To see and feel real moral distinctions: no passion, &c. To decide accordingly: no prejudice or partiality. What have we need to pray for continually?

An enlightened mind, and a tender but healthy conscience.

II. WILL.

What do you mean by Will?

Volition; the act of willing; choice; determinate choice. Are Desire and Will the same thing?

No: Desire goes before Will.

What, as to Will, is the first step in the mental process? 1. We see an object, or we have it in the mind.

What is the second step?

2. We consider the qualities of the object; deliberate; weigh motives for or against it.

What is the third step?

3. If it be good, &c., or we judge it to be so, we desire it. What is the fourth step?

4. We make up our minds: we will.

What follows upon this?

5. Action.

By what, while deliberating, may we be influenced?

By Motives.

Mention three classes of motives.

Religious, Rational, Animal.

Do motives compel us to will and act?

No: they only induce, move, persuade, or urge us.

What follows from this?

Man is left a reasonable and free agent.

Express this in other words.

Man acts, and is not acted upon. Whatever of the passive belongs to him, he is not compelled to act in one way, but may act as he chooses.

Can man control his volitions?

He can, undoubtedly.

Is there morality in the Will itself?

No; it is a mere natural power of the mind.

When has it morality?

When its choice or decision is produced or sanctioned by

conscience.

When do we use the Will rightly?

When we keep it under the control of reason and con-
science.

What would man be if he could not control his volitions?
A necessary agent.

What, strictly speaking, would he then be?

No agent at all, but a passive machine; acting only as he was acted upon.

What would follow from this?

He would not be accountable for his conduct.

In order to be rewardable or punishable, whose must his ac

tions be?

Entirely his own.

Would they be so, if he were a necessary agent?

Certainly not.

What must he have, in order to his being accountable?

He must know the lawgiver, the laws, the nature and result or consequences of his actions, and be free to choose good, and to refuse evil.

In what conclusion do you rest?

Man is a free, accountable being.

How do you prove this by reasoning and argument?

By showing that he has in himself and in his circumstances all that constitutes him a responsible being. How do you prove it without reasoning and argument? By simply appealing to the feeling, conviction, or consciousness of every man.

Is there not much of necessity both in the material and the

spiritual worlds?

Undoubtedly there is; and in their action upon us. Illustrate this in the case of Vision.

If I open my eyes, I must see objects: but I am at liberty to open them or not; as also to turn them to what objects I please.

What do you say of evil communication, or corrupt society? It is undermining and dangerous.

Does it necessarily corrupt any one?

No: we are free to remember good, and to cleave to it even in the midst of evil.

What do you think to be most destructive of moral liberty? Bad Habits.

Do

you account Habit an important thing?

Most important. Good habits are invaluable; bad ones are as chains that keep us in bondage to evil.

What does this teach us?

The importance of first steps; of right training from the first; of proper discipline and sound education.

IV. CONCLUSION.

Reviewing the whole, what is it that we have before us?
A Chart or Map, of Man's Mental and Moral Make.
How have we viewed man?

As having Mind, Heart, Conscience, and Will.
How do you regard the subject?

As most interesting and important.

With what does it make man acquainted?
With Himself.

In how many ways may we study the subject?
In two as Philosophers, and as Christians.

When do we study it as philosophers?

When we examine it as it is; simply in itself.

When do we study it as Christians?

When we examine it in the light of revealed truth.

What does Revelation tell us that Man is?

A moral ruin; a shattered, defaced pillar; a polluted temple.

Describe man as an Intellectual being.

He observes, contemplates, discriminates, judges. Describe man as a Sensitive being.

Good and Evil, according to his apprehensions of them, excite in him various affections.

Describe man as a Moral being.

He has a knowledge and sense of right and wrong, and can choose one thing and reject another.

What does Religion put before us?

The spiritual and eternal world; God and all spiritual things.

What does it require of us?

To live to God, according to His will.

If our minds were in a right state, with what would they be filled?

With the light of divine truth.

Express it without a figure.

With Knowledge; the knowledge of divine things.

If our Hearts were in a right state, with what would they be filled?

With the love of all goodness: and

With the hatred of all evil.

What may you call Love?

Attraction; the attracting power.

What may you call Hatred?

Repulsion; a repelling power.

If our Conscience were in a right state, what would it effect?

It would approve all right conduct:

It would condemn all misconduct.

L

If our Will were in a right state, how would it act?

Not run headlong, but be ruled by reason and conscience. If our Desires and Affections were in a right state, how would they act?

They would fix on proper objects.

Is there such rectitude in man?

No: sin has thrown all his nature into complete disorder. What is the state of his Mind?

It abounds with ignorance, error, and prejudice.

What is the state of his Heart?

It is full of corruption, folly, and vanity.

What is the state of his Conscience?

It is often torpid, often erroneous.

What is the state of his Will?

It is capricious, obstinate, precipitate.

What is the result or fruit of such disorder?

All the wickedness and misery which we see in the world. To what will this disorder lead, if it be not corrected?

To the loss, death, or misery of the soul for ever. What remedy has God graciously provided for our moral maladies?

The redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Where is that redemption unfolded to us?

In the Scriptures; in the Gospel of Christ. What does St. Paul say that the Gospel is?

"The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth."

What does the Gospel effect for man, and in him?

A complete change.

State the change that takes place in the case of every true believer.

His state, his nature, his life, his prospects are changed.

In what respects is his State changed?

He was guilty, condemned, alienated from God: