by the spirit of God. And what an awful thing it is for those to fall away and crucify Christ afresh, who have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall. The Scribes and Pharisees thought in their persecution of Christ that they were only engaged in preserving their doctrine pure, and clean. They wished to keep what they considered a pure ministry, free from the innovations which our Saviour was about to introduce. They claimed an exclusive right thereto, and regarded the doctrines of Jesus as subversive of their established rights and principles. But they knew not themselves, and hence they were called serpents; a generation of vipers.

But let us leave the days of the Scribes and Pharisees, and pass down the stream of time, and see how it was with the professors of Christianity about the second and third century. How was it in the times of the successors of the Apostles? Did they not do the same acts for which they condemned others. They said “had we been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." We would not have crucified the Son of God. But they became "witnesses unto themselves that they were children of them that killed the prophets," for they fell into the

same course of conduct with the Scribes and Pharisees, and became as serpents and vipers, who could with difficulty escape the damnation of hell. They excited wars, and tumults, and persecutions against all those who rose up to defend the truth as it is in Christ Jesus; some they threw into prison, and others were tortured and slain. They showed that they were of the same generation of vipers for when they got the secular power they denounced, as guilty of heresy, all who differed from them in opinion. Like causes under similar circumstances will always produce the like effects. The bitter persecuting spirit flew like wildfire, and the true church was compelled to flee into the wilderness. A remnant like the seven thousand in the days of Elijah yet bore testimony to the truth. And such has been the course of events in later ages. Every generation says, if we had lived in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

But leaving the night of the Apostacy, let us come down to the morning of the reformation. What was then the doctrine? Those who doubted the infallibility of the possessors of ecclesiastical power were called heretics, and persecuted even unto strange cities. Some of them sealed their testimony to the truth with their blood. But when

they in their turn attained the ascendency, they came round and became persecutors. When they came into a state of ease and got into the pos session of secular power they were ready to commence the same kind of persecution by which they had been oppressed. They reasoned in the same way as the Scribes and Pharisees. They said had we lived in the days of our fathers we would not have slain the prophets.. Yet how was it with John Calvin, and how little did that talented man know himself! Influ-. enced by a bitter and malignant enthusiasm, he laid hold on Michael Servetus, a Swedish physician and brought him to an untimely end, only because he differed from himself in opinion. Be not deceived, little children; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, and he that committeth sin is of the devil, and all the wickedness of the world has its source in that vortex of evil.

But let us pursue the subject farther. How was it with the early settlers of this continent? They were oppressed by the rigour of church goverment in their own country, and fled for an asylum to the wilderness. Here they found it. They doubtless reasoned like Calvin in the days of Servetus, and said if they had been in the days of their fathers they would not have been partakers of the blood of the prophets. Yet they had hardly become quieted in the possession of this

place of peace and rest, before they fell into the same errors of a persecuting spirit. Even the tender and delicate female who promulgated our doctrine in the eastern part of this country, after suffering various other indignities, was finally put to the ignominious death of the gallows. We who live in the nineteenth century, when we reflect on these things, are ready at once to condemn them. How easy it is for us to say, had I been an inhabitant of the town of Boston at that day, I would have had nothing to do with that bloody act. But have we fully searched our own hearts? have we ascertained by faithful examination that there is no root of bitterness in our souls, and that if we possessed the secular power we would not fall into the same steps with those who have gone before us. Let us beware that we do not fall into the same errors, and come under the influence of the same spirit. With all our plain reasonings that we would not have partaken of the guilt of our fathers; and although like the Scribes and Pharisees we should disfigure our faces to appear unto men to fast, yet unless we divest ourselves of their spirit, we shall become liable to their condemnation. Bear with me, my brethren, in the plainness of my speech. Let us search deep into our hearts, and not deceive ourselves.

sess.

It is one thing to profess, and another to posLike the Scribes and Pharisees we may think that we have been doing God service; but the test is, have we been divested of every thing that would be evil to a brother or sister. These are they who commit the unpardonable sin, when they profess to be actuated by the love, and to be guided by the precepts of Christ, and do nevertheless cherish the spirit of envy, malice, hatred, and persecution. Christ did not say ye shall be known as my disciples by your faith and opinions; but by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, that ye love one another. As this proposition is true, so vice versa, will the reverse of it be equally true, if ye hate one another, then are ye the children of the devil. By their fruits shall ye know them. I say again, be not deceived my dear little children, for this is a plain and simple doctrine, and cannot be misunderstood. It is by the works of kindness and brotherly love that ye have testimony of the spirit that is within you. And one of the highest evidences of that spirit of love is, that ye strive to reclaim a brother or sister from falling into error. They are equally near to the great Father of the universe with ourselves, and we shall manifest the spirit we are of, when we labour to bring them out of the horrible pit.