In the North, the temples are profaned by the most revolting impiety, the asylums of chastity are violated by unbridled licentiousness; citizens, armed against citizens, attack each other, and contend for the bloody spoils. Seek in the annals of the church an instance of similar defection unmarked by ravages, tears, and blood; but you will find none. We have met with some infidels who avowed themselves enemies of God, and, nevertheless, peaceably enjoyed the fruit of their crimes: God awaited them in another life, where he will render to them according to their works: but that a nation which formed part of the Lord's heritage, wore his yoke, and lived under his laws, should by voluntary insurrection shake off his authority, and yet experience no other retribution than obduracy and darkness, this you have never seen; and if such a nation existed, it would be a scandal which indignant Heaven has not hitherto tolerated. But if the same, or greater, causes of provocation were found among us; if a single one included all; who could flatter himself that he were not in danger, and sleep tranquilly on the brink of a precipice? But what caused the overthrow of those people? and what was their situation at the moment when, or a little before, they fell? By a comparison of the two states we may judge more correctly of our own.

The Jews had glutted their hatred and accomplished their aim by crucifying the Author of true righteousness. Their children, inheritors of their guilt and malice, pursued the same steps, and, under the same guides, plunged more and more into darkness and obduracy. Their corruption brings down the wrath of God; their rebellion brings on them the Roman army. What the Saviour of the world had foretold must be fulfilled; that Jerusalem, which killed the prophets, should suffer retaliation; and that the sacred blood shed by the hand of their fathers should at length be avenged on the head of the children.

The East, weakened by religious disputes, by schisms, and by oppressors, neither adhered to a religion from which it derived no good, nor to a dominion from which it received naught but evil. Drawn two ways, unstable minds, indifferent to truth and error, were ready to receive new doctrines and new rulers. Mohammed appears: every one yields to his command, his promises, his threats; or perishes under the edge of his sword, or the chain of his disciples, as furious as himself.

:

The churches of the North had degenerated from their first bias upright men bewailed the abuses, whose issue they foresaw, and asked in vain for reformation: when, on a sudden, an obscure Cenobite, feeding on gall and bitterness in shades and silence, burst the barriers of his cloister, like the dæmon of the Apocalypse darting from the abyss where the angel had con

fined him; raises the standard of reform, or rather of revolt; governments encourage him; apostates are multiplied; and churches present a picture of the most lamentable defection.

Now let us compare, and answer you to the question I am about to put in the Saviour's words: "Think ye that those unfortunate men on whom the tower of Siloam fell” (Luke xiii.)—I mean, those who have been overwhelmed in the catastrophe under Titus, under Mohammed, under Luther-" were sinners above others?"-above us, for example ;-and suppose ye that those churches, on the eve of their fall, were in greater peril, or contained more active principles of dissolution, than those which, having long lurked among us, now break forth with such rage? A contagious disease is spread around-a deadly evil, a subtle poison-which insinuates itself into our souls, blinds our understandings, corrupts our hearts, and (if not arrested by wise precautions, under the signal favour of God) will infect the whole mass, and terminate in the destruction of religious and political society.

Men proud of a false philosophy, foes to all rule, have risen up against God, against his Christ and his church, against all his laws; and, to shake off more completely a yoke which they are weary of, to upset established opinions which stand in their way, to epitomize the study of their science, and cut short all discussion, they wind up by saying: Mortals, hear your masters; they come to teach you there is no God!' Interested in believing them, some weak persons, already enslaved by their passions, have swallowed the bait: these new disciples have soon become new teachers; the most ardent and most rash among whom have been the most followed. From the capital, where it first appeared, the evil has seized the provinces; from the towns it has passed to villages; from fathers, by a doleful succession, it is transmitted to sons, who have considered it the better part of their inheritance. Increased and fortified, in the ratio of distance from its source, some generatious have veiled its origin, and given it the weight and merit of antiquity. It was long dubious whether it were possible there could be real atheists thanks to our age, the problem is solved; and we may often see men conceived, born, bred in atheism; living without God, without law, without remorse; and dying insensible and hardened, as they lived. Yet people are surprised to find that men at present care for none but themselves-that children despise their parents; that the ties of blood are daily weakened; and lament that country and family are dwindled to mere names, that minds and bodies degenerate, that sciences and useful arts decline, that masterpieces of every kind are rare, and virtue still more so: but how could it be otherwise? Men who have but a short space to live must not divide their attention: if good

and evil be nonentities; if their Judge, who sees them, neither punishes nor rewards; if such a Being no longer exist; what stimulus can you hold out to sacrifices and toils? To a man so persuaded, the present will shortly be no more, the future never arrive. Moreover, persons of credit, who ought to hold such maxims in abhorrence, listen to those who broach them, extol their learning, admire their courage, envy their confidence, assimilate themselves more and more to their ideas, their manners, their language; at length they grow weary of the objects of faith, and, dragging on with listlessness a spectre of Christianity, seem to wait but the hour of temptation to get rid of it, as the apostates wait but the presence and signal of the tempter to abandon themselves to the utmost excesses.

If in such circumstances should start up a man full of craftiness, invested with power, uniting all those characters and titles which are fittest to deceive, and with bold visage and blasphemous tongue should appear among us, and endeavour to complete in one day the mystery of iniquity which has been for so many centuries at work, what obstacles would he meet? Ah! methinks I see multitudes rejoice at the approach of their chief. I see them crowding at his heels into our temples, pulling down our altars, tearing away the priests the Levites, engaged in sacrifice. Penetrating the sanctuary, I see them vociferously summon the mass of half-believers, assembled less through zeal than custom; and in this temple, already dishonoured by their hypocritical worship, incite them to drop an irksome pretence of religion. I see them lay a sacrilegious hand on the dedicated ornaments; load themselves with their spoils; shut the doors of God's house, or change its use; pursue without doors their impious victory, and in their triumph and revelry insult our griefs, and by impure libations profane those cups and vessels sanctified by the celebration of our most hallowed mysteries.

Avert, great God, so mournful an event! spare our eyes the spectacle! Yet, who shall say this man of sin is not already near? that God keeps him not in some cave, on some rock, whence he will send him forth in the day of his wrath? And if you ask, at what time or in what place he shall appear; by what mark we may recognise him; what portents in heaven or on earth shall notify his approach? I am neither prophet, nor son of a prophet, to unfold the purposes of God in futurity: I have not seen, like Isaiah, his glory above his throne: he has not spoken to me, as to Ezekiel, from his chariot: I have not witnessed the angel of the Lord, with a rod in his hand, between the sanctuary and altar, measuring and menacing the walls of our churches: not to me, more than to our Saviour's disciples,

has been revealed the hour and moment of His return, the knowledge of which God hath reserved to himself. But, as a steward of the Divine Oracles, I have meditated on the threats which they contain: I have observed one part of those threats executed on a portion of the guilty Gentiles: I have compared the crimes of those people with our own, Jerusalem with Samaria; and at eve perceiving the sky on fire, have said to myself, "The morrow will be scorching." I have retired within myself; have set my face as a rock, to endure the attack of these gainsayers (Ezek. iii. 7-9). I have given alarm, as a wakeful sentinel who sees the foe advance. I have lifted up my voice like a trumpet, to the people proclaiming a day of wrath, to the chiefs an approaching calamity.

Pontiffs of the Lord! to you I publish the disorders of your flocks, and the perils of your churches: by you the remedy must be applied; or against you are addressed the reproaches of the Holy Spirit to the seven churches of Asia.

Angel of the church, and of Ephesus! I would do justice to your virtues. I know your works: you are meek and patient ; but you have left your first love. You are not in fear for your people; you do not arm yourself with sufficient courage, do not take precaution enough to save them from the deplorable condition which awaits them (Apoc. ii. 3).

Angel of the church of Pergamos! you deserve praise for all good which you have done; but you shall not escape my just reproof for the good which you omit. You inhabit a spot where Satan hath erected his throne, where the disciples of Balaam set up their pulpit; from which they spread their snares, from which they utter their blasphemies, and teach the people of God to prevaricate and revile. You should confound them with the breath of your mouth; at least, invite and gather round you the friends of truth, to aid you in its defence.

Angel of the church of Laodicea! your state seems most lamentable and dangerous: you are not wicked, but your goodness is not such as I desire: thou art neither hot nor cold; worthy of being cast out of my mouth. You look around, and, perceiving the magnificence of your temples, the order and pomp of your ceremonies, the multitudes who crowd to your solemnities, fancy yourself rich in heavenly treasures, and say, “I have need of nothing" whereas, under all that splendour, that dazzling gold; amid that cold and luxurious opulence which feeds your error; I see the sad destiny which hovers over youyou are poor!

'Lastly, you, angel of the church of Sardis! because you see and you hold a distinguished rank in the age; and the princes. of the earth, having entrusted you with a share of their power,

make you partaker of their toils; deceived by a double authority, you think yourself full of strength and life: the people are of the same opinion; but I, who discover the root of your troubles and the secret cause of your declension, I pronounce you labouring under a mortal malady, which will lead you and your people from presumption to slumber, from slumber to death. Look to it: I will shake your candlestick, and remove it out of its place; I will come upon you as a thief in the night, at an hour which you think not, and, finding my vineyard neglected and desolate, I will drive out and punish my vine-dressers (Apoc. iii. 1-6).'

Behold! already my threats are in operation; the storm which roars, and gives you notice, the sorrowful beginnings of a sequel more sad; the indifference which pervades the flock; the lukewarmness of the shepherds; the pride which opposes your authority; the avarice which envies your possessions: on all sides dissembled hatred, open outrage, ruin achieved or designed! and do you still ask signs and presages of a revolution which the Holy Spirit wishes you to dread? Needs there any other than the revolution itself, which, long in preparation, advances and ripens under your eyes? Beware, then; consider your disorders; have recourse to the remedy; and since it is yet in your hands, since protracted experience, from the days of the Apostles to our own, has proved its influence, seek none other than doctrine, example, and manners. Thus, if the people sinned through ignorance, compel their immediate pastors to augment their instruction; if, on the contrary, the pastors have failed in their duty, and the salt of the earth have lost its savour, then redouble your vigilance; the care of pastors and the flock now concerns only you.

You have just made provision for the sustenance of inferior ministers-an act at once of justice and humanity; it is right that the priest who serves at the altar should live thereof, and it were too bad to see pining in want him who bears the burden of the day;-but something more is due to them; it behoves you to render them more worthy of the double honour which you have conferred (Tim. v. 17). It is not by gold alone, but by exact discipline, by wise laws, that great princes have ever made faithful subjects and valiant soldiers: shew us, then, the plan of study and the sage institutions, which you so long contemplate, which the public voice dictates and demands of you; that plan which, giving a clear and precise view of salvation, will render the study and teaching of it more easy, and the attacks of the enemy less dangerous. Knowledge is profitable for all things, when under the guidance of piety; and in an age like ours, against enemies who ransack the heavens, antiquity, and the bowels of the earth, for means of attack, which they