Earlier text: DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE OF CHRIST.Rest, weary soul!
The penalty is borne, the ransom paid,
For all thy sins full satisfaction made;
Strive not to do thyself what Christ has done,
Claim the free gift, and make the joy thine own;
No more by pangs of guilt and fear distress,
Rest, sweetly rest! Rest, weary heart,
From all thy silent griefs and secret pain,
Thy profitless regrets and longings vain;
Wisdom and love hath ordered all the past,
All shall be blessedness and light at last;
Cast off the cares that have so long opprest;
Rest, sweetly rest! Rest, weary head!
Lie down to slumber in the peaceful tomb;
Light from above has broken through its gloom;
Here, in the place where once thy Saviour lay,
Where he shall wake thee on a future day,
Like a tired child upon its mother's breast;
Rest, sweetly rest! I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. The Commentary.
By W. C. G.
Tell me the meaning of Scriptures. One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of earthly streams.—M'Cheyne. Infidel Objections to the Bible Answered. No. 18.
*_No Work to be done on the Sabbath under penalty of death._*—Whosoever doeth any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Ex. xxxi, 15. And they found a man that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day . . . And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses. Num. xv, 32, 36. *_Jesus Christ Broke the Sabbath and justified his Disciples in the same._*—Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day. John v, 16. At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it they said unto him, Behold thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. But he said unto them . . . Have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless. Matt. xii, 1-5. A TOTAL misunderstanding of the nature and obligation of the Sabbath seems to have been the occasion of the above attempt to create a contradiction in the word of God. A misunderstanding, too, which is not peculiar to avowed infidels, but which characterizes many of the efforts of those who are in opposition to the Creator's great memorial. Let us look at the case of the man who was stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. We are not to suppose that the simple act of gathering a handful of sticks for the purpose of building a fire by which to warm himself, was the occasion of his summary punishment, for as we examine the nature of the case it is apparent that the offense was a willful, presumptuous transgression of the law. The children of Israel were so situated that no fire was needed, either for personal comfort or for culinary purposes, and as his crime was an aggravated one, he was made an example that others might see the awful consequences of willful disobedience. To the declaration that our Saviour broke the Sabbath, and justified his disciples in so doing, we have only to quote his words in reply to the Pharisees, who preferred this charge against him: “It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” He also declared that his disciples were guiltless of the charge of doing “that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.” Matt. xii, 7. Acts of mercy and works of necessity are now and always were lawful on the Sabbath, and the work which is forbidden by the commandment is servile labor, that which is not necessary on the Sabbath, and which can be done as well on some other day. W. C. G. Chapter xxiii. 1. And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old; these were the years of the life of Sarah. Sarah is the only woman whose entire age is recorded in Scripture.—She was ten years younger than Abraham, and died thirty-eight before him.—God often takes the youngest before the eldest.—Fuller. It is somewhat remarkable that Sarah is the only female mentioned in the Scriptures, whose age, death, and burial are distinctly noted. She was 65 at the period of Abraham’s departure from Haran, lived with him in his pilgrim state 62 years, and died 38 years before him. She is always spoken of in the sacred writings as the pattern of conjugal fidelity and love, and her example is held forth by the apostle, 1 Pet. 3, 6, as the highest model for Christian women, and the title of her “daughters” as their most honorable distinction. The very fact that so few of the incidents277speaks strongly in her favor; for there is little in the even tenor of female life, when that life is passed in the retired and noiseless path of devotedness to God, and in the peaceful round of domestic duties, which can or ought to form the subject of the historian’s pen. The very privacy of the Christian graces, manifested in such a walk and conversation, while it endears them the more to the select circle in which they move, and which alone can duly appreciate their unobtrusive amiableness and worth, is adverse to their gaining eclat. The traits of character which best entitle them to celebrity, are the very ones which prevent their attaining it.—Bush. Chap. xxiv. 45. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well and drew water, and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. Some things form more proper subjects for secret than for social prayer; Abraham’s servant therefore used mental prayer, and was silent, till the singularity of the answer required that it should be communicated.—Scott. Chap. xxv. 6. Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. The word, rendered “gave up the ghost,” means no more than expired, or ceased to breathe. A Greek word of similar import is used concerning Ananias and Sapphira. . . . The expression, “gathered to his people,” decides nothing concerning the eternal state of the persons spoken of, being used without any exact discrimination of characters.—Scott. Verse 31. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. Birth-right.] It is generally supposed that the rights of primogeniture were, 1. Authority and superiority over the rest of the family. 2. A double portion of the paternal inheritance. 3. The peculiar benediction of the father. 4. The priesthood previous to its establishment in Aaron’s family. Chap. xxvi. 5. Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Kept my charge.] Heb. my keeping, i. e. ordinances to be kept; a general term for whatever God commands or ordains for man’s observance. Commandments] i. e. moral precepts; as those of the decalogue, and also occasional directions or appointments, such as the command to leave the land of the Chaldees, to offer up Isaac, &c. Statutes.] i. e. Ceremonial institutes, rules and ordinances respecting ritual services, such as circumcision, sacrifice, distinction of clean and unclean, &c. These are founded solely on the will of God, and not upon the intrinsic nature or propriety of things. Laws.] i. e. Authoritative instruction in regard to the doctrines and duties of religion in general; moral teachings which bind the conscience.—Bush. Verse 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundred-fold; and the Lord blessed him. An hundred-fold.] If this be the meaning of the passage (for it is not without difficulty), it was an extraordinary increase, and an evident effect of the divine blessing.—Scott. Varro says, that in Syria, near Gadara, and in Africa, about Bizantium, they reaped a hundred bushels from one; nay, Bochart shows from several good authors, that some places in Africa produced two or three hundred-fold. So that what Moses mentions here as extraordinary is far from being incredible.—Stackhouse. Chap. xxvii. 16. And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck. The animals in those hot climates are not covered with so thick a coat of hair as they are in more northerly regions. [And Bochart observes, that in eastern countries goat’s hair was very like to that of men.]—Scott. Dr. A. Clarke thinks Isaac’s sense of feeling must also have been impaired by his malady.—Jenks. Verse 27. And he came near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his raiment and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. The smell of his raiment.] The Orientals sprinkle their clothes with sweet-scented oils, extracted from spices; they fumigate them with the most valuable incense or scented wood, and also sew the wood of the aloe in their clothes. Dr. A. Clarke thinks aromatic herbs were used, as thyme, lavender, &c., to defend from moths, and remarks that he has seen sprigs and leaves of such plants put in eastern MSS. for the same purpose; and this would lead Isaac’s recollection to the fields where such plants grew. As the smell of a field.] Pliny observes that “the land after a long drought, moistened by the rain, exhales a delightful odor, with which nothing can be compared;” and “that it is a sign of a fruitful soil, if it emits an agreeable smell, when ploughed.”—Rosenm. in Burder. Ainsworth says, “this ‘goodly raiment’ was in all likelihood, the holy robes, received from their ancestors,” and thinks it probable “the first-born had such (Exod. xxxviii, 2-4.) to minister in. These were not in Esau’s keeping, but the mother of the family kept them in sweet chests, from moths and the like.” So also Bush, at large.—Jenks. THE TEMPTERS WITHIN.
By Sel.
The sinners that entice from within are the man's own thoughts and desires. There is quite an army of these in a young man's breast. Thoughts have wings. They pass and repass unobserved. They issue forth from their home in the heart, expatiate over every forbidden field, and return like doves to their windows, through the air, leaving no track of their path. These thoughts become acquainted with sin. They are accustomed to visit the haunts of vice without detection. They revel unchecked in every unclean thing. They open up the way, and prepare a trodden path on which the man may follow. A gossamer thread is attached to an arrow, and shot through the air unseen, over an impassable chasm. Fixed on the other side, it is sufficient to draw over a cord; the cord draws over a rope; the rope draws over a bridge, by which a highway is opened for all comers. Thus is the gulf passed that lies between the goodly character of a youth fresh from his father's family, and the daring heights of iniquity on which the veteran libertines stand. The sober youth stands on the solid platform of religious and moral worth. No one can think it possible that he should go over to the other side. But from the brink on this side he darts over a thought which makes itself fast to something in these forbidden regions. The form no one saw, as it sped through the air, but it has made a lodgment in that kingdom of darkness, and the deeds of wickedness will quickly follow when the way has been prepared. "Out of the heart," said He who knows it, (Matt. xv, 19) "proceed evil thoughts." Exactly that is what we expected; but what come out next? "Murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." That is a horrible gang. How quickly they come on! How closely they follow their leader! Murders and adulteries march forth unblushing; but they follow in the wake of evil thoughts. Oh, if the fountain were cleansed, the streams of life would be pure. So thought David, when, in agony of grief, despairing of his own efforts, he cried, "Create in me a clean heart, O God!" This is the root of the evil, and no cure will be thorough or lasting that does not reach and remove it.—Sel. WHEN the blacksmith wields the hammer, which is made of the same material as that upon which he is working, would not his labor be vain if the face of his hammer had not been properly tempered and prepared, although it should fall with great force upon that which is being wrought? The Christian is of the same nature, with the men of the world; therefore, in order that he may work with success upon them, he must be tempered, it may be through the fires of great trials, but he must be tempered by the Holy Ghost, and made of that heavenly temper and power that he may work upon stony hearts to break them, and fashion rough material to the praise of the glory of Divine grace. ONE of the saddest things about human nature is, that a man may guide others in the path of life without walking in it himself; that he may be a pilot, and yet a castaway. The Candle of the Wicked.
It is the custom of Oriental families to burn a lamp all through the night, usually in every inhabited room. The poorest people would rather retrench a part of their food than dispense with it. The lamps are very simple, usually only a small flat dish with oil in it, and a bit of cloth for a wick. The expression “The candle of the wicked shall be put out,” is equivalent to predicting their total destruction. So, too, when God promises to give David a light always in Jerusalem (1 Kings xi, 36), it is the same as an assurance that his house should never become desolate. READING THE BIBLE FOR THIS—READING THE BIBLE FOR THAT.
By D. F. Newton
“LAMP of our feet! whereby we trace
Our path when wont to stray;
Stream from the fount of heavenly light—
Brook by the traveler's way!” Read the Bible! Multitudes read it, throughout the land. No book, perhaps, is read more than the Bible. Put the question to whom you please, in this land of Bibles, “Do you read the Bible?” The response is almost invariably in the affirmative. It is unpopular to be wholly ignorant of the contents of this blessed book; and yet, with all this reading, how very little is this sacred treasure understood and practised! How few, comparatively, appreciate its value, embrace it, clasp it to their bosoms, drink in its spirit joyfully! Why is it that so few, among the innumerable multitude of Bible readers, read the Bible understandingly and practically, with a firm resolve to make it a lamp to their feet, and a light to their path? 1. It is because many read it merely to have a general idea of what it contains, as a necessary part of polite education. 2. Many read it to obtain the means of proving the dogmas which they already profess. 3. Very many study the Bible from a spirit of pride or self-esteem, or with a design of being considered extremely wise in their own opinion of its contents. 4. Others make themselves familiar with the Holy Scriptures from no higher motive than to be able to explain it to others. 5. Some read it from a spirit of curiosity, without the least design of treasuring up or practising what they read. 6. Not a few read the Bible skeptically, or with a caviling spirit, to controvert its sacred pages. 7. Many study the Bible, or certain portions of it, merely to improve their style of composition. 8. Again, many make themselves familiar with certain parts of the Bible from necessity, to complete their education. This is true of lawyers, doctors, and judges of law. 9. A very large portion of the people, both old and young, read the Bible superficially, pass over its sacred contents hastily, inattentively, and irreverently, without the least desire or intention of being intellectually or spiritually benefited. 10. Others, again, read the Bible with very little profit, from the fact that they adopt no plan, no regular, systematic order in reading it. 11. Again, some read the Bible as they would any human author, without humility, due reverence, and godly fear. 12. The majority of Bible readers do not read God's book, mixed with faith and earnest prayer, for enlightenment. 13. Very many read the Scriptures without any special benefit, from the fact that they do not put away their sins. How can any one expect light from Heaven to shine upon him, enlightening his understanding to understand the Holy Scriptures, while living in open disobedience to any one command? “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” the Psalmist said. “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.” Psa. cxix, 101. 14. Finally, among the multitudes that read this holy book, very few, comparatively, read it with fervent prayer, with a full determination to know and do the whole will of God. This is the only reading of it that is really profitable. In this way, and only in this way, the spirit of it is caught, retained, and exhibited. “Open thou mine eyes,” says the inspired penman, “that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh. i, 8.—D. F. Newton. THE MEASURELESS LOVE.
By Dr. Guthrie
I can measure parental love—how broad, how long, and strong, and deep it is; it is a sea—a deep sea which mothers only can fathom. But the love displayed on yonder hill and bloody cross, where God’s own Son is perishing for us, nor man, nor angel has a line to measure. The circumference of the earth, the altitude of the sun, the distance of the planets—these have been determined; but the height, depth, breadth, and length of the love of God passeth knowledge. Such is the Father against whom all of us have sinned a thousand times! Walk the shore where the ocean sleeps in a summer calm, or, lashed into fury by the winter’s tempest, is thundering on her sands; and when you have numbered the drops of her waves, the sand on her rounding beach, you have numbered God’s mercies and your sins. Well, therefore, may we go to him with the contrition of a prodigal in our ears and his confession on our lips: “Father, I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight.” The Spirit of God helping us to go to God, be assured that the father, who seeing his son afar off, ran to meet him, fell on his neck and kissed him, was but an image of him who, not sparing his Son, but giving him up to death that we might live, invites and now awaits your coming.—Dr. Guthrie. It being well known to some of his persecutors in London that Bunyan was often out of prison, they sent an officer to talk with the jailor on the subject; and, in order to find him out, he was to get there in the middle of the night. Bunyan was at home with his family, but so restless that he could not sleep; he therefore acquainted his wife that, though the jailor had given him liberty to stay till the morning, yet, from his uneasiness, he must immediately return. He did so, and the jailor blamed him for coming at so unreasonable an hour. Early in the morning the messenger came, and, interrogating the jailor, said, “Are all the prisoners safe?” “Yes.” “Is John Bunyan safe?” “Yes.” “Let me see him.” He was called, and appeared, and all was well. After the messenger was gone, the jailor, addressing Bunyan, said, “Well you may go out again just when you think proper, for you know when to return better than I can tell you.” Words.—Beware of impure words.—Filthy conversation is a fruitful means of corrupting. It is the channel by which the impurities of the heart may be communicated to another. And we know who said, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.”—Words are an index of the state of the heart. Hence, says Christ, “By thy words shalt thou be condemned, and for every idle word men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment.” There are those whose conversation is filthy and disgusting. Parents should guard their children from such. They should themselves avoid every indelicate expression, and check the first appearance of any such thing in their children.—Avoid foolish talking and jesting. Children let your words be pure. It is a rudeness among men to ask a favor, and not stay for an answer; and do we count it no fault to pray for blessings, and never to think of them afterward, never to wait for them, never to give God thanks for them? Prophecy is History in Advance. PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY IN ENGLAND.
AN INCIDENT OF ROMISH AGGRESSION.
“DRUNKEN with the blood of the saints,” is the character the apostle gives to that corrupt woman which stands forth upon the prophetic page, as the symbol of the Papal church. The following narration, which we copy from D’Aubigne’s History of the Reformation, shows the methods which that church adopted to advance its interests in England in the seventh century, and is a most striking confirmation of the accuracy of the prophetic description: Augustine, appointed archbishop, not only of the Saxons, but of the free Britons, was settled by Papal ordinance, first at London, and afterwards at Canterbury. Being at the head of a hierarchy composed of twelve bishops, he soon attempted to bring all the Christians of Britain under the Roman jurisdiction. At that time there existed at Bangor, in North Wales, a large Christian society, amounting to nearly three thousand individuals, collected together to work with their own hands, to study, and to pray, and from whose bosom numerous missionaries (Columbanus was among the number) had from time to time gone forth. The president of this church was Dionoth, a faithful teacher, ready to serve all men in charity, yet firmly convinced that no one should have supremacy in the Lord’s vineyard. Although one of the most influential men in the British church, he was somewhat timid and hesitating; he would yield to a certain point for the love of peace; but would never flinch from his duty. He was another apostle John, full of mildness, and yet condemning the Diotrephes, who love to have pre-eminence among the brethren. Augustine thus addressed him: “Acknowledge the authority of the Bishop of Rome.” These are the first words of the papacy to the ancient Christians of Britain. “We desire to love all men,” meekly replied the venerable Briton; “and what we do for you, we will do for him also whom you call the Pope. But he is not entitled to call himself the father of fathers, and the only submission we can render him is that which we owe to every Christian.” This was not what Augustine asked. He was not discouraged by this first check. Proud of the pallium which Rome had sent him, and relying on the swords of the Anglo-Saxons, he convoked in 601 a general assembly of British and Saxon bishops. The meeting took place in the open air, beneath a venerable oak, near Wigornia (Worcester or Hereford), and here occurred the second Romish aggression. Dionoth resisted with firmness the extravagant pretensions of Augustine, who again summoned him to recognize the authority of Rome. Another Briton protested against the presumption of the Romans, who ascribed to their consecration a virtue which they refused to that of Iona or of the Asiatic churches. “The Britons,” exclaimed a third, “cannot submit either to the haughtiness of the Romans, or the tyranny of the Saxons.” To no purpose did the archbishop lavish his arguments, prayers, censures, and miracles even; the Britons were firm. Some of them who had eaten with the Saxons while they were as yet heathens, refused to do so now that they had submitted to the Pope. The Scotch were particularly inflexible; for one of their number, by name Dagan, would not only take no food at the same table with the Romans, but not even under the same roof. Thus did Augustine fail a second time, and the independence of Britain appeared secure. And yet the formidable power of the popes, aided by the sword of the conquerors, alarmed the Britons. They imagined they saw a mysterious decree once more yoking the nations of the earth to the triumphal car of Rome, and many left Wigornia uneasy and sad at heart. How is it possible to save a cause, when even its defenders begin to despair? It was not long before they were summoned to a new council. “What is to be done?” they exclaimed, with sorrowful forebodings. Popery was not yet thoroughly known: it was hardly formed. The half-enlightened consciences of these believers were a prey to the most violent agitation. They asked themselves whether, in rejecting this new power, they might not be rejecting God himself. A pious Christian, who led a solitary life, had acquired a great reputation in the surrounding district. Some of the Britons visited him, and inquired whether they should resist Augustine or follow him. “If he is a man of God, follow him,” replied the hermit. “And how shall we know that?” “If he is meek and humble of heart, he bears Christ’s yoke; but if he is violent and proud, he is not of God.” “What sign shall we have of his humility?” “If he rises from his seat when you enter the room.” Thus spoke the oracle of Britain: it would have been better to have consulted the Holy Scriptures. But humility is not a virtue that flourishes among Romish pontiffs and legates: they love to remain seated while others court and worship them. The British bishops entered the council-hall, and the archbishop, desirous of indicating his superiority, proudly kept his seat. Astonished at this sight, the Britons would hear no more of the authority of Rome. For the third time they said No—they knew no other master but Christ. Augustine, who expected to see these bishops prostrate their churches at his feet, was surprised and indignant. He had reckoned on the immediate submission of Britain, and the Pope had now to learn that his missionary had deceived him. Animated by that insolent spirit which is found too often in the ministers of the Romish Church, Augustine exclaimed: “If you will not receive brethren who bring you peace, you shall receive enemies who will bring you war. If you will not unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life, you shall receive from them the stroke of death.” Having thus spoken, the haughty archbishop withdrew, and occupied his last days in preparing the accomplishment of his ill-omened prophecy. Argument had failed: now for the sword! Shortly after the death of Augustine, Edelfrid, one of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and who was still a heathen, collected a numerous army, and advanced toward Bangor, the center of British Christianity. Alarm spread through those feeble churches. They wept and prayed. The sword of Edelfrid drew nearer. To whom can they apply, or where shall they find help? The magnitude of the danger seemed to recall the Britons to their pristine piety: not to men, but to the Lord himself will they turn their thoughts. Twelve hundred and fifty servants of the living God, calling to mind what are the arms of Christian warfare, after preparing themselves by fasting, met together in a retired spot to send up their prayers to God. A British chief, named Brocmail, moved by tender compassion, stationed himself near them with a few soldiers; but the cruel Edelfrid, observing from a distance this band of kneeling Christians, demanded: “Who are these people, and what are they doing?” On being informed, he added: “They are fighting, then, against us, although unarmed;” and immediately he ordered his soldiers to fall upon the prostrate crowd. Twelve hundred of them were slain. They prayed and they died. The Saxons forthwith proceeded to Bangor, the chief seat of Christian learning, and razed it to the ground. Romanism was triumphant in England. The news of these massacres filled the country with weeping and great mourning; but the priests of Romish consecration (and the venerable Bede shared their sentiments) beheld in this cruel slaughter the accomplishment of the prophecy of the holy pontiff Augustine; and a national tradition among the Welsh for many ages pointed to him as the instigator of this cowardly butchery. Thus did Rome loose the savage Pagan against the primitive church of Britain, and fastened it all dripping with blood to her triumphal car. A great mystery of iniquity was accomplished. Not content with the late demonstrations at Rome, the Papacy is about to call an Œcumenical Council. In dying, it struggles hard, for it seems not conscious that its agony is mortal; but hopes, like the drowning man, that, by catching at straws, it may yet rise to life and power. Nothing could prove more its fatal condition, inherent weakness, and utter self-delusion, than the means it uses for its self-rescue. One of the most astonishing of these means was its declaration of the Immaculate Conception, made with the utmost pomp a few years since. Notwithstanding the general tendency of modern thought against the “supernatural,” it dared to venture on this preposterous affirmation. That tendency is chiefly a reaction against the extravagances of “supernaturalism,” especially as they have prevailed under the pervading influence of the Papal church in Europe. All true, enlightened believers could not fail to perceive the importance of protecting well the just supernatural claims of Christianity, at such a time particularly, by guarding against such extravagances as might, unnecessarily, challenge the skepticism of the age. But Popery, on the contrary, chose directly to provoke it not merely to new criticism, but to general ridicule and sarcasm. Not content with vindicating with us all the legitimate supernaturalism of the holy Scriptures, it took its stand on an extra-Scriptural, not to say an un-Scriptural dogma, respecting the mother of Christ. It thereby attempted to affirm, not the supernaturalism of Christianity, but of the Papacy—of the poor, imbecile, effete Popedom itself; for it claimed to determine, by inspiration of the Pope and his assembled prelates, a doctrine which had never been dogmatically taught by Christendom, which has not a word of intimation in the Scriptures, which had been stoutly denied by great Catholic authorities for ages, and which is revolting to all modern reason, not to say modern rationalism—namely: that the Virgin Mary herself was born in a manner exceptional to all the rest of the human race. The civilized world looked upon the scene in Rome with astonishment; the irreligious world laughed; devout, enlightened men mourned. Popery put itself again under the heel of a gainsaying world by this act. Europe had long seen that Romanism deified the Virgin; in the pompous scenes at Rome, at the time of this new declaration, it beheld an attempted re-consecration of the mediæval and expiring idolatry. A severer self-infliction could hardly have been made by the dying Papacy. Exasperated by its self-delusion, it has again attempted to impose upon the wondering world by its late demonstrations in the Eternal City. It assembled its prelates from the four quarters of the planet. It displayed all its banners and pomps.—But what did it all amount to? What new or enlightening truth was uttered to our enquiring age? What measure proposed in aid of the advancing civilization and liberty of the human race? None whatever. Even the egregious blunder, the unpardonable impolicy of the Vatican in being the only power on earth that recognized the slaveocratic traitors of America, was not qualified, except in general non-committal babblings of good wishes for America. The world has looked in vain to the late displays at Rome for anything befitting our age or civilization. It saw there only a reproduction of the mediæval ceremonies. It averted its gaze with mortification, if not contempt, from a most important part of the ceremonies—the opening, on a given day, of all the city churches expressly for the exhibition of their “relics.” These hollow pretensions, these Dark-Age shams, were the last insult that Rome could give to the intelligence of the nineteenth century. But prelates from the United States, from England, from Germany, from the very centers of modern civilization, went in processions, from temple to temple, bowing and mumbling Latin ejaculations over the display of decayed bones, finger-nails, wooden splinters, rusty spikes, antique pocket-handkerchiefs, etc. The whole significance of the prelatical assembly was a theatrical exhibition of mediævalism. But does Romanism expect to conquer the world by theatrical performances? The world is on its sublime279march, from battle-field to battle-field, of intellectual and moral victory; Roman ecclesiasticism turns harlequin on the wayside, expecting to arrest the mighty column by its display of puerile frippery and dramatic trickery. What can the world, in the nineteenth century, do but laugh, or brush the child’s play aside out of its sight? We are told by newspaper correspondents that the Italians themselves “have ridiculed greatly these fêtes.” In the shops of Florence, numerous portraits or pictures could be seen, which represent the Pope and his acolytes under the most comical and grotesque forms. How could Romanism recover its authority by such absurd means? There is but one way for the Papal church to re-establish itself; it must renounce its false traditions, its worldly pomps, its tyrannical pretensions, and return to the truth which is in Christ. But will it do this? Will it consent to introduce into its bosom great reforms? The history of the past does not warrant us in hoping it. Thus, in spite of brilliant shows, it is marching toward the abyss, and must sooner or later fall into it.” The expected General Council will but precipitate it into that abyss. When it meets to challenge once more the attention of the civilized nations, they will virtually and rightfully say to it: “You pastors of the millions of the people, priests and princes of the church, bear the chief responsibility; you call yourselves their teachers, their guides, their saviours. What have you now to say for their amelioration, their enlightenment, their liberation? Dare you to speak again for their tyrants? Do you still confirm the encyclics against their right of conscience, their self-government, their struggles to save themselves and their children? Proscribe you again the free intellect of Europe, the science and enterprise which are putting bread into their hands, light into their brains, and hope into their hearts? Answer, and be prepared to survive or perish according as ye answer.” We all know what that answer will be; for we all know that Rome must perish—is now perishing.—The Methodist. It is better to pray than to fret. It is a pity to cheat one's self of true happiness by not looking at times and circumstances in God's light. If you keep any burden or care from Christ he is not your bosom friend. He who said, “Children, have ye any meat?” is to-day ready to hear your cry for temporal blessings.