66 These consequences, Socinians, to be consis“tent, must allow, and which impious arrogation "of Divinity in Christ, (according to their faith,) "as well as his false assumption of a community "of 'glory' with the Father, before the world "was,' even they will be necessitated to admit, "completely exonerated the Jews, according to "their law, in crucifying one, who being a man,' "made himself God!' But, in the Christian, “rather than in the Socinian, or Pharisaic view, "all these objections vanish, and harmony suc"ceeds to inexplicable confusion. If Socinians "hesitate in ascribing unrighteousness to Christ, "the inevitable result of their principles, they “tremble, as well they might, at their avowed "creed, and virtually renounce what they profess "to uphold. “The Trinity, as Bishop Leighton has well “remarked, is, a doctrine of faith, not of de“monstration,' except in a moral sense. If the New Testament declare it, not in an insulated 66 passage, but through the whole breadth of its "pages, rendering, with any other admission, the “Book, which is the Christian's anchor-hold of 66 · hope, dark and contradictory, then it is not to "be rejected, but on a penalty that reduces to an "atom, all the sufferings this earth can inflict. "Let the grand question be determined; Is, "or is not the Bible inspired? No one Book "has ever been subjected to so rigid an investi 66 gation as the Bible, by minds the most capacious, and, in the result, which has so triumphantly repelled all the assaults of Infidels. In "the extensive intercourse which I have had with "this class of men, I have seen their prejudices surpassed only by their ignorance. This I found 66 66 conspicuously the case in Dr. D. (Vol. i. p. 167) "the prince of their fraternity. Without, there"fore, stopping to contend on what all dispassion"ate men must deem, undebatable ground, I may "assume inspiration as admitted; and, equally so, "that it would be an insult to man's understanding "to suppose any other Revelation from God than "the Christian Scriptures. If these Scriptures, impregnable in their strength; sustained in "their pretensions by undeniable prophecies and "miracles; and by the experience of the inner "man, in all ages, as well as by a concatena"tion of arguments, all bearing upon one point, "and extending, with miraculous consistency, through a series of fifteen hundred years; if "all this combined proof does not establish their "validity, nothing can be proved under the sun; "but the world and man must be abandoned, "with all its consequences to one universal scep"ticism! Under such sanctions, therefore, if "these Scriptures, as a fundamental truth, do "inculcate the doctrine of the Trinity; however surpassing human comprehension; then I say, we are bound to admit it on the strength of "moral demonstration. 66 66 66 "The supreme Governor of the world, and the “Father of our spirits, has seen fit to disclose to “ us, much of his will, and the whole of his na"tural and moral perfections. In some instances “he has given his word only, and demanded our “faith; while, on other momentous subjects, in“stead of bestowing a full revelation ; like the Via Lactea, he has furnished a glimpse only, through "either the medium of inspiration, or by the “exercise of those rational faculties with which “he has endowed us. I consider the Trinity as substantially resting on the first proposition, yet deriving support from the last. 66 "I recollect when I stood on the summit of "Etna, and darted my gaze down the crater; “the immediate vicinity was discernible, till, “lower down, obscurity gradually terminated in "total darkness. Such figures exemplify many “truths revealed in the Bible. We pursue them, “until, from the imperfection of our faculties, we "are lost in impenetrable night. All truths, “however, that are essential to faith, honestly in 66 terpreted; all that are important to human " conduct, under every diversity of circumstance, "are manifest as a blazing star. The promises "also of felicity to the righteous, in the future world, though the precise nature of that felicity may not be defined, are illustrated by every 'image that can swell the imagination: while the "misery of the lost, in its unutterable intensity, 66 66 though the language that describes it is all ne"cessarily figurative, is there exhibited as result"ing chiefly, if not wholly, from the withdraw"ment of the light of God's countenance, and a "banishment from his presence !-best comprehended in this world, by reflecting on the de"solations which would instantly follow the loss "of the sun's vivifying and universally diffused "warmth. 66 66 66 66 66 "You, or rather all, should remember, that "some truths, from their nature, surpass the scope of man's limited powers, and stand as the criteria of faith, determining, by their re"jection, or admission, who among the sons of "men can confide in the veracity of heaven. 'Those more ethereal truths, of which the Tri"nity is conspicuously the chief, without being circumstantially explained, may be faintly il"lustrated by material objects.-The eye of man "cannot discern the satellites of Jupiter, nor "become sensible of the multitudinous stars, the rays of which have never reached our planet, and, consequently, garnish not the canopy of 'night; yet, are they the less real, because their "existence lies beyond man's unassisted gaze? “The tube of the philosopher, and the celestial telescope,—the unclouded visions of heaven, will "confirm the one class of truths, and irradiate "the other. 66 66 66 66 "The Trinity is a subject on which analogical 66 66 reasoning may advantageously be admitted, as "furnishing, at least, a glimpse of light, and with "this, for the present, we must be satisfied. In"finite Wisdom deemed clearer manifestations inexpedient; and is man to dictate to his “Maker? I may further remark, that where "we cannot behold a desirable object distinctly, "we must take the best view we can; and I think you, and every candid and inquiring mind, may derive assistance from such reflec"tions as the following. Notwithstanding the arguments of Spinosa, "and Descartes, and other advocates of the Ma“terial system, (or, in more appropriate language, "the Atheistical system!) it is admitted by all “men not prejudiced, not biassed by sceptical prepossessions, that mind is distinct from matter. "The mind of man, however, is involved in in"scrutable darkness, (as the profoundest metaphysicians well know) and is to be estimated, (if at all) alone, by an inductive process; that “is, by its effects. Without entering on the ques“tion, whether an extremely circumscribed por“tion of the mental process, surpassing instinct, may, or may not, be extended to quadrupeds, "it is universally acknowledged, that the mind of “man, alone, regulates all the voluntary actions "of his corporeal frame. Mind, therefore, may "be regarded as a distinct genus, in the scale "ascending above brutes, and including the |