Whatever is according to ordinary experience in the qualities and action of mind, is said to be according to its nature. It is according to the nature of mind, then, sometimes to choose what is good, right and virtuous, and at other times to choose what is evil and wrong, according to its knowledge, temptations and habits. Such a case never was known as a mind that _invariably_ chose wrong. In view of the preceding, it is maintained that the word _nature_, as applied to mind, as settled by lexicographers, is always used to signify the same as its _constitutional powers and faculties_, and that this is the sense in which it is employed when we say “the _nature_ of a construction or design is proof of the character and intention of the author.” We are now prepared to show that theologians use the word nature in this same sense when they affirm that it is totally depraved, and when, at the same time, they teach that it is the image of God, and our only guide to his nature and character. We shall first present the evidence that they use the word in this sense, when they teach that every human mind is so depraved in nature that from birth to regeneration every moral act is sin, and only sin. The first item of evidence is the fact that all the other meanings of the word, in our dictionaries, except this, can be shown to be _not_ the ones in which theologians use the word in reference to men as a race, so that this use is the only one remaining. They must use it in this sense, as the only one left, all others being necessarily excluded. Again, the mode by which they attempt to _prove_ that man has a depraved nature, shows that they use the word in this sense. For they exhibit the _wrong action_, or sinful feelings and conduct of the race, as the chief proof. Their argument is this: the _nature_ of a thing is proved by its qualities, how it acts, and how it is acted upon. The human mind _invariably_ acts depraved, therefore its nature is depraved. No one will deny that theologians always present the wicked feelings and conduct of children and of men as the proofs of a depraved nature. It is true, that in doing this they misstate facts, and maintain that _all_ the actions of men are sin, and only sin. This contradicts experience and common sense, which affirm that the human mind sometimes acts right and sometimes wrong, from the first; showing that the nature of mind is such that it naturally acts right as well as wrong. But this attempt proves that they used the word in the sense here stated.