2. As the conduct of Christ naturally induced his disciples to imitate the example of their illustrious Master, the subsequent admission of women to all the privileges of the Christian Church, tended exceedingly to confirm their elevation, and evince their importance in society. When the primitive converts to the Christian faith wished publicly to avow their dereliction of heathen idolatry, and their emancipation from the bondage of Judaism, by being baptized in water, both sexes were admitted without distinction to this solemn rite. At a very early period of the primitive church, when the city of Samaria received the word of God by the preaching of Philip, which with its accompanying miracles, diffused an universal joy, "they were baptized, both MEN and WOMEN;" and the apostle Paul, in writing to the Galatians, expresses himself in this triumphant strain: "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither MALE nor FEMALE, for ye are ALL ONE in Christ Jesus."

Sentiments like these, combined with the practice of an institution so expressive and so remarkable, tended to circulate among the primitive Christians those feelings of respect and affection for women, which, by elevating them to their proper rank in society, must necessarily purify the public morals, meliorate individual character, and ennoble the intercourse of life. Admitted to an equal participation of the privileges of God's house, where every minor distinction is annihilated by the predominance of a diffusive charity, and feeling that their present joys and future destinies were blended with those of the "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling;" the female part of the community rose into importance as rational, but especially as immortal beings.

After the ascension of Christ, the historian of the Acts of the Apostles informs us, that "the WOMEN, and Mary, the mother of Jesus," assembled with the apostles to worship in the upper room at Jerusalem; being equally interested in the great events which had recently occurred, and in the devotional services in which they now engaged. Paul directs Timothy to treat "the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity." He also desires him to "honour widows that are widows indeed," and to afford them all proper relief by charitable contributions, a practice for which the first Christians were highly distinguished. Women are represented by an apostle himself as fellow-labourers in the Gospel, assisting them, not only by their example, to which he willingly pointed the attention of the churches, but by their prayers, their visits of mercy, and other similar methods of co-operatiug in the propagation of the truth, and the promotion of individual happiness.

As the immediate effects of original transgression upon the woman were most obvious and most deplorable, and as her debasement from the eminence assigned her by the Creator has been completed by the misrule of passion, and the gradual advancement of human degeneracy: so the direct operation of Christianity is apparent, according to the degree of its prevalence, in elevating her to a state which was known before only in the garden of Eden—a state in which she again assumes a rank, which regenerated man cheerfully concedes, wherein she regains the lost paradise of love and tenderness; while the more remote influence of this system is discernible in the recognition of her rights, wherever its benign dominion extends. Now she ascends to the glory of an intelligent creature, gladdens by her presence the solitary hours of existence, beguiles by her converse and sympathy the rough and tedious paths of life, and not only acquires personal dignity and importance, but in some measure new modifies, purifies, and exalts the character of man. If we cannot but weep over the affecting representation of the departure of Adam and Eve from the scene of innocence and of celestial manifestation, when

"The brandish'd sword of God before them blaz'd Fierce as a comet: which with torrid heat And vapours, as the Libyan air adust, Begun to parch that temperate clime; whereat In either hand the hast'ning angel caught Our ling'ring parents, and to the eastern gate Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast To the subjected plain——"

and when, taking a hasty retrospect of their lost felicity, in consequence of transgression, and cherishing gloomy forebodings of that melancholy futurity, which seemed already to pour from its dark clouds the deluging rain of grief and misery—

"Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow Through Eden took their solitary way;——"

—if we must mourn over so sad a scene, Christianity a wakens sympathies of an opposite description, by exhibiting a goodly number of their descendants as inhabitants of the CHRISTIAN CHURCH—the grand repository of heavenly blessings, and the dwelling-place of peace—at whose holy altar of truth souls are wedded, and at whose sacramental board they celebrate an everlasting union. Nothing can present a scene more worthy the attention of mankind, or more attractive to the eyes of witnessing angels, than this association of persons in pious fellowship, without distinction of birth or country, age or sex; participators in equal proportions of the same happiness, children of one common parent, and heirs of one rich inheritance!

3. The, great principles asserted by the religion of Jesus, secure to women, as an unquestionable right, that exaltation in society, which his conduct, and that of his followers conferred. These principles may he traced in the New Testament, either as necessarily comprehending, by their generality, a proper treatment of the female sex, or as developing themselves in particular regulations and enactments.

Christianity breathes a spirit of the most diffusive charity and good will: and wherever its "power" is felt, it moulds the character into the image of benevolence. Love is the beauty and the strength of this "spiritual building;" a love, at once comprehensive in its range, and minute in its ramifications: adjusting the diversified claims of society and religion with perfect exactness, and directing the exercise of all the social affections. The fountain being purified, the streams become pure; the heart, which is the centre mid spring of moral action, being renewed, the conduct will be distinguished by a corresponding degree of virtue, goodness, and sanctity. But as Christianity produces a general transformation of character, by subduing the ferocious and brutal propensities of man; clearing away the rank and noxious weeds that overspread human nature, and sowing the seeds of moral excellence, the effect must be discernible in the whole intercourse of life. Immorality trembles, domestic tyranny retires abashed before the majesty of religion, and peace pervades that dwelling where power was law, and woman a slave. In fact, every precept of the Gospel that inculcates kindness, sympathy, gentleness, meekness, courtesy, and all the other graces that bloom in the garden of the Lord—indirectly, and by no unintelligible or forced application, provides for the honour and glory of the female sex. If the most effectual method of degrading woman be to barbarize man, the certain means of dignifying her is to christianize him.

It is to be noticed also, that there is no sex in conscience, and that for the discharge of the duties of piety, each is equally capacitated, and therefore equally responsible. If men were to give an account at the tribunal of heaven, not only for their personal actions and principles, but for those of women, to whom they are related by the ties of consanguinity, or with whom they are connected by circumstances, there would be some reason in assuming a jurisdiction over their faith, and disputing their claims to rationality and to respectful treatment; but not to insist upon the moral constitution of the female sex, and the whole drift of divine revelation, the very terms of the initiatory ordinance of the Christian church, to which they are equally entitled, illustrates and secures their prerogatives—for it is "the answer of a good conscience towards God." When men impose fetters upon other men, condemning, imprisoning, fining, scourging, burning, and anathematizing them, merely because they dare to think for themselves in matters which can only concern God and their own souls, and will not have their faith decreed by arbitrary power and exasperated ignorance, it need not excite surprise, that they should assume the right of behaving to the weaker sex with all the capriciousness of despotism; and no authority but that of Scripture, which maintains the privileges of all thinking beings, can effectually restrain the wickedness of man's UNMANLY usurpation.

The precepts of Christianity bespeak its characteristic regard to the reciprocal duties and respective rank of the sexes, adjusting their claims with a nicety that precludes disputation, and an authority that commands assent. They are not arbitrary enactments; but being founded in the highest reason, and connected with individual felicity, approve themselves to every well-regulated mind. In our behaviour to others, we are not only prohibited from indulging the vindictive and malignant passions, but exhorted to do them good by the employment of our pecuniary resources, social opportunities, and moral means, to advance both their temporal and eternal interests. While these principles necessarily comprise the discharge of all relative duties, these are besides specifically enumerated and enforced. Husbands, in whose hands barbarism had placed a tyrannic sceptre, are required by the religion of Jesus to renounce their unjust domination, and to descend to the regulated and affectionate intercourse of the domestic hearth. It is expressly enjoined upon them to "love their wives," and not to be "bitter against them." "Let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself: so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies."—"Ye husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life." "Let one of you in particular so love his wife as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

Christianity also expressly abolishes, at least by necessary implication, polygamy and the power of divorce, as they existed among barbarous nations, perpetuating the degradation of women, and spreading confusion in society. "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery." "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law.) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as be liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband." And, "Let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." Paley remarks, "The manners of different countries have varied in nothing more than in their domestic constitutions. Less polished and more luxurious nations have either not perceived the bad effects of polygamy, or, if they did perceive them, they who in such countries possessed the power of reforming the laws, have been unwilling to resign their own gratifications. Polygamy is retained at this day among the Turks, and throughout every part of Asia in which Christianity is not professed. In Christian countries it is universally prohibited. In Sweden it is punished with death. In England, besides the nullity of the second marriage, it subjects the offender to transportation, or imprisonment and branding, for the first offence, and to capital punishment for the second. And whatever may be said in behalf of polygamy when it is authorized by the law of the land, the marriage of a second wife during the lifetime of the first, in countries where such a second marriage is void, must be ranked with the most dangerous and cruel of those frauds by which a woman is cheated out of her fortune, her person, and her happiness.

"The ancient Medes compelled their citizens, in one canton, to take seven wives; in another, each woman to receive five husbands; according as war had made, in one quarter of their country, an extraordinary havoc among the men, or the women had been carried away by an enemy from another. This regulation, so far as it was adapted to the proportion which subsisted between the number of males and females, was founded in the reason upon which the most improved nations of Europe proceed at present.

"Cæsar found among the inhabitants of this island a species of polygamy, if it may be so called, which was perfectly singular. Uxores, says he, habent deni duodenique inter se communes; et maxime fratres cum fratribus, parentesque cum liberis: sed si qui sint ex his nati, corum habentur liberi, quo primum virgo quaque deducta est."

The same perspicuous writer adds, upon the subject of divorce, "The Scriptures seem to have drawn the obligation tighter than the law of nature left it. 'Whosoever,' saith Christ, 'shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away, doth commit adultery.' The law of Moses, for reasons of local expediency, permitted the Jewish husband to put away his wife; but whether for every cause, or for what causes, appears to have been controverted amongst the interpreters of those times. Christ, the precepts of whose religion were calculated for more general use and observation, revokes this permission, (as given to the Jews 'for the hardness of their hearts,') and promulges a law which was thenceforward to confine divorces to the single cause of adultery in the wife. And I see no sufficient reason to depart from the plain and strict meaning of Christ's words. The rule was new. It both surprised and offended his disciples, yet Christ added nothing to relax or explain it.

"Inferior causes may justify the separation of husband and wife, although they will not authorize such a dissolution of the marriage contract as would leave either party at liberty to marry again; for it is that liberty, in which the danger and mischief of divorces principally consist. If the care of children does not require that they should live together, and it is become, in the serious judgment of both, necessary for their mutual happiness that they should separate, let them separate by consent. Nevertheless, this necessity can hardly exist, without guilt and misconduct on one side or on both. Moreover, cruelty, ill usage, extreme violence, or moroseness of temper, or other great and continual provocations, make it lawful for the party aggrieved to withdraw from the society of the offender, without his or her consent. The law which imposes the marriage vow, whereby the parties promise to 'keep to each other,' or in other words to live together, must be understood to impose it with a silent reservation of these cases; because the same law has constituted a judicial relief from the tyranny of her husband, by the divorce à mensa et toro, and by the provision which it makes for the separate maintenance of the injured wife. St. Paul, likewise, distinguishes between a wife merely separating herself from the family of her husband, and her marrying again: 'Let not the wife depart from her husband; but, and if she do depart, let her remain unmarried.'" [114]

Notwithstanding the survey we have taken of the general degradation of the female sex, where the benign influences of Christianity have been unfelt, the argument may be confronted by a formidable array of plausible objections. It may be said, that amidst the barbarity of the SCANDINAVIAN NATIONS, they treated their women with extraordinary respect. The Scythians exempted the daughter from the punishment in which the son was obliged to partake with the father, and the German women even inherited the throne. Some of the laws, among the Goths, respecting illicit intercourse, were highly reasonable and just, and our remote ancestors may be cited as examples of treating women with the utmost veneration. It may seem indicative also of the prevalence of similar sentiments, that the ancient mythologies abound in female divinities: the Phoenicians worshipped the goddess Astarte, the Scythians, Appia, the Scandinavians, Friggia, the wife of Odin. It may be further urged, with regard to the GREEKS and ROMANS, that though the melancholy picture we have already drawn of their conduct be true, yet their history presents some remarkable evidences of the elevated condition of their women, and the honourable regard which they obtained. Among the former, indeed, few instances can be adduced, in addition to that of Areta, the daughter of Aristippus, who fixed upon her son the surname of , or disciple of his mother, in consequence of her having been his instructer in the sciences and philosophy. The Romans, at some periods of their history, paid extraordinary respect to their women; the institution of the vestals is a memorial of the estimation in which female virtue was held, and the emperor Heliogabalus was desirous that his wife should have a voice in the senate. They allowed their women to celebrate an annual feast, to commemorate the reconciliation between them and the Sabines, by means of their wives; and they erected an equestrian statue to Cloelia, and a temple to Fortune, in honour of the sex; because the mother and wife of Coriolanus had caused that hero to retire weeping from his native country, when he was irresistible by arms. [115] But the most plausible objection to the general argument seems derivable from the history of CHIVALRY, under whose influence it is alleged that women were not only not degraded, but were actually advanced to the highest condition, and possessed the most commanding influence. The knights, at their installation, took solemn vows of self-devotement to the cause of female honour; and ladies were constantly engaged as umpires at tournaments, took off the armour of the conquerors, and irivested them with magnificent robes. The middle ages witnessed the extraordinary sight of knight-errants wandering over distant countries, with their sword and lance in hand, to contest the point of the beauty and virtue of their ladies, with all who ventured to intimate the slightest doubt or suspicion on the subject. Their expeditions were usually made in consequence of some requisition on the part of their mistresses, or to fulfil a vow voluntarily incurred in a moment of intoxication and excitement.

The reply to these general objections has been in part anticipated. Christianity assigns to women their proper place in society, neither admitting of their being tyrannized over by despotic authority, nor impiously honoured by a ridiculous adulation. They are to be viewed as help meets, not, as slaves; to be respected and loved, but not deified. While the religion of Jesus raises them to great consideration in the scale of society, it imposes a salutary restraint upon human passions, and checks every approach to the assumption of an unnatural superiority. It bestows a rank which secures them from contempt or disregard, while it equally prevents a senseless adoration: so that its principles disallow the barbaric treatment of uncivilized nations and the follies of the chivalrous ages.

In the different periods and places to which the objection refers, the conduct of mankind was marked with inconsistency. Greece and Rome exhibit ample specimens of this nature; and the time of chivalry afford illustrations equally remarkable. The knights of the order were not distinguished by fidelity to their wives, or by a concern for the education of their daughters: their devotion to the female sex was, in fact, without principle and without love; they fought, from vanity and fashion, for persons whom they had basely dishonoured and secretly despised; and while their flattery and folly were sufficiently discreditable to their own understandings and hearts, they tended in a deplorable degree to corrupt the principles of those whom they professed to value.

It is further obvious, that in the very best periods of Greek and Roman history there existed no security against a change in the treatment of women, arising from the general recognition of any of those great principles of moral conduct which constitute the basis of good government and of well-regulated society. Passion predominated above reason, and received its impulse solely from casual circumstances. It was, in fact, accidental, whether it should operate amiably or malignantly; and the felicity of one half of the human species depended upon the precarious and ever vacillating humour of the other. Virtue was scarcely seen upon the earth, except at occasional and often distant visitations, or as she shed a fitful and flickering light into the retreats of systematic philosophy. Woman was at the mercy of every wind—to-day honoured—to-morrow despised—now a goddess—and anon a slave! Viewing heathen countries in the most favourable aspect in which history presents them, and admitting to the fullest extent the correctness of those details of virtue and valour which she has transmitted to us, the conduct of the Celtic and Scandinavian nations, and instances deduced from cultivated and classic regions, or from modern times, can only be considered as exceptions which do not impugn the general alignment, corroborated as it has been by a historical and geographical delineation of society in every age of the world, and every quarter of the globe.

Behold Christianity, then, walking forth in her purity and greatness to bless the earth, diffusing her light in every direction, distributing her charities on either hand, quenching the flames of lust and the fires of ambition, silencing discord, spreading peace, and creating all things new! Angels watch her progress, celebrate her influence, and anticipate her final triumphs! The moral creation brightens beneath her smiles, and owns her renovating power; at her approach man loses his fierceness and woman her chains; each becomes blessed in the other, and God glorified in both!



Appendix.



(SEE p. 320.)

The concurrent evidence of a variety of passages of Scripture respecting the existence of Satan, ind his interference in human concerns, have been rejected with singular and pertinacious audacity, solely upon the ground that the whole of these representations must be figurative, because they are not consonant to human reason—which seems to be a very dignified sort of personage, assuming to herself the right of calling revelation to her bar, and disposing at pleasure of the doctrines of Heaven. As, however, truth will always bear investigation, it may not be improper to devote a few additional pages to this subject, with a view of satisfying; the humble inquirer, that sound sense and divine testimony are really and entirely coincident.

Whatever is revealed it becomes us to believe, and simply on this account, that it is revealed; if the subject of the revelation be mysterious or incomprehensible, this does not annul our obligation implicitly to believe it, because sufficient reasons may exist in the Eternal Mind for the concealment of its nature, or it may surpass the comprehension of our limited capacities; but if it be naturally capable of investigation—if it be not only a fact, but a fact in proof of which evidences may be adduced, and explanations furnished, our minds cannot be better employed, than in thus superinducing substantial evidence or vivid probability upon the testimony of divine inspiration.

I. It is highly reasonable to suppose, that there are beings of a distinct and superior order to ourselves in the universe. Nothing can be more improbable than to imagine that this earth is the only inhabited region of universal empire, the only peopled province in the creation of God; especially when we observe that it forms but one, and that a small globe of matter belonging to a system in which others, and some very superior bodies, are found moving round the came centre, and legulated by similar laws; and that this whole system itself is but one out of ten thousand others that constitute the heavenly constellations, and "pave the shining way to the divine abode."

The productions of Infinite Wisdom are wonderfully diversified. In the present world we have an opportunity of observing them only in the descending scale, from man, the summit of creation, down through all the gradations of animal existence, to the scarcely discernible insects that flit in the summer sunbeams, and to the minuter world of microscopic discovery. But analogy would lead us to infer, that there may be beings in the vast dominion of universal space as much superior to man as man himself is superior to insects or animalculæ. It is not probable that creative power should cease to operate precisely at the point where human existence commences; and especially as mind admits of incalculable diversity in the extent of its energies and capacities, and as it is found in all cases to possess a power of improvement and expansion, it is likely, under other circumstances and in other worlds, it may he inconceivably superior to the highest elevation it his ever attained in this lower region. Hence we infer the great probabilily of angelic existence.

II. It is reasonable to suppose, that superior intelligences were constituted free agents, and capable therefore of retaining or forfeiting their primeval character and happiness, for this is the evident lay of the rational creation, so far it comes within the limits of our observation. If this be the case, some of these beings may probably have misused their liberty, and become depraved and corrupt. It is essential to the notion of free agency, to suppose this possible, and though from the infinite benignity of the Divine Being, we should infer that he would create them holy and happy, we cannot conclude they must necessarily be preserved in such a state. There is nothing in the nature of the blessed God, as a just and holy Being, to require this, no obligation to do so resulting from the mere circumstance of their being thus created, and nothing, in a perfect system of holy government, to demand it. Indeed, quite the reverse, because it is natural to infer, that the subjects of divine government, however elevated in character and condition, should be responsible to their Ruler, and liberty of thought and action, the power of choice, and refusal of obedience and disobedience, is essential to responsibility. There may, therefore, probably exist unholy or evil spirits, such as have not kept their first estate, and consequently amenable to righteous laws, and proper objects of punishment.

III. As it is reasonable to suppose that the government of God may admit of the existence of fallen and evil spirits, as well as those of a more honourable class, it is equally so to conclude, that a similar or analogous variety of talent, capacity, and guilt may obtain to that which we observe in the constitution of other intelligent creatures both good and evil, in this world. Wicked men are not satisfied to be sought by criminals, they have no wish to be alone in sin but are uniformly anxious to seduce others into the perpetration of those iniquities which they themselves have dared to commit. The first action of Eve after her transgression, was to hand the forbidden fruit to her husband, and persuade him to eat, and it is the earliest wish of a rebellious heart to involve others in the guilt and misery of their own deeds, partly for the sake of concealing their enormity, by diverting the eye from observing the awful proportions of then individual offences, and partly to acquire encouragement and support in the commission of yet unpractised crimes. Hence "one sinner destroyeth much good." According to his capacity or opportunity he becomes the centre of a large circle of impious association, he sways inferior minds, and forms them into so many satellites round his person, who individually acquire a lustre from his pre-eminence, and feel the attraction of his base superiority. Hence the world of wickedness is ruled by an incalculable number of petty princes, who each assume independent empire, but all combine to carry on eternal war against the order of providence, the good of society, and the glory of God,

It is not absurd, then, to conclude, that a similar diversity prevails amongst evil beings of a superior class, that some may be far more atrocious in their characters than others, and more capacitated to do extensive mischief. It is equally likely, that their influence over other evil spirits may be proportioned to these circumstances, and that their example or advice may excite to deeds of infernal daring. These considerations would eventually conduct us to the probability of the existence of one, pre-eminent above the rest in crime and in capacity, who may influence the several chiefs of the infernal empire, as they exercise a power over inferior demons; or that Satan, or the devil, is "the prince of the power of the air."

IV. The invisible nature of diabolical agency can be no sufficient objection to its existence. Admitting that there are other proofs, this circumstance could not diminish their force, much less destroy their evidence. It must be granted, that without other proofs it would be a radical objection, because in such a case the whole statement would he gratuitous and conjectural. If it were allowable to suppose such an agency, it might be equally so to refuse admitting it; every one may be amused or not with a pure fiction, an imaginary creation. But do not plead, that the invisibility of diabolical agency is any proof or any presumption of its reality; but simply that it is no objection, that it has no power to neutralize the evidence produced, and that unbelievers have no authority, on this account, to treat the subject with that profane and impertinent ridicule, which is a mere commonplace artifice to evade unwelcome convictions.

God is invisible—but is this any argument against his being? The human soul is invisible—is this a proof that it does not exist? The magnetic influence cannot be seen—is this a reason that it does not operate? Are the opinions or philosophers deduced from the analogies of nature, that suns and stars and systems occupy the distant regions of space, which have never yet been penetrated by the best constructed telescopes, rendered improbable by the allegation, that no eye and no instrument can discern them? The existence and operations of the devil are admitted to be invisible to sense, and in many cases, perhaps, difficult of investigation by reason—what then? Nothing.

V. The supposition that the operation of invisible spirits is secret and imperceptible to ourselves, cannot be adduced as demonstrative against its reality. What is more difficult to ascertain than the operation of our own minds, and the motives by which we are impelled? Nor is it difficult only to trace the process of reasoning that has led us to any particular conclusion, and to recall the fleeting thoughts flinch have passed through the mind in rapid succession, so as to tell how we came to be influenced to a certain conclusion; but we often cannot discover what external objects or what incidental circumstances, first directed us into the inquiry, or led to the result.

Still more inconceivable is the manner in which spirit operates upon spirit, where there is no external agency; and it is inconceivable, because of our little experience on the subject, and because the usual modes of impression are through the medium of sense. The ear, the eye, the touch, convey impressions to the spirit; but when neither are sensibly affected, we cannot trace the influence exercised upon us, although it is highly irrational to deny its possibility. Besides, we know that "God, who is a Spirit, operates upon our souls at times and under circumstances, when we are unconscious of this influence; and, if we had no evidence from Scripture, reason must admit that such an operation is not improbable."

The only objection which can arise here, is that of supposing the evil spirit in any respects independent of God; a supposition, however, which is not to be charged upon the advocates of diabolical agency. "It is evident," says Dr. Leland, "to the common sense of mankind, that there is a vast difference between the supposition of an almighty and independent evil being, a supposition full of absurdity and horror; and that of an inferior dependent being, who was made originally pure and upright, but fell by his own voluntary defection into vice and wickedness; and who, though permitted in many instances to do mischief, and to act according to his evil inclinations, as wicked men are often permitted to do in this present state, yet are still under the sovereign control of the most holy, wise, and powerful Governor of the world. For, in this case, we may be sure, from the divine wisdom, justice, and goodness, that God will, in the fittest season, inflict a punishment upon that evil being and his associates, proportionable to their crimes; and that in the mean time, he setteth bounds to their malice and rage, and provideth sufficient assistance for those whom they endeavour to seduce to evil, whereby they may be enabled to repel their temptations, if it be not their own faults; and that he will in his superior wisdom bring good out of their evil, and overrule even their malice and wickedness, for promoting the great ends of his government, This is the representation made to us of this matter in the Holy Scripture, nor is there any thing in this that can be proved to be contrary to sound reason. And we may justly conclude, that in the final issue of things, the wisdom as well as righteousness of this part of the divine administration will most illustriously appear."



END.



Footnotes



[1]: Compare Ps. cxxxii. 11. Isa. xi. 1. Jer. xxiii 5, and xxxiii. 15. Gen. xii. 3, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, and xxviii. 14.

[2]: Lowth's Isaiah, ch. xi. translation and notes, VOL. II.

[3]: DODDRIDGE.

[4]: There are, according to the Jews, four angels that surround the throne of God—Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel. The latter they place, conformably with his expression to Zacharias, [Hebrew], before him, or in his presence.

[5]: The Ethiopic version, instead of "in those days," renders the expression in the thirty-ninth verse of 1st chap. of Luke, "in that day."

[6]: Selden. Uxor. Heb. lib. ii. cap. 1.

[7]: This remarkable time cannot be stated with any certainty. The earliest antiquity determines nothing upon the subject. Towards the end of the second, or beginning of the third century only, was this attempted; when those who were most curious in their researches fixed it about the twentieth of May. Clemens Alexandrinus thinks that it was the twenty-eighth year after the battle of Actium; that is, the 41st year of Augustus; but Joseph Scaliger places it in his forty-second year; and, after a most laborious investigation, shows that Christ was born about the autumnal equinox, the latter end of September, or beginning of October. SCALIG. Animad. ad Chron. Euseb. p. 174, et seq.—It was not till the fourth century that this great event was believed to have occurred on the twenty-fifth of December. They have not failed to assign what they deemed important reasons for this decision. As the sun, they say, is then beginning to rise on our hemisphere, and again to approach our pole, it is the proper period to which the rising of the Sun of Righteousness should be referred. The Romans have another reason, deduced from the preceding. At the return of the sun the feast of the Saturnalia was celebrated at Rome. It was thought proper to substitute in the place of this feast, which was distinguished by its profane rejoicings, that of our Saviour's birth, for the purpose of inducing the people to separate joy from riot. It is, however, the event, and not the day, we celebrate. Comp. SAURIN, Discours Historiques, Critiques, &c. continuez par Beausobre, tom. ix. p. 146-148, 8vo.

[8]: Compare Lev. xii. 2, 4, 6, 8. Numb. viii. 16, 17. xviii. 15, 16. Five shekels amounted to about twelve shillings and sixpence of our money.

[9]: "This (wise men from the East) is not only an indefinite, but an improper version of the term. It is indefinite, because those called were a particular class, party, or profession among the Orientals, as much as Stoics, Peripatetics, and Epicureans were among the Greeks. They originated in Persia, but afterward spread into other countries, particularly into Assyria and Arabia, bordering upon Judea on the East. It is probable that the Magians here mentioned came from Arabia. Now to employ a term for specifying one sect, which may with equal propriety be applied to fifty, of totally different, or even contrary opinions, is surely a vague way of translating. It is also, in the present acceptation of the word, improper. Formerly the term wise men denoted philosophers, or men of science and erudition: it is hardly ever used so now, unless in burlesque. Some say Magi; but Magians is better, as having more the form of an English word." CAMPBELL'S Translation of the Four Gospels, vol. ii. notes.

[10]: "Salvete, flores Martyrum, Quos, lusis ipso in limine, Christi insecutor sustulit, Ceu turbo nascentes rosas.

Vos, prima Christi victima, Grex immolatorum tener, Aram ante ipsam, simplices, Palma et coronis luditis."

[11]: Bishop Horne.

[12]: Josephus has given an affecting account of this awful death. Vide Joseph. Antiq. lib. xvii. cap. 6. and Bell. Jud. lib. i. cap. 33.

[13]: So say the Jews, [Hebrew] the passover of women is arbitrary.

[14]: Misn. Sanhedrin c. v. sec. 4. ap. GILL in loc.

[15]: At my Father's Syriac [Hebrew], in domo patris mei. The Armenian version renders the words in the same manner. It has been justly observed that is a Greek idiom, not only with classical writers, but with the sacred penmen, for denoting the house of such a person.... Campbell.

[16]: Judg. xi. 12. 2 Sam. xvi. 10. I Kings xvii. 18. 2 Kings iii. 13. and ix. 19. Sept. translation,

[17]: Blackwall observes, "'Tis the opinion of some learned men, that the holy Jesus, the most tender and dutiful Son that ever was born, when he called his mother plainly woman, declared against those idolatrous honours which he foresaw would be paid her in latter ages, which is no improbable guess. But in the more plain and unceremonious times it was a title applied to ladies of the greatest quality and merit by people of the greatest humanity and exactness of behaviour. So Cyrus the Great says to the queen of the Armenians, : and servants addressed queens and their mistresses in the same language." Blackwall's Sacred Classics, V. ii. p. 206. second edit.

[18]: These water-pots contained two or three baths apiece. A bath was about seven gallons and a half.

[19]: Bishop Hall.

[20]: Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. 432. ii. 56, 71.

[21]: Bossuet, Serm. pour la Fête de la Conception.

[22]: The bishop of Meux, who has been already quoted, does not fail to suggest some delectable additions to her titles. He speaks in one of his discourses of her "sacred body, the throne of chastity, the temple of incarnate wisdom," &c. but the whole paragraph shall be introduced, though perhaps it had better remain untranslated:—"Le corps sacrè de Marie, le trône de la chastité, le temple de la sagesse incarneé, l'organe du Saint-Esprit, et le siége de la vertu du Très-Haut, n'a pas dû demeurer dans le tombeau; et le triomphe de Marie seroit imperfait, s'il s'accomplissoit sans sa sainte chair, qui a été comme la source de sa gloire. Venez done, Vierges de Jésus Christ, chastes épouses du Sauveur des ames, venez admirer les beautés de cette chair virginale, et contempler trois merveilles que la sainte virginité opère sur elle. La sainte virginité la préserve de corruption; et ainsi elle lui conserve l'être: la sainte virginité lui attire une influence céleste, qui la fait ressusciter avant le temps: ainsi elle lui rend la vie: la sainte virginité répand sur elle de toutes parts une lumière divine; et ainsi elle lui donne la gloire. C'est ce qu'il nous faut expliquer par ordre;" and he does explain these trois merveilles in a manner well calculated to satisfy every Papist, and to sicken every Protestant. Vide Serm. pour l'Assumpt. de la Vierge, P. 2.

[23]: Quoted by M. Pascal, in the ninth of his "Lettres Provinciales." Consult also "the Life of Melancthon," by the author of this work, chap. iii.

[24]: Picart, Ceremonies et Coutumes de tous les Peuples da Monde, tom. i.

[25]: Dr. Johnson

[26]: Dr. Johnson.

[27]: Gen. xxxiii. 18, 19, Josh. xxiv. 32. This place was the metropolis of the tribe of Ephraim. It was destroyed by Abimelech, but rebuilt by Jeroboam, who made it the seat of the kingdom of Israel. It was afterward called Neapolis; and Vespasian or Domitian having established a colony there, it received the Roman appellation of Flavia Cesarea. Herod gave it the name of Sebaste.

[28]: It stood two hundred years. JOSEPH. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 18.

[29]: JUST. MART. Apol. II.

[30]: "_Living water, . It may surprise an English reader, unacquainted with the Oriental idiom, that this woman, who appears by the sequel to have totally misunderstood our Lord, did not ask what he meant by _living water,_ but proceeded on the supposition that she understood him perfectly; and only did not conceive how, without some vessel for drawing and containing that water, he could provide her with it to drink. The truth is, the expression is ambiguous. In the most familiar acceptation, _living water_ meant no more than running water. In this sense, the water of springs and rivers would be denominated _living_, as that of cisterns and lakes would be called _dead_, because motionless. Thus, Gen. xxvi. 19. we are told, that Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. It is _living water,_ both in the Hebrew and the Greek, as marked on the margin of our Bibles. Thus also Lev. xiv. 5. what is rendered _running water_ in the English Bible, is in both these languages _living water_. Nay, this use was not unknown to the Latins, as may be proved from Virgil and Ovid. In this passage, however, our Lord uses the expression in the more sublime sense of divine teaching, but was mistaken by the woman as using it in the popular acceptation." CAMPBELL'S Trans. of the Four Gospels, vol. ii. p. 518, _notes_.

[31]: "It is no unusual practice with the Jews; we often have heard of it. R. Jonathan and R. Jannai were sitting together; there came a certain man, [Hebrew], and kissed the feet of R. Jonathan." Again, "R. Meir stood up, and Bar Chama, [Hebrew], kissed his knees, or feet. This custom was also used by the Greeks and Romans, among their civilities and in their salutations." GILL in loc. Consult also HARMER'S Observations, vol. ii. chap. 6.

[32]: ROBINSON.

[33]: "There is in these denominations no inconsistency. By birth she was of Syrophenicia, so the country about Tyre and Sidon was denominated, by descent of Canaan, as most of the Tyrians and Sidonians originally were; and by religion a Greek, according to the Jewish manner of distinguishing between themselves and idolaters. Ever since the Macedonian conquests, Greek became a common name for idolater, or at least one uncircumcised, and was held equivalent to Gentile. Of this we have many examples in Paul's epistles, and in the Acts. Jews and Greeks, , are the same with Jews and Gentiles" CAMPBELL'S Transl. of the Gospels in loc. notes.

[34]: The question has been often agitated, whether the possessions of the New Testament are to be ascribed to demoniacal influence, or whether they are so represented in conformity to the popular prejudices of the age, being in reality nothing more than diseases. Surely a distinct existence must be attributed to these, as evil spirits, when we consider their number, the actions particularly ascribed to them, the conversation which they held respecting themselves, the Son of God, and their own destiny, the desires and passions they are represented as manifesting, and various other circumstances of their history. Is it credible, that a mere disease should be said to have addressed Christ in such language as the following: "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Comp. Matt. viii. 29, and the succeeding verses.

[35]: Bishop Hall.

[36]: Bishop Hall

[37]: Doddridge on the Care of the Soul.

[38]: The whole narrative is contained in the eleventh chapter of John, and this reference in the fifth verse.

[39]: Three hundred Roman pence, or denarii, amount to about nine pounds seven shillings and sixpence sterling.

[40]: Bishop Hall.

[41]: The farthing was a quadrant, or fourth part of a Roman assis, a coin of similar value with the of the Greeks, or the fourth part of an obolus (the least Athenian coin,) that is, two brass pieces. These were the same with the prutas of the Jews, two of which make a quardrant.

[42]: Barrow's Works, vol. i. p. 457, fol.

[43]: Paley's Moral Philosophy, vol. i. p. 254—257.

[44]: Sermon on the Duty and Reward of Bounty to the Poor.

[45]: Acts xvi. "Philippi was a city of Macedonia near the confines of Thrace. It lies near the sea, as it were at the head of the Archipelago. It was so named from Philip, king' of Macedon, who repaired and enlarged it; but its more ancient name was Dathos. It was also called Crenides from its numerous springs, whence flowed the river mentioned Acts xvi. 13; , kreenee, in Greek meaning a spring. Julius Cæsar is said to have planted there a Roman colony; and the neighbourhood of Philippi was the scene of conflict between him and Pompey, and afterward between his assassinators, Brutus and Cassius, and his partizans, Antony and Octavius. It is said still to retain some monuments of its former splendour, although it is much depopulated and sunk to decay." Bevan's Life of the Apostle Paul, p. 367.

[46]: For information on the subject of proselytes, consult Dr. Gill's "Dissertation concerning the Baptism of Jewish Proselytes," chap. i. in vol. iii, of his Body of Divinity.

[47]: GREGORY'S Evidences, Doctrines, and Duties of the Christian Religion, vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.

[48]: Bp. Taylor's Holy Living, Chap. i. sect. 3.

[49]: The purple die is called in I Maccab. iv. 23, purple of the sea, or sea purple; it being the blood or juice of a turbinated shell-fish, which the Jews call [Hebrew] Chalson; this they speak of as a shell-fish. Hence those words 'Go and learn of the Chalson, for all the while it grows, its shell grows with it:' and that purple was died with the blood of it, appears from the following instances: The best fruits in the land, Gen. xliii. 11, are interpreted, the things that are the most famous in the world, as the Chalson, &c, with whose blood, as the gloss on the passage says, they die purple: and the purple died with this was very valuable, and fetched a good price. The tribe of Zebulon is represented as complaining to God, that he had given to their brethren fields and vineyards, to them mountains and hills; to their brethren lands, to them seas and rivers: to which it is replied, All will stand in need of thee because of Chalson; as it is said, Deut. xxxiii. 19 They shall suck of the abundance of the seas; the gloss upon it, interpreting the word Chalson is, it comes out of the sea to the mountains, and with its blood they die purple, which is sold at a very dear price.... It may be further observed, that the fringes which the Jews wore upon their garments, had on them a riband of blue or purple. Numb. xv. 38, for the word there used is by the Septuagint rendered the purple, in Numb. iv. 7, and sometimes hyacinth; and the whole fringe was by the Jews called [Hebrew], purple. Hence it is said, 'Does not every one that puts on the purple (i.e. the fringes on his garments) in Jerusalem make men to wonder? and a little after, the former saints or religious men, when they had wove in it (the garment) three parts, they put on it [Hebrew], the purple. And there were persons who traded in these things, and were called, [Hebrew], sellers of purple, as here; that is, for the tzitzith, or fringes for the borders of the garments, on which the riband of blue or purple was put, as the gloss explains it. The Jews were very curious about the colour and the dying of it, that it should be a colour that would hold and not change, and that the riband be died on purpose for that use. Maimonides gives rules for the dying of it, and they were no less careful of whom they bought it; for they say that the purple was not to be bought, but of an approved person, or one that was authorized for that purpose; and a scruple is raised by one, whether he had done right or no in buying it of the family of a doctor deceased. Now, since Lydia might be a Jewess, or, at least, as appears by what follows, was a proselytess of the Jewish religion, this might he her business, to sell the purple for their fringes, and, it may be, the fringes themselves. GILL in loc.

[50]: Eighth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society.

[51]: Herod. Euterpe.

[52]: Tacit. de Moribus Germanoram, chap, xviii. xix.

[53]: Tacit. Hist.

[54]: Xenophon.

[55]: Plut. in Solone.

[56]: DIONYSUS HALICARN. ii. c. 25.

[57]: Cranz's Greenland.

[58]: Georgi's Description of the Russian Nations. Weber's Russia.

[59]: Consult Steller.

[60]: Weber and Georgi.

[61]: Clarke's Travels, part i. p. 35, 4to.

[62]: Thornton's Present State of Turkey, (1807) 4to. p. 376.

[63]: Collin's Voyages, 1807, p. 152.

[64]: Peyssonel II. p. 246.

[65]: Quart. Rev. May, 1811, p. 330.

[66]: Inquiry into the Origin of Ranks.

[67]: Voyage en Chine de l'Ambassade Hollandaise, vol. ii. p. 116, et seq.

[68]: Barrow's China, p. 141, 541.

[69]: P. Du Halde, vol. i. 278.

[70]: P, Du Halde, vol. in. p. 211.

[71]: Barrow's China, p. 145.

[72]: Ibid. p. 518.

[73]: Edinburgh Rev. July, 1809, p. 428, 429.

[74]: It may be proper to observe, that the Hindoos never bury their dead; but if they can afford it, always burn them. If they be too poor, or the person be rendered unclean by some incurable disease, they are either thrown into a river or left on the ground to be devoured.

[75]: A kind of celestial beings, which are fabled by the Hindoos.

[76]: it is not generally known, that women, in certain cases, burn themselves with any part of their husbands' effects, as a substitute for him; but on inquiry of my Pundit, whether this be now practised, he assured me it was, and that he had himself seen many instances of it.

[77]: Shraddha, or Pinda, is an offering made to the manes of any deceased person, on an appointed day after his or her death. It consists of rice, and other article, often made into cakes, and is continued annually for seven generations by all his or her descendants, called Sapinda, and in some cases to fourteen generations by all the descendants, who, when beyond the seventh generation, are called Sakoolya.

[78]: The following law, from the same book, will show how uncleanness for death or birth must be observed in the different casts: viz. If a person die, or if a child be born, the Sapinda shall be unclean ten days for a Brahmman, twelve for a Kshetra, fifteen for a Bysha, and one month for a Soodra: during which time they can make no offering to their ancestors or the gods.

[79]: Dospinda an inferior offering made to the manes.

[80]: This may happen if her own son be an infant, or very far off, or if she have no son.

[81]: The Hindoos believe the metemphsychosis, and say that certain diseases, as mahabhead, consumptions, and some others; also dreadful accidents, such as being killed by a Brahmman; and great sin, such as killing a Brahmman, are the fruit of sins committed in a former life.

[82]: A person with such diseases, accidents, or sins cannot have the rite of burning his body performed till an offering of atonement has been made, which qualifies him for having his obsequies performed; viz. Dahon or burning (in which case the wife may die with him,) and the Shraddha, or Pinda. This, however, does not gain such on one admission into bliss, which is only done by the Sahemaron, or the wife's dying with him.

[83]: Bap. Period. Accounts, vol. i. No. 6, p. 473-476.

[84]: Bapt. Period. Accounts, No. xvii. p. 324.

[85]: Cordiner's Description of Ceylon, vol. ii. p. 16.

[86]: History of Sumatra, 4to. 1811, p. 257, 381, 382.

[87]: Vogel, p. 649. Voyages des Hollandois, i. 349.

[88]: Turnbull's Voyage round the World, p. 6.

[89]: Turnbull, p. 11.

[90]: Malcolm's History of Persia, vol. ii. p. 333, 434, 455, 4to. 1815.

[91]: Sale's Koran, vol. ii. p. 79, n. and 472, n.

[92]: Malcolm's History of Persia, vol. i. p. 173, n.

[93]: Dampier, ii. p. 6. 86. Forster's Voyage, i. p. 212. ii. p. 71. Meiners, vol. i. p. 80.

[94]: Arvieux, i. p. 229, 230. Meiners, vol. i. p. 96.

[95]: Lewis and Clark's Travels up the Missouri, p. 33, 34. 4to. 1814.

[96]: Seventh Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1811, p. 59.

[97]: Some Account of New Zealand, 1807, p. 13.

[98]: Maggil's Account of Tunis, p. 92.

[99]: Jackson's Account of the Empire of Morocco, 4to, 1809, p. 152.

[100]: Brown's Travels in Africa, &c. 2d ed. 4to. 1806, p. 335, 339.

[101]: Park's Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa, Sic. 4to. 1799, p. 39.

[102]: Durand's Voyage to Senegal, p. 104, 105.

[103]: Park's Travels, p. 157.

[104]: Park's Travels, p. 226, 267.

[105]: Park's Travels p. 347.

[106]: Barrow's Travels in Southern Africa, second edit. 1806, vol. i. p. 159.

[107]: Barrow's Travels, vol. i. p. 206.

[108]: Dampier, ii. p. 86.

[109]: Des Marchais, ii. p. 178.

[110]: Labat, ii. p. 299. Adanson, p. 32. Oldendorp, i. p. 376.

[111]: Meiners, i. p. 52—54.

[112]: Cavazzi, ii. p. 123. Meiners, i. p. 59, 69. See also Rees's Cyclopædie, and Encyclop. Brit, under the word's Ansiko, Anthropophagi, Batta. Marsden's Hist, of Sumatra, 3d ed. 4to. 1811, p. 390-395, & 463.

[113]: This subject has been already more than once remarked upon this work. See vol. i. p. 21 and 255.

[114]: Paley's Mor. Philos. vol. i. p. 3. ch. vi. & vii.

[115]: Plutarch in Rom. I. p. 123. Livy II. p. 13, 40.

THE END