test exceedingly difficult to apply, requiring immense labour and research, and that it is exceedingly precarious, concluding "any thing or nothing;" we receive two answers, one on rare occasions, which is absurdly inconsistent with the whole theory, and that is, that we must judge for ourselves; we must use our "common sense," and act as we do in "trade, politics or war;" take that for the true church, and that for the teaching of tradition, which we on the whole think most likely to be so. That is, although we are forbid to judge for ourselves what our blessed Lord means, when he says, Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life; and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out; yet we are told to judge for ourselves, what all the Greek and Latin fathers mean; in what points they all agree; which of the conflicting councils were truly general, whether that in which three hundred bishops decided right, or that in which six hundred decided wrong. When we have done all this, then we may judge for ourselves, which is that true Catholic church which is authorized to tell us what those things mean which are revealed even unto babes. As this is such a many-sided absurdity, we rarely hear this answer given. It is only when an unwonted sprightliness or levity leads the traditionist, as in the case of Mr. Newman, to strip the mask from the whole system of fraud and imposture.

It is so manifest an impossibility for the mass of ordinary Christians to apply the test of antiquity, universality and catholicity, in order to decide which is the true church, and what tradition really teaches, that the enquirer is commonly simply told to "hear the church;" and as he cannot tell which church he ought to hear, he must hear the one that speaks to him, be it the Romish, the Greek, or the English. If the church within whose pale he happens to live, teaches him error, even fundamental error, he has no relief. He must submit his soul to his church; he must subject his heart, his conscience, and his life, to her guidance, and wait until he enters eternity to find out whither she has led him. Still further, as every church speaks to its members, mainly through the parish priest; as he is her organ of communication, the parish priest is to the great majority of Christians the ultimate arbiter of life and death. They must take his word for what is the true church, and for what that church teaches. Thus what in sounding phrase is called the

church catholic and apostolic, turns out in practice to be one poor priest. The Bible, Christ and God are all put aside to make the soul depend on the fidelity and competency of one sinful, feeble man. Where tradition has its perfect work, there, in point of fact, the souls of the people are in the power of the priest, their faith and practice are subject to his control.

This same result is reached in another way. We have seen that it is virtually admitted by traditionists that their system cannot be found in the scripture, nor in the first three centuries. We believe, say they, what the fifth century believed and because the church of that age believed. The reason of this obvious. Priestly power was not fully established before the fifth century. To find a system suited to their taste, they must come away from the Bible and from the early church, and turn to an age in which salvation was doled out for pence; when priestly excommunication was a sentence of death; when pardon, grace, and eternal life were granted or withheld at the option of the clergy; when the doctrines of episcopal grace, and sacramental religion, had subjected all classes of men and all de partments of life to ghostly domination. We do not say that the modern traditionists love this system, merely or mainly because of the power it gives the clergy, but we say that the system which they love, has ever had, and from its nature must have the effect of exalting the priesthood and of degrading the people.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. The men who read the Bible and hear there the voice of God, cannot but be free. It commands their assent and secures their homage. They cannot be subject to men in things whereof God has spoken. All the traditionists in the world cannot persuade them that the Bible is not the intelligible voice of God, or that there is either duty or safety in closing their ears to that voice, in order to listen to the mutterings of tradition. Our blessedness is to be free from men, that we may be subject to God; and we cannot be thus subject, without being thus free.

We have reason then still to assert and defend the position that the Bible, the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants; we want no other and we want no more. It is the rule of our faith. It is infallible, perspicuous, complete and accessible. It is able to make us wise unto salvation; being inspired of God, it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for

correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work. A better, surer rule than inspired scripture we cannot have; and it must stand alone, or fall. If men bring their torches around the pillar of fire, the sacred light goes out, and they are left to their own guidance; and then the blind lead the blind.

SHORT NOTICES.

THE Ambassador of God: or the True Spirit of the Christian Ministry as represented in the mind of Jesus Christ. A Sermon Preached in the Ger man Reformed Church, Chambersburg, Pa., July 10, 1842, at the ordination and installation of the Rev. W. Wilson Bonnell, as Pastor of said Congregation. By Rev. John W. Nevin, D. D. Published by request of the Congregation. Chambersburg, 8 vo. pp. 21.

A pious, sensible discourse on John vi: 38, in which the preacher shows that the faithful minister must have the work of God for the business of his life; that he must attend upon this work as the work of God, referring it all to him as its author and its end; not working merely to provide a support for himself and family or to make himself rich, nor merely or chiefly to advance a party interest; not pursuing it merely as an intellectual or scientific work; but working in the light and with the Spirit of God's holy and infinitely perfect mind; in which case, and no other, the office, though responsible, is full of honour and surrounded by encouragements.

Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy. By M. Stuart, Professor in Andover Theological Seminary. Andover: 1842. pp. 146.

This volume will, no doubt, be read with interest by the many who are naturally curious to know the views of so eminent a biblical write rupon some of the most difficult and delicate points in hermeneutics. We can merely say at present that the topics treated are the double sense of prophecy, the question whether it is intelligible before fulfilment, and the designations of time in prophecy.

Philosophy and Faith. A Sermon, preached to the Graduating Class in Dartmouth College, on the Sabbath before Commencement, 1842. By Nathan Lord, D. D., President. Published at the request of the class. Hanover: 1842.

It is perhaps owing to our own negligence, that we here for the first time become acquainted wfth President Lord, as an author; we shall take up with avidity any future production of his pen. The sermon contains passages, it is true, which might demand explanation, before they could carry our full concurrence; but as a whole, it is sound, original, bold, and seasonable, and contains some bursts of distinguished eloquence. It has been too uncommon,

to find the mock-transcendentalists treated in their own style, as is here done with just indignation. The hostility of the human mind to divine truth, as evinced by philosophy,' is the great theme; the discussion of which commands our respect. That Dr. Lord seems to admit no true philosophy, is, after all, a matter of definition. The justness of his definition may be very reasonably questioned.

Critical Essays, on a few subjects connected with the History and Present Condition of Speculative Philosophy. By Francis Bowen, A. M. Boston: H. B. Williams, 1842. pp. 352.

These Essays were originally published as contributions to the North American Review and the Christian Examiner, and have, by the author, been issued in a separate volume. This is a distinction which they fully merit. The topics discussed are not only of permanent importance, but of great interest at the present time. Of this the reader will be persuaded by the following list of the subjects discussed: Locke and the Transcendentalists. Kant and his Philosophy. Fichte's Exposition of Kant: Philosophy applied to Theology. The Philosophy of Cousin. Paley: the argument for the Being of a God. Subject continued: the Union of Theology and Metaphysics. Berkeley and his Philosophy. Elements of Moral Science. Political Ethics. The most of these topics are examined with great ability, and presented in a clear and instructive light. The doctrine of a personal God, the creator and governor of the world, and the arguments by which this great fundamental truth is established, are nobly vindicated against the sophistry of skeptics, and the presumptuous dogmatism of the modern transcendentalists. We say nobly vindicated, because an elevation of feeling, a consciousness of the value of the doctrine defended, and a proper indignation at the arrogance and folly of those who oppose or obscure this great truth, pervade the Essays bearing on this subject, and secure for the writer the sympathy and respect of every reader who reverences his Maker.

In the Essay on the Elements of Moral Science, Mr. Bowen has allowed his opinion and feelings as an opponent of what he calls Calvinism, to appear much more distinctly than in either of the other Essays, which we have had the opportunity of examining. There is so much in this volume, which we think of great value, and in which we fully concur, that we greatly regret that it should contain any thing which must make the great body of Christian readers painfully sensible of the distance which separates them from its accomplished author.

The Crisis, and its claims upon the church of God. A sermon preached in the Franklin street church, New York, at the opening of the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch Church, June 1, 1842. By James Romeyn, late Pastor of the Church of Catskill, and President of the Synod. Published by request. New-York: pp. 59.

In this discourse the author passes under review the dangers to which the church is exposed from the prevalent distress throughout the nation, the appalling laxity of moral sentiment, the superficial and defective views of religious

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