volume, will suffice to show to what the principles of jesuitism tend, how utterly impossible it is for any trust whatever to be reposed in any Jesuit; because, whatever be his private character, he has by his vow renounced self, and has become a machine in the hands of that order whose leading object is to promote Romanism every where, by all and any means whatever. The authority of one good doctor is a sufficient reason on which to ground the probability of any opinion, so that every one may safely follow it (G. De Rhodes de Actibus humanis, 1, 2, sect. 3, 1). The use of it safe, and the practice lawful (H. Fabri, 1, 53). A confessor should conform himself against his own opinion to that of the penitent (Henriquez, xiv., 3, 3). A judge may, with the intent to serve his friend, at one time judge according to one opinion, and at another time according to the contrary opinion, provided only that no scandal result from the decision (Gregory of Valentia, iii. 5, 7, 4). By reason of extreme necessity and danger, an opinion, which would otherwise have little or no probability, is rendered very safe (F. de Castro | Palao, i., 1, 2, 2, 5). Those ignorant confessors are to be blamed who always think that they do well in obliging their penitents to make restitution because it is at all times more safe (Tamburin, i. 3, 4, 15). A subject who thinks that the command of his superior exceeds the limits of his authority ought not to obey him (Schildere, ii. 4, 55, 3). Although an opinion be false, any one may follow it in practice with a safe conscience, on account of the authority of the person teaching it (Guimenius Tr. de Opin. Prob. 1). Subjects may refuse the payment of just taxes (Guimen., &c., 2, and Sanchez). As a knowledge of the wickedness of it is necessary to constitute a sin, so a full, clear knowledge and reflection is necessary to constitute a heinous sin (De Rhodes, 2, 2, 1, 2). If the payment for a spiritual office be made in counterfeit money, the simony will not be complete, because counterfeit money is not a true payment (Busembaum, &c., ii., 3, 1, 1, 2, 3, 46, 212). As often as you believe invincibly that a lie is commanded-lie. There is no absurdity in supposing that Christ may say, "Come, thou blessed," &c., because thou hast lied, believing invincibly that, in such a case, I commanded the lie (Casnedi, i., 6, 2 and 5). An avowed belief in Jesus Christ, in the Trinity, in all the articles of faith, and in the decalogue, is not necessary to Christians. We are commanded to confess with the mouth, and not with the understanding only. It is not lawful to dissemble in the presence of a judge who examines you; but it is lawful to do so before a private individual (Thesis in regio. Jes. Coll. Cuen. 8 and 9). You are not bound to swear according to the meaning of an enquirer; you may swear according to your own (Sa Jurament, 6). To speak with equivocation is not always a lie, neither is it intrinsically wrong; and, therefore, to confirm it with an oath is neither perjury, nor is it intrinsically a sin. To confirm an ambiguous expression with an oath is not perjury, because, by that oath, God is not called to witness a lie, since that is not a lie (Suarez, iii., de Jurament, 9, 1, 2). When a man who has promised is, from some reason, free from the obligation of fulfilling his promise, he may swear that he did not promise. A man who is urged to do what he is not compelled, may swear that he will, understanding "It I am obliged." He would not sin mortally who without deception should feign to swear so that the bystander and the notary might think that be did swear (Sanchez in Decalog. ii. 3, 6 and 7). Equivocation is when the swearer understands the words in a sense different from that in which another person receives them. It is not in itself sin to use equivocation in swearing. When we begin, for instance, to say "I swear," we must insert, in a subdued tone, the mental restriction, "that to day" (and then continue aloud) “I have not done so and so." Or, "I swear" (then insert) "I say" (then conclude in the same loud voice) "that I have not done this or that thing;" for thus the whole speech is very true (Fillucias, ii., 25, 2. de Jurament, 321, 328). The rebellion of an ecclesiastic against a king is not a crime of high treason, because he is not subject to the king (Sa Aphor. Clericus). It is the province of the sovereign pontiff, to whom the care of religion has been entrusted, to decide whether the king draws his subjects to heresy or not. It is, therefore, for the pontiff to determine whether the king must be deposed or not (Bellarmine, i., v. 7, 891). Why should not Garnett (the mover of the gunpowder plot), although he might have abhorred such a carnage in the state, conceive himseit bound to endure it, if it were ultimately to prove extremely beneficial to the church? (A. Eud. John Apolog., 12, 1, 319). If all the members of the royal family are heretics, a new election to the throne devolves to the state; for all the king's successors could be justly deprived of the kingdom by the pope, because the preservation of the faith, which is of greater importance, requires that it should be so (Vasquez Dup., 169, 4, 5, 42). The king's body is neither planted, nor fixe nor rooted in the earth; for they have not the royal dignity vested in themselves, but in another, namely, in the opinion and good plea sure of the multitude. Monarchies are nothing more than ridiculous exhibitions, having no vals in them beyond a fictitious pomp (Fernandus i Visione Danielis, 2, 2, 3 and 4). The clergy are exempt from lay power, not only by human, civil, and canonical law, but also by the divine law. A secular prince cannot punish ecclesiastics; therefore, ecclesiastics are not subject to lay princes (Decastello, ii., 1, 4, 8, 125, 128). The clergy do not belong to the king's jurisdic tion (Gretser, vii., 2, 3, 468). It would be endless to quote the immoral, blasphemous and impious, the seditious, republican and treasonable, passages which abound in these Jesuit writings; but the above are sufficient to shew what class of citizens, what kind of subjects, Britain is fostering in the only take heed lest they make captive of thee; Jesuits-men to whom oaths and promises are | rise up within thee. Yet let not thy soul despair: alike nullities. It is easy for Jesuits to disclaim such opinions; but the fact of their being Jesuits proves their disclaimer to be valueless; because individual conscience must, by their vow, yield to the will of the superior, who, by his own vow, must himself acknowledge no other rule than the advancement of his order and of Romanism. Neither may such fearful errors be viewed as erroneous individual opinions, for they are the authoritative teachings of their gravest and most approved theologians. Pope Clement XIV., as an honest Roman catholic, reprobated their opinions, and suppressed the order, partly on account of its holding such detestable doctrines; but pope Pius VII., in restoring the order, made no reservation respecting those opinions, but once more expressly renewed and sanctioned its constitutions, from which such opinions naturally flow, and have always flowed. Pope Pius IX. has expressed no reprobation of those principles; and Dr. Wiseman refers to the efficacy of the canon law as the ultimate object of this pseudohierarchy. The Jesuit constitutions, and the above vile principles, are but the full carrying | out of the canon law, where it is unchecked by those safeguards which the British common and statute law have introduced into the church of England, but which the church of Rome does not consider binding upon Romanists. ........ Acts xii. {Isa, xxxix. Acts xiii. ♫ Isa. xli. MORN. LESSONS. EVEN LESSONS. Acts xiv. Acts xv. Isa. xlv. {Acts. xvi. Isa. xlvii. Acts xviii. Isa. 1. 2 Pet. i. 18. Saturday THE REPLY GIVEN BY THE CHURCH TO A Sermon, BY THE REV. FORSTER G. SIMPSON, B.A., Curate of Ickworth, Suffolk. REV. xxii. 20, 21. "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. A COMING Saviour has ever been the object of the church's hope. God himself has ever directed the thoughts of his people to the coming One, because he ordained that all man's expectation of good, and all man's desires after blessedness, should only be realized in him. Accordingly the divine revelation of mercy begins with this object in the promise made to Eve, closes with it in the declaration of the text, and, between these two great promises, bears a constant testimony to Messiah as the coming One coming once in humility, and once again in glory. It will not, therefore, be inappropriate to the present season, in which we commemorate the first advent of our Lord, if we direct our thoughts to his second advent, in order that our meditation on the future may lead us to look back upon the past with deeper love and reverence. The verse before us will enable us, by the blessing of the Holy Spirit, to fulfil our purpose. In it we have an announcement made, and a reply given to it. Let us, then, notice some truths connected with these two points. vious sufferings predicted of Messiah, that the Jews rejected the humble Jesus as their King and Christ. It is because the prophe cies blend the two comings of Messiah together, that later Jews have feigned that there are to be two Messiahs, one the son of Joseph to suffer, and one the son of David to reign. Isaiah, Daniel, Zechariah, and other prophets constantly proclaim the king. dom and the power, the majesty and honour of Messiah, when he comes to reign and judge. And the words of scripture teach us that the future coming is the noblest of the divine dealings with our race, the birthday of the redeemed creation, and the great hope of all the saints of the Most High. The the Messiah, our Lord, the subject of prophecy in every age, and the object of delightful expectation to the believing family of God. I. In the announcement we may notice the event itself. It is the coming of him who "testifieth these things," even of our Lord Jesus Christ, who revealed the prophecies contained in this book unto St. John. He has already, in fulfilment of a part of prophecy, once appeared. A virgin, in Bethlehem of Judæa, brought forth her Son, in whom the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father was beheld; for the Eternal Word, which was with the Father, and was God, had become incarnate. But the birth at Bethlehem, although a coming of the only-event, then, is the second advent of Jesus as begotten Son, was, as it were, preparatory. The first advent and its work cleared the way, and became the foundation for the second advent and its work. The lowliness of the one produced the exaltation of the other. The atonement accomplished in the one purchased the glory to be awarded in the other. From the death suffered in the one life hath sprung forth, and authority to judge the living and the dead has been received. The Messiah, therefore, has to appear again in the very body wherein he ascended into heaven. He has to come in the very flesh, now made incorruptible and immortal, which he assumed of the virgin. Our Lord himself, when on earth, said that he had yet another advent: "If I go away, I will come again." The angels also, who witnessed the ascension, recalled this truth to the forgetful minds of the disciples: "This same Jesus," they said, "which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." But, ere we can form a worthy opinion of the event, we must regard some of the cir cumstances revealed respecting it. In doing this we shall not attempt to bring together the various testimonies in scripture, nor to notice the order in which events are to occur. It will be sufficient if we remind ourselves of the more prominent circumstances connected with it. This coming, then, will be a glorious coming. The first advent was comparatively without glory. It had, indeed, accompani ments to mark it as a marvellous event. An angel was sent to shepherds to proclaim the royal birth: there were with him a multitude of the heavenly host to sing God's praise; and there was the star in the east leading the wise men to pay homage to the infant King. But, with all these marks of glory, it was a lowly advent, a coming "i Moreover, the words of our Lord, and of great humility." But the second adven the angels, were not the first words spoken will not be attended with any marks of hum on this subject. The promises and prophe- lity: our Lord will come with unmingle cies in old time had taught the church to look glory; for he will come with an innumera for the future coming. The promise made multitude of angels. Their number, to Eve is still, in its full meaning, unfulfilled. seen in vision by St. John, was "ten tho Satan's power is not yet actually destroyed. sand times ten thousand, and thousands He yet rages against the church, and bruises thousands." These will accompany him Christ's mystic heel. The force of the saying, his triumphant return. Their hosts, how"It shall bruise his head", will only be per- ever separately performing the divine comceived when the Christ has all things visibly mands, will then be recalled from their various put under him. The prophecy of Enoch still works to adorn Messiah's advent. He "will more clearly directed believers before the come with all the holy angels." These flood to expect Messiah in his glory: "Be- countless bands, moreover, will appear in the hold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of glory which God has bestowed on them. his saints." Subsequent prophetic statements This glory was always such as to produce foretell, in bright colours and in glowing fear and terror in the men who witnessed it. terms, the advent of the everlasting King. When only one angel has appeared, that one. It was from a too intense regard of these future even with his real splendour veiled by the glories, and from a sinful neglect of the pre-form in which he appeared, was a source of trouble. Men became, like the shepherds, "sore afraid." If, then, the imperfectly displayed glory of one, or of a few, was so bright and terrifying, how inexpressibly brilliant and overpowering will be the unveiled glory of all! Yet Christ will come with the glory of the angels as they attend him. shall be in divers places; and men's hearts shall fail for fear, as they anxiously regard the things which may next happen. We will not, however, enlarge upon this topic, but pass on to other things, and that but briefly. When Christ comes, then, an end will be put to the present constitution and course of This, however, will form but a small part things. A change will pass upon all the stirof the glorious advent. Christ will come in ring scenes of life. However near, it may be his own glory. We know not accurately even to the moment of the advent, men may what this is. Once, indeed, there was a pursue with unabating interest their various manifestation of it in the transfiguration which objects, seeking after pleasure, eagerly entook place on the holy mount; and St. Mat- gaged in traffic, or striving for fame; yet at that thew tells us, "His face did shine as the hour all the ordinary and absorbing transacsun; and his raiment was white as the light." tions of this transitory life shall cease, and St. Paul also perceived somewhat of it when cease for ever. The court, the exchange, the Jesus appeared to him in "brightness above theatre, shall pass away. So it is written, the sun at noonday." But this brightness" All that is in the world, the lust of the was only a shadow of the higher and unseen flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, glory. For the Messiah's glory is divine and shall be burned up." eternal, is that which he possessed with the Father before the world was. He will manifest this glory on that day, and in the second advent reveal this unseen splendour. Again, he will come in the glory of the Father. At Sinai, this glory was manifested in thunderings and lightnings and clouds, and by a voice that shook the mountains and made Israel tremble. A reflection of this glory also falling upon Moses, a reflection of a very partial light, "the back parts of God," so illumined him that the Israelites could not stedfastly behold his face. If, then, in these dim instances such effects were produced, what will that vision be when Christ comes in all the effulgence and the magnificence of heaven to be seen as he is, and to reveal the fulness of the majesty of Godhead? Hear what St. John says of it: "The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." Hear also what Isaiah says: "The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee thine everlasting light, and thy God thy glory." This coming, therefore, of our blessed Lord, in which he gathers up and brings with him all the realities of the eternal world, may well be called "the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ." Besides this, a change shall pass upon the earth itself. The curse of the Almighty was pronounced upon it for man's sin; and, although the atonement has removed the curse to some extent, yet man has still to wring support from its hard surface by an oppressive toil. Once already the earth has been visited by God in anger for the general wickedness of men; and it bears within it, and upon it, marks of the overwhelming flood which destroyed all flesh save Noah's family. And once again the earth must undergo a change. Another element must be brought to bear upon it and to purge it. For St. Peter says, and the results of modern science bring out facts to corroborate the saying, if it were needful, "The heavens and the earth, which are now, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment:" "The day of the Lord will come, in which the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also and all that is therein, shall be burned up." "Nevertheless," adds St. Peter, "we look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Time does not permit us to mention other circumstances connected with the second coming, we therefore proceed to notice the object of it. A few remarks upon this object in a twofold aspect will suffice. First, then, the aspect of this event will be full of terror to the unbelieving. It will But we proceed to notice other circum- be a comiug of Christ to take vengeance. stances connected with this great event. In Other than this it cannot be to them. For preparation for it, and as signs of its nearness, an investigation will then be made into the wondrous events will happen. There shall hearts and lives of men. There will be a be strange upheavings and convulsions in special inquiry as to the way in which they society; the powers that be falling, as "sun have acted towards the Judge himself. and stars," from their stations; the populace torn with disturbances and strifes, as the seas and waves roaring. Pestilences and famines The conduct of the Lord Jesus towards them will be reviewed. His grace in coming once before to save, his tender love in giving himself a sacrifice for sin, his mercy in sending messengers to warn men of danger, and to preach the gospel as their means of safety, and his long-suffering in bearing with them, all the time that they were fruitless members of his visible church, will be all exhibited. Then, men's rejection of this mercy, their ingratitude, their preference of earthly things, their hatred to Christ's spiritual kingdom, their want of love for him as their great Redeemer, their unbelief, will, with all their secret and public acts, be made known; and judgment will be pronounced accordingly. Christ's work, therefore, in that day, will be to give the unbelieving their reward, and to pay them their wages. The terribleness of that reward, and the exactness of those wages, we need not mention. We only mention the prophecy of old: "The Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their ungodly speeches which ungodly men have spoken against him;" and, "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that obey not the gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." Of the terror inspired by these august proccedings, an intimation is given in the Revelation of St. John; where men in dread of divine judgment cry to the "mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." far too much for the faithful to deserve, but not too much for the Christ to merit, nor, in him, for the church to receive. Our Lord, in his coming, will adorn his people with his own glory. He will invite them to share his triumphs, to judge angels, and to sit down with him upon his throne. He will be glorified in them, that they may reflect his brightness, as Moses reflected that of God. He will lead them into that eternal city to which they ever looked by faith. He will confer on them that inheritance, unfading, incorruptible, and undefiled, in hope of which they lived a holy life, and on account of which they ever confessed themselves strangers and pilgrims on the earth. He will give them the crown of life, the prospect of which sustained them in their conflicts, consoled them in their sorrows, and nerved them to be faithful unto death. Christ's coming will be their glory and their everlasting good. The object then of the second advent of our Lord will be to return recom pence to his enemies, and to bless his people. We hasten, however, to notice another truth concerning this advent, indicated to us in the word "quickly." We learn from this word the constant nearness of Christ coming. It is a word of mercy to the church. The mind of believers might fai because of the difficulties of the way to heaven, if rest seemed at too remote a distance. Our Lord, therefore, to sustain the courage of his chosen, tells them that the day of victory is near. Lest his bride should be wearied with her watching, lest she should lose her spiritual beauty by unpreparedness, and lest her heart should be overcome by the mockeries of the world or the suggestions of Satan, and disbelieve his love because of his absence, he has said, "Surely I come quickly." Some persons, however, would say that this absence has in truth been long; that this "quickly" is a word of uncertain sound, meaning what it seems to mean, and the these 1800 years and no return evince But it is not thus. Our Lord doth not ceive his people. He speaks of time in re tion to eternity and to God; and in this reir tion the hour of his return is short, and 800% But, on the other hand, while it wears this aspect of terror to the unbelieving, it is full of consolation and of good unto the faithful in the church; for Christ's coming will be pre-eminently a blessing. The blessing which our Lord will then pronounce will be full and perfect. Purchased by the humility and the sufferings of the Eternal Son, it will bear a value proportioned to the price procuring it. Provided and bestowed by a glorious God, it will be a gift worthy of his greatness. Hence, we are not sur-will come. He speaks also of time, in relation, prised to find that the highest and the noblest things are said of the coming blessedness. Its perfect rest, its absolute freedom from all pain, sorrow, sickness, death, its security from sin, from Satan, and from temptation, its ceaseless praise, its neverending gladness, its unstained purity, its companionship with all the lofty angels, its glorious vision of the Holy One are indeed, not to the life of a single believer, but to the lite of all believers of his church; for his coming is an event that concerns all his church as the one body of the Lord. His coming, in relation to his church's life, to the time it has to exist on earth, to the time perhaps during which it existed before his first advent, wil be speedy. The full truth, therefore, of the saying, if viewed in reference to God and his |