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But, were it admitted that there never existed any federal relation between Adam and his posterity, the difficulty with which the subject is supposed to be embarrassed would not be lessened. It is demonstrable, as far as cause and effect can be, that children are naturally depraved-that they are, without exception, agitated by sinful passions, long before the mind can possibly be influenced by example. Now, as these passions must arise from a corrupt principle latent in the heart, it cannot reasonably be denied, that defiled nature in an infant is, in its degree, as inconsistent with the purity and felicity of heaven, as that which is peculiar to those who have committed actual transgressions; and that the comparatively small depravity of the one will as effectually bar the way to blessedness, as the enormous load of the other.

But, heaven and glory are not to be obtained by any of the sons of Adam, on such conditions. They possess no moral qualities that merit the divine favour, nor that fit them to enjoy it. The gift of God is eternal life

through Jesus Christ. Grace reigns-and is, I have no doubt, glorified in the salvation of infants and it will reign, and will be glorified in all that are finally saved. He, therefore, who shall think, that because he has lived to augment his debt, he has thereby increased his capacity for payment, will find himself at last more than insolvent! I am, said Jesus, the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me: and he that shall presumptuously attempt to climb to heaven any other way, will be treated as a thief and

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a robber.

Were justification by works, either in whole or in part, what encouragement could I administer to you, whose distress originates in a conviction of having none to plead as a ground of forgiveness? What could he say that is called to the bed of a wretched sinner, who, in the prospect of death, is alarmed with a consciousness of enormous guilt-of having lived without God in the world, and of being shortly to appear before him as his Judge? or what to the condemned criminal who, the next

hour, is to pay his forfeited life to the laws of his country, as the only possible expiation of his crimes against society?—He must leave them both a prey to dejection and sorrow: he could not, consistently with his own principles, say any thing either to remove the pangs of guilt, or to assuage the horrours of despair. The hopeless delinquents might each, in their turn, adopt the expostulatory language of Job. 'How hast thou helped him that is without power? how savest thou the arm that hath no strength? how hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom? How forcible are right words! but thou art a miserable comfortera physician of no value.'

But while it is maintained that salvation is entirely of grace-that good works have nothing to do in the justification of a sinner before God-that dying infants are redeemed from sin and all its consequences by the blood of Christ; and that it is possible for the most notorious offender to be saved, even at the last hour; it is, at the same time, affirmed with equal confidence, That God never intended

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mercy as a sanctuary to protect sin'-That this doctrine gives to the sinner, continuing in sin, no reason to expect forgiveness: nay, the want of an habitual disposition to keep the divine commands, is unequivocal proof of his being in a state of spiritual death, and of his having no evidence that he shall ever experience the blessing of pardon. Divine grace is a 'vital, active, influential principle, operating on the heart, restraining the desires, affecting the general conduct, and as much regulating our commerce with the world, our business, pleasures, and enjoyments, our conversations, designs, and actions, as our behaviour in publick worship, or even in private devotion.'

There are some, indeed, who 'retire from the world, not merely to bask in ease or gratify curiosity; but that being disengaged from common cares, they may employ more time in the duties of religion: that they may regulate their actions with stricter vigilance, and purify their thoughts by more frequent meditation. To men thus elevated above the mists of mortality, I am far from presuming myself

qualified to give directions. On him that appears to pass through things temporary, with no other care than not to lose finally the things eternal, I look with such veneration as inclines me to approve his conduct on the whole, without a minute examination of its parts; yet I could never forbear to wish, that while vice is every day multiplying seducements, and stalking forth with more hardened effrontery, virtue would not withdraw the influence of her presence, or forbear to assert her natural dignity, by open and undaunted perseverance in the right. Piety practised in solitude, like the flower that blooms in the desert, may give its fragrance to the winds of heaven, and delight those unbodied spirits that survey the works of God and the actions of men; but it bestows no assistance upon earthly beings, and however free from taints of impurity, yet wants the sacred splendour of beneficence."

He that is commanded to let his light so shine before men, that they may see his good works, and glorify his Father which is in hea

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