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tates of inspiration to the test of human reason and a spurious philosophy. The descent from this dangerous elevation becomes exceedingly easy to contempt for the discipline of the church, to marked indifference about spiritual improvement, and to a show of unparalleled candour, whereby the inexperienced, the incautious, and the ignorant may be caught in the snares of error. Thus, with the exception of a very small remnant, does England's history display the Presbyterian apostacy from the first unhallowed touch, which the ark received in throwing off the outward form of God's house, till it became a spectacle of Jehovah's anger in its present state of great degradation, thus also have we traced the road in which many have run from their beginnings to abandon faith and a good conscience, till they have reached the cold regions of Socinianism, infidelity, and spiritual death.

The minds of Presbyterians being once unhinged by the admission of this erastian sentiment, which a union of churches professing widely dissimilar principles unquestionably did, that Christ's church had no specific form assigned to it in the Scriptures," then the process of scepticism knew no limits short of Socinian error, or absolute infidelity. But the space for discussions of this kind being small in extent, a brief notice of some prominently baneful effects of this union, which ultimately became causes of Presbytery's downfal in England, must close the present article.

In the first place, this union of Presbyterian and Indepen dent ministers formally destroyed the authoritative superintendence of ecclesiastical councils, which are essential to the prosperity, and even to the existence of a Presbyterian church. The lawfulness of Kirk-sessions, Presbyteries, and Synods in the Christian church, we are not required at present to discuss they constitute the characteristic features of Presby terian polity from that of every other persuasion of Christians. Let these councils cease their operation, or what amounts to the same thing, let them exist merely as voluntary associations, without any accredited authority and recognised jurisdiction, then all ground for Presbyterian distinction no longer con tinues. To represent their jurisdiction as consisting only of a power to cousult or to afford advice, which may be rejected with impunity, places them in a light inferior to the most or dinary councils among men, and in fact gives them the cha racter of a complete nonentity. But by admitting the nccessity of church-courts with a power to enact laws, and to

inflict censures, whose decisions' when regulated by Christian principles the Lord Jesus Christ will acknowledge, their advantages become exceedingly obvious. "TRUTH, peace, and love, says Dr. Owen, may be lost in particular churches, and so the union of the Catholic church in them be dissolved, unless this means for their preservation and reparation be made use of." The working of this plan shows the beautiful adaptation of all its parts for the prevention of error and the maintenance of a healthful influence throughout the ecclestical body. The Session's duty requires the Elders to exercise a salutary superintendence over the members of each congregation, and the Presbytery's or the Synod's jurisdiction authorizes each judicatory to put forth a vigilant inspection of all the congregations under its charge, watching that no heresy be taught by any of the ministers, that vacancies be supplied by men of suitable gifts and of a character corresponding with the sacred office, that they be ordained over their respective flocks with all due solemnity, and that when a dispute occurs in regard to doctrine or discipline, a judgment] be awarded by the Rulers of the church in their collective capacity, when met in the name of the Almighty Redeemer, according to the principles and for the benefit of all the congregations of which the body is composed. Had the English Presbyterians retained the sentiments of the Westminster Assembly as to the Divine right of Presbytery; had they continued to view their plan of ecclesiastical polity as founded upon the word of God, and consequently in its grand outline not subject to change by the circumstances and the policy of men; and had they acted up to the noble and ennobling principles of their forefathers in resisting the slightest encroachment upon Divine truth, either in doctrine or in church-polity, then assuredly had the Almighty's anger never so visibly fallen on the Presbyterian church in England, in deranging her councils, in diminishing her numbers, and in abandoning her to the ravages of destructive heresy, as well as of the most selfish and secular policy. But it occasions the most poignant sorrow to reflect that the few Orthodox Presbyterians of this kingdom at the present time will not learn wisdom by the adverse fortunes of the church, consequent upon the misconduct of their predecessors. Of the sixty congregations professing to adhere to the standards of the Westminster Divines, eleven of them are connected with no Presbytery at all, and only two of the Presbyteries have evinced a disposition to unite in a Synod for England.

Some of the Presbyteries keep aloof from a union so essen. tial to church order from a most mistaken deference to a few half-Presbyterian ministers who are associated with them; and others from motives equally subversive of Presbyterian principles. Judging from historical facts, and from the deteriorating tendency of even a small wilful deviation from the acknowledged structure of God's house, there is reason to fear that Presbyterianism in England will ere long be utterly: annihilated. This must inevitably be the case, unless the proposed connexion with the Church of Scotland, or some other measure equally efficient, be speedily carried into effect, for collecting the scattered fragments into a solid, consistent, and beautiful mass. Broken down, as they in the meantime are, into churches and into insulated Presbyteries, over which no inspection and control exist, with their avowed sentiments they present an unseemly aspect, they preclude the very possibility of respect, of influence, and of general usefulness as a body. Nay, it cannot be disguised in their present state they carry within themselves as a distinct denomination the elements of self-destruction.

(To be continued.)

SABBATH SCHOOLS.

THE following is the form of a card sometime ago prepared by the Conductors of a Sabbath School. The particular pur pose for which it was intended, was to prepare the children upon the different subjects, stated in it, as an exercise for a public examination. Each child was furnished with a copy of the card and assisted in a diligent study of the various doctrines, chiefly as expressed in the several texts of Scripture affixed to each. Its use was found to serve many valuable purposes, and it is now given to our readers, in the hope that it may suggest some valuable hints to those who are en gaged in the good work of Sabbath School instruction.

I. Man's original condition.-Gen. i. 26, 27; Ps. viii. 5, 6; Ecc. vii. 29.

II. Man's Fall.--Gen. ii. 17; iii. 6. 17, 18, 19; 1Cor. xv. 21. III. All men fell in Adam,-Psalm li, 5; Rom. v. 12. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 22.

30:

IV. Man cannot save himself.-Job xiv. 4; Prov. xx. 9; Rom. iii. 20; Eph. ii. 8.

V. God sent his only begotten Son to save sinners,-John iii. 16; Gal. iv. 4, 5; 1 John iv. 9. 10. 14.

VI. Christ is God.-Isa. ix. 6;'xliv. 6 John i. 1, 2, 3. 10; John x. 30; Rom. ix. 5; Heb. i. 8.

VII. Christ made atonement for sin.-Isa. liii. 5, 6; John x. 11; Eph. ii. 13, 14; Col. i. 19, 20; 1 Pet. iii. 18. VIII. Sinners are justified by the righteousness of Christ.Acts xiii. 39; Rom. iii. 22. 25, 26; v. 17, 18, 19; 1 John ii. 1, 2.

IX. Salvation is by faith.-Mark xvi. 16; John iii. 36;
Acts xvi. 31; Rom. i. 17; Gal. ii. 16; iii. 26.
X. Christ purchased the gift of the Holy Spirit for man.—
Psalm lxviii. 18; John xvi. 7; Acts ii. 33; Eph. i.
13, 14.

XI. The Holy Spirit'renews the heart.-John vi. 63; Rom. v. 5; 1 Cor. vi. 11: 2 Cor. iii. 18; Titus iii. 5, 6.

XII. The fruits of the Spirit abound in the Christian.Ez. xxxvi. 26, 27; Rom. viii. 9; Gal. v. 16. 22, 23; Eph. v. 9.

I

FAITH; A PRACTICAL PRINCIPLE.

"Who will render to every man according to his deeds."-Rom. ii, 16.

I HAVE often considered that many professed followers of the Lord Jesus, and even some who repose all their hopes of safety on his finished work, have but a vague conception of the test by which, as we are informed in the above, and many other passages, God is to judge the world. The Book of Revelation is so decidedly hostile to meritorious Justificationso explicit in its statements, that it is by Faith we stand; the experience of the awakened sinner accords so harmoniously with the representations in holy writ of the spirituality of the law, and of his inability to keep it, and the death of Christ in the latter day, has so wonderfully demonstrated the insufficiency of human endeavours to procure divine favour, that to many it might appear scarcely consistent with the plan of redemption to exhibit works as at all connected with our acquital or condemnation. Such an opinion, however, we shall endeavour to shew is by no means warranted, and arises either from a partial examination of Scripture-from forgetting that while it is through grace alone the sinner is saved, he is required to

exhibit a life of holiness as indicative to its tendency, and from not remembering that as long as a combination of elements is connected with any effect, we may speak of the change produced by their co-operation as the consequence of one or other of them.

With respect to works or actions in general, it will not be denied that they are occasioned by the feelings of the mind. Various as are the opinions of moralists respecting the nature of virtue, almost all are agreed on the impropriety of designating any work as good, unless it have originated from a pure and holy principle; and that an action by no means derives its moral character solely from the effects consequent upon its performance. Mind is so generally considered to be the source of the sublime and beautiful, both natural and moral, that we might almost admit it as an axiom, that actions are but the feelings of the soul clothed in visible language. Sound philosophy indeed will invariably be found to harmonize with the declarations of Revelation; and it is pleasing to see the conclusions of scientific moralists confirming the testimony of our Blessed Lord, that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

To a person who has not devoted much time to the study of abstract principles, the harmony of Scripture doctrine, or the niceties of the language in which it has been published, it might seem almost impossible to reconcile the statements that we are to be judged according to our works with those which affirm that it is by faith in Christ that the people of the Lord are distinguished from the objects of his righteous indignation; and some might perhaps from the former declaration be induced to settle down in the opinion so flattering to the pride of the human heart, that we must not leave ourselves out of the question when the subject of our salvation is agitated. Such individuals forget the nature of gospel holiness, and overlook the principle laid down in the bible, that all actions are vain, and all virtue empty, unless originating in a heart renewed after the image of God, or of such a tendency as to advance his glory. Love to the Author of our being is an affection insisted on no where but in the Scriptures; nor would unenlightened man ever have attained a knowledge either of its nature or the manner of its exercise. In the gospel dispensation however it occupies a conspicuous place. We are there told of the necessity of loving God with the whole heart; and when the Lord Jesus was shewing to the Jews the poverty of their obedience, he said "I know you, that you have not

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