holy, and pure. This, however, is a fundamental maxim of God's law, that nothing is to be added to that which he established; the smallest possible addition is a corruption. By this maxim the Church of Jerusalem, before the coming of the Lord, and the Church of England, at this day, are both machines of Anti-Christ. -The Jews had added to what God had appointed, but the Church of England has added fourfold more to that which Christ appointed than the Jews had to the institutions of Moses. If Anti-Christ' cannot destroy by violence, (which is always his first endeavour) he then tries to overwhelm with additions, in which he generally succeeds; but when this stratagem is discovered, all his worshippers take advantage of the little spark of truth amongst them, (which spark, however, they never allow is in existence till they are forced to it) and then they cry out, 'Blasphemous wretches!' behold we ' have the word of God amongst us, how dare you touch the holy thing which is in our keeping? did not God appoint this and 'that; and are they not to be found with us, who then shall presume to speak with disrespect of the stewards of God's 'mysteries?' This was the language of the Jewish priests to the prophets and to Christ whom they murdered—this was the language of the Roman Catholic priests to the Lollards and the Reformers whom they murdered-this is the language of the priests of the Church of England to all who sigh for the abominations of the Church, whom also they would murder with joy and alacrity if the spirit of the times would allow them. Scripture shall teach us how we are to answer these murderers.

Isaiah stands first in dignity and importance amongst the prophets, and though he is not the most ancient, yet he surely is to be considered first. It is said that he was of the royal family of Judah, but though this is doubtful, yet it is certain that he was well acquainted with the abominations of Church and State. In the first chapter of Isaiah we read an indignant rebuke against the Established Church, he calls its rulers, 'rulers of Sodom,” (10.) and the Church itself a harlot;' (21) the princes he calls 'companions of thieves, lovers of gifts, and followers after re'wards.'—and in the place of the holy and righteous men that used once to edify the Church, he declares there are now 6 murderers'. He announces that God is so disgusted with their hypocrisy, their worldly spirit, and their corruptions, that all the ordinances of the Church are an offence to him. Bring 6 no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me, the new moons and the sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot ' away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.'—The same strain of indignation and holy chastisement, which doubtless was called in these days libels and scurrility, pervades the whole of his prophecies. He tells them that the Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of the people and with the princes, because the

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spoil of the poor was in their houses. (iii. 14.) He says that "the priests had erred through strong drink-that they were • swallowed up of wine, and gone out of the way through strong 'drink-they had erred in vision and stumbled in judgment'that all tables were filled with their vomit and filthiness, so that no place was clean,' (xxviii. 7.) after such rebukes we can easily believe the tradition that Isaiah was sawn in sunder by king Manasseh, at the instigation of the Priests; nor are we the least surprised to find the successors of these very Priests decorating his tomb and murdering our Saviour. Hypocrisy and cruelty always go hand in hand.

Jeremiah was himself a Priest, what he therefore said against the corruptions of his Church must have come with peculiar force; we know how cruelly the High Church party persecuted him; and we can easily understand their reasons for so doing when we read such sentiments as these the Lord said unto me I have 'made thee a brazen pillar against the kings of Judah, against the Princes, and against the Priests-speak unto them all I command thee, be not dismayed at their faces,' (i.) 'the priests say 'not-where is the Lord, they that handle the law know me not, "the pastors also have transgressed against me,' (ii. 8.) 'as the thief 'is ashamed when he is found, so are the kings, princes, and "priests ashamed,' (26.) ‘a wonderful and horrible thing is done in the land, the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear 'rule by their means; and the people love to hear it so,' (v. 30.) 'the priests are given to covetousness and deal falsely,' (13.) the priests are profane: yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord, (xxiii. 1.) thus saith the Lord, I will 'fill the kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and 'the prophets with drunkenness, and I will dash them one against 'another, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy *them,' (xiii. 18.) 'the pastors are become brutish, and have not 'sought the Lord, therefore they shall not prosper, and all their 'flocks shall be scattered,' (x. 21.) the pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilder'ness, they have made it desolate, and being desolate, it mourneth 'unto me.' (xii. 10.) 'Woe to the pastors that destroy and 'scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord: therefore thus 'saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my 'people: ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them, therefore I will visit upon you the evil 'of your doings, saith the Lord.' (xxiii. 1.) Anathemas like these and many more of the same sort were sure to raise the bile of the Clergy; but Jeremiah heeded not their malice, and stood up in the courts of the temple, the strong hold of the priests, where he made a speech against them (chap. xxvi.) before all the people. For this he was arrested by the Priests and the Prophets,

who said unto him, 'thou shalt surely die.' They endeavoured to put him to death, but there seems to have been a party amongst his judges favorable to him, and they let him go. After this he was thrown into jail by king Zedekiah,—then king Jehoiakim • with his own hands cut the books that Jeremiah had written and "threw them into the fire,'-after this he was beaten and put into prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; but that not contenting the Clergy, they went to the king and said, 'we beseech thee, let this man be put to death, for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people but the hurt.' The king assented to their truly clerical request, whereon they took the prophet and threw him into the dungeon of Malcaiah, the son of Hammalech, which was a deep hole like a well, the bottom' of which was mire."So Jeremiah sunk in the mire:' it was their intention to leave him there to starve to death, but it pleased God to preserve him, and the king ordered him to be pulled out of the well by ropes, and put him in the court of the public prison, where he remained till Jerusalem was taken, and the kingdom broken up.

The prophet Ezekiel followed in the same strain, he thundered against the Established Church with greater vehemence, if possible, than Jeremiah his predecessor had done; the 34th chapter of his prophecies is what in these days would be called an outrageous libel against the Clergy; and if such a chapter as that had been published ten years ago, and addressed to the priests of our Establishment, the author would have been clapped up in jail with a heavy fine on his head, and the strong condemnation of some courtly and servile Judge: but the day of their malice is passed, and they dare not do these things now, for the hour of darkness is come to an end, and light is rising in the nation to the indescribable sorrow of all the priests of Anti-Christ. This, now, is the libel' of Ezekiel. Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them thus saith the 'Lord God unto the shepherds; woe be to the shepherds of Israel 'that do feed themselves, should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 'ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not 'strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither 'have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that 'which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled 'them; and they were scattered, because there is no shepherd, ' and they became meat to all the beasts of the field when there 6 were scattered. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of 'the Lord, thus saith the Lord God; behold I am against the 'shepherds, and I will require my flock at their hands, and cause 'them to cease from feeding the flock, neither shall the shepherds 'feed themselves any more, for I will deliver my flock from their

'mouth, that they may be meat to them.' &c. &c. &c. Similar libels' on the Established Church may be seen in the prophets Zechariah, Zephaniah, Micah, and Amos. The prophet Malachi, the last of all the prophets, closed the spiritual school with a transcendent libel against his corrupt Church-the Lord whom 'ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger ' of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold he shall come, saith 'the Lord of Host, but who may abide the day of his coming, and 'who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like A REFINER'S FIRE AND A FULLER'S SOPE; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and shall PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer ' unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. And who can abide 'the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth?” Can the Church of England? did the Church of Jerusalem? are our sons of Levi purified and refined by his cleansing, or are they carnal, worldly, wealthy, corrupt, secular and time serving? Look at all our huge mass of rottenness, and tell us, ye true Christians, what sope on earth can wash clean this our foulness, what purification can remove our spots? must not the tree which bringeth not forth good fruit be cut down and cast into the fire? and in what respect are we better than the corrupt and secular Church of Jerusalem? They had the word of God, and all his holy ordinances; so have we; they his protecting hand to boast of, so have we; the beauty of holiness had been amongst them, so has it been amongst us; they had had saints and martyrs, so have we; God had cast out their enemies, so has he cast out ours; the Lord had loved them greatly, much more has he loved us; he had showered upon them temporal advantages, but us he has watered with spiritual graces; he has given them thousands, but us tens of thousands, for they could approach God only in clouds, and thick darkness, and terrible thunders; but we have seen all his glory in the face of Jesus Christ, and have been able to approach him face to face, to plead for our sins, to produce our pardon, and to force the gates of heaven with a holy violence.* But all this we have abused, we have gone a whoring after the devices of the heathen, we have returned to the weak and beggarly elements, the old trumpery of the law-the tithes, the pomp, the carnal shews, and the secular vanities of the abrogated worship. The evidence of things not seen has been no evidence to us; we must taste and hear and feel and smell. We have set up a golden calf, and cried out there be thy God, O Israel! and, with all the glories of the Gospel to lighten us in our way, we have preferred the sparks of our own kindling, we have thought a dark lantern brighter than the meridian sun. O fools and blind! how long

* See Matthew xi. 12.

will ye be bewitched with this your filthy idol? But as God's promises never fail, he will assuredly resume his office of refiner, and separate the false shepherds from the true Pastors, and then shall we have a Church that walks by faith and not by sight, a Church that is the handmaid of Christ and not of the world. It is now time that all the true shepherds should come forth, renounce their politic silence, and join the battle against Anti-Christ. I know there are many, very many pious Pastors of our Church, who detest these abuses; I have received numerous letters from them, and spoken also to many of them, they encourage me greatly to continue my present course; but this is not sufficient, they must preach and teach what they think, and not be ashamed to imitate the style and honesty of Bishop Latimer, the bravest of Church Reformers. But let this battle be carried on in a proper spirit, not from spleen, spite, or disappointment, but from a true zeal for the Gospel, and because they love Christ more than they love the world. Let all Christians be meek and gentle as lambs with their fellow creatures, but let them be stout and valiant against Anti-Christ. Here they must cry aloud and spare not. Cursed be humility in this quarrel, and blessed be he who stands up to blow the trumpet in the wars of the Lord. To your tents, O Israel! for we have to rescue the ark of God, out of the hands of the Philistines, and we will never lay down our arms till we have brought back the glory of our Lord to his sanctuary.' If, however, there be any who dare not appear in this battle, who like Dan remain in their ships, or like Reuben abide in their sheepfolds to hear the bleatings of their sheep, let them remember that in the evil day they will be ranked amongst the faithless, because they dared not to carry the stigma of the cross on their foreheads in the hour of trial. Go

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through the midst of the city, the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for ' all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.' (Ez. ix. 4.)

III. Anti-Christ restored by Constantine.

The establishment of Anti-Christ by law, is to be dated from the year 313 after Christ, when the Emperor Constantine published at Milan his celebrated decree in favor of Christianity. This decree began with gentleness and apparent justice, but gentle as it was, it raised the Babylonian woman from the dust, and never since that time has she lost her dominion; for when the world perceived that the Roman Emperor had become the patron of a hitherto proscribed religion, the world was too glad to offer up incense at the altars of the Court: faith in Christ then became fashionable, and has continued to be the mode since that time. The decree of Milan provided for the restitution of all the civil and religious rights of which the Christians had been

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