"fashioned. He it is that assists at the numerous

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productions of fishes; and there is not one hollow"ness at the bottom of the sea, but he shows himself "to be Lord of it, by sustaining there the creatures "that came to dwell in it; and in the wilderness the "bittern and the stork, the dragon and the satyr, the "unicorn and the elk, live upon his provisions, and "revere his power, and feel the force of his Almighti99 ness.

If, then, the moral well-being of the universe be of greater importance than its mere existence; and that it is so is evident from the fact, that the continuance of the earth is solely rendered subservient to "the gathering in of the saints," after which "the heavens "will pass away with a great noise, and the elements "will be greatly heated and dissolved; "(g) if it be irreconcileable with the idea of a wise governor to imagine that he will incessantly attend to minor matters, and as habitually disregard concerns of greater moment, then may we adopt the succeeding language of the same admirable writer, and say, that "God is especially present in the hearts of his people by hist Holy Spirit and indeed the hearts of holy men are temples in the truth of things, and in type and "shadow they are heaven itself. For God reigns in "the hearts of his servants: there is his kingdom. "The energy of grace hath subdued all his enemies : “there is his power. They serve him night and day, "and give him thanks and praise: that is his glory.

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(g) Is. lxv. 8. Matt. v. 13. xxiv. 22, 31. 2 Pet. iii. 10.

"This is the religion and worship of God in the temple. The temple itself is the heart of man; Christ is the

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High Priest, who from thence sends up the incense "of prayers, and joins them to his own intercession, "and presents all together to his Father; and the

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Holy Ghost, by his dwelling there, hath also con"secrated it into a temple; and God dwells in our "hearts by faith, and Christ by his Spirit, and the "Spirit by his purities: so that we are also cabinets "of the mysterious Trinity: and what is this short of “heaven itself, but as infancy is short of manhood, "and letters of words?" (h)

Many, I am aware, ascribe all notions of communion with God, and the operations of the Spirit, to "some "strange ferment of the animal spirits." But this is to give mere words in current payment, and leave the phenomenon unexplained. For, if you inquire, what are the animal spirits? how do they ferment? how does this temporary fermentation produce a permanent change of character, enduring through life, with no other modification than the constant approximations to still greater perfection? you immediately reduce the assertors to silence, and leave them to enjoy the consolation of seeing their much vaunted proposition shrinking into its pristine vacuity and inanity. And where indeed is the necessity of recurring to any other theory to explain this momentous class of facts, than that which the Scriptures present? Why should the Deity, whose moral excellencies if possible outshine his majesty and his power, be excluded from interference

(h) Bishop Taylor's Holy Living, ch. 1. § 3.

in the moral department of his creation? Where is the philosophy of imagining (when it is acknowledged that God created us, sustains us by his power, cherishes us by his providential care, and sheds upon us temporal blessings) that he will never pour his influences into the soul, the only avenue through which Religion can enter, or from which it can proceed? We are taught by the great Author of Christian knowledge that "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him "must worship him in spirit and in truth." He therefore" searches the heart; " and the only religion he approves is a spiritual religion, manifested, it is true, by external deportment, by uprightness of conduct, and purity of life, but still having its seat in the soul: and yet we are to be told that he has it not in his power, or it comports not with his purposes, to reach the spiritual part of man. The writers of the New Testament exhort us to fervency and frequency in prayer; but our modern promulgators of Christianity improved (for such they esteem it by their innovations), remove the very basis of prayer: for what is prayer but aspiration of soul," spiritual breathing?" what can a religious creature, as such, pray for, but to be rendered better? and how can he possibly be rendered better but by experiencing Divine energy, by having strength and goodness imparted to him from the Fountain of strength and excellence, that is, by being made a recipient of the influences of the Spirit?

Farther, I believe it will be found that the deniers of this consolatory and cheering doctrine, by so doing, exclude the greater while they admit the less and

that, whether they believe in spiritual existences, or are completely materialists in theory. Whether the mind be purely spiritual (that is, in this sense, im material), or some ethereal conformation of refined matter, it is an incontrovertible fact that mind can act upon mind, either mediately or immediately. For example: A correspondent at a distance communicates his sentiments to me by written symbols: on the perusal of these my mind is as completely operated upon, and more powerfully, than the wheels of a watch by its main spring, or of a clock by its pendulum and descending weight: joy or sorrow, pain or pleasure, malevolent or benevolent sympathies, shall thence be excited: and this is the entire operation of human intellect upon human intellect, through the medium of the various instruments we have in our power. Similar effects result from the perusal of poetry, or from witnessing dramatic representations. I repeat that they are the genuine influence of mind upon mind: and you will at once perceive the truth of the assertion, if you simply recollect that by excluding the thinking, inventive, sentient, percipient part (whatever it be) from writers, readers, performers, and spectators, you in consequence annihilate the whole of this interesting class of phenomena. This, then, being the case, there remains no other alternative than either to admit that the mind of God can act upon the mind of man, or to concede to the human intellect greater power than belongs to the Most Powerful; a conclusion from which it must be a singularly strong mind indeed that does not recoil with horror and dismay.

Having thus shown that the doctrine of Divine influences is revealed in Scripture, and is consistent with the purest philosophy, it remains that I fortify it against one or two prevailing abuses. And first, it is

by some affirmed that the gift of the Spirit is arbitrary, that is, entirely independent of human conduct or human qualifications; but that this is invariably the case, is not, I apprehend, a fair inference from the New Testament, contemplated in the aggregate, however it may have been deduced from some insulated passages. There is, I conceive (though on this delicate subject I would speak with diffidence, and with the deepest conviction of the omnipotent energy, with which the Spirit often prepares its own way) an established connexion between the condition of those who are, or will be, believers, and the communication of spiritual life and growth; and that connexion may be doubtless founded upon sufficient reasons in the nature of things, though they may not have the least dependance upon antecedent merit, and are, and must be, unknown to us in our present state. God sees us as we are, and imparts to us according to our necessities, and his own wise and beneficent (not capricious) intentions, efficacious grace being given to some, while sufficient grace is offered to all. Divine assistance thus bestowed does not take away our liberty, but frees us from "bond

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age," and, as David expresses it, "enlargeth our "hearts to run the way of God's commandments." And though it is conferred gratuitously, and not because we deserved it, yet we must not assert that it is usually in its origin imparted arbitrarily; for it is