cannot, certainly, be fully understood; other great doctrines, such as the doctrine of justification by faith, and christian holiness, are in no ordinary degree neutralized; and whatever success a Minister may have in bringing his hearers under serious impressions, he will never build up a church of lively and mature Christians.

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To the doctrine of the SPIRIT, as the "SPIRIT of ADOPTION," sealing the pardon of sin on the soul of a true believer by his attestation, and producing an instant persuasion of his forgiveness through the mercy of GOD in CHRIST, we are sorry to see MR. C. opposed, and not only so, but inclined to give it up into the hands of the common enemy, as gross and ignorant fanaticism. To this tenet, MR. C. evidently alludes, in a passage, (found in p. 141,) which shows how little he is acquainted with it, as held by its advocates. The language, too, is very unworthy of him; and belongs rather to school, the members of which would as readily apply it to most of the opinions on spiritual religion, which MR. C. has so well advocated in this volume. "Faith in the SON OF GOD," he says, "is not what it has sometimes been supposed, some sensible impression from on high." Who ever supposed this? The Author puts an absurd sentiment into the mouths of those with whom he would contend. The persons to whom we suppose him to refer, know that faith is an act, not an impression; though, when it is justifying, they think that it is followed by an "impression from on high," conveying to him who believes an assurance that he is now a child of GoD. This probably was what MR. C. meant to ascribe to them. "It is not the whisper," he adds, " of a diseased imagination." Certainly not; but under this view MR. C. would represent this "impression from on high," -which he also calls the "day dream of fanaticism." "It is not," he proceeds," a mere unaccountable persuasion of our eternal safety, without any of the fruits of the SPIRIT in our life to warrant this persuasion." This likewise is true enough: but the implication is, that they who admit this immediate persuasion of their present acceptance

with GoD, (not of their "eterna! safety," as MR. C. states it,) can give no account of that persuasion; and that because they hold an "impression from on high," which satisfies them as to their pardon, in the moment when sin is forgiven, (independent of all fruits, because instantaneous upon their pardon,) this persuasion must continue unconnected with the fruits of the SPIRIT.-This passage is sufficiently in proof of MR. C.'s mistaken views on this subject; the following is more cautious in its language, but not at all nearer the truth. You, my Brethren, perhaps, under mistaken views of religion, have been longing for some sensible mark of the divine favour; for some voice from heaven, some peculiar manifestation, some 'sign' from God to assure you that your principles are just, and your persons accepted of him." (p. 152.) Here that "peculiar manifestation,' which is held by so many Christians, is strangely confounded with "signs and voices from heaven," which they do not hold, and by the aid of which MR. C. really makes a scarecrow of the doctrine, to affright the serious part of his parishioners from seeking an evidence of their forgiveness, except in the manner he prescribes. He goes on, "Lut no other sign shall be given you,' than 'By their fruits ye shall know them;'" thus quoting two texts which have as much connexion with the subject as the first verse in Genesis. "If our principles," he adds," be such as appear to us, after serious prayer and investigation, to have the warrant of Scripture; and if, through the divine mercy, they are rendering us holy and happy, no other testimony is wanted. Such principles, and such individuals, have the seal of GOD, that they are his.' The LORD is with you, though you know it not. His presence in the soul is manifested by the sanctity and peace which he has diffused over it." We shall not stop to point out the very obvious contradiction, between the LORD being with the persons described, though they "know it not," and his presence in the soul being "manifested" to them, at the very time they know it not! We hasten to larger and more serious views of the subject.

And first, we would ask MR. C.,

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and many others of his excellent brethren among the evangelical Clergy, who are in the habit of treat ing this important topic in a similar way, much, we are persuaded, to the limitation of their own usefulness, and to the hinderance of the work of GoD in their congregations,whether they have considered that this doctrine, respecting which it is certain they have notions very obscure, and which they too often join with unevangelical Clergymen in deriding, is the doctrine of their own Church, and the doctrine of the Protestant Churches of Europe, as appears from their Confessions, &c.; and that the most eminent Divines, among whom are names for which they are all in the habit of professing great reverence, have expressed their belief in the direct witness of the SPIRIT"that we are," as MELANCTHON has it, "received into favour," or, as BISHOP PEARSON expresses it, "to assure us of the adoption of sons, and to create in us a sense of the paternal love of GoD towards us," in the most unequivocal terms?* On this subject so many have agreed, even of those who have opposed the Calvinistic extension of the doctrine to an assurance of eternal salvation, that it would rather become the Clergy of the present day to inquire "whether these things are so," than, with information on the controversy so evidently scanty, to brand a doctrine thus sanctioned, as the "day-dream of fanaticism." Surely, the authority which might be raised on the side of the opinion, ought to lead them more carefully to investigate it. But we do not rest the case here; we think nothing easier, than to show that, without this doctrine, the Gospel cannot be fully announced, and that the Preacher who does not proclaim it, is only in a very defective sense evangelical, however orthodox in other particulars.

It is, indeed, very remarkable, that MR. C. himself did not perceive, whilst he was writing and delivering his Sermon "On the Inward Testimony," that something was wanting to reconcile his view of the subject with itself; and that the direct witness See a very interesting note on this subject in NICHOLS's Translation of the Works of ARMINIUS, (an important and valuable work, now in course of publication,) Part III., page

003, &c.

of the SPIRIT is the only harmonizing point which can be applied to it. In this discourse, he supposes an individual "awakened to a sense of his lost condition as a sinner," and receiving the intelligence of salvation through faith. This intelligence he believes and welcomes, and " a new train of sensations bursts in upon his soul;” "he escapes by the power of the Gospel from despair to hope, from anguish to joy, from death to life;"-and thus, says MR. C., "it may be affirmed of such an individual, that, believing in the Son of God, he has the witness in himself."" Now, we ask, how it is possible, that this sudden change of feeling, this bursting in of a new train of joyous sensations, expelling his doubts and his sorrows, can take place upon the Author's scheme? The person in question is to infer that he is pardoned from his "principles; " but that his principles have the warrant of Scripture, cannot, we are told, (p. 152,) appear, but "after serious prayer and investigation." Now this requires some considerable time; these "principles" must be well and often tested, before they can be determined to be genuine; and the conviction of their truth and excellence must, in the nature of things, be very slowly and cautiously admitted. It is not possible, therefore, that this "burst" of new sensations should take place; and all that MR. C. has said, on this subject, must pass for mere rhetoric, on a very serious business, unless he is prepared to admit some more compendious means by which a spirit, broken by a sense of its sin, may obtain confidence and joy.

The great fallacy in all MR. C.'s observations on this subject lies in assuming, that "the fruits of the SPIRIT," on the production of which in an individual the proof of his pardon is made exclusively to depend, can, in reality, exist where there is not a previous evidence of the forgiveness of sins, through the mercy of GoD in CHRIST JESUS. This is mere bypothesis, often confidently enough uttered, but of which there is no proof at all. All the reason lies against it; for how can God be loved with a filial "love," unless he is known as a FATHER; and how can there be "peace," peace in the conscience, where there is no know

ledge of a previous reconciliation? On this point, the reasoning of MR. WESLEY is most convincing. "That this "Testimony of the SPIRIT of GOD' must needs, in the very nature of things, be antecedent to the testimony of our own spirit,' may appear from this single consideration. We must be boly in heart, and holy in life, before we can be conscious that we are so; before we can have the testimony of our spirit' that we are inwardly and outwardly holy. But we must love GOD, before we can be holy at all; this being love God till we know he loves us. We love him, because he first loved us. And we cannot know his pardoning love to us, till bis SPIRIT witnesses it to our spirit. Since, therefore, this testimony of his SPIRIT' must precede the love of GoD and all holiness, of consequence it must precede our inward consciousness thereof, or the testimony of our spirit' concerning them.

the root of all holiness. Now we cannot

"Then, and not till then, when the SPIRIT of GOD beareth that witness to our spirit, GOD hath loved thee, and given his own Sox to be the propitiation for thy sins; the Son of GOD hath loved thee, and hath washed thee from thy sins in his blood;' we love GOD, because he first loved us,' and for his sake we love our brother also.' And of this we cannot but be conscious to ourselves we know the things that are freely given to us of God.' We know that we love GOD, and keep his commandments. And hereby also we know that we are of GOD. This is that testimony of our own spirit,' which, so long as we continue to love GoD and keep his commandments, continues joined with the testimony of GOD'S SPIRIT, that we are the children of God.'"' (See WESLEY'S Sermons on Rom. viii. 16.)

Thus does this great Divine do justice to the doctrine of Scripture, "The SPIRIT itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," giving its proper place to each of the witnesses; whilst the theory adopted by MR. CUNNINGHAM annihilates the testimony of GoD, and confines us wholly to our own. Nor is there the slightest ground to charge this larger and more scriptural view with fancy or fanaticism; seeing it bas all the practical guards with which MR. C.'s system would surround us, whilst it leaves the common privilege of the sons of GOD unwithered by an affected human caution, and undiminished in its splendour by the dark apprehensions

of minds, which hesitate to come into the light of the clear revelation of Gon.

We have said, that where this doctrine is not preached, the Gospel is not fully preached; and, from what has been adduced, that point is obvious. In the first place, the "SPIRIT of Adoption" is not acknowledged. GOD sends the "SPIRIT of his SoN" into the hearts of believers, crying ABBA, FATHER, "because they that they are so; but MR. C.'s view, are sons," and that they may know rightly interpreted, is, that He is sent into their hearts to make them holy, and that, on that ground, they are to infer that they are sons. Here is surely no witness of the SPIRIT in any proper sense; and this view, in point of fact, if closely pressed, would subvert the doctrine of justification by faith alone, by making our sonship to depend upon our holiness, and not our holiness, our proper evangelical holiness, to flow immediately from our sonship.

The Gospel is not fully preached, when this theory is advocated,-that is, the Christian System is not fully unfolded,-for another reason. Either the moral changes, which are depeuded upon as the only evidences of our pardon, are such as a serious penitent, who is seeking mercy, may discover in himself; or they are such as can be found only in those who are justified by faith, and are actually become, by the grace given with that great act, "new creatures," or regenerate. In either case, a false view is presented, by a Preacher who denies the direct witness of the SPIRIT.-Let us take the former supposition. "The evangelical state, or state of love," as MR. WESLEY observes "is frequently mixed with the legal; for few of those who have the spirit of bondage and fear, remain always without hope. The wise and gracious God rarely suffers this. He causes a part of his goodness to pass before them; and shows that he is a GOD that heareth their prayer."-"They have vehement desires to cast off all sin, and to fulfil all righteousness, frequent rejoicing in hope, and touches of love glancing upon the soul; yet none of these prove a man to be under grace, to have true and living faith." We may add, that all such persons themselves know that they have it

not; the prevalence of distressing doubts and fears in their minds proves this. Now, if any Minister should say to them, "The LORD is with you," as a pardoning, reconciled God, "though you know it not ;" he utters not the truth of God, but his own imagination, and he deceives his people ;-he speaks not only without authority, but against it, for "being justified by faith, we have peace with GOD." "We joy in God, through our LORD JESUS CHRIST, by whom we have now received the atonement." But let us take the other view, let the "fruits" required to support this confidence, be the full fruits of a justified and regenerate mind; then, if faith, exercised in order to present pardon, and an earnest waiting for the SPIRIT of Adoption, are not to be encouraged until those effects, which can only flow from that new relation and communion with GoD into which pardon introduces us, make their unequivocal appearance, the hearers are set upon a fruitless search; and the Preacher, instead of being a messenger of good tidings, becomes an Egyptian task-master, and exacts his tale of bricks without the straw. Either the evidences of a state of acceptance with GoD are so lowered, in order to inspire comfort and confidence, that a very partial and defective experience is the result; or, the truly sincere and contrite are kept in perpetual bondage, from the habit of trying themselves by a standard which they will never reach, until, by simple faith, they believe in CHRIST, in order to their present justification, and receive, along with pardon, the HOLY SPIRIT, who is at once the Agent of Regeneration, and the Comforter. To this important question, as put by a contrite sinner, "What shall I do to be saved," the Divines to whose opinions we have adverted, never give a full and unequivocal answer; and that, not because many of them are not deeply sincere, but because their views are darkened by a very confused system of experimental religion.

We have dwelt the longer on this topic, because this great defect in preaching is by no means peculiar to unenlightened Clergy. It may be traced among numerous Ministers, both in the Establishment and elsewhere, who never suspect that they do

not very fully and eminently "preach CHRIST." But CHRIST is no more fully preached when he is not exhibited as sending the SPIRIT, "the promise of the FATHER," upon his disciples, as the Comforter, and the Comforter because he is the SPIRIT of Adoption, without which he could convey to us no full and abiding consolation; than when any other of his offices is kept back, denied, or, by a feeble criticism, explained away. In nothing does the inferiority of modern Divines to those of an older and better school, strike us so much as in this. Our observations are made, however, with unfeigned sorrow, that so great a defect in the excellent preaching of so many excellent men should exist; and we trust that a clearer light may soon shine upon them, leading them into all truth. We confess, that the oftener we turn to those writings in which the work of the SPIRIT is so partially stated, valuable as they may be in other respects, we are the more thankful for the Sermons of our venerable Founder on this all-importaut subject; and for the clear testimony of thousands of our people, confirming, through successive years, and throughout these lands,-by the uniformity of their experience, their habitual faith in CHRIST, and their joy in the SPIRIT, sealed by their witness in death,-the accuracy of those views of Scripture, which, in his Discourses on the direct witness of the SPIRIT, Mr. Wesley has so ably developed. To the Methodists, as a body, appears to be given the special charge of holding up, in the present age, this testimony to the world, and to other Churches; and though we must expect the stigma of enthusiasm, not only from many who are "without,' but from others also, it is a part of our calling, as a religious community, still to bear the testimony, through evil report and good report. The result will be, that, as the attention of sincere Ministers of other denominations is more closely turned to this important branch of experimental religion, better views will be obtained; and when the Gospel shall be more fully preached, it will be preached with greater power, and with larger success.

Many of the preceding observations, we must again remind our readers, apply equally to a large class

of modern sermons, as to those of MR. C.; and it is for that reason, that we have taken the present opportunity of stating our views of the subject. We inust also do him the justice to say that, occasionally, he approaches very near to that great truth, in which, chiefly, we think him deficient. He puts his foot upon the threshold, but hesitates to enter the porch. With the exceptions to which we have so largely adverted, these Sermons (of which the volume contains twenty-three,) may be read with great pleasure and edification. The following passages may be given as specimens of the Author's interesting and useful manner of treating general topics. The first forms the conclusion of the Sermon entitled "Life a Race," founded on Heb. xii. 1, 2.

"Let us learn from these observations, to derive due encouragement from the death of the real servants of GOD.-My brethren, your heart may be bleeding from the infliction of some heavy domestic loss. Death may have touched you at some vital point; may have taken from you your companion, your tender, fond, forbearing, forgiving friend, your soul's delight and comforter. Under the tremendous pressure of the blow, you are tempted, it may be, to murmur or despair. You call to mind the blessings which are gone; you shudder to think of the guide yon have lost; you fear to stem the tide of life, and encounter its dificulties, alone. You are tempted almost to question the love of that GOD who could so heavily afflict you. But, I would ask, is there nothing, even in the death of these cherished individuals, to compose, to assure, to establish the soul? Had you there no evidence of the power of faith, and triumphs of lowliness, and constancy, and love? Had you nothing to convince you that it is not merely in the sunshine of life, or merely when the comforts of the present are veiling to ns the terrors of the future, but even on the edge of the grave, when every earthly stay is gone, that the LORD is an ever-present and all-sufficient Comforter, that the Master we serve can sustain the sinking soul, and surround us with scenes of glory which still every clamour of conscience, and fill the doubting heart with peace and joy? Nor is this all. Does not the very language of the text carry high consolation along with it? Is it not much, to see the friends we fondly love, and who are gathered to a Father's bosom, represented as surrounding us while we wander in this valley of tears; +

as sympathizing with our trials, and anxiously awaiting our deliverance? Well may we, as we contemplate them in the visions of faith, exclaim, Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through JESUS CHRIST our LORD!' Our triumphs will eventually be theirs. In the mean time, their triumphs are already ours. Their conquests are so many proofs that we may conquer. What need we any other witnesses' to the power of religion? The cloud' which surrounds us dispels our fears, and assures the fainting soul. O may every mourner, animated by these reflections, come forth from the chamber of affliction mind, and principle, and temper, ready a man of another spirit, renewed in

to spend and be spent' in the service of so tender and all-powerful a Master!

"Finally, let the text lead us to labour so to live and die, as to afford the same encouragement to our own successors which we derive from the servants of GOD who have preceded us. We are witnesses,' my brethren, for the GoD we serve, and the principles we profess. Men will naturally judge of both from the character of our own lives. What, then, is the testimony we bear to religion? Dare the Ministers of religion appeal to our devotion, our faith, our holy obedience, our patience, our lowliness, our tenderness, as to so many witnesses' for the Gospel of CHRIST? Can they confidently direct the eye of the enemy of the Gospel to us, and say, Behold a man moulded and formed on the principles which we are prescribing? * O my brethren, how high and solemn is the trust reposed, as to this point, in every servant of CHRIST! The ark of the LORD is committed to us: let it not be defiled or dishonoured in our hands. Pray for a firm and unfaltering spirit in religion. Pray that we may not do the work of the LORD deceitfully. Pray for a more simple dependence upon the merits of the SAVIOUR, and the grace of the HOLY SPIRIT. Pray that the divine image, once stamped upon man, and forfeited at the Fall, may be reflected in the righteousness and

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true holiness' of our own character.

And, finally, may those who shall be called upon at some future day, when we are consigned to the chambers of the silent grave, to encourage the fainting souls of the servants of the LORD, be able to point to us, as among the cloud of witnesses whose lives and deaths proclaim the holiness, the usefulness, and the happiness of true religion!" (pp. 93-96.)

Our second extract is from a Discourse on "The Benefits of Affliction," The text is Heb. xii. 11-13.