STAGES OF SOCIAL CONDITION AND

GOVERNMENT.

Morning, July 9th, 1876.

"Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." I SAMUEL viii. 4, 5.

You will remember that we have been endeavouring to show you that nothing in this world, nothing in man's conduct, nothing in nature, is arbitrary; that everything has its place, and that Religions as well as all other things have their orderly origin and growth, and, some of us think, their inevitable result. We have shown you that different stages of man's religion are sometimes overlapping and sometimes contending with one another. Now we find men worshipping a material object; then we find them

worshipping persons; afterwards we find them freeing their religion from all arks of covenants, sacrifices, and the like, in order that God the Spirit may be worshipped in spirit and in truth. We bade you follow the history of that Ark of Covenant, and find in it the history of man's conceptions of God. In that sacred depository were laid up the broken covenants or tablets of stone. There was much that was noble about that ark, but much had gathered around it that was childish. It is well for awhile, perhaps, to preserve the brazen serpent as a relic, but it is certain to come by-andby to be worshipped by fools as divine. The day shall come, however, when some seer or prophet shall take hold of it with a noble contempt, and dash it in pieces, and say, "There, go, thou bit of brass !"

So we have followed the ark, until the ark went out, being dropt clean out of mind. In that passage in Jeremiah, he pictures the days when it shall no more be thought that God has a particular affection for Mount Zion, or a parochial feeling for Judæa, and he tells them that in those days they shall say no more the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall

that be done any more." And in prophesying of the fate of that Ark of the Covenant, he did but foretell what should become of all arks of covenants when the day shall arrive that God the Spirit shall be worshipped in spirit and in truth.

But now there is another part of the matter to point out to you, and that is, the inevitable changes that have come over the social condition and government of mankind since the days of the early stages of religion. You know there was the stage of absolute faith in the priesthood, when whatsoever the priest told man was divine was received and worshipped. There was the stage when the priest was looked upon as a supreme person; when he undertook everything for mankind, when he offered sacrifices for them, and put up prayers for rain. This mumble-jumble takes a long time to die out; and though the tail has dropped now, there is still some small indication that once one was there. But, by-and-by, there comes an increase of human thought, or an increase of scepticism, and we hear of military movements among the priests; for though priests may be good for saying blessings before battle, yet the life of the priest is apt to get unsacerdotal-when the people, either from enlightenment or insubordination, are no longer given

to their control. Then up comes the supremest order of priests, a military order, who seek to dominate over everything. But, by-and-by, in that land of Judea, man's life gets wider than the priest can manage. Priestly government is no longer adequate, for an increase of secular feeling and reason had begun to be asserted by the Israelites. To be ruled by priests, a man must have faith, and naught else; but, when once the rationalistic spirit begins to assert itself, the exclusive government of the priests is impossible.

Now, let us speak of the records of Samuel. Those of you who read your Bible as a human record of human passions and feelings, can easily find the bias of different writers. Just as I would not consult some of the clergy with regard to the life of Henry VIII., neither would I consult Samuel with regard to King Saul, and the action of the Israelites in changing their priestly government for a monarchy. No priest ever does like the uprise of a State. If you doubt this, you have only to watch what is going on in Europe now. If you were to ask the Pope to write a Book of Chronicles, how frequently he would put in those words, "Thus saith the Lord!" It would be edifying, no doubt,

if our friend Pius the IX. would write us an account

of the Emperor of Germany. What a character he would give him! Therefore you must make allowances for the bias of the writer, and in reading this history under the broad light of general principles, consider whether a necessary increase of secular power on the part of the people did not inevitably bring about the time when an arrangement must be come to with these priests.

But it takes a long time before people can be brought to read Hebrew history as they would read Roman history; and they shudder with horror when it is proposed to apply the same principles to the old Judean kings as they apply to those of the present day. Now that Saul is made king, it does not necessarily follow that the priest will be altogether put down. Sometimes king and priest run parallel. Sometime ago there was a supreme priest and a supreme king running parallel with one another in Japan; the one saw to the State department, and the other to the Church department. But that is exceptional. Two horses may run so closely that both may be winners of the prize; but in the struggles of men, there cannot be two victors. If two men ride on horseback, one must ride behind.

Now, we see an exclusively priestly government;