the Gentiles.* Did the apostle mean that they were substitutes for the name of Christ, or that they thus acted for its sake, or in its behalf?

And here our cursory remarks must close. The reader who can consult the Greek text, will at once perceive to what extent they might have been carried: and even the mere English reader has, only to consult his Concordance, to see how strenuously the advocates of the doctrine of Substitution labour to stultify his understanding, if he will but think for himself. We finish with a quotation from an author already quoted, whose work on what he calls the Atonement, appears to be eminently calculated to promote the cause of infidelity. Mr. Symington, however, stands not alone in this position, as he only utters the opinions of the most celebrated of the advocates of the same doctrine who preceded him. "Such a case,” says this writer, "could never be justified as a matter of ordinary or frequent occurrence. It could only be when something extraordinary called for its introduction, when such a combination of requirements met as could but seldom come together, that it would be warrantable to admit of the innocent being substituted in the room of the guilty. Its frequent occurrence could not fail to have a most injurious influence in weakening the sense of moral obligation. The punishment of crime would in this case be so dissevered from the perpetration of crime, as to impair the motives to obedience, and take away all fear of offending against the law. The purposes of good government thus require that the principle of Substitution shall be but rarely introduced, and by one who possesses the high prerogative of exerting a dispensing power; that is to say, by the Law-giver himself."

Leaving the reader to draw his own conclusions from this honest confession of the rottenness of the system, we would merely ask how it comes to pass that, if the case of Substitution so strenuously contended for as the very essence of Evangelical religion, be a thing, the frequent occurrence of which would be of such a fearful tendency,— the Lord is depicted" as continually shewing his wounds to his Father, and pleading them on behalf of the redeemed." Is it for the purpose of reminding him that, on one occasion at least, he acted on a principle which, if repeatedly acted on, "could not fail to have a most injurious influence in weakening the sense of moral obligation?" Ιαχωβος.

* Ep. lii. 7.

1

MATERIALS FOR MORAL CULTURE.*

(Continued from page 10.)

CXLI.

PRIDE and modesty are sometimes found in the same person; the former being the original defect of the natural mind, and the latter a development of the spiritual mind with a view to the correction of the former. Where the former is strong, equally strong is the latter, so long as it receives due encouragement from the bias of the will.

CXLII.

On the general principle of man's weakness in spiritual things, and his need of support and encouragement in the spiritual warfare, and that from without as well as from within, it is obviously the duty of every one, in choosing a partner for life, to remember the double danger to his spiritual interests from choosing an irreligious partner; first, the danger of those interests decaying for want of outward encouragement and support; and secondly, the greater danger of opposition, even although it be limited to the influence of opposite example. It is a miserable choice between conformity for the sake of securing a semblance of affection, and disunion through the continual manifestation of an opposite taste, purpose, and pursuit!

CXLIII.

To be more tender towards our own faults than we are to the faults of others, is nothing less than being more willing to be wicked ourselves than we are for others to be so.

CXLIV.

To abstain from evils for this cause only, that they are not becoming and respectable,-thus to abstain from them merely from natural good, and from the moral principle thence derived, and not from the ground of spiritual faith, (that is, because they are contrary to the Divine Law, and thence contrary to the fear of God and the love of our neighbour,)—is still to remain interiorly evil. (A.E. 803.)

* In article CXXXVIII., last line but one, the reader is requested to erase the letter in the word "alone," which is printed instead of "a one," reducing the sentence to nonsense, and destroying the point of the article.

CXLV.

When a person with seeming humility deplores a fault of which he is notoriously guilty, but indignantly repels the suspicion that he has any other fault, his humility is affected and insincere. No one has only one fault.

CXLVI.

Every man's professions possess weight according to his character, just as metallic substances possess weight according to the metal they are made of; but it is not uncommon for the lightest characters to demand for their professions, the greatest weight. No man's word ought to possess weight, whose pretensions to sincerity are unacknowledged. Amongst those who are numbered with a religious community, and pass for good men, some will be estimated at the weight of rotten wood, while the word of others will be immediately pronounced, on the sure test of experience, all gold. This will commonly be the portion of those who are the least inclined to demand it.

CXLVII.

A grateful and generous mind trebles to itself the pleasure conferred upon it by acts of kindness. First, there is the natural plea'sure intended to be conferred by the act, and that constitutes the whole of the enjoyment attainable by the selfish. Secondly, there is the pleasure arising from the act being regarded as a testimony of affection. Thirdly, there is the pleasure of purposing, and anticipating, the reciprocation of the kindness received. In the enjoyment of the second pleasure, the good man delights in the contemplation of virtue in others; and in the enjoyment of the third, he experiences a foretaste of the pleasure of the practice of virtue by himself, the pleasure annexed to virtuous purposes when perfectly sincere.

CXLVIII.

A man (vir) spiritually signifies Truth. No man, then, begins to be truly a man until he is willing to become the affectionate and devoted subject and servant of Truth. A true man is one in whom all the human principles are duly harmonized, and Truth, under the Divine Truth itself, is the only harmonizer. The extent of the harmony wrought by Truth, is according to the extent of the love and reverence with which it is practically regarded.

CXLIX.

The natural man regards afflictions as the angry judgments of God; the spiritual man justly regards their actual existence as of infernal origin; but the celestial man, fixing his mental eye upon the end purposed in their permission, and tracing that permission immediately to the Divine Love and Mercy, receives them as at the hands of the Lord.

CL.

Truth spoken is always eloquent, when it is the expression of the convictions of an enlightened conscience. Truth is then formed of the thoughts of affection-the truths of good-the truths written on the tablet of a good conscience.

CLI.

The knowledge of ourselves is a difficult study, and we shall make but little progress in it, until we are willing and desirous to borrow, not only the eyes of our true friends, but also the eyes of our enemies, to assist us in our investigation.

CLII.

By the necessities of life, and the complexities of human connections, all are united in secret Providential bands; these are cemented and blessed so far as good affections preside; and are disturbed and sundered by the activity of the selfish passions.

CLIII.

In all controversies or discussions, people find just what they are looking for, the truth, if that be the object of their regard; and the confirmation of their own opinion, if the love of self be stronger than the love of truth. No one discovers what he does not wish to see. And how very few wish to discover themselves to have been in error!

CLIV.

It is one of the inconsistencies of human nature, that those who take the greatest licence of speech themselves, are the most rigorous in demanding that the speech of others be regulated by the nicest attention to weight and measure.

CLV.

The presence of meaning well is no valid excuse for the absence

of doing well; nevertheless, the inclination in the observer to mark the presence of good intention in defective action, is no small advantage to him, inasmuch as it tends greatly to mitigate the pain otherwise caused by acts abstractedly unjustifiable.

CLVI.

When a church possesses genuine truth," the incorruptible seed of the Word of God,"-and yet does not flourish, it may be partly owing to the quality of the ground, but still more to this, that too many of its members give exclusive attention to the sowing, and consequently too little attention to the weeding of the mind.

CLVII.

The Golden Rule, while its excellence is admitted, is often nullified by the want of fairness in applying it. Thus, the rule of duty from others shines forth like the sun,—the clearest and most certain thing possible;-while the rule of duty to others, is seen as a twinkling star, a fluctuating, glimmering point, now here, now there, and for the most part invisible,—except when self-interest aids the discovery by means of its politic lens.

CLVIII.

Pharisees, givers of small tithe, but withholders of judgment, mercy, and faithfulness, are not confined to the religious world. They abound in every department of life. Self-love in the form of vanity, makes a Pharisee. The selfish friend calculates how little he can yield consistently with maintaining his reputation as a true friend. The selfish copyist of artificial refinement, while making a display of the small tithe of etiquette at the shrine of fashion, neglects the weightier matters of the social-moral law, the law of true politeness. The candidate for intellectual reputation studies how to maintain the largest pretensions, at the least cost of mental labour. All these, and other kindred manifestations, may be traced to that defective early education, which allows the combination of selfishness with the artful concealment of it.

CLIX.

It is some comfort, while suffering from the want of congenial association, owing to the extremely selfish state of mankind, to know, that the patient endurance of incongruities while here, tends preeminently to prepare the affections for the enjoyment of the purest delight of congenial exercise hereafter.