"Never to use the harsher way,

If love would do the deed."

What I have written I conceive to be justly due to her memory. I conclude by saying, "She being dead, yet speaketh." Gloucester, Feb. 12, 1819. SAMUEL JEFFS.

Miscellaneous.

For the Methodist Magazine.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS ON CONSISTENCY OF CHARACTER.

To trace effects to their causes, and where a combination of causes are at work to assign to each its peculiar place, so as to arrive at safe conclusions, requires a compass of knowledge, acquired by that deep and laborious research, which falls within the province of but few rare geniuses. It so happens, however, that, in many instances, the causes which produce certain effects are more obvious, and a man needs but little acquaintance with the operations of nature, or a small portion of accurate observation of human beings, to account, upon the common principles of ratiocination, both for the one and the other.

There is no maxim, within the whole circle of philosophical truths, which admits of clearer demonstration than the following;-That the same causes, under the same circumstances, uniformly produce the same effects. When we apply this maxim to moral, it will be found equally true as when applied to physical principles. As fire uniformly emits light and heat, so does inconsistency of conduct excite disgust, call forth the censures of the well-instructed, and produce deleterious effects upon the morals of society; and more especially that kind of inconsistency which is exemplified by those who profess faith in Christianity, while their moral deportment is a flagrant violation of its holy requirements.

What was it, for instance, which gave birth to that huge mountain of infidelity, which, in the last century, vomited out its destructive lava over the populous plains of Christendom, sweeping away, in its mighty course, whole kingdoms, with their cities and villages? This burning mountain was raised by a gradual accumulation of abuses and absurdities, which men, under the awful sanction of the Christian name and Christian Priesthood, had superadded, (O! dreadful appendages) to the pure system of Christianity. Viewing popery as interwoven, more or less, with all the civil institutions of Europe; perverting the understandings and enslaving the consciences of all

classes of men; breathing a spirit of intolerance, and barring the intellectual world from the light of science, and from freedom of inquiry; and considering, also, that this ill-shapen sys. tem of religion, debased by superstition, and blindfolded by ignorance, was identified with Christianity itself; seeing, moreover, that most of its advocates and adherents were sunk into vice, and were become the mere mercenary supporters of a system of corruption; such men as Wieshaupt of Germany, D'Alembert, Voltaire, Rosseau, and Volney of France, Hume and Gibbon of Great-Britain, Frederick of Prussia, and Paine of America; arming themselves with weapons scraped from the arsenal of infidelity, commenced their rude attack upon the Church, aiming, at the same time, a deadly blow at those monarchies, which lent their influence to support, what these infatuated men erroneously considered to be Christianity. Their furious passions, being inflamed with the fire of hell, raged with infernal enmity! Thus the inconsistencies of popery, that is to say, the absurd dogmas of men, who made the Church a bank for the support of sinecures, who fed their voluptuous passions by means of this sacrilegious revenue, became the hot-bed of infidelity. Though, from the acuteness of their intellectual powers, one would suppose, that these men might have discriminated between that system of doctrine and ordinances which was of divine appointment, and those corrupt appendages which were of human origin, yet they did not; and hence, confounding the "chaff with the wheat," and impelled on by their vo racious appetites, which were in direct hostility to the self-denying requirements of the Gospel, they greedily devoured every thing before them, not sparing even the innocent babe of Bethlehem. O inconsistency! Shalt thou not be responsible for some of the destructive effects of the fire of infidelity?

It matters not under what name inconsistency shew itself, nor what specific form it may assume; whether it mask itself under the habiliments of Popery, Protestantism, Mahometanism, or Heathenisin; or appear under the more winning names of Arminianism or Calvinism; its effects are the same. But when we embrace truth in general terms, and then draw an erroneous conclusion from it, the natural tendency of which is to grant licence to sinful propensities, the source of the inconsistency, being more occult, is less easily detected, while the conduct itself is equally glaring and pernicious. But if this conclusion manifestly leads to the indulgence of those passions and appetites, which are congenial to fallen nature, it becomes truly alarming to the pious mind.

The truth of these observations will be best illustrated in the belief and conduct of Incontinens.

Blessed by the God of providence with an elevated genius, and cultivated under the tuition of a skilful master, he early exhibited those rare intellectual qualities which excited in the minds of his friends just anticipations of his future greatness. But, unhappily for himself and the world, he, at that period of life when the mind, tender and flexible, is susceptible of the slightest touches, imbibed that principle of philosophy which teaches that one eternal law uniformly rules the universe; and that this, receiving its direction in the first place from the Creator of the world, operates, in every instance, according to the Divine Mind, and that its ultimate result, in every respect, is pleasing to God.

Under the influence of this evil-engendering principle, he arrived to that state of maturity, in which he claimed the right of thinking for himself. Casting his eyes abroad upon the mighty empire of creation, he was sensibly struck with the admirable marks of omnipotence and wisdom which he beheld in the structure of the universe; and rejoiced to find his previous belief confirmed by the inferences his own mind could now draw from existing facts. He, therefore, understandingly believed in one God. By turning over the volume of natural religion, and examining it with candid criticism, he soon perceived its defects; and hence, being directed in his inquiries by Evangelus, he dipt with eagerness into the book of revelation, surveyed its external and internal evidence; and, as might be expected in a mind like his, he soon perceived those commanding evidences of truth, which gained the assent of his understanding. He did not stop here. Following the vein now opened to his eager inspection, he soon descended to that rich mine, where all the gems of precious truths, unfolded in the inspired volume, cast forth their bright scintillations, and almost overpowered him with their refulgence. He is charmed! He is captivated! But, the first sensations subsiding, a strange hesitancy begins to distract his mind. At one time he is ready to throw himself at the feet of the adorable Saviour, and make a total surrender of all his passions for sensual pleasure, which ere this, had gained an unhappy preponderence over his mind. Then he finds a powerful excitement in his heart, originating from a source he little suspected, prompting him to resist the convictions of truth, and to follow the dictates of his corrupt inclinations. Here he paused-he reflected-an involuntary sigh betrayed the agitation of his mind. He found himself powerfully drawn by two opposing motives. Truth had found its way to his understanding, and it enforced its unbending demands by all the authority of its Sacred Author; but his pride and his passions, unwilling to unloose their grasp, held him under their domineering influence.

Happy would it have been for Incontinens, if, in this perilous situation, he had been favoured with that friend to mankind, Evangelus-Consentaneus. This consistent Evangelist might have developed the plan of redemption in all its excellencies; shewn him the compatibility of the Divine government with human liberty; might have pointed him to the universality of the Saviour's love, and have reconciled to his dubious mind salvation by grace with human responsibility.

Not, however, being thus favoured, and still being under the influence of that fatal doctrine before mentioned, he insensibly sunk down into a stoical belief that all things were prefixed by God, and therefore it was useless for him to undertake either to disarm Omnipotence of his power, or to resist his uncontroulable decree. Incorporating this principle of his religious creed with his received system of philosophy, his penetrating mind could hardly avoid perceiving the inference necessarily flowing from it. He reasoned thus :-If all things result from the uniform operation of a law emanating from the Infinite Mind, perfectly subserving His wise and benevolent purpose; and if I am included among the number of those who are to be objects of his eternal delight, I shall finally enjoy the felicities of the future world, drunk or sober, in this! This revolting conclusion, though perfectly compatible with the principle of fatality he had adopted, is in flat contradiction to the general, nay, I may say, to every part of the system of Christianity he had embraced. One powerful plea it had in its favour:-Though the grasp which truth had upon his conscience made him suspect, sometimes, the permanency of his foundation, yet the conclusion on which he settled gave permission for the predominant operation of those sanguinary passions, which now loudly called for gratification.

An inconsistency, however, somewhat peculiar, served to restrain him in some measure. A regard to decency of character, which, in an age when Christianity is exalted to honour by the voice of the majority, he found it his interest to maintain, furnished him with a seasonable check, and tended not a little to induce a practical refutation of his dangerous principle. Sometimes, however, when a favourable opportunity will shield him from public observation, he indulges his favourite pursuits without restraint. If at any time his quiet is disturbed by the stingings of an accusing conscience, his adopted principle, that all things are in conformity to the council of God, operates like a charm, silences the reproving language of his conscience, and produces a temporary calm in his breast. I say temporary; for, in spite of his philosophy, which he now considers somewhat refined and sublimated by the fire of Christianity, the rays of eternal truth will sometimes

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penetrate his soul, and make him suspect the soundness of his belief, and cause him to long for deliverance. Under these impressions he becomes restless. But an antidote is furnished. In the hands of some men, under high professions of learning and sanctity, the application of the above doctrine to his case, removes his apprehensions; for they tell him, that the time may not have yet arrived for his true conversion to God; or if a child of grace according to election, the old man is not yet crucified, nor will be, until death destroy the union between the soul and body; and therefore he must content himself by waiting patiently, though impatience is one of the evils with which he must contend through life,-until the time appointed come for his deliverance.

Under the lulling effects of this moral anodyne, as quietly as he can he dozes, though frequently aroused by the flashes of truth, accompanied with those thundering declarations of God's word which threaten the unholy with everlasting destruction. At other times he gives full scope to his inclinations for sensual gratification, and strives to shield himself from blame by resorting to the leading principle of his philosophical and religious creed, which assures him that all things are as fixed as the Throne of God, and are continually tending to the ultimate good of the human family. While under this belief, he naturally concludes that it is vain to attempt a reformation, as he cannot alter, by his puny attempts, the original designs of Omnipotence. Now, though his passions approve of his conclusion, yet, at times, his conscience, not yet cauterized by sin, strongly remon strates against it; and he cannot help perceiving, such are his mental improvements, that the principle he has embraced, if followed in its legitimate consequences, is destructive of all mo. rality. Those great moral principles which bind mankind to reciprocate the laws of justice and mercy in their intercourse with each other, unloose their hold upon the conscience; and that which has been denominated vice, by the common voice of mankind, and above all, by the voice of God in His word, is no more than the effect of an antecedaneous decree of that God who is righteous in all his ways! And were it not for the many express declarations of scripture to the contrary, Incontinens would pursue the consequences of his principle to their fullest extent, and to which it naturally leads, by denying an hereafter punish. ment altogether.

Here then is an inconsistency which owes its existence to a man's embracing the truth in general terms, because such is the strength of evidence in its favour that he cannot resist it; and yet drawing particular conclusions from it destructive of its pure demands, because those demands are at war with the contaminated passions of his unrenewed heart. What other evi