and that it was a marvel to her that the whole world had not sense enough to observe it. She said, if they would only remember it, it would be religion and knowledge sufficient for them; and that all classes, kings and subjects, scholars and farmers, husbands and wives, old persons and young, had nothing else to do.

Cler. And did she say a word of "Jesus Christ, and him crucified?" or explain the reason that God should give us a volume of inspiration as the Bible, when her epitome was all? Besides, I should like to know where the text is which you have quoted; I have never se en exactly such a passage of scripture.

Gent. I don't know, nor did she say. She was all for "the spirit," and not "the letter," and there, I think, she has the advantage of you.

Cler. And do you really believe that her doctrine could comfort and sustain your soul on a death bed?

Gent. As to that, and all such things, sir, I never trouble myself. If I do as well as I can, it will all go right, I dare say. This noise, and these questions in religion, are just what I dislike. Men of liberal minds care for none of these things. They may affect the vulgar.

Cler. But do you really care so little for salvation?

Gent. Care?—I mind my own business, I tell you; and that, as the Quakeress said, is all of it. However, I think a man has religion enough if he only keeps the ten commandments. This is all I do, and should like to know what more a man wants?

Cler. There is one sentiment in which I am very happy to agree with you:-it is in the excellency of the ten commandments, and in the piety of keeping them.

Gent. Well! I am glad to hear you speak so liberally. Just stick to that, and all will go safe.

Cler. Stick to it? That I will; and so will God that gave them. Gent. Very well! Then we are agreed sure enough. Now we have all plain sailing; and if you would only preach so, we might have short sermons, no mysteries, and every one could understand you. But as it is, when I hear some of your preachers

Cler. Pardon me! I wish to stick to the commandments. Your proposition was a sound one; but let us examine it. A man's religion will suffice, you say, if he only keeps the ten commandments. But mark the condition, my friend, for here is wisdom. "The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." If he keeps the ten, you say; but what if he keeps only nine of them? or breaks those that show our duties to God? or keeps none of them sincerely? or transgresses them all? what then? Could you, or your admired prophetess, resolve the dilemma? Has the law a penalty? If so, what is it? When incurred, is there any way of escape? If sin renders us obnoxious to the justice of the Lawgiver, how can mercy relieve us? Will mercy quarrel with justice? "Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered ?" Stick to the commandments, I say; and tell me, as candidly as I will tell you the same of myself, have you kept them? And if not, will

you choose to forget that God has pronounced his awful curse on all transgressors ? or will you think it folly to ask, "What must I do to be saved?" or, should you once feel the fact that you "have sinned against heaven," and in his sight whose throne is there, would you wish to know nothing of "the Lamb of God?" nothing of Christ, and salvation "through his blood?"

Gent. All this, to me, is heathen Greek, mere fustian and cant. Why, if what you say is true. what will become of the heathen? Besides, your professors of religion are no better than they should be. I know great Christians that will cheat, lie, and steal; but they never swear, as the saying is. And you know we all have our faults. God is merciful, as the scripture says; and some clergyman of my acquaintance, especially in the old country, are the merriest fellows in the world when they throw off their canonicals. I have met them at a cockpit, seen them in the theatre, and handled them at cards Trust them for sport when out of sight of their congrega

tions.

Cler. Is this a specimen of your own keeping of the ten commandments? or is it the way in which your soul was prepared for relishing the sermon of which you have spoken, and justifying the paths of sin? O, my friend, if there is a Lawgiver who will call you to account, I fear you will find yourself sinking in his presence with the foundation on which you rely. What could be more absurd than to trust for salvation to a rule that you have violated, and which is itself the sole instrument of condemnation to transgressors? What but justice ever sunk a sinner to hell? Allow me, then, in turn, to express my utter astonishment that a gentleman of your appearance and parts should be so totally ignorant of the first principles of revealed religion! If you were as ill informed on inferior matters of this world you could not travel in safety; you would set out for England, and steer to Madagascar; you would give a hundred dollars for a night's lodging; light your segar with a bank note, and mistake water for land. I wish also to say to you, in the spirit of sincere friendship for your precious soul, that your ignorance is not more gross than criminal. You have most sinfully neglected that volume of truth which God has turned author to edit, and "which is able to make you wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus." You are a stranger to me, and it is not for money, but love, that I thus speak. We shall probably never meet again in this world, and it is awfully possible that you may die too soon for your safety, your comfort, or your salvation. I am grieved, but do not wonder, that you should speak so of the ministers of God, of their Master, and his cause. The doctrines of the Bible do not suit your heart, because you know neither God nor yourself. I beseech you to seek salvation, and turn to God immediately.

Here the beat stopped-we parted-and this is all as yet that I have known of a stranger, who, with all his folly, evinced many attributes of natural and acquired nobility. FIDUS. American Pastor's Journal.

THE ATONEMENT.

Of all the subjects, which present themselves to the consideration of the christian, none is more important than Christ's atonement. We are therefore delighted, that a writer for the Luthern Magazine› has taken up the subject, in such a manner, as must confirm the hopes of the believer, and discomfit the errorist, whatever may be his art and device. We invite an attentive perusal of the state ment of the doctrine of Christ's atonement, as it is contained in the holy Scriptures. An examination of the objections raised against this doctrine, shall be given in our next.-Editor.

"In entering upon the discussion of the first particular, it is asserted, that the doctrine of Christ's expiatory sacrifice for sin is plainly revealed in the word of God. To prove this assertion, the reader is referred to those emphatic declarations of scripture, which represent Christ's sufferings and death as an offering for sin. The writings of St. Paul are filled with such declarations. That distinguished Apostle bears frequent testimony to this fact. This is what he constantly affirms in his Epistles. He says that "Christ had given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God-that he died for all, that they which live should henceforth not live unto themselves, but to him, which died for them-that Christ, our Passover, is sanctified for us-that, by his own precious blood, he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us— that through the eternal spirit he offered himself, and by the sacrifice of himself, put away sin." These declarations of St. Paul are supported by the direct testimony of St. John, who asserts, that "Jesus Christ, the righteous, our advocate with the Father, is the propitiation for our sins-that he was sent into the world that he might save us from our sins, and that through him we might live.”

Now, if these expressions of the holy apostles are not to be construed in a manner totally different from their plain and literal signification-if they were intended to convey any ideas to the minds of those to whom they were addressed-if they are not utterly devoid of all sense, and destitute of all meaning; it is as clear as language can make it appear, that Jesus Christ did render an expiatory sacrifice for sin; that he did suffer the punishment of human disobedience; that he died on the cross, not merely to seal the truth and establish the authority of his gospel, but that by his innocent sufferings and death, sinners might be released from the condemnation of the law-absolved from the punishment of their sins, and restored to the divine favor: for in the testimony which we have just quoted, Christ is not merely exhibited unto us as a fit example for our imitation under the influence of temporal sufferings and afHictions; he is not merely represented as having sacrificed his life to display the firmness of his character and establish the authority of his religious

doctrines; but it is positively asserted, "for us he gave himself as an offering and sacrifice to God: he is the propitiation for our sins, and by the sacrifice of himself he put away sin."

This will appear still more evident from an examination of those scriptural passages which assert, that Christ was substituted by infinite wisdom, to suffer the penalty, which we, by our offences, had merited. The prophet Daniel clearly expresses this idea, when he predicts, that "the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself." Isaiah, in the fifty-third chapter of his prophecy, where he exhibits every material circumstance connected with the death of Christ, expresses the same views. He testifies, that "he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows-that he was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities-that the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and that by his stripes we were healed-that he was stricken for the transgressions of his people, and that his soul, which was poured out unto death, was made an offering for sin." These predictions of the prophets are verified by the language of the apostles. St. Peter declares that "Christ had suffered for our sins, the just for the unjust"-and St. Paul affirms that "God hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, and that Christ, who had redeemed us from the curse of the law, was made a curse for us." 'These concurrent declarations of the prophets and apostles, afford evidence sufficient that they intended to set forth the death of Jesus Christ, as an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of mankind. They all speak of his atonement, not as a sacrifice which he rendered for himself, but for the sins and transgressions of his people. They all represent him as being burthened with our iniquities, and having carried our sorrows. They all agree in asserting, that he was delivered for our offences; that he sustained the weight of our afflic tions; that he suffered for our sins, and was punished for our disobedience. They clearly intimate that he was substituted in our behalf-that he rendered the sacrifice which we should have rendercd-that he bore the iniquities which we should have borne-that he was punished, not for any offences of which he had rendered himself guilty; but for the transgressions which we had committed— and that he finally cut off, not for himself, but for those whom he represented, when he suffered and died on the cross.

That this doctrine is revealed in the holy scriptures, will appear still more satisfactorily from those passages which represent Christ as the meritorious cause of our present justification and future salvation. And here I shall again recur to the testimony of St. Paul, because of all the apostles, he is the most explicit on this subject. In his Epistle to the Romans, he observes, "Being freely justified by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more then being now justified through his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." To the believers at Corint'., who were justified through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and had

experienced the sanctifying influence of his spirit, he writes: "Ye are washed; ye are sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God." To the Collossians, who were converted from the idolatrous worship of heathen deities to the reasonable service of the Most High, he communicates the same comfortable instruction: "And you, saith he, that were some time alienated, and enemies in mind by your wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh, through death, to present you holy, unblameable and irreproachable in his sight." In his Epistle to the Hebrews, who were well acquainted with the religious ordinances observed under the legal dispensation, he affirms: "Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of his death for the redemption of the transgressors under the first Testament, they which are called, might receive the promise of an eternal inheritance."

It is evident from the Apostle's reasoning on this subject, that he viewed the death of Christ as a real sacrifice, which was necessary to atone for the transgressions which had been committed under the various dispensations of the church. He expresses his conviction, that it was necessary that Christ should be set forth as a propitiation to declare the righteousness of God in the remission of sin: For according to his method of reasoning, we could not have been justified by his blood and saved from wrath through him, unless he had died for us while we were yet sinners. He clearly conveys the idea, that aliens and enemies to God could not have been reconciled to him, and obtained the promise of an eternal inheritance, in any other way than by means of Christ's death for the redemption of human transgressors. His whole course of reasoning, therefore, in this case, directly tends to shew, that Christ, by his meritorious sufferings and death, did render an expiatory sacrifice, and that such a sacrifice was absolutely required, to absolve the offender from the punishment of his offences, to exhibit the divine righteousness, and vindicate the insulted honor of the Deity.

This is the testimony which the word of God affords to establish the doctrine for which I contend. And this testimony, which I have derived from the concurrent declarations of the most distinguished inspired writers, is conclusive. The authorities I have quoted, are sufficient to establish the fact, that Jesus Christ, by his innocent sufferings and death on the cross, did render an expiatory sacrifice for sin. They cannot be made to bear any other construction. They cannot be rendered susceptible of any other interpretation. They exhibit direct evidence They afford positive proof. They are perfectly clear and explicit. They cannot be misunderstood. They cannot be reasonably contradicted They must be satisfactory to every person that believes in the divine authority of the scriptures.

In addition to the evidence already adduced from the repeated declarations of the holy scriptures, to prove that Christ was delivered as a real sacrifice for our sins, I shall now proceed to show, that this doctrine is illustrated and confirmed by the undoubted testimony of sacred history. It appears to have been the chief design of the