will soon find to its confusion, that there are only left with it ignorant conceit and intellectual perversion; She is drawing into her train minds of the loftiest powers and finest sensibilities. That while in the ages of her depression and confinement she dwelt chiefly with the lowly and illiterate, she is now, when about to triumph over opposition and restraint, taking under her direction those mighty spirits which are soon to command the intellectual world. And while we would ever ascribe the power and the glory to God, do we not perceive that, in an age of high intelligence and cultivation, it is necessary that the advocates and expounders of Christianity should be qualified to lead the general mind; the higher their endowments and the wider their intelligence, they will be the better fitted for doing justice to that dispensation of mercy, which, while it has the distinguished honour of being in its saving truths intelligible to the most uncultivated mind, rises and expands to such a vastness and grandeur as baffle and confound the most exalted intellect.

* Note F.

II.

ON MORAL GREATNESS.

66 'FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO."

"AND NOW, BEHOLD, I GO BOUND IN THE SPIRIT UNTO JERUSALEM, NOT KNOWING THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BEFALL ME THERE: SAVE THAT THE HOLY GHOST WITNESSETH IN EVERY CITY, SAYING, THAT BONDS AND AFFLICTIONS ABIDE ME. BUT NONE OF THESE THINGS MOVE ME, NEITHER COUNT I MY LIFE DEAR UNTO MYSELF, THAT I MIGHT FINISH MY COURSE WITH JOY, AND THE MINISTRY WHICH I HAVE RECEIVED OF THE LORD JESUS, TO TESTIFY THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD."

As the sun pursues his course undisturbed and unsullied, though unseen, while deep gloom covers the sky, and the storm tosses and tears the frail objects on our world; and as the light still comes to us, though its source is not perceived; even so, (though faint be the emblem,) amid the darkness and appalling desolations of moral ruin, the Eternal One remains in his essential glory, un

shaken and untarnished; serenely and securely accomplishing his designs, in the midst of disorder and hostility the most terrific. This august and mighty Being is the source and standard of moral greatness; and whatever good quality appears in any creature, is but a faint likeness of some perfection in Him.

Moral greatness cannot be displayed but in circumstances of trial; where there is no temptation nor opposition, no effort is required. But a state of trial does not appear compatible with perfect felicity; that is reserved as the reward of fidelity. Man, during his term of probation,— though he had remained sinless,-could not have enjoyed the fulness of undisturbed delight; the perception of the attempts of the seducer on his mind must have produced feelings at least not pleasant. The state of probation in which he was placed was not such as would have permitted him to bask for ever in the sunny bowers of paradise, but required a vigilance and firmness which, alas, he failed to maintain.

In order that our conceptions may be the more accurate concerning what constitutes moral greatness, we shall endeavour to ascertain what is the primary element of moral degradation. It is a

doctrine of Scripture that we derive a corrupt nature from our original progenitors; and this doctrine furnishes the only satisfactory solution of the propensions and aversions displayed in our early years. It is a fact, attested by general experience, that the youthful mind is with the utmost difficulty brought to think of God; and that it rejoices at being released from the bondage of speaking or hearing of Him. This alienation of the mind from God is the primary element of moral corruption, and is what we chiefly mean by derived depravity. But this woful state of mind is not incompatible with the existence of much right feeling towards man; and the doctrine, consequently, is not in the least affected by any purity of affection, or rectitude of conduct which may appear among members of the human family towards one another. But the affections, when broken loose from their hold on the Supreme, are liable to fall into every kind of disorder, and the natural result of this disruption is the generation of evil passions and habits. If, then, the primary element of moral corruption be the alienation of the heart from God, the primary element of moral excellence must be devotedness of heart

D

to Him,*-supreme, and constraining love, which in circumstances of trial will manifest itself, according to the nature of these, in the resistance of temptation, the enduring of suffering, and in strenuous exertions in fulfilment of his will. Its being so manifested in such circumstances, constitutes moral greatness.

But man having lost the essential element of moral excellence, cannot regain it by his own efforts; nay, will not of himself make any efforts to regain it. God in the Scriptures has disclosed a scheme for the remission of human guilt, and the moral renovation of the human soul. In them we are informed, that we all derive a corrupt nature from our original progenitors-that we are guilty before God, and "condemned already" for our

* The writer has thought that it might not be improper to state that, having read Dr. Wardlaw's "Christian Ethics," since the first sketch of this essay was written, he perceives that he has fallen into a coincidence of thought; and, in some sentences, almost, if not altogether, into a coincidence of expression with him in stating what constitutes the primary element respectively of moral excellence, and moral depravity. The writer does not append this note without some misgivings; for while he would not needlessly expose himself to the charge of plagiarism, he would shrink from the imputation of bringing himself into comparison with such an eminent theologian, and distinguished writer as Dr. Wardlaw.