with the greatest wickedness, and innocent blood while their Kings, their priests, and in some instances their Prophets were swallowed up in idolatry, and other wicked practices. This continued until they were all given up to famine, pestilence, the sword, and to captivity. Both kingdoms were carried away captive, and Israel was never suffered to return unto this day.

The captivity of Judah was returned after seventy year's captivity; and as the Messiah was to come in that lineage, they retained their possession until he came, and wrought the great work of man's redemption among them, and then they were punished for their iniquities in that most ter rible destruction which overtook them by thehands of the Romans.

Now, there was among them in all generations, from Moses to the Babylonian captivity, Prophets and wise men, who "received the law as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ 5" and they receiv ed the promises of his coming, and prophesied of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory that:

should follow.

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But, what shall we say of the nation in general ? Why, we must acknowledge that they were the very "servant who knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will," and therefore was "beaten with many stripes;" for they received the knowledge of their duty by the law which was given to them, and did not keep its precepts, as St. Stephen told them, ACTS VII, 58, "Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept." But now I would have it specially noticed, that even many stripes" are not eternal misery, because first, among all the penalties annexed to transgressions in their law, eternal misery was never once threatened; but such punishments as could be in-.. flicted in this life, and in temporal death, were the penalties of the law, and just such punish

ments, as we read in Sacred History, and in the history of Flavius Josephus their historian, did ac tually come upon them.

And secondly, because the Holy Scriptures positively declare that they shall all be saved, Isaiah Xlv, 17, " Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed, nor confounded, world without end," verse 25, "In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory." Rom. Xi, 26, 27, "And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written There shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins." Just turn to Jeremiah Xxxi, 31st. verse, and on, and you will find that the very covenant here mentioned, in which God was to take away their sins, declares that they shall all know the Lord, from the least of them unto the greatest of them; and that he would forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Now, the person who will believe positive scripture testimony in preference to human tradition, may see plainly that the words of prophecy announce the forgiveness, and final salvation of all Isreal, and, of course, the many stripes with which they are beaten will cease and come to an end, and therefore, it is not eternal misery. For although they are now cast out, as it were, and rejected, because they rejected the Saviour; yet the casting away of them, is only for the riches of the gentiles, as you may see plainly stated by St. Paul, in Rom. Xi, from verse 7 to the end of the chapter, in which he shews that God had caused the Jews to stumble that the gentiles might come in; and that the fullness of the gentiles would be salvation to the Jews; and from verse 33, he admires the depth of the riches, of the wisdom and knowledge of God in that work.

Now let us take a view of thousands of people since the days of the holy Apostles.

It appears from what little knowledge I have of Ecclesiastical History that the following is a correct statement:—That purity which prevailed in the first century, began to be lost in the second and third century (and I know not how long before) there was a division of the church on account of the doctrine of the restoration of all things, which was evidently the doctrine of the Apostles. In this century many advocated it, among whom was Ori gin and others. While some others advocated the doctrine of eternal misery, by the means (as I con clude) of receiving Jewish or Pagan notions, and endeavoring to make them appear to be the doctrine of Christ.

In the same proportion that a corruption of doctrine prevailed, a corruption of manners prevail ed likewise, and both increased gradually until the seventh century; in which time blindness oi mind and hardness of heart had arisen to a dread ful height..

Chrisendom had then brought forth that beast mentioned in the prophecy of St. John, Rev. XIII, 1, " And saw a beast rise up out of the sea," &c. "which was like a leopard, having feet like a bear, and a mouth. like a lion. To whom the dragon (or devil) gave his power, and seat, and great authority."

By his rising out of the sea is meant his being brought forth by multitudes of people, as in Rev. Xvii, 15, "The waters where the whore sitteth are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." And that this whore sat on this same beast, see verse 3 of the same chapter. This beast signifies false religion, and so abominable and far from true Christianity (although it claims the name) that it is represented by a ravenous beast, and so full of ignorance, darkness and wickedness, that it is said, the devil gave him his power, and seat, and great authority.

In the seventh century this beast of false reli

gion established Popery, and afterwards other impostures. And from that time the doctrine of the restoration of all things, I think was never again approved of for as many as seven or eight centuries; but eternal misery, and that of purgatory were the doctrines of the church through those dark ages.

This you must think is a poor commendation of that doctrine, seeing it was certainly the most firmly established that it ever was, in those very ages in which ignorance and wickedness of every description prevailed perhaps beyond what it ever had in times before. And what can you make of this, you who are terribly afraid that the doctrine of the restoration will make people wicked. And think that nothing but the doctrine of eternal misery can ever reform people? What can you suppose was the cause of such abominable wickedness prevailing all through those dark ages when the doctrine of eternal misery was never contradicted? No, indeed, no one dared to contradict it, even if he had believed to the contrary, unless he had been willing to be torn to pieces by the beast, for this beast was engaged to support it as a tool to affright the people into obedience to the wicked priesthood; yes, and the most bloody and cruel persecution was immediately carried on against any one who dared to differ in the least from the many abominable and silly inventions of this false religion. And as literature was almost wholly neglected, and the people prohibited the use of the Holy Scriptures, and the ministry debased to the lowest degree of wickedness and cruelty; so the chains of ignorance and superstition were riveted upon the multitudes, and they bowed down to any vain and silly ceremony which the wicked priesthood was pleased to invent; and taking them for patterns, the people were cruel and malicious towards each other; and quarrels, wars, blood and the most terrible heaps of carnage were

common in those days all over Christendom, while the Popes, Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and Friars were constantly wallowing in the most abominable practices of fornication and adultery, Sporting and making light of the pains and cruel death of their fellow-men. So we see, that as the Jews became more wicked after they received the law, than ́any other nation ever had been, so Christendom by becoming ignorant of the gospel testimony, and still holding the name of it, were more wicked than those who never heard of it.

And their great ignorance in those days, may be understood by considering what silly things they depended on, or trusted in for eternal salvation, such as the following: an absolution or pardon of their sins from the Pope, or from any priest who had the Pope's permission. That sprinkling wa ter in an infant's face by a Priest, world give him eternal Salvation. That all who died without being so baptised, would be eternally miserable. That when wicked people die and go to purgatory, if their friends would hire the Priest to pray for them, they may be saved, or delivered from purgatory.

Now, it may be asked, had not those people the teachings of the Holy Spirit in their hearts? To which I answer, yes: for ever since Jesus commenced his reign over the nations of the world, all men are more or less taught or reproved by the Holy Spirit, according to St. John Xvi, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and of course there were some individuals from time to time who did see, and declared against the wickedness of the church, such as John Huss and Jerome and others, who were soon persecuted to death for their testimony. But those were extraordinary men who were prepared for this very work, so that the true church might not be wholly exterminated; but it is a doubt with me whether the people in general were capable of surmounting so great a cloud of ignorance, and blindness, without some external in