cause of those gloomy periods of doubt and despondency. I have sometimes attributed them to want of diligence in following up advantages already gained over the enemy of souls. I have thought I became remiss in religious exercises, not by neglecting them, but by attending to them without a proper feeling. At other times I have supposed that the peace and satisfaction I felt upon my return to a "right spirit" were apt to slide into self-righteousness, and an overweening self-confidence by which the Tempter succeeded in gaining an advantage. I have thought, too, that I could enjoy the happiness of religion much better if I were in the country. Living in a city, it seems to me, is unfavorable to Christian enjoyment. You know my predilection for the charms of Nature, for retirement, for meditation. Some one, I believe, has said, “Man was made erect that he might view the heavens, the abode of the just, and be led to direct thither his thoughts and aims." He could not have meant that man in a city was made erect for this purpose. Pent up, as it were, in a narrow prison-house, and surrounded on all sides not only by the works of men, but by their pernicious example, and the insinuating influences of vice, how little does he feel this advantage! "Virtue, for ever frail as fair, below. Is shaken; we renounc'd, returns again. : rience in these things, your reply will, I doubt not, be most useful to me; although I cannot think that you have ever experienced that sinfulness of heart over which I have so often mourned. Would to God I were relieved from it, and that I might attain to some assurance of hope, to some unwavering confidence that I have at least some interest in the salvation of Christ! May I ask the favor of hearing from you soon? With much esteem I remain, yours sincerely, R. Fortress of Perote, September 12. Dear Sir-Yours of the 4th instant has afforded me a gratification which words cannot express. I now see the folly of that timidity which restrained me from speaking freely to you upon a subject in which I perceive you were so deeply interested. I feared to confirm prejudices which I fancied to exist, or to mar by controversy the pleasant intercourse we enjoyed. Yet I was happy to observe, that with marked intelligence and varied natural gifts, you possessed the "fear of the Lord," which is indeed "the beginning of wisdom;" but is no less its true and proper end. upon the 66 Now, however, you present yourself to me in a new light-as one who has been "known to God;" who has been diligently seeking a personal interest in the salvation of Christ; who has already Christian experience and Christian character. Have you then really, my dear friend, looked face marred," the form insulted? Have you indeed eaten the flesh and drank the blood of this Man of Nazareth? Am I to regard you as one "born again ?" Are you physically and mentally consecrated to God? If so, why this confusion of which you speak ?-this ebb and flow of religious feeling ?-this darkness, doubt, and despondency? Permit me, my dear R. to say, with the frankness which the subject of good avails, unless accompanied by love to Christ. It is God's love for us presented in the gospel facts, which inspires the soul with love to him. It is the divine character herein presented which becomes the model for our own. The gospel, therefore, is the great moral demands, that you look too much to yourself for assurances of an interest in the salvation of Christ. Were it wise in the mariner on the wild Atlantic to fix his eye upon the waste of waters around him? or even upon his own driving bark? No! The perfection of his art consists in looking at objects out of the earth altogether instrument for delineating his image the sun, the moon, the stars, and in shaping his course accordingly. Look off to Christ, then, my dear lad. Be not anxious to derive your happiness from any degree of self-complacency, but seek it in the high, the holy consideration that "the blood of Him, who, by an eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, is supremely fitted to cleanse the conscience from a sense of dead works, to serve the living God." The source of a Christian's joy lies not within, but without him. Having embraced the gospel, he is assured of pardon; and believing on Jesus, he rejoices with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Your alarm at the "ebb and flow" of your religious feeling is the sheer result of inexperience. Read the scriptures; model your enterprize by the finished specimens of Christian character found there; be filled with the spirit of the ancients, and clothe yourself with their renown, who, through faith, "wrought righteousness, subdued kingdoms, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword." Be in no wise afraid; the High God is your refuge; you need not fear what earth or hell can do. You would keep a diary" of your progress! Would that Heaven did so, too, and that you could compare notes at the end of the first week! Could you answer him for one of a thousand? My son, love Christ the three times important question in the gospel is, "Lovest thou me!" Let me refer you to the Apocaylpse, where you may see how little our aversion to evil, or our love 66 upon our hearts-for transforming our souls anew. Do you, then, believe the gospel? It is "the power of God for salvation to every one who believes it." Care not for your feelings, but follow your faith. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." Our feelings can give us no such victory: on the contrary, they are ever opposing our faith. Rest assured, my dear R. there is no more pernicious error than the supposition that our feelings should govern and constitute our religion. Nothing is more uncertain, inconstant, or deceitful than they. The truth, on the other hand, is immutable and eternal, and the belief of the truth gives stability and permanency to religion. The firm conviction upon indubitable testimony that "Christ has died for our sins, and has risen again for our justification," is an anchor to the soul "both sure and steadfast." Let not your own feelings, but Christ, be your joy and hope. He is the true Physician for the soul. "To him, then, bring your wounded heart. To him tell your anguish. Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal." I have much to say upon this subject, but shall not at this time present to you any other point than the one of which I have already spoken-the importance of trusting to the word of God, rather than to the inward emotions of the soul. I hope to be permitted to speak to you more fully hereafter on these matters, and in the meanwhile will be happy to hear from you. Farewell. E. THE QUESTIONS OF THE shall hear thee thou hast gained thy PRESENT AGE, CONSIDERED IN THEIR RELATION TO DIVINE TRUTH. NO. V. THE STATE CHURCH. (Continued from page 257.) THE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE CHURCH -OFFENCES TO BE PUNISHED WITH EXCOMMUNICATION. "But now I write unto you, not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one, no, not to eat; therefore, put away from among yourselves that unclean person" (1 Cor. v.) "Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall enter the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. vi. 9-10.) "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these-adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (Gal. v. 20.) As persons committing any of these crimes can never inherit the kingdom of God, it follows as a consequence, that persons committing any of these crimes must be excluded from the church. THE MANNER OF EXCOMMUNICATION. “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear." A public rebuke is to precede excommuni cation. THE LAW REGARDING PERSONAL "Moreover, if thy brother trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone: if he : brother; but if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established and if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as heathen man and a publican," (i. e. have no fellowship with him) Mat. xviii. 15-17. THE LAW REGARDING HERESY. "A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition, reject" (Tit. iii. 10.) "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions, and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them, for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ," &c. (Rom, xvi. 17-18.) THE LAW CONCERNING THE RESTORA TION OF A PENITENT CRIMINAL. "But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me but in part; that I may not overcharge you all, sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many, so that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore, I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him; for to this end also I did write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye were obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also; for if I forgive anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it, in the person of Christ" (2 Cor. ii. 5-10.) And now what can the State do here? Can the executive or legislative members of the State, enforce the practice of any or all these portions of criminal law? No! because, if they are unbelievers, God does not permit them to enjoy any of the privileges of his church. But if they are disciples? Why, then they will never attempt to introduce an Act of Par liament among the laws of their Hea- THE BALANCE OF PRINCIPLES. gives the swiftest progress, inasmuch as the members of each church choose their own rulers; while the number of those rulers is unlimited, in order that all consecrated intellect may be united in the service of the church, Having, in a former part of this in- and the regeneration of the world. vestigation,* shown that in every go-Yet it contains no admixture of evil, vernment there can be at most only for the evils of democracy are extinthree principles-despotism, aristoc-guished by the operation of the other racy, and democracy and having two principles. In a democracy the also shown the natural properties and citizens are always prone to pull down tendencies of these principles, both as their rulers from the legislative or absolute or in combination—we shall executive chair, as soon as those now show that Christianity contains rulers run counter to popular wishes the whole of these principles, equally or prejudices. In the Christian sysbalanced, and without any of their tem this is obviated, inasmuch as the concomitant evils. The Christian rulers of a church cannot be displaced system contains the despotic princi- because they may refuse to cater to ple, which gives intense energy; for the whims and caprices of a congreChrist himself is a despot, since he gation. The Great King says that enacts laws for the regulation of his the peers of his kingdom shall not be kingdom, and appends punishments displaced for anything but crime. In to those laws. And those laws are a democracy the people generally to be implicitly obeyed: they are not elect those who flatter their foibles subject to the revision of his subjects, and pander to their passions; but this nor had they any share in enacting evil is obviated in the Christian kingthem. But the despotism of Christ dom, by the king's ordaining that no is exempt from the evils of human man shall be elected unless he possess despotism, inasmuch as Christ is a certain qualifications- those qualifiruler omniscient, immaculate, and cations being such as prevent their full of love to his subjects. The possessors from having any wish to Christian system contains the princi- adopt the career of the demagogue. ple of aristocracy, which gives stub-The equal balance of the three prinborn energy and endurance, because ciples of despotism, aristocracy, and all the dignitaries or peers in Christ's democracy, is the cause of Christikingdom, when once chosen, can anity's adapting itself to every form never be deposed from their high po- or stage of society. If Christianity sition, unless the king, in his decrees, spread in a nation under despotic gosignify a wish that it should be so. vernment, it gradually mitigates the Hence this principle in Christ's king- evils of that government, for it imdom contains none of the evils inhe- plants in the mind of the nation the rent in its existence in human govern- principles of aristocracy and democment; for, as these rulers are, by racy, and while it renders them better divine ordinance, the purest, the subjects, it presents to their minds the wisest, the most intellectual men, pattern of a perfect government ; and there can be no dissatisfaction or re- finally substitutes the government of volutionary principles, because every opinion for that of force, and thus gradually assimilates all government to its own nature. If Christianity is planted in a nation under aristocratic government, it implants a knowledge of the nature and workings of the Christian knows that his true freedom consists in obeying these pure and talented rulers. Christianity contains the principle of democracy, which * Vide previous numbers. of the church, and one temporal head of the church: they have allowed the earthly head to make laws for the spiritual kingdom, and having added to the government of an omniscient and perfect Ruler, a joint ruler who is human, fallible, and capricious, they have destroyed the power of both, because the members of the state church are in a state of divided allegiance. And to make the matter worse, the state has elected diocesan bishops as deputy despots, who have the power of appointing the pastors of the churches, but not of removing them if they are lukewarm, idle, or spiritually dead; and these pastors are sub-deputy despots over their congregations, but yet have no power to excommunicate any members of their congregation, for any offence whatever, without a tedious and expensive trial in a secular court. So that while they have destroyed the democratic and aristocratic principles, they have preserved the principle of despotism with all its evils, and none of its corresponding benefits. Hence a state church has not a progressive influence on society, nor yet does it cause society to remain stationary: its sole tendency is to drag society backwards. Which was the wiser man Tiberius, who attempted to stifle Christianity by connecting it with the state- -or Constantine, who attempted to advance Christianity by the same method? Truly, Tiberius was the wiser man, and the world has seen few like him. To those who, in the face of these facts, can still desire the union of the church and state, history is indeed nothing but an old almanac. principles of despotism and democracy, giving to the nation intense energy, and steady and rapid progress, as is the case in England. If Christianity is planted in a nation under democratic government, it implants in the mind of the nation the principles of despotism and aristocracy, thereby creating in the national mind that reverence for law and order which have never been the characteristic of a democracy. It also gradually assimilates that government to itself, in proportion to the purity of the Christianity there propagated, as well as the number of its votaries. And in addition to these Christianity possesses a still more remarkable characteristic. Unlike other systems, it builds up, while it is pulling down the social fabric: it is both constructive and destructive, whereas a state church stands as an opponent both to construction and destruction. The connection of the state with the church not only destroys the balance of the principles previously mentioned, but it actually destroys one of them. The democratic principle is destroyed, inasmuch as the congregation in a state church is never allowed to choose its own rulers; and moreover, as there is only one pastor to each congregation, and all the other members must be silent, the talent the church contains is not brought into action, but either stagnates, or is directed to temporal pursuits. As the principle of progression is destroyed, the state church has been, in every age, the champion of " things as they are"not of "things as they ought to be." The state church has ever been the antagonist of every national movement; and on account of this, most of And now, oh, faith! give us thine the talented men of the world, who, eye, that we may pierce the veil from ignorance of the true principles which separates us from the spiritual of Christianity, regarded the state world-give us thy ear, that the anchurch as its representative, have en- gelic harmonies may become audible; deavoured to sweep it away as a piece and if thou dost give them, we hear, of useless lumber. And this is ex-welling through the depths of space, plained by the fact, that state church- a song from voices that are solemn men acknowledge one spiritual head from the consciousness of eternity, and |