the Scripture, that the master of the feast sent out Lords to woo home his bride, he sent out his servants, but not his Lords. Read all the Bible from the beginning to the ending, you shall not find it. Daft men may dispute, and by respect may carry it away; but read all the Old and New Testament both, and let me see if ever this Lord Prelate, or that Lord Bishop was sent to woo home his bride. Obj. 1. We have our prerogative from Aaron, from Moses, from the Apostles, from Timothy. Answ. I trow ye be like bastard bairns that can find no father. So they shall never be able to get a father, for man hath set them up, and man is their father. Obj. 2. Find we not the name of Bishop under the New Testament. Answ. Yes; but not the Bishop of a Diocess, such as, My Lord Glasgow, and My Lord St. Andrews; but we find a pastor or a bishop over a flock. It is a wonderful matter to me, that men should think to reason this way; for in the Old Testament there is not an office, nor an officebearer, but is distinctly determined in the making of the tabernacle; there is not a tackle, nor the quantity of it, not a courtain, nor the colour thereof, not a snuffer, nor a candlestick, nor a besom that sweeps away the filth, nor an ashpan that keepeth the ashes, but all are particularly set down; yet, ye will not get a Bishop, nor an Archbishop, nor this metropolitan, nor that great and cathedral man, no not within all the Bible. The Lord pity them; for indeed I think them objects of pity, rather than of malice. Christ is a perfect King and a perfect Prophet. Thou canst never own him to be a perfect priest and king, that denies him to be perfect prophet; and a perfect prophet he can never be, except he has set down all the offices and office-bearers requisite for the government of his house; but so he has done, therefore is he perfect. Obj. But they will call themselves servants. Answ. The fox may catch a while the sheep, and the Pope may call himself servus servorum, the servant of servants: And they will call themselves brethren, when they write to us; but they'll take it very highly and hardly, if we call them brethren, when we write back to them again : But men shall be known by their fruits, and by their works, to be what they are, and not what they call themselves. But if they will be called servants, and yet remain lords, let them take heed that they be not such servants, as curs'd Canaan was, A servant of servants shall he be. Take heed that they be not serving* men's wrath and vengeance, and not servants by the grace of God, and by the mercy of God, as they stile themselves. 2. Let them take heed that they be not such servants as Gehazi was; he was a false servant, he ran away after the courtier Naaman, seeking gifts, and said his master sent him, when (God knows) his master sent him not; at the time he should have been praying to the Lord, to help his poor kirk, and comfort her; the curse and vengeance of God came upon him, and he was strucken with leprosy for his pains: Such servants are these men who now sit down on their cathedral nests, labouring to make themselves great like Gehazi. But they went their way, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. Luke is more large in this, and saith, I have bought a piece of ground, and must needs go see it: another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; and the third said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. We learn here, that never a man refuses Christ *This phrase is to be understood of the Bishops being the instrument of executing the displeasure of the King and malignant Courtiers against the people of God. but from some by-respects, such as his farm, oxen, and marriage, &c. I never saw a man biding back from the covenant, but from some by-respects; either some respect to the world, or to man, or to the court, or such bastard by-respects to some statesmen, or to a prelate, or to the king himself, who, we trust, ere it be long, shall think them the honestest men that came in soonest: Therefore cast away all by-respects. I would have had thir men that made thir excuses framing them another way; I would have had him that married the wife, saying, my wife has married me; and he that bought his oxen, saying, my oxen have bought me; and he that went to his farm, saying, my farm has bought me. And if ye will mark the words, ye will find them run this way. 1. Marriage is lawful; but when a man beasts himself in his carnal pleasures then the wife marries the man. Therefore, 1 Cor. vii. 29, let them that have wives, be as tho' they had them not, and them that rejoice, as tho' they rejoiced not. 2. Buying of farms is lawful, but when a man becomes a slave to his own gain, it takes away the soul of him, the farm buys the man; likewise husbandry is lawful, but when a man yokes his neck under the world, it trails and turmoils him so, that he cannot take on the yoke of Jesus. 3. Thus also the merchandise buys the man. Then for Jesus Christ's sake, cast away all excuses, and come away now and marry Christ. 1. Away with thy bastard pleasures. 2. Away with thy bastard cares, and come away to Christ, and he shall season all thy cares. 3. Away with all thy falsehood, thy pride, vanity, &c. Away with thy corn, wine, and oil, and come to Christ, and he shall lift up his countenance upon thee. The Lord give the a blink of that, and then thou wilt come hopping with all thy speed, like unto old Jacob, when he saw the angels ascending and descending, then he ran fast, albeit he was tired, and had got a hard bed, and a far harder bolster the night before, yet he got a glorious sight, and his legs were soupled with consolation, which made him run. Lord blink upon thy lazy soul with his amiable countenance, and then thou shalt rise and run, and thy fainting heart will receive strength, when the Lord puts in his hand by the keyhole of the door, and leaves drops of myrrh behind him, then a sleepy bride will rise and seek her beloved. But to our point. Marriage is lawful, merchandise is lawful, husbandry is lawful, but never one of these is lawful, when they hinder thee from the Lord. Neither credit, pleasure, preferment, houses, nor lands are lawful, when they hinder thee from the Lord's sweet presence. Always, says the Lord, go out and call in the Gentiles to my table; my Son may not want a wife: he is too great a king to want a spouse, and my supper is too good chear to be lost; therefore go and fetch in the Gentiles. I thank the Lord that ye are come in. I know not a town in the kingdom of Scotland that is not come in, except one, and I am fear'd for the wrath of God to light on that shortly. Always God hath his own time. But trow ye, that God will give that honour to every one? Nay. I protest in my own silly judgment (howbeit I cannot scance upon kings crowns) that it were the greatest honour that ever king Charles got, to subscribe the covenant. But trow ye that every Minister, and every burg will come in? Nay: If you'll read the history, 2 Chron. xxx. 10, you'll see the contrary: when Hezekiah was going to renew the covenant, and to keep the passover, the holy text says, that numbers mocked and thought themselves over jelly to come in; but those whose hearts the Lord had touched, they came in and kept the blyth day. Indeed I was afraid once, that Christ should have left Old Scotland, and gone to New Scotland, and that he should have left Old England and gone to New England: and think ye not but he can easily do this? Has he not a famous church in America, where he may go to? Indeed I know not a kingdom in all the world, but if their plots had gone on, they had been at Antichrist's shore ere now; but all his limbs and liths, I hope shall be broken, and then shall our Lord be great: therefore come away in with your wedding garment, and ye that have not put it on, now put it on, and come away to the marriage: and I thank the Lord, that ye are prevailed with, by God's assisting of our faithful brethren to bring you in. The Lord grant that ye may come in with your wedding garment. It is but a small matter for you to hold up your hand; and yet, I suspect, some of you, when it was in doing, took a backside. I tell you that it is no matter of sport, to bourd with God: therefore come away with your wedding garment; for the master of the feast sees you, and knows all that are come to the marriage feast. I know ye not, but my master knows you every one: he knows who came in on Sunday, and who came in yesterday, and who will come in to-day, and who are going to put on their wedding garment, and cast away their duds. Away with your duds of pride, your duds of greed and of malice; away with all these duds, and be like the poor blind man in the gospel, who when he knew that Christ called him, he cast his old cloak from him, and came away; so do ye cast aside all excuses and come to the wedding, and now with a word of the wedding garment I will end. If thou askest, What will this garment do to thee? I answer, this garment serves, 1. For necessity. 2. For ornament. 3. For distinction. 1. For necessity. And this is threefold. 1. To cover thy nakedVOL. II.-No. XII. 82 ness, and hide thy shame. 2. To defend thy body from the cold of winter, and heat of summer. 3. For necessity, to hold in the life of the body. So put on Jesus Christ this wedding garment; and, 1. He shall cover the shame of thy nakedness with the white linen of his righteousness. 2. He shall defend thee when the wind oftrial begins to blow rough and hard, and when the blast of the terrible one is arising, to rain fire and brimstone upon the world; Then he shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the day time from the heat, and a place of refuge for a covert from storm and from rain. Isa. iv. 10. A refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible one is as a storm against the wall. Isa. xxv. 4. When men are pursuing, he shall be a brazen wall about thee; and when they pursue thee, he shall keep thee in his bosom. 2. A garment is for an ornament. Who is the best favoured body; and the trimmest soul? Even the poor soul that has put on the bridegroom Jesus; that soul is fair and white, and altogether lovely, There is no spot in it, Cant. iv. 7. because the Lord hath put upon it, broidered work, bracelets, and ornaments. Ezek. xvi. 11. 3. A garment is for distinction. There must be a distinction among you, between you and the wicked world, because you have renewed your covenant with God: and this distinction must not only be outwardly (for an hypocrite may seem indeed very fair) but it must be by inward application. I desire you all that are hearing me, not only to put it on, but to hold it on: put it on, and hold it on; for it is not like another garment, neither in matter, or in shape, nor in durance. I may not insist to handle it, but it is not like other garments, especially it is not like a bridegroom's garment, which he has on to-day, and off to-morrow. Therefore I charge you all your days to hold it on. Ay, that which ye had on upon Sunday last, and yesterday, and which you have on this day, see that ye cast it not off to-morrow. What heard you cryed on Sunday last, and yesterday, and on this day? Hosanna, Hosanna. And wherefore cryed ye yesterday, and this day, Hosanna, Hosanna? Look that when we are away, and your ministers not preaching to you, that ye cry not, Crucify him, crucify him. I fear that many who last Sunday, yesterday and to-day, have heen crying, Hosanna Hosanna, shall, long ere the next Sunday, cry, Crucify him and hang him up. But I charge you, O Sons of Zion, and ye Daughters of Jerusalem, that your tongues never cease in crying, Hosanna, till Christ come and dwell in your souls: then cast not off your wedding garment, but put it on, and hold it on. Moreover, hold it clean, trim and white; These who have their garments clean shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy, Rev. iii. 4. I know ye dwell where Antichrist hath a nest and a hole; therefore, keep your garments clear: a man that has put on new silk stockens, or a stand of trim clothes, will be very careful to go about a myre; and if he happen to catch a spark, he will be careful to rub it out again. Therefore by all means, take heed where ye sit down: a neat and sprush man will take heed to this, so do ye. For Christ's sake hold your garments clean, and take heed where ye sit down. REVIEWS. Letters to the Rev. William E. Channing, D. D., on the Existence and Agency of Fallen Spirits. By CANONICUS. Boston: T. R. Marvin. pp. 156. 12mo. UNITARIANS aver that there is no such being as the devil, or other evil spirits; and no such thing as diabolical agency in the world. They tell us, what the plain unlearned reader of the Bible will be surprised to know, that no such being or agency is said or implied to exist, in the Scriptures. The Bible does indeed contain the words devil, satan, unclean spirits, &c.; and that in numerous instances: the author of the book before us reckons up sixty-seven different chapters and more than two hundred verses in which our Saviour himself and the several writers of the New Testament do seem to assert the actual existence and agency of "the devil and his angels." These evil beings are represented as possessing the attributes of intelligent agents, are spoken of as going up and down, plotting mischief, speaking lies, misquoting scripture, seducing to sin; as believing, trembling, dreading the reward of their deeds, &c. To this however it is answered, that our Saviour and his disciples did not use this language as expressing their own belief, but used it only in accommodation to their hearers. The Jews believed in such existencies, "the notion having been grafted upon the purity of their faith from the fictions of oriental mythology;" and the sacred teachers did not see fit to displace these phantoms from their minds. On the contrary they uniformly spoke in such a manner as to confirm them in their superstitious errors. The whole doctrine of devils and diabolical agency, according to Unitarian exposition, really amounts to no more than this,—that persons supposed to be possessed of evil spirits were only deranged persons-maniacs and lunatics, and no otherwise possessed than are the patients of our insane hospitals; and that Satan himself, the prince of this world, & diácoλos, whom Milton and many others, have supposed to be no less than archangel ruined, was only a grand figure of speech, namely, the personification of the principle of evil." This is Mr. Ware's doctrine, in his Discourses, formerly reviewed by us: it is the explanation which is commonly, and for aught we know, universally given in Unitarian pulpits, and is adopted in their Improved Version of the New Testa ment. This then is the doctrine which Canonicus sets himself to examine by comparing it with the Scriptures. He takes this explanation of the subject along with him, to some of the various passages which speak of the devil and his agency, and endeavors to see how it will square with the demands of a legitimate exegesis. We shall give but a rapid and imperfect view, or rather we can only glance along the course of his argument; for the book-which comes to us as the year is just closing, and which we have taken up hastily-to do full justice to its ability and spirit, would require time and the various reading of the author, as well as the ardor of a mind embarked, like his, in a thorough investigation of the subject. The first argument of Canonicus in proof of diabolical existence and agency, "is the fact, that Christ himself was tempted and put to exquisite suffering by Satan.” If our readers will turn to the account of the temptation as given by Matthew, iv. 1-11, and by Mark and Luke, we will subjoin a few of the reflections of our author on the subject. It is to be borne in mind that Unitarians admit the existence of good angels though they explain away the bad, and our author is here endeavoring to show, that consistency requires them either to reject both or admit both, since there is at least as much evidence for the one as for the other. No American critic has yet ventured to deny, that, when angels are said in this passage to have come and minis- imagined as belonging to the great ene- culties be removed, and the whole sub- of them; for that is delivered unto me; |