is rendered ineffectual and contemptible, or converted to the purposes of division and of animosity within the pale of Christianity, in either case the faith of the Gospel is deprived of its legitimate support, and the Catholic church of her natural and destined protection; her strength is wasted, her influence is impaired, and the prejudices and hostilities of her adversaries are fostered and confirmed. And let those who explain the prophecies for the purpose of the reformation, and not for the propagation of religion, and who, therefore, insist that Antichrist and the Beast reside and govern within the precincts of the church and in the profession of her faith, seriously reflect how they unavoidably drive heathens and infidels from her fold and how they can possibly expect to convince and satisfy THEM that her communion is to be embraced and her faith is to be professed, which must appear to them in such a case not merely on a par with, but infinitely worse, than pagan idolatry or Moslem fanaticism.

If we admit the justness and propriety of Dr. Jortin's distinction, the reformation could in no true sense be deemed the suitable object and adequate completion of the prophecies. "The establishment of Christianity was the work of God: the reformation of Christianity was the work of men; it was supported by no miraculous gifts; the former was perfect, the latter was imper

fect *"

But the truth is, Christianity contains within itself the source and motive of all reformation, the pith and germ of all improvement, it is truly and in every sense the light of the world, and is always the same. It, therefore, only requires the obstacles to be removed and the clouds to be dispersed, in order to shine out and illuminate the world with resplendent lustre and unsullied glory. Reformation is no new religion nor additional revelation, but the old religion and the existing revelation divested of what had been adventitious and unnecessary, and which had contributed to obscure its radiance and to prevent its efficacy; and, therefore, being the essential tendency and the natural and necessary consequence of Christianity itself, it required neither prophecy nor miracles to defend and to support it. When prophecy, therefore, announces the future fates and fortunes of the church and of her foes, it is to instruct and to warn her of her dangers, and to assist and protect her against her adversaries; it is for her honour and establishment, and not for her depression or destruction; to contrast her with her enemies, and to exalt her above her rivals; to arm and strengthen her for her conflicts, and to insure and achieve for her the victory of truth over error, and of faith over incredulity and defection. They have, there

* See his Fourth Charge.

fore, been always justly deemed the essential and irrefragable evidences of the one true religion, the solid and indestructible fences and outworks of the one holy Catholic church, for whose sake alone these grand instruments and advocates of our faith have been given, and to which alone they minister.

Both have, however, been injudiciously and unfortunately summoned into the field of religious controversy, and resorted to for the purpose of party zeal and party strife. But as every attempt at proof of miraculous interposition to support any one party and to advocate any separate and peculiar profession of the Christian religion has failed, so doubtless the controversial aid and judicial decision sometimes attempted to be claimed and deduced from prophecy are equally visionary and fallacious. The use and office of both those essential and conclusive arguments and evidences of the truth are too noble and exalted to permit them to be degraded into the low and pitiful employment of partisans; they utterly exceed the narrow limits, and disappoint the selfish hopes, of any one particular name or aspiring member of the universal church. Being the public and general grounds of belief, the fundamental proofs of religion, and the special agents and guardians of revelation; they cannot be employed for any less momentous and valuable object, nor engaged in any less necessary and honourable inte

rest and service than of Christianity itself, for the propagation and security of the one faith and the one church of God.

And if all hopes of future miracles must be for ever abandoned, what is to fill up the gap and to occupy their place but the increased and constantly increasing reinforcement and supplies from prophecy, to which alone the church has now to look for her future prospects and her future prosperity, and from which she must now derive her requisite armour, and provide her suitable and indispensable weapons of warfare in her last and mortal conflict with infidelity and defection?

Prophecy easily and naturally resolves itself into two periods or departments, as it is more immediately connected with the early or the latter period or portion of the church and of the world; the first prophetic period coinciding with that of the Law, and the second period with that of the Gospel: the one period being associated with the Jewish church, to maintain the doctrine of the divine unity, and to proclaim the majesty of the one Jehovah, as contrasted with, and opposed to, the frauds and usurpations of polytheism and idolatry; and the other period or portion of prophecy being the faithful advocate, and the inseparable and powerful ally, of the Christian church, to assert, and to establish, the doctrine of the holy and undivided Trinity, or the rights of Christ against infidelity and imposture. For it has been long

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since justly observed by Athanasius, that the name of Christ includes both him who anointed him, or the Father, and the anointing itself, or the Holy Ghost, the true "oil of gladness," with which he is anointed above his fellows. And we know that to baptize in the name of the Lord, signifies or implies Christian baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Hence, whilst the first period of prophecy was mainly concerned with the first coming of Christ, and chiefly engaged in preparing the way for his appearing in our flesh as a servant to suffer and to die; the second period announces and affirms his second coming in spirit and in power as the Lord, to reign and to triumph, and ultimately to judge and to destroy his enemies, to receive and to reward his friends, and to make all things new. The one period terminates at the commencement of the Messiah's church on earth, and the other at the exaltation, and glorification of that church in heaven; and the history of the world, and more especially that of the church itself, supplies us with the justest comment and the best elucidation of both.

And as to distinguish rightly the old and the new Covenant, and the earlier and the latter dispensation of truth and of grace, is of no little moment, and of no ordinary advantage; and contributes essentially to an accurate and deep knowledge of Scripture, and to a sound and solid ac