to his will. They who thus gather, seek not the pure and perfect peace of genuine Christianity; they have contented themselves with attempting to purchase a mere cessation of hostilities by the indulgence of error; and, instead of strengthening the bulwarks of that Church, which was intended to be the guardian of the truth, they have rather leagued with its adversaries to promote her overthrow.

Little consolation will it prove to her defenders to be convinced, that they desired not the ruin which they thus contributed to produce; and that they were unconscious of the mischievous tendency of their ill directed labours. It imports not, that they g" prayed for the peace of "Jerusalem," or that they toiled for its restoration. It is to the effect, and not the design of their labour which we are to look, if we would learn wisdom from the page of history. Let it not then be said, that we delight in recording the failings of those who have preceded us; or that we in

8 Psalm exxii. 6.

dulge in censure, where it can no longer be repelled. We judge them not, we condemn them not: with humble confidence in the justice and the mercy of him, before whose tribunal they are called, we hope that on that awful day, when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, no perversity of will, no voluntary blindness may be laid to their charge. h 66 But, though we judge "nothing before the time," it is our duty to inquire what was the fruit of their exertions. And if by this criterion we may ascertain, that they "laboured in vain, and "spent their strength for nought;" where will be our excuse, if we neglect to profit by the example which has perhaps been recorded for our admonition? what shall we plead in our defence, if, by seeking to gather as they did, we also be found to have scattered abroad?

But if we would learn the whole of that lesson which such an investigation may be capable of teaching, it will become us to consider the effects of these pacific efforts

h 1 Cor. iv. 5.

i Isaiah xlix. 4.

in all their bearings. We shall find, it is to be feared, that their evil consequences have not been limited to the disappointment which has been experienced by their authors, nor to the temporary increase of bitterness and contention which has generally attended their

progress.

When the advocates of peace persuaded themselves, that some latitude of interpretation, even on important points, might fairly be allowed for the sake of reconciling conflicting opinions, that those who could not agree in discipline, might compromise their differences by uniformity in doctrine; or that, where the same form of ecclesiastical government was preserved, doctrinal points should not be too severely investigated; they raised their hands to remove the barriers of the faith, and exposed the sanctuary of Christianity to the inroad of its adversaries.

It may be granted, that the first concessions were, in themselves, comparatively unimportant; that Cassander would not have surrendered what he considered to

k See Note CXLVIII. Appendix.

1

be the apostolic constitution of the Church; nor Grotius, what he believed to be the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel: but certain it is, that those who followed in the track which they had marked out, imitated neither their moderation nor their caution. Too soon did it become apparent, that where peace was the great object of desire, every doctrine which had occasioned dispute would be surrendered as unimportant; and our holy faith itself would soon be resolved into that cold system of philosophic deism, which has been dignified with the title of uncontroverted Christianity.

Such was the tendency of that system, which declared, that "a man's title to God's "favour cannot depend upon his actual

66

being or continuing in any particular "method, but upon his real sincerity in "the conduct of his conscience:"-a position, which, could it have been established, would have removed at once the ground of every controversy, and provided an effectual remedy for religious dis

1 See Note CXLVIII. Appendix.

sension, by involving the faith, the worship, and the discipline of the Church in one common ruin.

Such attempts have indeed met with opponents, acute in discovering, and active in repelling the danger which they menaced. But let it not be supposed, that they were harmless, because they were defeated. The Church has hitherto, by the blessing of God, survived the contest; but she has suffered from the struggle. The advocates of truth have retired conquerors from the field of controversy; but the number of those who rejoiced in their triumphs has, it is to be feared, rather diminished than increased. Argument, however in itself convincing, can seldom effectually arrest the progress of popular delusion for error accommodates itself to minds, which are impervious to truth; and the plausible sophistries of its teachers will be greedily adopted by those, who have neither inclination to receive, nor ability to comprehend the deductions of reason. Hence have the unthinking and unwary been taught to regard the resolute defend