guilty in the sight of God than the immoral man. But after all, he wants the one thing needful. He is a child of wrath. He is without Christ; an alien from the commonwealth of Israel; a stranger from the covenants of promise: and though he may cherish a delusive hope, is without God in the world.

ESSAY II.

FORM OF RELIGION.

"MANY," says an old writer, "take the press

money and wear the livery of Christ, that never "stand to their colours, nor follow their leader." The character of the formalist ranks higher in the estimation of the world, than the character of the mere moralist. Formalists advance a step further than visible morality, and maintain the form of religion. They are those who are not only decent in their external deportment among men, but strict in the observance of all the duties of piety. They put on the appearance of real religion: But this is not conclusive evidence of their Christian Character.

We read of those who have the form of godliness, but who deny the power thereof. Men may maintain the form of godliness from a variety of motives, none of which spring from the operation of grace in the heart. Many persons do it for the sake of reputation. A due regard to the in

stitutions of Christianity, forms so essential a part of the character of the good citizen, that among a virtuous people, it is difficult to secure esteem and confidence, without a becoming observance of the external duties of religion. Such is the homage which vice pays to virtue, that in Christian communities, it is a creditable thing to put on the appearance of religion. To those who regard the good opinion of the world around them, there are not wanting multiplied motives to appear better than they really are.

No small portion of those who maintain the mere form of religion, do it from the force of education. A religious education cannot fail to have a desirable influence, in a greater or less degree, upon all, both in restraining them from the commission of crime, and in impelling them to the external performance of duty. It often does have this influence upon many during the whole course of their lives. It is difficult to break over the restraints which have been imposed by parental instruction and example, without singular boldness and the most brutish stupidity. Hence you find many who persevere in the usual forms of religion to the end of life, who give you no satisfactory reason to believe that their hearts are

right with God. The observance of the external services of piety has become a habit; and they walk the customary round of duties, because it is a beaten path, rather than because it is a pleasant

one.

Perhaps a still greater number maintain the appearance of godliness for the sake of quieting the clamours of natural conscience. The inspiration of the Almighty has implanted a principle in the human breast, which is capable of discerning the immutable difference between right and wrong; of giving men a sense of moral obligation; and of approving what is right and condemning what is wrong in their moral conduct. There are seasons when the silent voice of that invisible agent, who is commissioned by God to record the sins of thought and action, whispers that God is angry with the wicked every day. The implacable foe stings with anguish and convulses with agony. In these seasons of remorse, the carnal heart naturally flees to the covenant of works. When the moral principle is awake, there can be nothing that looks like a compromise between the heart and the conscience, short of a life of external godliness. The conscience is so seriously af fected with divine truth, as often and for a length

of time, not to allow some of the worst of men in the omission of any of the external duties of religion.

There are also those who maintain the form of religion for the sake of fostering the persuasion of their own good estate. We know that there is a way which SEEMETH right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Men who are experimentally ignorant of the nature of real religion, easily substitute the shadow for the substance. Externally, the formalist does not differ from a real saint. He performs all those overt acts of religion which he would perform, if he were at heart a sincere follower of Christ. Hence the beauty of his external conduct induces him to imagine that he is so. Thus Paul felt before the law of God came home to his conscience, discovered his guilt, and swept away his carnal hopes. And thus the foolish virgins felt till the midnight cry was given, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! Rather than give up their hope, formalists continue to cherish their deception, by substituting the appearance for the reality, till their deception, their hope, and their irksome forms vanish together, and leave them amid the wailings of the eternal pit.