of determining whether it be conclusive, and holds. They are perhaps entertained with some things, not so with others; they like, and they dislike but whether that which is proposed to be made out be really made out or not; whether a matter be stated according to the real truth of the case, seems to the generality of people merely a circumstance of no consideration at all. Arguments are often wanted for some accidental purpose: but proof as such is what they never want for themselves; for their own satisfaction of mind, or conduct in life. Not to mention the multitudes who read merely for the sake of talking, or to qualify themselves for the world, or some such kind of reasons; there are, even of the few who read for their own entertainment, and have a real curiosity to see what is said, several, which is prodigious, who have no sort of curiosity to see what is true: I say, curiosity; because it is too obvious to be mentioned, how much that religious and sacred attention, which is due to truth, and to the important question, what is the rule of life? is lost out of the world."

4. It was proposed, in the next place, to inquire whether there might not be found some

other passion in the heart of man, which would strongly tempt him to build up a system, whose professed object should be the interpretation of Scripture without risk of error. Such passion we find in the excessive desire for power and dominion, which exists, with very few exceptions, in all mankind. A longing for pre-eminence is perhaps one of the most universal affections of the human heart. It influences alike the ignorant and foolish, who have no conception of any thing superior to their own species, and therefore imagine that in exercising power over their fellows, they are exalting themselves to the highest summit of true greatness; and the sharpsighted and cynical, who delight in discovering and ridiculing the frailties and vanities of their species, while they seek greedily for the admiration of the worthless creatures whom they affect to despise. It is found in the child whose world is made up of its play-fellows, and in the man who is acquainted with the history, past and present, of the whole human race: it spurs on to action the simple-minded and inexperienced, who judge of the satisfying nature of any gratification, by the eagerness with which their own hearts desire it; and it keeps its hold upon those who have found by repeated trial

that the possession of power is any thing but the possession of peace of mind and happiness.

Such, then, being the eagerness with which men seek for dominion over one another, it is little to be wondered at that such a notion as that which upholds the authority of a Church to interpret Scripture, should have been devised and maintained. We can never be surprised, when we hear of individuals and of large bodies of men asserting that they themselves are the keepers of truths, which God has commissioned them to declare authoritatively to the rest of the world. There is something so exquisitely sweet to the ambitious spirit, in the possession of a sovereignty over its fellow-men in matters of the greatest possible moment, that we can never be astonished when we hear of wise and good men not only inculcating a doctrine which would ensure to themselves such a supremacy, but actually persuading themselves that in so doing they are but following the will of their God. The bare idea of being the medium of communication between the Creator and his creatures, of being invested by the Almighty with an authority to interpret his written revelations, is so inspiring to a being who seeks his own aggrandisement, even while fully convinced that he is

devoted to God's service, that we need not wonder at seeing a body of men arrogating to themselves such glorious privileges. And when it is remembered, that an admitted right to guide the minds of others in religious matters is invariably accompanied with a large share of influence in every other subject, the earnestness which has been displayed in maintaining the authority of some supposed Church, is still less remarkable.

And it cannot be urged in reply to these truths, that there is really no temptation to any individual persons to set up such a system, for that the authority in question is claimed only for the entire body of Christians. For we must recollect, that the very existence of a body of men set apart to minister in sacred things, would lead the vast majority of private Christians to look upon the members of such a body as most especially qualified to declare the doctrines decided upon by the whole Church. When once it should be admitted that there existed upon earth some infallible interpreter of Scripture, the clergy would instantly be looked upon as the depositaries of the truth; they would derive an importance as individuals, from their supposed access to the true source of information,

so that their declarations upon all subjects would be regarded with peculiar reverence. And so it has proved in fact: the "Church" has come to be a synonymous term with the "Clergy;" decrees of the Church have been nothing more than decrees of the clerical order; and the notion of laymen being depositaries of traditional truth has been altogether exploded.

We thus see that there exist in the constitution of man two strong natural passions, which directly tend to the invention and propagation of a doctrine such as that which claims for some Church a right to affix the true interpretation to the written word. There is in all men an indisposition to search after truth, a readiness to be satisfied with the opinions of those who are more immediately about them, which makes them practically submit their judgment to bold assertion rather than to proof and reasoning; and there is in most persons a passionate longing after dominion, which prompts them to avail themselves of every means, not involving gross vice or crime, for the gratification of their desires. These two passions, also, are in no way incompatible with one another; they may exist in full force at the same moment in the breast of one individual, without in any way counteracting