inquirer present, who may doubt upon this subject, would give Dr. Keith's "Dissertations upon the Evidence of Prophecy" a prayerful and thoughtful reading. A perusal even of the abridgment of that excellent book, as circulated by the Religious Tract Society, will, in my judgment, be sufficient to demonstrate in the productions of the Holy Scriptures a foresight which no human sagacity could have suggested, a precision that God alone could exercise. Take as an instance the prophecies of Isaiah, concerning the overthrow of Babylon; they were written two hundred years before the destruction of that city took place; when that imperial metropolis was in the height of her glory, when she sat as a queen, and it seemed a thing as improbable as any improbable circumstance could be, that she should be brought to the dust: and yet Isaiah describes the utter desolation of that city as it continues to this day, as if he had seen it, like modern travellers, in ruin of its overthrow; which proves, at once, that that God, who sees the end from the beginning, spake by him, and calls for our confidence in those predictions that are not yet fulfilled. Did time permit, I might speak of the prophecies concerning the Arab tribes, the destruction of Nineveh, Tyre, and Egypt, and especially of the dispersion of the Jews. O, when you pass through your streets, or the Jewish quarters of this city, and behold the descendant of Abraham, do not let him pass without saying, There is a witness to the historical and prophetical truth of the Bible.

We now ask you, brethren, Ought we to account it an unreasonable thing, that God should communicate his mind to men-that the Father of the spirits of all flesh should have access to the spirits he as formed? This has been believed by all the ancients: we have shown you it appears necessary from the state both of ancients and moderns. Is it, we further ask, unreasonable to believe that the authors of these books were inspired by God, when we consider the miracles they wrought, the harmonious testimony they delivered, and the accurate predictions which they recorded?

But the subject requires that I should speak of THe design of THE REVELATION. God has spoken by his holy prophets; and what has he disclosed? He has made known what he requires of men, what he bestows on men, and what he designs for them in a better world.

God has made known by his holy prophets and apostles what he requires. The moral law is an epitome of that code by which every

individual, every family, and every society should be governed; and if individuals would candidly examine the precepts of that code, they would find there are no objections, but such as human depravity suggests, to justify their resistance to such a law. It is a fence which divine mercy has put round a yawning abyss; and every precept says to every man, "Take heed-do thyself no harm." O, how much misery would be averted if men would regard God's laws! They are "holy, just, and good ;" and so perfect, that nothing can be added to them. Calmly ponder them, my hearers, and you will be compelled to exclaim with David, "How excellent is thy law!”

We are thankful, then, for the preceptive code which is contained in the Scriptures; and are thankful to have the law of ten commandments illustrated by the discourses of our Saviour and his apostles. He explains, in his beautiful sermon on the mount, the supremacy of the law of God, and shows that it extends to the purposes and thoughts of the heart: and we find in the precepts of the apostolical writings a carrying out of the great principles which are embodied in the Mosaic code, and their application to the state of our hearts towards God and our fellow-men. It is a mercy thus to have a light to our feet, and a lamp to our path. Instead of being left in uncertainty and doubt to say, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, or appear in the presence of the most high God?" we hear his voice, saying, "This is the way; walk ye in it.”

In the second place, we learn in this revelation what God bestows. Here we learn that he is a just God, and yet a Saviour. When we contemplate God in the works of his hand, there is much to make us afraid; we perceive his power, and we also feel our guilt. It is this which causes us to shrink from the lightning's flash; and that causes us to apprehend death with disquietude and terror. But it is a mercy that, while conscience alarms us with a sense of guilt and danger, revelation teaches us how we may obtain pardon: for there it is written "There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." When the prophet Micah, in the spirit of inspiration, contemplated the character of Jehovah, as contrasted with the gods of the heathen, he exclaimed, "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." All the philosophers of all past time could not have disclosed such consolatory truths, could not have told us that God delights in mercy, that he pardons iniquity, that he passes

mechanical operation; for which one man may possess some skill, while the others are perfectly ignorant of the art; one may possess tools, and the rest not have an instrument wherewith to work. It scarcely appears sane, then, to imagine that men, characterized by such extraordinary diversity of intellectual power, can, by the processes of reasoning, obtain a just knowledge of God, and their duty to him and their fellow-men.

Again, such a process requires leisure. Now in the state of society on which we are thrown, every man has his daily occupation; one is going to his farm, and another to his merchandize; and most individuals find they have not leisure for the ordinary occupations of life, much less for those profound inquiries which might engross their time and attention for years. To say, then, to a labouring mechanic, who has to toil twelve or fourteen hours every day to provide an honest maintenance for himself and his family, You must read, and examine, and reason for yourself, in order to ascertain from the works of creation your duty to God and men, is alike impracticable and absurd. How can he do it?

Then it is to be remembered, that if men had the leisure, they have not the disposition, to prosecute this momentous inquiry. Men in general do not like abstract studies, especially those which relate to their own condition and destiny. These things are put from them; God is not in all their thoughts, and they desire not the knowledge of his ways; but they betray a melancholy indifference to them. To say that such men, who have no taste for moral investigation and religious pursuits, should give themselves to such studies, to solve such anxious questions, is unquestionably most ridiculous.

But then it is suggested, that philosophers who devote themselves to such inquiries, may prosecute these studies for the instruction of others. This is a great concession, because if you would receive the testimony of the philosophers, why not receive the testimony of the prophets? If you must have these truths at second-hand, and not by the discoveries of your own mind, surely the prophets deserve as much attention as the philosophers: Moses should be heard as well as Socrates; and Paul should have an audience as well as the pedants of the schools. But let us ask, what have the old philosophers done to instruct mankind? The greatest and the most honest of them have only confessed their ignorance. It is a striking fact that Xenophon has recorded this honest testimony of his master Socrates, who did not question the propriety or necessity of worshipping the Deity,

but thought that divine instruction and assistance was necessary to enable men to perform it in a proper manner, and, therefore, he advised his disciples to wait till God should make it known.

But it may be said, that since his days there has been a great deal done. True, my brethren, God has been manifested in the flesh; Christ Jesus has been preached by his inspired apostles; the pure morality of the Christian system has been diffused throughout Europe and a large portion of the civilized world, and has been extensively blended with the principles of social government and general legislation. Thus sceptical philosophers imagine that human nature has made astonishing progress through their efforts, while they forget that mankind are receiving the advantages which the high morality of Christianity bestows upon society.

To try this question honestly, you must go back to a period anterior to the Christian era, and ascertain what men at that period knew of the law and character of God, and of their duty to him and their fellow-creatures; or, if you please, you may travel out of the range of Christian influence. Go into the heart of China, and visit the secluded cities of Japan. Go into the deserts of Africa, and find men in a state of nature, and learn what their sages have taught them, and what they are without the influence of Christianity. Thus you will be able to ascertain how uncertain, limited, unsettled, and inoperative, all human opinions upon this great subject

have been.

From these considerations, we are led to conclude that it was really necessary that men should be taught by a revelation from the Father of lights, seeing that they have not all the same powers of reasoning to prosecute the inquiry, that they have not the leisure which would be necessary to ascertain their duty, that most men are indifferent to that momentous subject, and that the wisest and the most laborious amongst them have betrayed or confessed the fact, that they need the teaching of the Father of their spirits, the God of the whole earth.

I remark, in the second place, that a revelation is desirable, because our accountability is acknowledged. I assume that every man in this assembly possesses a secret consciousness that he must give an account of himself to God, and that he looks forward with anxiety to the future. Now the question is, By what rule is that account to be judged? Have we an instinctive impression that we are accountable to our Maker; and, yet, has he given us no law by which our accountability is to be tested? The question then arises,

By what law is our conduct to be determined? To this, Lord Bolingbroke would have replied, "Men may know from the nature of things what is fit for them." Now what is meant by "the nature of things," it would, perhaps, be difficult to determine; but it is very obvious, that this answer would leave every man to become a law to himself, and that thus men would shift and change their code of morality according to circumstances. We see what is the influence of the law of the nature of things upon the characters of the heathen, who are without the revealed law of God. Their state was once garnished by the poetry which French philosophy adopted, and the virtues of the lovely children of nature were loudly celebrated; but the sober testimony of honest travellers exhibits man in his natural state as a poor, debased, unhappy outcast, the victim of the grossest vices and the most hateful passions, needing the mercy of his God, and that transformation which his grace can alone effect.

Besides which, there are many who feel that they have already transgressed. The conviction that you have sinned against God, I trust, is common amongst you. Now, how can "the nature of things" tell you in what way to avoid the consequences of your transgression? Without a revelation from God there is a dreadful uncertainty on this momentous subject: therefore, I think you will be prepared to concede, that the unveiling of these great secrets is most desirable, because without it, while men feel their accountability, they must confess their ignorance. Now what can we think of the character of the government of God, on the assumption that he has left the creatures, whom he holds to be accountable to his justice, ignorant of the law by which they are to be judged? What should we say, if the inhabitants of some distant colony of the British empire were to be visited with the vengeance of our imperial government for not obeying an order of council or an act of parliament of which they had never heard? Are they to be treated as rebels against the authority of the state, for violating laws that were never transmitted to them? You perceive, that where there is no law there can be no transgression; therefore it seems indispensable to the moral government of God, that he should reveal to men his holy will, and make known to them the principles on which he holds them accountable to his justice, and by which they will be judged in the final day.

Now we proceed, in the second place, to assert, that SUCH A REVELATION IS ACTUALLY POSSESSED. "He spake by the mouth