ably set forth by Bishop Butler, is equally strong against the Socinians as against the infidels. The principles of vicariousness and original sin every where present themselves in the constitution of the moral world, and the latitudinarian is opposing the information derived from the senses, as much as the inspired communications of the Bible, when he asserts that these principles are contrary to the divine justice, and impossible to be believed.

"The Bible is addressed to sinners, and it is a want of a deep conviction of sin which chiefly prevents us from understanding its communications. The natural and carnal mind of man cannot discern spiritual things, for these must be spiritually discerned. Unless the Holy Ghost, with his own effectual and divine instruction, bring home the word of truth, which he once imparted to prophets and apostles, to each individual mind, not with new information, but with new energy, the truth will never be received in the love of it; and if not received in the love of it, will never rightly be apprehended, or even long retained. Inadequate notions of sin necessarily give inadequate notions of the atonement. The atonement being undervalued, the proper deity of Christ is naturally disallowed also. Each peculiar truth of Christianity is linked with all the rest, and they all stand or fall together.

"But though the heart is the original cause of all departures from the faith, and the place where unbelief has its chief seat, yet an intellectual process is also necessary, by which the peculiar doctrines of Christianity may be explained away, and by which an erroneous system of religion may be formed, more palatable to the corrupt inclinations of fallen man, than the uncompromising purity of the Gospel. The intellectual process by which a false religion is shaped out, is the very same by which a false system of philosophy is formed. In both cases our errors proceed from pre-conceived opinions or partial induction. Genuine and inductive philosophy is the true cure of both. Let truth be impartially and universally sought; let all dogmas founded upon ignorance and the presumptuous conjectures of a priori reasoning, be discarded, and, proportioning our belief to the degree of evidence which, in every case, is presented to us, false systems of divinity will disappear, with vain theories in philosophy, and we shall behold, with child-like and teachable minds, the wisdom of God manifesf alike in his word and in his works.

"While all other (so called) rational heresies rapidly fall into Socinianism. Socinianism itself, with still greater rapidity, terminates in Deism. And the cause of this is obvious. For if the sophism, that no doctrine is to be admitted contrary to reason, authorises us at pleasure to reject any one truth from the Scriptures, it leads us with much more consistency to cease from the garbling of particular texts, and to throw aside the whole Scriptures at once. It is evident, at a glance, that the Scriptures are contrary to reason, falsely so called. They set at nought all the preconceived opinions of mankind. They exhibit the purity of the divine character, in a light very different from the conjectures which those would form who had never been favoured by a divine revelation; and if whatever truths transcend our narrow intellect are to be rejected, the mere pruning away of this or that tenet is not sufficient, the whole Scriptures must be cast aside as infinitely superior to the wisdom of man. "Infidel writers, while they acknowledge the Socinians as their near of kin, form a just estimate, both of their emendations of the Scripture, and of the ultimate result of all their labours. The only dif ference between the Deist and the Socinian is placed by the accomplished

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infidels, (the authors of the French Encyclopedie,) in the respect which the Socinians bear to the Scriptures and the Saviour. Now the So's cinians believe the Saviour to be 'fallible and peccable,' and the Scriptures to be full of 'inconclusive reasonings ;' and if the difference between them is to be measured by the respect of the Socinians, and the reverence they bear to things sacred, it must be minute indeed. Accordingly the same writers elsewhere observe, there is only a very imperceptible shade of difference between Socinianism and Deism.' And so slight and imaginary is the boundary between them, that the Socinians are continually passing over to Deism, without any one being able to say at what moment they ceased to be Socinians, and became decidedly Deist.

"Thus one step of error leads to another, nor is there any rest to those who depart from the faith. Those who deny the absolute Deity of Christ, have only to be consistent in their opposition, and they will proceed without delay or cessation from Arianism to Socinianism. Nor does the downward path of error end here. They may, indeed, find more difficulty in giving up the name of Christianity than its truths; but the same impulse which before pressed them forward, still urges them on. The regions of darkness lie open and interminable before them; they have only to continue admitting nothing contrary to their reason, and the diving government and the divine existence will appear to them encumbered with still greater absurdities than the revealed religion which they have left far behind; and they will arrive at the ultimate bourne to which their philosophic strength of mind is conducting them,-a grave without a resurrection, and a world without a God.”—Pp. 192—199.

CAUSE OF THE STUMBLING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST. Recorded Luke vii. 19.

THE peculiarity in the government of Providence, to which I adverted in the reflections on the Beauty of Absalom, is not only unknown to Heathens, and overlooked by those who, in the reading of the Scriptures, know not God, but is often influential in the case of Christians themselves, and, for a time, is to many a cause of stumbling. Judging of God by ourselves, we are inclined to anticipate that God will, on all occasions, openly show himself the protector of his people, and the punisher of his enemies. But this is human weakness. God has an eternity be fore him, in which he can sufficiently manifest his justice in the punishment of transgressors, and his approbation of his servants. The duration of human life is so short, compared with eternity, that the delay of the punishment of the wicked and the happiness of the righteous, is as nothing. For his own wise purposes, therefore, his people may suffer, and his enemies may triumph in this world. Were God on all occasions to show himself, there could be no sufficient manifestation of the evil of the human heart, nor trial of the faith and patience of his

people. If the right hand of justice should strike down every swearer, liar, drunkard, heretic, and perverter of the divine word, there would be a greater appearance of morality and love of scriptural truth; but the great des sign of the love of God is to manifest what is in man, and the providence of God must not counteract this object. God retires out of sight, that his enemies may have an op. portunity of manifesting what is in their heart, that the testimony of his word, with respect to human nature, and the divine justice, in the punishment of the ungodly, may be manifest in the presence of all worlds.

In like manner, the faith of God's people is tried by their present sufferings. If God would always show himself in their favour, if they should all enjoy distinguished earthly blessings, there would be no trial of them, and thus one great object in the divine discipline be entirely defeated. Peter tells his brethren that it is necessary, that " now for a season they be in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of their faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ." If the opponents of the truth should always meet with the frown of providence, and its defenders with his visible smiles, the walk by faith would be at an end. This would be walking by sight, and would entirely defeat the purpose of God manifested in his word, with respect to the treatment of his friends and his enemies in this world. But clearly as God has manifested his design in this matter, it is often forgotten, even by his people; and in consequence of this, their feet are ready to slide when they walk on slippery places. John the Baptist himself was stumbled by overlooking this peculiarity in the divine government of the world. After having given the strongest testimony to Jesus, he himself was so stumbled by being cast into prison, that he sent a message to Jesus for more satisfaction on the subject. To the wisdom of men it would indeed appear unaccountable, that if God governed the world, the harbinger of the Messiah should be cast into prison, and detained in it, when there appeared so much need of his exertions. No king would allow one of his most distinguished generals to be kept in prison in the heat of war, if he could deliver him. Why then did God permit John to be detained in prison, if indeed Jesus were the Christ? How unlikely a thing to the antici

pations of human wisdom, that John should be only as a voice crying in the wilderness, and pass away as a meteor! No wonder that such treatment should trouble John, if he was for a time left to himself. And he was for a time left to himself, as Peter, on another occasion, that he might be to us as a beacon on a hill, and warn us of the weakness of human nature, and the necessity of walking by faith. Many persons are so unprepared for such a manifestation of weakness in John the Baptist, that in defiance to the obvious import of the scriptural account of this affair, they put a meaning on the passages, importing that the mission from John was not for his own sake, but for that of others. But a proper view of the weakness of the best of men, in the light of Scripture, will forbid us to hesitate in understanding this passage in its natural and obvious import. If left to ourselves, there is none of us that might not doubt of the existence of God, nay, even of our own existence; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist. Let us, then, from this manifestation of human weakness in so illustrious a man of God, pray that our Heavenly Father may not bring us into trial, or if he sees it necessary to try us, that he will uphold us. DEMETRIUS.

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REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN SYNOD.

We have perused, with much pleasure, the Minutes of the last meeting of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland. Among many other important and interesting. subjects that occupied their attention, we have noticed, with peculiar satisfaction, the deep interest they have taken in the necessity of Ministers of the word being wholly devoted to the duties of their sacred office, to the

* Whilst we have inserted the observations of our respected Correspondent, “Demetrius," we certainly do differ from him in our view of the subject. We beg, therefore, to record our opinion, that John's faith, so elearly described by himself, John i. 15, &c, was by no means shaken by the event of his imprisonment; but that he proposed, by the mission of his disciples, to turn their attention to Christ, as, in John i, 35, he had. done before; and to lead them to a practical fulfilment of his own pro pheoy, John iii. 30, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The ignorance of many of the disciples of John respecting Christ, and their tenacity of their master's opinions, as recorded, Acts xix. 1, &c. will show the wisdom of the mission of inquiry upon which they were sent, and how it would prepare them for passing from John to Christ.-EDIT.

exclusion of secular pursuits. Measures have been adopted by them, with a view to ascertain how far it may be practicable to have this desirable object carried into effect with all the Ministers in their communion. And as they are important in themselves, and will, no doubt, be interesting to our readers, we subjoin their resolutions on the subject:

Resolved, I.-As the faithful discharge of ministerial duties leaves no time for a daily secular avocation; it is only in a case of absolute necessity, that is, a real want of a competent support, that a Pastor is justifiable in engaging in such an employment.

Resolved, II.-That it is the duty of Church Judicatories to ascertain whether or not this deplorable neeessity arises from real poverty on the part of the congregations, and if not, to take such measures as may tend to lead them to a sense of their duty, as enjoined in the word of God, and contained in their own engagements, as church-members, to make suitable provision for their Pastors.

Resolved, III.-That a Synodical Pastoral Address be drawn up and circulated amongst our people, bearing on this topic.

Resolved, IV. That the state of weak congregations who have Pastors, as well as those who have not, be recommended to the Missionary Society.

Resolved, V.-That no Pastor shall be at liberty to enter into a se eular employment without leave of his Presbytery.

In accordance with the 3d of the above Resolutions, a Member was appointed to prepare the Pastoral Address to be submitted to the Synod at the next Meeting.

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RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE

CONGREGATION OF BALLYCARRY.-This congregation, one of the oldest Presbyterian settlements in Ulster, has latterly been divided; the minority having joined the Arians, whilst the majority, in midst of privations and difficulties, have firmly adhered to Orthodoxy and the Synod of Ulster. We bring their case before the public, not from any love of repeating past grievances," but for the purpose of stating their necessities and their claims. The Orthodox haye often been exhorted to give up their Meeting-Houses to the Arians, and to depend upon the generosity of the public for means of building others. Well, here is a case where all this has been done. The Orthodox people, the decided majority, have been deprived of their Meeting-House-refused the temporary accommodation of a vacant room for their assembly-compelled to worship God in the open air, until the members of another Church kindly afforded them a temporary asylum. No people can more deserve the sympathy and assistance of Christians than the people of Ballycarry.-They have been deprived of their house of worship-they have submitted to the loss peacefully. For erection of another, (now in a state of forwardness) they have contributed liberally. In the face of difficulties, they have acted stedfastly and zealously. Therefore, when they appeal to congregations for collections, or to individuals for subscriptions, let them recollect these eircumstances, and contribute accordingly.