research affords ample room, we all know, for doubt, contrariety of opinion, and even scepticism about the very existence of inspiration.

It is thus that some refuse to recognise any inspiration of the New-Testament-Scriptures, excepting for the single assertion that Jesus is the Christ. Others again, excluding all the historical portions of the Bible, would limit the sacred character to its doctrinal assertions. It is maintained by some, and denied by others, that inspiration extends to physical facts-to notices respecting profane history-to the style and composition. According to some, the whole of Scripture, matter and language, must be alike of divine authorship; whilst others find no difficulty in supposing, that God might have committed his extraordinary agency altogether to the uncontrolled and unassisted registry of fallible men.

Nor are the views entertained commonly about the Holy Spirit's influence on the lives and conduct of Christians less various and conflicting. On the one hand, we meet with the most confident assertions of a sensible perception of the workings of that Divine Person on the heart of Christians now; as if there existed no mark of

distinction between this his abiding presence, and the inspiration of apostles and prophets-in other words, as if the temporary provisions of the Almighty for attesting his intercourse with men, had no characteristic whereby they might be known from the permanent provision for our sanctification and spiritual help. On the other hand many go into an opposite extreme of denying, or (what amounts to the same) of excluding from their calculations about conduct, all view whatever of any immediate and actual interference of the Holy Spirit.

When we reflect on the immense importance of the question at issue-on the place which the doctrine of inspiration occupies in the Christian Religion, and the extent to which our whole view of Revelation must be affected by the notions we form on this subject—such a chaos of opinion, under any circumstances, and at any time, would be a matter of serious consideration. But the aspect of the present times renders it peculiarly so; and forces the consequences irresistibly on the attention of every reflecting Christian. It is amidst this discordance of doctrine about the foundation principle of all revealed Religion, that a vast and

momentous moral crisis is rapidly approachingthe rise of Education throughout the mass of the People. Amidst pretensions to sensible spiritual communion on the one hand, and a careful avoidance of recognising any divine interposition on the other amidst theories invented or imported, that would subject the sacred volume to the rules of mere ordinary criticism, opposed only in partial and personal controversy-a large portion of the community, which has been hitherto uneducated, is suddenly roused into free inquiry, and furnished with ability to perceive all that darkens and deforms the subject; but-it must be owned and lamented-not furnished with that spiritual training, which alone enables the inquirer to see his way through it.

It is not that the people at large are without any religious and moral instruction-it is not that they have absolutely less now than heretofore-they have probably more. But the progress of spiritual and worldly knowledge is unequal; and it is this inequality of progress that constitutes the danger. It is a truth which cannot be too strongly insisted on, that if the powers of the intellect be strengthened by the acquisi

tion of science, professional learning, or general literature—in short, secular knowledge, of whatever kind, without being proportionately exercised on spiritual subjects, its susceptibility of the objections which may be urged against Revelation will be increased, without a corresponding increase in the ability to remove them. Conscious of having mastered certain difficulties that attach to subjects which he has studied, one so educated finds it impossible to satisfy himself about difficulties in Revelation; Revelation not having received from him the same degree of attention; and, forgetful of the unequal distribution of his studies, charges the fault on the subject. Doubt, discontent, and contemptuous infidelity, (more frequently secret than avowed,) are no unusual results. It seems indeed to have been required of us by the Author of Revelation, that his Word should have a due share of our intellect, as well as of our heart; and that the disproportionate direction of our talents, no less than of our affections, to the things of this world, should disqualify us for faith. What is sufficient sacred knowledge for an uneducated person, becomes inadequate for him when educated; even as he would be

crippled and deformed, if the limb which was strong and well-proportioned when he was a child, should have undergone no progressive change as his bodily stature increased, and he grew into manhood. We must not think to satisfy the divine law, by setting apart the same absolute amount as the tithe of our enlarged understanding, which was due from a narrower and more barren field of intellectual culture.

Nor let it be imagined that this is true only of minds highly gifted, and accomplished in science, elegant literature, or professional pursuits. It is not the absolute amount of worldly acquirements, but the proportion that they bear to our religious attainments, be these what they may, that is to be dreaded. If the balance of intellectual exercise be not preserved, the almost certain result will be, either an utter indifference to religion; or else, that slow-corroding scepticism, which is fostered by the consciousness, that difficulties corresponding to those that continue to perplex our view of Revelation have, in our other pursuits, been long surmounted and removed.

Inspiration is one of the topics peculiarly exposed to this unfair treatment. The whole ques