kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord! Lord! have we not prophesied in thy name; and in thy name have cast out devils; and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock; and every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand." Luke, ch. xi. ver. 27: "Blessed is the womb (said a certain woman to Jesus) that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked: but he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." John, ch. xv. ver. 12: "This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." Ver.17: "These things I command you, that ye love one another." Ch. xiii. ver. 84: "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another;" 35, " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." Observing those two commandments, (Matt. ch. xxii. ver. 37, 38, and 39,) selected by the Saviour as a substitute for all the Law and the Prophets, and sufficient means to produce peace and happiness to mankind, the Compiler never scrupled to follow the example set forth by Jesus himself in compiling such precepts as include those two commandments, and their subsidiary moral doctrines, as a true substitute of the Gospel, without intending to depreciate the rest of the word of God. I regret that the Reverend Editor should have disapproved of this compilation, on the ground that " it is of importance that every compilation be given as a sample of the Sacred Writings in all their excellence and importance, and not as a substitute for the whole." The authority of St. Paul, the most exalted among the primitive Christians, quoted by the Reverend Editor, (page 89,) "If righteousness come by the law, Christ is dead in vain," is not, I presume, adequate, to set aside, nor even applicable to the express authority of the Author of Christianity already quoted; as the latter includes not only the Mosaic law, to which St. Paul alludes, but both law and religion, as is evident from the following passages : "Therefore all things whatever you would that men should do to you, do you even so to men; for this is the Law and the Prophets." "On these two commandments (to love God and to love our neighbours) hang all the Law and the Prophets." Every one must admit, that the gracious Saviour meant by the words "the Law and the Prophets," all the divine commandments found in the Scriptures, obedience to which is strictly required of us by the founder of that religion. Luke, ch. xi. ver. 28: " Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." John, ch. xiv. ver. 15 : "If you love me, keep my commandments." Had the manifestation of love towards God with all our strength, and towards our neighbours as ourselves, been practically impossible, as maintained by the Editor, (page 112,) or had any other doctrines been necessary to lead to eternal life, Jesus of Nazareth, (in whose veracity, candour, and perfection, we have happily been persuaded to place implicit confidence,) could not, consistently with his office as the Christ of God, have enjoined the lawyer to the obedience of those two commandments, and would not have promised him eternal life as the reward of such obedience; (vide Luke, ch. x. ver. 28, " this do and thou shalt live;") for a man possessed of common sense and common humanity would not incite another to labour in vain by attempting what was practically impossible, nor delude him with promises of a reward upon conditions beyond his power to fulfil; much less could a Being, in whom dwelt all truth, and who was sent with a divine law to guide mankind by his preaching and example, inculcate precepts that it was impracticable to follow. Any commandment enjoining man to love God with all his heart and all his strength, requires of us of course to direct our love towards him as the sole Father of the Universe; but does not amount to a prohibition of the pursuits necessary for life, or to an abstinence from love towards any other object; for such love also is enjoined by the subsequent commandment. The following passages, John, ch. xiv. ver. 21, "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father; and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him:" Ch. xv. ver 10, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love :" ver. 14, " Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you," &c., and many other passages of a similar import, exhibit clearly, that love of, and adherence to Jesus, can be evinced solely by obedience to the divine commandments. But if the observance of those commandments be treated as practically impossible, the love of Jesus and adherence to him must likewise be so considered, and Christianity altogether regarded as existing only in theory. I appeal to the Reverend Editor himself, whether we are to set at defiance the express commandments of Jesus, under the supposition that manifestation of the love enjoined by him is practically impossible? Yet this we must do, if we are to adopt the position of the Editor, found in his Review, page 111, "that the most excellent precepts, the most perfect law, can never lead to happiness and peace, unless by causing men to take refuge in the doctrine of the cross;" meaning, I presume, the doctrine of the vicarious sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, as an atonement for the sins of mankind. As the Reverend Editor has most fairly and justly confined himself to arguments, founded on the authority of the divine Teacher himself, I should hope to be allowed to beg him to point out, in order to establish his position, even a single passage pronounced by Jesus, enjoining a refuge in such a doctrine of the cross, as all-sufficient or indispensable for salvation; so that his position, thus supported, may be placed in competition with that founded on those passages which I have quoted in the foregoing paragraph, showing both the indispensableness and the all-sufficiency of the excellent Precepts in question to procure salvation ; and may impel us to endeavour to reconcile contradictions, which would in that case be shown to subsist between the passages, declaring the allsufficiency of the moral precepts preached by Christ for eternal life, and those that might be found to announce the indispensableness of the doctrine of the cross for everlasting happiness. It is however evident, that the human race are naturally so weak, and so prone to be led astray, by temptations of temporary gratifications, that the best and wisest of them fall far short of manifesting a strict obedience to the divine commandments, and are constantly neglecting the duty they owe to the Creator and to their fellow creatures; nevertheless, in reliance on numerous promises found in the sacred writings, we ought to entertain every hope of enjoying the blessings of pardon from the merciful Father through repentance, which is declared the only means of procuring forgiveness of our failures. I have already quoted some of these comforting passages in my Appeal, page 110; but as the Reverend Editor seems to |