Supreme Being, as the móral Governor of the world, that the moral transformation of man is ultimately to be traced.

A man's state, relations, or circumstances, have a powerful influence on his character. The same individual, if placed in infancy in the state of slavery and in the state of royalty, would, in mature life, be distinguished by very different, and, in many points, directly opposite dispositions and habits. A certain set of relations and circumstances may be quite incongruous with a certain character; and every species of moral means may be employed in vain to produce that character, till the individual be brought into a new state, a new set of relations and circumstances, favourable to the change desired. Let a slave receive every advantage of the most accomplished education, if he is not enfranchised, he is not likely soon to be formed to the generous character of a freeman, Let me know that a man is my determined enemy, and no exhibition of his good qualities, however well attested, can induce me to place confidence in him, while he and I stand in the relation of enemies. Let the relation be changed, and, the same moral means which were formerly utterly, inefficacious will produce a powerful effect.

These plain principles, transferred to the important subject now before us, will go far to lead us into the truth, respecting the origin of that transforming influence of Christianity, which distinguishes it from all other ameliorating systems. Man's natural relations (I use the word natural, not as equivalent to primitive, but as expressive of what is common to all men in the present state of human nature, from

the very commencement of their rational and moral existence) are incompatible with a truly holy charac ter. God and man are in a state of hostility in consequence of sin; and while they are so, how can God, the only author of moral excellence, communicate the greatest of all blessings to one who is the proper object of his judicial displeasure? and how can man love or trust Him who is, and whom he knows to be, his omnipotent enemy? No human system of moral amelioration makes any adequate provision for changing this state; and therefore, though they were otherwise more perfect than they are, they would be insufficient to answer their purpose. Without some such provision, even the Christian system of truth and duty would be inefficacious. It is in the securing, by a series of divine arrangements, the change of a state of hostility into a state of friendship-the rendering the pardon and salvation of the guilty consistent with, and illustrative of, the perfections of the divine character, and the principles of the divine government, that Christianity lays the deep, and broad, and sure foundation, not only of man's endless happiness, but of his moral worth. In the vicarious sacrifice of the incarnate Son, provision is made for a most happy change in man's relations to the divine moral government; and in this change is necessarily implied, and most indubitably secured, a complete change in his moral dispositions and habits. It is this wondrous dispensation, that, like the hidden spring of a complicated system of machinery, gives resistless energy, and unfailing efficacy, in the case of the saved, to the moral influence of the doctrines and precepts of the Gospel. This is the true ac

count of the unrivalled energy of Christianity, in making men truly and permanently holy-an account which cuts off at once all ground for the abuse of the Antinomian, who "turns the grace of God into lasciviousness;" and the cavils of the infidel or heretic, who would represent the doctrines of vicarious atonement, and free justification, as hostile to the interests of practical godliness.

Such a comprehensive knowledge of the Christian system, viewed as a statement of divine dispensations, with a constant reference to the principles of the divine moral government, and the constitution and circumstances of human nature, would go far to relieve the mind from those difficulties which are sometimes felt with respect to some particular doctrines of our holy faith. Almost all the objections which are brought against the doctrines of Christianity, lie against them chiefly, when viewed as insulated principles. This is remarkably the case with respect to the doctrines of the Trinity, election,* vicarious

* "If we view the doctrine of election, as unconnected with other things, it may appear to us to be a kind of fondness, without reason or wisdom: a charge of caprice would hereby be brought against the Almighty; and professors, like the carnal Jews, on account of the distinguishing favours conferred on their nation, would be fostered in self-conceit, But if considered in connection with the great system of religious truth, it will appear in a very different light. It will represent the divine Being in his true character; not acting as without design, and subjecting himself to endless disappointments, but as accomplishing all his works in pursuance of an eternal purpose. And as salvation, from first to last, is of mere grace, and every son and daughter of Adam is absolutely at the divine discretion, it tends powerfully to impress this idea both upon saints and sinners: while it leads the former to acknowledge, that by the grace of God they are what they are, it teaches the latter to relinquish their vain hopes, and to fall into the arms of sovereign mercy."-FULLER.

atonement, justification by faith without the works of the law, the perseverance of the saints, &c. All that is wanted to answer the objection usually is, just to state the doctrine in its connection and dependencies.bians 13 20 alivaa si 1 "

Another important advantage arising from such a connected view of Christianity, is the constantly growing conviction which it produces of the truth of the Scriptures, and the divinity of that plan of reconciliation which they unfold. It is impossible for a rightly disposed mind thoroughly to understand the Newtonian theory of the universe, without being constrained to say, This is the true account of the phenomena of nature; and these phenomena, in their admirable order, speak their divine origin. In like manner, the more distinctly the doctrines of Scripture are apprehended in their various relations, the more powerfully will we feel the statement must be true, the contrivance must be divine."

To obtain, then, just conceptions of the doctrines of Christianity, in their connection and dependencies, ought to be one grand object with the Christian student. He who has succeeded in the pursuit, has acquired possession of a key which enables him to unlock almost all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, grace and consolation, contained in the Holy Scriptures. In conducting his inquiries into this species of systematic theology, the only species of it which we can unqualifiedly recommend, the Christian cannot too cautiously guard against a disposition to theorize. Let him never forget that he has nothing to invent, but every thing to discover. It is his province, not to imagine relations, but to seek

them out-not to form ingenious hypotheses, but to trace the outlines of that system which has been already described by the hand of God in the Holy Scriptures.

He who would become a proficient in this kind of knowledge, must devote himself chiefly to the study of the Bible. There is no portion of the inspired volume, from which he may not derive important assistance; but the apostolical epistles, and especially the epistles of the apostle Paul, will be found peculiarly to demand and richly to reward his most careful study. An attentive, humble, prayerful perusal of the Epistle to the Romans, will furnish the mind with juster, clearer, more satisfactory views of the great scheme of salvation, than perhaps can be derived from other any source. The concluding paragraphs of the third chapter of that Epistle, (verses 21-31.) and of the fifth chapter of his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, (verses 17-21,) are most luminous displays of the grand characteristic principles of the Christian system, and, if well understood, would diffuse a glorious light over almost every part of the volume of inspired truth.

But while it is to the Bible principally that we would turn the reader's attention, as the source of satisfactory views of the system of Christian truth, we gratefully acknowledge, that in the study of the Bible, for the purpose of obtaining these views, we may be greatly assisted by the works of those good men who have devoted themselves successfully to this most interesting of all inquiries. Among these, we are disposed to assign a very high place indeed to the Author of the following Treatises, whom we