Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, in his cele"It will appear

brated Pastoral Letters, says, that the several denominations of Christians agree both in the substance of religion, and in the necessary enforcements of the practice of it; that the world and all things were created by GOD, and are under the direction and government of his all-powerful hand and all-seeing eye; that there is an essential difference between good and evil, virtue and vice; that there will be a state of future rewards and punishments according to our behaviour in this life; that CHRIST was a teacher sent from God, and that his Apostles were divinely inspired; that all Christians are bound to declare and profess themselves to be his disciples; that not only the exercise of the several virtues, but also a belief in CHRIST is necessary in order to their obtaining the pardon of sin, the favour of God and eternal life; that the worship of God is to be performed chiefly by the heart in prayers, praises, and thanksgiving; and as to all other points, that they are bound to live by the rules

together with Unbelievers themselves, Morgan and Gibbon have rendered "this prince of divines" the tribute of respect due to his industry, while they applaud his incorruptible integrity.

which CHRIST and his in the Holy Scriptures.

Apostles have left them
Here, then, is a fixed,

certain and uniform rule of faith and of practice, containing all the most necessary points of religion established by a divine sanction, embraced as such by all denominations of Christians, and in itself abundantly sufficient to preserve the knowledge and practice of religion in the world."

As to the Work against Revealed Religion, the republication of which has been visited by the law of the land-the words of the excellent Dr. Doddridge, as if written prophetically, are most apposite on the subject:—

"The cause of Christianity has greatly gained by debate, and the Gospel comes like fine gold out of the furnace, which the more it is tried the more it is approved. I own the defenders of the Gospel have appeared with very different degrees of ability for the work; nor could it be otherwise amongst such numbers of them; but on the whole, though the patrons of infidelity have been masters of some wit, humour, and address, as well as of a moderate share of learning, and generally of much more than a moderate share of assurance, yet so great is the force of truth, that (unless we may except those writers who have unhappily called for the aid of the civil magistrate in the controversy) I cannot

recollect that I have seen any defence of the Gospel, which has not, on the whole, been sufficient to establish it, notwithstanding all the sophistical arguments of its most subtle antagonists. This is an observation which is continually gaining new strength, as new assaults are made on the Gospel. And I cannot forbear saying, that, as if it were by a kind of judicial infatuation, some who have distinguished themselves in the wretched cause of infidelity have been permitted to fall into such gross misrepresentations, such senseless inconsistencies, and such palpable falsehoods; and, in a word, into such various and malignant superfluity of naughtiness, that, to a wise and pious mind, they must appear like those venomous creatures which are said to carry an antidote in their bowels against their own poison! A virtuous and well-bred Deist must turn away from some pieces of this kind with scorn and abhorrence. And a Christian might be tempted to wish that the books, with all their scandals about them, might be transmitted to posterity, lest, when they come to live like the writings of some of the ancient Heathens, only in those of their learned and pious answerers, it should hardly be credited that ever the enemies of the Gospel, in such an

enlightened age, should be capable of so much impiety and folly."

One trait in the conduct of unbelievers is deserving of special reprehension. In assailing Revealed Religion they put forth their objections, as if they were perfectly new, and had never been urged on any former occasion. This is disingenuous in the extreme. The fact is, that nothing fresh can be started on the subject. The same monotonous tone of complaint has been continued from Celsus and Porphyry down to the present times. And what is most unfair, no notice is taken of the reiterated replies which have been made to these objections. Each Deist has had his respective answerers. labour has been spared, no erudition has been left unemployed to set their querulous disposition at rest. Newton and Locke, Lardner and Priestley, Leland and Paley, Watson and Porteus, have done every thing necessary to elucidate the genius, and establish the truth of Christianity.*

No

* See Leland's View of the Deistical Writers, a work of research and consummate utility. Bishop Butler's Analogy also is a volume characterized by the profoundest reasoning, and has never been noticed by the sons of infidelity. The

Supposing, after all, that some difficulties remain which are inexplicable, ought this circumstance to shake your faith or excite astonishment? This, indeed, is nothing but what might be expected in this present state of being. The abstruse nature of certain theological topics, and the narrowness of our intellectual vision, will account for this phenomenon. Are the appearances of nature fully explained, or the intricacies of science altogether developed? We are encompassed with wonders. And why should RELIGION be expected to be devoid of difficulties? The antiquity of the Sacred Writings, the diversity of their contents, the mutability of languages, ancient as well as modern, and the prejudices of education, will cause that motley variety of opinion that characterizes the professing world. But, blessed be God!" the rent has not reached the foundation;" whilst this dissonance is at once the ground, as well as motive, for the exercise of Christian charity.

"It would be a miracle, (remarks the late Bishop Watson,) greater than any we are instructed to believe, if there remained no diffi

style, indeed, is rugged; but the work contains a rich mine of sentiment, which will repay the closest attention that the young reader may bestow upon

it.