dual's integrity who solicited his confidence, and likewise of the success of the enterprises in which he was solicited to engage. The advice of his friends was rejected-he placed confidence in the false statements of the individual referred to-he acted upon those statements, and was, consequently, involved in pecuniary distress. In this case, the gentleman not only sincerely believed the falsehood to be the truth, but he had good motives in relation to the object which he desired to accomplish He was a benevolent man. He had expended considerable sums for charitable and religious uses, and his desire was, by the increase of his property, to be enabled to accomplish greater good. In this case he was injured likewise by believing what others did not believe. The individual who seduced him into the speculation, had endeavoured to lead others to take the same views and to act in the same way; they did not believe the falsehood, and were, consequently, saved; he believed, and was, consequently, ruined. When the English army under Harold, and the Norman, under William the Conqueror, were set in array for that fearful conflict which decided the fate of the two armies, and the political destinies of Great Britain, William, perceiving that he could not, by a fair attack, move the solid columns of the English ranks, had recourse to a false movement, in order to gain the victory. He gave orders that one flank of his army should feign to be flying from the field in disorder. The officers of the English army believed the falsehood, pursued them, and were cut off. A second time, a false movement was made in another part of the field. The English again believed, pursued, and were cut off. By these movements the fortunes of the day were determined Although the English had the evidence of their E senses, yet they were led to believe a falsehoodthey acted in view of it; the consequence was, the destruction of a great part of their army, and the establishment of the Norman power in England. How often does it occur that the young female, possessing warm affections and being inexperienced in the wiles of villains, is led to believe falsehood which destroys her prospects and her happiness while life lasts! Under other circumstances, she might have been virtuous, useful, happy. By false indications of affection her heart is won-by false promises of faithfulness and future good, her assent to marry is gained-and then, when too late, she discovers that her husband is a villain, and she is forsaken, with a broken heart, to the cold sympathies of a selfish world. No matter how many hearts, besides her own, are broken by her error! No matter how sincere, or how guileless, or how young; she sincerely believed the falsehood, and is thereby ruined! Nothing in heaven or on earth will avert the consequences. If she had doubted, she would have been saved. She believed, and is consigned to sorrow till she sinks into her grave. Secondly, The belief of falsehood in relation to spiritual things, destroys man's spiritual interests. It is an incontrovertible fact, that the whole heathen world, ancient and modern, have believed in and worshipped unholy beings as gods. Now, from the necessities of the case, as demonstrated in the introductory chapter, the worshipper becomes assimilated to the character of the object worshipped In consequence of believing falsehood concerning the character of God, all heathendom, at the present hour, is filled with ignorance, impurity, and crime. As a mass of corruption spreads contagion and death among all those who approach it, so certainly does the worship of unholy beings attaint the soul, and spread moral corruption through the world. "Can a man take coals into his bosom and not be burned?"-neither can the soul hold communion with beings believed to be unholy and not itself ecome corrupt. The fact is so plain that it is not necessary to detail again the impurities, the vices, the tortures, the self-murders, and the unnatural affections of the heathen world, in order to show the deadly evils, both to the body and soul, which arise from the belief of falsehood in relation to spiritual things. It must be obvious to every one, that if the heathen believed in one holy and benevolent God, their abominable and cruel rites would cease. It follows, therefore, that it is the belief of falsehood that causes their ignorance and corruption. Thus, it is invariably and eternally true, that the belief of truth will lead a man right, and secure his temporal, spiritual, and eternal interests-and on the contrary, the belief of falsehood will lead a man wrong, and destroy his interests in relation to whatever the falsehood pertains, whether it be temporal or eternal. The preceding premises being established, the following conclusions result. 1. The entire man, in his body and soul, his actions and moral feelings, is governed by what he believes; and that, in relation to things that should have a constantly increasing influence over the spirit, faith is a more powerful actuating cause than sight, because the one gains, while the other loses power over the soul by repetition. 2. That the belief of falsehood, concerning any human interest, is fatally injurious; while the belief of truth is eternally beneficial. And, that the more sincerely any one believes error, the more certainly he destroys his interests, whether temporal or 100 PHILOSOPHY OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION spiritual; while, on the contrary, the more sincerely a man believes truth, the more certainly and powerfully are his interests advanced. The living God has connected evil with the belief of falsehood, and good with the belief of truth; it is a part of the constitutional law of the moral universe; and there is no power in existence, that will stop the consequence from following the antecedent. Mark it-That doctrine which rectifies the conscience, purifies the heart, and produces love to God and men, is necessarily true, because, as it has been demonstrated that righteousness and benevolence are the greatest good of the soul; and likewise that the greatest good must depend on the belief of truth; therefore, the conclusion is inevitable, that that doctrine which, being believed, destroys sin in the heart and life of man, and produces righteousness and henevolence, is the truth of God. No matter whether men can comprehend all its depths and relations or not, if it destroys sin wherever it takes effect by faith, and makes happiness grow out of right living and right loving, from the constitution of things-from the character of God-from the nature of man-that doctrine is the TRUTH OF GOD. And that doctrine which hinders this result, or produces a contrary result, is the falsehood of the devil.* 4. Therefore Christ laid at the foundation of the Christian system, this vital and necessary principle, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned,"-saved in accordance with the moral constitution of the universe, and damned from the absolute necessities existing in the nature of things. * John viii. 44. CHAPTER XV CONCERNING THE MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD WHICH UNDER THE NEW AND WOULD BE NECESSARY, SPIRITUAL DISPENSATION, TO PRODUCE IN THE SOUL OF MAN AFFECTIONATE OBEDIENCE. MAN's mental and moral constitution was the same under the New as under the Old Testament dispensation. The same methods, therefore, which were adapted to move man's nature under the one, would be adapted to do so under the other. The difference between the two dispensations was, the first was a preparatory dispensation, its manifesta tions, for the most part, being seen and temporal, the second, a perfect system of truth, spiritual in its character, and in the method of its communication. But, whether the truths were temporal or spiritual, and whether they were brought to view by faith or sight, in order to produce a given effect upon the soul, or any of its powers, the same methods under all dispensations would be necessary, varied only to suit the advancement of the mind in knowledge, the differences existing in the habits and circumstances of men, and the character of the dispensation to be introduced. For instance: under one dispensation-it being in a great measure temporal, preparatory, and imperfect-love might be produced by making men feel temporal want, and by God granting temporal benefits: while under a spiritual and universal system, men must likewise feel the want, and receive the benefit, in order to |