tracted some species of legal defilement. They carried their views upon this subject to a still more ridiculous excess, inculcating that the very vessels in which their meat was served or prepared, and the tables, or rather couches, on which they reclined whilst eating, should undergo a similar washing or purgation.

Here, perhaps, some may be disposed to ask-Why was it that our Lord's disciples wilfully neglected these ceremonies? Is not the washing of the hands a matter of little consequence? Is it not conducive to cleanliness? Why was it that Christ permitted his followers to offend the prejudices of their countrymen, by refusing to attend to a piece of formality which was apparently so harmless? Questions such as these were frequently addressed to our Presbyterian ancestors. How often were they asked,-Why is it that you so pertinaciously object to the use of the sign of the cross in baptism? Why is it you condemn what is called the consecration of chapels and burying-grounds? Why is it you deny the position that the church has authority to decree rites and ceremonies? Such are some of the inquiries which are ever and anon repeated by the advocates of conformity. But what is the plain and the scriptural reply to all such interrogatories? It is simply that we are not at liberty to add any thing to the institutions of Christ; that his word is a complete and a finished directory for our spiritual guidance; that he himself asserts its sufficiency when he declares by the mouth of his apostle, that it is able to make the man of God perfect, even thoroughly furnished unto all good works. We cast an imputation upon his wisdom when we attempt to improve upon his appointments. The establishment of divine ordinances is the peculiar and inalienable prerogative of the King of the church. When, then, any uninspired man attempts to improve the observance of a merely human ceremony on his brethren, though the commandment may be seemingly but trivial-be it but the washing of a cup or the performance of a gesture-yet, inasmuch as no one has a right to incorporate his own inventions with the perfect law of the Eternal, it is the duty of Christians, as the freemen of the Lord, to stand fast in their liberty, and to refuse their obedience. If in matters of religion we concede one jot or tittle to the capricious will of man, we yield to a principle which will eventually fill the church with error and delusion. A disposition to depart from the beautiful simplicity of Christian worship, by introducing a cumbrous appendage of human forms, has been in

variably the token of a spiritual apostacy. True faith delights in the sincere milk of the word, and in the dispensation of purely divine ordinances. When the Jews began to listen to the voice of tradition, and to add to the appointments of the written law, they sunk speedily into a most deplorable state of immorality and ignorance. Hence it was that our Lord, in the present instance, so severely animadverted upon the cavils of the Pharisees. When they asked him, (v. 5-8.) "Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites; as it is written, this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: howbeit in vain do they worship me; teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandments of God; ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do." The passage to which our Saviour bere alludes, may be found in the 29th chapter of Isaiah, at the 13th verse. We are not to suppose that the words of the prophet were designed to apply exclusively to our Lord's gainsayers. They were originally spoken of the degenerate Jews of his own age. When Christ remarked that Esaias prophesied or preached of the Pharisees and Scribes, he merely means that his language bears upon the circumstances of all persons of their character. And here we may see that no declaration of Scripture is to be limited to the state of those to whom it was at first addressed; but that the threatenings and the promises which were revealed to the church of old, should come home with equal power to ourselves if we are in a similar situation. The tone in which our Saviour here repelled the objections of the Jews may, to some, perhaps, appear extraordinary. Though he was the meek and the lowly Jesus, yet sin excited his honest indignation. He did not attempt to soothe these selfish and false-hearted advocates of error, by using terms of hollow conciliation. He rebuked them sharply. He denounced them as imposters. "Well," saith he, hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites." And though ordinary ministers cannot use the same freedomthough they cannot, like Jesus, search the heart, and detect the unseen motives by which men are influenced-though they may seldom be warranted in pointing to any single individual, and in charging him with hypocrisy, or with wilful transgression; yet still it is their duty, at all times, to bear their testimony against wickedness wherever it is manifested, and

faithfully to depict crime in all its enormity, and in all its danger. They are not to call evil good, or good evil; they are not to keep silence when the laws of the Almighty are outraged; but they are to lift up their voice like a trumpet, that they may make known unto men their trespasses. They are not to be decried as harsh, or bitter, or uncharitable, when they set their face as a flint against personal or public profligacy; for it is the office of genuine kindness to warn and to alarm; and he who spoke as never man spake, was a swift witness against the offenders of his generation. "Woe unto you,” said he, "Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers, therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation," (Matt. xxiii. 13, 14.)

Our Lord proceeds farther to expose the impious absurdity of the traditions of the elders. He shews that they directly interfered with God's written law. "He said unto them(Mark vii. 9-13,) Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition; for Moses said, honour thy father and thy mother; and whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, if a man shall say to his father or mother, it is corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free; and ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother, making the word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered, and many such like things do ye." Our Lord here refers to the fifth commandment, and to the penalty which a breach of it incurred, according to the judicial law of the Jews. Whilst the Scribes and Pharisees did not assuredly renounce the obligation of this part of the decalogue, they sanctioned a tradition by which it was evaded and rendered void. When the parent became old and indigent, and when the child was solicited for relief, he was taught how he might satisfy his conscience without performing this filial duty. When the father applied for aught that would be useful, either as a help to his maintenance or a comfort under his infirmities, the son was directed to say, it is corban, or a gift, that is, I have devoted it to God-I have determined to dedicate it to the service of religion. In this way children were taught to neglect their parents, that a greedy and a heartless priesthood might revel upon the spoil. What an

instance of disgusting and barefaced avarice! The very men who should have been the guardians of the helpless-the very men who should have thrown the shield of their influence over the rights of the aged poor-the very men who should have been enforcing the claims of distress, by the awful and the supreme authority of religion, were, in fact, attempting to explain away its precepts, and were impiously prostituting the sacredness of their office, that they might enrich themselves. The father or the mother might pine away with cold, or might die for lack of bread; but let the son present his corban to the priest, and the worthless wretch will assure him that he was free. The love of money is at all times the symptom of a little, and a grovelling, and an unregenerated spirit; but never does it appear so baleful, or so loathsome, as when it is dressed out in the garb of such dark and sanctimonious hypocrisy. Religion is a friend in the time of trouble; it is her office to comfort the mourner, and to bind up the broken-hearted; and that man is no better than a fiend incarnate, who makes an appeal to her holy name, that he may become the oppressor of the destitute. God will have mercy and not sacrifice; and he has taught us that no ostensible zeal for the interests of the church can excuse the violation of his own positive injunctions.

Our Saviour here gives an indirect exposition of the fifth commandment. He teaches us that the honour which is due to parents is not summed up in that external respect which youth owes to old age. It possesses a more substantial character. In as far as may be practicable, we are to render to them such offices of friendship and benevolence as their circumstances may require. When a parent becomes unable to provide his maintenance, the son, if he has the means within his reach, is bound to contribute his assistance. No apology can exempt him from this obligation. It will be in vain for him to plead that his abundance may be applied to better purposes. The commandment is explicit. "Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee."

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322

PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

SIR,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

I WAS much gratified by reading, in a late Number of your Periodical, a letter from "An Elder," on the claims of the Presbyterian Missionary Society for Ireland.

Whilst it is a source of gratitude and joy to the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, to perceive the abundant openings of usefulness which He has been graciously pleased to give to this Society, and the zeal and devotedness that characterizes so many of our ministers in the promotion of this good cause; yet it will be a subject of deep regret to them, to observe the apathy that exists toward it among our laity, who do not come forward to assist it by their prayers, their exertions, and their pecuniary contributions, in the degree that its importance de

mands.

My object is, not to attach any blame to them. I feel persuaded that the chief cause of their indifference arises from want of information on the subject; its claims have not been sufficiently brought before them. I know that they contribute their aid to other missionary societies; I rejoice that they do so; but surely they will feel that no society has such a claim upon them as this one, which is emphatically their own, and whose object is to extend the knowledge of God our Saviour throughout our own beloved land, so long the abode of darkness and superstition.

I am glad to hear that the Sermons and Speeches delivered at the Meeting of Synod in Dublin, are now published, as I trust that hereby much interest will be excited in behalf of this Society; and I hope, ere long, every Presbyterian family will possess a copy of them; but you know, Sir, how soon our zeal gives place to lukewarmness, if means be not adopted to keep it alive; to attain this end, might it not be advisable to publish "Quarterly Extracts" of the Society's proceedings, and have them extensively circulated? You are aware of the benefits that accrue to religious societies generally by the adoption of this plan.

I agree with your correspondent, "An Elder," that the amount raised by " Annual Collections" alone is utterly insufficient to meet the increasing,expenditure of the Society, in its efforts to occupy the stations of usefulness that are so rapidly increasing upon them. I am persuaded, that notwithstanding