will inevitably follow the general prevalence of this system;-the frequent perpetration of great crimes, and the total absence of great virtues.

"I. In those conjunctures which tempt avarice, or inflame ambition, when a crime flatters with the prospect of impunity, and the certainty of immense advantage, what is to restrain an atheist from its commission? To say that remorse will deter him, is absurd; for remorse, as distinguished from pity, is the sole offspring of religious belief, the extinction of which, is the great purpose of the infidel philosophy.

"The dread of punishment, or infamy, from his fellowcreatures, will be an equally ineffectual barrier; because, crimes are only committed under such circumstances, as suggest the hope of concealment: not to say that crimes themselves will soon lose their infamy and their horror, under the influences of that system, which destroys the sanctity of virtue, by converting it into a low calculation of worldly interest. Here, the sense of an ever-present Ruler, and of an avenging Judge, is of the most awful and indispensable necessity; as it is that alone which impresses on all crimes the character of folly, shows that duty and interest in every instance coincide, and, that the most prosperous career of vice, the most brilliant successes of criminality, are but an accumulation of wrath against the day of wrath.

"As the frequent perpetration of great crimes, is an inevitable consequence of the diffusion of skeptical prin. ciples, so, to understand this consequence in its full extent, we must look beyond their immediate effects, and consider the disruption of social ties, the destruction of confidence, the terror, suspicion, and hatred, which must prevail in that state of society, in which barbarous

deeds are familiar. The tranquillity which pervades a well-ordered community, and the mutual good offices which bind its members together, are founded on an implied confidence in the indisposition to annoy, in the justice, humanity, and moderation of those among whom we dwell. So that the worst consequence of crimes is, that they impair the stock of public charity, and general tenderness. The dread and hatred of our species would infallibly be grafted on a conviction that we were exposed, every moment, to the surges of an unbridled ferocity, and that nothing, but the power of the magistrate stood between us and the daggers of assassins. In such a state, laws, deriving no support from public manners, are unequal to the task of curbing the fury of the passions; which, from being concentrated into selfishness, fear, and revenge, acquire new force. Terror and suspicion beget cruelty, and inflict injuries by way of prevention. Pity is extinguished in the stronger impulse of self-preservation. The tender and generous affections are crushed, and nothing is seen but the retaliation of wrongs, the fierce, and unmitigated struggle for superiority. This is but a faint sketch of the incalculable calamities and horrors we must expect, should we be so unfortunate as ever to witness the triumph of modern infidelity.

"2. This system is a soil as barren of great and sublime virtues, as it is prolific in crimes. By great and sublime virtues, are meant those which are called into action on great and trying occasions, which demand the sacrifice of the dearest interests and prospects of human life, and sometimes of live itself: the virtues, in a word, which by their rarity and splendour draw admiration, and have rendered illustrious the character of patriots,

martyrs, and confessors. It requires but little reflection to perceive, that whatever veils a future world, and contracts the limits of existence, within the present life, must tend, in a proportionable degree, to diminish the grandeur, and narrow the sphere of human agency.

"As well might you expect exalted sentiments of justice from a professed gamester, as look for noble principles in the man whose hopes and fears are all suspended on the present moment, and who stakes the whole happiness of his being on the events of this vain and fleeting life. If he be ever impelled to the performance of great achievements, in a good cause, it must be solely by the hope of fame; a motive which, besides that it makes virtue the servant of opinion, usually grows weaker at the approach of death, and which, however it may surmount the love of existence in the heat of battle, or in the moment of public observation, can seldom be expected to operate with much force on the retired duties of a private station.

"In affirming that infidelity is unfavourable to the higher class of virtues, we are supported, as well by facts, as by reasoning. We should be sorry to load our adversaries with unmerited reproach: but to what history, to what record will they appeal, for the traits of moral greatness exhibited by their disciples? Where shall we look for the trophies of infidel magnanimity, or atheistical virtue? Not that we mean to accuse them of inactivity : they have recently filled the world with the fame of their exploits; exploits of a different kind indeed, but of imperishable memory and disastrous lustre.

"Though it is confessed, great and splendid actions are not the ordinary employment of life, but must, from

their nature, be reserved for high and eminent occasions; yet that system is essentially defective which leaves no room for their production. They are important, both from their immediate advantage and their remoter influence. They often save, and always illustrate, the age and nation in which they appear. They raise the standard of morals; they arrest the progress of degeneracy; they diffuse a lustre over the path of life: monuments of the greatness of the human soul, they present to the world the august image of virtue in her sublimest form, from which streams of light and glory issue to remote times and ages, while their commemoration, by the pen of historians and poets, awakens, in distant bosoms, the sparks of kindred excellence.

"Combine the frequent and familiar perpetration of atrocious deeds with the dearth of great and generous actions, and you have the exact picture of that condition of society which complete the degradation of the speciessthe frightful contrast of dwarfish virtues and gigantic vices, where every thing good is mean and little, and every thing evil is rank and luxuriant: a dead and sickening uniformity prevails, broken only at intervals by volcanic eruptions of anarchy and crime."

We have before us the views of another author, so fully concurring in the tenet under consideration, and so amply confirming it, by his lucid expositions of sacred truth, that we cannot forbear inserting his excellent remarks. The author, (Dr. Wardlaw, of Glasgow,) in one, of a series of "Lectures on Christian Ethics," recently delivered by him, has the following language :—

"As there is a necessary harmony between the divine character and the divine will, whatever contains in it

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an intimation that 'God is light,' and that 'God is love,' may be regarded as containing in it also a voice to all his intelligent creatures. 'Be ye holy, for I am holy;' 'Be ye merciful, as your Father, who is in heaven, is merciful.' This is, in truth, the sum of human virtue, and the sum of the motives to the practice of it and this, were the ears of men but open to hear it, is the concurrent voice of providence, and of revelation. By this remark, I am naturally led to the proper subject of the present discourse, the identity of morality and religion; a subject, which the preceding observations have not only been intended to introduce, but in part prospectively, to illustrate.

"The words which I read as my text, express, with clearness and emphasis, this identity; This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.' The 'keeping of God's commandments' is a comprehensive definition of morality; 'the love of God' is the sum of religious principle; and the text affirms, This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.' The meaning is, that there is no love of God without the keeping of his commandments; and that there is no keeping of his commandments without love to God: a statement which amounts to the same thing as this other, THAT THERE IS NO RELIGION WITHOUT MORALITY, AND THAT THERE IS NO MORALITY WITHOUT RELIGION. He who loves God keeps the commandments in principle; he who keeps the commandments loves God in action. Love is obedience in the heart; obedience is love in the life. Morality, then, is religion in practice; religion is morality in principle. "I know few things more preposterous in theory, or