26 MEMOIROF 



humility so offensive to human pride, should be op- 

 posed, rejected, and contemned ? Such is the true 

 secret of the opposition to religion such the cause 

 inducing men who lead unchristian lives, to array 

 the frailties, errors, weaknesses, and vices of indivi- 

 duals or sects, against Christianity, hoping to weaken 

 or destroy the system by rendering ridiculous or 

 contemptible those who profess to be governed by 

 its influence, though their conduct shows them to be 

 acting under an opposite spirit. 



What is the mode in which this most extraordi- 

 nary doctrine of Christianity is to be diffused ? By 

 force, temporal power, temporal rewards, earthly 

 triumphs ? None of these. By earnest persuasion, 

 gentle entreaty, brotherly monition, paternal remon- 

 strance. The dread resort of threatened punish- 

 ment comes last; exhibited in sorrow, not in anger; 

 told as a fearful truth, not denounced with vindictive 

 exultation; while to the last moment the beamy 

 shield of mercy is ready to be interposed for the 

 saving of the endangered. 



Human doctrines are wavering and mutable; the 

 doctrines of the blessed and adorable Jesus, our 

 Saviour, are fixed and immutable. The traditions 

 of men are dissimilar and inconsistent; the decla- 

 rations of the gospel are harmonious, not only with 

 each other, but with the acknowledged attributes of 

 the Deity, and the well-known condition of human 

 nature. 



What do sceptics propose to give us in exchange 

 for this system of Christianity, with its 'hidden 



