sinner who has felt the terrors of the law coming like water into his bowels, and like oil into his bones, if he thinks it an easy thing for God to forgive sin? He will tell you that when a violated law set all his sins in array before him, and when conscience confirmed the sentence of the law, so far was he from thinking it an easy thing for God to forgive his sins, that hardly all the grace manifested in the Gospel, could persuade him to believe it possible, that even with God, there could be an extent of mercy sufficient to forgive his sins,-that while he felt no difficulty in believing the general proposition, that with God there is mercy for sinners, he feels that nothing but a divine power could have enabled him to apply the general proposition to his own particular case, and to believe that there was mercy with God sufficient for him. It is easy we are often told, for God, by a mere act of grace to pardon, and by a mere act of power to regenerate and save sinners. It is easy for him to forego his right to punish the transgressor. But it is not seen, nor, save by the awakened sinner, can be seen, that in so doing he foregoes all the inflexibility of his justice, all the sacredness of his truth, all the sanctity of his law, all the spotless purity of his holiness, and all the majesty of his government, and is destroying all the security that is founded on the immutability of his character. And as to the mercy which it is supposed would have been illustrated by such an act of grace, I think it has been shown already, and will be more dis

tinctly shown afterwards, that mercy would have been outraged by such a proceeding. Moreover, the pardon of sin, without any manifestation of its hatefulness, and of the perfections of God, would have brought both his wisdom and power into question. For surely it would have exhibited much more of both, to sustain man from falling at all, than to leave him to fall, merely in order to rescue him from the effects of his fall, by an exercise of power put forth at the expense of all his moral attributes; while all the lessons taught by the work of redemption, for the sake of which the earth was made, and man upon it, would not only have been entirely lost, but it would have been impossible to determine, why some men were saved, and others left to perish,-why grace was offered to one fallen race, and none offered to another; and it would indeed have been a question which defied solution, for what one useful purpose could such a being as man possibly have been made? The Jews erred grievously when they supposed that the dispensation, of which they were the recipients, terminated in themselves, and was given them, not for the sake, but to the exclusion of all other nations. And we carry the same error to a much more pernicious extent, and still more effectually mar the glory of the work of redemption, when we consider that work as terminating in man,-when we consider ourselves as an insulated race, and not as beings intimately connected with, and made for the sake of all the rational family of God. We might just

as rationally hope to ascertain the true position and motions of the earth, without referring to the heavenly bodies with which it is connected, and of the system constituted by which, it is an essential and integral part, as hope to ascertain the true position and the use of such a being as man, and the bearing of the work of redemption, without referring to those heavenly intelligences with whom he is intimately connected,-a connection recognized in every page of the Bible. Had no nation been to be blessed but the Jews, the Jews would never have been chosen ; and had no being been to profit by the work of redemption but man, it seems impossible to conceive one rational purpose that could be answered, by such a creature as man being made at all. The Sadducee might think himself exceedingly learned, and very far above all vulgar prejudices, when he could prove that there was "neither angel nor spirit; " and might shew what a canting hypocrite was the Pharisee who confessed both. But if the Pharisees could not convince them out of the Law of Moses, there were not wanting heathens who stood forward to vindicate their prerogatives as men, and to prove the being of a God, and the immortality of the soul. And the modern infidel may think himself exceedingly learned, and very far above all vulgar and superstitious prejudices, when he denies,-and perhaps founds his denial on the very alleged fact of the insignificance of man, -all the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel. But even were we unable to vindicate the truth, other orders

of beings would come forward to vindicate their own share in the glorious work of man's redemption. The Sadducee and the infidel may perish in groping round the contracted circle of their own dark and narrow conceptions; but the enlightened among men, and higher orders of beings, will contemplate with the eye of a deep veneration, and of an intense interest, that glorious work, from which they have already learned much, and from the farther development and the final consummation of which, they expect yet to learn more, of the character of the Almighty Maker and Ruler of all.

It was when it was declared that fallen man should be saved, and when it appeared not how that salvation could be effected, without casting doubt and distrust over all the perfections of God, unhinging all the principles upon which his moral government was founded, and thus producing the most disastrous and fatal consequences throughout the whole universe, that the great mystery of redemption, into which angels desire to look, and from which they learn wisdom, began to run its mighty course. It was then that the eternal Word was announced as the Redeemer of the fallen race, who should rescue them from their thraldom, and bring them back to holiness, to happiness and to God. Now in the accomplishment of this work, the Redeemer has three parties to deal with,—him who holds the captives in bondage,—the captives themselves so held in bondage-and him, who, for their rebellion, gave them up to captivity: and each

of these parties renders the possession of certain powers essentially necessary in the Redeemer. He who holds the captives in bondage may be determined that they shall not go free for any price, or upon any consideration. The Redeemer therefore, must of necessity possess power to compel him to let them go. The captives may be utterly insensible to the misery of their bondage, and unwilling to be delivered. The Redeemer therefore must possess a power to convince them of the misery of their state, and to awaken in their hearts the desire of liberty. The captives may be totally ignorant of the way that leads to the home whence they have been exiled, and totally incapable of encountering the manifold difficulties and dangers with which that way abounds. The Redeemer therefore must possess power both to lead them in the right way, and to support and strengthen and uphold them against all opposition. The captives may have acquired habits and dispositions which totally incapacitate them for the occupations and enjoyments of the country to which they are to be brought. The Redeemer therefore must possess power to change the whole tenour and current of their habits, affections, and dispositions. The captives may have been driven from home for their crimes, and their return would be an infringement of that law by which they were condemned, a dishonour to the sovereign by whom they were banished, and dangerous to those of his subjects who never rebelled. The Redeemer therefore must