devout inquirer;-that our great Instructor, although he has veiled the truth to him who would look down upon it from the lofty eminences of human science, reveals it to him who approaches in the attitude of conscious infirmity and devout humiliation. And this principle, we venture to say, is more frequently exemplified even in the discoveries of art and science than the mere scholar is willing to allow. We probably owe the art of printing, for instance, to one whose profession authorized the expectation of no such gift to the world of letters. The machinery also, to which the manufactures of our country are principally indebted, is the discovery of a common workman; and that philosopher, who in our own days has most enlarged the boundaries of science, who has improved the instruments of philosophy to an extent which raises this age above every other in the annals of astronomy, who has given us a familiarity with the heavens of which Kepler never dreamed and to which Newton never soared, owes his discoveries still less to the circuitous efforts of scientific research than to the simple and humble labours of common sense. These men have reached the interior of the temple of science, not by breaking through its walls at some elevated points, but by stooping to the low and narrow door of self-distrust and humiliation by which it is appointed to be entered. But whatever may be the case in other instances, our position is eminently true in religion. There are usually certain prominent and leading truths connected with every important question, on which he who keeps his eye steadily fixed, and his heart really intent, will not be suffered to wander fatally wide of the mark. And here, perhaps, we may be permit ted to say, that we should have been happy if the work of the reverend author had afforded him an opportunity of entering more widely upon the discussion of the two following topics :-in the first place, why men are so apt to run away from the consideration of the great fundamentals in morals and religion-and, secondly, what are the evils which have arisen in the present controversy from thus merging the great in the subordi nate topics of the discussion. It is not, of course, for us to presume to supply the author's place; but we will take the liberty of touching for a moment upon these two points. are The great cause then, as it ap pears to us, by which men tempted to pursue what may be called the accidents of moral questions, and to leave their substance untouched, is, that a decision as to the first may have no bearing upon the life, but that a decision on the last may and must be conclusive as to their state and character. It matters little to the worldly man, for example, whether we ought to stand or kneel in prayer; but it matters infinitely to him whether devout prayer be a duty or not. Another temptation which inclines men to investigate chiefly the minuter parts of a subject is this-that they conceive they shall obtain a higher reputation for learn ing and refinement, than by dwelling upon the parts that are more prominent. The operation of this cause may be perceived in literature and art. In the advanced stages of literature, for instance, and after the stock of obvious images and sentiments has been exhausted, how generally are writers seduced into an artificial and affected style of composition, not always because their taste is worse than that of their predecessors, but because they are willing to try a new road to fame, and to aim at the only distinction which it is now possible for them to attain! In like manner, in works of art, how soon does the laborious skill of the Flemish school succeed to the nobler manner of the Romannot always, perhaps, through a de terioration of taste, but frequently from a desire of reputation. But it is in morals and religion that the evil is most predominant. Hence the subtle discussions of the old schoolmen and of the modern casu ists-men who ought to have had both wit and honesty sufficient to prefer questions of practical utility to those laborious triflings which too often occupied their whole attention. actual evils which have arisen in the controversy upon regeneration, from too often merging the main doctrine which it involves in subordinate topics of discussion. Hence, we conceive, it is that the great question, whether or not our own hearts are converted, has been postponed by many warm polemics, and their admirers, till the contest about lower matters is decided. Hence, again, it happens, that many writers and verbal disputants obtain a reputation for religious zeal, who care perhaps for little but the defence of their own particular sys tems. Hence, also, it is that many of these advocates have exhausted their time and strength in fighting for points, the adjustment of which would not, in the smallest degree, assist in the decision of the main question; and this not in the spirit of men who have undertaken to decide on subjects of vital importance to the whole family of man, but as they would enter the lists in a glas diatorial exhibition. Hence, in a word, we are threatened with the sad consequence, that this controversy, which, under the Divine blessing, might be made to promote the interests of truth and the salva But a third and most efficient cause of this error, is the ungene rous desire of sophists and partisans to hide the truth, by spreading over it the cobwebs of minute dis tinctions. A man of simple mind is marching in a right line to a sound conclusion. A polemic detects him in the fact, and discovers at once that this right line is the road to conclusions the most opposite to his own. He therefore contends, that the straight road is the wrong road that the level path is the path of ruin-and that the very ease with which he advances is a proof he cannot be treading in the rough and arduous ascent which leads to the almost inaccessible temple of truth. Misled by such representations, perhaps, the plain man yields to the conviction of souls, may pass away and tion that he ought not to walk so well. We would urge on many of our readers, and especially on the young and unwary, the considera. tions which we have here stated. Truth is ordinarily simple; and it is rarely, and for no good pur pose, that the goddess is invested with a cloud. The well in which wisdom is said to lie hid, is rarely too deep for an honest and industrious mind to fathom it. When, therefore, difficulties are spread over al plain truth, by any one who is, at the same time, a scho lar and a partisan, the reader should consider them but as the dust of warfare, which is raised to conceal the march of an advancing enemy. 10600 2101 Bura 0 But let us touch for a moment on the other point; namely, the leave many of those who were most deeply engaged in it in their original state of darkness and indifference. We always indulge the hope, that when this sort of moral earthquake takes place, many contrite inquirers will be found at the feet of the ministers of religion, asking, “What shall I do to be saved?" And if in this hope we should now be disappointed, we are persuaded that one of the main causes will be, that some of the disputants themselves, and still more of their readers, have fallen into the error which we are deploring. But it is time that we should return to Mr. Wilson, the great object of whose sermon is to show the in finite importance of that change of heart which must be wrought by the Holy Ghost in every unconverted person, to fit him for the kingdom of heaven. This point he endeavours to establish by three distinct considerations: 1. By the manner in which this change is described in scripture; 2. By the place assigned to it in the holy writings; and, 3. By the intimate connexion of the doctrine teaching the necessity of this change with every part of the Gospel. The passage in which are collected the scriptural statements respecting the importance of this moral change, though aiming, perhaps, at too nice a discrimination, is, we think, just and striking. "The various images employed to describe this change in the holy Scriptures, are eminently calculated to exalt our ideas of its magnitude. Let us contemplate these descriptions in their grand outlines. If the general and entire change of the whole soul is regarded, it is described as a new birth, a new creature, a being awakened from sleep, and quickened from death and the grave. It is even compared to the light, and order, and beauty educed from the original chaos, by the Divine command, and the resurrection effected by the exceeding greatness of God's power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the to ciple at the feet of his Master, a servant obeying his Lord, a steward occupying with his talents, a soldier contending under his Captain, a wrestler labouring in the struggle, and a racer breathless for the prize. If, moreover, the powerful operation of grace in this change is considered, it is then compared to the recovery of the wandering sheep after a painful search, to the healing of an infortified castle, or the rescue from the veterate distemper, the surprise of a power of a foreign foe, If the outward manner of effecting it, it is a calling to the fellowship of the Gospel; or, if the gradual and imperceptible influences of listeth; as ground made good and ferthe Spirit, it is as a wind blowing where tile; as a tree newly receiving the graft, the incorruptible seed taking root, the leaven fermenting the mass. mass, and a well of water springing up to everlasting life." pp. 16-18. dead. If the governing principle is view ed, it is described as a change of mind, a law inscribed on the heart, a light shining into the soul, an epistle of Christ written by the Spirit of God. If the universal effects of this change are considered, it is represented as a conversion or turning from sin to God, a transformation by the renewing of the mind, a participation of a divine nature, and a conformity to the image of Christ and of God; it is the wax yielding to the seal, or the metal receiving the impress of the mould. If the more particular consequences of incipient sanctifica tion are exhibited, then the Christian is washed from uncleanness: puts off the old and defiled man, and puts on the new; appears in a wedding garment; casts away the works of darkness, and clothes himself with the armour of light; is crucified to sin; assumes the yoke of bis Saviour, and offers himself a living sacrifice to his service. If, again, the course on which he enters is especially regarded, he then becomes a merchant man seizing the matchless pearl, a dis it The part in which the intimate connexion of this doctrine with all the fundamental truths of Scripture is delineated, is not less convincing. Nothing, indeed, can be more obvious, than that, if man is deeply corrupt; if God is infinitely holy; if the Judge of all the earth requires of us a growing conformity to his own image, and to " the mind" of Christ; if the character of heavenly occupations and joys demand in their possessors the sublimest elevation and unmixed purity-a change total and absolute is necessary to fallen man, in order that he may begin to comply with the requisition of his God, live up to the grandeur of his destiny, and acquire in the school of this lower world a capacity for heaven, a “meetness" for the joys and employments of the world of spirits. Strike out these doctrines from the Gospel, and the a priori argument, at least, for the necessity of a moral change will be weakened, and miserable man must be left to enjoy the sad privilege of living and dying, undis turbed, in the bondage of his cor ruptions. If the statue of Promethe the functions of manhood, what us had d not been intended to perform need was there to scale the heavens for fire to animate it? It might properly have slumbered in cold and torpid dignity upon its pedes tal. But if the stone is to live, and to think, and to act, the vivifying flame must descend from heaven. And thus it is in the case of human nature. If man may with impunity remain corrupt; if God is not holy; if heaven is not a holy place, then the moral change may be in a measure superfluous. But if much is demanded and expected of man; if the highest prospects are unfolded to him; if heaven itself "rejoices over one sinner that repenteth;" if the lines of original corruption must be erased, and the Divine nature communicated to us; then, evidently, a transformation is necessary-a -a transformation involving scarcely a smaller advancement in the scale of being than creation itself-a transformation to which He alone is competent who requires this advancement in His creatures. Such is the substance of Mr. Wilson's argument; and, if we have chosen rather to condense than to extract it, it is only because we wish to obtain space for other quo tations. The author, having arrived at this point in his argument, thus states his own conviction as to the probable results of pursuing or neglecting the mode of viewing this subject which he advocates: "I have pressed these various points with the greater earnestness, because they are calculated to exhibit, in a striking point of view, the nature of this great incipient work of the spirit. If the stu dent, instead of seizing at once the grand substance of truth in this respect, languish in hesitation; if he listen to the treacherous subtilty of his own heart, or lose himself among the objections of a sickly imagination; if he consult a luxurious and corrupted world, or lend himself to those who confound fervour with intemperance, and the most sober and enlightened piety, if it be spiritual and energetic, with enthusiasm; or if he dispose of every thing with an indolent carelessness, and sink the chief force of the great truth before us, in the outward transition from heathen or Mohammedan superstition to the profession of the Christian faith, it is impossible for him to succeed. Truth was never at tained by such a method: he is not in a position to survey the extensive field: he wants the state of heart requisite to a right decision. Whereas, if the main question be first felt and understood, and the supreme magnitude and importance of a change of heart be adequately known, no material difficulties will rest on his mind. Being right in his leading principles, subordinate points will either lose their importance, or assume nearly their appropriate place." pp. 32, 33. ̧ He next proceeds to illustrate he had laid down to several distinct this statement by applying the rule questions connected with the controversy on regeneration. He first, shows how unlikely those, who have right conceptions on the subject of this moral change, are to fall into certain newly-revived errors on the subject of baptism, whether in the case of infants or adults. After some other observations, we come to the following solemn address, near the conclusion of the sermon: the minuter points of controversy, that "Is it not then possible, waiving all danger, have not taken a right view of some of us, without being aware of our the real magnitude of a change of nature? Is it not at least possible that if we felt more deeply our own depravity, the Holy Ghost in changing the heart, and estimated more highly the work of we might be more successful in our religious course? Would not a new disposition and frame of soul go to the bottom of the case? Would, it not supply the very thing which is wanting? Do not great and controlling principles govern the human mind? And is it not most likely that a master-spring within -a new principle of life and holinesswould lead to the very success we now want? And may it not then be our wisest course to omit smaller matters of dispute, at least till the governing truths of the Gospel have more entirely filled our souls, and in humble supplication we have implored with greater earnestness the illumination of the blessed Spirit of God? And are we not most likely to arrive at the grand and substantial principle, really involved in the great question under review, by this plain and practical method, in a matter which confessedly depends more on the state of the heart, than on the cold deductions of abstract reasoning." pp. 51, 52. In this view of the subject we most cordially concur; and we conceive that one chief merit of the Sermon before us lies in the simplicity and earnestness with which the duties delineated in the above extract are pressed upon the reader. It is a feature in the constitution of our nature, that one sense can but imperfectly perform the functions of another. The blind man conceived the colour of scarlet to be much like the sound of a trumpet: and thus the man whose moral sense is not awakened, and on whom the ray of heavenly light has not descended, may often make mistakes equally absurd in matters connected with religion. We know, indeed, that some of the advocates for the error in question contend, that" the actual state of baptized persons proves nothing; that they may have had a new nature bestowed upon them at baptism, and have forfeited and lost that new nature." But, to say nothing of the point of doctrine involved in this hypothesis, is not every presumption on the other side? The millions around us were born with corrupt hearts; and, if facts may be believed, they have now corrupt hearts. Is it not then a reasonable presumption, though not absolutely a logical deduction, that what the heart was, and is, it always has been? A plant may, indeed, be found, in the revolution of a year, twice in a state of torpor and barrenness; and yet, during the interval, its barren and lifeless head may have been crowned with vegetation and glory. In this instance, however, no by-stander could have failed, during the period, to discover the progress of the change. But where is there any thing analogous to this in human nature? Does the child, (we put the question solemnly, and without any feeling of levity on so important a subject,) just emerging from the baptismal font, evidence any decay of selfishness, any fresh budding of holy and amiable qualiCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 185. ties, any rising of the "sap of vir tue," any expansion of the flower? Can the most tender mother note on the tablet of her ready memory any accession of new and holy qua, lities in her newly baptized child! Has she not still to contend with the same selfish, wayward, capricious feelings as before? The fact is against the bypothesis: all reasonable presumption is against it; Scripture has not yet been proved to be in its favour: if, therefore, it is to stand at all, it must stand on the ipse dixit of a few zealous controversialists, whose zeal is no certain argument of the truth of their positions. But we will not resume the discussion of this much agitated topic. The controversy has, in our judg ment, even already been of considerable use: large concessions have been made, are daily being made, and will, we doubt not, continue to be made, by the advocates for a baptismal change. A closer examina. tion of their own hearts, of the state of the world, of the language of Scripture, will assist in multiplying these concessions; and we trust they will go on conceding to the cause of truth, till they have left nothing requiring concession; that the hitherto discordant elements will at length combine; that the parallel lines will converge; and that, somewhere on this side the grave, the angry disputants will put up their swords, and, in the spirit of their compassionate Master, hasten to heal the wounds which anger may have inflicted. It is because Mr. Wilson's sermon is calculated to heal divisions, without compromising truth, that we have thought it right to give it this extended notice. He has sometimes been a little less attentive to his metaphors than to his arguments; and we think he may usefully employ the opportunity afforded him by a second edition, to render the composition as correct as the reasoning is sound, and the temper Christian and charitable. 2 S |