tinctness, and yet their conjunction, which coustitute the holiness and bliss of angelic life; by conducting man to a more intimate acquaintance with himself, as created to be the receiver of those principles conjointly, thus as gifted with a will for the reception of heavenly good, and with an understanding for the reception of heavenly truth; by thus further instructing him in the full measure of his religious duties, all which have relation to the formation of those principles, and to their perfect conjunction in his mind and life; by exhibiting a clearer view of the wonderful works of the GREAT CREATOR in this lower world, in which even every grain of sand is stamped with the divine marks and characters of the conjunction of the above divine principles; and lastly, by demonstrating the divine origin and sanctity of married life, the partners of which stand, each of them, in a distinct relationship to those principles, and thus in the blessed capacity of being fully united with each other according to such holy relationship;-if all this, it is contended, be true, (and who but a stranger to our enlightened author can dispute the truth?) then what further argument can be wanted in favour of the high authority by which his pen was directed, and thus of that divine and merciful providence which gifted him with the extraordinary powers, first, of discovering the above wonderful distinction, so as to discern and comprehend it clearly in his own mind, and secondly, of unfolding, for the edification of others, all it's most interesting and edifying results, applications, uses, and benefits?

Doth the reader still doubt and dispute the above authority? Then, in the spirit of humble and devout prayer to the FATHER of MERCIES, and with a mind divested of all worldly and selfish prejudices, let him peruse attentively and seriously the extracts from the theological writings of the enlightened author, which are contained in this volume. Let him

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in this spirit view their testimony, first, as a spiritual telegraph, announcing blessed tidings from afar respecting the divine mind and the angelic kingdom, or (to change the allusion) as a grand panorama, in which may be seen all the wonders and beauties of creating, preserving, redeeming, aud regenerating wisdom and love. Let him next examine it as a mental kaleidoscope, in which the apparent incoherencies, contradictions, and scattered senses of the letter of the sacred Scriptures, are presented to the delighted eye in all the symmetry, order and harmony of the most affecting and beautiful arrangement. Let him lastly regard it as a golden wedding ring, intended for the finger of the Bride, the LAMB's Wife, as a symbol of her eternal and happy conjunction in life and love with her DIVINE HUSBAND, and not only so, but as a representative figure of the conjunction of His divine love and divine wisdom in all the subjects of creation, whether great or small. Let him then ask himself the following questions, and answer them, in the sanctuary of conscience. Is it possible for any mortal, of himself, to invent and fabricate such wonderful instruments? For cau any mortal, of himself, remove the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations? (Isaiah xxv. 7.) Can any mortal, of himself, be found worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof, (Rev. v. 2.) so as to present it to the view of his fellow-mortals, in it's transfiguration glory, full of light, full of power, and of consolation? Can any mortal, of himself, thus enable the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise? (Matt. xi. 5.) Let then the above impossibilities decide the question of authority in the present case, by conducting the reader to it's divine source, until all doubt, all dispute, all uncertainty on the occasion, be lost in the animating confession of the holy one of old, This is the LORD's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD hath

made, we will be glad and rejoice in it, (Psalm cxviii. 23, 24.)

But should any fluctuation still remain in the reader's mind concerning the testimony in question, it is humbly hoped that it will be entirely appeased by a view of the sublimity, purity, and edifying tendency of that rule of doctrine and of life, which will be found in the following extracts, and which is the third point of consideration intended to be insisted on in the present publication.

This rule of doctrine and of life results from the distinction between the two principles of the GooD and the TRUE above adverted to, and is in continual connection with it.

As a rule of doctrine therefore it teaches, first and principally, that the LORD and SAVIOUR Jesus CHRIST, in His GLORIFIED or DIVINE HUMANITY, is the SUPREME and ONLY GOD, since when this SAVIOUR saith, My words are SPIRIT, and are LIFE; and again, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John xiv. 6), He must of necessity be understood to mean that He is the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH in indissoluble union. For that He is the SUPREME TRUTH, is evident from His own words, and that He is also the SUPREME GOOD, is equally evident from His calling His words Life, and himself the Life, inasmuch as the life, on this occasion, as applied by the INCARNATE GOD, must of course involve in it all that is good, merciful, compassionate and benevolent in the divine mind. But if JESUS CHRIST be indeed the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH in indissoluble union, then it must follow as a sure and indisputable conclusion, that He is the GREAT and ONLY GOD, otherwise it must be maintained that two divine Beings exist, who are each of them the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH, which is the same thing as to insist that there are

two independent Gods; for what is Gop, but the SUPREME GOOD and SUPREME TRUTH?

Having thus then established this essential point of Christian doctrine, and this by an evidence as manifold as it is incontrovertible, which no sophistry of man can elude, because grounded in and confirmed by the sure testimony of the inspired oracles throughout, the enlightened author of the Extracts next proceeds to shew, from the same distinction between the GOOD and the TRUE, what that rule of life is, which is obligatory on all Christians, as being alone conducive to purification, regeneration, and final salvation. Nothing can exceed the simplicity and consistency of this rule, except it's ad, mirable adaptation to the Being for whose use it is intended. For what shall we say is this being, aud what is his proper quality and character? Is he not born into evil and error of every kind, loving himself and the world more than GOD and his neighbour, and calling nothing good or true but what tends to confirm him in such polluted love? How then is such a being to be reformed, purified, and finally saved? In other words, how is such a being to be made a lover of GoD and of his neighbour? How, (saith the enlightened author of the Extracts) but by first receiving heavenly truth from the Word of God in his understanding, and by next suffering the light of this truth to conduct him to the purity of heavenly good in his will, that so he also, like his Divine · LORD, may attain, in his measure, the conjunction of those two divine principles in his mind and life, and may thus become a living image and likeness of his GREAT CREATOR, as by creation he was intended to be?

Behold here then the short, but sure and infallible rule of life, pointed out in the following extracts, as the direct path to holiness and to bliss! Man, it is there insisted on, can never become ei

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ther holy or happy, but by conjunction of life and love with the adorable fountain of life and love, the LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. But conjunction of life and love with JESUS CHRIST implies, first, that man knows what is Goop and TRUE; and se condly, that he loves it; and thirdly, that from knowledge and love conjoined he performs, or practises it. It is necessary then that every man, who is desirous of attaining that blessed conjunction, should in the first place read diligently the Word of God, until his understanding be enlightened by the light of the ETERNAL TRUTH, and in the next place should suffer that truth to enter into his will or love, where it changes it's name, and becomes the SUPREME GOOD. But with this blessed view it is essentially necessary that he should suffer the truth to make manifest his natural evils, and when they are manifested, that he should enter manfully into the combat against them, otherwise the truth remaineth alone and unproductive, not being conjoined with it's good, inasmuch as good cannot enter, until evil be first removed. It is further necessary that he should acknowledge, humbly and gratefully, that all truth and good are from JESUS CHRIST alone, and given to man for the blessed purpose of effecting eternal conjunction with that GREAT and HOLY GOD. And lastly it is necessary, that he should give full and free operation to those heavenly principles, by fulfilling all the duties of his station in life, according to their just and reasonable requirements. Thus it will be seen, that man's justification and salvation are not of himself, but of the GREAT SAVIOUR, because they are not of faith alone, nor of charity alone, nor of good works alone, but of all united, and not of all united, unless they are also united with JESUS CHRIST, by the humble and grateful acknowledgment, that all faith, which is of truth, and all charity which is of good, and all good works which are the operation of faith and charity united,

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