contrary, it accords with the highest conceptions we can form of the
benevolence of the Deity, that he should thus look upon his creatures in
their hour of need; and the system disclosing such communication
appears, upon every principle of sound philosophy, to be one of harmony,
consistency, and truth. The subject, therefore, leads our attention to
that inward change, so often the scoff of the profane, but to which so
prominent a place is assigned in the sacred writings, in which a man is
said to be created anew by a power from Heaven, and elevated in his
whole views and feelings as a moral being. Sound philosophy teaches us,
that there is a state in which nothing less than such a complete
transformation can restore the man to a healthy moral condition, and
that, for producing it, nothing will avail but an influence from without
the mind,--a might and a power from the same Almighty One who originally
framed it. Philosophy teaches, in the clearest manner, that a portion of
mankind require such a transformation; Christianity informs us that it
is required by all. When the inductions of science and the dictates of
revelation harmonize to this extent, who shall dare to assert that the
latter are not truth. Who, that places himself in the presence of a
being of infinite purity, will say, he requires not such a change; or
that, for the production of it, he needs no agency, beyond the resources
of his own mind. If none be found who is entitled to believe he forms
the exception, we are forced into the acknowledgement of the truth, so
powerfully impressed upon us in the sacred writings, that, in the eye of
the Almighty One, no man in himself is righteous; and that his own power
avails not for restoring him to a state of moral purity.

From the whole of this inquiry, we see the deep influence of habits, and
the fearful power which they may acquire over the whole moral system;
considerations of the highest practical interest to those who would
prevent the formation of habits of an injurious nature, or who, feeling
their influence, strive to be delivered from them. There is indeed a
point in this downward course, where the habit has acquired undisputed
power, and the whole moral feelings yield to it unresisting submission.
Peace may then be within, but that peace is the stillness of death; and,
unless a voice from heaven shall wake the dead, the moral being is lost.
But, in the progress towards this fearful issue, there maybe a tumu