It is not to human opinion that I will now call your attention, but to the written word of the Living God,that word which is acknowledged, both by Protestants. and Roman Catholics, to be written by inspiration.

In the first place I shall address myself to those opinions that Mr. Macdonnell has expressed respecting the corrupt Bible that hath been distributed through this country. I know not whether the Reverend Gentleman alludes to the authorized version of the Scriptures that hath been sent forth by the Bible Society and the Church of England, or to some corrupt translation that hath gone forth, of which I have never heard. He has not, however, specified to you a single one of the corruptions of that word, he has not turned your attention to a single passage in the word of the authorized translation that has been corrupted; but, so far from this being the case, we can shew, on the other side, that even Roman Catholics themselves esteem our authorized version of Holy Scripture to be a good one; for Dr. Doyle, a priest in Ireland, speaking of that translation, said, It was a noble work.

But, to pass the opinion of an individual, let us come to the Douay Bible, which I hold in my hand; and what do we find in it? In the New Testament alone, I have here lying before me several passages that have been changed in various editions, and every change of these passages has only brought them nearer and nearer to the authorized version of Holy Scripture. I shall quote one or two of these passages, and from them you may judge of the others.

In the 1st chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, and 7th verse, in the Rhemish edition of the New Testament, published in 1582, I read that verse thus translated :

"As it is reasonable for me, this to think for all you, for that I have you in heart, and in my bands, and in the defence and the confirmation of the Gospel, all you to be partakers of my joy."

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In the edition of 1829 it is thus translated:-"As it is meet for me." Here the word "reasonable" is changed for the expression "meet," adopted from the authorized version. "As it is meet for me to think this for you for that I have you in my heart"-in the edition of 1582 it is "in heart"-" that in my bands, and in the defence and confirmation of the Gospel, you all are partakers of my joy." I give you this one verse as a sufficient specimen

out of a number that might be quoted, were it necessary now to do so.

How cometh it to pass that the Church of Rome hath published these various editions of the Bible, differing so materially the one from the other, and each correction and change in language causing them more closely to resemble the authorized translation?

I also ask Mr. Macdonnell to account for the fact of Sixtus the Fifth putting forth a Bible, in the preface of which he declares, that he had assembled together all the most learned men, from almost the whole of the Christian world, to ensure its correctness, and yet that Clement the Eighth discovered that so many errors had crept into this edition, as to make it necessary to publish a new edition of the Vulgate Bible.

The argument drawn by the Reverend Gentleman from the corruption of translations, resembles the elephants of old, who retreated on their own camp, and destroyed the host they were brought to defend.

Mr. Macdonnell has told us, that contradictory declarations cannot both come from God, - that He does not teach both the Unitarian and the believer in the Deity of Christ. This is a self-evident truth; and had he examined the declaration of the Council of Trent, he would have found that any man who denies the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, rests under the anathema of that Council; and therefore, according to his own principle, the Unitarian could not have been taught of God. But the Church of England does not receive the Unitarian as a member of the Church of Christ; for in her creeds and articles there are plain declarations which make up this propositionThat the Unitarian cannot be a Christian.

When the Reverend Gentleman was dwelling on this subject, he said that the Unitarians have the same rule of faith we have. Now I beg to deny that position; for the Unitarian has not the same rule of faith. Mr. Belsham, one of the chief leaders among them, has acknowledged that the Unitarian does not believe in the Plenary Inspiration of the Word of God,-that is, he does not believe that the whole of the Bible has been written by inspiration, -he does not receive this truth, that "holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost." In order to prove that they have not the same rule of faith, they have published a New Testament, which they call an Improved Version, in which many passages of the authorized version

are omitted or changed, evidently shewing that the Unitarian and we have not the same rule of faith.

But again-the Gentleman has told us "that Christ alone could give a rule," and then he puts this question"Is there any part of Christ's conduct that shews that the Scripture is that rule?" Now I think there are various parts of Christ's conduct that shew very clearly that the Scriptures were the only rule that he acknowledged. Turn, in the first place, to the 4th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, and there, when Christ "was tempted of the devil," you find him invariably using, against the temptations of Satan, the words, "It is written."-Jesus answered and said, "It is written."-Again Jesus said, "It is written." Here then we find that our Lord Jesus Christ, in his own practice, when he was contending against Satan, appealed, not to any tradition,not to any new rule,—but simply, and solely, to the Scriptures of the Old Testament; he drew out of the armoury of God the only shafts that it pleased him to use in his defence against Satan; and what was the issue? Satan shrunk from the contest, baffled and subdued ;-" he then left him ;"-the Son overcame by the word of God-Satan departed, "and angels came and ministered" to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Moreover, when we proceed in the history of Jesus, in the opening of the 15th chapter of Matthew, we find him arguing against the traditions of the Pharisees, and supporting the authority of holy writ.

"Then came to him from Jerusalem Scribes and Pharisees, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the ancients? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answering, said to them: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God for your tradition? For God said, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that shall curse father or mother, let him die the death."

Here he teaches us that adherence to tradition was a transgression of the commandments of God, -that where the tradition is not in accordance with the written word, it will only lead men away from that word. He then quotes certain passages, to shew how they perverted this rule by the glosses of their traditions, and then quotes from the prophet Isaias, saying—

"This people honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men."

From these instances of Christ's practice, together with many more to which we cannot now direct your attention,

we learn that it was our Lord's invariable custom to appeal to Holy Scripture.

We now pass from the practice of Christ, to examine whether He hath not also given to the Apostles a command to write the Holy Scriptures. Mr. Macdonnell said that Christ never told them to write. Yesterday, when Mr. Tottenham was arguing on this question, he shewed that the very fact of inspiration was a sufficient command, and therefore it is unnecessary for me now to go over that part of the argument; but I will come to the express declarations of the Apostles themselves on this subject of writing. Take, in the first place, the book of the Apocalypse, or the Revelation. In the 1st chapter and 10th and 11th verses of this book it is written :

"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest WRITE IN A BOOK.'

Here is the cominand of the Lord Jesus Christ-" What thou seest, WRITE IN A BOOK."--Again, in the 19th verse of the same chapter:-

"WRITE therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are and which must be done hereafter."

Again, in the 1st verse of the 2nd chapter :"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus WRITE."

Again, in the 8th verse:

"Unto the angel of the church of Smyrna WRITE."

Again, in the 12th verse:

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"Unto the angel of the church in Pergamos WRITE."

Again, in the 18th verse:

"Unto the angel of the church of Thyatira WRITE."

Again, in the 3rd chapter and 1st verse:

"Unto the angel of the church in Sardis WRITE."

And in the 7th verse:

"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia WRITE."

Again, in the 14th verse:

"To the angel of the Laodiceans WRITE."

Again, in the 14th chapter of the same book, when God would comfort his own children under the scenes of manifold affliction to which they may be exposed, in the day of persecution, in the 12th and 13th verses it is said :

"Here is the patience of the saints who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me: WRITE, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours: for their works do follow them."

Again, in the 21st chapter and 5th verse it is said :

"WRITE, for these words are most faithful and true."

Here we read the same command " TO WRITE," several times repeated from the Lord to the Apostle John.

Let us now turn to the 1st Epistle of St. John, the 1st chapter and 3rd verse, where it is said :

"That which we have seen and have heard we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."

Here the Apostle distinctly tells us, that whatsoever things he had seen and heard respecting the Lord Jesus Christ, he had declared to those whom he thus addressed, in order that they might have fellowship with him, and with the Lord Jesus Christ; and then he adds in the next verse what he means by "declaring:"

"These things wWE WRITE to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full."

The object in writing to the Church was, that it might have this record, and might hand it down to future ages, that both may rejoice, and that their joy might be full.

When he would also warn them against sin, and comfort their hearts when they had fallen into and been convinced of their sin, he uses the instrument of writing. In the opening of the 2nd chapter he says:—

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My little children, these things I WRITE to you that you may not sin."

In this instance also it was not left to oral tradition to convey the warning voice to future ages; but to exhort against sin he saith, "these things I WRITE to you."

Again, in the 12th, 13th, and 14th verses, he writes for the comfort of God's children :

"I WRITE unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake. I WRITE unto you, fathers, because you have known him, who is from the beginning. I WRITE unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I WRITE unto you, babes, because you have known the Father. I WRITE unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one."

"I have not WRITTEN to you as to them that know not the truth."