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justly convicted, by their own evidence, of that illiberality for which they so unjustly condemn us. (")

Having already trespassed too long upon the patience of my readers, I will very shortly take my leave of them. If these Reasons should fortunately so far influence the minds of any, as to induce them to enter more at large upon the inquiry into their moral conduct and religious creed, an inquiry the most important of all that can occupy the attention of man, it is much of what I desire. As conciliation and union, founded upon truth and justice, is my object, I will venture once more to express a hope that what I have said will give offence to none. If I have failed in convincing, I trust, at least, that I have confirmed none in their errors; that if I have not brightened, at least, I have not extinguished the lamp of truth; and, above all, that I have not violated the strictest bounds of Christian charity. Let me exhort those who enter upon the discussion of religious controversy, to bring with them an humble and a docile

(*) The following definitions of bigotry and illiberality, will clearly show to which party those epithets most properly belong. The Bigot is he who is blindly and passionately wedded to an opinion, for which he can neither show the authority of God nor the force of reason. The Illiberal Man is he who refuses to another the right of exercising his understanding where God has left him free.

mind, a mind disposed and desirous to be instructed, ready to subject their reason to the obedience of faith; not with a determination to perpetuate their prejudices, and cherish their incredulity. There is nothing we should guard against more than an "ignorance, unwilling to be informed, and an obstinacy, resolving not to be convinced." In the prosecution of this inquiry, let us candidly ask ourselves, if we are seriously and sincerely engaged in the pursuit of truth; and if So, whether we are determined, at all hazards, to embrace it, when we have succeeded in discovering it? By this standard alone can we determine our sincerity, and satisfy our conscience that we are performing our duty. If those who are in error will but fairly and candidly put their religion to the test, I answer for it they will discover it's falsehood; if, with the Bishop of Ephesus, in the Apocalypse, they will but try those who say they are Apostles, and are not; I will pledge my existence that they will find them liars.() Controversy is the most simple and the most easy of all studies; it resolves itself into one question,-The Infallibility of the true Church of Christ. When once we have discovered this Church, and surely its characteristics are so marked that none can mistake them, then all we have to do is to bow, in humble submission, to her

(x) Rom. xvi. 26.`

(9) Apo. ii. 2.

(2) Ibid.

doctrinal decisions.(") Let us, then, no longer suffer ourselves to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine; but, in accordance with the apostolic precept, listen to the authority of the Church; we are of God; he that knoweth God, heareth us, he that is not of God, heareth us not: by this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.” With this view let us also put the same question to ourselves, which Philip put to the Eunuch who was reading the Scriptures: Thinkest thou that thou understandest what thou readest? And if we answer in the same spirit, and with the same docility, How can I, unless some man shew me ?(c) no doubt we shall be rewarded with the same success. Though, in hearing the Church, we seem

(a) As all must stand upon the basis of historical evidence, hence in discussing this or any other tenet or controverted point, it is surely the most natural method to refer, in the first instance, to the most ancient written evidence, namely, the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. If the Scriptures are not sufficiently full and satisfactory, we then go to those who followed nearest, in point of time, to the Apostles, and in whose writings we readily discover the sense in which the particular doctrine in question was understood in their days; from them it was handed down to the succeeding generation; and from thence we may trace it, always with an accumulating weight of testimony, to our own times. (b) 1 Epist. St. John, iv. 6.

(e) Acts, viii. 30, 31.

to listen to men; yet it is not men who speak therein, but God who speaks, by the ministry of men. Let us then listen, with proper dispositions, and we shall find her wisdom and her spirit irresistible.(d) It is thus, and thus only, that “the ignorant can be delivered from the seductions of false teachers, and the learned from the pride and delusion of false wisdom."(e)

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Neither is it any reason for us to be satisfied, because, without diligent inquiry made with the necessary dispositions, we may feel already convinced. They who allow their passions,”—and I will add, their prejudices, " to confound the distinctions between right and wrong, are criminal: they may be convinced, but they have not come honestly by their conviction." They are in that state in which it is to be feared, that the Almighty has sent them the operation of error to believe lying; they are amongst those unbelievers in whom the God of this world hath so blinded their minds, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not

(d) Acts, vi. 10.

(e) Though error may be innocent because it may be sincere, yet there can be no sincerity without inquiry, nor any inquiry without a solicitude to discover the truth, and a determination to follow it when discovered.

(f) 2 Thess. ii. 10.

shine unto them. They are suffered to be deceived, because they love deception: they are permitted to be confirmed in error, because they have been unwilling to behold and to embrace the truth. But if we wish to be preserved from such callous hearts and darkened understandings, let us, with the advice of the Apostle, anoint our eyes that we may see) with sincerity and humility. Let us beseech the God of light to remove from us all blindness of heart: let us not forget that those who think themselves wise, may make themselves fools" by the folly of their own conceits, (m) by vanity, pride, or obstinacy: let us fervently pray, that through the mercy of God,...the orient from on high may visit us, may enlighten them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and direct their feet in the ways of peace.") As we cannot be too strongly impressed with the necessity of such dispositions, I will again request the reader, in the words of a pious, an excellent and an amiable man, now no more, to bear in mind, "That candour and impartiality, necessary in all discussions, are particularly so where the passions are all engaged on one side; that truth must come from the Father of light; that it behoveth the sincere inquirer to remove the obsta

(2 Cor. iv. 4.

(m) Rom. xii. 16.

(*) Apoc. iii. 18. (Rom. i. 22. (n) St. Luke, i. 78, 79.

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