And  just  as  little  of  course  are  the  irregu-
larities of  private  will  to  be  reformed,  by
handing  us  over  to  the  rule  of  a  foreign
public  will,  as  the  measure  of  all  right  and
wrong  for  our  conscience.  It  is  not  in  this
way,  that  Christianity  especially  proposes
to  make  us  free.  The  imagination  of  a
mechanical  system  of  notions  and  rules
brought  near  to  the  mind  from  abroad,  to
be  accepted  by  it  in  a  bhnd  way,  on  the
ground  of  authority  conceived  to  be  di-
vine, is  wholly  aside  from  the  true  charac-
ter of  the  gospel.  Christianity  is  indeed
a  law  ;  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  **  law
of  liberty,"  comprehending  in  itself  the
true  normal  mould  of  our  general  human
life,  into  which  it  must  be  cast  in  every
case,  in  order  that  it  may  be  complete ;
but  into  which  it  can  be  cast,  for  this  pur-
pose, only  by  its  own  consent  and  choice.
