peace or for the advantage of society, it is sufficiently manifest that neither the promise of unbounded speculation on the one hand, nor of licensed profligacy on the other, can be at all attractive. These are, in fact, among his strongest reasons for rejecting infidelity. Men of themselves, he argues, are far too prone to sensual indulgence, maugre every restraint, both natural and conventional; and whatever cherishes pride and contempt of instruction, must be a hinderance to the progress of truth, since it at once blinds the eyes and indurates the heart. If therefore, in his attempt at proselytism, the infidel sincerely wishes to succeed, where success would be indeed honour,-with those whom the Christian church is happy to acknowledge as its proper members, and its true adornments,-let him not breathe a whisper of that which, to some, is the strongest recommendation of infidelity; but let him seriously set himself to devise something really better than the religion which he so zealously decries.

This, of course, the slothful will not attempt; and there are very many, who having found what they esteem a plausible pretext for discarding the Bible, have attained the highest object of their desires, and care not for any substitute. They have absolutely nothing to offer, instead of what they themselves are compelled to acknowledge, the most splendid dream ever cherished by a fascinated but erring heart. They labour to make

proselytes, by the means but too successfully employed for their own conversion. They abound in the puerile artillery of stale witticisms,sarcasms which, weak and loathsome enough originally, have dribbled through successive generations of freethinkers, increasing in imbecility and foulness, by each successive transmission.

With such adversaries we do not contend; but to those who demand the terms on which we will cede our faith, we reply:-You cannot render it probable that Christianity is untrue; yet you impugn our views of the character of God, and our belief as to the way of salvation, and the glories of immortality: from you then we have ample right to demand something superior. You object to the reasoning by which Christianity is supported; we call therefore for unquestionable argument to substantiate your theories. You despise the love of the gospel: we ask for a worthier love. You would have us give up our hope of heaven, and renounce what you call the visionary prospects which the Bible supplies: shew us then more secure and more satisfactory enjoyments. This you must do before you can expect us to obey your bidding. But if you decline this mode of settling the controversy; if you call on us to repudiate doctrines, the authority of which cannot be rendered suspicious, and to plunge into absurdities far more serious than those of which you accuse the scriptures; if you would have us give up what we hold most dear, to vacillate between contending

and contradictory systems, and put to sea without helm, or chart, or compass, where neither sun nor stars appear; if, in short, yourselves being judges, you have no equivalent to offer us for our Bibles, you must not be angry with us, nor deem us irrational, if we still remain in the nonage of Christian faith, and still cheat our spirits with the phantasies of scriptural hope. We cannot desolate our hearts: we will not sin against reason, conscience, and self-interest; and as a reply to all your persuasions, we employ the words of a conscience-smitten infidel, who had prepared to burn the Bible;-" we will not destroy this book, till we get a better."

Thus far we act on a principle universally recognized. He who cannot prove a system of doctrine untrue, has no right to require another to abandon it, unless he substitute something more plausible. Such a requisition, and a compliance with it, are alike irrational. This rule can never be departed from without inconvenience and discredit; but the impropriety is, in some cases, not very important, nor productive of any considerable injury. In the question before us, however, no sort of laxity can be allowed. The highest conceivable interests of this world are matters of no moment, compared to the results of our present inquiry. We argue on the destinies of eternity; and the truth or falsehood of Christianity involves the condition of millions of immortal souls.

Here no rigidity can be too inflex

ible, no gravity too severe.

Mistakes on other

subjects may be repaired; but if we err on this, we are undone for ever.

And here we cannot but remark, that the specific object of the infidel's assault, is our faith in Christ. He well knows, that till this is destroyed, all his labour is vain; and when he has succeeded here, the fear and love of God, obedience to his laws, and the hope of heaven, will speedily follow. Christ is our refuge from the torments of a guilty conscience, the sense of the just wrath of God, and the apprehension of consequent misery in a future world. Infidelity, to be at all successful, must rob us of our only ground of peace and hope; and this is its design. But if it convince us that we have no Saviour, can it assure us that we are not sinners? If it obscure our views of the mercy of God, can it mitigate his justice? If it take away the comforts of his favour, can it hide us from the terrors of his frown? If it scatter our

hopes of heaven, can it for ever quench the hell of a guilty conscience within? It may stupify our moral sense, and we may learn to regard sin as a trivial matter. It may deaden our conscience, and we may generally be free from any considerable concern about our vices. It may ridicule the notion of future punishment, till we cease to esteem hell any thing but the bugbear of priests' tales. It may descant on God's indulgence to human passion, till we forget his purity and justice. But God is still just; we are still

sinners, and justice must ever remain in hostility against sin. The facts are not altered by our want of discernment. The stupefaction of a wretch tottering to the gallows, is no recommendation of the crime which placed him there. Indeed, however much we may labour to disguise the truth from our own hearts, there will be moments in which conscience will speak out, and ultimately, truth will triumph over every obstacle. The most cheering part of Christianity, infidelity takes away for ever: its most terrible truths it cannot destroy, nor even suppress, except for a short time. Spite of all his efforts, there are relics of what he once believed, in the heart of every apostate from Christianity; and he has to maintain a perpetual struggle against knowledge, which if allowed its due influence over his heart, would prove hell to be no fable.

From the infidel therefore, we have a right to demand a system fraught with infinite advantage; since he not only requires us to abandon all the delights which our faith supplies, but leaves us encumbered with a tremendous balance of incalculable and unmitigated evil. Where then is this system? It is sufficiently notorious that among unbelievers of the more reputable order, as well as those to whom we have already alluded, the only bond of union,-if I may so express myself,—is negative. They all reject the Bible; and this alone gives them a distinctive character, and a common interest. There are different classes