management inculcated. 13. On keeping the Sabbath in families.

14. The Good neighbour, 15. The kind master. 16. The crime and punishment of a wicked servant. 17. The regard due to our own and a father's friend. 18. The sweetness of the labourer's sleep. 19. The burial of Sarah. 20. On the death of children. 21. On the consola. tions of the new covenant under domestic trials. 22. The influence of holy and happy scenes.

These subjects are all of a prac tical kind, and are treated in a manner highly creditable to the author's talents and taste. He has brought to his task a deep and intimate acquaintance with human nature-an accurate discrimination of character and manners-a happy facility of giving a lively interest to scriptural sentiments and allusions—and, withal, there is a pervading spirit of fervent piety and benevolence, which imparts to the whole a peculiar charm.

In these discourses, Mr. Belfrage is methodical, without having aught of the air of cold or dry formality. His introductions are in general pleasing and attractive; his plans simple and natural; and his conclusions always appropriate, and often impressive. He usually divides his subject into what is commonly called heads and particulars, and this method we are inclined to prefer to that of the continued pulpit oration (without marked divisions and subdivisions) of which we have some celebrated specimens both in ancient and modern times. If the method here adopted may be considered as interrupting the current of eloquence, and not so favourable for making a powerful impression upon an audience, we are humbly of opinion that it has the advantage of the other, in giving more distinctness to the classification of ideas, and thus affording more assistance to the understanding and to the memory of the generality of hearers or readers; and also in giving more