way. Unable of themselves to distinguish ribaldry from wit, or assertion from argument, they are flattered by the appeal made by infidelity to their understandings, and they become the willing victims of the grossest imposture. A paltry Sunday paper, the vehicle of blasphemy and Atheism, mixed up with a little vulgar criticism, and pert scurrility, has perverted the principles, and ruined the morals, of no inconsiderable portion of our youth; in that rank of life, especially, which is above the influence of authority, and below the exercise of reason. Among the lower classes of society, less danger is, perhaps, to be apprehended. The enlarged and practical lessons of pure and united Christianity, which, under the influence of the National Society, are now inculcated upon the minds of our rising population, are such as infidelity will never efface. Under the blessing of Providence, an effectual barrier will be thus interposed, between the great mass of our community, and the contagion of so fatal a disease-a barrier, which men of sceptical principles, even under the pretence of extending instruction to all, are making every attempt to undermine and to destroy.

But, whatever may be the character which scepticism assumes, whether it be that of vulgar blasphemy, or of decorous indifference, its operation both on the interests of society, and on the mind of the individual, is the same. The same uniformity which appears in its effects, appears also in its causes. In whatever rank of society it prevails, we trace the

disease to the same origin, to the prevalence of the same habits, and to the indulgence of the same propensities. In entering, therefore, upon this part of the subject, our enquiries will assume a general form; it being their design to shew, that whatever doubts are entertained upon the subject of religion, whether it be by those of a higher, or of a more moderate rank in society, they arise from the action of those common principles, which are least suspected perhaps by those, upon whom their operation

is the most constant.

Causes of a Sceptical Turn of Mind, divided into Moral and Intellectual. Moral Causes- Indulgence of Licentious Habits-Pride.

In all diseases, whether of the body or of the mind, it is necessary for those who would apply an adequate and an efficacious remedy, to carry their objections below the surface of the evil, and to consider well the nature and tendency of those habits which both produce and confirm the disorder. Until a search has been made into the ulterior causes of the complaint, all the attention and care which can be paid to its external appearance will end in disappointment, and will often rather aggravate than diminish the malady. Scepticism is one of those diseases which is deeply seated in the very constitution of the mind; and its hostility is directed rather against religion as a whole, than against any particular part or modification of it. Did it content itself with rejecting the Gospel alone, it might fairly be supposed to entertain some particular objections either to the evidences or to the doctrines, which might be rationally discussed and speedily deter, mined. But the rejection of the Gospel is only a part of the disorder; the uniform tendency of Scep

ticism, is to undermine the foundations upon which any reasonable belief in a superintending Providence or an immortal soul can securely rest. Few men, indeed, are enemies to Revealed Religion, who are not equally hostile to that which is termed Natural; for however they may differ in their extent, the origin of both religions is the same, and the very same reasons which lead a man upwards to Deism, would if properly pursued, conduct him to the surer eminence of the Gospel. For notwithstanding we may sometimes persuade ourselves to the contrary, Deism is but a creature of the imagination, and however anxiously it is at first pursued, it is soon intercepted by some, other object; or, like a shadow, at the very first turn we take, it vanishes from our view. Even the very authors, who in one part of their writings have raised the fabric of Deism in all its ideal beauty, in another, have demolished the air-built edifice, and confessed themselves the disciples of the lowest Scepticism. When then we hear objections started against the Christian dispensation, we may be generally assured, that these are only the superficial symptoms of the disease, but that the real seat of the disorder is below. -It is not to the Gospel, but to the author of the Gospel, that the hostility of Scepticism is ultimately to be referred.

Of those indeed who have been recovered from this fearful malady, and have been restored to the health, the strength, and the life of Christianity, few have ever been persuaded by any particular argu

ments, because no particular arguments can reach the seat of the disease. The common process of Scepticism is, first to reject the whole, and then to question the validity of each component part. The application therefore of the remedy must be analogous to the course of the disorder; the mind must first be prepared for the reception of the whole, before it can be induced to abandon an objection to any particular part. Now this process cannot be better conducted, than by carrying our attention to the real and actuating causes of rejection.

To descend into our own hearts, to lay open the secret springs of our action, even to ourselves, is a difficult and a disagreeable task. Much as we dread the exposure of our motives to others, we shrink still more from the discovery of them to ourselves. If Scepticism however be, as it is represented to be, the result of patient investigation; surely, of all men, the Sceptic will have the least reason to complain of the enquiry being carried below the surface, even into the very recesses of his soul. And if in the course of that enquiry he shall find, that the real motives of his rejection were unsuspected even by himself, he will surely not object to bring the cause a second time before the bar of his reason, and calmly to consider whether his first decision was not given under an undue and an unworthy influence; and whether if that influence be removed, the whole cause will not take a different turn, and be concluded by an opposite determination.

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