which God has given us to know the truth, and in consequence thereof shall go astray, whose fault is it? The plea of ignorance will not be admitted, when God has given abundance of light on all matters of faith and obedience. It was with reference to the necessary ignorance of the Gentile world, that Paul to the court of Athens said, 'and the times of past ignorance God winked at, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent.' The same principle is taught by the Saviour when he denounces the inhabitants of Chorazin and Bethsaida, and also Capernaum, for their impenitence; declaring that their condition would be more intolerable than that of Tyre and Sidon, or even Sodom, in consequence of the superior light they had enjoyed over these ancient cities. Where much is given, much is required, is a law that runs parallel with all God's dealings with men under every dispensation. No man will be condemned if he acts up to the light he possesses, provided he shall avail himself of all the opportunities God has given him to know and do the truth. But if his unbelief shall be the result

of ignorance, when he might have acquired a knowledge of the will of God, his sin not only remains, but will be augmented by it; and thus that much vexed question in regard to the involuntary faith of There is a necessary

men, is at once disposed of. relation between faith and testimony, but not between faith and ignorance; and if one shall refuse to examine this testimony, and continue in unbelief, he will suffer the consequences of his own folly.

"But to the passage of Scripture from the letter to the Romans you quoted. The Apostle is treating on the question of meats and drinks, and holy days belonging to the Jewish economy, as matters of indifference for the time then being. The Jewish Christians thought that one day (according to the Mosaic law) was more holy than another; the new moons and Sabbaths for example. The Gentiles, being better instructed, thought that all days, in this legal point of view, were alike. Of course, this does not refer to the Lord's Day, such as Christianity enjoins. And, therefore, seeing we are not under the law of Moses, but under law to Christ,

he teaches us, or rather those to whom he wrote this letter: 'Let every one direct himself according to his own conscience.' The law in this chapter referred to, is one setting forth the liberty which the Gospel gives us in regard to matters not essential to Christianity, but which may interfere with the rights of a weak conscience or a weak faith. It has no respect whatever to the duties and obligations under which we are placed with regard to the laws and institutions of Christ."

"But I am not yet fully convinced,” said Mr. Kirkton, "by what you have said, in regard to the right we have to the full persuasion of our mind in regard to our choice of religion. Paul has urged us to 'prove all things.'"

"This is the very thing that I am trying to enforce. You have only proved one thing-and of that you have not made full proof. Paul commands us to prove all things. This is certainly quite a different proposition. But let us not err in regard to this precept. Does the Apostle direct us to prove the truth or falsity of all the religious systems

of our day? Then he has enjoined a burdensome,

not to say an unprofitable task. The questions concerning

'Providence, foreknowledge, will and fate,

Fix'd fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute,'

are not yet settled or 'proved,' after all that St. Austin, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, and the commentators have written on these subjects; and until these are mastered, it would be a work, not of supererogation, but of downright folly, to plunge into the 'continents of mud,' which the theological adventurers have discovered. Some we have known, who have made the attempt; but they have sooner or later gotten into the 'Slough of Despond,' from which nothing could extricate them.

"The precept you have quoted from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, was probably designed as a guide for those spiritually-gifted men who had the power of discerning spirits; and whose office it was to try those who pretended to speak by

inspiration, and to direct the Church in their duties in regard to them. So far, then, as such pretenders now appear among us, it is proper, in the absence of such gifted men, to apply the rules laid down in Scripture with which to try all such spirits. 'If they speak not according to the oracles of God, it is because there is no light in them.' 'He that heareth us' (said the Apostles) 'is of God, and he that heareth not us is not.of God.' This is the rule by which we are to prove all things, viz.: the word of the Apostles!

"We fear that this you have not done. You would prove the Apostles by your own preconceived opinions. But the rule is to bring all your religious principles to the word of the Apostles, and candidly 'prove' them by it. Now, to do this successfully, you must thoroughly acquaint yourself with what they have taught, and apply yourself diligently to the reading and study of the Oracles of God. These constitute 'the weights and measures' of the sanctuary; the only lawful standards having the seal of Christ upon them, by which