put an end to this traffic. We would as soon trust any other offence against society, murder, the slave-trade, lotteries, to the same corrective. Moral influence has indeed wrought, and will continue to work, wonderful effects. The records of the temperance reformation abundantly show, in the numerous instances of distilleries closed, and stores purified from rum, that the power of conscience alone, quickened by the exhibition of clear but hitherto forgotten truth, is sufficient to divorce from an unholy calling all in whom that divine principle has not been long quenched; and encourage the expectation, that, in process of time, all honest and respectable men will cease to sell this poisonous liquid. But it is surely shortsighted fully, instead of charity, not to inquire whether all the sellers of rum, or the greater part of them, are "honest and respectable"? And if the better portion abandon the business, are there not those who stand ready to take it up and fill their place; or else will not one sell now, nearly or quite as much. as two sold before? It is sometimes said, that, when the traffic shall have become so disreputable as to fall exclusively into bad hands, the consumer will of course take the level of the seller, the use of rum be confined to those already degraded past hope, and the inroads of intemperance upon the community come to an end. Nothing can be more fallacious. It is as the corrupter of innocence that rum is most to be dreaded; it is because he ensnares innocent victims in his toils, that the seller of rum is most to be abhorred. It would almost seem, as: if the mere diffusion of this poison through society had the effect to deaden the moral sense, and create an unnatural appetite. We need contend, however, for no such subtle and mystical influence. All observation proves, that, with regard to intemperance, more than any other in the catalogue of vices, it is the presence of temptation which creates the desire for indulgence. "God made man upright." No instinct, implanted by his Creator, hurries him on to self-destruction; but the fatal instruments of evil spread out before him by his treacherous fellow-man. The presence of temptation awakens. within him artificial desires which nature never knew. sion, solicitation, example, all blend their influence to overcome his original antipathy; till, at last, habit becomes stronger than instinct, enduring as life itself. Intemperance is of such a nature, that, until the means of gratification are withheld, it will be for ever perpetuating its own e xist

Pas

ence. The friends of temperance will not indeed cease from doing all that can be done, by exhortation, by moral influence, by example. But alas! there wanders through the land an agent of evil, which would undo more than all their exhortations can accomplish. While they yet utter the warning voice, the angel of destruction, with his deadly charm, deafens the youthful ear, and hardens the tender conscience, against it. Moral influence is invisible; but this tempter, brilliant as the serpent in Eden, and having power to call up visions of unearthly beauty before the excited fancy, is every where seen, and every where invites the unwary victim to his embrace. Example, the example of virtue, is calm and silent; but around this fatal deceiver is heard the tumultuous laugh of gayety; and the buoyant spirit, "burning for pleasure," rushes wildly forward to partake of the intoxicating cup, and bathe itself in Elysium. Against such a subtle and deadly foe, all mild expedients are powerless; the omnipotent law alone can banish him from the land.

We have endeavoured, in the preceding pages, to express. our views upon what seems to us a grave and solemn subject. The time, we think, has now come, when the question of the temperance reformation must be settled, and settled for ever. The dark age of ignorance has passed away. The clouds have rolled off, and hardly a speck remains visible even in the distant horizon. We do not now stand where we stood ten years ago. Then, when Christian philanthropy first imagined that great moral emancipation, for which it has since so earnestly and faithfully labored, the work to be done was indeed a mighty one, but the means for effecting it more obvious and at hand, and therefore it was not impossible. Ignorance, thoughtlessness, fashion, education, these were the great sources or upholders of intemperance; and the great instrument for overcoming them all, was knowledge, light, exposure of evil deadly but unnoticed, of truth plain but forgotten. The remedy has been tried to the utmost; the country has been flooded with light; the subject is now understood, and neither argument nor information can ever make it clearer. If the experiment fail, the case is desperate; "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin."

It has been our object to show, that, although little more can be done for this great cause in the way of light and knowledge; yet, the door is now opened, and the time urgently calls

for action, legislative, compulsory action. We regard all past measures as chiefly valuable in having been the necessary precursors to this final consummation. Without it, the reform seems to us partial, temporary, and unworthy of the arduous efforts which have been used in its behalf.

There is, we fear, in some minds, a growing skepticism with regard to the final success of the temperance cause, which arises from the contrast between the speculative principles and high pretensions set forth in addresses and publications, and the actual superficial condition of society. Representations of a wonderful change and improvement are regarded as extravagant, because outward appearances do not correspond with them. While the country resounds from one end to the other with lectures, and is inundated with pamphlets and newspapers; while new accessions to the pledge are trumpeted far and wide as conclusive proof that "the work goes bravely on"; rum still continues to be sold at every corner of the streets; and each passing day, with its calendar of crime and woe, bears witness to the fatal results. While the eloquent discourse is pronounced in the hall above, there is a merry crew in the shop below, whom the ministering priest at that altar is entertaining with the story of his doubled profits since his frightened neighbour gave up the business. We say, there are those, who grow discouraged in contemplating this melancholy contrast; who begin to feel, as if the temperance cause, however noble in theory, were wanting in the practical, and would turn out, after all, a visionary though benevolent scheme of human perfectibility; who, beholding sober counsels contending at such odds with alluring and deceptive forms of evil, the virtuous principle corrupted, the fixed resolve broken, even the solemn pledge violated, through the mere presence of surrounding temptation, are convinced that something more decisive must be done, or all is lost.

These impressions seem to be gaining ground; and, in consequence, some of the intelligent and influential friends to the cause become lukewarm through despondency. Practical, sensible men grow dissatisfied with an institution, which professes for its object the moral reformation of the world, but seems to have engaged in an unequal and unsuccessful warfare, and expended its strength in words. Every thing gives token, that the cause must be carried forward by some new and vigorous effort, or else it will begin to ebb; and public opinion,

VOL. XVIII. N. S. VOL. XIII. NO. I.

7

unable to impress itself upon the outward aspect of society, will, by a natural reaction, take its own stamp from the visible scenes that surround it. Individuals and combinations of individuals, have done much of all that they can do. It remains for government, whose highest glory and most blessed prerogative is to promote the virtue of its subjects, -to perfect the reform by wise and constitutional legislation.

[For the Christian Examiner.]

ART. III. Essay on the Doctrine of Divine Influence.— Continued.

HAVING alluded, in our last Number,* to the importance of the Doctrine of Divine Influence, and stated the grounds on which our belief of it rests, we proceed now to inquire, in in the second place, What are the methods in which God, or the spirit of God, influences the human mind? We have thus far pursued our course hand in hand with the great mass of our fellow Christians, at least, so far as the reality of these influences is concerned. We now come to a point where our path begins to diverge from theirs, and where we shall be compelled to make the best of our way without their company or encouragement. We must, however, continue to pursue what we deem to be the blended light of reason and revelation, though we pursue it alone; and our earnest wish at parting with our fellow inquirers is, that the spirit of truth may guide us and them into all important truth. This division of the subject, moreover, requires especial attention and care; since it is here that mistakes and perversions of the doctrine most frequently occur, and it is here too, that they assume a more practical character, and tend to results which seriously affect the conduct and happiness of men.

Before giving an affirmative answer to the question, how, or by what methods, the Divine Influence operates upon the human mind, we shall advert to some errors, grave and lamentable, as we think, which have prevailed on this subject.

And, in the first place, we observe that this Divine Influence is not supernaturally imparted. There is no evidence to prove

* See Christian Examiner for January, 1835, pp. 311-332.

that there is any thing miraculous in the methods in which it is vouchsafed to the mind. We use these words supernatural and miraculous, in the ordinary sense of the terms, as signifying that which is distinct from, and superior to, the established laws of nature, or the known and ordinary operations of God's moral government. The proposition then before us is, There is no reason to believe that the influence of God upon the minds of men is manifested in a supernatural or miraculous manner, in this sense of the terms. We are aware that this proposition is not, in so many words, insisted upon by many writers of the present day, who nevertheless class themselves under that general denomination of Christians who yet continue to receive the doctrine in its primitive purity. Indeed, there seems to be a growing desire among the more enlightened of this class of Christians to omit the use of those phrases which express the supernatural character of the Divine Influence, and to substitute others, such as "saving," and "special" in their place; and this is to be noted among the auspicious signs, that more correct views on the subject are beginning to prevail. But the doctrine of the strictly supernatural character of this influence was inculcated by Calvin, though much less explicitly than by many of his followers in more recent times.* It was strongly urged by Whitfield, and by the Wesleys, particularly in the early part of their career, and became in the middle part of the last century, on this side of the Atlantic, the prevailing belief. It is asserted in a variety of forms in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, as amended and ratified by the General Assembly, at their Session in May, 1821." It is plainly recognised in the creed of the Theological Institution of Andover, in this State, as well as in most of those of similar kind in our country, which profess to be Calvinistic in their character; and is, at the present day, the avowed and cherished belief of those Christians generally, who pass under the common name of Orthodox. On these accounts, we deem it proper to give to the doctrine a distinct and faithful examination.

In illustration of the prevalence of the doctrine of the strictly miraculous influence of God upon the mind, and for the pur

* We refer the reader to the "Institutes of the Christian Religion,” in proof of this remark, and particularly to Book II. c. 4, and to Book III. c. 1. Indeed this is one proof among many, of the fact, that his disciples have far outrun their master.