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AUTHOR: 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 SIGNS OF THE 
 TIMES.... 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DA TE : 
 
 1854 
 
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 , ^' Signs of the times. . .lecturea delivered on 
 
 behalf of the Cliurcii of Englaxid's Young merits society*.. 
 
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 No. 1 of a vol. of pamphlets. 
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 riE SIGNS OF THE TIMES: ^ 
 
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 Cohimbia Slnlucrsltvi 
 in tlic Cltu of iXciu XJovU 
 
 SIX LECTURES 
 
 i)KI,n li-Hl:!> UN BEHALF OF TK£ 
 
 mnttf) of lEnglanlj 
 YOUNG MEN'?-*»OCIETY 
 
 AT 
 
 TiFK 'SmOSM, SCHOOL-ROOM, iSOilOCGII-ilClD, SOUTHWARfv. 
 
 PART J. 
 
 
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 WEKTIIEIM AND AIACINTOSH, 
 
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 1854. 
 
 
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 THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES: 
 
 COWTAININO THE FIRST 
 
 SIX LECTURES 
 
 DELIVEaED ON BEHALF OF THE 
 
 QEj^urtj^ of lEnglanti's 
 
 YOUNG MEN'S SOCIETY, 
 
 ▲V 
 
 THE NITIONAL SCH00L-R00i£. BOROUGH-ROAD, SOUTHWARK. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WERTHEIM AND MACINTOSH, 
 
 24, PATEBNOSTEE-EOW. 
 1854. 
 
/ 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 : 1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 l.'i 
 
 
 LECTURE I.— Page 1. 
 
 RABBINISM AND ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 BY THE REV. WM. CADMAN, M.A., 
 
 XBCTOR OF ST. GEORGE's, PRESIDENT OF THE AUXILIARY. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 fM 
 
 LECTURE IL— Page 3L 
 
 O.THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, OF THE 
 J HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 BY THE REV. C. J. GOOD HART, M.A., 
 
 HIMISTER OF PARK CHAPEL, CHELSEA. 
 
 LECTURE III.— Page 54. 
 
 f 'I -)'' 'r^E GREEK CHURCH, ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 BY THE REV. J. P. WRIGHT, 
 
 CLERICAL SECRETARY OP THE CENTRAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Ir 
 
 ^ 
 
 LECTURE IV.~Page 71. 
 
 ^«pE TEACHING OF THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 CTKOME CONTRASTED BY THE ACCREDITED AUTHORITIES 
 
 OF EACH RELIGION. 
 
 ' BY THE REV. J. E. COX, M.A., F.S.A., 
 
 VICAR OF ST. Helen's, bishopsgate. 
 
 3064S2 
 
IV 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE v.— Page 96. 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED IN THE LIGHT 
 
 OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOSEPH BAJLEE, D.D., 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF ST. AIDAN'S COLLEGE, BIRKENHEAD. 
 
 LECTURE VL— Page 125. 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE AMELIORATION OF OUR 
 
 HOME POPULATION. 
 
 BY THE REV. A. B. gURTON , M.A., 
 
 ASSOCIATION SECRETARY 0» THE CHURCH PASTORAL-AID 80CIETT. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 RABBINISM AND ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 BY THE KEY. WM. CADMAN, M.A., 
 
 RECTOR OP ST. OEORGE THE MARTYR, SOUTHWARK, AND PRESIDENT 
 
 OP THE AUXILIARY. 
 
 Our Chairman has mentioned, that the planning of these 
 lectures was committed into my hands by the Society 
 that has been formed here; but, perhaps, I ought to explain, 
 that I did not choose any one of the lectures for myself, and 
 that it is rather against my will that I have to take the 
 lecture which is to occupy your attention to-night. I really 
 thought that I had quite enough to do, without having 
 any personal share in these lectures, and I hoped that, 
 perhaps, they might be taken more profitably and success- 
 fully by others. I am very thankful, however, for the 
 assistance of the numerous kind friends who have come 
 forward to deliver lectures on the important subjects that 
 have been announced ; and I desire, so far as I shall be 
 enabled, to put the present subject before you in a plain 
 and unadorned way; but still in such a way, that there 
 may be a greater comprehension of it than, perhaps, in 
 many minds at present exists. 
 
 The subject is " Rabbi nism and Romanism compared.** 
 I have authorities on Rabbinism on my right hand, and 
 authorities on Romanism on my left; and I shall have 
 occasion, sometimes, to take a book here, sometimes a 
 book there. I trust you will give me your patient atten- 
 tion, while I endeavour to unfold the subject in this 
 manner. 
 
 I think it is advisable, in the first instance, to begin 
 with a definition of terms, that so there may be °no 
 mistake as to our meaning. What is it that we mean by 
 
2 RABBINISM AND 
 
 Rabbinism ? and what is it that we mean by Romanism ? 
 By Rabbinism, I understand modern Judaism — the 
 religion of modern Jews, as taught by their Rabbis ; and 
 by Romanism, I understand the rehgion of Christ, as in- 
 culcated by the Church of Rome, more especially since 
 the Council of Trent, in 1545. There are great 
 mistakes prevalent respecting both these matters. 
 Modern Judaism, or Rabbinism, has been mistaken 
 for the religion taught by Moses, and contained in the 
 Old Testament Scriptures. It has been said, that we 
 Christians derive our religion from them, — that theirs is 
 the foundation of ours, so that we cannot condemn their 
 system without putting the axe to the root of our own ; 
 and politicians have gone on (though my province is not 
 politics) to argue from this that Jews ought to be 
 admitted to Parliament. After a similar manner, modern 
 Romanism- — for that must be modern which has only had 
 the stamp of infallibility put upon it since the year 1545 — 
 has been mistaken for the religion of Christ, taught by 
 the apostles, and held by the early Church ; and it has been 
 said, that we Protestants derived the most important part 
 of our religion from them ; that theirs is the old religion, 
 and ours the new ; that the Protestant religion was no- 
 where, in fact, before the time of Luther. The truth 
 is, however, that Rabbinism is no more the religion of 
 Moses, than modern Romanism is the religion of Christ. 
 Both are bad copies of the originals — perverted repre- 
 sentations of the truth. There is light in both, but it 
 comes through a false medium. It is not the light of the 
 Bun, but the dark shadow cast by his bright beams, 
 coming through the painted window of human devices. 
 Judaism has been described as the religious system con- 
 tained and acknowledged in the prayers of the Jewish 
 synagogue, and professed by all who use them as their 
 ritual of worship ; and after the same manner, I may say, 
 that Romanism is contained in the breviary and missal, 
 and decrees, and councils of the Church of Rome. In short, 
 Rabbinism, or Judaism, is the Old Testament explained 
 according to the traditional or oral law, which owes its 
 orif'in to the Rabbis : Romanism is the Bible explained 
 according to what are termed apostolical and ecclesiastical 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 traditions ; but which really owe their origin to Popes, and 
 monks, and councils. Rabbinism is Jewish Popery; and 
 Popery is Gentile Rabbinism. In both there is a 
 substitution of a human system for the truth of God, and 
 a teaching of men to rely upon that which is human as if 
 it was Divine. 
 
 Now, in instituting a comparison between these two 
 systems, a difficulty arises from the prevailing ignorance 
 — if I may use the term without offence — on both of them. 
 They have passed in the world unchallenged, because 
 persons have either been unacquainted with their real 
 nature, or have not suspected their hidden evils. But we 
 are met to-night to challenge them, to tell them to stand 
 until we can see what is the mask they wear, what is 
 their real nature, and what their hidden deformities. In 
 doing so, I shall appeal to authorized documents ; but I 
 wish most anxiously to explain, that I trust I shall be 
 enabled to follow the example of Him whom we all, as 
 Christians, acknowledge to be our Lord and Master. 
 Rabbinism existed in his day, and He drew a very 
 careful distinction between the system, and the people 
 who were its victims. He condemned, indeed, in most 
 severe language, the Rabbis, the scribes, and pharisees, 
 who were the authors of th^ delusion that was practised 
 upon the people ; but for the people themselves He had 
 no other feeling but that of the tenderest compassion and 
 the most unbounded love. So I trust that, whether 
 speaking of Rabbinism or Romanism to-night, I may be 
 led in all that I say, carefully to distinguish between the 
 system and the people. I would condemn Rabbinism, 
 but I would pity the Jews, and pray for the hastening 
 of that blessed time of which some of us heard in the 
 discourse last night at church, — the time when Jesus shall 
 appear as " a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the 
 glory of his people Israel," and when God will remember 
 his covenant with Jacob, and with Isaac, and with 
 Abraham, and will remember the land. And so, while I 
 cannot, in common faithfulness to the convictions which I 
 hold, but condemn Romanism, I would earnestly pray for 
 those who are at present addicted to that system, that the 
 voice may be heard among them, and responded to, " Come 
 
 B 2 
 
k 
 
 4 RABBINISM AND 
 
 out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of het 
 sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues/' 
 
 I shall have occasion to make use of terms which may 
 not be familiar to some ; therefore, 1 would just explain 
 what I mean by Talmud, and Mishna, and Gemara, and 
 Breviary, and Missal, and so on. The Talmud signifies 
 wisdom, or doctrine : it is a Jewish book, divided into 
 two parts ; the first is Mishna, or second law ; the second 
 part is Gemara, which is a sort of commentary. The 
 Breviary is a book used in the Church of Rome, and by 
 Romish priests, and contains a great number of legends 
 concerning their canonized saints ; and the Missal is the 
 book of the mass, containing an account of their devotional 
 services. I proceed at once, then, to the subject. 
 
 And I desire to state, in the first place, most distinctly, 
 that the present system of Rabbinism, and the present system 
 of Romanism, are both the results of tradition. Our blessed 
 Lord rebuked the authors of Rabbinism, when He said unto 
 them, — " Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, ye have 
 made the Word of God of none effect by your traditions." 
 The same condemnation, I verily believe, is equally 
 applicable to the system of Romanism. But I am not 
 here to speak of matters for which I give no proof. Let 
 us come to the proof. I cftarge Rabbinism with under- 
 valuing the Word of God, in comparison with tradition; 
 and I will give you a few samples. Speaking of the law, 
 the Mishna and the Gemara, this is the language of the 
 Rabbis : — " The law is water, the Mishna is wine, the 
 Gemara is spiced wine," the best of all. The Talmud is 
 spoken of as being of as good authority as the Bible. It 
 is taught that all the traditions of the Rabbis are to be 
 completely believed and followed ; that the commentators, 
 Jarchi and others, are to settle the meaning of Scripture, 
 and not private judgment : yea, there is a curse fulminated 
 against those who interpret passages differently. Then it 
 is laid down, that the plain granmiatical sense of Scrip- 
 ture is to be taught to few, and that none but Hebrew 
 prayers must be used, however few understand them. 
 Here again it is declared, — '* Read much of the law, and 
 the histories, and the Psalms, little of the prophets. 
 If any read much of the Scriptures, he is an Epicurus, 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 ^ that is, a heretic, or infidel ; but, if he study much of the 
 Talmud, this is meritorious." You observe in these 
 extracts, that Rabbinism teaches, that although the law is to 
 be reverenced, and read, and studied, the Talmud is to be 
 a great deal more reverenced, and thought of, and studied; 
 that if the one is as water, very necessary ; yet the other 
 is as wine, and must be valued more. 
 
 Now, I am sure that every one at all acquainted with 
 Romanism must see here, in the first place, a complete 
 similarity ; for what is said in the creed of Pope Pius IV., 
 which you will remember dates from the period of the 
 Council of Trent ? After reciting the Nicene Creed, the 
 Pope goes on to say: " I most firmly admit and embrace 
 apostolical and ecclesiastical traditions, and all other 
 constitutions and observances of the same Church." 
 Then, " I also admit the sacred Scriptures." Mark the 
 different way the two are spoken of. First, "I most 
 firmly admit and embrace traditions." " I also admit the 
 Scriptures," comes in the second place. Does not this 
 sound very much like the Rabbis' saying " that the law 
 is water and the Talmud wine?" Accordingly, some 
 of the Romish doctors have declared that the Scrip- 
 tures are now unnecessary, seeing that the Church has 
 determined all truth. 
 
 But I proceed to rotice the ideas of infallibility which 
 we find in the system of Rabbinism. We are told that 
 the Rabbis and the authors of the Talmud cannot err. 
 Here is infallibility claimed at once. We are told that 
 their honour is as sacred as that of God himself ; and in 
 the advice given we find the following passage : — " Thou 
 must consider no honour greater than the honour of the 
 Rabbi, and no fear greater than the fear of the Rabbi. 
 The wise men have said, * The fear of thy Rabbi is as the 
 fear of God.'" So that when this is carried out, the 
 Rabbi occupies to the Talmudical Jew, the Jew who 
 completely follows out the system in the present day — 
 (let me just observe that many do not — that since the 
 publication of a work by Dr. M'Caul, who I hoped would 
 have taken this lecture, called " The Old Paths," there 
 has been a very great reformation taking place among the 
 Jews, and there is a reformed synagogue in London 
 
KABBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 itself) — but to those who completely follow out the sjs-« 
 teni, the Rabbi occupies the place of God. And does not 
 this sound like what we have been accustomed to hear of 
 Romanism ? We are told especially that in the case of 
 confession, the priest is not bound to reveal what is said 
 to him upon his oath, and may deny that he knows any- 
 thing about the matter upon which he is examined, because 
 he knows it when it has been told him in the confessional, 
 not as man, but as God ; and the penitent is taught that 
 the confessor before whom he appears, occu[)ies for the 
 time the place of God. It is very remarkable — and I 
 have been very much struck with this — that the very 
 same argument, modified, is used by both Rabbis and 
 Romish priests, to defend their notions of infallibility. 
 The Rabbis first of all quote that passage in Exodus about 
 the murmuring of the Jews — " Ye have murmured not 
 against us, but against the Lord ;" but in doing so, they 
 take for granted that every Rabbi is invested with the 
 office and authority of Moses ; just as the Romanists take 
 for granted, what they never can prove, that the Pope is 
 invested with the office and authority of Peter. But the 
 passage to which I refer particularly is one that you must 
 all be acquainted with who know anything of the Romish 
 controversy. The Romanists continually direct us to the 
 book of Deuteronomy, tlie 17th chapter and the 8th verse. 
 This is a reference given in some of their catechism books. 
 " If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, 
 between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and 
 between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy 
 within thy gates : then shalt thou arise, and get thee up 
 into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose ; and 
 thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto 
 the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire ; 
 and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment : And 
 thou sliult do according to the sentence, which they of 
 that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee ; 
 and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they 
 inform thee : According to the sentence of the law 
 which they shall teach thee, and according to the judg- 
 ment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do : thou 
 shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show 
 
 thee, to the right hand, nor to the left." In cases of dif- 
 ficulty, and where controversies arise, the Romanists tell 
 us that reference must be made to the priest, and you 
 must seek the law of God at their mouths, and when you 
 know their sentence you must not decline from it to the 
 Tight hand or to the left. It is very remarkable that this 
 is the identical passage quoted by the Rabbis in support 
 of their claim to infallibility. They say that the fear of 
 the Rabbi ought to be as the fear of God, because God 
 himself has said, " They shall tell thee, and thou shalt not 
 decline from the sentence which they shall show thee." 
 I may just remark, though the object is not to give inter- 
 pretations of Scripture, that the true answer to this argu- 
 ment is — that in the first temple, the priest that minis- 
 tered before the Lord could, by means of the Urim and 
 Thummim, make inquiries of the Lord and receive direct 
 answers to their inquiries. There are many instances in 
 the Old Testament in which this has been done. For 
 example : one in the 23d chapter of the 1st Samuel. 
 We are told that " David inquired of the Lord yet again 
 about the Philistines" — that is, David consulted the priest 
 that had the Urim and Thummim, and who could go before 
 the Lord and get a responsive answer to his inquiry. 
 *'The Lord therefore be judge between me and thee, and 
 see and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine 
 hand." (1 Sam. xxiv. 15.) Of course, when an answer 
 was given in this way direct from God, it was infallible. 
 It was just tlie same with the direction given respecting 
 the man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath-day. He 
 was put in ward, until Moses inquired of the Lord what 
 was to be done unto him ; and the answer was, that he 
 should be stoned with stones, as an example of the reve- 
 rence that should be paid to God's holy day, and a proof 
 that God would enforce that reverence. Again, when a 
 controversy had arisen in Israel, during the time of the 
 first temple, God had arranged that by coming to the 
 place he had named — that is, Jerusalem — and^ inquiring 
 there, the matter might be brought before the judge, and 
 by him referred to God, and an answer given which 
 should at once decide the controversy, the Lord interfer- 
 ing miraculously for the purpose. But was it possible for 
 
8 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 the priests that assembled at Jerusalem to make a mistake 
 when they were gathered together in council ? It is an 
 important inquiry, especially in its bearing on the Roma- 
 nist argument, because the Jewish Sanhedrim claimed 
 infallibility ; and if they were infallible when our Lord 
 was tried before them, they did no wrong in condemning 
 him — in saying that he ought to be delivered up to the 
 secular arm for punishment. But can we come to the 
 conclusion? Is it not revoking? And yet modern Jews 
 are wont to say, that all tlie prophecies that are quoted in 
 order to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah have 
 nothing to do with the question, for the simple reason that 
 they have been already tried by the Sanhedrim in our 
 Lord's time, and found insufficient to establish his claims. 
 
 Now, in order to show that the interpretation given of 
 the passage in Deuteronomy is correct, it may be necessary 
 to point out a passage where, when the priests did not in- 
 quire thus of the Lord, they erred. You observe that the 
 rule was, that they should be gathered together in the 
 place which the Lord did choose— that is, at Jerusalem, 
 where the temple was. Now, in the time of Jeremiah, 
 the priests were all assembled, and we are told in the 
 26th chapter, at the 8th verse, that *' When Jeremiah 
 had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had com- 
 manded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests 
 and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, 
 Thou Shalt surely die. Why hast thou prophesied in 
 the name of the Lord, saying, This house shall be like 
 Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inha- 
 bitant? And all the people were gathered against 
 Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When the princes 
 of Judah heard these things, then they came up from the 
 king's house unto the house of the Lord, and sat down in 
 the° entry of the new gate in the house of the Lord. 
 Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the princes 
 and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die ; 
 for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard 
 with your ears." You see, then, that the conditions 
 that were laid down in Deuteronomy seem, in many 
 respects, to be fulfilled. A matter of controversy seemed 
 to be referred to the priests, and referred to them in the 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 9 
 
 ►lace which the Lord did choose ; and they came to the 
 ^ecision that Jeremiah ought to be put to death. This 
 might be supposed to be an infallible decision : ought the 
 people to obey it ? We read immediately afterwards 
 that Jeremiah spake to all the people, — I will not read 
 the whole of the passage, — at the 14th verse ; "As for 
 me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as seemeth 
 good and meet unto you. But know ye for certain, that 
 if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood 
 upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabit- 
 ants thereof : for of a truth the Lord hath sent me unto 
 you to speak all these words in your ears." Now, I just 
 argue, that here we have a plain case, when the priests 
 assembled at Jerusalem in solemn deliberation were liable 
 to err — a case in which they pronounced an unrighteous 
 sentence— a case in which they condemned even a true 
 prophet to death. The people were not bound by their 
 decision ; innocent blood would have been shed, if that 
 decision had been carried out. God has therefore told us 
 in his Word that the decision of these priests was not 
 infallible. And, therefore, the conditions of the passage 
 in Deuteronomy appear not to have been compHed with. 
 They did not go before the Lord to consult Him in this 
 matter, but they met themselves in solemn deliberation, 
 and passed a sentence entirely contrary to the will of the 
 Lord. So in the case of our blessed Lord — to meet the 
 Jewish argument there— all the priests were assembled in 
 solemn council, and they said that He was worthy of 
 death. But this was the result of their own deliberation. 
 They could not ask counsel of the Lord, for the TJrim and 
 Thummim did not exist in the second temple at all ; they 
 had no opportunity of learning the infallible decision 
 which God had promised to give during the first temple, 
 as you have heard from the book of Deuteronomy. I 
 think this shows that the Rabbis have no claim to infalli- 
 bility from that passage. But then this is a sword with 
 two edges ; for by rescuing the passage from the Rabbis 
 we rescue it also from the Romanists; for this simple 
 reason. Romanists! why, they have nothing whatever 
 to do with it ; this was a direction given to the Jews ; it 
 had reference to the state of things whilst the first temple 
 
10 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 11 
 
 lasted — whilst the Urim and Thummira existed, through 
 which a miraculous response could be had from the Lord. 
 So far from the Romish claim to infallibility being sup- 
 ported by such a passage as this, it does not refer at all 
 to the system of things under the Christian dispensation, 
 but was entirely peculiar to the Jewish. 
 
 Before I pass from this I will just observe, that the 
 Rabbis do not give up their claims to infallibility, but 
 enforce them when they have the power by civil sanction. 
 Not only do they lay down that the despisers of Rabbi- 
 nical authority are excluded from eternal life, but when 
 they had the power in their own hands they prosecuted 
 them before the tribunals, and sentenced them to a 
 pecuniary fine and to excommunication. I could read 
 their sentence, if time permitted ; but this is the substance 
 of it — that they were to undergo eternal condemnation, 
 and in this present life also were subject to temporal 
 punishment. Now, if I might use a common term, does 
 not Rome smack of Rabbinism ? It seems as if there 
 had been almost a close copy ; for Rome, in asserting her 
 claims to infallibility, not only pronounces a sentence of 
 eternal wrath upon those who do not belong to the true 
 Church, as they call it, by refusing to acknowledge infal- 
 libility, but also when they had the power (mark !) they 
 delivered such heretics and rebels and schismatics, to 
 the secular sword. They inflict temporal punishment as 
 well as pronounce eternal. It is laid down in the Jewish 
 law that it is right to persecute even to death any Jew 
 who becomes a Christian; and it is laid down in the 
 canon law of the Church of Rome, that it is lawful to put 
 a baptized man, woman, or child, to death, if he renounces 
 the true Church. 
 
 So far we have proceeded in our examination of the 
 spirit wliich animates these two systems. But I have 
 not yet done. I want to illustrate two other matters. The 
 first of them is the spirit of intolerance which charac- 
 terizes both. You have a Rabbinical sample of this 
 intolerance in the following statement : — " The poor of 
 the idolaters are to be fed with the poor of Israel for the 
 sake of the ivays of peace, they are also permitted to have 
 part of the gleaning, the forgotten sheaf, and the corner 
 
 of the field, /or the sake of the ways of peace. It is also 
 lawful to ask after their health even on their feast day, 
 for the sake of the ways of peace; but never to return 
 (literally reiterate) the salutation, nor to enter the house 
 of an idolater on the day of his festival to salute him. If 
 he be met in the street he is to be saluted in a low tone 
 of voice and with a heavy head. Btit these things are 
 said only of the time that Israel is in captivity among the 
 nations, or that the hand of the idolaters is strong upon 
 Israel. But when the hand of Israel is strong upon them 
 we are forbidden to suffer an idolater amongst us, even so 
 much as to sojourn incidentally or to pass from place to 
 place with merchandvie,^^ Here is a sample of Rabbinical 
 intolerance. "As long as the Jews are under," the 
 Rabbis say, " you must be civil ; but when you get the 
 power into your own hands you must use it." Now, is 
 not this an exact counterpart of the law of Rome ? Rome 
 speaks very civilly in this country now. Dr. Wiseman 
 cried out with great bitterness a year or two ago, because 
 he said they only wanted to establish the hierarchy to 
 introduce the canon law in this country; and he com- 
 plained of being persecuted in not being permitted to 
 introduce it ; and he spoke many fair words and kind 
 speeches and salutations, as it were, by the way. But 
 when we came to examine into this canon law, you will 
 remember, a great deal came out about the oath which 
 Cardinal Wiseman had taken respecting many of us in 
 this country. One part of it was this: "Heretics, 
 schismatics, and rebels, against the same our Lord 
 and his successors, / will persecute and impugn {i.e., 
 fight against) to the utmost of my power,''* The Cardinal 
 denied that he had ever uttered that part. He said 
 his oath was not the same; although this was quoted 
 from the "Pontifical of Rome," yet he said his book 
 was different ; and Dr. Cumming went, you may re- 
 member, just to see his book, and he found, sure enough, 
 that a pen had been drawn through those words. Now, 
 as another proof that they are still in force, there 
 has been an excitement in America, because some Romish 
 bishops there had been publishing the oath which they 
 
12 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 ]3 
 
 took upon consecration, leaving out these persecuting 
 clauses, and Jonathan was too " cute" for them. He 
 knew that the clause was in the oath, perhaps remem- 
 bered what had taken place in the old country a year or 
 two ago : and the result was, that a true copy of the 
 oath of the Romish bishops was circulated in all those 
 parts of America where the Romish bishops had been 
 circulating a mutilated copy. Now, why did they deny, 
 in America, or in England, having used these words — 
 having said that heretics, schismatics, and rebels, they 
 would persecute and oppose ? Simply, because the 
 power is not, at present, in their hands ; but, if they 
 have the power, what are they obliged to do ? It is 
 commanded that archbishops and bishops, either person- 
 ally or by their archdeacons, or other fit persons, go 
 through and visit their dioceses once or twice every year, 
 and inquire for heretics and persons suspected of heresy. 
 Princes, or other supreme powers in the commonwealth, 
 are to be admonished and required to purge their 
 dominions from the filth of heresy. This goodly work 
 of purgation is to be conducted in the following manner : 
 
 " I. Excommunication. This sentence is to be pro- 
 nounced not only on notorious heretics, and those sus- 
 pected of heresy, but also on those who harbour, defend, 
 or assist them, or who converse familiarly with them. 
 
 " II. Proscription from all offices, ecclesiastical or 
 civil, — from all public duties and private rights. 
 
 " III. Confiscation of all their goods. 
 
 " IV. The last punishment is death ; sometimes by the 
 sword, more commonly by fire. 
 
 " Temporal princes shall be reminded and exhorted, 
 and, if need be, compelledy by spiritual censures, to dis- 
 charge every one of their functions : and that, as they 
 would be accounted faithful, so for the defence of the 
 faith, they publicly make oath that they will endeavour, 
 bona fide, with all their might, to extirpate from their 
 territories, all heretics marked by the Church." 
 
 This is the canon law of Rome. But who are 
 these heretics that the Bishops of Rome promise to 
 oppose, and, if they have the power, to extirpate ? There 
 
 IS a very remarkable work published, which contains 
 documents concerning the Romish canon law, copies 
 of which are lodged in the University Library, Cam- 
 bridge ; the Bodleian Library, Oxford ; and also, in the 
 Library of Trinity College, Dublin ; and the work I have 
 in my hand is certified by the Vice-Chancellor of Cam- 
 bridge to contain correct extracts from those documents. 
 At page 12, I read : " It is laid down that the Church of 
 Rome claims power over all baptized human beings. 
 * Heretics, schismatics, apostates, and all such like, being 
 baptized, are bound by the laws of the Church ; which con- 
 cern them because they have been, by baptism, made sub- 
 jects of the Church, nor are they more released from her 
 laws than subjects rebelling against a lawful prince are 
 released from the laws of that prince.'" Here you see, 
 that we are all of us subject to the canon law, if 
 Romanists should ever have the upper hand. May God 
 in mercy grant to our country that Romanism never 
 may ! — that the candle lighted by our martyrs Ridley, 
 Latimer, and Cranmer, may never be extinguished ! 
 But still it is right for us to see what Romanists would 
 do if they could. 
 
 I come, now, to another subject, namely, that of the 
 dispensati(fli of oaths. One thinks that when a man is 
 bound by his oath, there ought to be dependance upon 
 him. But we find Rabbis laying it down in their Talmud, 
 that there are circumstances in which a man may be 
 absolved from his oath. *' If any man swear a rash 
 oath, and afterwards repent of it, because he sees that, if 
 he keep his oath, it will cause him grief, and therefore 
 changes his mind ; or, if something should occur to him, 
 which was not in his mind at the time when he swore, 
 and he repent on that account ; behold, a person in such 
 circumstances is to ask one wise man (rabbi), or three 
 common men, in any place where there is not a wise 
 man, and they absolve him from his oath ; and then it 
 will be lawful to do a thing which he had sworn not to 
 do, or to leave undone a thing which he had sworn to do : 
 and this is what is called absolution from oaths." Thus, 
 if any man finds that any personal inconvenience will 
 arise from his oath, or, if he changes his mind, he may 
 
14 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED, 
 
 lo 
 
 escape from the most solemn obligation which can be laid 
 upon men's consciences, by just getting absolution from 
 one, or three, of his fellow-creatures. Well, this is bad 
 enough ; but Romanism, I am sorry to say, is, in this 
 matter, even worse. Rabbinism only speaks of a rash 
 oath ; and, in further explanation, there is an example 
 given. "If Reuben should adjure Simeon, and he 
 answer, Amen, or accept the oath ; and, afterwards, 
 Simeon should repent of his oath, and ask concerning it, 
 he is not to be absolved except in the^resence of Reuben 
 who adjured him. In like manner, if Reuben should 
 swear, on oath, not to receive any profit from Simeon, or 
 that Simeon should receive no profit from him, and, 
 afterwards, should repent and ask a wise man, he is not 
 to be absolved except in the presence of Simeon con- 
 cerning whose profit he had vowed : yea, even though 
 Simeon were an infant, or a Gentile, he is not to be 
 absolved, except in his presence, in order that he, with 
 respect to whom the vow was made, may know that the 
 other has got absolution from his oath or vow, and that, 
 therefore,, he may receive from or confer profit upon 
 him." This is certainly wrong ; but it lessens the evil a 
 great deal. But in the case of Rome, dispensations from 
 oaths are much more easily obtained, and without any 
 such reservation. Rome can dispense, we are taught, 
 from every kind of oath. Listen to their doctrine on 
 this subject — the doctrine of Liguori, one of the saints 
 that was canonized not many years ago, and whose life is 
 written amongst other lives, to which, perhaps, I shall 
 have occasion to refer, by Cardinal Wiseman himself. 
 Liguori teaches us that men may swear with any amount 
 of equivocation or mental reservation — that any reason- 
 able cause is enough for violating an oath — that an 
 oath, contrary to the rights of Superiors, or the interests 
 of the Church, is not to be kept with any party, or on 
 any occasion ; and, therefore, a fortiori, not to be kept 
 with heretics. Now, there is a quibble by the Jesuits 
 here. They deny that Rome teaches the doctrine that 
 no faith is to be kept with heretics ; but the explanation 
 is this, that, as long as the oath exists, it must be kept ; 
 but, then, the Pope, by virtue of his dispensing power, 
 
 may make an oath null and void whenever he pleases. 
 Therefore this is but a mere quibble ; and, you see, that 
 
 te doctrine of Rome, in this matter, is even worse than 
 
 te doctrine of the Rabbis. 
 
 I trust that, so far, I have made my ground good — that 
 in the spirit which characterizes these two systems, there 
 is a close similarity. Now, if your patience will permit 
 me, I will come to some doctrines and practices. 
 
 First : The doctrines. — The chief thing that strikes us, 
 I think, in Rabbinism, is the doctrine of human merit. 
 Thus we read, " Alms deliver from death." We are 
 taught that " pilgrimages to tombs of Rabbis, or to the 
 Holy Land, and offering prayer at the stones of the 
 temple wall, are acts of high merit." So, in the Talmud 
 we read — " Every one of the children of men has merits 
 and sins. If his merits exceed his sins, he is righteous. 
 If his sins exceed his merits, he is wicked. If tliey be 
 half and half, he is a middling, or an intermediate 
 person." I quote from "Allen's Modern Judaism," as 
 follows: — "Human perfection is acquired even by one 
 precept of the law of Moses. Otherwise tl^e law of 
 Moses would hinder men from attaining human perfection 
 — a term by which our doctors of blessed memory 
 designate the life of the world to come. Whereas, by 
 virtue of the law of the sons of Noah, men might attain 
 some place in the world to come according to that 
 sentence of the Talmud. The pious among them will be 
 partakers of the world to come : that is, they who observe 
 the seven precepts given to the sons of Noah, will have 
 a portion in the world to come. But, if the professors of 
 the law of Moses were required to observe all that mul- 
 titude of precepts, in order to attain a portion in eternal 
 life, the law of Moses would rather hinder men from the 
 enjoyment of perfection, than promote their attainment of 
 it, which would be contrary to its design, as our masters 
 of blessed memory have taught. God wished to justify 
 Israel, and, therefore, multiplied the law and precepts : 
 whereas, there are many precepts in the law, this does 
 not prove them to be necessary, but advantageous, the 
 design being that every Israelite might be able to merit 
 
16 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 the world to come, even by an observance of one of 
 them." That is one of the precepts of the law. 
 
 I will now give an example of what may be called the 
 anatomical theology which the Rabbis teach, in the way 
 of getting merit by saying prayers, and so on. This is 
 a prayer in what are called ** The Prayers for the New 
 Year." " O deign to hear the voice of those w lo glorify 
 Thee with all their members, according to the numbers 
 of the two hundred and forty-eight affirmative precepts. 
 In this month they blow thirty sounds, according to the 
 thirty members of the soles of their feeL- the additional 
 offerings of the day are ten, according to the ten in their 
 ancles: they approach the altar twice, according to their 
 two legs : five men are called to the law, according to the 
 five joints in their knees: they observe the appointed 
 time to sound the cornet on the first day of the month, 
 according to the one in their thigh : they sound the horn 
 thrice, according to the three in their hips: lo, with 
 the additional offering of tlie new moon, they are eleven, 
 according to their eleven ribs: they pour out the suppli- 
 cation with nine blessings, according to the muscles in 
 their arms : and which contain thirty verses, according to 
 the thirty in the palms of their hand : they daily repeat 
 the prayer of eighteen blessings, according to the eighteen 
 vertebrae in their spine : at the offering of the continual 
 sacrifice, they sound nine times, according to the nine 
 muscles in their head: in the two orisons, they blow eight 
 times, according to the eight vertebrae of their neck : their 
 statutes and laws are contained in five books, according 
 to the five perforations : He hath ordained the six orders 
 of the Mishna, according to the different imaginations 
 of the heart and inward parts : also, the animal life, 
 spirit, rational soul, perception, appetite, the skin, flesh, 
 veins, and bones ; these shall all lift up the e^e, and 
 pierce the ear, and open the mouth, that with the tongue 
 and speech of their lips, and from the sole of their foot to 
 the head, may show the particulars of their good acts ; so 
 that, when the sound of the cornet ascends, their adver- 
 saries may be ashamed ; that they may be justified on the 
 day of judgment, and hear, the second time, from their 
 
 ^' 
 
 ROSIAXISM COMPARED. 
 
 17 
 
 God." So that, you see, a system of merit is laid down 
 as absurd and trivial as it is unscriptural. In addition 
 to this, they say a great deal respecting the merits of 
 their ancestors. The Rabbis teach that the saints of 
 old had a superabundance of merits, so that their children, 
 on account of them, may have the balance turned in 
 their favour. '^ It is right," say they, " to plead the merit 
 and services of our Rabbis, and our fathers Abraham 
 Isaac, and Jacob. " ' 
 
 Now, without going any further into Rabbinism, is 
 not the whole system of the Church of Rome a system 
 of human merit? It has been said, and I will just 
 quote the sentence, because it contains a great deal in 
 little compass,— that " merit is the great doctrine tau^-ht 
 in the Trent Catechism." The religious (that is, the 
 monks, and nuns, and so on,) are taught to believe and 
 make themselves mediators with God and saviours of 
 others by their superfluous merits. In Romanism merit 
 IS the all in all. You know that Rome lays down the 
 doctrine of supererogation —that the saints who have 
 gone out of the world have a certain amount of*merit be- 
 longing to them, which goes into the treasury of the 
 Church, and that the Pope can apply these merits to 
 others just as he pleases, by unlocking the coffers of the 
 Church. I think I need not dwell on this part of the 
 subject; but there are some most revolting details of 
 some of their canonized saints. I was reading of one to-day, 
 who with her pen wrote down in her own blood a sort of 
 dedication, in which she expressed the prayer that by her 
 sufferings and by the shedding of her blood she mi-ht 
 become a mediator for sinners with God. And this is a 
 system which is not only practised by some, but which is 
 encouraged by their teachers in the Church of Rome. 
 One of the Articles of our Church, if you will remember, 
 is aimed directly against the Romish notion of works of 
 supererogation. In this, then, Rabbinism and Romanism 
 again correspond. 
 
 But when we search further into Rabbinism, we find 
 that there are prayers for the dead, and that there is 
 something like an idea of purgatory amongst them. They 
 do not call it purgatory, but you shall hear what they 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 19 
 
 gay. With reference to prayers for the dead, it is taught 
 that every Jew ought to pray over the graves of the 
 saints, asking them to intercede with God for him. Now, 
 you know, this is the direct doctrine of the Church of 
 Rome — that prayers to the saints, and especially to the 
 blessed Virgin, ouglit to be offered, and are of very great 
 efficacy. But I will quote one prayer which is offered 
 on occasion of the feast of Pentecost by the Jews, who 
 are under the system of Rabbinism : — 
 
 " * May God remember the soul of my honoured father, 
 A. B., who is gone to his repose ; for that I now solemnly 
 offer charity for his sake ; in reward of this, may his soul 
 enjoy eternal life, with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob ; Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah ; and the rest 
 of the righteous males and females that are in paradise ; 
 and let us say, Amen. 
 
 " ' May God remember the soul of my honoured mother, 
 C. D., who is gone,' &c." 
 
 This office is entitled, "thk memorial of departed 
 SOULS." It is customary, wa are told, to make mention of 
 the souls of departed parents and others, on the day of 
 Atonement, and the ultimate days of the three festivals, 
 Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, and to offer for 
 the repose of their souls" 
 
 So that, you see, prayers for the dead are enjoined in the 
 system of Rabbinism. Again, we are told how long this 
 is to continue. " The doctrine of .the Talmud is, that 
 those who die in communion with the Synagogue, or who 
 have never been Jews, are punished for twelve months, 
 but that Jewish heretics and apostates are doomed to 
 eternal punishment. Israelites who sin with their body 
 and also Gentiles descend into hell, and are judged there 
 for twelve months. After the twelve months their 
 body is consumed and their soul is burnt, and the wind 
 scatters them under the soles of the feet of the righte- 
 ous, as it is said, * Ye shall tread down the wicked, for 
 they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet.* 
 (Mai. iv. 3.)" So that, according to this, the dying 
 Israelite ought to expect twelve months of torment, and 
 his surviving friends ought to repeat the prayer called 
 Kaddish for twelve months. But then the Rabbis lay 
 
 down that this prayer must not be used more than eleven 
 months, so as not to cast a reproach on the character of 
 the deceased fatlier and mother, as if they were wicked — 
 for twelve months is the time appointed for the wicked. 
 So that from all this it appears to be clear, that a Jew, 
 after all his almsgiving, and all the merit arising from his 
 ancestors, and all the expectations which the Rabbis 
 encourage, yet, when he comes to die, has only this pros- 
 pect before him, — that for at least eleven months he shall 
 have to endure the torments of hell, and that during that 
 time his children will have to pray for him, that he may 
 be released from them. Well do I remember the state- 
 ment concerning an eminent Rabbi, who was very much 
 esteemed in his generation. When his disciples visited 
 him on his dying bed, they found him weeping. Sur- 
 prised to find so great and pious a man, as they thought, 
 weeping in the prospect of death, they thus addressed 
 him : — " Rabbi, light of Israel, thou strong rock, right 
 hand pillar, why dost thou weep ? " He answered them, 
 " If they were carrying me before a king of flesh and 
 blood, who is here to-day and to-morrow in the grave ; 
 who if he were angry with me, his anger would not last 
 for ever ; if he put me in bondage, his bondage would not 
 be everlasting ; and if he condemned me to death, that 
 death would not be eternal ; whom I could soothe with 
 words and bribe w^ith riches ; yet, even in these circum- 
 stances, I should weep. But now I am going before the 
 King of kings, the only blessed God, who livetli and en- 
 dureth for ever and ever ; if He put me in bondage, his 
 bondage will be everlasting ; if He condemn me to death, 
 that death will be eternal ; whom I cannot soothe with 
 words, or bribe with riches ; when, further, there are before 
 me two ways, — the one to hell, and the other to paradise, — 
 and I know not to which they are carrying me, should I not 
 weep ? " His disciples had no answer to give him ; for 
 modern Rabbinism gives no answer — no peace for the 
 dying sinner — no hope, such as that which the Apostle 
 expresses, when he says, " I am now about to be offered, 
 and the time of my departure is at hand ; I have fought 
 a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith ; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of glory, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 RA.BBINISM AND 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 21 
 
 whicli the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that 
 day " Oh, what a contrast between the truth of God, as 
 contained in the Scripture, and the perversion of God's 
 truth, contained in the system of Rabbinism ! 
 
 With reference to purgatory, or something like it, 
 thoucrh the name is not used, the Jews have an idea that 
 after" death they must undergo a trial of fire, and every 
 Jew is to roll under the earth to the valley of Jehoshaphat, 
 where they suppose he will rise again. But, leaving this, 
 I now come to Romanism. You know it is laid down 
 there, that it is a holy and pious custom to pray for the 
 dead, and that Romanists may acquire great merit, ihe 
 Pope issues a great number of indulgences very frequently ; 
 and by means of these, and by means of penances, and 
 mortifications, and flagellations, and almsgivings, the 
 Romanist has an idea that he will be all right for eternity. 
 But yet, when he comes to die, there is purgatory before 
 him • none are excluded from it, except, as we are told, 
 apostles and martyrs ; and we are told that some must be 
 in purgatory till the day of judgment. Now, when we 
 see what inconsistency there is here, can one wonder that 
 there are such things as purgatorial clubs, where poor 
 people are encouraged to put their pence together that 
 masses may be said for the relief of their souls from 
 
 ^^And^li^re is another point of similarity. Every time a 
 Jew offers a prayer for his deceased friend, he must give 
 something to the Rabbi. So with the Romanist. Every 
 time he offers up prayer for his deceased friend, or hears 
 mass for him, there must be a fee to the priest. No 
 Denny no paternoster " is a common proverb. i he 
 existence of the purgatorial clubs has been denied ; but 
 they are notorious in Dublin, and I am not sure whether 
 there are not some nearer to us. But what struck me as 
 most remarkable is what I will mention to j-ou. You 
 know O'Connell was a great man amongst the Romanists 
 in Ireland In his last sickness he set out to visit Rome, 
 accompanied by the Rev. Dr. Miley, who wrote home as 
 follows-— "Tlie glory and wonder of Christendom is 
 dead ' Dead ! no ! I should say rather O'Connell is in 
 HEAVEN. His death was happy ; he received m the 
 
 4. 
 
 most fervent sentiments the last rites, and up to the last 
 sigh was surrounded by ever?/ consolation provided by our 
 holy religion. The spirit took its flight so peacefully, 
 that all who were there, except the angels who were in 
 waiting for it, were in doubt if it had departed." Now, 
 this is beautiful language ; and from this it would seem 
 that O'Connell was really admitted into the realms of the 
 blessed ; but some months after this, the people of Ireland 
 were informed in the newspapers, that O'Connell was 
 still in the place of torment, for there must be grand 
 masses performed for the release of his soul out of purga- 
 tory. How inconsistent this is ! 
 
 I will sum up this part of the subject, by just reminding 
 you, that the secret of a true faith is the setting forth the 
 Lord Jesus Christ as the one hope of sinners, and direct- 
 ing the poor sinner to Him ; and every form of religion 
 which does not set forth Christ Jesus as the one only 
 hope of a sinner, does not come from God ; and if it 
 does not come from God, then we know there is some 
 one else who has something to do with it. An enemy 
 sows tares amongst the wheat. When, then, modern 
 Rabbinism excludes Christ, and ofters to the sinner a 
 substitute for Him; and when modern Romanism includes 
 Christ, but, at the same time, does so in such a way 
 as to put in other substitutes for Him, or additions to 
 Him; I say that both Rabbinism and Romanism are per- 
 verted representations of God's truth, and perverted, I 
 fully believe, by the great enemy of souls. 
 
 There is one part of my subject which I must still 
 bring forward ; and that is, some of the practices of 
 Rabbinism and Romanism. The amulets and charms 
 which the systems encourage, I just want to call your 
 attention to for a moment. 
 
 It would appear that there are two sorts of amulets, 
 one containing some written words, the other made of 
 roots of various kinds ; the object of wearing them is 
 either to prevent sickness, or to effect a cure. The fol- 
 lowing is an example of a Rabbinical charm : — 
 
 " For a bleeding at the nose, let a man be brought 
 who is a priest, and whose name is Levi, and let him 
 write the word *Levi' backwards. If this cannot be 
 
22 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 done, get a layman, and let liim write the following 
 word's "backw^ards ;—* Ana pipi Sliila bar suncki,' or let 
 him write these words, ' Taams dli bemi keseph, taam 11 
 bemi paggan,' or let him take a root of grass, and the cord 
 of an old bed, and paper, and saffron, and the red part of 
 the inside of a palm-tree, and let him burn them together, 
 and let him take some wool, and twist two threads, and 
 let him dip them in vinegar, and then roll them in the 
 ashes, and put them into his nose. Or, let him look out 
 for a small stream of water that flows from east to west, 
 and let him go and stand with one leg on each side of it, 
 and let him take with his right hand some mud from 
 under his left foot, and with his left hand from under 
 his right foot, and let him twist two threads of wool, and 
 dip them in the mud, and put them into his nostrils. Or 
 let him be placed under a spout, and let water be brought 
 and poured upon him, and let them say, * As this water 
 ceases to flow, so let the blood of M., the son of the 
 woman N., also cease.' '* 
 
 Now, this excites a smile ; and one wonders how any 
 Jew of common sense can really submit to a system that 
 enjoins charms of this kind. But is there anything in 
 Romanism like this? Why, if I were to read to you 
 what I have often read in the Romish Pontifical, and 
 what I have been refreshing my memory with to-day, 
 you would have such an amount of exorcisms and charms 
 as, perhaps, would astonish you. You would be surprised 
 to hear the numerous devices, for example, for mastering 
 and expelling devils, out of oil, out of water, out of 
 garments, a child that is being baptized, and many other 
 things. Their books are filled with recipes or spells for 
 the "exorcising of demons, and doing all manner of 
 extraordinary feats. Wylie, in his "Essay on the 
 Papacy," gives the following free translation of the exor- 
 cism of water for the purpose of baptism : — 
 " I exorcise thee, thou creature of water, 
 By the living f, by the true f. 
 By the holy f, person who, 
 By a word, without a hand. 
 Parted thee from the dry land." 
 And so on ; and then, after a time, the direction is : — 
 *' Let him with his hand divide the water, and then 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 23 
 
 ^ 
 
 pour some of it outside the edge of the font, towards the 
 four points of the world." 
 Then it goes on : — 
 
 "I thee conjure; 
 
 Be thou, holy water, blest ; 
 
 Cleanse the foul and guilty breast ; 
 
 "Wash away the filth of sin ; 
 
 Make the bosom pure w^ithin. 
 
 And ye devils, every one, 
 
 Let what I prescribe be done. 
 
 Where this water sprinkled flies, 
 
 There eradicate all lies ; 
 
 Every phantasm put to flight ; 
 
 Every dark thing bring to light," &c. 
 Then follow certain other ceremonies, such as blowing 
 three times into water, incensing the font, pouring in oil 
 in the form of a cross, and then the incantation con- 
 cludes : — 
 
 *' Mingle, thou holy chrism; 
 
 Blessed oil, I mingle thee ; 
 
 Mingle, water of baptism, 
 
 Mingle, all ye sacred three; 
 
 Mingle, mingle, mingle ye, 
 
 In the name of t, and of f, and of f-" 
 Well may the writer exclaim, — "This appears to us 
 to embody the very soul of magic." But the parallel 
 between the two systems is closer still. Here is a little 
 tract called " Erin's Pilgrims," containing an account of 
 their doings at Crough Patrick, which I would recom- 
 mend you to read ; it only costs a penny, and may be had 
 of Wertheim and Macintosh. I find the following state- 
 ment : — 
 
 "About six years ago, I went from Sillemey, near 
 Clifden, county Galway, accompanied by my wnfe, and 
 many of my neighbours, to the lake of St. Keerane, in the 
 county Mayo, a distance of seventy or eighty miles, to 
 perform a station for a sick cow. We started about the 
 4th of September, and arrived, weary enough, the second 
 day, in the town of Balla. Each of us carried a small 
 quantity of the cow's butter, and the spancel the cow had 
 on while milking. , 
 
 " We lodged in the house of a Protestant, who had 
 
24 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 great compassion for us when he heard the distance we 
 travelled. He strongly advised us to eat the butter 
 ourselves, and return home. 
 
 " We proceeded on the morning of the third day, to 
 perform the station, a distance of six miles ; and during 
 that way the road was crowded with people from all parts 
 of Ireland, going and coming from this lake. When we 
 arrived at the lake, which is in a little bay, there were a 
 great many tents erected there, selling whisky, every one 
 filled with people ; some drunk, some singing Irish songs, 
 and others dancing. There was not a si>ot but there was 
 a woman having ajar, selling spirits. At these tents we 
 had to take off hat, shoes, and stockings, and travel 
 about fifty yards on our bare knees, through mud and 
 dirt. AVhen we arrived at a place where there were 
 seven little green hillocks, we went round them seven 
 times, repeating one Pater, fifteen Ave Marias, and a 
 Creed, At another little monument we had to underjjo 
 the same task, and pay the priest's clerk a penny ; then 
 proceed into the lake, where we were up to our waist in 
 water ; turn round to the right three times, in the name 
 of God and the holy St. Keerane ; throw out the butter 
 into the lake as far as we could, in the name of the cows, 
 — we had to throw the spancel in another direction, and 
 pick up a strange spancel to carry home. We then went 
 to another dirty pool to wash our feet ; we took a little 
 bottle of the water, to give to drink to the cows at home, 
 and a small stone out of the pool to be kept safe in 
 remembrance. 
 
 " All this being done, we had again to pay the clerk 
 twopence." 
 
 Now, that is only one of numerous things I might read, 
 respecting the system of charms. We know, that at the 
 time of the famine in Ireland, when the potatoes were 
 rotten, the people obtained what they thought a charm, 
 to keep away the rot ; which charm was, of course, 
 ineffectual. I remember meeting with an Irish girl, who 
 was a servant ; and she told me she had a charm about 
 her which was a cure for the toothache ; and I believe 
 firmly that many of the Romanists carry about them such 
 charms as these ; because here are things which are to be 
 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 25 
 
 t 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 i 
 
 had, which I have bought in this parish myself — they 
 are called scapularies — and Romanists are encouraged to 
 wear them ; and we are told in a book which is sold 
 with them, that the wonders that have been wrought by 
 them are most extraordinary : — 
 
 They say, " A fire extinguished by its approach — the 
 tempest quelled at its appearance — the sick restored to 
 vigorous health by its contact, &c., — are striking argu- 
 ments in the order of nature, which the Divine wisdom 
 and mercy hath vouchsafed us in confirmation of the sacred 
 scapular of the most blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel." 
 
 These are actually sold in our own parish ; so that I am 
 not misrepresenting the Church of Rome, when she can 
 do such things in open daylight. There are various 
 virtues ascribed to this ; various indulgences, for example, 
 are to be had by those who wear it ; and the Virgin Mary 
 has taken it under her special protection, and every now 
 and then, she comes down to purgatory, in order to 
 deliver all those who were found wearing this scapulary 
 at the time of their decease. These are not Protestant 
 lies, but they are Romish assertions. Now, I ask you, 
 whether the Rabbinist charm for stopping a bleeding at 
 the nose, or the Romanist charm for curing a sick cow, is 
 worse; or whether they are not equally bad? The 
 Romish idea of a Gospel is very contrary to our own. 
 It is a piece of writing, which is done up somehow or 
 another, and worn as a charm. 
 
 But I must now conclude, by reminding you of various 
 stories and legends which Rabbinism gives rise to. There 
 were two Rabbis, who by finding out some caballistic way of 
 putting the letters which composed the Divine name, tried 
 how much they could do. One found that he could create 
 a man ; and the man stood before him, and he tried to 
 make him speak, but found he could not, and he sent him 
 back to dust again. Another Rabbi every Sabbath-day, for 
 three years and a-half, created a calf for their dinner, by 
 arranging the letters of the Divine Word. Here is a 
 story which is merely a sample of many others. Rabba, 
 grandson of Channa, said : — 
 
 " I once saw a frog as large as the village of Akra, in 
 
26 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 Hagronla. But how large was that village ? It con- 
 tained sixty houses. There came a huge serpent which 
 swallowed the frog. But after that came a raven, which 
 devoured the serpent, together with the frog, as easily 
 as a fox eats up a pear ; and then flew off and perched 
 upon the nearest tree. Rabbi Pappa, the son of Samuel, 
 answered, — * If I had not seen it myself, I should not 
 have believed it.*" 
 
 With reference to Scripture characters, we are told 
 respecting Adam, — " The Rabbis also tell us that in the 
 hour in which God created the first man. He made a 
 double person, male and female, with two faces, but 
 joined together behind ; that he afterwards cut asunder 
 this twofold person, thereby forming a man and a woman, 
 and made a back for each." Some of the Rabbis have 
 gravely asserted that the Creator at first made Adam 
 with a tail, like an ouran-outang, but afterwards cut it 
 off in order to increase his beauty. There is another 
 about Sarah. We are told that Sarah and Abraham went 
 down to Egypt ; but not content with the Bible history 
 the Rabbis must add to it. Perhaps you have never 
 heard how Abraham took Sarah into Egypt. The Rabbis 
 say, " He put her into a chest and locked the same upon 
 her face, because none should behold her beauty. When 
 he was come to the toll or custom-house, they said, ' Pay 
 us the custom.' And he said, * I will pay the custom.' They 
 said to him, * Thou carriest clothes.' And he said, * I will 
 pay for the clothes.' They said to him, * Thou carriest 
 gold ; ' and he answered them, * I will pay for my gold.' 
 They said to him further, * Thou carriest the finest silk.' 
 Then he said to them, * I will pay for the finest silk.* 
 Further, they said to him, * Thou carriest pearls.' And 
 he said to them, * I will pay for the pearls ; ' and he was 
 willing to pay custom as if he had carried such valuable 
 things. But they said to him, * It cannot be, but thou 
 must open, and show us what is within.' And when he 
 had opened the chest, the whole land of Egypt was 
 greatly illumined by the lustre of Sarah." There is 
 another respecting Og, King of Bashan. They tell us 
 that Og, King of Bashan, is confidently aflOrmed by 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 27 
 
 '•-3' 
 
 
 many Rabbinical authorities, to have lived before the 
 flood, and with Noah and his family to have survived the 
 general destruction. They have given two accounts of 
 the manner of his preservation : — One, that he was tall 
 enough to walk by the side of the ark ; and the other, that 
 he rode astride on the top of it, and received from Noah 
 a daily supply of victuals. During the time that he was 
 Noah's guest, he is said to have consumed a thousand 
 oxen, and the same number of every sort of game. The 
 Rabbis pretend that he was afterwards a servant to 
 Abraham, who is mentioned in Scripture under the name 
 of Eliezer. His size would seem to have been gigantic 
 indeed. According to one account, the soles of his feet 
 were forty miles long. Upon a time, Abraham, scolding at 
 him, fear shook a tooth out of his head. Abraham took 
 the same, and out of it made a bedstead, and lay and 
 slept upon it. Some say that out of this tooth Abraham 
 made himself a chair, which he sat in as long as he lived. 
 
 Now, is there anything like these legends and stories 
 in Romanism ? Alas ! there is. I will give one or two 
 instances. First of all, respecting Peter's chains, we are 
 told very gravely that " In the reign of Theodosius the 
 younger, when Eudocia, his wife, had gone to Jerusalem 
 to perform her vows, she was loaded there with many 
 presents. In particular, she received a gift surpassing all 
 the rest — that of an iron chain, adorned with gold and 
 gems — which they affirmed to be the very chain with 
 which the Apostle Peter had been bound by Herod." 
 
 I now give you an example of some Scripture cha- 
 racters. I come to the Virgin Mary. You have seen 
 the scapular I have shown you — a piece of woollen 
 rag joined by woollen cords. This is the account : — 
 "On the sacred day of Pentecost, when the apostles, 
 inspired from Heaven, were speaking divers languages, 
 and by invoking the most august name of Jesus, were 
 performing many wonders, very many men (as it is 
 related), who had trodden in the footsteps of the holy 
 prophets, Elias and Eliseus, and who had been prepared 
 for the advent of Christ, by the preaching of John the 
 Baptist, having clearly seen and approved the truth, im- 
 mediately embraced the faith of the Gospel, and with a 
 

 28 
 
 RABBINISM AND 
 
 certain peculiar devotioii began to ivorsJiip the most blessed 
 Virgin, whose colloquies and familiarity they had the 
 happiness to be able to enjoy ; so much so, that they built 
 a chapel to the same most pure Virgin on that very spot 
 of Mount Carmel, where Elias had of old seen the cloud 
 ascending, a signal type of the Virgin. Therefore, 
 assembling often every day in the new chapel, they 
 worshipped with most pious rites, prayers, and praises, 
 the most blessed Virgin, as the one and only guardian 
 of their order. Wherefore they began to be called by 
 all persons everywhere, ' The Brethren of the Blessed 
 Mary of Mount Carmel,' and the Supreme Pontiffs not 
 only confirnjed that title, but they granted also peculiar 
 indulgences to those who should call either their order or 
 single brethren by that title. Nor, indeed, was it the 
 nomenclature only, and the guardianship that the most 
 bountiful virgin gave, but also the badge of the sacred 
 scapular, witli which she furnished the blessed Simon, 
 the Anglian (better known as Simon Stock ;) that by 
 this heavenly visit (?. e., bit of rag) that sacred order 
 should be distinguished and protected from the assault of 
 evil." And then it goes on, after other things, to say: — 
 "It is not in this world only, that the most blessed Virgin 
 has enriched an order so dear to her, with many preroga- 
 tives, but in the other world also ; since everywliere her 
 power and mercy are the most prevalent ; and her 
 children that are enrolled into the Society of the Scapular, 
 who have observed the moderate abstinence, and few 
 prayers prescribed to them, and according to their state 
 and circumstances have practised charity, she is piously 
 believed to comfort with an entire motherly affection while 
 they are expiating their sins in the fire of purgatory, and 
 by her protection, to bring them out thence into their 
 heavenly home as soon as possible." But now for one of 
 their legends. There is a certain saint called St. Denys, 
 or Dionysius ; he was beheaded, and what did he do ? 
 He took up his own head after it was cut off and walked 
 on with it to the distance of two miles, carrying it in his 
 hands. You heard of the famous navigator in the Rab- 
 binical writings, who walked by the ark and strode across 
 it. Now, you shall hear of some Romish navigators 
 
 ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 29 
 
 equally distinguished in their way. " St. Francis," we 
 are told, " being refused a passage by sailors, he crossed 
 with his companion, over the straits of Sicily, upon his 
 cloak spread under him upon the waves." Again, " St. 
 Raymond performed many miracles, among which this 
 w^as the most illustrious : — That, spreading his cloak 
 under him on the waters, he returned from Majorca to 
 Barcelona, performing the voyage of one hundred and 
 sixty miles in six hours, and entered his monastery, the 
 gates being shut." Now, I say that beats Og, King of 
 Bashan ! 
 
 Without going further into these matters, does it not 
 seem, that, absurd as are the legends of Rabbi nism, there 
 may be just as absurd legends found in the Breviary of 
 Rome ? But, perhaps, Romanism is altered ; and there- 
 fore I will just give you one of Cardinal Wiseman's own 
 legends in the Lives of the Saints, canonized in 1839. 
 You shall hear first about the crucifix and tlie horses. 
 " St. Francis once preached near a house of ill-fame, out 
 of which, in the midst of his discourse, a carriage pre- 
 pared to drive; whereupon the persons in it were 
 requested to wait a few moments, and not to interrupt 
 the servant of God ; but they contemptuously cried out 
 to the coachman to drive on. * Blessed Jesus ! ' exclaimed 
 the saint, holding the crucifix before the horses, * since 
 these goddesses have no respect for thee, the brute beasts 
 at least shall do thee homage.' And in very deed the 
 animals sank down on their knees, and would not stir till 
 the discourse was over." 
 
 Another of these saints had all nature obedient and 
 subservient to him. On one occasion the air bore 
 to him on its wings his stick, which he had left 
 behind. Another was so happy and highly favoured, 
 that when he walked abroad neither rain nor snow 
 ever fell upon him, nor were his feet ever soiled by 
 the mud upon the roads. Then we are told " that the 
 birds would hang motionless in the air, or rest upon the 
 boughs to hear his words, and would not depart till they 
 received his benediction. In like manner, as is attested 
 in the processes by several eye-witnesses, the swallows 
 would, in the month of August, fly into the cell of 
 
30 
 
 RABBINISM AND ROMANISM COMPARED. 
 
 Pacificus, with extraordinary signs of joy and delight, and 
 perch upon his hand, and wliilst he played with them 
 they would not move until he dismissed them. When he 
 went on a journey these same birds would accompany him 
 to a good distance on his way and then return to their 
 nests." Such legends as these Cardinal AViseman has put 
 forth in his Lives of the Saints to which I have alluded. 
 
 But I really must apologize for taking up so much of your 
 time. I can only say that my subject is not exhausted, and 
 that although I have been trying to take three chief points 
 of resemblance — first of all, to show the spirit of Romanism 
 and Rabbinism ; secondly, the doctrines ; and thirdly, the 
 practices ; where I brought two or three illustrations, I 
 might have brought two or three dozen. There seems, 
 then, I think you will agree with me, a most remarkable 
 correspondence between the two systems; and I trust 
 that you will come to the conclusion with me, that as our 
 blessed Lord in his day denounced Rabbinism in that 
 language which you find so faithfully recorded in St. 
 MatthcTw ; if lie were now living upon earth He >yould 
 with equal severity denounce Romanism ; Rabbinism 
 being a caricature and perversion of the law, and Ro- 
 manism a caricature and perversion of the Gospel. Let 
 me repeat, that I trust we shall distinguish between the 
 systems and the individuals who belong to them. And 
 whilst we do so, let us thank God lor our Protestant 
 privileges, and determine by tlie grace of God to hold fast 
 by them ; and whilst we pray God to have mercy upon all 
 those who are out of the way, whether Jews or Romanists, 
 let us show them by our lives a more excellent way ; and 
 though we determine to speak the truth whenever an 
 occasion calls for it, let us always seek to speak it in love ! 
 
 * * For further information, see M'Caul's " Old Paths," Allen's 
 «' Modern Judaism," Foye's " Romish Rites," and Wylie's " Essay 
 on the Papacy." 
 
 LECTURE II.* 
 
 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, OF 
 THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 BY THE REY. C. J. GOODHART, M.A., 
 
 MINISTER OF PARK CHAPEL, CHELSEA. 
 
 '^ 
 
 My dear Christian Friends, — I respond with the fullest 
 warmth of heart to what our dear brother has so kindly 
 said, and to the affection that he has manifested in what 
 he has uttered towards myself. I have great delight in 
 visiting his parish. It has not been my privilege to be 
 here since 1 remember walking through a portion of it 
 with him more than twelve months ago, when he had his 
 heart so full of what he was about to do, and when 
 I know that he was trusting in the Lord his God to help 
 him in bearing that burden which, without faith, must 
 have appeared 1'earfully overwhelming. I now see some 
 of the fruit«> thut have already arisen from his presence, 
 and from the blessing of God upon his labours amongst 
 you ; and I am sure it is my heart's desire and prayer to 
 God, that he may be blessed a thousand-fold during the 
 time it may please God (and may it be a long one) to 
 spare him. We do not forget him amongst his old flock, 
 or in his old haunts ; neither do we forget you. Y"ou are 
 linked with him in our supplications to the throne of 
 grace, because we deem that it is your salvation that he is 
 earnestly, affectionately, and unweariedly seeking. 
 
 But I must proceed at once to draw your attention to 
 that which I have undertaken to speak to you about this 
 evening. It is a subject of immense magnitude, as has 
 been already said to you, and of the deepest importance, 
 
 * This lecture was dehvered entirely extempore, and it has ovlf 
 been in the author s power to make a few verbal corrections. 
 
32 
 
 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 33 
 
 and the most thrilling interest ; and that, because God 
 has been pleased to stamp the Jewish people with most 
 special interest in his Word. It is an interest which, with 
 whatever indifference man may view it, they can never lose; 
 (xod has taken care of that ; and for ever will they bear this 
 interest in the eyes of his people, because they are bound 
 up with the glory of his character in redemption and in 
 salvation. Let me notice in passing, that this subject puts 
 me in mind of a traveller who should be explorincr a 
 country, the advantages of which he derived according to 
 the state of his own constitution. Suppose that I was tra- 
 velling through a country, the atmosphere and climate of 
 which were wholesome or injurious according to the state 
 of my constitution at the time, and that it depended upon 
 myself as to the results upon me. Now that is precisely 
 the case with the Jewish subject. If you come to it with 
 a right frame of mind, you gather from it unspeakable 
 blessings ; if you contemplate it in the light of God's 
 Word, and really search after truth, you cannot set any 
 limit to the advantages that are to be derived from its 
 contemplation. " I will bless them that bless thee ** is a 
 promise that stands out in the Word of God, and He will 
 fulfil It ; and if we come to Him looking for that blessin- 
 we shall find it. If our state of mind is such, that we ca"n 
 m laith lay hold of God's promises, believe his truth and 
 recognise his purposes in the Jewish people, we shall' find 
 abundant blessing and advantage. If we come with an 
 unbelieving heart, not realizing God's power, and faithful- 
 ness, and truth, in all that He is doing with the Jewish 
 people, we shall have our souls deadened and condemned 
 m deahng with the subject. Therefore, at the outset it 
 becomes us earnestly to seek, that we may be in that state 
 ot mind through which we may be enabled to gather up all 
 the blessings with which such a subject as this actually runs 
 over ; remembering that as you come to the subject, it will 
 either profit you by the mercies it reveals and bestows or 
 Will do you damage by the condemnation which it 
 threatens, and by the curse which it brings upon those ' 
 who despise God's Word. In f^ict, no one has ever come 
 m contact with God's people without bein^r thereby 
 advanced in the life of God and in the scale o"f blessin- 
 or sunk deeper in misery, and in condemnation, and in 
 
 darkness. May we then approach the subject wath a 
 sense of its importance, and of its serious character ; and 
 may the Lord answer the prayers and desires that have 
 been expressed, in giving us an abundant blessing, that 
 my heart and yours may rejoice and be glad. 
 
 The subject that is before us is, " The Past, the Present, 
 and the Future, of the House of Israel." It seems specially 
 in accordance with the character of the times. We are 
 seeing crowded into a short time events which previously 
 it would not have been possible to conceive should be 
 so limited. This subject might well occupy from a dozen 
 to twenty lectures ; and yet I have to treat of it in the 
 compass of one short hour ; I am sure, therefore, that you 
 will bear with me if I fail to do it justice, though 
 I will do what I can to bring out the principal points for 
 your consideration. 
 
 I. Now, with regard to the past of the house of Israel. 
 The people have been a remarkable people ; and we will 
 look at one or two features which seem to stand out in 
 their history. 
 
 First of all, then, they are a people of election ; they 
 are remarkable as having been distinctly chosen by God. 
 You remember that he called Abraham, and said unto 
 him, " Get thee out of thy country, into a land that I will 
 tell thee." He chose Abraham, and made him the head 
 of a peculiar and special people ; he chose them out of all 
 people, and all nations, that they might be a people unto 
 himself; he set a stamp upon them that was never to be 
 erased ; he selected them vvith a love and determination 
 that were unalterable. This is a striking feature in their 
 past history. And along with that, God made them a 
 people of singular promise. He not merely selected them, 
 but gave them an inheritance. It is true that that in- 
 heritance was, in the first instance, his Word ; but then 
 the Word of the living God is worth everything ; if he 
 says, it shall be done ; if he gives a promise, it shall stand 
 fast for ever. And to him w^ho knows the character of 
 that God, young or old, the Word of the Lord is a mine 
 of wealth that cannot be exhausted ; it is the certainty of 
 an inheritance that cannot be lost or forfeited. There- 
 fore, when the Lord made them the special objects and 
 
34 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 depositories of his promise, he enriched them with wealth 
 that was unspeakable. You know he that made a covenant 
 with Abraham, and gave to him veiy special promises 
 that stand fast to this very hour; he made Abraham's 
 wealth far beyond all sheep and oxen, and manservants 
 and maidservants — he made him the depository of God*s 
 promise, which stands fast to this day, and that shall stand 
 for ♦ ver. 
 
 But beside this, there is another feature to notice ; they 
 were a people of miracles. The Lord actually interfered 
 and manifested his special power and glory in reference 
 to that people as he had done with no other nation. He 
 refers to this continually in Deuteronomy, when he expos- 
 tulates with them. Oh, the mighty wonders that he did 
 for that people ! Not merely in Egypt, but successively as 
 they required miraculous interposition in going through the 
 wilderness, did the Lord appear ; aye, and sometimes, when 
 there w\is a murmuring tongue and a discontented heart 
 challenging him to interpose, the Lord was so gracious 
 that he did not withhold the needed supplies. In fact, 
 throughout the whole of their history, which I cannot 
 dwell upon minutely, but which I trust you will take 
 pleasure in tracing minutely in the Word of God, God's 
 miraculous love and power were exerted towards them, 
 so that the very elements obeyed him on their behalf; 
 all the obstacles in the way of the accomplishment of 
 his promise — whether raised by themselves or their 
 enemies — were removed one after another, and the Jews 
 stood triumphant in the faithfulness and omnipotence of 
 their Jehovah. 
 
 Well, they were remarkable also for their religion— we 
 must not omit that. Other people did not know God ; they 
 had no idea of the real character and glory of the triuiig^ 
 Jehovah ; it was to Israel that this was made known. 
 ** Go and tell the people of Israel, I AM hath sent you 
 unto them." This was what the Lord told Moses to do. 
 He said, " I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, 
 and the God of Jacob ; this is my name for ever, this is 
 my memorial to all generations;" so that he linked the 
 revelation of his own full and true character with the 
 fathers of that people, and therefore with that people for 
 
 OP THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 35 
 
 ever and ever. Their religion was peculiar. ' It consisted 
 of rites and ceremonies which prevailed, it is true, to a 
 certain extent among other nations, or were adopted by 
 them ; but in the case of the Jews there was a pecuHar cha- 
 racter given to them ; they were made to set forth eternal 
 truth: the shadows conveyed the impression of a deep 
 reality ; and there was a working of faith in the hearts of 
 those who presented the sacrifices aright, whereby there 
 was a moral change, a spiritual renewal, and the eleva- 
 tion of a heavenly life communicated to them. Re- 
 member, there is that difference between the religion of 
 the Lord and all false religions. You may give a man a 
 system of religion, and it may be all very well in its way, 
 but it carries with it no promise that it shall have the 
 slightest effect, morally or spiritually, upon its subjects ; 
 whereas that which is the true religion, is accompanied 
 with a power that brings home to the heart and conscience 
 of the sinner God's truth, and reveals to him his glory. 
 With all false systems, even of Christianity, it does not 
 signify how near they come to the truth ; if they are not 
 the truth of God, they lose at once that peculiar power 
 which is the only worth of any religion to your soul or 
 mine — the power of saving us from sin, and pointing out 
 to us the way by which we can become new creatures, 
 and serve and love God in all the power of his truth and 
 in all the unction of his Spirit. This is the worth of 
 religion to me, that it can bring me to a condition in 
 which I know that my sins are forgiven, and I stand 
 accepted before God, accounted righteous, and justified in 
 his sight for ever. It does not matter how near to the 
 truth any system comes; it may be all the worse for its 
 nearness to it, if it be but a counterfeit, because it may 
 be more easily mistaken for the truth, and thus be more 
 calculated to deceive, than to help and save. Now bear 
 that in mind; and remember that while other nations 
 may have offered sacrifices, there was that about the 
 sacrifices that were ordered of the Lord which carried with 
 them through his grace (I do not say in themselves) a 
 mighty power to produce the great result of bringing 
 sinners out of darkness into light, and leading them to 
 that knowledge of God which is everlasting salvation. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 Therefore there were saints under the old dispensation 
 that were saved as we are. " Abraham rejoicing to* see 
 Christ's day, saw it, and was glad." Moses, Aaron^ 
 Joshua, David, the Prophets, and many others, were saved 
 through the grace that God imparted to them in connexion 
 with his ordinances, blessing the revelation of his truth 
 to their souls, and bringing them out of darkness into 
 light. Israel was thus perfectly unique : it alone had 
 that religion which revealed the way of acceptance and 
 pointed the sinner to that Lamb that had been provided 
 and was yet to be offered to take away the sin of the 
 world. 
 
 They were noted also for their Theocracy. God was 
 their King up to a certain period, when they demanded 
 another ; and all the way through, they were specially 
 under his direction and guidance, till they were cast off 
 for their sins, and lost their special relation through the 
 iniquities which they committed. 
 
 For their national glory they were also remarkable. 
 You may rememb'er when they were brought into the 
 land of Canaan, how the Lord led them on. You remember 
 their position in the days of Solomon. After all, God's 
 truth is the only source of national glory ; the Jew, if he 
 would only have obeyed the truth of God, and followed 
 his precepts, and worshipped and served him in truth and 
 righteousness, would have been the happiest man on the 
 face of the earth ; his national glory would never have 
 declined ; and he would have been the admiration as well 
 as the blessing of all lands besides. 
 
 We have seen enough to show us that the Jews were 
 a remarkable people. Let us look at their history in 
 another aspect ; let us remember that they have been 
 remarkable, notwithstanding all this, for their sin. Oh ! 
 when did a people rebel and sin against the Lor<J"as they 
 have done ? How has the Lord continually said of them, 
 " Ye are a stiff-necked people ! " How do we find their 
 history teeming with their iniquity, their departure from 
 God, their murmurings against Him, and their rebellion 
 under circumstances of very special mercy ! Oh ! how 
 should you read this history to see therein your own char- 
 acter and your own circumstances ! Surely we cannot boast. 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 37 
 
 As they, with all their privileges, did thus sin and rebel, 
 so has man been doing to this day, though he has had 
 this picture continually held up before him. Yes, the 
 history of man is nothing but a conflict of his sm and 
 rebellion, with God's goodness, and rich blessing, and 
 
 abounding mercy. ^ . 
 
 They have been remarkable, too, in connexion with the 
 Divine patience. When was ever such forbearance shown, 
 <as was shown to Israel ? How did God again and 
 a^ain withhold his wrath ! How slow He was in pouring 
 it° out against them ! Over and over again. He spared 
 them for his own name's sake ; and when He would have 
 destroyed them. He listened to the intercession of his 
 servant Moses, and continually forgave them. 
 
 And, along with this, observe how they have been 
 remarkable for the Divine truth and faithfulness being 
 fulfilled respecting them. God has never forsaken his 
 truth, or given up his word in connexion with that 
 people ; all their sins have never tempted him to with- 
 draw his promise, or break his covenant. It is true, his 
 character comes out in his righteousness, as well as 
 in his mercy, and we must not forget either the one or , 
 the other. If the Jew is an example of God's remarkable 
 patience and forbearance, so is he to the sinner also an 
 example of God's infinite righteousness. Dont forget 
 this in days like these, when men are seeking to under- 
 mine the very essential principles of our religion, by 
 trampling underfoot the righteousness of God ; or (to 
 speak, perhaps, more accurately), by quietly putting it 
 aside, as if it were derogatory to his glory. Ihis is the 
 spirit of the present day. Men are ignoring the righteous- 
 ness and faithfulness of God, in keeping his word against 
 the enemies of his truth. They say, God has declared 
 that there is a hell, but they won't believe it; He 
 has threatened eternal destruction from the presence of the 
 Lord, to those who reject his truth, but it will not be so. 
 Now, look at the Jew, and see whether there has ever 
 been the slightest departure from God's righteousness, or 
 from his threatenings, when the sinner persisted in his 
 iniquity and his rebellion. No, no, the Jews have shown 
 that if God can forbear to the very extremity, so that we 
 
 . ^1 
 
 V. 
 
38 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 are astonished at his mercy and longsuffering, He will 
 not have one feature in his character trifled with, nor 
 allow a blot upon one of his perfections. In the past 
 history of the Jews we find the righteousness of God in 
 its fullest glory, while his forbearance stands out in its 
 most touching tenderness. 
 
 The Jews must also be noticed for their preservation. 
 Only think of the punishment that has been laid upon 
 them, and how they have been preserved ! Recollect 
 how they have been persecuted, and driven into every 
 land under heaven ; how the different powers of the 
 ^earth, Popery especially, have laid their iron hand upon 
 them, shown them every indignity, treated them with 
 contumely and reproach, yea, and invented sufferings 
 whereby they might be tried and tortured. Still, they 
 stand out upon the face of the earth ; everything has 
 been tried to sink them, yet they are upon the surface, 
 bearing witness to God*s faithfulness and truth in his 
 promise to their fathers, and in his threatenings to them. 
 Oh, never, never, can the infidel get over the preservation 
 of the Jews. He can only account for it by saying, it is 
 something miraculous ; and what is that but sayingj it is 
 the fulfilment of God's purpose and God's prophecy ? 
 His Word said it from the beginning, and to this hour 
 that Word has never been overthrown, or been capable 
 of being controverted. The Jew to this day testifies to 
 the faithfulness, the truth, and the certainty of Jehovah's 
 will. 
 
 II. But I must not dwell longer upon this point, or I 
 shall not get through what I have to say to-night. Indeed, 
 I may seem rash in attempting to bring so vast a subject 
 before you ; but I am only doing as I have been re- 
 quested. Let us pass to the present condition of the Jews. 
 
 We see, then, that they are a scattered people ; we see 
 them all over the face of the earth ; they wander up and 
 down our streets ; they come to our door; they are a by-word 
 and a reproach ; they are still a persecuted people ; not in 
 our land, it is true ; God has mercifully altered that, but they 
 have to undergo fearful persecutions elsewhere. In Russia 
 the young Jews are seized upon by the Government 
 (an instance of the oppression of that country with which 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 39 
 
 Turkey is now at war,) and treated with the greatest 
 severity. A Russian Jew was lately tellmg us of 
 what happened to him a few months ago He was ^ W 
 about eleven years of age ; he was taken, with a great 
 number of otLrs, and sent without ceremony to a 
 military school. They were there ^^^Pf ^5^.^^^ "^~f^^^ 
 and so compelled to be outwardly Christians, and then 
 they were to^e trained as soldiers. No less than eighteen 
 of these poor lads hanged themselves to escape his 
 Lced baptism, because they would not be compelled 
 Z forsake the faith of their fathers. This boy, ^v^lO did 
 not commit suicide, escaped as soon as lie^^^^' ^^ 'HI 
 seized and sentenced to receive 3,000 lashes He ran 
 Tough a file of soldiers, and received 1^000, and then sank 
 exhausted on the ground ; he was sent to a hospi al o get 
 cured that he might receive the rest ; he received 500 
 more, and the sTme thing happened; he was agam 
 taken to the hospital, and the Jews felt so much abou i 
 that thev contrived to effect his escape. In another 
 "^i^iX^ Jews were treated with the ^.^^^^^^^^^ 
 tumely. They were commanded to have their beards 
 Sand their Lthes made according to the custom of he 
 country. Some of the most respectable Jews went to the 
 GovtrLent, to deprecate this ; they were receded ver^ 
 civilly, and shown into another room, while their 
 petition wa. to receive consideration; and when the^^^^ 
 they were, by main force, deprived of their beards, 
 a'd'th^fr clotLs were altered to suit tl^^/ash^on^ they 
 were thus dismissed, under a sense of the deepest 
 disgrace that could possibly be inflicted upon t he Jewis^^ 
 neoDle These are instances of the way in which the 
 Sews suffer persecution. They do not l-w Ja may 
 happen to them at any moment. All this is the ^nlfilment 
 of God's predictions; but woe be unto t^ose who thus 
 treat them -.-" I aftlicted them, and 7^ .^^\P«^ J Jj^^ 
 affliction," is what God says to the "[^//^".^.^^.^^^"l^ 
 been thus treating the Jews, and He will ^'^^^l^^^^ 
 the day of his coming, when the most f^^^^^^^;*^ f ^^^^ 
 for what they have done to Israel will unquestionably fall 
 upon the nations of the earth. ,,rp«Pnt 
 
 Observe, next, that there is a remnant at the present 
 
V 
 
 40 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 time saved. It is exceedingly gratifying to read the 
 journals of our missionaries. I took up one only a few 
 days ago, and read of the baptism of four or five adults. 
 I believe we can trust our missionaries. I know them 
 well; and I believe, when they report these baptisms, 
 that they are almost always genuine instances of con- 
 version to Christ. Of course, sometimes men may be 
 deceived; but altogether we have the most touching 
 instances of conversion to God, both in the young and 
 old, that have ever come to my knowledge. How blessed 
 it is to see God fulfilling his promise. Even yet there is 
 a remnant according to the election of his grace. 
 
 I may truly say, that the Jewish mind is at present 
 
 awakening, that there is a feeling amongst that people 
 
 ; that things cannot remain as they are. The Jews, as 
 
 I you know, may now be divided into three classes. There 
 
 !j are among them those who are perfectly indifferent 
 
 
 and infidel, and are, therefore, scarcely to be called 
 Jews ; there are the old Talmudical Jews, who follow the 
 ! traditions of the fathers ; and there are the rationalist Jews, 
 \ who are anxious to reform their code of worship,to get rid 
 ^ of the burden of Talmudic superstition, and to have a more 
 t enlightened service, and a more enlightened order. Per- 
 haps tliey are tired of so much that is burdensome, and 
 are, therefore, desirous of getting something else. One 
 of their journals lately declared that Israel is apostatizing, 
 as fast as possible, from the faith of their fathers. Many 
 J of this last class acknowledge that Christianity is a 
 good tiling, and has done a great deal. Now, this 
 is an extraordinary circumstance. Either Christianity 
 is an imposture, or it is true all over ; and to admit 
 that Christianity has done some good, and that it may 
 be a very good thing as fiir as it goes, is really to give up 
 the whole question. We declare that the Messiah is 
 come, and that hence the Jews are thoroughly wrong in 
 their present position ; and our Christianity is identified 
 with the coming of the Messiah ; it cannot be looked at 
 ' apart from that. Yet the Jew seems compelled to 
 admit that Christianity has done a great deal, and that 
 it will do a great deal yet, while he demurs to accepting 
 the Messiah that it presents to him. You see the incon- 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 41 
 
 ¥ 
 
 T 
 
 «c« 
 
 \ 
 
 sistency of such a position ; but you see also the advance 
 which it indicates. It is, therefore, our duty to pour in 
 as much as possible that scriptural knowledge of the Old 
 and New Testament, which may show the Jew the incon- 
 sistency of his position, and lead him at once to embrace 
 the whole truth as it is in Jesus of Nazareth, the true 
 
 J^essiah. 
 
 Then I may add, that they are particularly cared for 
 at the present time. This is an interesting feature of 
 their present condition. Why, the very circumstance of 
 this subject being introduced into a course of lectures 
 such as this, shows of itself the difference of the position 
 of the Jews in the minds of the Christian Church. The 
 subject would not have been interesting years ago; 
 people would have thought us insane to speak about it ; 
 but now the interest respecting it is great throughout the 
 land. Then, there is a great interest taken in the Jews ^ 
 by our politicians, nationally; and though I think they'^ 
 are going thoroughly wrong in fancying they will do the - 
 Jews any good, by giving them part in the Government, j 
 (for myself, I disclaim any sympathy with that sort of, 
 thing,) yet we have reason to thank God, that the 
 former indifference or hatred to the Jews, on the part of 
 the public, is being replaced by something like kindness ^ 
 and sympathy. And here I would just say, that I was 
 told by one of our missionaries, that while, on the 
 Continent, the English nation is greatly disliked, and 
 even hated, yet, " Go where you will," said he, " the 
 Jew loves England ; he is the exception, and, find him 
 where you will, he will stand up for England and the 
 English." I am sure nothing has gladdened my heart for 
 a long time more than this, because I remember what 
 God hath said,—" They shall prosper that love thee ; and 
 blessed is he that blesseth thee." I had sooner have a' 
 place in the Jew's heart, than have all the gold and 
 silver of the world poured into our shores ; and I am sure, 
 if we are really seeking the good of God's people, and( 
 the welfare of that nation (even if we do not nationally, 
 all we might do), that is a stronger bulwark to 
 our country, than if we were to build our thick walls, 
 and gather all the defences we could around us. While 
 
^ 
 
 42 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 we love Israel, and show mercy to the Jew, I believe we 
 have a warrant to expect that the Lord will be gracious 
 to us. I do not say that this will be an atonement for 
 other sins, that if I sin against God, showing a little kind- 
 ness to the Jew will be a make-weight against it ; but I 
 do regard it, and I am sure you will regard it, as a feature 
 of special promise in our present condition ; and I thank 
 God, that we have that affectionate interest in the heart 
 of the Jew, and that it can be said of them especially that 
 they do love England and the English. 
 
 III. But I must pass on to the remaining point of my 
 subject, which is a long one — though I will be as brief as 
 I possibly can — ih^ future in regard to Israel. Here I can 
 only give you heaidsof thought ; and instead of giving you 
 a very general view, I will give you, as far as I see them in 
 the Word of God, the particulars which I think are likely 
 to transpire: they will form subjects of meditation for 
 you at home, and may be profitable to you for a long 
 time to come, in the future reading of the Bible, or in 
 bearing the subject treated, as you will, from time to time, 
 by your beloved minister and others. 
 
 We may first ask, then, what is likely to happen next 
 in regard to the Jewish people ? And here let me notice, 
 that as far as we have gone in the history of the Jewish 
 people, all has been literal. They have literally sinned, 
 and have been literally punished; they have suffered 
 outwardly the consequences of their sin ; the threatenings 
 of God*s Word have been fulfilled, not in any spiritualized 
 way, but actually and literally. We believe, as the Jews 
 believe, that this is the key for the interpretation of that 
 which is to come ; and as we find the threatening literally 
 fulfilled, that the Jew should be banished from his land, 
 we believe the promise will be literally fulfilled, that he 
 /shall be restored. As we find Israel meant Israel when 
 he had to be punished, that Jacob and Zion meant Jacob 
 and Zion when they were to be cast off; so we make no 
 apology for believing that Israel means Israel when it is 
 jfetated that he shall be restored ; and that Zion means 
 teion, and Jerusalem means Jerusalem, when it is said 
 they shall be recovered and built again. It is upon this 
 principle I go to-night, — I shall not stop to prove it, 
 
 I 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 43 
 
 ! 
 
 because I think it is the principle of Christian common 
 sense, and that if you read your Bible in simphcity, just 
 believino' that God says what He means, this must be the 
 conviction in your minds. I have found that the poorest 
 people who have read their Bible in simplicity have 
 understood all about it ; while others who are inchned to 
 put another interpretation upon it, become confused, and 
 at last hardly know what they are reading about. I do 
 most earnestly deprecate the introduction of a canon ot 
 interpretation, which, while it robs the Jew, does not 
 one whit enrich the Christian. It makes you no better, 
 it gives you no more privileges, it advances you to no 
 higher glory,— while it takes away from the Jew that 
 which God has promised him, and, what is more, it takes 
 away the very best means of convincing him of that very 
 truth which I am anxious he should believe. A Jew 
 asks a clergyman,-" AVhat do you think of Israel in this 
 passao-e ? " « Oh, that is the Christian Church." " What 
 does Zion mean there ? " " That means the people of 
 God" "What does Israel mean here, when it says, 
 Israel shall be desolate ? " " Oh, there it means the 
 Jews." " What does Jerusalem mean when it is to be 
 pulled down ? " " That means really Jerusalem." Then 
 the Jew says, " Why, you give me all the curse, all the 
 destruction, all the desolation, and the moment there comes 
 a promise of life and blessing, then it is all yours. Now, 
 really, there is a great deal of fairness in this reply and 
 I would have you all consider it well ; for while robbing the 
 Jew you do not enrich yourselves ; you would have just as 
 much of the spiritual evangelical blessings of the prophet 
 Isaiah, if you would interpret literally, as you think you 
 have now. Therefore I do entreat you to take that view, 
 or keep it if you have it ; but this is incidental. 
 
 What, then, are we to expect of the Jews r* VYe 
 believe they are to be brought back to their own land in 
 an unconverted state. This is stated by different pro- 
 Dhecies. Zechariah, for instance,-" I will pour upon the 
 house of David the spirit of prayer and supphcation, — 
 that is, when they are at Jerusalem: they are to be 
 brought back before the spirit of prayer and supplication 
 is poSred upon them. Then, again,— "I wiU take you from 
 
 4/ 
 
44 
 
 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 45 
 
 among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, 
 and will bring you into your own land. Then will I 
 sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean ;• 
 from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I 
 cleanse you." So that they are to be cleansed after they 
 are brought back to their own land. While in that 
 unconverted state they will attain to a condition of great 
 outward jyrosperity. I think you will find this in the 
 38th chapter of Ezekiel, 11th and 12th verses; where 
 the prophet speaks of God going up against " unwalled 
 
 villages," — so that we see they will have their villages 
 
 and he speaks of " the people that are gathered o'ut of 
 the nations which have gotten cattle and goods, that 
 dwell in the midst of the land." It is clear, therefore, 
 that they will be prosperous and wealthy, that they will 
 acquire glory and greatness, and build their villages, and 
 dwell in their cities. Moreover, it would appear also that 
 they will restore their temple and their worship at this 
 time. This you will find in Isaiah Ixvi. 1, 2, where I 
 think there is a clear allusion to an attempt to build the 
 temple again at Jerusalem (I do not refer to Ezekiel here 
 —that is another matter). And it is very clear also, that 
 they will again fall into idolatry. It is remarkable that 
 it should be so, but I have no doubt of it. You will find 
 this in Isaiah ii. 8,—" Their land also is full of idols, they 
 worship the work of their own hands, that which their 
 own fingers have made." This, I believe, refers to the 
 last condition of the Jews. It is said also, in the passage 
 in Ezekiel, to which I have already referred, "From 
 your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." 
 Again, in Zechariah xiii. 2,—" And it shall come to pass 
 in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the 
 names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more 
 be remembered, and also I will cause the prophets and the 
 unclean spirit to pass out of the land." We believe also, 
 in connexion with this, that there will be a repetition of 
 the rejection of the Messiah. I think I can clearly see, 
 that this must be an element in the sin of the Jews in 
 their last condition. The Messiah will be preached to 
 them in some way. Their nation is becoming leavened 
 with the Word of God ; and it is utterly impossible that 
 
 ^1 
 
 they should not know that we profess that the Messiah is 
 come: their position, therefore, must involve the 
 rejection of Him before He comes in person. They wiU 
 not have Him to reign over them. They will say, " Oh, 
 we have all we want,"— that is the feeling of some at the 
 present time — " we require no more in our own prosperous 
 condition." They may actually ignore the special promises 
 given to their fathers. And their sin will be very great, as 
 is clear from different prophecies, especially of Zechariah 
 and Zephaniah, and from the 39th chapter of Ezekiel, verse 
 26,—" After that they have borne their shame, and all their 
 trespasses whereby they have trespassed against rae, when 
 they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them 
 afraid." Now this, I conceive, refers not to their 
 dwelling in Canaan several thousand years ago, but to 
 that future time when they will return there, and on their 
 return will reject the Messiah ; and it is for this sin, I 
 think, that God brings up the armies of Gog and Magog 
 and the rest of the Gentiles against the Jews. With re- 
 gard to their idolatry, I believe it will have a great deal to 
 do with the coming Antichrist. In rejecting the true 
 Messiah they will lay hold of a false Messiah ; that will be 
 their sin, as our Lord said : " I am come in my Father's 
 name, and ye receive me not ; another shall come in his 
 own name, and him ye will receive ; " and it is my full 
 impression, from the connexion which Antichrist appears 
 to have with the Jews, that they will be leagued with 
 him, and that the worship of the idol he will set up (as 
 Nebuchadnezzar did in the plains of Dura), will be pecu- 
 liarly the sin of the people in that day. 
 
 It will however please God not to cast them oft, but to 
 brin^^ upon them the most marked punishment. Accord- 
 incrly, their land will be invaded by the Antichrist and his 
 armies. One of the great events before the coming of the 
 Lord, will be the gathering of the armies of Antichrist 
 from the different parts under heaven ; they will be 
 gathered against the Jews, for he will quarrel with them, 
 will break his covenant with them, and come against them ; 
 and you find the result in the 14th chapter of Zechariah, 
 — " Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil 
 shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather 
 all nations against Jeruealcm to battle ; and the city shall 
 
46 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished ; 
 and half of the city shall go forth into captivitj, and the 
 residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city." 
 So that they will be carried, many of them, into captivity, 
 northward into Assyria, and southward into Egypt, — the 
 two great countries where the mass of them will be pre- 
 served previous to their last restoration, which is soon after- 
 wards to take place. It would appear that somewhere about 
 this time the Lord will have come into the air, and the 
 dead will be raised, and the saints will be caught up to meet 
 Him. The Church of the first-born, the elect Church of 
 God, will be withdrawn from the earth, and so far we 
 shall have none of the elect people of God left who are to 
 reign with Him in the heavenly Jerusalem, — they will be 
 gone. But subsequently to that, while the trouble is 
 going on with Antichrist, it would seem that the Lord 
 gets a remnant ready against the time when He comes 
 down upon Mount Olivet. He comes first in the air to 
 gather liis saints around Him, and after a short season He 
 descends upon Mount Olivet, to take vengeance on the 
 enemies of the Jews. In the interval it would seem, that 
 He is gathering a remnant of both Jews and Gentiles, 
 who are to be a people prepared for the Lord when He 
 descends upon the mountain. This is clear from many 
 passages of Scripture ; for instance, Zephaniah iii., — " I 
 will also leave in the midst of thee an aflSicted and poor 
 people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord." 
 In Isaiah Ixvi. 2, we have two parties brought together, 
 — the Jews who rebel against God, and the Jews who 
 repent and are looking for Him : ** To this man will I 
 look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and 
 trembleth at my word." And at the 5th verse, " Hear 
 the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word ; your 
 brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's 
 sake, said. Let the Lord be glorified ; but He shall appear 
 to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." The great mass 
 of the Jewish people will think these penitents who are 
 turning to the Lord and beginning to look out for Him, 
 enthusiasts and fanatics, and they will say, " We do 
 not want a Messiah." They will cast them out, but the 
 Lord says He will appear to their joy, and their enemies 
 shall be ashamed. The Lord will also gather a people out of 
 
 ^>ii 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 47 
 
 the Gentiles. I refer for that to a passage in the 66th 
 chapter of Isaiah, which I do not think is, generally 
 speaking, rightly understood. The Lord says, "I will 
 set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape 
 of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that 
 draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, 
 that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; 
 and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles : 
 and they shall bring all your brethren for an offering 
 unto the Lord." Now, I think that this refers to a rem- 
 nant of the Gentiles that have been also converted in the 
 midst of all these j udgments, and then go forth. It is not the 
 Jews that go forth, but the Gentiles that are thus spared — 
 they go and tell the Gentiles in distant parts of the earth 
 what God has done for the Jewish people. During this 
 time, I believe, Elijah will have made his appearance upon 
 the earth, as is promised in Malachi, for that prophecy was 
 not completely fulfilled in John the Baptist ; he was the 
 Elijah of the first coming ; but Elijah himself is to appear 
 at the second coming ; and he will come, as it would seem, 
 not only to the Jews at Jerusalem, but also to gather toge- 
 ther the ten tribes, wherever they may be, and to bring them 
 up when the time shall come, that they may be united 
 with their brethren in the land of Judea. 
 
 The next point I notice is the coming of the Lord 
 when the armies are gathered all around Jerusalem, when 
 half the city has been taken captive, and when Antichrist 
 is just preparing to put his hand upon Jerusalem actually 
 to crush it. Just at the very time when Satan seems to 
 be gaining his end, and the covenant with Abraham and 
 David appears likely to pass away like " chaff of the 
 summer threshing floor," the Lord steps down, Zechariah 
 tells us, upon Mount Olivet to fight against those nations ; 
 he comes with saints and angels in his triumphant glory, 
 and stands upon the Mount : it cleaves asunder ; one part 
 goes toward the north, another toward the south, and there 
 is a vast valley between, just as the prophet describes. 
 The Lord then fulfils his judgment upon the beast and the 
 false prophet, who are cast into the lake of fire; he 
 destroys thousands and tens of thousands of those nations 
 gathered against Jerusalem ; he fights against them " as 
 
48 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 when he fought in the day of battle,'' saving only the 
 remnant of Jews who, as we have been telling you, shaU 
 be gathered together, and shall be looking for Christ in 
 that day, and will say, " Lo, this is our God we have 
 waited for hira, and he will save us ;" and with them that 
 remnant of the Gentiles who have also become penitent 
 and have believed on him, that they may go forth and 
 gather others into his kingdom. Then the Lord, having 
 returned in mercy to his house of Israel, and having had 
 compassion on the house of Jacob, is recognised, just 
 as Joseph was when he was made known and reconciled 
 unto his brethren, which seems to be a beautiful type ot 
 the Lord's discovery to his ancient people. He will then 
 send out the Gentiles that are converted to the ditierent 
 parts to tell their Gentile brethren what God is now 
 doincr for the Jewish people ; and then they, the Gentiles, 
 will gather up all the Jews, wherever they can find them, 
 and bring them as a present to the Lord of Hosts unto 
 Mount Zion. They will come with the Jew, so to speak, 
 in their hands ; they will say, " The Lord is returmng in 
 mercy ; we will go with you, God is with you of a truth ; 
 they will take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, and 
 take him up to Mount Zion, and bring him to the Lord, 
 and say "We see that thou art returning in mercy 
 io thy people, and art going to glorify Israel ; we come to 
 help on thy glory, and to propitiate thee, as it were, with 
 the offerincr of the Jewish people, whom tliou art about to 
 gather " The result of all this will be (the ten tribes 
 having returned at the same time, and all the Jews being 
 gathered in Jerusalem), that Christ will establish there 
 a pure and holy worship. The land will be divided, as 
 stated in Ezekiel, differently from what it is now, among 
 the twelve tribes, and the whole nation will be established 
 in prosperity and in peace, and be the glory of all nations. 
 The name of the city from that day shall be Jehovah 
 Shammah, « the Lord is there ;" the law shall go forth 
 from Mount Zion and the Word of the Lord ^'O"^ Jeru- 
 salem, and all the nations to the ends of the earth shall 
 dwell, as it were, in their light, and receive through them, 
 under their gentle rule and governance, the communication 
 of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ, and the benefits 
 
 OP THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 49 
 
 V 
 
 4r 
 
 of a happy and peaceful condition upon the earth. The 
 connexion of the nations and the Jewish people after that 
 will be, that they will go up (I suppose by deputies), 
 every year to keep the feast of tabernacles. In the 14th 
 chapter of Zechariah this is particularly stated. Thus 
 from time to time the Gentile nations wdll come from 
 distant parts of the earth, and spend a portion of the 
 year in Jerusalem at the holy feasts, and then go back 
 again to refresh the hearts and souls of others with the 
 glad tidings they have brought. These again in their 
 turn will go up and do the same for them. Thus God 
 will have accomplished his purpose of making the Jews a 
 happy, holy, and righteous people, a nation of glory upon 
 this earth, full of outward prosperity, full of inward 
 holiness, to his everlasting praise, sealing the covenant 
 with Abraham, and fulfilling the covenant with David; 
 notwithstanding apparent previous failure ; Christ as the 
 seed of Abraham recovering the land ; Christ as the seed 
 of David taking the throne. Such will be the glory of 
 the children of Abraham in the latter day, or as I under- 
 stand it, during the promised Millennium. Beyond this I 
 do not know how the Lord may increase the happiness 
 and add to the glory of his people. 
 
 There is one point I have to notice here, and it is a 
 very important one. All this will be accomplished simply 
 through the redemption and the salvation that is in Christ 
 Jesus. Let me just make a strong remark upon that, 
 because it is an important lesson for our whole people. 
 Why did not the Jews retain the land when they were 
 put into it at first ? Because they rebelled against the 
 Lord, and would not keep his statutes and judgments.^ 
 Why may not the same happen again ? How is it that 
 when their sin bus been taken away, and this land 
 restored to them, that they shall keep the land and not 
 iorfeit it again ? These are interesting questions. Re- 
 member, it is entirely through Jesus, through grace, 
 and through that gospel that is preached unto you at this 
 very day. Nothing else will give the people their land, 
 and nothing else will keep it when they have it. It is 
 proved in this way. " I will pour upon the house ot 
 David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit oi grace 
 
 E 
 
 $^> 
 
50 THE PAST, TOE TRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 and supplication; an.l they shall look "PO" "« ^'^°"? 
 thev hfve pierced." There is the grace of the Gospel 
 wlZ^ them to Christ ; and when they are thus brought 
 the Lord has saved them in heart and sou -not merely 
 ^whh an outward salvation. Recollect .t is hrough 
 Christ "hat the land is reclaimed, and not by any 
 Ehteousness of their own. And how will they keep .t 
 when Ly thus get back? It is said - Jerenmh x^x^^ 
 31 32 33, " Behold, the days come, saith the Loid, that 
 I wiil make a new covenant with the house o Israel, and 
 wiTh thThouse of Judah: Not according to the covenant 
 ttt I made"with their fathers in the day tJ^aU ^k the- 
 bv the hand to bring them out ot the land ot Lgypt • 
 whic my covenant they brake, although I was an hus- 
 band u7o them, saith the Lord : but this shall be the 
 covenant that I will make with the house of Israel ; after 
 those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in he.r 
 L^rd pL'ts, and write it in their hearts ;a.dw,U be 
 their God, and they shall be my people «» y°» ^«^ '^ 
 is all "race ; God undertakes to do it ; he says, 1 tuea 
 you before ;nd gave you the land, but you rebelled against 
 
 orwaJd manrwhen he reads ^H these glcn-.ousdescn^^^^^^^^^ 
 but never forget that the secret of it all is the sacritice ot 
 Je us the blood of the Lamb ; the application to the heart 
 of that blood by the Spirit of God ; the gift to that people 
 of the everlasting righteousness of Immanuel, who then 
 sL be Jehovah t\eir righteousness: the renewing of their 
 sW by God the Spidt; their adoption through the 
 Holy Ghost ; and thei'r being sanctified and preserved by 
 the Snirit of God. So you see that this glory will be tue 
 hthes t riumpli of the Gospel of grace ; that the outward 
 Morv were impossible if it were not for the grace n the 
 heart; that if'^God had not taken it into his own hands 
 ZAon^ it all of free mercy, Israel had been ever what 
 i^t is now-rejected, dispersed, rebelhous, and sinful. The 
 
 OF THE HOUSE OP ISRAEL. 
 
 51 
 
 k 
 
 ^ 
 
 Lord says, "I will do it"— just what he says to every 
 soul tliat he has ever brought to Christ, and but for 
 which we should have gone on wandering and rebellious 
 to this very hour. " He loved me," as it is said, "but I 
 cannot tell why." " We love him because he first loved 
 US,"— and that love lies at the root of all spiritual excel- 
 lency and all external glory. Man is not to be trusted 
 with an outward world, he cannot enjoy it until the Holy 
 Ghost has brought his soul into conformity with the love 
 and character and truth of God ; then man can be trusted, 
 because the grace that has been given him will keep him ; 
 then the Jew will have Jerusalem and Mount Zion ; and 
 the Gentiles shall have the world for their enjoyment 
 and delight ; for all the people shall be holy and glorious 
 because the Lord shall give them his grace, and "the 
 knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters 
 cover the sea, and all the ends of the earth shall see the 
 salvation of our God." 
 
 Now, dear brethren, one word only in the way of 
 application. I could apply this subject ecclesiastically, 
 I could tell you, for instance, what a Church will become 
 — what our Church will become — for whose Scriptural 
 articles and homilies we bless God — if it does not take 
 warning by the Jews. Recollect what they lost by tradi- 
 tion and by idolatry ; and let every one tremble who has 
 anything to do with such things as these. Then 1 could 
 tell you what we learn nationally from the Jewish people. 
 I can only now say that the great point with us as a 
 nation is to honour God, to exalt Him, to give Him 
 glory, to care for no consequences so long as God is 
 exalted and magnified — that is real glory. "Righteous-/, 
 ness exalteth a nation ; " and " the fear of the Lord is the (I 
 beginning of wisdom," for nations as well as individuals, y 
 But I must just say a word to yoxx personally as to what 
 |. the history of Israel ought to teach you. Remember, 
 God said, " Israel is my first-born." Now, recollect we 
 are children, at least by profession, of the Lord God 
 Almighty. I therefore beseech you, let the Jews be your 
 warning in this matter. Are you a rebellious child ? 
 Recollect what Israel has suffered. Are you one that 
 trifles with privileges ? Recollect what Israel has suf- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE, 
 
 fered. Are you one that sins with a high hand againrt 
 the Lord ? KecoUect what Israel has suffered. Remem- 
 ber that as his Father punished Him, so will your Father 
 punish you, in his righteousness and truth, if you persist 
 in rejecting His mercy, and setting at naught His salva- 
 tion. Oh, my dear friends, let this subject leave upon 
 your hearts a deep and solemn and awful impression of 
 the righteousness and glory of God. " Our God is a 
 consuming fire." " It is a fearful thing to Ml into the 
 hands of "the living God." Oh! let Israel testify this to 
 every rebellious child of our heavenly Father. And go 
 and seek his grace if you are in that state ; "call upon 
 Him," as He bade them do, w^hile He is near ; " seek Him 
 while he may be found." Recollect what He said to 
 Israel — " Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord ; 
 though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool ; 
 though they be red like crimson, they shall be as white as 
 snow." Oh, go, then, I beseech you, and throw your- 
 selves at his feet, and confess your rebellion. See in the 
 history of that people how ready He is to receive you ; 
 and remember He casteth out none that come to Him. 
 And ye, believers, rejoice in your portion. When I look 
 at all the glory and happiness and prosperity promised 
 to the Jews, do I envy them ? Do I say, *' Oh, that I 
 might have the felicity of that people and their inherit- 
 ance?" No. All this world shall be beautiful, and 
 covered with the glory of the Lord ; everything shall be 
 delightful and blessed. I know that ; and I rejoice to 
 know it ; but I look up and say, " My inheritance is 
 there ; in the heavenly Jerusalem that is over the earth 
 (not disconnected from it), the Bride, the Lamb's wife ; 
 *'an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that 
 fadeth not away." My portion is in the resurrection oi 
 the saints ; when I shall " see Him as He is," and when 
 <Hhis corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this 
 mortal shall put on immortality." That is the hope of a 
 child of God regenerated by the Spirit and longing for tho 
 appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. I shall indeed 
 witness the glory of the Jewish people ; I shall behold 
 their righteousness and rejoice in their prosperity; I shall 
 delight to see the covenant with Abraham carried out, and 
 
 OP THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. 
 
 53 
 
 entirely and completely fulfilled ; but it will be in a more 
 glorious state than theirs, as a member of the Church of the 
 first-born, dwelling wuth the Lord Jesus, beholding his 
 face, and having his name in my forehead. This is what 
 the child of God feels is his portion. May that hope 
 cheer you ! May that hope sanctify both you and your 
 minister ! The Lord grant that our communication this 
 night about the house of Israel may be a blessing (as your 
 beloved minister besought the Lord it might be) to 
 every one of us, that it may make Jesus more precious, 
 that it may lead to our being more busy for him at home 
 and abroad, among Jews and among Gentiles, seeking to 
 bring in the remnant of the Jews, and to give them 
 back what they have given us (for we must not forget that 
 both practical charity and practical Christianity lead us 
 to do that), and to purify ourselves even as He is pure, 
 looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of 
 God, and waiting continually for the appearing of the 
 King of kings and the Lord of lords, when He shall come 
 forth and bless his people, and take his Bride to himself 
 for ever. 
 
THE GREEK CHURCH. 
 
 55 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, ITS HISTORY AND 
 
 CONDITION. 
 
 BY THE REV. J. P. WRIGHT, 
 
 CLERICAL SECRETARY OF THE CENTRAL SOCIETY. 
 
 The notice which our respected Chairman and your 
 pastor has given concerning those reasons which make 
 the consideration of the history and condition of the 
 Greek Church of special importance just at present, has 
 saved me the trouble of entering upon those reasons. It 
 is really of very great importance, and would be, even if 
 these things did not exist— this Russian war, and these 
 assumptions on the part of parties in our own Church to 
 dictate terms to others, or to our own bishops abroad— it 
 would be of very great importance to know what our 
 brethren in tlie East, from whence the light of Christianity 
 first sprang, are, and what they are doing. 
 
 I will begin at once by taking up the history of the 
 Greek Church. The history of the Greek Church, in 
 the first age, will be the history of the Church itself— 
 for from thence Christianity sprang. From thence— that 
 is, from the Eastern Church — sprang our own early 
 British Church. We owe our Christianity, as also does 
 Gaul, to the Greek Church, and not to the Roman 
 Church. The controversies that took place at the time 
 of Augustine's landing on the Isle of Thanet, and at th3 
 time oi^ the conversion of the Saxons, who had overrun 
 England, and had swept away the British Church before 
 them, making the British Christians retire into the fast- 
 nesses of Wale?, prove conclusively that England had 
 received its Christianity from the East, and observed the 
 
 customs of the East. I need not enter into this perhaps. 
 Suffice it to make the assertion ; the proof of it and the 
 details about it belong to quite another subject. 
 
 Of course, dear friends, I do not for a moment pretend 
 that this is a sufficient sketch of the history of the Greek 
 Church. It would be utterly impossible, in the compass 
 of a Lecture like this, to give anything of the sort. But 
 before I pass on to its present condition, let me make 
 one or two reflections. Mark then how, as love goes 
 out, division creeps in ; mark how, as the light of truth 
 fades, so a battling for creeds and words, and a zeal for 
 forms and ceremonies, take its place ; mark how quarrels 
 arise, and divisions are perpetuated, and misunderstand- 
 ings are deepened into quarrels — simply by ceasing to 
 walk near the Lord, by ceasing to regard all Christians 
 as brothers in heart, and as having a liberty in matters 
 short of the essentials of faith to receive according to 
 their consciences or customs. I would impress upon you, 
 at this moment, the great facts which those early Eastern 
 Churches could have read in the Epistles of St. Paul. 
 There are noticed, to say the least, in the 14th chapter 
 of his Epistle to the Romans, grave and very great 
 extremes of opinion and practice. One there ate nothing 
 but herbs, another ate all things ; one kept a particular 
 day, another regarded every day alike ; and the Apostle 
 said — ^' He that regardeth the day, to the Lord he 
 regardeth it; and he that regardeth not the day, to the 
 Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to 
 the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and he that eateth 
 not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." 
 In other words, if you believe in and love the same Lord, 
 if you agree in fundamentals and essentials — that is. in 
 those things which concern the salvation of the soul and 
 the purity of Christian doctrine, then you are answerable 
 to maintain the bond of love one to another, notwith- 
 standing certain diffiirences of view. How is this to be 
 brought about ? Why, if you will notice the first verse 
 of the chapter, you will find the Apostle saying — " Him 
 that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful 
 disputations" — or, as it is read in the margin, " not to 
 Judge his doubtful thoughts." The word in the Greek 
 
56 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 57 
 
 is a participle ; and may be rendered-" Hirn tnat is 
 ailin- in the faith," it might be translated, " Him that is 
 ailinS in the faith, receive ye." That is to say, li a 
 person does not see eye to eye with you, and you esteem 
 yourselves to know Christian doctrine, why should you 
 quarrel with him for being a weaker believer than you ." 
 Would you quarrel with, or knock down, the first man 
 you meet, because he is an invalid, and has not the same 
 strength of body ? Do you quarrel with people because 
 they have not the same features as yourselves i iNo, 
 certainly not. " Nevertheless, whereto we have already 
 attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the 
 same thing," and think the same thing. Let us account 
 that there are degrees of knowledge— that there are 
 degrees of light, degrees of faith, and steps m the 
 Christian life, and "gently lead those that are with 
 youncr " those that are encumbered with prejudice, those 
 that are kept back by ignorance, those that are warped 
 by the accident of education, or, perhaps, by the drawback 
 of not having heard the simple Gospel of Christ as they 
 should. Let us help one another for our edification, and 
 receive one another, though " ailing in the faith but 
 not to judge one another's doubtful thoughts. Rather 
 let us teach one another more and more, in order that 
 the lic^ht may be disseminated, and Christ's kingdom may 
 receive advance instead of check. Ah ! my friends, in a 
 world like this, if people will look for opposition, dis- 
 agreement, quarrels, and differences, there is not a doubt 
 but tliey will find them thickly sown everywhere by the 
 great enemy of souls. 
 
 I will further just lay this reflection upon you. When 
 the Christian Church was sent forth to evangelize the 
 nations-when first God the Son sent them forth, he 
 said—" Go ye into all the world, and —do what .^— 
 " preach the Gospel to every creature." He did not say 
 " Quarrel with one another— tease one another to death 
 —try and subjugate one another-contend for your views, 
 your privileges, your station ;" no, but he said, ^^ lie 
 busied in preaching the Gospel to every creature, lor 
 »* he that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved but 
 he that believeth not shall be condemned." " Preach the 
 
 Gospel ;" " contend earnestly for the truth delivered unto 
 the saints ;" but do not make a mistake, and read the 
 passage as if it meant, " Contend earnestly against the 
 saints." 
 
 I now go on to the present state of the Greek Church. 
 You will have gathered from its history, that it differs 
 from Rome in some important particulars. It does not 
 acknowledge Rome as the head of Christendom ; but it 
 differs still more importantly in this matter from it, in 
 that it does not acknowledge any canonical head at all. 
 It says there is no such thing, and ought to be no such 
 thing — that Christ is the only Head and Vicar of His 
 Church. Now, so far, this is a great stumbling-block 
 removed out of the way of religious operations in favour 
 of our brethren in the East. The next thing in which 
 the Greek Church differs from Rome is, that the Greek 
 Church does not believe in the Roman doctrine of Pur- 
 gatory. The next thing is (I may be entering into 
 differences which are of small importance to us, but they 
 are necessary to a fair view of the subject,) — it does not 
 acknowledge baptism by sprinkling — it says that immer- 
 sion ought to be made three times, in order to the 
 baptism being valid. It rejects, contrary both to us and 
 Rome, the ordinance of Confirmation, and administers, 
 instead, what is called the Chrism immediately after 
 baptism. It considers infants, when baptized, quite com- 
 petent to take the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and 
 admits them to it accordingly. But it does not, in all 
 cases, baptize infants. This is true of all the branches 
 of the Greek Church. It is a more common thing, 
 among the Armenian branches, to leave the infant until 
 some dawn of reason shall make its baptism, and, 
 therefore, its first communion, a rational as well as a 
 covenant act. There is another difference, and a very 
 striking one, between the two Churches. The Greek 
 Church requires the priest to be married, but when he 
 has entered orders he can marry no more. This is true 
 of all the Greek Church, with some few exceptions. It 
 is a remarkable fact, that the Jesuits, in their operations 
 with the Greek Church, have been obliged to give in this 
 point ; and when taking a standing among the Arme- 
 
58 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 59 
 
 nians, and Nestorians, and Jacobites, have been compelled 
 to yield to the Eastern idea of the sanctity of marriaf^e, 
 and allow it to the priest. It has strange laws with 
 respect to consanguinity, and makes a spiritual one, like 
 Rome, as well as a natural. For instance, godfathers 
 and godmothers are considered relations with respect to 
 the degrees within which it is lawful to marry, and are, 
 therefore, placed in the forbidden list. It agrees with 
 Rome in holding the doctrine of Transubstantiation, with 
 the exception of some unimportant particulars, but not, 
 like Rome, in withliolding the cup from the laity, who 
 communicate in the Greek Church in both kinds ; and, as 
 with us, leavened bread is used, the most pure that can 
 be obtained. There are some differences which, I think, 
 are to be attributed to that peculiar reverence of feeling 
 which certainly belongs to the Orientals, and is, in f\ict, 
 its excellence, as far as it goes. The cup is not given to 
 a communicant to drink from ; the wine is taken in a 
 spoon. I mention this, because great stress has lately 
 been laid upon it as being a mark of apostasy. I confess 
 I do not see it. I do not think we ought to dwell too 
 much on these minor things. To treat the customs of 
 others with disrespect is no mark of wisdom. Then, 
 another great difference between the two Churches is, 
 that the Greek Church rejects images. It says we ought 
 not to offer worship to images ; and it keeps whole and 
 entire the Ten Commandments. It has not mutilated 
 them, as you well know Rome has done, over and over 
 again, and publishes in all her popular formularies 
 mutilated copies of that most sacred part of the Old 
 Testament, daring to face the anathemas of the Scriptures 
 themselves, adding and takin*^ away where it pleases. 
 
 The fasts and feasts of the Greek Church are different 
 to those of Rome ; but the time allowed for this Lecture 
 will not allow me to point out in what ways they are 
 different. The fasts are much more strict, and are longer. 
 The Greek Church does not deal in dispensations, so 
 much as the Romish ; it does not allow even milk or eggs 
 to those who fast. The ritual of the Greek Church, 
 again, is different from that of Rome, and the whole 
 seems, from what attention I have been able to give to it, 
 
 I 
 
 to approach on the whole more nearly to our own. There 
 is more reading of Scripture in it ; there is more congre- 
 gational prayer ; and, on the whole, except in the Nesto- 
 rian and the eastern parts of the Greek Church, there is 
 more understanding on the part of the congregation of 
 what they are about than in the Church of Rome. But 
 this is nearly all which can be said in favour of the 
 present Greek Church. 
 
 I will now mention one or two things in which it differs 
 from us. And first and foremost (and a very great thing 
 it is), there is no preaching in the Greek Church. This 
 is a most serious defect. Dear friends, the ordinance of 
 preaching was that by which the Gospel was first made 
 known ; the ordinance of preaching is that pre-eminently 
 by which its light is continued, and without the ordinance 
 of preaching in a church, as man is become by the fall, 
 darkness, abuse, and degradation must ensue. Whenever 
 ceremonies and symbolisms are substituted for the simple 
 preached Word of the living God, for the simple procla- 
 mation of forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus, of 
 justification by faith, of sanctification by the Spirit, and 
 exhortation to good works, then all things subside rapidly 
 into darkness and death — such as we now see to pervade 
 the Greek Church. The only relic of preaching that I 
 can discover in it is in the Nestorian branch. There a 
 gospel and epistle, answering to our Gospel and Epistle 
 in the Communion Service, are commented upon by a 
 person as he reads them. They are read in a language 
 unknown to the common people — the ancient Syrian — 
 and are translated on the spot into the vulgar tongue, and 
 briefly commented upon. This running comment used to 
 be the test of the abilities of the Nestorian divines ; but 
 now very little is made of it. The American missionaries 
 declare, that a few observations of the most common- 
 place character, just such as the people have heard over 
 and over again, are made ; and this is the only remnant 
 of the ordinance of preaching that exists throughout the 
 Greek Church. There are legions of saints, and there 
 are books of divinity among them ; but on the whole the 
 characteristic of the Greek Church is, that it is stationary 
 — that there is no progress in it — that it is in fact waning 
 
MM^ 
 
 €0 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 61 
 
 away— that it is a mere body of ceremonies and forms— 
 a dead corpse which wants revivification and reformation 
 by the immediate preaching of the pure and simple 
 
 Gospel of Jesus. ., ^ . i u- 
 
 It differs from us and agrees with Rome in holding 
 seven sacraments. And these are almost like those ot 
 Rome. Baptism, the chrism, (confirmation, of course, 
 in the Roman system,) the communion, preceded by 
 auricular confession, penance, matrimony, orders, and 
 extreme unction. Auricular confession is universally 
 received, but it has fallen into desuetude in many parts. 
 But in the Russian and in the Greek Church proper, 
 confession is very much used indeed, and is carried to 
 quite as great an extreme as in the Church of Rome. ^ 
 
 Another thing in which they differ from us is in their 
 acknowledgment of a double foundation of faith— the 
 Bible and tradition. They, like Rome, pretend that our 
 Lord gave, during the forty days preceding his ascension, 
 and during private seasons of his ministry here on earth, 
 instructions upon faith and discipline to his Apost es, 
 which they transmitted down to others, and which dvvell in 
 the Church. Of course it is obvious to us all, that it such 
 tradition exists it should be produced. If such instruc- 
 tions on faith and discipline, supplemental to the bcrip- 
 tures, and being of equal authority with them, were ever 
 deUvered by the Lord to his Apostles, and were ever by 
 his Apostles handed down to others, they should be pro- 
 duceable to all, in order to convince us of their divine 
 reahty ; for God himself has followed this method in his 
 holy Scriptures ; he has given them not only to the 
 Church as a deposit, but also opened their page wide to 
 the eyes of all men, in order that to their external 
 evidence there may be added internal ; the evidence ot 
 the receipt of life and growth by their divine words. I 
 say, then, let tradition at least take the same ground ; 
 for surely that which is committed to man cannot be 
 wished to stand upon higher and more select ground, and 
 have more privileges conceded to it, than that which is 
 given immediately by God. Dependance upon tradition 
 has been one great cause which has fixed the theology of 
 the Greek Church in its present debased and destitute 
 
 
 condition. The dogmas of the Fathers are settled by 
 their Councils, and in every ordination service of the 
 higher degrees of their priesthood it is ruled that no 
 priest or prelate, and no possible council that can now 
 assemble, has or can have the power of reversing or adding 
 to the doctrines of Christianity, as left them by the 
 Fathers. I need not dwell long upon this ; but I would 
 just mention the influence which tradition has on the 
 mind itself. Anything placed co-ordinate with the Bible 
 is made at once not a thing supplementing the Bible 
 merely, but a thing ruling the Bible. When Rome takes 
 tradition for her guide she says that you must not inter- 
 pret the Bible otherwise than by the consent of her 
 tradition. She shuts the Bible. She tells you that she 
 has by the aid of her tradition got the sense and essence 
 out of it — that that is enough for you — that you shall not 
 have the Bible to judge by, to be a lamp unto your feet 
 and a light unto your path. You see she is afraid. She 
 says the Church is the depository of the Bible, but she 
 does not allow it to go abroad unto all men. Now, con- 
 sidering the uses for which the book was given, this 
 hiding the Bible, this keeping it back and making it 
 subject to tradition, this making it a dead letter for us, is 
 very much like putting up a sun-dial in a dark room. 
 The Bible is of no use whatever, unless you and I can 
 read it. It is of no use whatever as a deposit in the 
 Church, it is of no use as a standard of doctrine, unless it is 
 also used as the light of life, and the guide unto our God. 
 Later in time, the Greek Church has known another 
 schism — a schism which has grown very gradually, but 
 still had the most immense significance. First, in Greece, 
 there arose an Archbishop, Cagliostro, who repudiated the 
 authority of the Constantinian patriarch — upon the plea 
 that he was subject to barbarians. This also had been 
 made a plea before by the Archbishop of Kieff in Russia, 
 who, on getting under an independent government, showed 
 the salne spirit, and refused obedience to the patriarch of 
 Constantinople. Cagliostro merely formed an indepen- 
 dent Church, but the Archbishop of Kieff became the 
 metropolitan, the primate, and the patriarch of the Rus- 
 sians, under the Emperor of Russia. This new patriarch 
 
100^- 
 
 62 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCn, 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 63 
 
 —this new primate, as, perhaps, I had better call him, 
 and his patron, the Czar of Russia, are the very ones who 
 are now seeking to subjugate the Greek Church to their 
 dominion. How do they go to work ? What means do 
 they use ? Do they use " the weapons of our warfare, 
 which are not carnal, but spiritual, and mighty through 
 God to the pulling down of strongholds?" Or do they 
 use the weapons which are carnal ? They bring down 
 an army ; they use the arts of diplomacy ; they come down 
 with fire and sword upon the territory of another nation 
 —a nation certainly of unbelievers in Christianity, ot 
 whom I shall speak presently, but still a nation in posses- 
 sion of those territories. Their aim is this,— to get the 
 power over the holy places in Palestine— to form a uni- 
 versal, oecumenical episcopate, to be the head of the 
 Christian Church, to bring the rule of Russia over the 
 whole of the East, and to perpetuate that system of blind- 
 ness and darkness, that absence of the preached Word, 
 that reli^non of ceremonies, which is the sad characteristic 
 of the Greek Church. What ought, with respect to 
 these circumstances, to be the duty of Christians ? I 
 will proceed, dear friends, to try and point that out. Ihe 
 si^ns of the times are sufficiently threatening. It is a 
 remarkable fact, that within the past half century— nay, 
 within the past thirty years— there has been a remarkable 
 tendencv for the whole of the ancient nations to come 
 a^ain upon the scene, and again to enact their parts. 
 Once more, after some 2,000 years of abeyance, a kingdom 
 of Egypt is found ; once more Syria settles down into an 
 independent state ; once more the boundaries of the old 
 Roman empire are regaining, for some mysterious purpose 
 or another, their shape. Countries which lie without the 
 ancient boundaries of the Roman empire, and belong to 
 irovernments within, show a tendency to separate from 
 those governments. It is the case with Ireland and our 
 own country ; it is the case with the part of Hungary 
 where the Magyars are ; in Syria, in Northern Africa, in 
 E^ypt, and various other places, the nations appear 
 to'be confederating and to be cast together as if for some 
 great and perhaps final struggle, which may be at our 
 very doors. I do not wish to lead this lecture at all into 
 
 ^ 
 
 the field of the discussion of prophecy ; I have my own 
 opinions upon that ; I believe it is by no means a topic 
 which can be well elucidated in mixed audiences, or 
 in isolated lectures ; but I do call attention to this fact, 
 and I ask, what is our duty as those who are pledged to 
 forward the kingdom of the Lord ? Our duty is, to go 
 with the light which God has vouchsafed us— the light of 
 Scripture truth, the light of an open Bible, to mingle in 
 these scenes not as warriors and politicians, but as the 
 separated children of peace and of God, and with all 
 earnestness call the children of God by the Gospel of the 
 kingdom ; to try to bring again the light of the glorious 
 Gospel of the blessed God to shine in the East, and to 
 oppose the powers alike of Russia and of Rome by those 
 weapons which are mighty through God, and which none 
 can blame us for using. Yes, dear friends, the very 
 thing that was wanted to be done was that which the 
 Church of England has so nobly begun to effect ; that is, 
 without interfering with the disciphne and the rites of 
 the Church there established, to interfere with the 
 doctrines which belong to it, and to send an Evangelical 
 representative to fix his seat upon Mount Zion, and pro- 
 pagate the pure Gospel in the place whence first it sprung. 
 There could not have been anything better done, and 
 there is nothing of which EngHshmen ought to be more 
 proud. The Greek Church has been very little meddled 
 with by missionaries. Few have gone to the Greek 
 Christians; few have tried to influence them for good. 
 The only missionaries on any scale I can trace among the 
 proper Greek Church — the Greek Church of Const'anti- 
 nople-— who are doing anything particular are the Jesuits, 
 the ministers of the propaganda at Rome ; they are busy 
 throughout the Greek Church, and are by no means 
 unsuccessful. The next most active missionaries amon«- 
 them are the Americans; they carry the pure light 
 of truth, but they have not been quite so successful. 
 Their efforts have mainly lain, however, amonf the 
 separated Greek Churches. Of those I shall therefore 
 now proceed to give you some sketch. 
 
 These Churches consist of the Nestorians, the Arme- 
 
g^ THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 • = tV,o Tncnliites the Copts, and, we may add, the 
 mans, the Jacob tes, ti>^ . ^^^^ p^„ggg^ 
 
 Abyssinians. All ot these haj"'' '™ ^ j^ Church, 
 separated from the main body of t>^« /^'^,\* ^^j^^ „£■ 
 The controversies which gave nse to t e separatio 
 the Nestorians must be known to 7°" ^f ;, i^''^'t'^""v4, 
 patriarch of Constantinop e when flrsWh t.tle^^ 
 
 'applied to the Vir^m Ma y t^e ^^ y ,,ii ^,,, 
 objected to It, ^ndsa-d that for h,s part ^^ ^^ ^^^ ._^ 
 
 only the mother of Ch"^*- J^°J^' ^ ^m'-s which have tried 
 
 doctrinal ■"»"t'-^' «'-. ° "i"^ fl"Cr„ „„ of far better men ; 
 
 rt^atrall tist"b FatdXu'r"poses an idledistinc- 
 but, atter all, ttii:. is i '^ your soul nor mine 
 
 ♦; An -for surely it would neuner cuimciii j r r>i.,.iat 
 
 r; wLed^he Virgin M^ry to be ..emot^^^^^^^^ 
 
 instead of the mother of Go , ^ ^™ J/"j^ church 
 
 procure your expuls>- from the f«e and M^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^ 
 
 of England and «/ God , and t^ y ^^. 
 
 man who loved /"! A^f^-^tTifm-sent him into exile, 
 shedding the I'S'^* °f f^^i^^^t""^^ " down his head and to 
 made him by cruel treatment to lay 
 
 ■ of the ordinance o CtS°c Iment^t Vhe^gospels 
 found amongst them, " tliei^ « „,issionaries who have 
 and epistles ; and the ^"iLncan ™ 
 
 been amongst them 8'^^ *«f ^°J,^°r to the fact, that 
 
 ence. They S'^ietf''"""^;^;^'," careful of the educa- 
 
 in '^W ff totnf ^Th y 1-ve rec" ved the printing 
 
 tion of t'>«.y;";f;,,,f ;^tions, and books have been 
 presses ot the ^^estCTii ' j j^^ to main- 
 
 P"''"'htrdThTwi h ".; MusUtLs and Turks, who, 
 tain a hard tigni wua nprsecutors of Chris- 
 
 :^TVeTarh"^S TeCu: of. the present 
 fV. of their bein" tortured by them with the bow- 
 
 * 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 65 
 
 morning all his property destroyed j and if it were not 
 for tlie great productiveness of the country, the Nestorians 
 would before this have dwindled away to nothing T", 
 not long since we heard of deep distress which they 
 suffered from persecution. I think we ought in ihl 
 matter to do justice, and not to institute invidious d^! 
 tinctions between him who is, after all, an unbeHever L 
 
 If ^H ' '1 i'T '''r '' '^ '"^"'^^«'- ^"<1 «° f«r a broker 
 -If a degraded brother, yet a brother ; both are equaUy 
 
 att'r i^r " r'T °^ ^'''' "^y Christ. WeTugli^ 
 rather, in Cliristian love, to go and preach to them that 
 
 Jesus whom they are darkly feeling^fter, and d^ bu 
 darkly know,-proclaim to them that blessed Gospel which 
 is the power of God unto salvation, and strive to bS 
 them to that iglit of faith and truth which first wf 
 received from them. It is but a just return for al o^r 
 privileges in happy England. ""^ 
 
 I conceive we ought not, as Christians, to symnathizP 
 
 ^t.^f ''^w,^"' ^''''"^' °f ^"""'ty *° 'he fei^n Greek 
 thnl. Y*:?' """""' '^'" '"^^y f^ternization wUh 
 those who believe not in Christ ? What means this 
 readiness to make bonds with those who reject Him and 
 to cast out as evil those who receive Him-to treaT them 
 with scorn, and say, " Let them perish ? " If we gfve w^y 
 
 mimical to those for wiiom you ought to feel pity We 
 
 spirit, full of yearning love for those who are ignorant 
 and out of the way, to go to them in the spirit of conSl 
 ation and love, to preach to them the truth, to tellftem 
 of the glad tidings of a salvation which they hear but itlfe 
 0^ and so to draw them unto Him whof when He was 
 lifted up from the earth, was so lifted up that He mi^ht 
 draw all men to Him. If we go in a spirit of lov^and 
 mercy to tlie heathen, much more ou|ht we to go "n 
 
 ffi Ch, rJh '",^p,"'^'-<=7 'o o"-- degraded brethren of the 
 ureek Church. There is not much in our way. Pur.'a- 
 tory ,s not in our way ; the claim of infallibility, as you 
 have been told, is not in our way; the assumption of 
 being the head of the Church is not in our way -and 
 
 F 
 
 V 
 
66 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 while there is great darkness, great spiritual ignorance, 
 upon the doctrines of Christianity, there is, by the testi- 
 mony of all, a great faithfulness to the ghmraenng of 
 \\crht which they have. 
 
 The Armenians are the subjects of a proverb all over 
 the East for their profound and wonderful chanty, much 
 like that honourable body, the Friends, amongst ourselves, 
 — " A poor Armenian is never found." There are good 
 men of business among them. I know it is said of them 
 that they are deceitful. And, dear friends, what should 
 we be ' Let us not judge too harshly. Supposing that 
 you had a sum of money in your own private drawer— 
 that you are liable at any moment to be visited by one 
 who should lift up a drawn sabre at you— that at any 
 instant you may have the drawer ransacked, and the 
 honest profits of five or six months, or five or six years 
 taken away; suppose that you lived under a feehng of 
 terrorism, what would you be? lou would not be 
 lustified in being deceitful ; but, at the same time, you 
 ou-ht to judge kindly and indulgently, considering the 
 terrible temptations which they have— temptations which 
 would be great for English honesty to resist— before you 
 deliver a condemning verdict on these things. 1 say, 
 CO to them ; conciliation will assuredly win them ; that we 
 may safely calculate on from the missionary reports. 
 There are certain trees, dear friends,-the oak tree, for 
 instance,-which keep their dead leaves all the winter ; 
 the cold wind does not shake them off ; but in the spring 
 when the living sap rises, and the buds burst forth, then 
 they fall off of themselves. Even so, let us go to our 
 Eastern brethren with the living Gospel ; introduce that, 
 as we are doing by means of the establishment at 
 Jerusalem, as we are doing by means of the present 
 operations of the Church Missionary Society, into the 
 heart of the Greek Church ; and when that shall put 
 forth bud and blossom, the dead leaves of mere formal 
 ceremony shall fall away, by virtue of living principles of 
 
 ^^\he Nestorians have pushed in modern times their 
 roots far away into the East. That has been the case 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 67 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 > 
 
 with the Jacobites and the Assyrian Christians. I have 
 been much interested in noticing traces of them* in India 
 It appears from other evidence, that in 773, when a 
 council of the Nestorians was held, the bishop of their 
 mission in China was excused from attendance, as it is 
 said, " by reason of mountains infested with robbers 
 and stormy seas." Gibbon says, in his "Decline and 
 lall of the Roman Empire"-" The zeal of the Nesto- 
 rians overleaped the limits which had confined the ambi- 
 tion and curiosity both of tlie Greeks and Persians The 
 missionaries of Balk and Samarcand pursued without fear 
 the footsteps of the roving Tartar, and insinuated them- 
 selves into the camp of the valleys of Imaus, and the 
 banks of the Selinga." In Southern Hindostan, as is well 
 known, a community of Jacobite Christians, one of the 
 divisions of the Greek Church, exists. It is also known 
 I that a community of Nestorians exists in China It 
 13 very affecting to note, that when the Nestorians in 
 J^yria heard of their brethren in China, the patriarch 
 wrote immediately an affectionate letter to them In 
 this letter, after many expressions of Christian interest 
 and sympathy, there follow the names of the bishops 
 and a postscript, giving an account of what they beheve 
 and do, what their festivals are. and askino- their 
 brethren again tliat they would send to them, Snd tell 
 them after the lapse of so many years what they were 
 and what they did, and how they kept the faith. 
 
 ^ I think it is impossible, from all we have seen of the 
 history of the Greek Church, to avoid a conclusion 
 somewhat like tliis :— It had been well for it if it had 
 never been afflicted with tlie desire of domination, but 
 yet that the blame of f his was scarcely to be laid at its own 
 door. Rome had to the full as much, if not more blame, in 
 the schism between the Eastern and Western Churches • 
 and in those sad fruits which flow from division— confinintr' 
 down the truth of God to innumerable creeds, councils'' 
 and canons, to certain strict forms and observances, and 
 abolishing the free preaching of the Word, and that con- 
 
 * See « Missionary Researches in Armenia," by Revs. Smith and 
 Dwight J ako, " The Nestorians," by Asahel Grant, M:D. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 THE GREEK CHURCH, 
 
 fidence between man and man wherein the free preaching 
 of the Gospel can alone flourish — the consequences were 
 to be laid at the door of Rome quite as much as at 
 the door of Greece. But Rome has been prospei*ou3 ; 
 she has said in her heart, " I sit a Queen — 1 am no 
 widow — I shall never see sorrow ;'* she has committed 
 fornication witli the kings of the earth, and lived deli- 
 cately, and enjoyed a career of almost uninterrupted 
 worldly prosperity. Greece has known very different 
 things. Under the sword of oppression of the Infidel — 
 for a long time weighed down by exaction after exaction, 
 by blow after blow, and living in continual fear — her 
 decline from truth has been brought about more by 
 adversity than by the wind of prosperity. An opening is 
 bared before us. We ought not, in occupying that 
 opening, to look at her in the spirit of anger and con- 
 tumely ; we ought not to say we despise her, and will 
 rather turn to the more moral Mohammedan, on the poor 
 plea that he " acknowledges Christ as well as ourselves." 
 But how acknowledges him ? Says that He was a great 
 man among others, but that Mohammed was God's prophet, 
 and superseded them all ; puts him on a level with Moses 
 and others. But we should go as those who sympathize 
 with the Greek Christians, pity their darkness, feel the 
 responsibility of having the truth of God and the Gospel 
 with us, and occupy that opening which the Turkish war, 
 and the Russian aggressions, and the stirring of the 
 nations generally, are certainly making wide for us, by the 
 Gospel of peace, and by an active propagation of that 
 seed and that light which, as I said, we originally 
 received from them ; and I have yet to learn, dear 
 brethren, and you have yet to learn, that our obligation 
 to return the benefit is obsolete because it was conferred 
 long ago. Let us remember what we owe them, and 
 give back, I repeat, that truth and that light which has 
 80 blessed us, and which first rose upon us, like the sun 
 rises upon us every day from the east. 
 
 I have to thank you for the patience with which you 
 have listened to me — to beg pardon for any observations 
 I have made which may be corrected by better experience, 
 or which may seem to those who have a fuller knowledge 
 
 ITS HISTORY AND CONDITION. 
 
 69 
 
 A 
 
 of the subject than I have, to be in any way wrono* — and 
 to impress upon you the main truth which I have laid 
 down, pretending to no infallibility or final conclusion in 
 the matter, and especially that responsibility which I 
 have dwelt upon at greater length than I should have 
 done, were it not for the prevailing feeling of the time — 
 the responsibility that rests upon us to go forth and 
 occupy those countries which, perhaps, God is now 
 stirring and afflicting in order that he may, through us, 
 have mercy upon them. 
 
 In reply to some observations from the Chairman (the 
 Rev. W. Cadman), the Lecturer said : — 
 
 I avoided in my lecture, speaking on the Russian por- 
 tion of the Greek Church, and my reason was simply 
 this, that it is in so bad a moral state, and so difficult 
 to arrive at anything like a good view of it, that I 
 thought it better in a lecture of this character to avoid it. 
 I thoroughly agree with Mr. Cadman's views of the 
 Russian quarrel ; and in speaking as I did of the Chris- 
 tians in the Turkish Empire, I did not mean to pronounce 
 upon the war at present— that it was an opening for 
 missionary labours among the Greek Church, by means 
 of the Turks being subdued, or anything of that sort ; 
 but I meant, that whatever the issue of this might be — 
 supposing diplomacy settled it — that still the stir among 
 the nations would be a very great opening. I also 
 thoroughly agree with Mr. Cadman, that if the Russians 
 once get hold of the Greek Church, it would (as I said) 
 perpetuate the reign of darkness which now exists in the 
 East. I wish to say this, because I feel that I may have 
 given room for false impressions on a point on which I 
 desire to avoid pronouncing an opinion as a Christian, 
 viz., wars and their issues. 
 
THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND ROME. 
 
 rr 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND ROME COM- 
 PARED, AND THEIR DOCTRINES EXAMINED BY 
 THE STANDARDS OF AUTHORITY IN EACH. 
 
 BY THE EEV. J. E. COX, M.A., F.S.A., 
 
 VICAR OF ST. Helen's, bisuopbgate. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, and Protestant Friends, — It seems 
 to me scarcely necessary to preface the business of this 
 evening's meeting with any remarks commending to you 
 its importance. No one can liave watched the signs of 
 the times in which our lot is cast, and which I mav well 
 call eventful, without perceiving the progress of lioman 
 Catholic doctrines in this country — and, hitherto, of 
 Roman Catholic influence in the British Senate. I need 
 but to refer to one portion of the United Kingdom, which 
 testifies, with trumpet tongue, of the dreadful system of 
 Popery, as carried out in full force and vigour, which is 
 a living witness of the pernicious tendency of those 
 doctrines, which are now being endeavoured to be riveted 
 on Protestant England, to foretel what the event would 
 be — if ever, unhappily, the time should come, when the 
 same fearful system should again attain the ascendancy 
 in this land. It is no longer concealed — it is no longer 
 denied — that the purpose of the Papacy is to gain that 
 ascendancy. Open aggression has already commenced 
 with a view to that end. Formerly, when such a decla- 
 ration would have marred the purpose in view, the 
 bare supposition of such an object — the mere expres- 
 sion of the fear on the part of any member of a Pro- 
 testant community, would have been characterized as 
 folly, and stigmatized as the grossest absurdity. Its 
 
 ^ 
 
 cry then was, " Give us equal rights, and we shall be 
 content," and many of us are not too young to remember 
 the time, when, yielding to a false and succumbing expe- 
 diency, we listened so far to the voice of the deceiver as 
 to believe its insinuations. We took the serpent to our 
 bosom to foster and to cherish it, in return for which it 
 has already turned upon and stung us. But those days 
 have passed away — they are gone. Deceit has served 
 the turn of Rome — she requires no longer to " speak lies 
 hi hypocrisy.''^ The cloak is, at length, cast off ; and she 
 stands forward with open, undisguised, and avowed inten- 
 tion, and boldly asserts, that the subjugation of Protestant 
 England to her pernicious and false faith, is her end and 
 purpose. Until the time seemed to be ripe for open 
 and positive aggression, she condescended to offer prayers 
 for our conversion to her tenets — she hailed with pre- 
 tended thankfulness to the Giver of all good, the near 
 approach of many from within our own walls, who, she 
 openly avowed, were pioneers, making the way plain for 
 her entry, whom she still encourages with soft speeches 
 and words of winning flattery, and congratulates upon 
 their apostasy. But, now, her open declaration is — 
 *' Supremacy." Nothing less than the entire subjugation 
 of this land to her dominion and authority, will satisfy 
 her ! And what are the Protestants of this land about ? 
 Are they sleeping ? Are they deluding themselves with 
 the idea, that this avowed intention of Rome is but a 
 braggart boast — that people's minds are now much too 
 enlightened to be enslaved by such an absurd and ridi- 
 culous thing as they are pleased to fancy Popery to be ? 
 This has been the too common feeling : this was, but a 
 short time since, the idea entertained by multitudes, who 
 ought to have known better. God forbid that I should 
 speak uncharitably of any class of individuals ; but this 
 I must say — and I would say it with all humiUty, and in 
 Christian love, — that such lukewarmness, and such indif- 
 ference to the encroachments of our common foe, bespoke 
 not the watchfulness we are commanded to exercise 
 against every enemy of Christian truth — bespoke not the 
 resistance we are exhorted to employ in faith against every 
 
 f 
 
72 
 
 THE CHURCHES OP ENGLAND AND 
 
 foe who assails the religion of our blessed Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. Nay, more, such lukewarraness and 
 indifference bespoke an ignorance — an unpardonable igno- 
 rance — of the points at issue between Protestantism and 
 Popery, and of tlie very foundations on which Christianity 
 itself rests. And thus, whilst this fearful and anti- 
 Christian system has been spreading its poison and cor- 
 ruption through this land and in our colonies, we have 
 been paying our thousands and tens of thousands to aid 
 its propagation, under the vain hope, and with the 
 delusive pretence, of encouraging civilization ; whilst 
 under profession of liberal principles, it has so far 
 actually progressed, as to make an attempt, which, 
 if by any possibility it should be successful, either 
 immediately, or a short time hence, can have no other 
 result than to plunge England into anarchy, and to 
 prostrate our civil and religious liberties at the feet 
 of an Italian heresiarch. While under the cloak of 
 peace it is sowing the seeds, and kindling the elements 
 of foreign and intestine war — while under the guise of 
 charity and Christianity, it is undermining every Pro- 
 testant institution throughout the world, and trying to 
 subvert the very Bible as the standard of a nation's 
 faith, it is acting upon the fears, upon tlie kindness, 
 upon the credulity, upon the charity, upon the Christian 
 patience and forbearance of Protestants, and making their 
 very virtues a tool for their own destruction. For, alas ! 
 how many Protestants are there who fear to incur the 
 odium of honesty, fidelity, and truth — when honesty, 
 fidelity, and truth are branded by the names of bigotry 
 and fanaticism ! 
 
 But, be it remembered, " it is while men sleep that the 
 tares are sown." We, Sir, even we, who may be said to 
 be aroused, at length, by the signs of the times ; we, who 
 now feel that the torrent of Popery is rapidly advancing ; 
 we, who in former days heard only its distant murmur, 
 and gave little or no heed to it, also perceive that it has 
 swelled into a roar, proving at once its violence and its 
 vicinity — even we, Sir, I say, have ourselves been too 
 long asleep. " The ever wakeful and restless adversary" 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 7S 
 
 has the while stealthily crept in amongst us, — has 
 insinuated itself, by little and little, through the land, 
 — has increased its missionary exertions throughout the 
 British dependencies, and left no means untried to pro- 
 pagate its proselyting purposes. With indefatigable zeal 
 and strenuous efforts, worthy of a better cause, she has 
 extended herself through every portion of our territories 
 at home and abroad, — has even gained access to the 
 hearts of many of our clergy and people, from whom we 
 looked for better things, — has already laid many of our 
 best bulwarks in the dust, — yea, has got possession of 
 some of our strongholds, even in high places, surround- 
 ing the throne itself with its myrmidons, and, as a 
 last specimen of aggression, has dared to assume an 
 authority over us, which was never permitted to be 
 exercised even by Popish sovereigns in the worst days of 
 Popish intolerance, and ventured openly, in defiance of 
 the constitutional rights and privileges of a Protestant 
 Sovereign, and of a free and enlightened people, to 
 avow her object and intention, by all available means, 
 to subvert and exterminate the Protestant faith, and to 
 fasten the yoke of priestly dominion and superstition 
 once more upon our necks. And, now that we are 
 awakening from our lethargy, and beginning to see our 
 danger, we look in vain among our brethren for that 
 knowledge, that sense of peril, that energy, and skill, and 
 discipline which are indispensable to their safety, and for 
 which our whole Protestant community was, once, so 
 pre-eminently distinguished ! 
 
 Remarking the singular apathy which has prevailed 
 for many years respecting the encroachments of Rome, 
 notwithstanding its evident determination to bring our 
 own country and her dependencies once more under 
 her dominion, I have been often constrained to ask 
 myself this question. What is the general, the almost 
 universal feeling of the majority of our population on 
 this important topic ? Christian candour forces me 
 to answer that question thus : — There has been, and 
 still is, an almost universal ignorance, and a consequent 
 general apathy, among those of high and low degree, 
 upon this subject! What, then, is to be done ? I have 
 
74 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 reason to believe that the Church of England Young 
 Men's Society virtually acknowledges the imperative 
 duties which devolve on every member of the Church of 
 England, in all seasons, but, especially, in the present. 
 That Society has been formed upon the broad basis of a 
 positive conviction of the propriety of Christian prin- 
 ciples, and of the essential antagonism which exists 
 between those principles and Roman Catholicism. This 
 is one of the grounds, on which it rests all its power to 
 fulfil the objects, which it is intended to carry forward. 
 Its intention is to disseminate a knowledge of the prin- 
 ciples of religious truth, and to promote the great truths 
 of the Protestant Church of England. What, then, I 
 ask, is the duty of every member of this Society ? 
 Obviously this — to tread in the steps of our venerable 
 forefathers; to take down the armour, with which they 
 fought and conquered ; to burnish those spiritual weapons 
 anew ; and, girding ourselves again in the strength of our 
 God to the conflict, to defend zealously and faithfully, 
 through evil report and good report, that " pure and 
 undeflled religion," which they asserted for us, and 
 bequeathed to us, at the expense of all else that was dear 
 to them under heaven. Taught by tlieir example, and 
 animated by their spirit, we must reassert our Protest- 
 antism, we must use every endeavour to awaken our 
 brethren — some from their apathy, and others from their 
 indolence, to a sense of their danger. In short, in the 
 language of a devoted servant [the Rev. M. W. Foye, 
 M. A.] of the Lord Jesus, and an able champion of Pro- 
 testant truth — " We must take * the sword of the Spirit, 
 which is the word of God,' we must put it into the 
 hands of the people, discipline young and old, rich and 
 poor alike, in the use of it ; giving them line upon line, 
 and precept upon precept ; and teach them to point the 
 spiritual weapon to the heart of the adversary, in what- 
 ever shape he present himself ; whether of masked friend- 
 ship or open hostility ; whether in high places or low, 
 and say to him, in the broad daylight of the infallible 
 word of God — *Get thee behind me, Satan,' for thus it 
 is written — and thus it is written — and thus our fore- 
 fathers did heretofore repel thee — and thus all holy men 
 
 1 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 75 
 
 
 X 
 
 of God have put thee to shame and confusion since the 
 world began." 
 
 This, Sir, we must do in the strength of our God — 
 taking our stand beside our holy Catholic, Apostolic, and 
 Scriptural Church, or else we must be renegades from 
 " the faith once delivered to the saints, " and be willing to 
 give up, without a struggle, the "pure and undeflled 
 religion," which God has so mercifully transmitted to 
 us, for ourselves and for our children. 
 
 And if, Sir, this be the duty of every member of the 
 Church of England Young Men's Society, where is the 
 Clu-istian minister's post? Even in the front of the 
 battle. It is his duty to show himself in the hour of 
 peril, as one, not only desirous of carrying out the spirit, 
 but as actually obeying the letter of his Ordination vow ; 
 by which, before the face of the Church, and in the 
 solemn presence of Almighty God, he took upon himself 
 the direct and positive charge to be "ready, with all 
 faithful diligence, to banish and drive a>vay all erroneous 
 and strange doctrines, contrary to God's Word." 
 
 The *' doctrines " of Popery, I confidently assert, are 
 " erroneous and strange ; " and I assert it confidently, as 
 I cannot find them in the onh/ touchstone of truth, — 
 God's own written and revealed Word; nay more, I will 
 most confidently assert, that the system of the Church 
 of Rome (and it is with the system only that I would 
 war), — the system, I say, is " contrary to God's Word." 
 This is my authority, and the authority of all ray 
 1 .ethren in the Christian ministry, and I pray God, the 
 day may never come, when we shall desert our post ; 
 when we shall apologize to man for withholding our 
 assent and consent, or yield to a detestable expediency, 
 propped up, on the one hand, by deliberate falsehood, 
 and on the other, by worldly policy : but tliat we shall 
 ever be found raising anew the banner of the Reforma- 
 tion, writing ineflaceably upon it, " Peace, peace with the 
 poor oppressed Papist; but no peace with the system 
 ■ of error, superstition, and intolerance, by which he is 
 deluded and enthralled." 
 
 It has become, I am thankful to be able to assert it, — it 
 
76 
 
 THE CHURCHES OP ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 77 
 
 has become a question no longer of curious speculation, 
 but of deep practical interest amongst many, what the 
 real doctrines of the Roman Catholic Religion are ^whlt 
 IS their spirit, and what their tendency; and proofs are 
 not wanting to demonstrate, that, whatever those doctrines 
 once were, they are its doctrines now ; whatever was its 
 spirit in former times, its spirit remains unchanged, and 
 Its tendencies the same. ° 
 
 It is my purpose, Sir, therefore, this evening, to take 
 the Creed of Pope Pius IV., and to compare, as^oncssely 
 and briefly as possible, its articles with those of our own 
 Church ; and thence to draw a general conclusion. I 
 have taken this Creed as the subject of my lecture, 
 because it contains a perspicuous and condensed state- 
 ment, the very essence of that poison which Rome has 
 long infused into the cup of life,-because it is a true 
 and positive statement of Roman Catholic doctrines, 
 acknowledged and received by the members of that 
 Church ; imposed upon all bishops, doctors, and heads of 
 monastic houses ; on all clergy, regular and secular, and 
 IS a part of the form of reconciliation of a convert to the 
 Church of Rome. Dr. Milner, a Roman Catholic authority 
 ot no mean name or repute, declares, that ^' it is every- 
 where recited and professed in tlie strict letter." Dr. 
 Doyle, before a Committee of the House of Lords, declared 
 that the most approved and authentic summary of the 
 Roman Cathoic Church is to be found in the decrees 
 of the Council of Trent, and in the profession of Pius 
 IV. ; and tlie answer of Dr. Murray to a Committee of 
 the House of Commons was similar.* 
 
 Here, then, is a net of Rome's own weaving, from 
 whose meshes she cannot easily disentangle herself; 
 here is a summary of her faith, from which she cannot 
 slip away, except by the grossest fraud and dishonesty. 
 
 The Creed of Pope Pius IV. was set forth December 
 yth, A.D. 1564, at the close of the Council of Trent by 
 the Pope, whose name it bears, and is a brief summary 
 of the doctrines of the Council. The first part recites 
 the Nicene Creed as set forth in the Book of Common 
 * See " Komanism as it rules in Ireland," vol. i., 560. 
 
 m 
 
 
 i 
 
 Prayer, and to which the Council of Ephesus forbade 
 any addition, by their decree, a.d. 430. And this Creed 
 forms a true confession of Christian faith, and will do so 
 to the end of time. I need not repeat it, for it is un- 
 doubtedly well known to all of you. 
 
 To this a second part is affixed, by the authority of 
 Pope Pius IV., in every respect a tissue of gross fiilsehood 
 and deceit. It runs thus : — 
 
 " I. I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical 
 and Ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances 
 and constitutions of the same Church. 
 
 " II. I also admit the holy Scripture, according to that 
 sense which our Holy Mother, the Church, has held and 
 does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense 
 and interpretation of the Scriptures : nor will I ever take 
 and interpret them otherwise than according to the unani- 
 mous consent of the Fathers. 
 
 " III. I also profess, that there are truly and properly 
 seven Sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of man- 
 kind, though not all for every one ; to wit, Baptism, 
 Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, 
 Orders, and Matrimony ; and that they confer grace ; and 
 that of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot 
 be reiterated without sacrilege: and I also receive and 
 admit the received and approved ceremonies of the 
 Catholic Church, used in the solemn administration of all 
 the aforesaid Sacraments. 
 
 " IV. I embrace and receive all and every one of the 
 things which have been defined and declared in the holy 
 Council of Trent, concerning original sin and justification. 
 
 " V. I profess, likewise, that in tlie mass there is offered 
 to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the 
 living and the dead ; and that in the most holy Sacra- 
 ment of the Eucharist, there are truly, really, and sub- 
 stantially the body and blood, together with the soul and 
 divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that there is 
 made a conversion of the whole substance of the bread 
 into the body, and of the whole substance of the wine 
 into the blood, which conversion the Catholic Church 
 calls transubstantiation. I also confess, that under either 
 
78 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 79 
 
 kind alone, Christ is received whole and entire, and a 
 
 true Sacrament. 
 
 " VI. I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory, and 
 that the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages 
 
 of the faithful. 
 
 « VII. Likewise, that the saints, reigning together with 
 Christ, are to be honoured and invocated ; and that they 
 offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics are to be 
 held in veneration. . 
 
 *< VIII. I most firmly assert that the images of Chnst, 
 of the Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other 
 saints, may be had and retained ; and tliat due honour 
 and veneration are to be given them. 
 
 " IX. I also affirm that the power of Indulgences was 
 left by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is 
 most wholesome to Christian people. 
 
 "X. I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, 
 Roman Church for the Mother and mistress of all 
 Churches ; and I promise true obedience to the Bishop of 
 Rome, Successor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and 
 
 Vicar of Jesus Christ. -, p i, 
 
 " XL I likewise undoubtedly receive and proless all 
 other things delivered, defined, and declared by the 
 Sacred Can'ons and General Councils, and particularly by 
 the holy Council of Trent ; and I condemn, reject, and 
 anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies 
 which the Church has condemned, rejected, and anathe- 
 
 mitiyeQ 
 
 And this Creed then ends with the following re- 
 markable declaration : — n ^ - ^ 
 
 " XII. This true Catholic fiiith, out of which none can 
 be saved*, which I now freely profess, and truly hold, I, 
 iV., promise, vow, and swear most constantly to hold and 
 profess the same whole and entire, with God's assistance, 
 to the end of my life ; and to procure as far as it lies in 
 my power, that the same shall he held, taught, and preached 
 by all, who are under me, or are entrusted to mi/ care, by 
 virtue of my office. So help me God, and these holy Gospels 
 
 of God^ , . o. ^ c 
 
 The first of these twelve novelties, Sir, speaks ot 
 
 tradition in these words : 
 
 <iM 
 
 M 
 
 « I most steadfastly admit and embrace Apostolical and 
 Ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and 
 constitutions of the same Church.'' ^ ^ ^ ^ .^ ^ 
 
 This is even more fully explained by the Council ot 
 Trent, which has defined, "That the truth of God is 
 contained in the books of Scripture and unwritten tradi- 
 tions ; which traditions, it is asserted, were received 
 by the Apostles from the lips of Christ Himself, or 
 dictated to them by the Holy Spirit, and transmitted 
 to all ages by the Church ; and, hence, they should be 
 received with equal piety and reverence as the Scriptures 
 themselves." * Such is the declaration of the Church of 
 Rome on the Rule of Faith ; opposed to which is the 6th 
 Article of our own Church :— 
 
 *' Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to 
 salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor 
 may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any 
 man that it should be believed as an article of the faith, 
 or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." 
 
 So also in the service for the Ordination of priests, 
 the bishop asks this question of every candidate :— 
 
 " Are you persuaded that the holy Scriptures contain 
 sufficiently all doctrine required of necessity for eternal 
 salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?" 
 
 And the candidate answers : — 
 
 *' I am so persuaded." ^ , • i 
 
 And in the service for the consecration of a bishop, the 
 same question is put by the consecrating bishop to him 
 that is to be consecrated; and the same answer is 
 returned. And, if any doubt still existed as to the 
 view of our Church, respecting the perfection and all- 
 sufficiency of Scripture, we have only to turn to her 
 admirable Homily, which stands the first of all, thereby 
 denotincr its importance, and is entitled, the first^ part 
 of " A ^Fruitful Exhortation to the Reading and Know- 
 ledge of Holy Scripture." 
 
 I would refer every one here to a close and trequent 
 perusal of this homily : it is well worthy of it, and will 
 
 * Session 4, Council of Trent.-See " Cramp's Text Book of 
 ' Popery," pp. 417, 418. 
 
i\ 
 
 80 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 repay the time given to it. There are two passages, 
 however, from whicli I must cite, though it be at tlie risk 
 of being considered tedious : — 
 
 " Unto a Christian man, there can be nothing either 
 more necessary or profitabk^ than the knowledge of 
 Holy Scripture ; forasmuch as in it is contained God's 
 true word, setting forth His glory, and also man's duty. 
 And there is no truth nor doctrine, necessary for our 
 justification and everlasting salvation, but that is, or may 
 be, drawn out of that fountain and well of truth." 
 
 "Let us diligently search for the well of life in the 
 books of the New and Old Testament, and not run to the 
 stinking puddles of men's traditions, devised by men's 
 imagination, for our justification and salvation. For in 
 Holy Scripture is fully contained what we ought to do, 
 and what to escliew, what to believe, what to love, and 
 what to look for at God's hands at length." 
 
 Here, then, is a marked and decisive difference between 
 the two Churches, on a most vital question ; viz., — What 
 is the repository of essential trutli ? Where shall we 
 find the doctrines and commandments of our God? 
 We hold, that the inspired tcritten Word is a perfect and 
 only rule of faith, the only safe record to be relied on, 
 the only guide to salvation ; and we hold, that " He 
 who is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man 
 that He should rei)ent," has declared that "the Holy 
 Scriptures are able to make men wise unto salvation, 
 through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Tim. iii. 
 15, 16, 17.) He has also said, "The law of the Lord is 
 perfect." (Psalm xix. 7.) 
 
 What, therefore, want we more ? Rome says, the 
 Scriptures are an imperfect standard of truth. God says 
 they "are able to make men wise unto salvation," and 
 that they " are perfect." Whom shall we believe ? Christ 
 or Belial ? The Prince of light or the prince of darkness ? 
 
 The Church of Rome has theoretically received tradi- 
 tion as equal to revelation. And what is the practical 
 effect of this, but to make tradition all and everything, 
 and Scripture nothing ? If we place tradition on the left 
 and the Bible on the right, by and by, we shall learn to 
 sympathize with the one of these two, that is congenial 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 81 
 
 \ 
 
 «u 
 
 to our fallen hearts — thai one is tradition, and the result 
 will be, that we shall ultimately cleave to tradition and 
 forsake the Word of God. 
 
 But " no man can serve two masters." If a man hold 
 tradition and the Bible, both as his governing rule 
 (knowing what the human heart is), he will ultimately 
 cleave to tradition and reject and despise the Bible. This 
 I is, and ever will be, the practical effect of departing from 
 ]the Word of God. It will first be neglected and then 
 despised ; and of this sin no Church is so guilty as the 
 Church of Rome ; and if proof be required to substan- 
 tiate this assertion, let the persecution which the Bible 
 Society has met with, and still continues to meet with, in 
 countries which are fettered by the iron yoke of Popery, 
 and Pope Pius VII.'s denunciation of it as " a pestilential 
 and abominable scheme," be referred to, and in that will be 
 found the strongest confirmation that I make this asser- 
 ition upon no slight or defective authority. 
 
 But Pope Pius IV., the self-authorized expounder of the 
 Gospel of the Council of Trent, goes on to pronounce, in 
 the 2nd Article of his creed, the infallibility of his Church 
 in these words :— 
 
 "I also admit the Holy Scripture, according to that 
 sense which our Holy Mother, the Church, has held and 
 does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense 
 and interpretation of the Scriptures : nor will I ever take 
 and interpret them otherwise than according to the unani- 
 mous consent of the Fathers." 
 
 Our Church meets this Article with her 6th Article, 
 which I have already quoted, and also with her 20th and 
 21st Articles, which I will read to you : — 
 
 " The i^Church hath power to decree Rites or Cere- 
 monies, and authority in controversies of faith : and 
 yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything, 
 that is contrary to God's Word written ; neither may it 
 so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant 
 to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a wit- 
 ness and a keeper of Holy AVrit, yet, as it ought not to 
 decree anything against the same, so besides the same 
 ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for 
 necessity of salvation. 
 
 G 
 
** 
 
 82 
 
 THE CIIUllCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMrARED. 
 
 83 
 
 " General Councils may not be gathered together 
 without the Commandment and will of princes ; and 
 when they be gathered together — forasmuch as they 
 be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed 
 with the Spirit and Word of God — they may err, and 
 sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto 
 God. Wherefore, things ordained by them as necessary 
 to salvation, have neither strength nor authority, unless 
 it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy 
 Scripture." 
 
 Nothing can be more pointed than these Articles 
 against, not only this Popish creed, but also against the 
 Council of Trent. Here, our rule is, " to the law and to 
 the testimony ;" our stand is upon the glorious truth of 
 the " sufficiency, integrity, and authority of Holy Scrip- 
 ture." AVhatever is contrary to this, we repudiate and 
 reject. The question that we ask is, " What saith the 
 Scripture?" Our steady determination is, through 
 grace, to admit no customs, however innocent — no prayers, 
 however apparently devout — without trying them by the 
 standard of the Word of the living God — without apply- 
 ing it to everything of doctrine, and taking away every- 
 thing that is contrary to it. *' Bring forward," we say, 
 " the customs and the institutions of the earliest and 
 purest ages of Christianity — compare them with the 
 doctrines of the Papacy, and with the practices now pre- 
 valent in Roman Catholic countries, and abolish every- 
 thing that bears not the stamp of the truest antiquity — 
 the well-head of eternal truth — alter nothing for the 
 sake of altering — get rid of nothing for the sake of 
 change — but spare nothing, not the slightest particle, that 
 is therein condemned." 
 
 The Church of Rome, on the contrary, will admit the 
 Sacred Scriptures only according to the sense, in wliich 
 tlie Church has held and does hold them, viz, it makes 
 the Scriptures to depend upon the Church, not the 
 Church upon the Scriptures. She bids the world to 
 believe that she must always be right, because she her- 
 self declares she can never be wrong. She says she will 
 neither take, nor interpret Scripture, otherwise than 
 According to the unanimous consent of the Fatliers, and 
 
 this has never yet been discovered ; and I hesitate not to 
 say, never will, be discovered upon any one doctrine of 
 this Creed, or " profession," as it is called, *' of the [Ro- 
 man] Catholic faith." Their "Catena Patrum^* is not only 
 a mutilated, but it is an ill-forged chain. Mr. Pope 
 has exhibited this in a valuable work, entitled "Roman 
 Misquotations." I have myself proved it yet further, by 
 an edition of "James's Corruption of Scripture, Councils, 
 and Fathers," upon the same point, which was published 
 several years ago. 
 
 The fact is. Sir, the Church of Rome, which claims to 
 be infallible, has never yet done an infallible deed ; she 
 has no infallible commentary on the Word of God ; she 
 tells us Scripture is not to be interpreted, unless accord- 
 ing to the " unanimous assent of the Fathers," and, on 
 every point, the Fatliers contradict themselves, and one 
 another ; so far from being unanimous, they are the 
 most discordant conclave that ever was presented to in- 
 telligent and sober-minded men. They are contradictory 
 throughout all their writings. The Church of Rome 
 subpoenas Scripture as her witness, but appeals to herself 
 as the judge of the evidence, and reduces the w^hole of it 
 to an ex parte statement, and therefore produces a ver- 
 dict in her own favour, as monstrous as is the method of 
 the trial. 
 
 The next division of the Creed of Pius IV. refers to 
 the Sacraments in these words : — 
 
 " I also profess, that there are truly and properly 
 seven Sacraments of the new law, instituted by Jesus 
 Christ our Lord, and necessary for the salvation of man- 
 kind, though not all for every one ; to wit, Baptism, Con- 
 firmation, Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, 
 and Matrimony ; and that they confer grace ; and that 
 of these, Baptism, Confirmation, and Orders, cannot be 
 reiterated without sacrilege : and I also receive and admit 
 the received and approved ceremonies of the Catholic 
 Church, used in the solemn administration of all the 
 aforesaid Sacraments." 
 
 And the Council of Trent (Sess. 7, c. i,) says, 
 " Whoever shall affirm that the Sacraments of the new 
 law were not all instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ, or 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 85 
 
 that they are more or fewer than seven, or that any of 
 these is not properly a Sacrament, let him be accursed!'' 
 
 Such is the language of that great formulary of 
 Romish faith, the Council of Trent, of which the Creed 
 of Pius IV. is an epitome and abstract, and such the 
 peremptory style in which it is enforced. 
 
 The Church of England, in her 25th Article, directly 
 contradicts this assertion of the Church of Rome, as 
 unwarrantable and unscriptural ; and, in so doing, has 
 taken one of her most decided steps, according to the 
 mind of the Spirit of God. She says : — 
 
 *' There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our 
 Lord in the Gospel, that is to say. Baptism, and the 
 Supper of the Lord. 
 
 " Those five, commonly called Sacraments, that is to 
 say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and 
 Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of 
 the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the cor- 
 rupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life 
 allowed in the Scriptures ; but yet have not like nature 
 of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for 
 that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained 
 of God." 
 
 Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Word of life 
 records as having been ordained for the life and nurture 
 of His Church, in connexion with the word of grace, by 
 the living God manifest in the flesh. These, and these 
 only, were established by His own example and presence, 
 His precept and commandment ; and, therefore, they only 
 have a Divine origin. It is far otherwise in the five 
 other Sacraments of the Churcli of Rome ; — they all want 
 the true use and end of a Sacrament to confer grace on 
 those, who rightly receive it. They cannot help for the 
 remission of sins ; they cannot sanctify the soul ; — 
 wherefore, we conclude them to be no seals of the 
 righteousness of faith ; and, therefore, no Sacraments of 
 Christian institution, but superstitious ceremonies, devised 
 by men, unblessed, and never to be blessed of God. 
 
 The 4th clause of those novel appendages, made by 
 Pope Pius IV., to the Nicene Creed, makes the following 
 statement : — 
 
 i. 
 
 " I embrace and receive all and every one of the 
 things which have been defined and declared in the 
 holy Council of Trent, concerning original sin and 
 justification." 
 
 Behold, Sir, how " the mystery of iniquity works ! " 
 It is at once to the Decrees and Canons, — to the appara- 
 tus of that Council, that we must look for the genuine 
 sentiments of the Church of Rome, and nowhere else. 
 Not to the Scriptures; not to the Fathers; not to the 
 books of the more recent Schoolmen, or the still more 
 recent apologists of Popery. 
 
 Time will not allow me to quote the exposition of the 
 Council of Trent, on account of its great length, upon 
 these important subjects. It will be found, however, in 
 the i6th chapter of the Sixth Session ; and its definitions 
 and declarations, which it has delivered and put on 
 record, will be found not only to be in diametrical opposi- 
 tion to the plainly stated and indubitable testimonies of 
 God's Word, but also at variance with the true and 
 expressed faith of the universal Church of Christ. On 
 the doctrine of original sin and man's total depravity, we 
 have little cause of controversy with the Church of Rome ; 
 she having announced a system as a remedial system for 
 this defect, consents generally to these fundamental doc- 
 trines; but she could not have practically understood or 
 felt them to be fundamental doctrines, for had she done 
 80, she could not have found a basis, on which to fix her 
 repugnant doctrine of human merits, which is the sum 
 and substance of this Canon and Decree. 
 
 The Church of England repudiates the doctrine of 
 human merit in these terms : — 
 
 Art. X. " The condition of man after the fall of Adam 
 is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his 
 own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling 
 upon God. Wherefore we have no power to do good 
 works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace 
 of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a 
 good will, and working with us, when we have that good 
 will." 
 
 It does so, and the Scripture bears out her declaration, 
 that it is " by grace that we are saved through faith, not 
 
86 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 87 
 
 of ourselves ; it is the gift of God ; not of works, lest 
 any man should boast." Against the great Scripture 
 doctrine of justification by faith alo?ie in the blood and 
 righteousness of the Son of God, carried home to the soul 
 by God the Holy Spirit, Rome has closed her gates by an 
 irrevocable decree. Our Church rests alone on the 
 testimony of God's Word, that the justification of the 
 sinner, by and in the sight of God, is the act of God*s 
 free grace, whereby, through the merits of Christ alone, 
 apprehended by faith, he is accounted judicially and 
 accepted righteously as righteous; that his sin is no 
 longer imputed to him, but righteousness — Christ's 
 righteousness — instead ; and in this he is accepted by God 
 of rich and sovereign mercy. Rome has flung her Bible 
 into her darkest cell ; she has made Trent the bulwark of 
 her throne ; she has made herself an arm of flesh ; and 
 were she in error only in this one portion of her Creed, 
 she has laid herself open to that curse, " Cursed is he 
 that maketh flesh his arm." Thanks be to God, that He 
 has saved our Church from any delusion here ; thanks be 
 to Him that He hath given us such a victory through 
 Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
 
 The next clause contains this awful blasphemy : — 
 "I profess, likewise, that in the mass there is offered 
 to God a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the 
 living and the dead; and that in the most holy Sacra- 
 ment of the Eucharist, there are truly, really, and sub- 
 stantially the body and blood, together with the soul and 
 divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and that there is made 
 a conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the 
 body, and of the whole substance of the wine into the 
 blood ; which conversion the Catholic Church calls 
 Transubstantiation. I also confess, that under either 
 kind alone, Christ is received whole and entire, and a 
 true Sacrament." 
 
 What says our Church on this head ? In the Church 
 Catechism it instructs us, that the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper was ordained " for the continual remem- 
 brance of the death of Christ, and of the benefits, 
 which we receive thereby." The outward part or sign in 
 this sacrament is stated to consist of " bread and wine, 
 
 which the Lord hath commanded to be received. The 
 inward part or thing signified is declared to be " the body 
 and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and 
 received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper," and the 
 benefits of which the faithful are thus made partakers, 
 are declared to be "the strengthening and refreshing ot 
 our souls by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies 
 are by the bread and wine." 
 
 The 28th Article of our Church is also to the following 
 
 effect i"~~" 
 
 '< The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love 
 that Christians ought to have among themselves one to 
 another ; but rather is a Sacrament of our redemption 
 by Christ's death : insomuch that to such as rightly, 
 worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the bread 
 which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ ; 
 and likewise, the cup of blessing is a partaking ot the 
 
 blood of Christ. ^ ^ ^ 
 
 " Transubstantiation— or the change of the substance 
 of bread and wine in the Supper of the Lord— cannot be 
 proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain 
 words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacra- 
 ment, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. 
 
 " The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the 
 Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. 
 And the mean, whereby the Body of Christ is received 
 and eaten in the Supper, is Faith." -. .i x^ 
 
 This doctrine of Transubstantiation, revolting both to 
 common sense and reason, I need scarcely tell you, has 
 no authority whatever from Scripture. It was never 
 heard of till the ninth century ; it was not adopted till tne 
 thirteenth ; and the name, by which it is known was not 
 given to it till the fourth Lateran Council, a.d. l^lo. 
 
 The doctrine of the propitiatory sacrifice of the mass, 
 also here asserted, deprives Christ of His true glory, as 
 the only offering for sin, and annihilates the doctrine of 
 justification by faith. 
 
 How widely opposed to such blasphemy is our own 
 
 -Article * f, 
 
 " The offering of Christ once made, is that periect 
 Redemption, Propitiation, and Satisfaction for all tne 
 
'i,^ 
 
 88 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAJO) AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 89 
 
 sins of the whole world, both original and actual. And 
 there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. 
 Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in tlie which it was 
 commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the 
 quick and the dead to have remission of pain or guilt, 
 were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits." 
 
 Brought to the touchstone of eternal truth, these 
 pernicious doctrines are " dashed in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel." From the delusion of Transubstantiation results 
 the immediate consequence, that the priest, when he con- 
 secrates the elements, performs not a sacrament, but a 
 sacrifice. Another consequence is, that the consecrated 
 elements being converted (as they are said by Romanists 
 to be), into the body and blood of Christ, all Christians 
 should recognise His awful presence. Hence the adora- 
 tion of the host; hence the idolatrous worshipping of 
 bread and wine ! And, further still, the wine might 
 accidentally be spilled upon the ground ; and this were a 
 profanation too painful to be contemplated, — the Saviour's 
 real blood trodden underfoot ! How must this desecra- 
 tion be prevented ? Let the cup be forbidden to the 
 laity. Christ has commanded, " Drink ye all of this ! " In 
 conformity to this command our Church pronounces {Art. 
 XXX.), that " The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to 
 the Lay people. For both the parts of the Lord's Sacra- 
 ment, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to 
 be ministered to all Christian men alike." 
 
 But the Church of Rome decrees otherwise. Acting out 
 the 12th maxim of Jesuitism, "that if Christ command 
 one thing and the Pope another, the Pope is rather to be 
 obeyed than Christ," it makes the command of Christ of 
 none effect, and thus, with cursing, prohibits what God 
 has commanded. " If any one shall say that all and each 
 of the faithful ought according to the Word of God, or to 
 secure salvation, to receive each species in the most holy 
 sacrament in the Eucharist, let him be accursed." " If 
 any shall say that the Holy Catholic Church was not led 
 by just causes and reasons to communicate to the laity 
 and non-ofhciating clergy under one species only, or that 
 it has in that particular erred, let him be accursed!" 
 (Sess. xxi., Can. 1 and 2.) 
 
 Our Church answers according to the words of our 
 Lord " He that hath my commandments and keepeth 
 them' he it is that loveth me. If any man love me, he 
 will keep my word." And He has added by His apostle, 
 « If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be 
 anathema maranatha." Which curse is it best to avoid ? 
 that righteously uttered in heaven, or that wickedly 
 forged on earth ? Let Scripture answer-" We ought 
 to obey God rather than men." 
 
 The next clauses of the creed of Pope Pius IV. respect 
 Pur-atory, the Invocation of saints, and the A^ orship 
 and^domtion of images and relics, and thus goes on 
 
 with its novelties : — _ j ^i * 
 
 « I constantly hold that there is a Purgatory, and that 
 
 the souls therein detained are helped by the suffrages ot 
 
 the faithful." . . ^ ^v. ^r;+i, 
 
 " Likewise, that the saints, reigning together ^ itli 
 
 Christ, are to be honoured and invocated ; and that they 
 
 offer prayers to God for us, and that their reliques are to 
 
 be held in veneration." r r^i • * ^f 4i.o 
 
 " I most firmly assert that the images of Christ, ot the 
 
 Mother of God, ever virgin, and also of other saints, may 
 
 be had and retained ; and that due honour and venera- 
 
 tion are to be eiven them. 
 
 The Church of England asserts the direct contrary, 
 
 thus, in her 22nd Article : — 
 
 " The Komish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Tardons, 
 Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as ot 
 ReliqU and also Invocation of Saints, .s a fond t,h.ng 
 
 vainly invented, and grounded "I^"" "° 7f r "h^' 
 Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God 
 
 The Church of England grounds its opposition to the doc- 
 trines of the Church of Rome upon Scripture and Scripture 
 alone Scripture thus denies the doctrine of Purgatory,— 
 ''Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
 micht ; for there is no worlc, nor device, nor knowledge 
 nor wisdom in the grave whitlier thou g<>f ; /.^ ^he 
 notion of Purgatory in any way consonant with this . l ne 
 deld know not anything, neither have they any more a 
 portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun. 
 Does this coincide with the doctrine that souls detained in 
 
90 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 dt 
 
 Purgatory are assisted by the suffrages of the faitliful ? 
 " To-day," said our Lord to the dying thief, " thou shalt 
 be with me in paradise ; " and this could not have been 
 Purgatory. *' And it came to pass, that the beggar died, 
 and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom : 
 the rich man also died, and was buried ; and in hell he 
 lift up his eyes being in torments." (Luke xvi. 22^ 23.) 
 Here a future state is described to us particularly : but 
 is there any mention made of Purgatory ? " It is appointed 
 unto men once to die, but after this" — what ? — Purgatory ? 
 No ! — " the judgment." I cannot now give the time to 
 quote more largely from God's AVord against this doc- 
 trine ; nor do I think that I need to travel further. 
 In these specimens the Bible speaks loud enough — 
 lifting up its voice like a trumpet against this vain tradi- 
 tion. Let this then suffice. Revelation speaks of only 
 two conditions after death ; one of endless torment, the 
 other of eternal happiness ; and there is no fuel to be 
 found in it wherewith the fire of Purgatory can either be 
 kindled or maintained. 
 
 The Church of England renounces idolatry in her 22d 
 Article, and in her Homily on its peril. The Church of 
 Rome blots out the 2d Commandment of the Decalogue, 
 where it has no fear that detection will follow such an 
 omission ; and reckons idolatry among the articles of the 
 Creed as one of the items of that " Catholic faith without 
 which no man can be saved." Our Cimrch holds the 
 characteristic of a true Church : " it is the pillar and 
 ground of the truth ; " for it supports and exhibits, and 
 by its graces and example confirms the truth of God. 
 But the superstitions of the Church of Rome obscure the 
 light of Scripture. They " change the truth of God into a 
 lie ;" and this, too, not upon minor questions, but upon the 
 most vital points of doctrine. With regard to the mode 
 in which God is to be worshipped, the instructions of 
 Holy Scripture are most express. As there is but one 
 God, so is there but " one Mediator between God and 
 man — Christ Jesus." As there is but one object of 
 worship, the Triune Jehovah, so, too, there is but one 
 method, by which His presence may be approached, 
 through the name of His only-begotten^Son. Such is the 
 
 universal tenor of the Word of God. But the Church of 
 Rome affirms that there are other objects of worship, and 
 S God is to be approached through otljer ^^ed^ators 
 Every saint in her calendar is such an one, though oi some 
 of them the very existence is questionable, and of others 
 U.e\r vicious lives were notorious. Yet through each of 
 these is the Divine Majesty to be approached : prayers 
 are to be addressed to tbem. To them? Nay, to their 
 
 '"sir ""am I in error when I pronounce this as idolatry of 
 the ^;os est form ? The apologists of the Church of Rome 
 Ly%ndeavour to make a distinction between the worship 
 that is paid to God and that whn=h ,s offe--«J t° ^'^^ 
 saints ; but it is a mere equivocation. The charge ot 
 d'ltVy is not thereby repelled. The Church o Rome i 
 still idolatrous, for the commandment is. Thou shalt 
 worsWp the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all 
 Thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength, and 
 Him onlu shalt thou serve." , 
 
 The Church of Rome also still claims, and still makes 
 use of, the power of granting Indulgences for sin. Hear 
 Pone Pius' creed on this point : — . 
 
 .?I ^"o affirm that the power of Indulgences was lef 
 by Christ in the Church, and that the use of them is most 
 wholesome to Cliristian people." 
 
 The Church of England alludes to the doctrine of Indul 
 gences in her 22d Article, under the ""'"^o^^": 
 Ld states them, as we have already seen, to be lepu 
 uant to the Word of God." Her Honi.ly o" ^""^ Y;"^^^ 
 is even more decisive ; and her indirect testnnony^ m 
 several other Articles, is also very strong. How utterly 
 at variance is tlie practice of the two Ch»rcl.es ! \\J^a 
 is it to cive Indulgences for money, but to harden a sin- 
 ne by c yfng to his deluded conscience,-" Peace when 
 7erZ no'peace," but rather the wrath of God abiding on 
 
 him? Scripture .-^--^f ^^^ J-^^Rom^'m^^^ 
 uncleanness and sin ;— this ( octrine oi ivouic . 
 
 careless about sin in general: it P™'^''^''^,^''?.^^ 
 ture • " it makes merchandise of the people : it makes 
 E'who boasts to be the successor of the P""ee of the 
 Apostles, himself the prince of deceivers and a ^ ery Antx 
 Christ. 
 
92 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 The next clause, however, of the Creed now claims our 
 attention, viz.: — 
 
 " I acknowledge the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Roman 
 Church for the mother and mistress of all Churches ; and 
 I promise true obedience to the Bishop of Rome, Suc- 
 cessor to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and Vicar 
 of Jesus Christ." 
 
 The Church of England meets this with the declara- 
 tion that "the Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in 
 this realm of England." For 600 years no such assump- 
 tion was ever advanced. Scripture gives no authority 
 for the supremacy of Peter over the other Apostles, upon 
 which the Pope grounds his claim to supremacy: nay, 
 our Lord himself declared to his disciples that it should 
 " not be amongst them, as amongst the princes of the 
 Gentiles, who exercised dominion and authority.** Peter 
 himself lays no claim to supremacy ; and if he does not, 
 and if Scripture will not warrant, as it will not, the 
 pretension, the claim vanishes into air. The Mother of 
 all Churches Rome cannot be. If the term " Mother " be 
 applicable to any Church, it is to that of Jerusalem, for 
 both prophecy and fulfilment are in her favour alone : — 
 " Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the 
 Lord from »Jerusalera." Our Lord also gave commission 
 that " repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
 in his name amongst all nations, beginning at Jeru- 
 salem." As to the union of the title " Mistress " with 
 that of " Mother," I must say. Sir, that it is as unjust 
 and unnatural in the character of a Church, as it would 
 be in the feelings and requirements of a parent in 
 domestic life, and that wherever the Church of Rome has 
 been enabled to extend her sway, she has always proved 
 " a little more than kin, and less than kind." 
 
 But to proceed — the Creed of Pope Pius goes on to 
 declare : — 
 
 *'I likewise undoubtedly receive and profess all other 
 things delivered, defined, and declared by the Sacred 
 Canons and General Councils, and particularly by the 
 holy Council of Trent ; and I condemn, reject, and 
 anathematize all things contrary thereto, and all heresies 
 which the Church has condemned, rejected, and anathe- 
 matized." 
 
 ROME COMPARED. 
 
 93 
 
 The Church of England thus denies in her 2l3t 
 Article that there is any inherent authority in any such 
 Councils, and expressly declares that, — 
 
 "General Councils may not be gathered together 
 without the commandment and will of Princes; and 
 when they be gathered together — forasmuch as they be 
 an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with 
 the Spirit and Word of God — they may err, and some- 
 times have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. 
 Wherefore, things ordained by them as necessary to 
 salvation, have neither strength nor authority, unless it 
 may be declared that they be taken out of holy Scripture." 
 The Church of Rome not only professes to receive the 
 decisions of General Councils universally, but it includes 
 them all in her confession of saving faith. It curses those 
 who do not receive their decrees unreservedly, and then 
 proceeds to select from them at pleasure what may be held 
 and what refused. The Church of England, in full con- 
 formity with her principles, tries their decisions, when 
 brought before her, " by the Spirit and Word of God," and 
 retains or renounces them accordingly. As she com- 
 menced, so she ends the trial " by the word and by the 
 testimony." She comes out of it unscathed, whilst on 
 Rome is written, " Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,— 
 weighed in the balances and found wanting ! " 
 
 Such, Sir, is Popery ! a detestable system of impiety, 
 cruelty, and imposture, fabricated by the father of lies. 
 What has been its effect wherever predominant ? To 
 demoralize, to snap asunder all the restraints of truth 
 and morals. For a length of time she has concealed her 
 deformed visage and her erroneous doctrines from man's 
 cognizance, and required from her followers no more than 
 that they should give their adhesion to what her Councils 
 and her Canons taught, most carefully hiding her real doc- 
 trines, which they are bound to hold. But the Canons 
 and Decrees of the Council of Trent, the Creed of Pius IV., 
 have remained to this hour unrepealed, and the results 
 have ever been found to be persecution, — deadly per- 
 secution — the flame, the dungeon, and the rack, when 
 she has had the power. Equivocation, falsehood, and 
 murder^ have followed in her train. When it has been her 
 
94 
 
 THE CHURCHES OF ENGLAND AND 
 
 ROME COMPARED, 
 
 95 
 
 policy she has played the part of a meek and persecuted 
 victim, because it was not then her interest to expose her 
 fell designs before the blaze of noon. 
 
 Rome is what Rome ever was, and, if she has condescended 
 to assume the garb of the lamb, it was that she might 
 spring upon Protestant England with the fierceness of 
 the wolf long held back from her prey, and that she might 
 sting with the deadly poison of the asp. For the last 
 quarter of a century, she has pursued her stealthy way in 
 Eno-land. In Ireland she has shown more of her true 
 chamcter ; there she has been able to trample our poor de- 
 luded Irish Roman Catholic fellow -subjects beneath her 
 iron hoof. But now, the cloak of hypocrisy is thrown off. 
 The plot, long devised and hatched, is producing its 
 effects. Pope Pius IX., the runaway and renegade, the 
 bishop only held upon his seat by the influence of French 
 bayonets, so execrated is the system he maintains amongst 
 his own people, has put his hand to the work, and has 
 sent us a Popish hierarchy to govern and enthral us ! 
 
 Sir, it is not for us to meet her wrath with wrath-- 
 her hatred with hatred— her maliciousness with mali- 
 ciousness. " The weapons of our warfare " must not be 
 " carnal." *' We have not so learned Christ, if so be we have 
 learned Him," as to disgrace our Christian profession by 
 rendering evil for evil. I can heartily declare that 
 my soul's desire and prayer to God for my poor unhappy 
 Roman Cathohc fellow-sinners, is, that they may be 
 saved. Bui, whilst it is so, and ought to be so with all 
 who are members of such a Society as the present, we 
 must never forget to draw a distinction between the 
 system, and those who are the victims of that system. 
 We have seen this night what that system really is ; and, 
 if we will be faithful to our God, if the ministers of 
 the Church of England will but be faithful to their 
 Ordination vows, we must set ourselves in array against 
 this Babylon. And what must be our weapon ? I know 
 •no other weapon, nor do I wield, nor will 1 ever wield 
 any other against the Church of Rome, but "the sword of 
 the Spirit, which is the word of the living God ; " the 
 weapon that " pierceth to the dividing asunder the joints 
 and the marrow, and is the discerner of the thoughts and 
 
 intents of the heart." And, with that sword, never to be 
 sheathed, I say, " No peace" with the system of the Roman 
 Catholic Church ! This is the last hope for the candlestick 
 of this realm. And, oh ! that all denominations of sound, 
 ri^ht-thinking Protestants would lay aside their differences 
 on minor and non-essential points, and with heart and 
 hand join together for the support of "the faith once 
 delivered to the saints"— a faith, 1 would hope, equally dear 
 to them all. It is with no common foe that the warfare 
 is entered upon— a foe, which, if ever again she be in the 
 ascendant, will crush the land, no longer permitting us to 
 think and judge for ourselves, or use "the liberty where- 
 with Christ makes free." 
 
 Let, however, past supineness excite us to increased 
 exertion. Let us leave no means, no effort untried, which 
 Scripture warrants us in using. And let us never forget 
 that that form of Protestantism is spurious and hateful, 
 which borrows its course of action from mere worldly 
 motives, and acts only for human applause. Let us 
 remember, that the honour and the glory of God, is the 
 only lawful end to have in view. And, whilst we feel 
 that it is the duty of all ranks of society, and all denomi- 
 nations of Christians, professing the true faith, and 
 Protestant principles, to unite and occupy one common 
 ground for the prevention of Popish ascendancy, and for 
 the maintenance of religious liberty and Gospel truth,— 
 let us, I say, take our stand solely on the Word of God 
 to effect this purpose, entertaining no other feelings than 
 those of tenderness and pity for those, whom Rome hath 
 entangled in her snare. Let us be earnest, continual in 
 prayer, in pouring out our own hearts in thankfulness to 
 God fbr our own privileges in the clear knowledge of 
 Divine truth, and daily and fervently implore our Heavenly 
 Father, that our Roman Catholic fellow-sinners may be 
 translated from the kingdom of darkness into the king- 
 dom of God's dear Son, and be numbered among His 
 saints, in glory everlasting ! 
 
 Sir, I have now only to crave your forgiveness for 
 having trespassed so long upon your time, and to you, 
 my Protestant friends, I tender my best thanks for your 
 most patient and attentive hearing. 
 
»--- ~>s' ^ 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE, ETC. 
 
 97 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED IN THE 
 LIGHT OF SCIUPTUIIE. 
 
 BY THE REV. JOSEPH BAYLEE, D.D., 
 
 PRINCIPAL OF ST. AIDAN's COLLEGE, BIRKENHEAD. 
 
 My Christian Friends, the subject of this evening is, 
 indeed, one of very deep importance, because there is no 
 one who can look at the present aspect of public affairs, 
 or the present condition of the religious world, that does 
 not see the elements of a mighty change at work all over 
 the world. We cannot look upon the history ot (^od s 
 past dispensations with man, without seeing a striking 
 analogy in the present times, with the close of previous 
 dispensations. My time will not permit me to enter 
 upon that analogy this evening; I just desire to direct 
 your attention to that one thought, that we have abundant 
 reason, from the state of the political world, and from 
 the state of the religious world, and from the social and 
 intellectual condition of all nations of men, to expect 
 that we are coming towards the close of God s dealings 
 with the Gentile nations. And, in considering the light 
 which Scripture can give us on that subject, we must be 
 very careful of our own prepossessions. I was greatly 
 struck, last year, in writing to a friend in Germany, 
 upon my own views of prophecy. He showed those 
 views to a German professor, who said, " It s all very 
 well for an Englishman to see England in the prophetic 
 Scriptures, but I, a German, do not see England in the 
 same place." Now, I think there was a great deal ot 
 wei'-ht in the observation. We all wish to escape from 
 danger, and to see ourselves on the bright side if we can ; 
 
 and we come to the Scriptures very naturally desirous of 
 finding England there, if we can. But we should be 
 careful of the bias which such a desire would give us in 
 the study of Scripture ; and if I occupy some portion of 
 our time with somewhat that appears to be beside the 
 question, when you go home and reflect, as I trust you 
 will, on what I desire to put before you, you will lind 
 that many suggestions which I hope, as God enables me, 
 to throw out, rather as to the general question of the 
 study of Scripture than this special one, will not seem so 
 much beside the subject as it otherwise might appear to 
 be. We must be very careful, when we are examining 
 dark prophecies of Scripture, that we have sound 
 principles to guide us, and a sound foundation under 
 our feet. 
 
 In the first place, I would suggest to you the true 
 meaning of prophecy. Its real meaning is unfolding and 
 declaring the mind of God. In this respect, the whole 
 Bible is prophecy, and every inspired speaker and writer 
 is a prophet. In the sixth chapter of Nehemiah, and the 
 seventh verse, we have that general use of the word, 
 prophet. It was a charge brought against Nehemiah by 
 his enemies : " Thou hast also appointed prophets to 
 preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying. There is a king in 
 Judah." Now, these "prophets" were not predicting, 
 but they were, according to the charge against them, 
 alleging that it was the mind of God that Nehemiah 
 should be king in Judiih. To unfold the mind of God, 
 then, is the general meaning of prophecy. But, as one 
 part of the mind of God is revealed in the Bible respect- 
 ing the future, in this application prophecy is popularly 
 identified with foretelling ; so that most persons, when 
 they speak of prophecy, mean predictions of events still 
 future. That is only a limited application of the word, 
 but it is a true one. Before, therefore, I enter directly 
 upon this evening's subject, I would desire to make a 
 few observations upon the study of Scripture in general, 
 and of predictive prophecy in particular. 
 
 And, first let me ask, " What is the Bible ? " We all 
 answer, and answer rightly, " The Bible is God's Word." 
 My own deep and firm conviction is, that the Bible, in 
 
98 THE KINGDOMS OF EUKOPE VIEWED 
 
 every word and every syllable, is the Word of God. We 
 have many pt^rsons denying that in the present day ; bu it 
 is a truth which, I ^ieve wiU stand the test of all he 
 severest examination to which it can be P^t7r.^i^; \^^^ 
 Holy Volume is God's Word, the very same as if He had 
 not employed a human instrument to speak it-that in 
 every word of it, in every letter, and every syllable, the 
 Sal Scriptu;es are the Word of God. Now, when 
 welcome to put this question in another point of view,- 
 "What is the Bible? Is it an easy book <)r/s jt a 
 difficult book ? Is it a simple or a complex book . i 
 M swer, that it is a complex book, and an exceedingly 
 iXcuU book. In one respect the Bible is a jery e^sy 
 book. In the 119th Psalm, the Psalmist writes— Ihy 
 word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path 
 Now, that which is a lamp cannot be dark, and that 
 ;vhich is a light, if it be obscured, will lose its character 
 of a li-l^t With respect to our feet, a simple and 
 beautiful symbol of our steps, that we are to take in 
 hght. It 1^ a lamp full of light to guide -' --^-f^ 
 otlier learning tlian the blessed teaching of Gojl . b^^^^^^ 
 witnessing within us that the truth ot Gods \\oid s 
 civen in the Bible. And, with resper^t to our path, it is 
 a bri-ht li-ht. No one can take up this Bible, and make 
 any mistake in the truth, that heaven is the great home 
 of the soul ; that God is the supreme object of he 
 creature's homage; that Christ is the centre of all the 
 beUever's hopes? And in this respect, the Bible is a 
 very easy book, a very simple book, a very clear book- 
 " a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path. 
 
 God has filled the Bible with something hat 
 bears upon all human knowledge. We find i fu of 
 symbols some dark and some clear ; we find it full of 
 Xsion; to ancient geography, and ancient hi^^^^^^^ 
 ancient modes of thought, and terms o speech that veie 
 obscure to us ; we find it full of allusions to natural 
 science, to the laws of nature, to God's moral and provi- 
 dential government of the world, to the connexion of 
 heav n with earth, and of angels with men, and of ni^i 
 with each other. In this respect, I say, the Bible, 
 touching as it does upon all human knowledge, is a very 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 99 
 
 complex book, and God has given it not only to be "a 
 lamp to our feet and a light to our path"— plain and 
 simple and spiritual moral direction — but also as a book 
 calculated to exercise the noblest intellect of man — to 
 give occupation for his industry, food for his thoughts, a 
 glorious object for his admiration, as well as a guidance to 
 everlasting blessedness. 
 
 Now, there are various uses which, in this respect, we 
 have to make of Holy Scripture. We should read it as 
 we read a book, in order to be familiar with its contents. 
 Reading the Lessons for the day — having morning and 
 evening portions, so as to read the Bible through at least 
 once a year, is a duty incumbent upon almost everybody; 
 for few there are who could not find time for that purpose. 
 We should read the Bible devotionally. When we rise 
 in the morning we should take some little portion of 
 God's Word for the food of our hearts and souls ; and, 
 when we retire at night, we should have a little passage 
 of Scripture for our hearts to feed upon. This devotional 
 use of the Bible is one and perhaps its highest use. We 
 should read it studiously, analyse it^ see the meaning of 
 all its words and phrases, and what each part of it 
 teaches, and collecting its testimonies on one subject, so 
 that, going over each subject separately, we may collect 
 the testimony of the Bible, arrange and systematize its 
 teaching on each different subject upon which it treats. 
 In this respect, God's holy Word does indeed give us 
 most important occupation, for the highest intellect, as 
 Avell as for the warmest devotion. And, in order to 
 understand the Scriptures, Ave ought to pursue auxiliary 
 studies, according to the opportunity given to each of us. 
 We cannot read books of travels in Eastern countries 
 "without deriving something from them that will illustrate 
 the Scriptures ; we cannot increase our knowledge of 
 geology, or astronomy, or chemistry, or any natural 
 science, without finding something in those books that 
 Ave may bring to the service of the sanctuary, for the 
 illustration of God's Word. And, therefore, we have 
 these four departments respecting the use that Ave are to 
 make of the Bible — its familiar reading, its devotional 
 reading, its earnest study, and our auxiliary reading. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 IX THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 101 
 
 And with reference to the right mode of interpreting 
 Scripture, there is one suggestion I would desire to 
 impress upon you all, and that is, that we have in the New 
 Testament about two hundred and eighty-seven quotations 
 from the Old— inspired comments upon them — and from 
 these, whoever is really desirous of giving an earnest study 
 to God's Word, will derive such rules of interpretation as 
 will guide him amidst all the perplexing varieties of 
 human explanations of the Scriptures. 
 
 Now, if we come to the inquiry of predictive prophecy, 
 it divides itself into that which is fulfilled and that 
 which is unfulfdled. FulHlled prophecy belongs either to 
 Scripture times, or to times subsequent to Scripture. In 
 the New Testament, for example, we have a good many 
 fulfilments of the Old Testament prophecies— principally 
 those which relate to the first coming of Christ. In the 
 later prophets we have a good many fulfilments of Mosaic 
 predictions. And here we have another very important 
 fund, from which to derive rules for the interpretation of 
 unfulfilled prophecy. If we take, for example, the whole 
 mass of prophecies that were fulfilled, we not only have 
 those predictions fulfilled, but we may derive from them 
 rules of interpretation respecting the unfulfilled portion 
 of the Scriptures. But unfulfilled prophecy, strictly 
 speakinir, we may divide into three classes —those about 
 wdiich we may be certain— those which we are most pro- 
 bably right ill applying -and those about which we are 
 still conjectural and doubtful. It is part of the Divine 
 wisdom respecting the manner in which he has given 
 prophecy, that he has so revealed future events as not to 
 give them in such clearness as to make us prophets, and 
 yet to «^ive them sufficiently clear to make us discern the 
 sif'ns of the times. I shall have occasion to return to 
 tlfat subject again, and I shall not, therefore, dwell upon 
 
 it now. 
 
 But our immediate subject for this evening is, "Ihe 
 Kingdoms of Europe viewed in the Light of Scripture." 
 Obviously, this is a very wide subject, and it could not 
 be fully treated in less than a series of lectures. I can, 
 therefore, only offer an outline of what God has enabled 
 me, I think, to derive from Scripture, respecting the 
 
 kingdoms of Europe. The subject might be taken geo- 
 graphically, historically, or prophetically. 
 
 Geographically, we have very little in Scripture respect- 
 ing Europe. The early seat of mankind was in Asia ; the 
 chief events tliat took place in the recorded history of 
 mankind were in Asia ; and therefore we have very little 
 connected with Europe geographically in the Bible. We 
 have the basis of it all in that very remarkable and 
 important chapter, the 10th of Genesis. We read there 
 in the first four verses : — *' Now these are the generations 
 of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth : and unto 
 them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth ; 
 Gomer and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, 
 and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer ; Ash- 
 kenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of 
 Javan ; Klishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim." 
 We are chiefly concerned here, with regard to Europe, 
 with the fourth verse. Elishah's descendants are sup- 
 posed to have settled in Greece ; the descendants of Tar- 
 shish in the west coast of Europe ; the descendants of 
 Kittim chiefly in Italy ; and the descendants of Dodanim 
 in France and thereabouts. Dodanim is given in Chro- 
 nicles Rodanim, and the Latin name for Rhone is 
 Rhodanus. 
 
 There is no chapter in the Bible that more needs expo- 
 sition than this one. It is the most ancient statement of 
 the dispersion of man over the world, and full of instruc- 
 tion it is. It would be obviously out of place to enter at 
 length into it this evening ; but I just wish to direct your 
 attention here to the names that are given to the sons of 
 Javan, because they will come again in the prophetical 
 examination. 
 
 In the second place, taking the kingdoms of Europe 
 historically. These are very scantily mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture, but sufficiently to be a very important guide to us, 
 for the number of times they are mentioned is very im- 
 material. The principal passage to which I direct your 
 attention now is the 27tn chapter of Ezekiel, where we 
 have a most interesting statement of the trade of Tyre ; 
 and in the 12th and 13th verses Tarshish comes in. 
 " Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude 
 
102 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 103 
 
 of all kind of riches ; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, 
 they traded in thy f\iirs. Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, 
 they were thy merchants : they traded the persons of men 
 and vessels of brass in thy market." And in the 2oth 
 verse—" The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy 
 market: and thou wast replenished, and made very 
 glorious in the midst of the seas." Amongst^ the things 
 iiere mentioned as brought from Tarshish is tin; and 
 there were two parts of the West of Europe from which 
 the ancient Thocnicians and Tyrians obtained tin ;— one 
 was Si)ain, the other was England. Spain and England 
 formed the principal seat of the ancient Tarshish ; and 
 in this point of view Tarshish becomes to us as English- 
 men, one of the most interesting inquiries in the Bible. 
 It is mentioned with peculiar honour. We read of it in 
 the most ancient times as being most fimious for its ships. 
 But it was not England that was famous at that time, but 
 the Tarshian ships were most of them Tyrians trading 
 to Tarshish ; as we now call our East Indiaman not a 
 vessel built in the East Indies, but a vessel built for the 
 Indian trade, so they called Tarshish vessels, those large 
 vessels that were employed in the Tarshish trade. The 
 ships of Tarshish are constantly mentioned as the 
 trading vessels of those early times. This notice of the 
 kingdoms of Europe is sufficient for the geographical and 
 historical part of the question, as I take it that our chief 
 object this evening is rather the prophetic mentions of the 
 kingdoms of Europe in Scripture. 
 
 Now, in order to understand this part of the subject, I 
 must give a sketch of the great lines of Scripture pro- 
 phecy meeting in one synchronism. God has so disposed 
 his predicted word, that He makes one event occur in 
 several lines of prophecy, so as to enable us to make the 
 various streams converge upon that event, that so they 
 may mutually enlighten each other. Now, the great 
 event of yet unfultilled prophecy upon which the Scrip- 
 ture fixes our thoughts is the future siege of Jerusalem^; 
 and if you desire light, as I hope you all do, upon God's 
 ■ predicted AVord, if you fix your mind upon that one 
 event, and make it the cntral point of your prophetic 
 in(iuiries, you wiii gradually get at a very large amount 
 
 of light, and dissipate the clouds and mists of many 
 hesitations and doubts respecting tlie meaning of pro- 
 phetic Scripture. There is yet to be a siege of Jerusalem, 
 which is to conclude with Jerusalem's deliverance. That 
 is the great synchronism which throws its light upon and 
 gives harmony to the various lines of Scripture prophecy. 
 Now, that event is so stated in the 12th and I4th chapters 
 of Zechariah, that it leaves no room for doubt or hesita- 
 tion. We read in the 12th chapter, and the first five 
 verses : — " The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, 
 saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and 
 layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit 
 of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a 
 cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when 
 they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against 
 Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a 
 burdensome stone for all people : all that burden them- 
 selves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people 
 of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, 
 saith the Lord, I wnll smite every horse with astonish- 
 ment, and his rider with madness : and I will open 
 mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every 
 horse of the people with blindness. And the governors 
 of Judah shall say in their heart. The inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem shall be my strength in the Lord of hosts their 
 God." The event so clearly predicted here is, that 
 Jerusalem is to be besieged, and instead of being destroyed, 
 is to be victorious, and to be a burdensome stone, to all 
 those that burden themselves with her. The same is 
 continued in the l4th chapter : — "Behold the day of the 
 Lord Cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst 
 of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem 
 to battle : and the city shall be taken, and the houses 
 rifled, and the women ravished ; and half of the city shall 
 go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall 
 not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go 
 forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought 
 in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day 
 upon the mount of Olives.'* I have quoted these two 
 passages in Zechariah to fix clearly on your minds that 
 there is a yet future siege of Jerusalem, different from all 
 
104 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRirTURE. 
 
 105 
 
 her former sieges in this, that though partially taken 
 captive, she is to be finally victorious, and the people that 
 assemble around her are to be destroyed, instead of being 
 victorious. Now, if we run through the great prophetic 
 lines of Scripture we find them all terminating, or rather, 
 culminating in that point, and branching out again into 
 the subsequent kingdom of Christ. 
 
 The first passage to which I direct your attention on 
 this point is the second chapter of Daniel. There we 
 have Nebuchadnezzar's vision of universal empire ; and it 
 is morally instructive to us, as the ancient father Eusebius 
 says, that when a Gentile king, with a worldly mind 
 and heart, beheld earthly dignity, it appeared to him as 
 a glorious golden image. He knew no higher happiness 
 than earthly power, and he saw no greater grandeur than 
 earthly dominion, and God revealed to him his purposes 
 for the future in a symbol corresponding to his own state 
 of mind. Now, in that image, so seen by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, with tlie head of gold, the next part of silver, the 
 belly and thighs of brass, and the feet and toes of iron, 
 and part of clay, we have the four empires, as Daniel 
 explains them. But what is to be the end of this ? " In 
 the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a 
 kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom 
 shafl not be left to other people, but it shall break in 
 pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
 for ever." The stone cut out without hands broke the 
 image, and that was the beginning of the second feature 
 of the kingdom of Christ. Now, there is nothing 
 mentioned here about the siege of Jerusalem, but there 
 is something mentioned about Christ's kingdom breaking 
 to pieces in a violent manner those kingdoms of the 
 world. The second line is the prophet Daniel's view of 
 these four kingdoms ; and it is instructive to see how, 
 when God is revealing a truth to different minds he pre- 
 sents it under symbols that suit each mind. If Nebu- 
 chadnezzar had been himself drawing a picture of earthly 
 dominion, he would have made an image — and indeed we 
 find that he did make a golden image for himself. If 
 Daniel, the prophet, with his spiritual mind, had been 
 drawing the picture, what would have struck him most 
 
 would have been the worldliness, the violence, and the 
 tyranny of those kingdoms. He would not have seen all 
 their external pomp and all their worldly grandeur, but 
 their anti-spiritual and irreligious character. And, ac- 
 cordingly, when the vision was given to him of the four 
 empires he saw them rising out of the stormy winds of 
 human passions, described here as the four winds of 
 heaven striving upon the great sea ; and four great beasts 
 came up — wild beasts, ferocious beasts, beasts that were 
 unfit for human society. The first was like a lion, the 
 second like a bear, the third like a leopard, the fourth 
 indescribable, but " dreadful and terrible, and strong 
 exceedingly." There was nothing attractive to the holy 
 prophet in these visions of universal empire. And, 
 indeed, my dear friends, the more we get the mind of 
 heaven the more we shall be able to see the unholiness, 
 the rebellion, and the sinfulness of earth. In describing 
 these four beasts, Daniel tells us that they remain till 
 " the ancient of days " comes ; and he tells us in the 1 3th 
 verse — " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like 
 the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came 
 to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before 
 him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and 
 a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should 
 serve him : his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
 which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which 
 shall not be destroyed." Here we have the same time, 
 obviously, as was revealed to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebu- 
 chadnezzar sees the Son of man — not in that character in 
 which he needed him as a sinner, for he had no heart 
 yet to see his need of a Saviour, but he sees him as he 
 has become to his unrepentant enemies. " Whosoever 
 shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but on whomso- 
 ever it shall fall it will grind him to powder." There 
 was a revelation of the Son of man to Nebuchadnezzar, 
 when he was admiring earthly dignity and tyrannic 
 grandeur ; but when the same being is revealed to Daniel 
 it is " one like the Son of man," coming in the clouds of 
 heaven, clothed in all the nature of his own humanity, 
 and about to establish a dominion of holiness, peace^ and 
 joy. " The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of 
 
106 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 107 
 
 the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to 
 the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom 
 is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve 
 and obey him." 
 
 We have a further revelation made to Daniel, some- 
 what obscure, but very important. It is in the 8th 
 chapter. It is not a revelation of universal empire, but 
 of a portion of universal empire. What is to happen to 
 the Kings of Media and Persia, and the King of Grecia ? 
 I wish to dwell upon this chapter a little (though it is 
 impossible to enter fully into it in one lecture) as setting 
 before us the times that, I believe, are speedily coming. 
 In the seventh chapter, in connexion with that fourth 
 empire, is that " little horn " which, we have no reason 
 to doubt, is the Pope, and his usurped dominion and his 
 tyranny against the saints of the Most High. In the 
 8th chapter we have another little horn ; but this chapter 
 is chiefly about the empire of the Medes and Persians 
 overturned by the Grecian empire, which, I believe, is 
 the little horn yet to arise— at least the revival, if not the 
 origination of it. We read in the 23d verse of that 
 chapter : " In the latter time of their kingdom, when tiie 
 transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce counten- 
 ance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 
 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own 
 power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall 
 prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and 
 the holy people." Now the statement here, " the latter 
 time of their kingdom," makes me think this belongs to 
 unfulfilled propliecy. In the 7th chapter it says, in 
 the 12th verse: "As concerning the rest of the beasts, 
 they had their dominion taken away : yet their lives were 
 prolonged for a season and time." And in connexion 
 with " the latter time of their kingdom," we read in the 
 9th verse of a little horn. " Out of one of them came 
 forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, 
 toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the 
 pleasant land." We read of his persecution, of his enter- 
 ing into the holy place, of his defiling the sanctuary of 
 God; and there is a very interesting statement in the 
 13th verse. "Then I heard one saint speaking, and 
 
 another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, 
 How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacri- 
 fice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the 
 sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot ? And 
 he said unto me. Unto two thousand and three hundred 
 days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Now, 
 whether those 2,300 days mean so many years or so 
 many days I shall not at present venture to decide ; but 
 there is one great moral truth taught us here. You will 
 find in the margin of your Bibles that instead of "that 
 certain saint" we have the word given to us, "Paimoni, 
 or the numberer of the secrets, or the wonderful num- 
 berer." Dear friends, it is a beautiful character of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. One saint asks that wonderful 
 numberer how long that state of things should continue ; 
 and that wonderful numberer replies, that though it may 
 appear a long time every day is numbered in tlie Divine 
 councils. There is a very striking word in the Hebrew 
 Bible for tarry : " It shall come and not tarry." It means 
 that it will not be one moment after the right time. 
 However long it may be, the days are numbered in the 
 Divine councils. And as he has numbered the days of the 
 kingdoms of the world, and the days also of eternity, as 
 we read in another part of Scripture, that same numberer 
 has said, " Fear not, therefore ; ye are of more value than 
 many sparrows ; for the very hairs of your head are all 
 numbered." 
 
 We have another line of prophecy, then, ending with 
 the cleansinnr of the sanctuary. In the 40th verse of 
 
 CD V 
 
 the 1 1th chapter of Daniel we read : " At the time of the 
 end shall the king of the south push at him ; and the 
 king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, 
 with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships ; 
 and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow 
 and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious 
 land, and many countries shall be overthrown : but these 
 shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and 
 the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch 
 forth liis hand also upon the countries : and the land of 
 Kgypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over 
 the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the 
 
108 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTUKE. 
 
 109 
 
 precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the 
 Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the 
 east and out of the nortli shall trouble him : therefore he 
 shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to 
 make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of 
 his palace between the seas in the glorious holy moun- 
 tain ; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help 
 him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great 
 prince which standeth for the children of thy people : and 
 there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since 
 there was a nation even to that same time : and at that 
 time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall 
 be found written in the book. And many of them that 
 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever- 
 lasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
 And They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
 firmament ; and they thiit turn many to righteousness as 
 the stars for ever and ever." Now, the leading point of 
 this prediction is, that there is to be a great king of the 
 north, with many people with him, and some king of the 
 south to oppose him ; that the king of the north shall 
 attack the king of the south, and get into the 
 holy land— shall come into the place between the seas 
 —between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean (that 
 is, about Jerusalem); that he shall be broken to 
 pieces, and none shall help him. And that will be 
 at the time of the dehverance of the Jewish people. 
 You see, therefore, how these lines of prophecy all 
 terminate upon the same point, which is represented 
 to us either by the coming of the Son of man, or the 
 breakinir up of the present kingdoms of the world, or the 
 cleansing of the sanctuary, or the delivery of Christ's 
 
 people. . 
 
 We have another description of the last struggle in the 
 3rd chapter of Joel, from the 9tli to the 17th verses, 
 we read,—" Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles ; pre- 
 pare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war 
 draw near ; let them come up. Beat your ploughshares 
 into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears ; let the 
 weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, 
 all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round 
 
 about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, 
 O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge 
 all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the 
 harvest is ripe ; come, get you down ; for the press is full, 
 the fats overflow ; for their wickedness is great. Multi- 
 tudes, multitudes in the valley of decision ; for the day of 
 the Lord is near in the valley of decision. The sun and 
 the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw 
 their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and 
 utter his voice from Jerusalem ; and the heavens and the 
 earth shall shake ; but the Lord will be the hope of his 
 people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So 
 shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in 
 Zion, my holy mountain ; then shall Jerusalem be holy, 
 and there shall no strangers pass through her any more." 
 We find all the prophets thus, with one consent, leading 
 our thoughts to the close of this dispensation, as being a 
 violent gathering together of all nations, down to the 
 Lord's controversy with them, and that resulting in the 
 cleansing of Jerusalem and the Lord dwelling in her. 
 
 We have to the same purport an extremely interesting 
 prophecy in Haggai. I am always sorry to make any 
 observations on our translation of the Bible, because from 
 an examination of the translations in different languages, 
 I can bear testimony to the interesting fact to us Englfsh- 
 men, that there is not a single translation in any language 
 that bears a comparison to our English one — that it is the 
 nearest to the original Hebrew and Greek that ever has 
 been made. Yet it is but a human work, and here and 
 there needs an improvement ; and amongst the rest I 
 shall take a liberty with one expression. In Haggai ii. 6, 
 we read, " Yet once, It is a little while, and I ^vl\\ shake 
 the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry 
 land. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all 
 nations shall come ; and I will fill this house with glory, 
 saith the Lord of hosts." And in the 22nd and 23rd 
 verses, " I will overthrow the tlirone of kingdoms, and I 
 will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen ; 
 and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in 
 them ; and the horses and their riders shall con^e down, 
 
110 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROrE VIEWED 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 every one by tlie sword of his brotlier. In that day, 
 saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, Zerubbabel, 
 my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will 
 make thee as a signet ; for I have chosen thee, saith the 
 Lord of hosts." *' The Desire of all nations shall come," 
 suggests to most English readers Christ, and He is 
 indeed, or ought to be, " the Desire of all nations," and 
 one's heart cannot but go with the hymn in which He is 
 addressed as *'the Desire of all nations;" but here the 
 word is in the plural, and is in connexion with the silver 
 and the gold ; and if you compare the passage with the 
 60th of Isaiah, you will find that the silver, and the gold, 
 and the brass, and the rams, and the wood of Lebanon, 
 and all the good things of all nations, are brought to 
 Jerusalem. But the chief point that needs correction is, 
 *' the glory of this latter house." It should be, " the last 
 Mory of this house." Former commentators have applied 
 this to Ciirist's standing in the temple at Jerusalem, 
 because they took it to mean " this latter house." Now, 
 the Greek Septuagint, which was done by Jews 280 
 years before Christ's coming, has rendered it properly, — 
 *' the last glory of this house." It was surely no glory to 
 JerusalenUhat the Saviour whom she rejected stood in the 
 temple ; it was disgrace to Jerusalem. But it will 
 be ^lory to Jerusalem, when the Saviour in his glory 
 stands in his temple, and is seen and known and 
 worshipped there, and to the ends of the earth. And one 
 is strengthened in this view by the Apostle quoting this 
 passage in the Hebrews in the same connexion. 
 
 But we have in the 9th chapter of Zechariah a passage 
 bearing on the subject of this evening. At the 1 2th 
 verse vve read, '* Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners 
 of hope: even to-day do I declare that I will render- 
 double unto thee." *' I will render double unto thee." 
 She hath received at the Lord's hand (^ouMe for all her 
 sins ; and here the Lord says, "I will render double unto 
 thee." And while we are studying prophecy as a predic- 
 tion of the future, dear friends, kt us not forget that it 
 gives us beautiful moral, comforting, enlightening, in- 
 structive truths for our own mind and heart. " You 
 only have I known of all the families of the earth, there- 
 
 fore will I punish you for your iniquities," was the 
 Lord's threatening to Israel. And when that discipline 
 has been accomplished, then comes the reward, the unde- 
 served, unearned reward of abundant grace bestowed on 
 his afflicted people. Double sorrow, because He had 
 known them well, and double blessing, because He had 
 put their tears into his bottle. " Even to-day do I 
 declare that I will render double to thee." And it is a 
 great comfort to the child of God, when suffering God's 
 merited chastisement of his sin, that a time is coming, 
 when, having gone through the discipline of fiery trials, he 
 shall find all his tears shining in the brightness of 
 resurrection glory. 
 
 The word that is here translated " Greece" is Javan ; 
 and if you remember the verse which I read from the 
 10th of Genesis, Javan means a great deal more than 
 Greece. " The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, 
 Kittim and Dodanim." Therefore, it is European nations 
 raised up against Jewish nations that is here predicted. 
 In that case, therefore, if Javan included the whole of 
 Tarshish, it would bring England against Judea. But 
 we have reason to thank God that we find it is only one 
 part of Tarshish that is so gathered ; for we shall see 
 presently that Tarshish, in another part, is a friend, and 
 not an enemy to the Jews. The 12th and 14th chapters 
 of Zechariah would be too long for me to enter upon now ; 
 but I would recommend them to your consideration, in 
 connexion, and in very interesting connexion, with this 
 same subject. But if you turn to the 9th chapter of 
 Isaiah, you will there find a prophecy that is by no 
 means sufficiently considered in its predictive character. 
 Everybody knows it with regard to the nativity of Christ ; 
 but in its predictive character it is extremely instructive. 
 The 3rd to the 7th verses, — " Thou hast multipHed the 
 nation, and not increased the joy," or, as the margin 
 correctly reads it, " Thou hast multiplied the nation, and 
 hast increased its joy ; they joy before thee according 
 to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they 
 divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his 
 burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his 
 oppressor, as in the day of Midian. For every battle of 
 
119 THE KINGDOMS OF EDROPE VIEWED 
 
 l,i, ,,.,.» stall b. clW ]'»»""''• .j|„ PHnce ot 
 
 • u* , Pr^rl The everlasting ramer, j-^^^ 
 
 i : eh oth rVt"?nkin/they were each other's enem.es, 
 Sad of Israel being called upon t^^^^^^^^^^^ ^ ,^^.^ 
 
 ■vT i*^^ni tVipse various lines oi piupn^vj- 
 
 Now, trom ttie^e vai ^^ ^^j^._ 
 
 And this brings ns to *•'« 38 h chapter ^^ ^^^^ 
 
 which enables us to '^'^f '" *^f/'"°„X The whole of 
 their position in regard to '^''l''V'J^XsLct\.e ; but 
 the 38th and S9th chapters are J-^^Pj^ "f^^"^ ,^^ 33^,, 
 
 lor our purpose tlas ^^emu?, ^^ °"^,t .poUenof in 
 There we have a confederacy, similar tot I .^ 
 
 Isaiah:-" Say ye not a <=o,"tederacy to a^l o v ^^^^ 
 
 people say a confederacy. Son <>' J* ' J^^ ^f 
 
 Wnst Gog the land o Magog;;''^^^^^ ^n, and 
 Meshech and lubal, and V'^^^^ J. j ^^ against 
 
 7' "J^rl'lic^i.- of SsUh and IVbal: 
 
 td' I^m rurrthee ^f;;^^^^^^^^!^:^ 
 and I will bring tl.ee for 1. a^u^^ all t n.e ^^^y,^^^^ ^^ 
 
 and horsemen, all of them /-'"'"f " , j ^^^ shields, 
 armour, even a ^'^^ ^^^X^X^^'^ ^'^ ^ibya 
 ''"f;^"':irl"?herShSdand helmet: Gomer, 
 With them; all ot tiiem ^^ltu .^ ^ ^ ^^ ^f the north 
 
 ■''-' tL'tS^l^ist. rtnl 1% efple with thee." 
 (juarters, and all ni= "'' , j^.^ i,as never yet 
 
 "r icrifrew e uSeKaceuratelyacciuainted 
 taken place. itwevNeit. ^ modern names of 
 
 with ancient geography to PU^^ 
 
 places instead ot tluse anciL , ^^ 
 
 lould appear -ore eWr .0 us^^^^^^^;^^^^^^^^ ,, 
 
 S:M;:<:^t.,inShoi^^h woum seem to include the 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OP SCRIPTURE. H3 
 
 present Russian empire Roos, Mosoch, and Thobol are 
 easily changed into Russia, Moscow, and Thobolsk in Si! 
 beria ; and it would thus exactly take in the present empire 
 of Russia. It IS a very interesting fact, that all the 
 Slavonic nations are supposed to be of the same family 
 as tlie Assyrian nations. The conquering Assyrians 
 probaby, came from the Caspian Sea and,°in tru[h the 
 Slavonic nations which are now causing so much political 
 
 fW nhl iTf" '^''^"""'' ^"^ y°" ^»1 remember 
 that although Babylon was successful against Jerusalem 
 Assyria was not and tliat when the Assyrians came up 
 o Jerusalem they were slain there by the an<.el of 
 tlie Lord. And so it shall be with the Assyrianf and 
 a much larger confederacy,-" Gomer and all his band " 
 whose descendants run across Europe-" the house of 
 
 I:ZTf^ ■"' *"f r"" 'J"''^''"-^' ^"-l "^^ •"« bands? 
 In fact, this confederacy includes the Russian empire, 
 
 and the western states of Europe gatliered together 
 
 in one vast confederacy, coming down^on tlie Sce- 
 
 ess holy land ; and they are represented here as destroyed 
 
 by none other than the angel of the Lord. At the 1^ h 
 
 tUt ♦k'"" ""■"'? ""^ '"""^ '—"^' ^hallalso come to pass, 
 that at the same time shall things come into thy „ i„d 
 and thou Shalt think an evil tliought : And thou shdt ay 
 I will go up to the land of ui. walled villages; I wil 
 go to tliem that are at rest, tliat dwell safely, all of them 
 
 S'"foT'['""' "'i"^' T" '"^'"g "«''^-- bars no" 
 gate^, lo take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn tliine 
 
 and upon the desolate places that Ire now inhab ed 
 
 and upon the people tliat are gathered out of the nations' 
 
 whieh have gotten cattle and goods, tliat dwell in the 
 
 midst of the land Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants 
 
 of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say 
 
 unto thee. Art thou come to take a spoil' hast thon 
 
 gathered thy company to take a prey ? to carry away silver 
 
 spoil.^ Therefore, son o£ man, prophesy and say unto 
 Gog Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my 
 people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know U^ " 
 And thou Shalt come from thy place out of the north 
 
114 THE KINGDOMS OF ECItOPE VIEWED 
 
 i» with thee all of them riding 
 part., thou and many P«°l'\*^7'*y l^'^Vhty army : And 
 ^pon horses, a great co^pa.^, a^d J™?i/^^^, ,^, , eloud 
 
 Xu ^l-^-^r^^Pit^ttte^n'r latter days, and 1 will 
 to cover the land; it s"«" "'' ^,,^ i^gathen may know 
 
 bring thee aga.nst my land, t, «t t^ ^ ^^^_ 
 
 me, when 1 shall ^\,™ i„rdGoD; Art thou he of 
 the r eyes. Thus sa.th the Lord ^o , ^^^^^^^ ^,_^ 
 
 whom I have spoken m «« t.me b^„ Z.. days many 
 
 prophets of ^^r««'',rr,hee -.gainst them ? And it 
 ?ears, that I would bnng thee ag^n ^^^^^ 
 UrM come to pass at the same t ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 oome against the and of Israel, s ^,^^ .^ ^^^ 
 
 that my f'"7.«»'lTe of „^; wrlth have I spoken, 
 jealousy and in the hre ot -ny ^^^ ^^ ^^^ 
 
 'surely in that day there shall be a g ^^^ 
 
 land of Israel, so t*"'* *he fisl>e o ^_^^ ^,j 
 
 fowls of the heaven, and the beas s ^^^^ ^^^ ^,^^ 
 
 creeping things «''=^\,rit''ee of "he earth, ^hall shake at 
 men that are upon the "ce o j ^ ^^rown down, 
 
 „>y presence, and the """"f '"^^/^^.r ,,all shall fall to 
 and the steep places shalKall and cv ^y^^^ ^^^.^^^ ^.^ 
 
 the ground. And 1 will «»" . i ^ qod: every 
 
 IhrouV"* f r,,Te " Hnst us brother." There is 
 roan's sword shall ^^f^aay of Midian, referred to 
 the same destruction as .n the da) ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ 
 
 in the 9th of Isaiah. 1 'H^J ^f „„tions against 
 his brother : not any S^^ ^j/'^^-Itablish an empire, 
 him. And he does not come a ^^.^jUrowing, 
 
 hut he comes ike a fl«;^ *3= ^^j there is one verse 
 but being «"ddenly <le«tro)ed. -A g h.hmen. It 
 
 in that ehapte-- .^-Ijy "«--'-';,,, ,„, pedan, and the 
 U said in the 1 3th \ei »e^ ^ons thereof. 
 
 merchants of '^-f f ;^7,i'" ome to take a spoil ? hast 
 shall say unto thee, Ait tuou c ^ 
 
 :!r gathered thy company to ke^^^^^^ ^„„, 
 
 away silver and gold, ^J^^lJ,,,^ ^e have Tarshish 
 take a great spoil i He.e, ^^,^ ,,^,,e javan, 
 
 coming in. ^'^^.^'''ZuZ the Jews; but here is 
 iucluding Tarshish, "S" y^*/ \^j, eat confederacy. 
 Tarshish-for the- oppoMUg^t^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 And wliat iar&ni&ii- 
 
 ir 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTUKE. 1]5 
 
 Spain and England ; it is the mercantile Tarsliish that 
 IS spoken of here :-" The merchants of Tarshish, with 
 all the young hons thereof." And here, indeed, w^ have 
 a most wonderful confirmation of the omniscience of God. 
 
 tW J '*^rV •?'•""« ''-'^^ I'^'^^y' '" »'■« days of Ezekiel, 
 than that Britain, part of the ancient Tarshish, should 
 become a merchant nation, and should be united with 
 little Arab tribes, such people as Sheba and Dedan ' And 
 that very combination we see at this moment. The 
 invention of steam-vessels makes it needful for us to have 
 a coal-depot at Aden and we have been, therefore, 
 
 An^ tw f -l^""" "^"J* *''" neighbouring Arab tribes 
 And that depot is not far from this ancient Sheba and 
 Dedan. Is it not delightful to think that God foresees 
 all events? How can the infidel account for this 
 foreseeing, that the Tarshish merchants, and all its 
 young l,on.s should be allied with the Arabian tribes, and 
 sliould come up and face Russia, and say,—" Art thou 
 come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company 
 to ake a prey ?" They are not represented as fighting him^ 
 but simply as bearding him to the face. It is tlie Loixl that 
 destroys h.m. And here we may notice one remarkable 
 fact, that we are the only nation that has a missionary 
 Society to the Jews, tlie country that has the greate/t 
 hold of God's Word and God's' truth, througlfout U^ 
 world. And here is our blessing for the same. 
 
 I here ,s another very striking fact connected with 
 prophecy; and this also connects itself closely with 
 J;^ngland. It is the mention that is made of tlie Pliilis- 
 mes. In Isaiah xi. 1 J, we read :—" They shall fly upon 
 he shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they 
 shal spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their 
 hand upon Edom and Moah; and the children of Amnion 
 sha I obey them." Now, here the Jews are represented 
 as in union with the Philistines, flying upon their 
 boulders. It is a curious illustration of\um^an pr! u- 
 dice, that vvhen Jewish translators were renderin<T tl4e 
 prophecies into Greek, they could not persuade"tf^m! 
 selves to believe that it was "the Philistines" that were 
 meant; .so, instead of saying,_«They shall fly upon the 
 shoulders of the Philistines," they have translated it,- 
 
 I 2 
 
116 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 .. They shall go upon the ^WP-f ^^rnf ^ay ? "Sle 
 
 who would be an ^nghsl-a" - J^^ C ancestors might 
 
 who is born in England. J^J'* "'^-i' ^ ;„ England, we 
 
 have been fore'S^«r'\.y,^iV And who were Philis- 
 
 should call him an .^^nglf '"i^"; t"„ia be inhabitants 
 
 tines in ancient times .x J^ ;j.; i^cum- 
 
 of ancient Philist>a; and one of the mos^ . ^^^^ ^ 
 
 stances in the present day is that w^^_^ ^^ ^ 
 commercial.settlement at Acre in^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 
 the Bible 13 not to majve us P i .^ extremely 
 
 observe the signs of the ""Cff^ io„„ have her settle- 
 probable, that England ^"'^ ^J^^^i^aian possessions, 
 P^ents in Philistia tortile sake o herj^^ 4,,,uically 
 
 and that before long wej ^^^ ^ two very 
 
 Philistines. This i» Inrther ,^,,^^y 
 
 interesting psalms, the 60th m^ ^,^^^ ^^;^_^iae, 
 
 word for word the ^'''"«' '" ^^^ ^^„eerning Philistia. 
 except in the variety of «1 '^^^^^^^^ ,.is people help in 
 Christ is represented as ^^^"""S J-^l ^^ that "vain is the 
 trouble, when t'^y jj^j'^^f ^^^jj'^^^^^^^^ is mine, and 
 
 help of njan." The 6<»; ^ ^^^ f^^^/ the strength of mine 
 Manasseh is mine ; 1-P''T^"° .\iQ^h is my washpot ; over 
 head ; Judah is my l^S^^',;^ "philistia, triumph thou 
 Edom will I cast out ™y '^'°«' ^ ■^^^ the strong city? 
 
 because of me. :^\^Vi v" f ou will observe, Philistia 
 who will lead nie into Ldoni.lo ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 i, spoken o here ^^^^ because of me" The 
 Edom,-"ri""'t';>| tnurap ^^^^ purport:— 
 
 language. of tl>e lOStJ P»al m , ^ 
 
 "Gilead IS mine ; ^l*""*'*^ , . ;, „,„ lawgiver ; Aloab is 
 
 strength of mine -;«l;^"i'Ji'e Jout my shoe; over 
 „,y washpot ; over tdom wiu.^.^^.^ ^^.^^p,^^ j„ ^ 
 
 Philistia will I t"".™P"- . , i„ piiilistia, restored 
 Saviour, aiKlthe baviouyriumphs I _^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 and returned to h.n. ^1<'J^2 escape would be Edom, 
 Daniel, th«t the land» that won v ^^^^ . ^^j ^^^ 
 
 Moab, and the cnef^ f ^^tion with the heathen 
 have seen ^ "r^^."" '' ?" ^ome up against the con- 
 tribes, Sheba and l^f /"' ,^°" occurrence of war, if 
 federacy. Kow. m the ordinary o ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ .^ 
 
 Russia were to make an iu 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRiriURE. 
 
 117 
 
 would come from the north; we would come from the 
 Indian side up to the same Holy Land, Edom and 
 Moab being south and east of the Holy Land ; and these 
 countries, being very weak, would be necessarily com- 
 pelled to submit to the countries nearest to them ; and 
 Edom, Moab, fmd Ammon, though unwilling to do so, are 
 said to be mere washpots, useful vessels, but not honourable 
 ones. They are represented as submitting themselves not 
 willingly, but from their position, to these political cir- 
 cumstances in which they are placed. On the other 
 side, Philistia, belonging to a great maritime power, 
 is spoken of with honour. 
 
 Thus, then, we have the last struggle set before us, as 
 far as the Old Testament is concerned. 
 
 And now let us look at the New Testament. We will 
 not dwell long upon it, for, I fear, I have already a good 
 deal occupied your time. In the 21st chapter of St. 
 Luke, in the 24th verse, our blessed Saviour says — 
 " They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be 
 led away captive into all nations : and Jerusalem shall 
 be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the 
 Gentiles be fulfilled ; " that is, there is at present the 
 Gentile dispensation, the days of grace for the present 
 Churches of Christ, and, when these are fulfilled, 
 Jerusalem will cease to be trodden under foot by the 
 Gentiles. Now, in Romans xi. 25 — 27, we have further 
 light thrown upon this. " I would not, brethren, that 
 ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be 
 wise in your own conceits ; that blindness in part has 
 happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be 
 come in : And so all Israel shall be saved : as it is written. 
 There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall 
 turn away ungodliness from Jacob." If you will compare 
 that passage with the place from which it is quoted, the 
 59th of Isaiah, you will find that it throws a great light 
 upon prophetic Scripture. Our time will not permit me 
 to dwell upon it now, but I should like to direct your 
 attention to the 32nd verse of the same chapter. " God 
 has concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have 
 mercy upon them all." Every dispensation of God 
 towards man has as yet ended in unbelief, taking a little 
 
118 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 remnant out of each. Adam was upright in Edet. and 
 irfell • man was placed on his probation a second time, 
 and God'rSpirit ceased to strive witli man and the flood 
 came The Gentile nations were next placed on the.r 
 rbltion and they fell into idolatry /'>-^;7f, ^^fl 
 vere filled witli light and '^""^^l^^'S'^' ^^■" ./'"L^i^eea 
 through the idols of Egypt. Again were * f { P'"*^^^ 
 „ their own land, and the Assyrian and 1^^ '«-;« 
 ,,nd Roman destruction came upon tlicm. A>.d now 
 brethren we are standing on our probation. God hath 
 cone uded them all in unbelief," having shown the frailty 
 ofthe cUture standing in himself, that he may make 
 the creature firm and enduring for ever in him who is 
 c eature and creator united, " that He might have me cy 
 ?,™m all " "Oh! the depth of the riches both of the 
 : Im and knowledge o'f Christ! How unsearchable 
 Tre lis iud.rments, and His ways past finding out ! 
 
 In ev minin- the Book of Revelation, we may 
 take one t In the Revelation which is extremely 
 irc^ti^g'a^nd instructive-the seventh trumpet Int.. 
 lOth chapter of Revelation, and ^l^f '' ;;^7;';' Jt,,e 
 
 1 »i 1 Kth verse that an-d is heard sounding. "And 
 the s vei t) a, " -^^^ *'-- were great voices 
 
 l'\re: saying, The kingdoins of this wor^^^^ 
 
 the ki„;,,lo.ns of our Lord, and "('"^^J'^f ;;^ ,,„, 
 <.l.nl1 rei^ni for ever and ever. Wereaaoi "o l ^ 
 
 f^cm'upible! and we shall be changed." bee what a 
 . • „ ;» there ' Tlic first resurrection— tlic last 
 tCrr. V S sounding: reminding us of 
 
 w 7mn efbas said-" Many of them that sleep m the 
 S^^'jTe eavth shall awake, some to eveH-t.^ 
 
 and some to shanu. and --'^^^^-3 ^^^^^^^^^ ,,\ZZ 
 the chapter preceding that -the yth chapter 01 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 119 
 
 *■• 
 
 tion~we have a description of what is commonly sup- 
 posed, and, I believe, rightly, to be the Mohammedan 
 corruption in general. There is a very remarkable 
 statement made in the close of that chapter. After 
 stating that the third part of men, are corrupted and 
 destroyed by the plague of locusts, it says-" the rest of 
 the men. Now, who are these "rest?" The western 
 nations of Europe ; they could be no other. " The rest 
 of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet 
 repented not of the works of their hands, that they should 
 not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and 
 brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor 
 Jiear, nor walk : Neither repented they of their murders, 
 nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of 
 their thefts." Here is a prediction, that when the East 
 ^yas corrupted the West did not repent— that they con- 
 tinued to worship idols, and continued to resort to fornica- 
 tion and sorceries -false methods of healincr their soul. It 
 is one of the most striking parts of Church history, 
 that when the East and West began to separate, and the 
 lope of Romes assumed that unlawful power, which for 
 ages they held, the great contest between the Popes of 
 Rome and the Eastern Christian emperors was this very 
 thing; and the Roman Popes excommunicated the Eastern 
 emperors for not worshipping images, and denounced 
 their followers as what are called Iconoclasts, or breakers 
 of images. Here, then, is a description of what God 
 foresaw the Western nations would do. In the 14th 
 chapter of Revelation we have a reference to our own 
 time. In the 6th verse, we not only have the angel 
 flying with the everlasting Gospel, but saying, " The hour 
 of his judgment is come." Here is another feature in the 
 preaching of the Gospel. We have not had a sin-Ie 
 period, in the whole 1«00 years of the Church's history °in 
 which the universal proclamation of the Gospel was so 
 combined with a warning to men, that the Lord was com- 
 ing, as the present. This is followed by the fall of Baby- 
 lon into a demonial state. A harvest comes— a two-fold 
 harvest— a harvest of the wheat first and of the tares 
 afterwards. And this is explained still further in the 
 16th chapter, where we have the judgments on Western 
 
120 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE \aEWED 
 
 Europe — those parts of the world that had not repented 
 of their idol worship. Different woes are described, and 
 then we have the scene suddenly changed. " The sixth 
 angel poured out his vial on the great river Euphrates." 
 Now, we all know that the former part of this century 
 was marked by awful judgments of God in the inflictions 
 of war and all its calamities on the seat of the beast — on 
 that part of Western Europe, that had not repented of its 
 idol worship. We have seen that judgment closing in 
 the year 1815 with the peace of Waterloo. We have 
 seen that, since that time, every serious trouble has been 
 in the East. The Euphrates has been drying up. Pro- 
 vince after province has been torn from the Mohammedan 
 power ; and I believe, that, notwithstanding all the help 
 that England and France are intending togive Turkey, that 
 power will fall ; for we read that — " Three unclean spirits 
 like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of 
 the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false 
 prophet : For they are the spirits of devils, working 
 miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and 
 of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that 
 great day of God Almighty." Now, it is stated that, at 
 that time, there was to be a great earthquake. "The 
 seventh angel poured out his vial into the air ; and there 
 came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the 
 throne, saying, It is done : And there were voices, and 
 thunders, and lightnings ; and there was a great earth- 
 quake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so 
 mighty an earthquake, and so great : And the great city 
 was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations 
 fell : and great Babylon came in remembrance before 
 God." 
 
 In the interpretation of prophecy you are to remember 
 that its language is twofold. There is, first, common 
 historical language ; secondly, symbolical language. If we 
 meet with symbolical language, we are to interpret it as 
 symboHcal. For instance, we read here of frogs. We 
 are not to believe that these are true frogs, because they 
 are said to be " the spirits of devils working miracles.'* 
 -In explaining that prophecy, therefore, we are not to take 
 a city not as a mere city, but as that which a city resem- 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 121 
 
 ■y 
 
 bles— a great polity; and for the last two or three 
 hundred years the great policy of Europe has been to sus- 
 tain the balance of power, and they can do it no more. 
 " And the great city was divided into three parts." The 
 great powers that stood up to protect themselves were all 
 crumbled and broken to pieces ; and there was a threefold 
 division made. We have not suflicient light to determine 
 what that division may yet be ; so far as we may conjec- 
 ture, Russia may be on one side, England on the second, 
 and perhaps, but we cannot say for certain, France on the 
 third. But it is not to last. It is " the great day of God 
 Almighty." And then we have a description of Babylon 
 and her fall ; first, her political fall, when the nations " eat 
 her flesh and burn her with fire ;" and then her divine fall, 
 when God destroys her — when her plagues come in one 
 day. And then we have a very clear prophecy in the 
 19th chapter, beautifully opening up with a vision of 
 heaven. " Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour 
 to him : for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his 
 wife hath made herself ready." The Lamb's wife is in 
 heaven, she is "the spirits of just men made perfect," 
 those blessed saints that are permitted to follow the 
 Lamb whithersoever He goeth ; that are gazing on his 
 unveiled countenance in all his glorious beauty in heaven, 
 and are drinking of the streams of living waters to which 
 He leads them, and are feeding on the food which He 
 gives them. They are in all their holy intercourse with 
 the Saviour, preparing for their resurrection bridal joy, 
 and they shall have been trained in the blessedness of 
 heaven, for the glorious resurrection that they are to have 
 on earth. "I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, 
 coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
 bride adorned for her husband ; " and that marriage of 
 the Lamb is announced by the " King of kings and Lord 
 of lords," the Lord Jesus Ciirist coming out of heaven 
 with his returning saints. And what follows ? Why, 
 what followed when Daniel saw "one like the Son of 
 man coming in the clouds of heaven ? " Great judgments, 
 and then a glorious kingdom. And so it is here, after he 
 is seen, not by the world, but by the inspired Apostle, 
 after He is thus seen, there is a cry made to all the 
 
 i ' 
 
122 
 
 THE KINGDOMS OF EUROPE VIEWED 
 
 fowls that fly in the midst of heaven to come to the 
 supper of the great God ; and I desire to impress this 
 upon your attention and memory, that there is ground for 
 believing that our blessed Saviour will perhaps be some 
 time in this world— seen, it may be, by a favoured few, 
 not by all the world — before his glory is manifested. 
 Then comes the chaining of the devil, and casting him 
 into the bottomless pit ; and then the reign of Christ. 
 " And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
 years." As He ascended from the Mount of Olives, not 
 known by the world, but seen only by a few disciples, so, 
 probably, He will return in like manner, lead Israel 
 ill the wilderness, as He did of old, when He was shut up 
 in a cloud and the Amalekites did not see Him ; and He 
 may probably be in the world some time before the final 
 judgment comes. 
 
 1 have thus given the outline, as far as my sight 
 enables me, of what Scripture teaches us. We see in 
 that chapter of Ezekiel the nations of Europe mentioned 
 under those obscure names of ancient geography, but 
 sufficiently clear to make us see that in the great con- 
 federacy of western nations around Jerusalem, we have 
 reason to be thankful that our country is that blessed one 
 which is to be the merchants of Tarshish aiding the 
 
 Jews. 
 
 I would desire to close this lecture with a moral and 
 spiritual application to our own souls. Dear friends, we 
 shall have met together in vain this evening, if we do not 
 leave the place more anxiously desirous for the Saviour's 
 coming, more truly desirous of enlightened views of the 
 Word 'of God. Perhaps there is not a more beautiful 
 description of our Saviour's coming than a portion of 
 Solomon's Song, which 1 shall take the liberty of reading 
 and expounding to you as a suitable close to tliis lecture. 
 ''Behold, my beloved cometh leaping upon the mountains, 
 skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a 
 young hart : behold, he standeth behind our wall, he 
 lookeUi forth at tlie windows, showing himself through 
 the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me. Rise up, 
 my love, my fair one, and come away." Who is the 
 beloved but the Lord Jesus Christ ? And Solomon may 
 
 IN THE LIGHT OP SCRIPTURE. 
 
 123 
 
 [ 
 
 I- 
 
 fti 
 
 have looked either to his first or his second coming ; but 
 he overlooks the first, that he might think upon the 
 second ; he overlooks the crucifixion, that he may behold 
 the glory. He does not describe the Saviour as a lamb, 
 but as a roe, a young hart— the Scripture emblems for 
 beauty, and glory, and strengtli. The roe and the hart 
 were clean animals, and could be used as food, but were 
 not offered in sacrifice ; and He is to come " the second 
 time without sin unto salvation." He comes, and in 
 coming He shows himself first ; " Helooketh forth at the 
 windows, showing himself tiirough the lattice." The air- 
 holes, that allow the air, the breath of God's Spirit, to 
 blow down upon the heart of man from heaven. He 
 shows himself there, tliat we may look up through those 
 lattices and see him. Pie opens our ears that we may 
 hear Him when He says, " Rise up, my love" — one whom 
 my heart embraces ; " my fair one" — the one whom my 
 grace has made beautiful ; " Rise up, my love, my fair 
 one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past." The 
 winter began when the destroying storm came, the rain 
 and the floods, and beat upon the wall that had been 
 plastered with untempered mortar. " The rain is over 
 and gone ; the flowers appear on the earth." It is that 
 time of which the propliet Jsaiah speaks :— " Israel shall 
 blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." 
 " The time of the singing of birds is come." As we read 
 in the 26th chapter of the same prophet : — '' In that day 
 shall this song be sung in the land of Judah ; we have a 
 strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and 
 bulwarks." " The fig-tree putteth forth her green figs." 
 That withered and barren tree that had been dead for so 
 long begins to put forth her tender buds. Look, then, 
 at the Jewish fig-tree putting forth its buds ; look at the 
 storm ceasing to blow ; look at the wintry time going by. 
 "Lift up your heads," says Christ, *'foryour redemption 
 draweth nigh." " Arise, my love, my fair one, and come 
 away." Oh, brethren, let us pray that our hearts may 
 respond to that blessed voice of Christ — that we may be 
 in that position which the next verse describes : — " O my 
 dove, my defenceless one, my pure, holy, constant, lovino- 
 one," that art in the "clefts of the rock"— for that rock 
 
124 TDE KINGDOMS OP EUROPE VIEWED, ETC. 
 
 io Christ—" in the clefts" of the wounded Saviour—" my 
 dove^ that is hidden in my wounds-" in the secre 
 Dlaces of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me 
 hear thy voice ; for sweet is thy voice, and thy counte- 
 nance is comely." Let us not refuse the Saviour the 
 upUfted countenance, lighted up by the heart of love, and 
 the outpoured voice filled with believing prayer. 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 
 AGEXCIES AT WORK FOR THE AMELIORATION OF 
 OUR HOME POPULATION. 
 
 BY THE KEV. A. B. BURTON, M.A., 
 
 ASSOCIATION SECRETARY TO THE CHURCH PASTORAL-AID SOCIETY. 
 
 The duty assigned to me this evening has not been 
 undertaken without much prayer to the God of all grace, 
 that, for Christ's sake, He would accept the feeble effort 
 of his servant, and make the endeavour to redound to his 
 own glory in raising up and strengthening every agency 
 for the amelioration of our home population. 
 
 Perhaps no subject of a practical nature — and what 
 subject is there that should not be practical ? — is bound 
 up with such momentous results, as the one we are 
 about to consider ; a subject, however, which occupies so 
 little the mind and time of the majority of Christian men. 
 And why ? Is it because they are really indifferent to 
 the welfare of their fellow-men ? We cannot believe that 
 it is so ; but rather because, not having the real state of 
 their fellow-countrymen set before them, and not going 
 out of their way to see for themselves, they do not realize 
 the present degradation and future ruin — and that eternal 
 — of vast multitudes in our land, who, by their very 
 position as fellow-citizens and fellow-subjects, have a 
 right to our sympathies and a claim upon our exertions. 
 
 I said no subject is bound up with such momentous 
 results. Upon the amelioration of our home population 
 depends the prosperity and even the existence of our 
 nation. Thousands, too, are going forth to our colonies 
 carrying with them to their distant homes an influence 
 
126 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 either for untold evil or good — an influence which will be 
 felt in our missionary operations in almost all parts of the 
 earth. The Lord's work, humanly speaking, will be 
 impeded or advanced in proportion to our work at home, 
 in elevating socially, morally, and spiritually, the 
 degraded, the vicious, the spiritually ignorant, and dead. 
 
 But without further pieliminary remarks, I will go 
 immediately into my subject, treating it in a very practical 
 manner, and bringing forward as much matter as my 
 time and opportunities have enabled me to gather toge- 
 ther. My subject is, " Agencies at work for the ameliora- 
 tion of our Home Population^' It will be necessary to 
 classify the agencies. They may be classed under these 
 three heads — Agencies at work for the amelioration of 
 the sanitary or physical — the moral and intellectual — and 
 the religious condition of our home population. 
 
 I. It was said by Canon Stowell at the last annual 
 meeting of the Church Pastoral- Aid Society: — 
 
 " There is no problem at the present day that is of 
 such deep and thrilling interest, as the problem what is to 
 be done to elevate the moral, the social, and spiritual 
 condition of the honest but noglected artizans and im- 
 poverished labourers of our country. To elevate them 
 we must, through God's grace, evangelize them ; and to 
 evangelize thefn, we must, with God's blessing, and the 
 aid of the State, remove all the stumbling blocks that 
 stand in the way of their evangelization. Their physical 
 condition militates against their religious and moral 
 improvement. The sanitary state of the mass of our 
 people in many of our cities, and not least in your own 
 metropolis, is disgraceful to a Christian land. The 
 physical condition of the ]»oor acts greatly upon their 
 intellectual, and social, and moral condition. You cannot 
 expect to quicken the intellect or elevate the moral affec- 
 tions, while they are breathing such an atmosphere, and 
 surrounded with such degrading circumstances as these. 
 Dispirited, debased, unnerved, worn out, wearied, they 
 have no ear to listen to the truth, and no heart to receive 
 it when it is spoken to them. Nor is this the worst ; 
 they are crowded up in such indecent, as well as unhealthy 
 dwellings, that the entire family, abiding together in one 
 
 I 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 127 
 
 common apartment— oftentimes the cooking-room, eatln-. 
 room and sleeping>room- the only apartment in the 
 dwellmg— are necessarily compelled to become benumbed 
 to every sense of decency, and dead to every sense of 
 moral feehng." ^ 
 
 These are the words of one well acquainted with the 
 condition of the working classes, who knows how very 
 closely linked together is the sanitary and moral condition 
 of a people. To leave out, therefore, the sanitary im- 
 provement of our home population, would be to pass by 
 a most important part of our subject. It cannot be 
 wondered at that from such sinks of impurity and immo- 
 rahty come forth those pests of society-the mendicant, 
 the drunkard, the thief, and the abandoned. Althou-h 
 steps have not yet been taken which will extensively 
 strike at the root of the evil, still the exposure-in which 
 our home Missionary Societies have taken so prominent 
 a part--of such a state of things is a most important 
 step. It has already led to the passing of Acts of Par- 
 liament for promoting the public health-for improving 
 tlie sanitary condition of towns and populous places in 
 i^ngland and Wales, and to a further Act introduced by 
 i^ord Shaftesbury, and passed in July, 1851, for the well- 
 ordering of Common Lodging-houses, amended and ex- 
 tended by an act in the last Session. It has in many 
 places begun to operate very beneficially. This exposure 
 u t/ r.*"" ^^'^ formation of a most important Society—' 
 .1 ^,f,^,^."^^a^ Society for Improving the Dwellings of 
 tlie VVorking-classes"— toamehorate their domestic con- 
 dition. In their first Report, the Committee gave a 
 description of a plot of ground in St. James's, Westmin- 
 ster, ot which it goes on to say, they have taken a lease 
 and the wretched houses built on the spot are being 
 pulled down in order to give place to a building in which 
 tiie working man may have two comfortable rooms at the 
 same price which he was paying for one wretched apart- 
 nient. "Ihe spot," says the Report, "is covered with 
 wretched and dilapidated dwellings, which form a quad- 
 rangle. To this there is no entrance, but throuo-h the 
 iiouses themselves, yet within this quadrangle, at ''a dis- 
 tance from the houses of only six feet, is a cow-house, the 
 
128 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 upper and lower floors of which are covered with cows 
 and pigs." Ten small houses in Bermondsey also have been 
 adapted for the reception of respectable tenants. The 
 multiplication and extension of such agencies throughout 
 the country, would do more than tongue can tell for the 
 amelioration and elevation of our liome population. In 
 some country parts, the condition of the poor n^n's habi- 
 tation is disgraceful ; and in our larger towns, horrible 
 beyond description. In Devonport, this is the condition 
 of one court out of many : — 
 
 ** I was lately required to visit a man residing in . 
 
 I found him very illof malignant typhus fever, lying inhed 
 beside the dead body of his wife (who had died during the 
 night). One hundred and eleven persons are living in the 
 
 house where the man was lying by the side of his 
 
 dead wife. And the other houses in the court are all 
 thickly inhabited. The crowded state of many of our 
 localities inhabited by the lower classes, and the horrible 
 pollutions amidst which they fester, are revolting to every 
 human feeling. There is a room eleven feet long and 
 seven and-a-half feet wide, occupied by a man aged forty- 
 five, his wife, forty-three, and ten children, seven girls and 
 three boys, whose ages range from twenty-three to four 
 years ; he is a shoemaker, and works in the same room." 
 — (Occasional Paper, Pastoral- Aid Society.) 
 
 Take another case : — 
 
 " That of a man, liis wife, and eight children living in 
 a single apartment, measuring only twelve feet square. 
 Two beds were crowded into this room at night, one of 
 which contained the man, his wife, and two children, 
 while the remaining six were crowded into another. This 
 was on the borders of Devon. In the large manufactur- 
 ing towns of the north one-fifteenth of the population 
 
 live in cellars. 
 
 " In Whitechapel Union, in the metropolis, I know of 
 few instances where there is more than one room to a 
 family. In Liverpool, * it is well known that in houses 
 not exceeding twelve feet square, witli one bed-room and 
 a low attic, there are often found from twenty to thirty 
 persons huddled together.* In Nottingham, ' rooms of 
 eleven feet square often contain f\imilies of four, five, or 
 
 
 'A 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 129 
 
 six individuals, consisting not unfrequently of nearly- 
 related adults of different sexes, who live and sleep pro- 
 miscuously.' In one of the districts of this town, the 
 infant mortality is so enormous as to reduce the mean age 
 at death nearly to eleven years, * and is distinctly traceable 
 to the vitiation of the atmosphere occasioned by the over- 
 crowding of families into a single sleeping apartment.* 
 But besides crowding of houses, and crowding of rooms, 
 there is also crowding of beds. Statistical inquiries, 
 carefully made, have brought to light several such cases 
 as the following :— In 422 dwellin^^s examined in Preston, 
 containing 852 beds, there were eighty-four cases in which 
 four persons slept in one bed, twenty-eight cases of five per- 
 sons, thirteen of six persons, three of seven persons, one 
 of eight persons, and one other family of eight * on bed- 
 stocks covered with a little straw.'"— (Report of Commis- 
 sioners for inquiry into the state of large towns and 
 populous places.) 
 
 I might give further instances to show the sanitary 
 condition of our population. Those who are anxious to 
 follow up the inquiry will find abundant information in 
 the Ragged School Union and City Missionary Magazines 
 —"The Million Peopled City"—" Rookeries of London," 
 and two valuable volumes entitled " Meliora." 
 
 Whence come the majority who fill our gaols and 
 crowd our beer-shops, but from these haunts and dens ? 
 Can it be expected that when men, women, and children 
 are crowded together in one room that any moral feelino' 
 can exist. We should rather be surprised if it were 
 otherwise. Domestic virtue is weakened— all self-respect, 
 modesty, and delicacy of feeling are destroyed, and every 
 opportunity of self-improvement is removed. If a religious 
 impression is made abroad, it is soon effaced at home. 
 The influence of such a home — I would rather say hovel 
 — mere refuge, not home — for, "home at once to an 
 English mind suggests the idea of security, ease, peace, 
 comfort, and affection," which are not to be found or 
 enjoyed there — the influence of such on all who dwell in 
 them cannot be conceived. It is a half-way house to the 
 gin-palace or the beer-shop. The pestiferous atmosphere 
 
130 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 of it creates a thirst for intoxicating drink, and so leads 
 to crime and greater misery. We may throw our influence 
 into temperance or total abstinence societies, but in this 
 we shall do but little to remedy the evil. In remedying 
 the sanitary condition, we are removing that which drives 
 the inmates of these hovels to the beershop or the streets. 
 " The working-classes," says Mr. Kingsmill, " when 
 placed in proper lodging-houses, are as remarkable for 
 sober and domestic habits as the inhabitants of our courts 
 and alleys are for drunkenness, immorality, and crime." 
 Sanitary reform is a moral reform. Give our people 
 better homes and you make tliem better men. They have 
 Lome comforts, and will not seek the comforts afforded 
 by the well-warmed, the well-lighted room of the public- 
 house, where formerly, for the time, they could forget 
 their misery — tlie wretchedness left behind at home. 
 
 But even with every comfort which tlie poor man's 
 home affords, there will ever be a place of resort to 
 which the younger members of the family — the young 
 men — will wend their way, for they " will not long endure 
 the sameness and the necessary restraint of the domestic 
 circle." 
 
 It becomes, then, a matter of the last importance that 
 a place of resort should be established, made as attractive 
 as possible, and where every means of intellectual improve- 
 ment should be afforded. This is partially carried out in 
 many of our towns and villages. In London many such 
 places of resort are established. But this more particu- 
 larly belongs to the second class of agencies for the 
 amelioration of our home population. 
 
 The sanitary condition of our population and the 
 agencies at work to improve it can only, in such a 
 Lecture as this, be very cursorily touched upon. I can- 
 not, however, pass on to the second part of my sul)ject 
 without most earnestly impressing upon all here present 
 to give the matter their most serious attention, and to 
 exert themselves in their several neighbourhoods and 
 parishes to get these physical evils removed or greatly 
 diminished. It will cost time and trouble. It may cost 
 money, but, in the long run, if we only put it on this 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 131 
 
 low ground, it will be money saved, for crime will be 
 greatly diminished, and so the expenses of prosecutincr 
 and supporting the criminal, besides the savino- of the 
 large amount stolen from the public. It is supposed that 
 2,000,000/. sterling are stolen annually. 
 
 These are low grounds— I would rather base my 
 appeal upon your high moral feeling as citizens and 
 Christians. IMie lives of our people are sacrificed all 
 moral feeling is destroyed, and their eternal interests are 
 at stake. 
 
 I would most solemnly appeal to you this night to lose 
 no time or opportunity in doing all in your power to 
 make known the evil and urge the remedy. Tell what a 
 monster impediment it is to the moral, intellectual, and 
 religious improvement of our countrymen. Sure I am 
 that if we would only band together, and as a body use a 
 little exertion, we should soon have a more vigorous and 
 extended agency at work to this end. Filthy closes 
 would be cleansed, courts purified, habits of cleanliness 
 and decency formed, the physical and moral condition 
 elevated, and an all but insurmountable stumbling-block 
 in the way of carrying on with any effect our home mis- 
 sionary work—" the evangelization of those masses of 
 our countrymen, who are as irreligious and immoral as 
 though they lived in the darkest land of benighted 
 heathendom " — would be removed. 
 
 The Earl of Shaftesbury lately called public attention 
 to the example set to all municipal and corporate authori- 
 ties by the Corporation of Manchester ; his Lordship thus 
 referred to the gratifying results which have attended 
 the exertions of that body ; — 
 
 " Vast thoroughfares are opened in many parts ; the 
 streets, courts, and alleys are regularly cle'aned ; pave- 
 ments are almost everywhere laid down ; the smoke 
 nuisance is in rapid course of abatement ; public drains 
 and sewers are constructed— the cesspools that remain, 
 will, it is hoped, be speedily removed — and an abundant 
 supply of good and soft water is so admirably distributed, 
 that in a short time the smallest tenement will enjoy an 
 unlimited quantity at an almost nominal price. The 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 benefits to the mass of the people are quite incalcul- 
 able." 
 
 II. But to pass on to agencies at work for the amelio- 
 ration of our home population in an intellectual and moral 
 point of view. 
 
 No one will doubt the fact for a moment, that to ele- 
 vate our people their intellect must be aroused and en- 
 lightened. 
 
 Much has been done— much is being done— to feed 
 the spirit of inquiry, now happily is evinced, it having 
 taken the place of that deep and debasing lethargy into 
 which the minds of our people generally were sunk ; than 
 which nothing can be worse, as you must all well know, 
 for the inculcation of any moral or religious precept. 
 Yet there is very much popular ignorance — a vast tract 
 of waste and unreclaimed mind remains, productive only 
 of ])oisonous weeds, and sending forth from its putrid 
 swamps a moral miasma, which fills the atmosphere of 
 society with the elements of disease and death (Operative 
 classes). " To a thinking man," says the author of 
 "Rookeries in London," "the condition of the working 
 classes is a subject not merely of interest, but alarm. A 
 spirit of inquiry is abroad. There is a thirsting among a 
 large portion of the working classes for knowledge, and 
 knowledge of some kind they will have." Unfortunately, 
 while the devil (as usual) was on the alert. Christian 
 men were fast asleep as to taking advantage of this 
 spirit of inquiry aroused, to the glory of God and the 
 
 good of man. 
 
 A glorious opportunity was presented for giving to the 
 mind^that cultivation, which should fit it for a perception 
 and appreciation of moral and religious truth ; but the 
 enemy of truth was foremost in taking advantage of the 
 opportunity, for the inculcation of principles subversive 
 of all law, human and divine. Agents to do his work in 
 debasing the mind, enslaving the intellect, and destroying 
 the soul of man started up in all directions. Infidelity, 
 up to the end of the last century, was chiefly confined to 
 the learned. Since that time, infidels have popularized 
 their pernicious tenets, and disseminated them among the 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 
 
 133 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 populace, and deep root have they taken among all 
 classes. Infidelity is now putting forth its whole strength 
 and adding to its converts in every part of our land. 
 " Our towns literally swarm with sceptics, who have 
 their reading-rooms, their debating-clubs, and their pro- 
 pagandas ; and there are not a few of our larger villages, 
 where a considerable portion of the inhabitants are pro- 
 fessed unbelievers, while there is scarcely a workshop or 
 manufactory within the limits of the kingdom, in which 
 infidelity has not found a footing, and in which it has 
 not its little band of propagators." And here we cannot 
 but mention the pernicious influence which the press is 
 exerting to the degradation of our people, sending forth, 
 as it does, annually, 16,640,000 infidel and demoralizing 
 publications. Most valuable information may be obtained 
 on this subject, from a paper called " The Penny Peri- 
 odical Press," from which I make one or two quotations : 
 
 " Another series of cheap publications has been started, 
 containing the whole of some one novel, illustrated by 
 numerous engravings. It is the very cheapest publication 
 ever issued from the press. While some of the novels 
 reprinted, are standard and unobjectionable works — such 
 as the ' Vicar of Wakefield' — others are republications of 
 such as are fit for nothing but the fire, being translations 
 of the vilest and most immoral French novels. This 
 series has, we are told, an average sale of 100,000." 
 
 Then, after speaking of the infidel and blasphemous 
 publications, the writer goes on to say : — 
 
 " Again, there is another class of cheap publications — 
 sometimes put out periodically, sometimes in consecutive 
 numbers, and appearing from time to time as occasion 
 serves — on political subjects. These are put forth by the 
 various denominations of Chartists, Socialists, and others, 
 who would overturn all government. We ourselves 
 obtained a paper of this class, from a man who was 
 employed to travel through the country, distributing 
 
 gratis what he could not sell It put forth, 
 
 as a Scriptural duty and obligation, that all men should 
 be equal ; and went on to advocate an equal distribution 
 of the landed and other property of the country among all 
 the male portion of the inhabitants: pretending throughout 
 
134 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 
 
 135 
 
 to arrange this with an almost laughable minuteness of 
 detail, in statistical figures and calculations." 
 
 And again : 
 
 *' Perhaps, after all, these are the most seriously dan- 
 gerous class of cheap publications : for, while they advo- 
 cate the overthrow of all law and order, they pretend not 
 merely to justify it, but to inculcate it on Scriptural and 
 Christian grounds ; setting fortli a spurious morahty, and 
 so-called Christianity, such as are not to be found in the 
 Word of God." 
 
 Take the following as a specimen of the political a7id 
 social moralitf/ ! taught in these publications ; — 
 
 " I hold that the life and property of a working man is 
 far more sacred than the life and property of either squire, 
 or landlord, or j)rince. The life of a working man is 
 useful, while the life of a squire, an aristocrat, or a prince, 
 is generally not only useless but misckievous. The pro- 
 perty of a working man is, in general, his oum. He 
 has worked for it. In many cases, he has worked for it 
 twice, thrice — perhaps seven or seventy times over. The 
 property of our squires, aristocrats, and princes is seldom, 
 if ever, their own. It is, in general, the property of the 
 working classes. It is, perhaps, the property of the 
 working classes in every case. The working classes 
 alone produce property. The working classes, therefore, 
 are alone entitled to hold property. The prop< rty of 
 squires, aristocrats, and princes, therefore, is not sacred 
 at all. Even their lives are scarcely sacred. If the 
 principle be true, that if a man will not work, neither 
 should he eat — that if a mnn will not produce property, 
 neither should he have property" [observe, here, how the 
 writer's own addition seems to run on from the previous 
 sentence, as though a part of the same Scripture] — 
 " their lives are forfeited. They ought to die, or be com- 
 pelled to begin to amend their lives. The lives of squires, 
 aristocrats, and princes are not, therefore, sacred at all. 
 They are hindrances to national prosperity. They are 
 nuisances, and ouglit to be removed from the sight of the 
 community. The whole brood of idlers, in fact, ought to 
 be placed in a position in which they should have to 
 support themselves and their families, or starve." 
 
 \ 
 
 I have not time to speak of other agencies which, under 
 the garb of religion, are doing their work to degrade the 
 intellect and morals. I will at once speak of some of the 
 agencies at work for the elevation intellectually and 
 morally of our fellow-countrymen. 
 
 The first * of these agencies in the field was, I believe, 
 the Mechanics' Institute. These, however, have long ago 
 ceased to carry out the object for which they were 
 especially instituted. 
 
 *' ' The objects of these institutions are,' said Sir Ben- 
 jamin Hey wood, in his address at the opening of the new 
 building of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution, ' to 
 teach the workman, be his trade what it may, those 
 principles of science on which his work depends, to show 
 him their practical application, and how he may make 
 his knowledge of them profitable ; to enable him tho- 
 roughly to understand his business, and to qualify him for 
 making improvements in it; to teach him how he may 
 advance himself in the world, and to give himself an 
 honourable and delightful employment for his leisure.' " 
 
 Comparatively few of this class are found who appre- 
 ciate and make use of these institutions. The fault 
 is undoubtedly, in a great measure, with themselves. 
 But the principles on which they are conducted, and the 
 details have, no doubt, tended much to keep mechanics 
 away from the Institute, and induce them to form institutes 
 for themselves. Lectures, too, are delivered, and subjects 
 discussed in such a manner as to drive away, rather than 
 attract the working-classes. This is a grievous fault, 
 and not only stands in the way of intellectual benefit to 
 be derived from, but also the moral benefit which may 
 be made to flow from, the delivery of such lectures, 
 and the discussion of such subjects. And again, in these 
 Institutions, which we as Christians, desiring the spirit 
 of religion to be infused into all that we do, would have 
 subserve to the great end of our being, religion is 
 
 * The first Mechanics' Institution for England was suggested in a 
 well written article of the " Mechanics' Magazine " for 18:i3. It was 
 resolved to form such an institution at a large meeting held in the 
 metropolis in the November of the same year, and the Institution 
 was opened in form in the following December. 
 
lAi " iiyj i « p i^"iHJ * . ■T -" - y 
 
 136 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 almost invariably excluded from being a topic on which 
 to lecture or discuss. Those who have anything to do 
 with them should lay this fact to heart, and strive to 
 remedy the evil ; for it is of immense importance, if we 
 would elevate the intellectual condition of our people to 
 any beneficial purpose, that " the study of nature and art 
 should not be divorced from those higher contemplations 
 which ally them with the great fountain of all intelli- 
 gence.*' This is necessary at all times, but more especially 
 when a cold and heartless infidelity is abroad, and 
 the genius of modern science is, to a large extent, 
 practically sceptical, and, perhaps, atheistic. 
 
 Mechanics* Institutes, then, while doing much good, are 
 not doing unmixed good. But such Societies as that with 
 which you are connected, and the " Young Men's Christian 
 Association," are working unmixed good. While the 
 intellect is being cultivated, the heart is receiving culture 
 also ; virtuous principles and enlightened self-respect are 
 fostered. In lectures delivered in connexion with these 
 Institutions are to be seen " a distinct recognition of the 
 leading verities and principles of the Christian faith.'* 
 They are prepared with a view to direct the mind 
 in searching the book of nature, and following up the 
 discoveries of science, to that wisdom which "is more 
 precious than rubies, and all the things that thou canst 
 desire are not to be compared to her." " Behold the fear 
 of tlie Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is 
 understanding." 
 
 But lectures on secular subjects, having a directly 
 religious bearing given them, are being delivered in 
 many of our parishes to, exclusively, the labouring classes. 
 Time does not permit me to give full particulars of the 
 benefit which has already resulted from these lectures, in 
 drawing from the public-house, and drunkenness, many 
 who have become reflecting men, have been led to cul- 
 tivate their minds, to take a moral standing, and to enjoy 
 those domestic comforts to which before they and their 
 families were strangers. 
 
 And while speaking of lectures on literary and scientific 
 subjects, I cannot pa^s by an agency, which is likely to 
 work incalculable good— the *• Working-men's Educa- 
 
 I' 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 137 
 
 tional Union." The lectures and papers are got up with 
 great care, and suited, in an eminent degree, to raise the 
 intellectual and moral condition of the working-classes, 
 and to prepare them to receive and value, as the Word 
 of God, the precious and life-giving truths of the 
 Scriptures.* 
 
 I rank the Educational Union very high among the 
 agencies for the amelioration of our home population. 
 In connexion with the Church of England, and Christian 
 Young Men's Society, should be mentioned the mutual- 
 instruction classes. 1 hese are becoming more general 
 throughout the country. If they are properly conducted, I 
 can conceive of hardly any more efficient means of im- 
 provement. And the multiplication of these agencies is 
 so very easy, and involves so little expense. The directly 
 religious benefit to be derived from them I do not now 
 speak of. I would earnestly ask of you, in your several 
 spheres, to set on foot such classes among our working- 
 men. You will be placing them in a position in which 
 they may improve themselves. To say that many would 
 be kept from the bcershop, from passing their evenings 
 in unprofitable conversation, or from murmuring at their 
 lot in life, and giving up their minds and bodies to the 
 direction and control of some political agitator, seeking, 
 as is usually the case, to gratify his own vnnity or 
 ambition, rather than the good of the commonwealth, 
 would be saying but little. 
 
 "A taste for refined and superior pleasures will be 
 given ; true elevation will be acquired ; virtuous prin- 
 ciples, habits of reflection, and a spirit of manly reliance 
 will be created." Men will be led to think for themselves, 
 and not carried away by every wind of opinion put forth 
 with a specious appearance of bettering the condition of 
 the poor man, but found, when sifted and analyzed, to 
 tend rather to his depression. This the member of the 
 
 * The " Educational Union " was projected in December, 1851, 
 with a view of uniting Christian mtn and bodies of Ciiristians, 
 variously endeavouring to elevate the adult masses, and to aid all such 
 persons or Societies in tlieir benevolent efforts, b) furnitihing tht m, 
 at the cheapest possible rate, with material requisite for popular, 
 entertaining^ and instructive lecturing. 
 
138 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 Mutual Instruction class, having by reading, conversa- 
 tion, and reflection, got an insight into the true 
 principles of social and political economy, at once sees 
 and rejects. And thus the duties of his station are 
 performed more cheerfully ; he sees his own position as a 
 citizen, if not as a Ciiristian; tliat the welfare of the nation, 
 and therefore to a certain extent, his own individual 
 welfare, depends as much upon the Christian bearing 
 of his own class as upon the Christian bearing of the 
 higher classes. He sees that the working-man is as 
 needful, in his position, to the commonweal, as the 
 Minister of State, or the legislative body of tiie nation. 
 He is elevated to the amelioration of the condition of his 
 own class, and of his own individual and domestic 
 condition." 
 
 Another agency which bears so much upon the subject 
 in liand. is " the Press," which we have already seen is 
 doing a vast work in demoralizing and in breaking asunder 
 every social and political bond wliich unites us as citizens, 
 neighbours, and families. A taste for reading acquired 
 • — an intellectual thirst created — it becomes of the last 
 importance that aliment, and not poison, should be sup- 
 plied, that a cheap literature should be enlisted on the 
 side of virtue and social regeneration — a literature, con- 
 formed, as far as possible, without compromise, to the 
 taste and habits of thought of the million — a happy 
 combination of the lighter graces of imagination, with 
 solid instruction, harmonizing, of course, though it may 
 be not directly inculcating, the great and vital truths of 
 Divine revelation. We are deeply thankful to know that 
 books and tracts of a purely religious character are being 
 disseminated far and wide by means of our Tract Socie- 
 ties, and that the blessed Book of books is finding its 
 way into the garrets and cellars and remotest cottages 
 of our land, where, a few years ago, it was not to be 
 found. 
 
 But tliere are many who will never, in the first 
 instance, read a religious book, while they will read the 
 literature just mentioned, but if that is not found them, 
 they will have recourse to books, tracts, and papers of a 
 pernicious character. 
 
 1 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 
 
 139 
 
 L 
 
 Among the agencies to which I hav^e just referred 
 may we rank the useful works of Chambers and Knight, 
 which are read and circulated very extensively. There 
 are also " Tiie Leisure Hour " — " The True Briton" — 
 *' The Home Friend," and many other cheap periodicals, 
 written with the express [)urpose of counteracting the 
 influence of infidel and corrupting works, and feeding the 
 mind with useful knowledge ; and while they are welcome 
 in the homes of the working population as amusing, they 
 enlarge their comprehension, conciliate their prejudices, 
 purify their sentiments, and thus induce those mental and 
 moral habits, which constitute the chief features of a 
 true elevation. 
 
 There is no doubt that Temperance Societies have 
 been very eminently useful in raising the moral condition 
 — in checking drunkenness — that crying sin of our 
 nation — that hydra vice of the age — the great source of 
 poverty, immorality and irreligion, and by far the greatest 
 obstruction to the spread of the Gospel in the land. 
 But the physical condition of the people must be greatly 
 raised, if we would sucessfully battle with this vice. 
 However, this does not lessen the moral obligation which 
 binds every one of us to advocate and promote the 
 object of these Societies, whose labours, notwithstanding 
 the many impediments, have been crowned with so much 
 success. 
 
 Another Society, which, by its indefatigable labours, 
 has done so great a work to promote morality, and to 
 advance the welfare of our countrymen temporally and 
 spiritually, is the Lord's Day Society. It has laboured 
 to preserve that day from wholesale desecration, and to 
 keep it for the working man, as the day made for man 
 by God — " the most genial and gracious boon of heaven 
 to a fallen but redeemed race," — and, if a boon to any, it 
 is especially to the working man, compelled, as he is, to 
 employ so large a portion of his time in labours, which 
 exhaust alike his bodily and mental energies. By this 
 Society, many have been brought to see the injury they 
 have done themselves, and the misery they have brought 
 on their children, by desecrating the Sabbath, that 
 physically and morally they, and theirs, have been 
 
140 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME FOPULATION. 
 
 141 
 
 injured. They have ceased to desecrate the day. They 
 have hallowed it, and found it the " pearl of days." At 
 once they have advanced in respectability and comfort. 
 They have been raised socially, morally, and religiously, 
 and have most gratefully acknowledged that the God of 
 the Sabbath, in instituting that day, consulted not only 
 his own glory, but the true welfare of man, in every 
 light and department in which that welfare can be con- 
 sidered. VV^e have spoken of the day in its influence 
 upon man as regards this present world. When we look 
 upon the day in its influence on him, as an immortal 
 being, as one destined to pass eternity in the blackness of 
 darkness, or in the eflulgence of heavenly glory, we must 
 bless God, indeed, for this important Society, as having 
 been the mstrument, in His hands, of elevating many to 
 a position to regard the Sabbath as a day for spiritual 
 enjoyment - for holy worship — for waiting upon God in 
 his house — for holding very close communion, hy the 
 Spirit, with that Saviour become precious to their souls ; 
 through whose finished work on the Cross, they hope to 
 spend with Him an eternity of glory. In connexion 
 with this subject, and in order to see what the Society 
 has done, and the need for our supporting it, I would 
 commend to your notice a little volume, " Facts and 
 Statistics of the Lord's Day," by the Secretary, Mr. 
 Baylee. 
 
 Another agency, and one, without which many of those 
 already at work, would be comparatively useless, is the 
 Early Closing Association, established in 1842. The 
 late hour system is a great practical evil. To use the 
 words of a sermon preached on this subject — 
 
 " No thoughtful man can close his eyes to the evils of 
 the late hour system. It tends to impair health ; to 
 deprive our youth of the glow of physical vigour, and to 
 consign them to feebleness and lassitude. It interferes 
 with mental culture. When young persons have been 
 confined in shops for fourteen hours, they cannot be in a 
 lit state to discipline the intellect by appropriate study, 
 or to add to their stores of general knowledge. It places 
 fearful obstacles in the way of moral and religious im- 
 provement. After such confinement, especially if the 
 
 }^ 
 
 atmosphere inhaled has been heated and impure, there is 
 a danger lest the young should seek injurious stimulants, 
 and fall a prey to various forms of evil. In a state of 
 physical exhaustion, or unhealthy excitement, it is far 
 more difficult to put away temptation, and to maintain 
 that purity of thought and feeling which is the great 
 beauty of the human character. Besides, the system 
 which we deplore deprives multitudes of all opportunities 
 of religious instruction on the week-day, and leaves them 
 only the Sabbath ; nor is even this sacred rest always 
 secure from invasion by the love of gain, — that intense 
 and grasping selfishness which overlooks, or treats witli 
 contempt, the eternal interests of men, and seeks only the 
 accumulation of perishable wealth." 
 
 And, while it ruins the employed, body, mind, and 
 soul, it is no advantage to the employer ; nay, the short 
 hour system has been found a material advantage to him 
 — and it stands to reason. "All work, and no play, 
 makes Jack a dull boy," is a common but very true 
 saying. To be kept so many hours at work, must destroy 
 the energy, and so deprive the employer of a certain 
 amount of quickness, of that physical and mental energy, 
 which, with a proper recreation, and time for self-im- 
 provement and usefulness, they would have to devote to 
 the service of their masters. We are glad to know that 
 the Association is gaining strength every day; prejudices 
 are giving way, men are being convinced against their 
 will, and we hope soon the late hour system will be the 
 exception, " a monument of obsolete selfishness," and of 
 the philanthropy of this excellent Institution. 
 Listen to Lord Harrowby's testimony : — 
 ** In all parts the population are improving, they are 
 becoming better wives, better mothers, better children ; 
 and all this improvement arises from the limitation of 
 labour. We do not find that an increase of vice is the 
 result ; on the contrary, schools and mechanics* institutes 
 are filling, firesides are filling; and these are some of the 
 results of the reduction of labour. Why should we 
 expect other results if young men are delivered from 
 the bondage of the counter ? I do not say there will 
 not be some abuse, every benefit is attended with abuses ; 
 
142 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 
 
 143 
 
 but that is no arfjument for a free country like tliis. 
 Even freedom itself is open to abuse, yet we cling to our 
 freedom, and love it in spite of all its abuses.'* 
 
 Young men, seek yourselves to commend the system 
 by making the best use you can of your leisure hours. 
 Make a good use of your time and convince your em- 
 ployers that you are worthy of the privilege sought for 
 you. 
 
 This is the last agency T will mention in connexion 
 with the amelioration of our adult population. 
 
 There are many agencies at work for the moral and 
 intellectual amelioration of the juvenile population. 
 Education is becoming more generally diffused, and those 
 who were entirely neglected before are now cared for. 
 But we must never separate our education of the rising 
 generation from religion. This, therefore, more properly 
 belongs to the last part of our subject. 
 
 It has been well put by Mr. Kingsmill, education 
 without motive and sound Christian principle is as a 
 moving power to machinery which has no regulator, or as 
 wide-spread sails to a ship which has neither chart nor 
 compass to steer by. Mere education changes the cha- 
 racter of crime. It gives increased power to the dishonest 
 for planning schemes of robbery, and then of concealment 
 and escape from justice. Education based on a divine 
 foundation, and carried out in its Aiir proportions by 
 Christian instructors, is of inestimable value in every 
 point of view. 
 
 This testimony is borne out by facts without number.* 
 Oh, that all who cry out for merely secular education 
 would ponder it. The only agency at work for any 
 real good in our parochial, national, ragged, and indus- 
 trial schools, is a thorough Bible training coupled with a 
 sound secular education. By this means, and only by 
 
 * " Of cliildren, trained at all aright, the number is small indeed, 
 which we have had the pain of seeing here in the character of the felon 
 and the outcast ; but in such melancholy cases — that is, where there 
 seem to have been any jiains bestowed, even by one parent, to train 
 up the child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, there is in 
 general more than ordinary ground for hope." — KincjsmilVs " Prison 
 and Prisoners" 
 
 *l 
 
 m\ 
 
 this, are our youths saved from immorality, recklessness, 
 and crime ; and raised from the degraded and almost 
 brutish condition in which a great mass of the w^orking 
 classes are living, and whose home training of their 
 children is only on the side of evil. 
 
 *' If," says Mr. Horace Mann, "we could imagine the 
 effects upon a people's temporal condition of the different 
 modes of treatment — education separate from religion, 
 and religion separate from education — doubtless we should 
 gain a most impressive lesson of the inappreciable value 
 of religion even to a nation's physical advancement. For 
 whatever the dissuasive influence from crime and grosser 
 vice, of those refined ideas which in general accompany 
 any ipental knowledge, yet undoubtedly it may occur that, 
 under the influence of social misery, increased intelligence 
 may only furnish to the vicious and the criminal in- 
 creased facilities for evil. But the wilder and more 
 penetrating influence exerted by religious principle, con- 
 troUing conscience rather than refining taste, is seldom 
 felt without conferring, in addition to its higher blessings, 
 those fixed views and habits which can scarcely fail to 
 render individuals prosperous and states secure." 
 
 III. We pass on to notice the agencies at w^ork for 
 the amelioration of the religious or spiritual condition of 
 our home population. 
 
 When w^e look upon the religious condition of our 
 people, their condition in relation to another world, as 
 well as any real and solid happiness here, we behold the 
 most heart-rending sight that can be presented to the 
 view of man. Here we behold millions ! of immortal 
 souls wanderinjr in the broad road to destruction, some 
 ignorant of the very name of the Saviour, some knowing 
 the name hut not having the remotest conception of the 
 work of the Saviour, and the nature of that work, some 
 knowing theoretically the Saviour's work and its nature, 
 but as indifferent to it as though He died for others but 
 not for them, while others turn the grace of God into 
 hcentiousness, or having given themselves up to believe 
 a lie, boldly set themselves against the truth. 
 
 Look at the vast numbers who are neglecters of public 
 worship on the Lord's-day, and these chiefly of the work- 
 
144 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 ing classes.* It is computed that the number who could 
 attend Divine worship, once at least, on the Lord's-day is 
 12,549,326, that the number who did attend once or 
 twice on the Sunday on which the census was taken was 
 7 261 032, leaving a population of 5,288,294 able to 
 attend once, but who did not do so. Here there are more 
 than five millions of immortal beings, who, upon that 
 day, appeared to be utterly regardless of their souls. But 
 allowino' that all these may not be habitual babbath 
 breaker", still, after making every deduction you may, 
 the number who are never to be found within the walls 
 of a church or chapel is immense. This we find to ba the 
 case if we refer to the statistics of any of our large towns. 
 From one populous parish, the lay-agent of the Church 
 Pastoral-Aid Society says, "I have laboured for some 
 
 time back in street, where I do not find one in htty 
 
 who even profess to attend any place of worship." In 
 another the incumbent states that only 150 out ot a popu- 
 lation of 3,500 occasionally attend any place of worship. 
 In Sheffield, it was said not long since, one-half of the adult 
 population are habitual Sabbath breakers. In another 
 large district, that of Vauxhall in Liverpool, with its 
 13 028 inhabitants, the incumbent, in a tabular statement 
 put forth by him, declared that only 3,929 attended some 
 place of worship, leaving 9,099 who went nowhere. ^ 
 
 He t^oes on further to describe the religious condition ot 
 the people :— -There are thousands of nominal Churchmen 
 in the town, who have never been within either church 
 or chapel in the whole course of their lives, except at 
 
 * « The middle classes have augmented rather than diminished 
 that devotional sentiment, and strictness of attention to religious 
 services, by which for several centuries they have so eminently been 
 distmguishcd. With the upper classes, too, the subject of religion 
 has obtained of late a marked degree of notice, and a regular 
 church attendance is now ranked among the recognised proprieties ot 
 Ufe It is to satisfy the wants of these two clashes that the number 
 of religious structures has of late years been increased. But while the 
 labouring myriads of our country have been multiplying with our 
 multiphed material prosperity, it cannot, it is feared, be stated that a 
 -corresponding increase has occurred in the attendance of tins class 
 in our religious edifices. More especiaUy in cities and large to^vns it 
 is observable how absolutely insignificant a portion of the congrega- 
 tion is composed of artizans."— a;»*«* Returns on Eeligtous,W orship. 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 145 
 
 their baptism. Hundreds, and probably thousands, even 
 among the adult population, have never been baptized. 
 There are hundreds of others who would never be bap- 
 tized, but that the burial clubs require it. A father 
 brought his adult daughter to be examined for confirma- 
 tion, but admitted that she had never been baptized, and 
 objected to it. His other children who had been baptized, 
 all died; she had lived thus far, and he would not break 
 tlie charm. Thousands never saw a catechism, do not 
 know the number of the commandments, never read a 
 chapter of the Scriptures, know nothing of any creed, do 
 not utter a prayer. 
 
 It would be out of place to describe further the 
 religious degradation of the people in our land. You, 
 who take such a deep interest in aiding missions at home, 
 as well as abroad, are aware that a very large proportion of 
 those who are our fellow-countrymen, and are called our 
 fellow-Christians, are Christians in nothing but name, 
 and heathen in everything but responsibility. Now, 
 what is the remedy for this awful state of things, and 
 what are the agencies at work for the amelioration of our 
 home population as regards their religious condition? 
 Tlie remedy is the Gospel of the grace of God, that 
 Divine method of salvation which Christ Jesus the Son 
 of God wrought out by his obedience unto death, pro- 
 viding for the reconciliation of God to man consistently 
 with the harmony of the Divine attributes, and the 
 claims of the Divine law. This, when by faith received 
 into the heart, not only saves the soul, but raises in the 
 scale of morality and happiness. It therefore follows, 
 that no agency employed can be so extensively useful 
 and so effectually ameliorate the condition of our fellow- 
 countrymen, as that which seeks to evangelize them, — 
 "holding forth the word of life." 
 
 AVe, as Protestant Evangelical Churchmen, and Chris- 
 tians, should not countenance any other agency. 
 
 It is not many years since there was no agency really 
 
 brought to bear on the masses for their spiritual good. 
 
 |In some places local effort was used, but no systematic 
 
 (aggressive movement was made ; and without this, it 
 
 lis perfectly absurd to suppose that there will be any 
 
146 
 
 AGENCIES AT WORK FOU THE 
 
 extensive practical acceptance of Christianity among the 
 woZg-cLses. Our churches and chapels may be open 
 for reliiious worship ; they may be greatly ">» "pl"^^- >>"' 
 t will be of no avail, unless, in connexion with them, an 
 trncy is at work which will ply tlie poor with the 
 Gospel i^n their houses and haunts, which will show to 
 aZ that our Christianity i^-A-ntial upon o^^^^^^^^^^^ 
 iV.<,t vvp believe what we profess as to the value oi inc 
 S ::iSUities of heLen and ^^^\^l-^^"^Z} 
 •,n earnest longing for their salvation, ibis is tue oniy 
 ;";" can overcon,e the prejudices of tl>e rrrelig.ous 
 Zl ncMccted, the only way we can prepare them lor a 
 cird examination of the truth. And moreover, by 
 ^S i wiUi this class of people we discover their several 
 pecu m-ities of mind, the temptations to winch they are 
 exnoscd the errors into which they are most liable to 
 ^r we thus know bow effectually to address them, 
 wheilier to work more on their hopes or fear3,-how m 
 fact o apply the Word of truth, so as to enlighten the 
 tder^t^nling, remove doubts, and ^trengthen faUh 
 battle with objections, and win confidence. Ihis was 
 Sn and appreciated by the founders o those evangebcal 
 institutions which are the means of thus ettectuaiiy 
 applyinl the Gospel remedy, as far as funds supplied to 
 them alTow. What an incalculable blessing, for instance, 
 hav^b en the appliances which have been brought to bear 
 on the irreligious and degraded population of London, 
 bv the instrumentality of tlie London City Mission 
 the Scripture-readers' Association, the Ragged School 
 Union and those Societies which have missumanes 
 labour n.^ exclusively among the poor wretched Papists, 
 who would be kept in their degradation and ignorance 
 by those professing to hold the keys of knowledge and 
 
 '' wi^'cln estimate the result to the glory of God 
 and the good of souls from the house-to-house visitation 
 rr London, of 300 devoted missionaries, visiting about 
 150,0(5o families every month,' of 126 Scripture-readers, 
 
 • The followin- interesting statistics show, though imperfectly, 
 the r^nt of t^ agency brought into operation by the London City 
 
 AMELIORATION OP OUR HOME POPULATION. 147 
 
 besides the clerical and lay agents supported by tlie 
 Cliurch Pastoral-Aid Society, and other agenfs n 
 connexion with our Church, and the various orthodox 
 Dissenting bodies, wlioare carrying on the same work to 
 the pra.se and glory of the same" Saviour ? Who ca^ 
 estimate rightly the work going on among the juvenTle 
 degraded population, by means of 116 schools, provided 
 
 f^SZ '"r""'"°" "'",' "'« ^''"-""' School' Union, 
 
 bv fiO , FT""' "■""'* «'■ *''« Go^P^l are taugh 
 by 1,600 devoted servants of God ? But in speakin °of 
 
 the agencies at work, I cannot but mention a most !m 
 
 portant agency whch has been called into action by the 
 
 Christian loung Men's Society, and by your own * not 
 
 only i„ the Metropolis, but ii/the sevJrJl townl'where 
 
 nnd'S:^,,,'"" '""" formed -the agency of devoted 
 and laithful young men, as Sunday and Ragged-school 
 teacliers as tract distributors and district visitor' to 
 say notliing of their influence for good by tl e r ho Iv 
 and consistent liv-es. It is, too, in eonnexid'n wRh yoZ 
 Society a cause for rejoicing, that the Committee have 
 been contemphiting a mission especially to the youn- men 
 
 for hT r'b*"r "',"t ""'"■"= <='»" bemoreiiportTnt" 
 ZlfV ^l^^^""^ *■'«* the great mass of young men in 
 our Metropolis are most degraded and irreligious. The 
 Lord graciously speed the plan ! 
 
 «ni!i"' l" P*""'- ""'"^ '"'■°"' ^°"''°" '" particular, let me 
 speak of agencies at work for our population generally. 
 
 Missbn, in raising the moral and spiritual condition of the poor of 
 
 Number admitted as communicants . rir 
 
 Shops closed on the Lord's-day ,,9 
 
 \Vomen reclaimed from an abandoned life 27^ 
 
 iJrunkards reclaimed from drunkenness 404 
 
 Coup es living i„an unmarried state, induced'to'marrv" 236 
 
 Famihes induced to commence familvprayer ^' ' ' 317 
 
 Men's SociX"^^""'?°".i*"^'"'""y°'''''<' Church of England Young 
 one™ ions V'''"""'-' ■""' «"»"""«»'■»«»* of home' missiona.! 
 tmemttc;,, ' .""^^""'"y ,"siting employs the Uttle leismi 
 imembcre can spare ,n carrying the Gospel to the poor. 
 
 isit's thH •' /" t'^^l ^" "''''"' ' 210 visits paid. At 27 
 Aver Ah?'f iT.'""* H*"™, '■''»'' ' '■""""•"'J °° 22 occasions by 
 W out 1 """'^^'^ ^^ '""tributed, and 100 
 
,43 AGENCIES AT ^OKK TOR THE 
 
 I shall confine r^^f^^^^X^X 
 toral-Aid Society, which is truly a ^^^^^^ g^^.^^j^^ 
 
 for England and ^^ ''l?^' ^/^^'hT amelioration of the 
 ^blch are doing much f°^ *f '^pui^tion in calling 
 ,eli,ious condition «[ Jjj^^t/Scal and lay but 
 into the vineyard labourers, u ^^ ^^^ f^„„a 
 
 there is no agency at ^°^'^''^,„'ans of the Church 
 among those called into o^^^^^'^'^.^Zl of the Institu- 
 Pastoral- Aid Society s grants ^y you annual remittances, 
 tionswhich you so g■•«'"'y^'„P„^/r treasury contributions 
 Already you have poured into our y 
 
 amounting to about oOU(. instituted in the 
 
 The Church Pastoral- Aid Soe «ty ^^^^ .^ 
 
 year 1836. .-^l^^Z^Z^^Ln-P^^rll-m- It was 
 was amove inthe ^'S^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ movement, by making 
 formed to carry on an "SS'^^^s';;, incumbents of large, 
 
 grants for additional »g«"7/° *', "s who themselves 
 Ler-populous and neglected pan e,w ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^.^ 
 
 had not'the means to V^^^^^^*^; pSal visitation-the 
 people might be >';°"g''*"X'lXiclv, and from house to 
 feospel of Jesus might be *» "S P"^^'^ E'stabUshed Church 
 housl The Committee f^tj at the l.^^.^^^^^^^.^^^^^jj 
 
 should adequately provide lor the r ^ legislature to 
 
 the people— that it is the part ot a ^ ^^^^^^^ 
 
 furnlh the Church with means to th f^^^^^^^^ „eeessities 
 of adequate national provision for the sp^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 of the land, the Commit ee f*-!' ^V" ,i t,,„t in them lies 
 of Christians -^ Churctaen^ o^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^„, 
 
 to meet the urgent and '^'^"^^"J'"''. ^ ^nder present cir- 
 dlstricts, in wdiieh it - f^* '^Structlon are wholly 
 cumstances, the means of rel>o>0U8 
 disproportionate to the -^"t^^fj^; J^^t^^e glory of God 
 
 The simple o^Jf \^;^[;.^':„^dTonler that that object 
 in the salvation of souls , ^"^ j ,,,, Committee will 
 
 under God's blessing, ""^y^^^f "^"n heir grants without 
 not sanction the labours f/"/"]^^,* that they are men 
 being satisfied, as far as it >s pos^ We, _y^^^ ^^..^ 
 
 l^-Vh^fjaSstTo^^i^^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 AMELIORATION OP OUR HOME POPCIATION. 149 
 
 good effected by its means. It penetrates the dark haunts 
 of wretchedness, the abodes of ignorance, and dens of 
 infamy, and it tells only of that one remedy which has 
 
 As, then, this Society's grants are increased, in the same 
 proportion may we look for a great change for the better 
 
 bent in Cheshire, who would have been labouring single- 
 handed among a jwpuktion of 40,000 souls, says in a few 
 words as a result of grants made to him :-" Five churches 
 have been built and the services of five clergymen per- 
 manently secured to the parish. Six national schools 
 
 ooJned '" V""'-' ""' "'^ *'^'^'*'°"^1 Sunday-schools 
 seCld h5r V """'^ ™P0rtant agency, permanently 
 secured, besides the agency still supplied by the Society. 
 There were «o national schools in the district before grants 
 were made for curates and lay-agents to assist the incum- 
 bent m visiting from house to house, &c., &c. 
 
 1 he Incumbent then adds-" As to the effect of this in- 
 crease, it has been most manifest and blessed. I do not speak 
 here of the numbers brought to a saving knowledge of 
 
 aITuT"'' Ti °,^ *''^ ""^"y -nourners comforted! and 
 death-beds made full of peace, though of such I could tell 
 many interesting facts ; but I allude to the more general 
 and public benefits to the State and society which have 
 resulted from these multiplied means of instruction and 
 pastoral care. The moral, social, and intellectual condi- 
 IT ^\ *°"'" •"*' confessedly advanced. Infidelity, 
 
 nofML ^IV ^«° u ''' '"=*"''"y '■"°iP''^"t liere, is now 
 nothing ; and Popery has been completely stayed." Con- 
 ceive what the Society must have done in eighteen years 
 -what numbers have been brought into the kingdom of 
 .1^ ^^"'^/hemselves added to the agency at work for the 
 eood of their fellow-parishioners and fellow-countrymen. 
 „^^v % ''''"■'' " ""' *" be measured by the mere 
 Zf J^ ° , "S^"*'' ''"' ^''•» ^y tbe renewed physical 
 strength and mental energy of the incumbents assisted, 
 
 Zril I '"'■ ^"' *''° ^y ^^^ "gency raised up in the 
 n!?t .T '*"*=' "^ * '■«'"'* °f 'be grant. In one 
 parish there are flow 107 Sunday-school teachers and 
 superintendents, where there was not one. It is well to 
 
 \ 
 
I 
 
 150 AGEKCIES AT WORK FOR THE 
 
 bearin mind how extensively the Society brings the Gospel 
 to bear npon tl,e mass of tl,e ,.eople. Grants »'- "-^e ;" 
 parishes in twenty-eight dioeeses-the number vary- 
 ing according to the density of population. I' *'><^^e 
 dioceses there are grants for 338 clergymen and 13o lay 
 tents by which means Christ is taught to a very large 
 number in their own homes, who otherwise would be 
 Ipft to Derish in ijcnorance and sin. 
 
 it isTpoint in connexion with this Soeietv never to 
 be lost si<'ht of, that 370 incumbents, m their several 
 spheres of labou'r. are enabled pastorally to attend o 
 their Hocks. Tims a most important step is taken, in 
 thoroughly carrying out the parochial system, towards 
 he amelioration of the hitherto neglected population 
 The extended pastoral visitation is most '^or*''"* " 
 brin^in-' to and preparing for pubhc worship, ihis 
 ^ ght he sliown in numberless cases. Here, as in every 
 ^ther way, the lay agent's work is most "'v"'"::^ .'T,,.,! 
 is essential to the proper working of the pa.ochial 
 
 '^O^r' Society, too, is the means of ^^t^"-!'"? »"^ giving 
 vigour to an agency-the religious traunng of the young 
 Ilwithout wWch we can look for comparatively but 
 little fruit in the rising generation. The work going 
 on amon- them is the hope of our land. We cannot hut 
 feel most°thankful, that, since 1818, scholars in our day 
 and Sunday-schools have so greatly increased-m day- 
 schools from 674,000 to 2,100,000; in Sunday-seliool» 
 from 477,000 to 2,400,000. , 
 
 TmiMit speak of the number of Cottage Lectures and 
 Bible Classes brought into operation, and of *!'« /"f°": 
 ceivaWe benefit resulting from them to our popula on 
 _I mi^ht speak of the wcreased distribution of Bibles 
 and tracts ; but I must draw my remarks to a close ; 
 and Tn so doin.^, I will allude to but one other important 
 a"ency, whichr in connexion with our Church, has only 
 ktely^been brought to bear upon large masses of our 
 people, who could by no other means be rea^^hed Th.s 
 in L great measure, has resulted from aid folded to 
 incumbents of large and over-popul<vis parishes by the 
 Church Pastoral-Aid Society. I allude to open-air preach- 
 
 AMELIORATION OF OUR HOME POPULATION. 151 
 
 ing. 
 
 It is now becoming more general, and a Society has 
 been formed for that special purpose. Thousands have 
 thereby heard the Gospel for the first time, and many 
 have become regular attendants at the house of God. 
 Tlie testimony of those— and they are many — who have 
 had recourse to it, is,—" Nothing has so much tended 
 to -increase the number of my congregation on Sundays, 
 as open-air preaching." And when we see the emissaries 
 of hell using this means, and gathering such audiences 
 as they do, to listen to their infidel and demoralizing 
 harangues, should not the servants of Jesus Christ be up 
 and equally active, outdoing the devil's agents, and 
 rescuing souls from his grasp ? 
 
 I have most imperfectly given a sketch of what is doing 
 for the amelioration of our home-population, in a sanitarj^ 
 moral, and religious point of view. I would only, in con- 
 clusion, press upon you the necessity of more energy and 
 zeal being thrown into the work. All our Home Mis- 
 sionary Societies are in want of funds to extend their 
 vyork. The Committee of the Church Pastoral-Aid 
 Society have sixty-three urgent cases on their list waiting 
 for aid from clergymen labouring in large and over 
 populous parishes, in which a majority of the people are 
 demoralized, and growing up like heathens. We, if 
 servants of God, are each put in trust w^ith the Gospel, 
 not only those of us who are ministers, but all. — " Let 
 him that heareth say. Come." 
 
 The amelioration of our home-population depends 
 upon us. We know and love the truth; we know the 
 power of the truth, the elevating influence of the truth ; 
 we know the awfully degraded state in wliich our 
 felW-countrymen are living ; we know that the wrath 
 of God abideth, and will be poured out upon them, 
 unless they are plucked as brands from the burning, and 
 by the Spirit, through faith, Christ is made unto them 
 wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 
 
JS^ 
 
 Cui* 
 
 v»