" If any lack wisdom let him ask of God." "He will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask." W.There is just one thing more that I would wish to hear something about. It is said that the Bible is able to make men wise unto salvation. How is it then that so many possess it without being made wise by it?

T.-The Bible makes wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ. Its grand design is to set forth Christ to the world as a Saviour from sin and all its consequences. All Divine truth centres in him; and when the sinner believes in him as the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world," he sees an infinite importance in the Bible that testifies of him, learns the will of God from it, and is thus made wise unto salvation by it. But, if men believe not in the Saviour whom the Bible makes known to them, they can see neither value nor importance in that Bible; they will neither submit to its doctrines as the rule of their belief, nor to its precepts as the rule of their conduct. They may, in compliment to the fashion of the times, profess to believe it; but this profession has no manner of influence on their temper and conduct. They obstinately refuse to submit to its heavenly lessons,

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and therefore cannot become wise by it.

W.-I think I see that now pretty plainly. I am greatly obliged to you for the trouble you have taken with me this evening. I hope the Lord will bless it to me, and reward you for it.

T-If you now see more clearly than you did before, how the Bible is the word of God, and how it makes men wise unto salvation, I hope you will henceforth value it more highly, read it more seriously, and obey it more closely than ever you did. Remember, when you take it up in your hand, that it is not the word of man, but of the living God, sent to teach you how to escape the wrath to come, and to obtain the favour of God both here and hereafter. Never forget the blindness of your mind, and your consequent proneness to misunderstand and misapply what God has revealed for your instruction.

Lift up your heart in fervent prayer to God, through Jesus Christ, for the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, to enable you to understand and obey the will of God for your salvation. And for your encouragement remember that our Heavenly Father gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ********

A WORD TO THE WISE," &c. &c.

[Concluded from p. 145.]

V. The admission of members. -There is here a mass of the

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most irrelevant matter; so indigested; so unconnected; and so much coarse buffoonery, calling of names, and all the marks of a disordered and highly irritated

mind, that any one accustomed to polite society, and the ordinary civil intercourse that passes be tween one man and another, must feel pained for our part, it almost drew tears from our eyes, to think that any who make profession of the religion of that Sa viour whose religion is love, should advance it, merely for the sake of argument, and to wound the character, and talents, and usefulness of one, whose great crime, we believe, is, that some persons have left the ministry of the author, aud gone to his.

We attend to the question, and let things pass. It is maintained, that grace is not necessary to church-membership, only a cre dible profession." We might ask the author, who, it seems, is a grammarian, and affects to be correct, Acredible profession" of what? We have heard many profess themselves followers of the doctrines of Socinus; we had reason to think their profession was credible; did this entitle them to church-membership? We have known persons profess to be the devoted servants of sin, and had reason to think their profession credible were they such as the author would admit?

We stop not to say, that even understanding the author to mean a credible profession of the faith, yet his scheme is not the same with the first and best Presbyterians, if we are to understand à credible profession exclusive of real faith if we are to under that a credible profession

both to be one, we are agreed; but, from the sequel, we find the author is as much an enemy to saints, as Bishop Lavington, Ingram, or the clerical writer in the Edinburgh Review.

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And we would preceed to ask, What benefit can those who are not saints derive from churchmembership? We have an awful description of the danger of churchmembers supposing themselves saints. By this we are sorry to find, that the author preaches a nother gospel, and not that which Paul preached: for that apostle had no hesitation to exhort his converts as saints, and thence to draw a powerful argument to the performance of every part of duty. The example of Judas, John vi. 70. is really nothing to the purpose; or, if it is, it proves too much, even that no man, though known to be a devil, is to be rejected from church-communion. This we must consider as a most dangerous opinion; it is equally opposite to the gospel, and the Presbyterianism of the best periods, as it is clear, that it sup poses conversion not necessary for being a member of Christ's church," for conformity to his ordinances, and obedience to his laws," p 20. 0.5 in this we cannot object to his setting the door open to all; indeed, according to his scheme, it is necessary that it should be so

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By this, the author will proba bly fill up the vacant places in his church, which have been left by. the "proselytes, in considerable

VOL. VI.

fessed Presbyterians!" p. 28. VI. Established churches.

pp. 14-16.

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On the idea being admitted, that every person has a right to be a church-member, whether converted or not, we can have no objection to an established church; but, as we are of opinion that the first is not proved, we trust we will be excused from admitting the second. The propriety of parcelling out large districts, and giving every man a right to chur h-membership that dwells in 'such a district, is not yet so clearly proved, as not to allow of its being disputed. This sweeping principle which exists, is much higher in that gentleman's mind, than what has been generally recognized and admitted, by the most strenuous advocates for establishments. Mr Robert Nielson, called by many the pious Nielson, says, "That the church, on account of her connection with the state, and the advantages she was to derive, gave up some part of her authority to the state." This is, we know, the sentiment; but, as we cannot recollect at present that part of his works where it is to be found, we offer to retract, if we have quoted wrong.

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That a seceder from the Established Church should, gratia argumenti, maintain, "that the Church of Scotland never compromised the prerogative of Christ," p. 87. is perhaps an unlooked-for admission, and sounds a little oddly from a subscriber to the "the act, testimony and declaration." We are so shallow as not to see how a church and state can be connected without some compromise; and we are sorry that the author's exertions have not been sufficient to enlighten our minds on this subject. We are conscientious dissenters; but

our dissent does not bind us to use any weapons of a carnal nature, for the demolition of Establishments. And the Government, under which we have the happiness to live, employs none of that inquisitorial power which the author maintains magistrates ought to employ. We consider ourselves, therefore, as called to obey, not merely from duty, but from love. Duty would call us to yield obedience to any Government; but we are bound to that under which we are placed by double ties; our aged and venerable Sovereign never forfeited his pledge he has kept the tole ration inviolate.

Again, our brethren in the Establishment need have no jealousy (and the candid and wellinformed have none) of our operations; our warfare is solely directed against the kingdom of Satan'; Christ's kingdom we wish to promote at home and abroad; but with the temporal matters of the kingdom we have no concern; we submit to the laws that establish Episcopacy in England, Presbytery in Scotland, and Popery in some of the Colonies, as we do to other laws; and consider our selves highly-favoured, that the execution of some laws that stand on our statute-book are not put into such hands as a Presbyterian to execute. My kingdom is not "of this world.

what he tells us, p. 59. that he cannot find that Jehovah has changed his mind: this is a mere play on words. Nor do we see the force of the argument drawn from the conduct of the church of Ephesus, Revelation ii, 1-7. to the power of the civil magistrate, who denies the power of any church, even an Independent one, to reject from their communion those who, having been tried, are found liars. But it requires a strong imagination, and a good deal of controversial leger de main, to make that an argument for the power of the civil magistrate. We have heard the quotation in the Confession of Faith, ch. 31. from Matt. ii. 4, 5. to prove the power of the Christian magistrates to call synods, spoken of as far-fetched; but this surpasses it an hundredfold. Such another specimen may be met with in the Bishop of Landaff's Apology for the Bible.

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Divesting the argument of the dust raised about it, it seems to stand thus: "

sades; we have heard of the hor rors of the French Revolution we have heard of the fires of Smithfield; the hangings of the Grassmarket; we have heard of the cruelties of the inquisition; the Paris and Irish massacres; the persecutions in Piedmont, Bohemia, &c. &c.; but we believe that if the sword of every magistrate in Christendom were unsheathed against what he thinks error, (and who, we ask, is to judge for him) a scene would take place, to which Popish or Pagan persecutions, and all the horrors, bloodsheddings, cruelties, &c. which have been heard of since the foundation of the world to the present day, would bear only a faint resemblance. This is recommended to us by a dissenting clergyman in Scotland, in the year 1818 !!.

We have thus taken a view of some of the principal things contained in "A Word to the Wise." We own the obtuseness of our intellects: for we are no farther wise, than to be led to pity and pray for the poor tormented state of that man's mind, who could issue such a performance into the world. We have heard it said, that no man takes much pains to rail at what he neither hates nor fears we must be allowed to say, then, that this writer does both. Hence his language teems with such vituperative expressions. Once we thought of making a long list of these, and exhibiting them to the reader as the best reply his book could get; but our pages are not entirely devoted to him, nor his exposure an object that we feel anxious to accomplish; else we know not a better mode than we could have taken. Out of