our making a profession of truths which the irreligious are either
ignorant of, or oppose?"

"There is," rejoined Mr. Stanley, "as I have already observed, a more
infallible criterion. It is best known by the effects it produces on the
heart and on the temper. A religion which consists in opinions only,
will not advance us in our progress to heaven: it is apt to inflate the
mind with the pride of disputation; and victory is so commonly the
object of debate, that eternity slides out of sight. The two cardinal
points of our religion, justification and sanctification, are, if I may
be allowed the term, correlatives; they imply a reciprocal relation, nor
do I call that state Christianity, in which either is separately and
exclusively maintained. The union of these manifests the dominion of
religion in the heart, by increasing its humility, by purifying its
affections, by setting it above the contamination of the maxims and
habits of the world, by detaching it from the vanities of time, and
elevating it to a desire for the riches of eternity."

"All the exhortations to duties," returned Mr. Tyrrel, "with which so
many sermons abound, are only an infringement on the liberty of a
Christian. A true believer knows of no duty but faith, no rule but
love."

"Love is indeed," said Mr. Stanley, "the fountain and principle of all
practical virtue. But love itself requires some regulations to direct
its exertion; some law to guide its motions; some rule to prevent its
aberrations; some guard to hinder that which is vigorous from becoming
eccentric. With such a regulation, such a law, such a guard, the divine
ethics of the gospel have furnished us. The word of God is as much our
rule, as his Spirit is our guide, or his Son our 'way.' This unerring
rule alone secures Christian liberty from disorder, from danger, from
irregularity, from excess. Conformity to the precepts of the Redeemer is
the most infallible proof of having an interest in his death."

We afterward insensibly slid into other subjects, when Mr. Tyrrel, like
a combatant who thought himself victorious, seemed inclined to return to
the charge. The love of money having been mentioned by Sir John with
extreme severity, Mr. Tyrrel seemed to consider it as a venial failing,
and said that both avarice and charity might be constitutional.

"They may be so," said Mr. Stanley, "but Christianity, sir, has a
constitution of its own; a superinduced constitution. A real Christian
'