good and evil may be? Does not every man, for instance, know, unless blinded by the prejudices of education, (like the inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope,) that it is good to honour his parents? Do not all men, however uneducated, or barbarous, allow, It is right to do to others as we would have them do to us? And are not all, who know this, condemned in their own minds, when they do any thing contrary thereto ? as, on the other hand, when they act suitably thereto, they have the approbation of their own consciences?

5. This faculty seems to be what is usually meant by those who speak of Natural Conscience; an expression frequently found in some of our best Authors, but yet not strictly just. For though in one sense it may be termed Natural, because it is found in all men, yet properly speaking, it is not Natural; but a supernatural gift of God, above all his natural endowments. No, it is not nature but the Son of God, that is "the true light, which enlighteneth every man which cometh into the world." So that we may say to every human creature, "Hé," not nature," hath shewn thee, O man! what is good." And it is his Spirit which giveth thee an inward check, which causeth thee to feel uneasy, when thou walkest in any instance contrary to the light which he hath given thee.

6. It may give a peculiar force to that beautiful passage, to consider by whom, and on what occasion the words were uttered. The persons speaking are Balak the king of Moab, and Balaam, then under divine impressions: (it seems, then "not far from the kingdom of God," although afterward he so foully revolted.) Probably Balak too at that time experienced something of the same influence.— This occasioned his consulting with, or asking counsel of Balaam, his proposing the question to which Balaam gives so full an answer, Micah vi. 5, &c. "O my people, (saith the Prophet in the name of God,) remember what Balak the King of Moab consulted, (it seems in the fulness of his heart,) and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him.

Wherewith, (said he,) shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression? The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" (This the kings of Moab had actually done, on occasions of deep distress: a remarkable account of which is recorded in the third chapter of the second book of Kings.) To this Balaam makes that noble reply, (being doubtless then taught of God,) "He hath shewed thee, O man! what is good: And what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

7. To take a more distinct view of Conscience, it appears to have a threefold-office: First, it is a witness, testifying what we have done, in thought, or word, or action: Secondly, it is a judge passing sentence on what we have done, that it is good or evil. And, Thirdly, it, in some sort, executes the sentence by occasioning a degree of complacency in him that does well, and a degree of uneasiness in him that does evil.

8. Professor Hutcheson, late of Glasgow, places Conscience in a different light. In his Essay on the Passions, he observes, That we have several senses, or natural avenues of pleasure and pain, besides the five external senses. One of these he terms, "The public Sense, whereby we are naturally pained at the misery of a fellow-creature, and pleased at his deliverance from it. And every man, says he, has a moral sense, whereby he approves of benevolence and disapproves of cruelty. Yea, he is uneasy, when he himself has done a cruel action, and pleased when he has done a generous one."

9. All this is, in some sense, undoubtedly true. But it is not true, that either the public or the moral sense, (both of which are included in the term Conscience,) is now natural to man. Whatever may have been the case at first, while man was in a state of innocence, both the one and the other is now a branch of that supernatural gift of God,

+

which we usually stile preventing grace. But the Professor does not at all agree with this. He sets God wholly out of the question. God has nothing to do with his scheme of virtue, from the beginning to the end. So that to say the truth, his scheme of virtue is Atheism all over. This is refinement indeed! Many have excluded God out of the world: he excludes him even out of religion!

10. But do we not mistake him? Do we take his meaning right? That it may be plain enough, that no man may mistake him, he proposes this question, "What if a man in doing a virtuous, that is, a generous action, in helping a fellow-creature, has an eye to God, either as commanding, or as promising to reward it? Then, (says he,) so far as he has an eye to God, the virtue of the action is lost. Whatever actions spring from an eye to the recompence of reward, have no virtue, no moral goodness in them." Alas! was this man called a Christian? How unjustly was he slandered with that assertion! Even Dr. Taylor, though he does not allow Christ to be God, yet does not scruple to term him "A person of consummate virtue." But the Professor

cannot allow him any virtue at all!

11. But to return. What is Conscience in the Christian sense? It is that faculty of the soul, which, by the assistance of the grace of God, sees at one and the same time, 1, Our own tempers and lives, the real nature and quality of our thoughts, words, and actions. 2, The rule whereby we are to be directed: And, 3, The agreement or disagreement therewith. To express this a little more largely, Conscience implies, First, The faculty a man has of knowing himself, of discerning both in general and in particular, his own tempers, thoughts, words, and actions. But this it is not possible for him to do, without the assistance of the Spirit of God. Otherwise self-love, and indeed every other irregular passion, would disguise, and wholly conceal him from himself. It implies, Secondly, a knowledge of the rule, whereby he is to be directed in every particular, which is no other than the written Word of God. Conscience implies, Thirdly, a knowledge that all his thoughts,

and words, and actions, are conformable to that rule. In all these offices of Conscience, the Unction of the Holy One is indispensably needful. Without this neither could we clearly discern our lives and tempers; nor could we judge of the rule whereby we are to walk, or of our conformity or disconformity to it.

12. This is properly the account of a good Conscience, which may be in other terms expressed thus, a divine Consciousness of walking in all things according to the written Word of God. It seems indeed, that there can be no Conscience, which has not a regard to God. If you say, "Yes: there may be a consciousness of having done right or wrong, without any reference to him." I answer, This I cannot grant. I doubt whether the very words, right and wrong, according to the christian system, do not imply in the very idea of them, agreement and disagreement to the Will and Word of God. If so, there is no such thing as Conscience in a Christian, if we leave God out of the question.

13. In order to the very existence of a good Conscience, as well as to the continuance of it, the continued influence of the Spirit of God, is absolutely needful. Accordingly, the Apostle John declares to the believers of all ages, "Ye have an Unction from the Holy One; and ye know all things;" all things that are needful to your having "a conscience void of offence, toward God and toward man." So he adds, "Ye have no need that any one should teach you," otherwise "than as that anointing teacheth you." That anointing clearly teacheth us those three things, First, the true meaning of God's Word. Secondly, our own tempers and lives, bringing all our thoughts, words, and actions, to remembrance; and, Thirdly, the agreement of all, with the Commandments of God.

14. Proceed we now to consider, in the second place, the several sorts of Conscience. A good Conscience has been spoken of already. This St. Paul expresses various ways. In one place he simply terms it, a "good Conscience toward God:" in another, "a Conscience void of offence

toward God and toward man." But he speaks still more largely in the next: "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our Conscience, that in simplicity," with a single eye, "and godly sincerity, we have had our conversation in the world." Meantime he observes that this was done," not by fleshly wisdom:" commonly called prudence; (this never did, nor ever can produce such an effect:) "but by the grace of God," which alone is sufficient to work this in any child of man.

15. Nearly allied to this, (if it be not the same placed in another view, or a particular branch of it,) is a tender Conscience. One of a tender Conscience is exact in observing any deviation from the Word of God, whether in thought, or word, or work, and immediately feels remorse and selfcondemnation for it. And the constant cry of his soul is, "O that my tender soul may fly

The first abhorr'd approach of ill:

... Quick as the apple of an eye

The slightest touch of sin to feel."

16. But sometimes this excellent quality, tenderness of Conscience, is carried to an extreme. We find some who fear where no fear is, who are continually condemning themselves without cause; imagining some things to be sinful, which the Scripture no where condemns; and supposing other things to be their duty, which the Scripture no where enjoins. This is properly termed, a scrupulous Conscience, and is a sore evil. It is highly expedient to yield to it as little as possible; rather it should be matter of earnest prayer, that you may be delivered from this sore evil, and may recover a sound mind: to which nothing would contribute more, than the converse of a pious and judicious friend.

17. But the extreme which is opposite to this, is far more dangerous. A hardened Conscience is a thousand times more dangerous than a scrupulous one: that can violate a plain command of God, without any self-condemnation ; either doing what he has expressly forbidden, or neglecting what he has expressly commanded; and yet without any