deeply affected spectator of his crucifixion. But the evangelists are perfect calmness: human fervor will call it indifference. There is no attempt to move the passions of their readers they mix not their own feelings with what they narrate. There is not a single commendation of Christ, in the form of a panegyric, through the whole of the gospels. They describe his miracles and wondrous works without praise; and in a tranquility of manner which seems at first sight unaccountable. There is not the most distant attempt to magnify them, and excite admiration. Nay, when they describe his sufferings and death, and the cruelty of the Jews, they do not give way to passion and grief there is no invective against his enemies; no pity expressed for the sufferer; no acrimony against Judas or the chief priests. They relate all as if they had no concern in the matter.-When XENOPHON describes the death of SOCRATES, we observe nature expressing her feelings in sympathy with the sufferer, in commendation of his virtues, and in crimination of his enemies. Why do we not meet with the same thing in the biographers of Jesus? This is the more remarkable, as they were not men who had been taught to disguise their feelings. They must certainly have been under a superior guidance.

SECTION III.

The Delineation of Human Nature.

Tuis is a subject concerning which we may, in a revelation from God, expect very particular information; nor shall we be disappointed. The heart of man has been the study of the most eminent phlosophers; and to explore the springs of action, and trace its operations, has been deemed one of the most useful employments. But where shall we find so just and so full a view of human nature as in the New Testament? The heart is anatomized; and every part, to its inmost recesses, is presented before our eyes. The various disorders in the, understanding, the will, and the affections, which constitute human depravity, are accurately delineated. The numerous deceptions to which men are liable, both from the workings of their own hearts, and likewise from the operation of external causes, are here unmasked. The principles which influence the conduct of men are described both in a didactic, and historical way: and by looking into our own breasts, we perceive the description to be just. The account given of what passes in the hearts of wicked men is so accurate, that when their motives of action, their restraints,

their fears, their remorse, their desires, and their pursuits, have been delineated from the New Testament, they have been ready to consider themselves as pointed at by the preacher. Good men are described in it; their dispositions, their aims, their temptations, their difficulties, their hopes, their distresses, their consolations; and all with such perfect exactness, that they are sensible the book could be written by the searcher of hearts alone. It enters likewise into every walk of relative life: it sets before us, the rich and the poor, the young and the old, man in prosperity and in adversity, in life and at death; and gives a well-drawn picture of each.

In addition to these, while this wonderful book represents the distresses, the guilty fears, and the wants of men, it unveils the gospel, as the grand remedy, which divine wisdom and mercy have provided. It describes the effect which the gospel has upon the heart, in delivering it from these evils, and in producing faith, sanctity, and happiness. A great variety of different tempers and situations of the heart is exhibited; and the influence of the gospel in them clearly shewn. The christian feels from experience, and remarks from observation, that the description is perfectly and entirely just; and he finds here an argument for the divine authority of the book, which he cannot resist.

man nature.

When I sit down, and reason on the matter, I am filled with admiration and astonishment. The writers of this book were most of them fishermen of Galilee: and all the earlier part of their days was spent in following their laborious employments, not in the study of huBut they all shew the same accurate knowledge of man; and their system is the same. This remark might very properly be extended to the Old Testament. Besides they were Jews, separated from the rest of mankind, and but little acquainted with them: but they describe men of all nations, and of all ages. The book suits us just as well as it did those who lived in their own days. For profoundness of remark, for justness of description, for extent of view, none of the writings of the ancient philosophers are to be compared to this volume. But whence comes the supe- riority of these unlettered men? Let the deist account for it, if he can.

SECTION IV.

The Doctrine of a Mediator, and Redemption through Him.

THAT man should love God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself, is not the language of religion only; it is likewise the dic

tate of reason. But, alas! neither reason nor religion have had sufficint influence to produce this effect. Man has offended God, and guilt has exposed him to punishment; for the holiness of God must hate sin, and his justice lead him to testify in his conduct the displeasure which his heart feels. That man is also a depraved creature, and manifests that depravity in his sentiments and disposition, the whole history of the human kind furnishes abundant proof. If the annals of the different nations of the earth do not pourtray the tempers and actions of a race of dreadfully depraved creatures, there is no such thing in nature as an argument. The tendency of guilt and depravity is as naturally and certainly to misery, as of a stone to fall downwards.

In what way guilty and depraved creatures can be delivered from wickedness and punishment, and restored to goodness and felicity, is one of the most difficult, as it is one of the most important questions, which can employ the mind. God is justly displeased: how shall he be reconciled? Guilt makes man afraid of God: how shall the cause of fear be removed? Depravity makes man averse to intercourse with God how shall his sentiments and disposition be changed? These are all difficulties which natural religion cannot resolve; and reason is utterly silent.

Repentance and reformation have been consi