will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said God forbid that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God he it is who brought us up and our fathers, out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great things in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out from before us all the people even the Amorites which dwelt in the land; therefore will we also serve the Lord, for he is our God."-Joshua xxiv. 14-18. "Say unto them As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"-Ezek. xxxiii. 11. "Because I have called and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity and mock when your fear cometh. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof: therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices."-Prov. i. 24-26, 29-31.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!"—Luke xiii. 34. "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproaches of Christ greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recoinpense of reward."-Heb. xi. 24.

"God commandeth all men every where to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.' -Acts xvii. 31.

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of

Christ that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."-2 Cor. v. 10.

All these passages bear luminous evidence on one point, and conspire towards one conclusion. They show that man has liberty as a moral agent, that his deeds are the transcript of his own disposition, and his volition the body of his choice. Upon this is predicated his subjection to moral government, and his accountability at the supreme tribunal.

At this stage of the inquiry a sceptic draws near, and with all that urbanity for which the tribe are so celebrated, he desires to be heard:-You have not complied with the solemn appeal of the Christian about foundation principles. You have incontrovertibly shown that God holds man responsible, but you must allow one who doubts the authenticity of your book and the loveliness of your Supreme Legislator, to place the inquiry in a different attitude. The question with me is, Is God justified in holding man responsible? You need not be startled by the question, for you must admit that we do possess in our very constitution some guage or measure by which justice is recognized on earth or in heaven. If this were not the case there would be nothing in man to which even a revelation could appeal in demanding the subjection of his heart. Fully granted.

I began with the Book of Law which I recognize in showing that God holds man responsible. But now I am perfectly ready to join you in your inquiry, Is God justified in holding man responsible? and in prosecuting the subject in this tract, I am willing to examine any book or all the books in the universe. God forbid that we should cultivate slavish fear in a superstitions gloom. If our first principles be just and true they will bear light from all quarters, and shine even in darkness, but if they be false the sooner they be overthrown the better. G. GREENWell.

RANKE THE HISTORIAN, AND THE PAPAL GOVERNMENT.

(Continued from page 172.)

IN accordance with our outline, we notice first the germs of the papacy which existed in the primitive churches, the

seminal principles and practices which had such a dire development. The apostolic record discloses to us a number of polluted rills breaking out in the sanctuary, yet at that time vigilantly confined by strong embankments. Ecclesiastical history changes the scene, and we behold the streams which at first were so scanty, gathering strength and volume, combining and commingling in their progress, until at length they become a confluent river of death, broad, deep, and resistless; swelling and foaming on through the channel of ages until the few vestiges of spiritual loveliness that remained, only served to deepen the sternness of the general desolation. In pointing out the organic sects which existed in the early church, one caution is especially necessary, if the reader should be tempted to exclaim, How is it that so many discordant principles of evil, and so many conflicting forms of disorder could coalesce together and be fused into one mass? the reader need not be reminded that it is of the" mystery of iniquity" we write, and that the final truth of such a marvellous combination was a monster. The apostle Paul declared that the mystery of iniquity was already working. It was working in the Roman church, where the Gentiles were lifted up in their own conceit, because they, the outcasts of ages, had been received into the divine family and favour; whilst, as they imagined, the ancient people of God had been accursed and smitten with eternal blindness. It was likewise working among the believing Jews of the same church, who continued to look upon the Gentiles as an inferior race. They were slow to learn that the divine philanthropy, in all its fulness, was no longer to be bounded by Palestine, or monopolized by a people; but as a vast ocean of life and love, to roll from land to land in healing and sanctifying power. It was working in the church at Corinth when they manifested the carnality of their minds by ranging themselves under different leaders, exclaiming, We are of Paul, and we are of Apollos, and we of Christus, thus forsaking the primitive simplicity, and breaking up the moral unity, to create one that was only earthly, The apostle rebuked them by inquiring if Christ was divided-if Paul was crucified for them or if they were baptized in the name of Paul? It was working in the same church when they forsook the

* Some say "Crispus," the chief ruler of the synagogue.

simple order of breaking the loaf in reverential joy, which the inspired apostle had delivered, and they endeavoured to assimilate the Supper of the Lord to the popular festivities of the land. In consequence of this disorderly conduct, many of them became weak and sickly, and some of them died. Having eaten and drank their own condemnation by not discerning the Lord's body; by not understanding the solemnity of the associations connected with the celebration of such an amazing fact. It was working in the same church when all their plenitude of spiritual gifts served merely to raise their lofty imaginations, until they were inflated with spiritual pride, and involved in unseemly confusion. It was working in the churches in Galatia, where their minds were darkened by Judaising teachers, who earnestly desired to bring back again the yoke and the shadows of a moonlight economy; when they manifested a partiality for those days, and months, and times, which were merely the weak elements of a broken bondage. Then the apostle stood in doubt of them, and found it necessary to remind them that the gospel he had delivered was not committed to him by the teaching of man; but by the revelation of Jesus Christ, adding, with fearful emphasis, That if he or even an angel from heaven preached any other gospel, than the one which had been already proclaimed, they would be accursed. It was working in the church to which the apostle John wrote, where Diotrephes loved to have the pre-eminence. This led the apostle to declare that when he visited them, he would remember his malicious deeds and haughty words, in calumniating the apostle and his fellow-labourers, in refusing to receive the messengers who were sent, and casting out of the church those that were willing. It was working when those sensual and covetous men arose in the church, teaching false doctrines and unholy practice, for the sake of filthy lucre. Men who were portrayed by the apostles Peter and Jude, in the most appaling imagery, "as trees withered and plucked up by the roots, as raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame; clouds tossed with the tempest; wandering stars, to whom was reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." But we need not travel through all the churches, as those referred to already, were gathered in eminent and central places, so that any dereliction from the simplicity of the truth or the sanctity of holiness was sure to prevail as a contagion. Enough has been stated to shew

there were in existence gerins of manism, spiritual pride, and selfishness, ritual parade, domination, and sensuality.

There were several potent agencies of a restraining nature by which these germs were prevented from having a very early development. The first was, the magnitude, splendour, and freshness of ancient Christianity. It had arisen in strength and brightness in a world of spiritual death, and heart-rending despair; and all those who were awakened from the deep sleep of sin and death, received such an infusion of celestial life-experienced such a vast revolution were lifted up to such a lofty moral elevation, that they were clothed and imbued with life and power, faith, hope, gratitude, zeal, and love; all their convictions, emotions, and deeds corresponded for a time with the sublimity, spirituality, and disinterested love of the system which they had embraced.

Second. There was the presence and living jurisdiction of the apostles who were known and acknowledged as the organs of inspiration-the documented legatees of heaventhe solemnly appointed ambassadors of Christ.

Third. There was the awe of that penal supernatural power which the apostles possessed and exercised in chastising with pains and diseases the men who began to lose their young love, and forgot that they had been washed from their old or former sins.

Fourth. The varied persecutions by which they were saved from all worldliness, and cemented together in the love of truth alone; those whose earthly possessions were always insecure, and whose lives were always hanging in suspense, clung for consolation to those spiritual realities which they knew were abiding. Their intellectual and moral energies were called into continual exercise; their faith grew strong and commanding; and their hope soared on triumphant wings into its own unsullied element.

Fifth. The varied gifts of the Spirit, by which even the ordinary brethren were enabled to combine supernatural with moral dignity, maintaining (whatever their social position) an immediate and lofty connexion with the highest heaven. But the passing away of these restraining principles or agencies, and the unfolding of the germs of corruption and apostacy, must be reserved for another communication. G. GREENWEll.