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dation remained, and I dreaded deliverance itself as death "What is this," said I to Alypius, "which you have heard? Illiterate men rise and seize heaven, while we with all our learning are rolling in the filth of sin." In the agitation of my spirit I retired into the garden belonging to the house, knowing how evil I was, but ignorant of the good thou hadst in store for me. Alypius followed me, and we sat remote from the house, and with vehement indignation I rebuked my sinful spirit, because it would not give itself up to God. I found I wanted a will. Still was I held, and thou, in secret, wast urgent upon me with severe mercy. Vanities of vanities, my old friends shook my vesture of flesh, and whispered, are we to part? and for ever? The evil suggestions which I felt, may thy mercy avert from the soul of thy servant! Canst thou live without us? it was said; but with less and lesspower. Canst not thou, on the other hand, it was suggested, do what those and these have done, not in themselves, but in the strength of the Lord? Throw thyself on him, fear not, he will not suffer thee to fall. Turn a deaf ear to the suggestions of the flesh; they speak of pleasure, but not as the law of thy God. Such was my internal controversy. When deep meditation had collected all my misery into the view of my heart, a great storm arose, producing a large shower of tears. To give it vent, I rose up hastily from Alypius. The sound of my voice appeared pregnant with weeping, and he remained motionless in the same place. I prostrated myself under a fig-tree, and with tears bursting out, I spake to this effect: How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry? for ever ? remember not my old iniquities. For I perceived myself entangled by them. How long shall I say to-morrow? why should not this hour put an end to my slavery. Thus I spake, and wept in the bitterness of my soul, and I heard a voice as from a neighbouring house, of one repeating frequently, "take up and read, take up and read." I paused, and began to think, whether I ever had heard boys use such a speech in any play, and could recollect nothing like it. I then concluded that I was ordered from heaven to take up the book, and read the first sentence I cast mine eyes upon. I returned hastily to the place where Alypius was sitting, for there I had placed the book of St. Paul's Epistles. I seized it, opened, and read what first struck my eyes; "not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Nor did

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I choose to read any thing more, nor had I occasion. mediately at the end of this sentence, all my doubts vanished. I closed the book, and with a tranquil countenance gave it to Alypius. He begged to see what I had read; I shewed him it, and he read still further.* Him that is weak in the faith receive ye; which he applied to himself, as he told me. With a placid serenity and composure suitable to his character, in which he far excelled me, he joined with me in going to my mother, who now triumphed in the abundant answers given to her petitions. Thus didst thou turn her mourning into joy.

CONFESSION OF FAITH,—23o CHAPTER.

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[In a former Number we promised to give our readers the following extract from the Rev. Mr. Carmichael's Pamphlet, in answer to the Rev. Mr. Carlile] "WE come now to the 23d chapter,-a prominent object of attack to all who find fault with the Confession, and one which Mr. C. has not passed by without animadversion. In that chapter it is said,—

"God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magis. trates to be under him over the people, for his own glory, and the public good; and, to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.

II. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate, when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, as they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth; so, for that end, they may lawfully, now under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary occasions.

❝III. The civil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven; yet he hath authority, and it is his duty, to take order, that unity and peace be preserved in the Church, that the truth of God be kept pure and entire, that all blasphemies and heresies be suppressed, all corruptions and abuses in worship and discipline prevented or reformed, and all the ordinances of God duly settled, administered, and observed. For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call synods, to be present at them, and to provide, that whatsoever be transacted in them be according to the mind of God.'

"Now, here I observe, (says Mr. C.,) that the power recognized in this chapter as being intrusted to the civil magistrate, is the power of the sword. It is by this implement that he is to enforce all civil and ecclesiastical decrees.' Mr. C. puts a literal construction upon the term, 'power of the sword,' and would have us to believe, that the compilers of the Confession understood it in the same sense,-that, in the duties pointed out in their articles respecting the civil magistrate, they meant that, so far as his duty was concerned, all these things should be enforced by the power of the sword.' Surely Mr. C. has here fallen into a gross misapprehension, for there is not one word in the Confession to justify such an interpretation. The power of the sword is evidently a figure of speech implying civil authority and power; and if Mr. C. choose to interpret it literally, let him contemplate the absurdities to which he will

• Rom. xiii. end, and xiv, beginning.

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be reduced. When the expression is used in Scripture, in reference to the Redeemer, 'gird thy sword upon thy thigh,'-'thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the kings,' he will interpret it to mean, that with these implements the Saviour is to go forth, and his victories to be achieved; or, when Jehovah says, ' I will draw my sword out of his sheath,' — be afraid when I shall brandish my sword,' will he interpret the language literally, and say that they were not to be alarmed till they would actually see this implement wielded by the Almighty, and flashing terror among them? And if Mr. C. chooses this absurd mode of interpretation, as to the power of the sword, he must also interpret literally the expression, 'power of the keys,'-speaking of that symbol of ecclesiastical authority, he must use similar language, and say, that with these implements the Church is to exercise ecclesiastical discipline!! It is upon this unwarrantable interpretation of the term, power of the sword,' that Mr. C. builds the sophistical inference, that with this implement he is to enforce ecclesiastical decrees.' Throughout the whole of the Confession there is no injunction upon the civil magistrate to enforce ecclesiastical decrees' in any way, much less to enforce them by the sword, A system of means, whereby the magistrate is to discharge his duty, in reference to the Church, is pointed out; but the use of the sword, literally, or coercion and punishment, is not once hinted at. In the first section, where the end to be served by his authority is mentioned, there is a marked care in the language,-it is said to be for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil-doers,' not merely those who were wrong in their opinions, but whose erroneous opinions affected their conduct, and produced wickedness of life. Again, paragraph second illustrates the mode and the end of the magistrate's jurisdiction;-this paragraph is omitted in Mr. C.'s quotation of the chapter, but we would request his attention to it. There it is said, that the magistrate'ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth.' This is an important clause; it shews us that not only in the Church, but out of it, he must be obedient to the laws. If, then, a magistrate were to oppress any man for not thinking like himself, the sufferer might demand, i there a wholesome law of the realm to sanction this infliction? No matter though there were a thousand decrees of ecclesiastics, it is not according to them, but according to the wholesome laws of the commonwealth, that he is to maintain piety, justice, and peace. But we may be met by the remark, that ecclesiastics may impose their views upon the magistrate, and lead him to frame laws to enforce them. To this we answer, that the magistrate is raised above any perversion of their authority, for according to this very chapter, he has an intrinsic right to ascertain that they are according to the mind of God,' and the manner in which he, or any man, is to learn what is according to the mind of God, is laid down in the first chapter of the Confession; there we are told, that 'the infallible rule of interpretation is Scripture itself;' that the Supreme Judge, by whom all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, &c., examined, can be be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures.' And again, in the same place, the anthority of the Holy Scriptures, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or Church, but wholly upon God.'

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"We may be met again with the difficulty, that both magistrate and minister may perversely decide, that their measures are to promote piety,

and are according to the Word of God, when, in reality, they are opposed to it. Here, again, the Confession furnishes us with an answer, as, in chapter xx. 2, it declares,

"God alone is the Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any things contrary to his word, or beside it, in matters of faith and worship. So that. to believe such doctrines, or to believe such commandments out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also,'

"The assertion, then, that any clause of the 23d chapter of our Confession gives the magistrate authority over the Synod itself, and would lay our ecclesiastical courts prostrate at the foot of the civil power,' is wholly without foundation. The Confession is abundantly explicit, both as to what the magistrate may, and what he may not do. In promoting purity and peace, he is not permitted to act according to his own judgment,-it must be through the regulations and officers of the Church. All that he can do is, to take order,'-the manner of this order is also laid down: For the better effecting whereof, he hath power to call Synods; and, when they are called, to provide whatsoever is transacted in them be according to the mind of God;' and this, too, refers to such a state of the Church as may happen when confusion reigns, and ecclesiastical authority is either suppressed, or unscripturally used. He may be present, but he cannot preside; he may neither frame laws nor break them. In chap. 30, it is said,

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"The Lord Jesus, as King and Head of his Church, hath therein appointed a government in the hand of church-officers, distinct from the civil magistrate.'

"With that jurisdiction, then, the magistrate may not interfere, nor assume to himself any headship over the Church. Chap. xxv. 6, deelares, "There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ.' Again, though he may be present, yet he hath nothing to say in determining what is scriptural, and what is not; for chap. xxxi. 3, declares, It belongeth to Synods and Councils ministerially to determine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience.' Again, chap. xxiii. 3, The eivil magistrate may not assume to himself the administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of hea.

ven.'

"It is perfectly evident, then, that the Confession allows no undue authority to the magistrate, in matters of religion. The means by which he is to aid it are pointed out, but among these the sword is never once mentioned. The punishments our Standard recognizes as the proper award for offences in the Church, are purely ecclesiastical,—

"For the better attaining of these ends, the officers of the Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper for a season, and by excommunication from the Church, according to the nature of the crime, and demerit of the person.'

"It is true the Confession lays it down as the duty of the magistrate, to aid in the reformation and maintenance of religion. This sentiment, though not in accordance with the views of many in the present day, is in complete accordance with Scripture. We have many instances in the Word of God.-Moses corrected the idolatry of the Israelites, Exod. xxxii. 20; also Joshua, both by command and example, (Joshua xxiv. 14,) aided the reformation of religion, In David and Solomon we have similar examples. 1 Chron. xvi. ; 2 Chron. ii. Asa took away idolatry. 2 Chron. xiv. Jehosaphat removed the high places. 2 Chron. xvii. 6. Jehoiada induced the people to make a covenant with their God, and

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break down the images and altars of Baal. 2 Chron. xxiii. 18. Heze kiah broke the brazen serpent, he may be said to have taken order,' when he summoned together the priests and the Levites, for the purifying of themselves and God's house. 2 Chron. xxxi. In like manner acted Manasseh and Josiah, 2 Chron. xxxiii. 15; xxxiv. 35.

"It does not, in the least degree, invalidate the force of these examples, to tell us, that these rulers were placed in authority over a peculiar people, and acted by the light of special revelation, for we, too, should act by the light of revelation. Besides, we have instances of heathen magistrates acting in a similar manner, whose actions are mentioned with approbation, the kings of Persia, Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, Ezra i. 1-5; vi. 1-14; vii. 13-16;-Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean, Dan. iii. 28, and Darius the Mede. Why should reformation be left merely in the hands of ecclesiastics? Often they have needed to be reformed themselves; and when in such a plight, they are little disposed to change, or if they be, it is to change for the worse.

"The 23d is a chapter of great practical importance. It was by vir tue of such principles that the Reformation of the Church of England was accomplished. Her bishops were hostile to that change, and, but for the civil magistrate, it might have been long retarded. The very Assembly which compiled the Standards of our Church, and endeavoured to promote peace and uniformity, was convoked by Act of Parliament, met at its command, and acted under its protection; and but for such high command, it could scarcely have been supposed, that a Synod so numerous, and, at the same time, so select, would ever have, in ordinary circumstances, been brought together.

"Had the principles of this chapter been acted upon in earlier times, they would have prevented many an injustice and persecution. Lord Cobham would not have been a martyr, nor Henry V. listened to the dic tates of haughty priests, who insisted upon the doctrine of the real presence, of the worship of the cross, and other superstitions, not 'according to the mind of God.' The monarch would have reckoned the language of his favourite, not the language of sin, but of good sense, when he said to his sovereign,— You I am always ready to obey, because you are the appointed minister of God, and bear the sword for the punishment of evil-doers. But as to the Pope, and his spiritual dominion, I owe them no obedienee, nor will I pay them any.' Had the sentiments of this chapter been part of the creed of the Emperor Sigismund, he would not have hesitated between his own solemn engagement of a safe protection of Huss and the entreaties of the See of Rome; and, at length, in the imprisonment and death of that martyr, have violated propriety and his own pledge, in obedience to the dietates of that imperious See; nor again repeated the iniquity, in regard to Jerom of Prague. But he would have

done that by virtue of a law, which the Elector of Saxony did, guided by strong affection, a powerful mind, and a regard to justice, when he proeured for the despised and persecuted Luther a safe conduct, and afterWards, when the Reformer was solemnly condemned and excommunicated by the Pope, rescued him from his malice.

"The chapter for which we are pleading is one involving a great practical principle, which might have been of eminent use in bygone times, and comes frequently into exercise in our own, to guard both truth and liberty. For instance, when Delany wished to proclaim the errors of Popery, and the timid, or officious, servant of the crown had him subjected to arrest, he could appeal from the servant to the master; and

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