of the Bible, they answer, What! would you make a human book of it?' In a word, they are as much terrified at facts, as if they were so many sophisms. They think that all the discoveries of modern theology are mere inventions. This class is small, but strongly prejudiced. They who compose it have arrived at that age of life, when opinions are not altered. It is the age of bronze. We ought not to attempt to change them. Let them pass away.

The second class is composed of a great number of pastors, who have reflected sufficiently on Protestantism, and on its present condition in Europe, to perceive that liberty of thought is its very essence, and who make this liberty a reality and not a name. They are aware that the natural consequence of such liberty must be a great difference of opinion on a certain number of points. But as this liberty is unspeakably dear to them; as they hold to it firmly for themselves, and as they have observed, with the clearest evidence, in the whole history of the Christian religion, and of the human race, that the free exercise of this liberty has always conducted man to the highest degree of civilization, of moral perfection, and of true piety; as they have observed, also, with no less evidence, that the restraint or suppression of this liberty has always introduced barbarism, moral degradation, impiety or fanaticism, and misery, they would much rather endure these differences of opinion, than renounce a system, which they believe founded on Christianity, and connected with the highest destinies of the human race. They are then essentially tolerant, not only towards the members of other churches, as some men understand toleration, but towards those of the church of which they are a part.

Among these, a spirit of research and a taste for good learning are generally cultivated. The public are indebted to them for the useful labors which place at their disposal new ideas and new means of instruction. They seek for the profitable employment of the acquisitions which they have already made, and endeavour to turn them to the moral and religious improvement of the flocks with which they are entrusted. They engage in this labor with a zeal, an activity, a warmth of heart, until lately very rare in France. It is on this class, in our author's opinion, that the hopes and wishes of the French Protestant church must rest.

Besides these two classes, which compose the great majority of the French Protestant clergy, there is a small class of those, who, properly or improperly, are called Methodists, because the first of them who appeared in France, were pupils or agents of the English Methodist sects. At first sight, one might be disposed to identify them with the old school before described. They have the same attachment to the great principles of orthodoxy, the same love of ancient institutions, the same dread of innovation. But as soon as we penetrate a little further, we perceive that the two classes have no real resemblance. Under nearly the same expressions, there is another tendency, another spirit, we might almost say, another religion. Their mode of proceeding in theology is very simple. They assume as a principle the immediate and plenary inspiration of the Bible. In their opinion it is the Word of God, in the most literal sense. Then they group detached passages of it under certain heads. They form centos of these, in which every thing appears consistent, full of the same spirit. But since their historical observations are generally wanting in depth, when applied to this labor, the spirit is more frequently that of their own sect than of the Bible. Still, they hold to the results which they obtain, with ardor, often with obstinacy. They connect them directly with the work of salvation. They make them essential to its attainment. They are thus insensibly led to the Catholic maxim, that there is no salvation out of the church. Whatever activity the individuals animated by this spirit may display in their religious pursuits, it is certain that we cannot expect from them any aid to the progress of a sound and liberal theology. The example of the English sects, whose spirit they have imbibed, gives us the character of the labors to which they are devoted, and the results which they will probably produce.

We can accompany our author no further in his fine reasonings on the perfection of theology, but must hasten to give our readers some account of his ideas respecting the means of diffusing correct religious sentiments and increasing the practical influence of Christianity in the present state of opinion in France. The preaching of mere morality he holds to be altogether inadequate to that purpose. The great truths of a spiritual religion must be clearly and distinctly

addressed to man's spiritual nature. It is not sufficient to demonstrate these truths to his understanding; they must - be applied directly to his heart. They must reveal man to himself. They must make him feel the dignity of his nature, the value of his hopes, the grandeur of his destiny. The very thing which gives Christianity its power over the soul, which makes it effectual in the work of salvation, is, that it corresponds so perfectly with the inward testimony of conscience. It is at once the expression of its native purity, the manifestation of its most sublime promises, and the remedy for its weaknesses and imperfections. It is the revelation of that moral world, of which we find the first elements in the depths of our conscience, when we are willing to seek them there. For this reason it acts with a mighty power upon our souls, excites in us a living faith that knows no doubt, and rules over our whole life. Accordingly they who wish to promote the influence of Christianity should never lose sight of this essential characteristic.

After expressing, at considerable length, his conviction of the importance of a spiritual religion, in addition to the details of morality, M. Vincent presents several interesting views on the three great religious systems, which, in his opinion, comprise all that are worthy of notice, founded on the teachings of Christ and his apostles, or on philosophical ideas inherent in the human mind. These are Calvinism, Arminianism, and Rationalism. They are characterized respectively, by their placing the central point of religion in God, or in man, or in the relations between God and man. The choice among them, he maintains, is by no means indifferent, whether regarded in relation to their philosophical and critical truth, or their practical application to the mass of society, as popular religious systems. We will give our readers a brief abstract of his sentiments respecting these systems.

Calvinism, which places every thing in God, and annihilates man, is a system of doctrines, according to our author, to which man is led by the developement of his reason, but not by his feelings, or the sentiment of faith. He arrives at predestination by the way of abstract reasoning, and the deduction of consequences. He applies the spirit of logic to the simple principles of nature, feeling, and conscience. pushes the consequences he thus obtains to their utmost limits, for this is the tendency of the faculty which he uses, and

He

in this way creates a world which neither feeling, nor conscience, nor nature acknowledges. The result is a philosophic system, supported by rigorous argumentation, but insufficient as a religion, since it offends the inward consciousness, destroys the sentiment of human dignity, annihilates the value of morality, and allows nothing but an arbitrary will,- all which is at war with every thing that man must feel and believe, in order to be truly religious. This system calls in question human liberty. It introduces into the moral world the same necessity which reigns in the physical world. It destroys at one blow the most solid foundation of all religion. For the consciousness of moral liberty, in the midst of the necessity which commands material nature, is the only fact, yet sufficient and unanswerable in itself, which reveals to us a higher nature, a more sacred order, and, in a word, an immortal future and a God. This system is then at war with the most profound and holy ideas of man,— the ideas, without which, in reality, there is no religion. Accordingly, many have supposed they believed in this system, when, in fact, they did not, because, in spite of themselves, their souls experienced an invincible repugnance to its desolating doctrines. Nevertheless, it responds to the want of the absolute which is inherent in the human soul, it excites the imagination, it penetrates the heart with deep terror, and when it takes possession of a man, it does not possess him half-way. It finds a powerful aid, in the feeling of the vast distance, between the moral law, which is absolute, and the actual life, which is imperfect, to depreciate and annihilate man. But the authority which it exercises, irresistible as it sometimes. is, is not always beneficent. Although some brilliant examples to the contrary may be mentioned, it weakens the feelings of humanity in the soul. This is its most obvious danger. We may justly dread it. It injures the sentiment of respect for man, so much as to produce cruelty, as soon as it is thought that the glory of God is compromised.

Whatever may be the logical consistency of this system, it cannot then accomplish its purpose, because it is not founded on the genuine principles of religion, and because its tendency is deplorable. It may, indeed, with a little management, be made to find access to many minds. But this would be a real misfortune. For it can never gain a general triumph, and this partial success would introduce a division, perhaps incurable.

The next religious system, described by our author, as applicable to the popular wants of France, is Arminianism,✓ the central principle of which is redemption. As Calvinism takes predestination for the basis of its theory concerning man and religion, Arminianism, as it is understood by M. Vincent, is built upon the difference between the idéal of human nature, and the actual condition of man on earth. This difference, recognised in all ages, is announced in the sacred volume as one of its most important doctrines. It regards man in a fallen and degraded state, which prevents the accomplishment of the divine plans for his happiness. The consciousness of each individual confirms this truth, which history always takes for granted, and which is contained in the traditions, the symbols, and the mythology of every nation. The unchangeable justice of God, to which we are led, both by reason and conscience, makes it inevitable that man should suffer a loss of happiness in proportion to the extent of his corruption. At this point, appears one of the great doctrines of Christianity, considered as a miraculous and supernatural revelation. Man could do nothing of himself, to avoid the punishment which he deserved, and the demands of moral order, not only in the earth, but through the universe, require that this punishment should be inflicted. Jesus Christ is sent to resolve the problem of human salvation under these conditions, and his voluntary death is the means of it. Man enjoys the benefit of this dispensation by faith, that is, by the feeling of personal unworthiness, and by his acceptance of this dispensation as the only way of salvation. Thus restored to hope, and feeling more deeply than ever the horror of sin, he is regenerated, and becomes capable of tasting the happiness which God has prepared for him.

Here, then, is a religion, says M. Vincent, which man can accept, a religion which acts strongly upon his affections, which recalls him to the perception of his exalted destiny, and animates him while still on earth with the life of Heaven. But this system, as it is often preached, fails of its end. The reason is, that it is burdened with additions which do not belong to it, and of which this is sometimes the least inconvenience. The mind is thus lost in a multitude of interminable discussions. The heart, without which religion is nothing but a vain sound, takes no interest in such abstrusi

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