aught that appears in the word of God, or in the nature of the case, the Holy Spirit may consistently regenerate the infant without conditions, as well as the adult in connection with conditions.

God entered into covenant with Abraham and his seed, and appointed a seal. That infants were included in the promised blessings of the covenant, is evident from the fact that the seal was applied to infants. The Gentile who is converted to Christ, and is dedicated by baptism into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, the Christian substitute for the ancient seal, becomes thereby a member of "the commonwealth of Israel," and an heir "to the covenants of promise." Being now of "the seed of Abraham" in the spiritual sense, he has the right and the privilege of dedicating his infant offspring to God by the application of the Christian seal of the covenant. Thus the converted jailer "was baptized, he and all his, straightway," because Paul and Silas had assured him, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Here is one ground upon which multitudes of bereaved Christian parents have felt authoritatively assured of the salvation of their deceased infant offspring through the grace of God in Christ.

That all infants are regenerated, there is the best of reasons for denying; for multitudes grow up and die incorrigible sinners. Whether all who die in infancy are regenerated and prepared for heaven, is a question which those, who lay the emphasis of all certain assurance upon baptism, answer with only a hesitating affirmative, if with an affirmative at all. But those, who regard the ordinance of infant baptism as mainly important in its bearings upon the probation and welfare of such as attain to years of conscious obligation, are yet not without what is deemed, by some of the best expositors, scriptural authority for believing that all who die in infancy are prepared for heaven by grace. This authority is found in the declaration of the Saviour to his disciples, when they rebuked certain parents who presented their "infants" to him for his blessing: Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." As Calvin has been persistently charged, in some quarters, with holding that those who die in infancy are lost, and as Calvinists have had to share the

obloquy, a peculiar interest may be felt in his exposition of this passage.

"He [Christ] declares that he wishes to receive children; and at length, taking them in his arms, he not only embraces, but blesses them by the laying on of hands; from which we infer that his grace is extended even to those who are of that age. And no wonder; for since the whole race of Adam is shut up under sentenee of death, all from the least to the greatest must perish, except those who are rescued by the only Redeemer. That there is no other way in which we are reconciled to God, and become heirs of adoption, than by faith, we admit as to adults, but, with respect to infants, this passage demonstrates it to be false." *

...

This should satisfy even those who, for the sake of a plausible theory of infant salvation, are ready to sacrifice the scriptural doctrine of native depravity. Avoiding the errors of those who deny the sinfulness of this portion of our race, Calvin, by asserting their sinfulness, and therefore their dependence upon atonement, was able to argue, consistently with what seems to be the authority of God's word, that all who die in infancy are saved by grace, and therefore admitted into heaven.

The doctrine of original sin, or of native depravity, instead of being denied for the sake of a consistent theory of infant salvation, must rather be maintained for that very purpose. On the fact of their sinfulness rests the possibility of their being made subjects of grace; and when this fact is admitted, it is easy to see how all the passages of Scripture, which bear upon the subject, harmonize one with another and with the general plan of salvation. On no other theory is there any authoritative encouragement for Christian parents to indulge the pleasing hope of ever uniting with their departed infant children in the ascription; "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father: to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever."

*Harmony of the Evangelists, II, 390, 391. Calvin Translation Society's edition.

ARTICLE II.

THE PUBLICATION OF FREE DESCRIPTIONS OF VICE.

Is it proper to publish free descriptions of vice? The question is often asked, but directly opposite answers are given among those who seem alike sincere in desiring the moral elevation of society. This difference of opinion is not to be settled by authority, but will only give place to perfect accord, when the true point, in human nature, upon which the whole subject hinges, becomes truly apprehended. We need not be hopeless of such a result. The principles which must adjust the issue, can be clearly beheld by the open eye, for they are intimated in all the processes of our rational or spiritual culture. The means by which this culture is secured, will be found chiefly to consist in the contemplation of some rational object. In the realm of beauty or fine art, the taste becomes refined, and the aesthetic susceptibility is rendered quick and keen, not by descriptions of beauty nor criticisms upon art, but by beholding the beautiful itself, as scenes of nature or works of art disclose it. No culture of the taste is practicable but in this way. Even the individual genius, however highly endowed with original insight, quickens his perceptions, and cultivates all his artistic powers by the models of perfect art which he makes his study, while the culture of the mass of men is even more dependent upon the same appliances. Tasteful productions only can elevate the community in taste. Their standard of taste will be high according as the works of art, which they contemplate, are lofty. In this respect a work of art is of far more account than all descriptions of it. A sight of Turner's paintings would do more to educate and elevate the taste than all the books of Ruskin.

The same principle controls all progress in virtue. A man is made good by goodness; we are only taught how to live by the exhibition of life. And the kind of life which we behold, together with the thoughts which we associate with it, will be quite certain to have its reflection in our own life. We are

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made pure by the contemplation of purity, and are defiled by bringing before the eye images of vice, which we are to look upon unattended by any manifestation of virtue. This is true alike of the individual and the community. No man nor society is raised to any true moral elevation except as the moral virtues are contemplated not in the form of abstract principles which might describe or commend them, but in some personal representation which should give us their embodiment. In like manner both man and society inevitably deteriorate in the perception and the practice of virtue by the naked contemplation of vice. We change into the likeness of what we behold. Whenever any picture is brought before us there is a process of secret photography by which its outlines become traced upon our inner character, and we become more exalted or degraded, more pure or defiled according to the characteristics of the representation which has been furnished us.

We might exhibit this at great length, but it is only necessary that the principle we affirm should be clearly apprehended, and the decision of the question with which we started, is plain without further discussion. On these grounds, the publication of free descriptions of vice is an unmingled evil. The tendency of all such publications is to make those to whom they are familiar less virtuous or more vicious than they were before. But this position is seen to be more firmly established if we notice the objections often urged against it. Does not the Bible, it is said, give these free descriptions of vice, and can we improve upon its representations as a means for the moral education of mankind? The answer to this is plain. The descriptions of vice in the Bible are always accompanied by the representation of the divine justice which has been sinned against, and the divine love which seeks to sanctify, so that in every biblical picture these and not the vice are the prominent objects, or rather, they are the constantly revealing light in which alone the nature of the vice is made legible. How different, certainly, are such descriptions, from those prurient details with which a certain portion of the newspaper press is in the habit of inciting the desire and inflaming the passions of those who peruse them!

But from another point we hear the inquiry: Does not the

vice exist? Is not the actual condition of society far worse than is likely to be described, and can it be wise to hide from ourselves that which though so terrible, is still so true? Ought not men to know the danger in order that they may avoid it? To this last inquiry the answer is that the danger of vice is more likely to be incurred than avoided by seeing what it is. Instances are not unfrequent, where the profligate or the criminal has traced back his career to its source in some familiarity with vice or crime before he had committed them, but we have yet to learn of any warning voice which these have uttered, or of any revolting colors in which they have been dressed sufficient to turn unwary footsteps from the dangerous ground. Whether we can explain it or not, we cannot ignore the fact that there is that in human nature to which the attractions of vice, when held up before it, are more potent than its repellancies. But in reference to the question, whether we ought not to inform ourselves in all respects about the actual state of mankind, we may say that however desirable such information may be, there is only one way in which it can truly come. We do not know the vice as vice, except by comparing it with vir

We are not conscious of the degradation into which man has sunk till we measure it by the height from which he has fallen. It is not the false and the wrong which can measure themselves. We can never say that anything is false till we test it by the truth. We can never affirm anything to be wrong until it appears as such in the light of the right. The dark recesses of guilt in the human soul, or the deep abysses of evil in human society, have no power of self-revelation, by which they can be disclosed as they truly are. We may talk about guilt, we may attempt to picture vice, but we do not see it in a reality which makes us shudder, we do not truly know it as it is, except as we behold it in the colors with which it is invested by all perfect righteousness and infinite love. No man ever comes to know himself as guilty but by comparing himself with one who is truly good. This is profoundly illustrated when the Bible represents Isaiah as overwhelmed with the knowledge of his own sinfulness by the vision which he beheld in the temple of the holiness of the Lord. It is universally true that what is impure can only be revealed as such by that