cles. They could heal the sick, and cast out devils, when their faith sufficed, and the means they employed were suitable. This however was not always the case. They adhered, it is true, to their Master's cause, when many others fell away. But where was their wisdom, the ordinary wisdom of believers? "O fools, and slow of heart to believe!" said our Saviour to them. Had they knowledge, even ordinary scriptural knowledge? Witness their expectation of a temporal Messiah and a carnal kingdom, that they had not. Was it a proof of their discernment of spirits, even that which they might have imbibed from a personal interview with their divine Instructor, that they confounded those who were for him with those that were against him? Were their contentions for the superiority consistent with that charity which the Spirit engendereth? Did not even John, with the rest, desert his Lord, and Peter deny him, and Thomas disbelieve his resurrection? Whereas, after the day of Pentecost we no more hear either of folly, or ignorance, or strifes, or unbelief, or cowardice, or of any display of an unchristian spirit in any of them, or of their failure in any attempt to work a miracle. What is the inference? That the Spirit took up his abode in their hearts as the internal witness of the Christian dispensation, at the moment when the seal of their apostleship was bestowed on them.

Our Lord, in his latest promise of the Holy Ghost to his Apostles, before his crucifixion, dwells far more on his universal offices of an enlightener, a sanctifier, and a comforter, than on his miraculous operations, which are only spoken of as subservient to their apostolic commission. The advocates of the modern gifts have strangely confused ideas on this important subject.

"The abettors of this extravagant notion," says Dr. Styles, "have been hurried into its adoption by the confusion which exists in their minds regarding the distinction, the plain and obvious distinction, which the Scriptures every where teach us to recognize between miraculous operation and divine influence. Both are predicted in the Old Testament and the New; both are subjects of express assurance and promise; and the delusion of the modern prophets seems to arise from their inability to discriminate between them. Hence the predictions and promises which refer to the latter, chiefly or exclusively, are interpreted as applying equally to the former. When the grace only of the Holy Spirit is assured as the perpetual inheritance of the church, because it is associated with the extraordinary manifestation of his gifts, the assurance is supposed to extend an equal duration to both. That which is temporary is confounded with what is permanent; and pretensions, set up in behalf of the Christian dispensation, as a dispensation of miracles, which are totally incompatible with its character, as a system of MORAL AND SPIRITUAL INFLUENCE." The Question of Miracles Considered. The Pulpit, No. 473. Dec. 15, 1831. (65.) That the promise of the Spirit was personally made to the Apostles only, will be seen by a perusal of the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th chapters of St. John's Gospel; and the relation of our Saviour's final interview with them, by all the Evangelists. Luke indeed states, that on this occasion the eleven were gathered together, "and them that were with them." Who these were he tells us in Acts i. 14, "the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his brethren." But in the latter passage, while stating that they were present as the family of the house, he takes care, by a remarkable form of expression, to intimate that they took no active part in the deliberations and religious exercises of the Apostles. "These all, (the Apostles,) continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women," &c. Besides, Luke adds, that those to whom our Lord addressed his last promise of the Spirit, were continually in the temple, where promiscuous assemblies of men and women were not permitted. Indeed, in Acts i. 2, this Evangelist expressly asserts, that it was unto "the Apostles whom he had chosen," that he had given, among other commandments, that which required them to wait for the gift of the Spirit at Jerusalem.

In Acts i., after stating that the eleven Apostles all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication," a long parenthesis occurs, describing the manner in which the vacancy, occasioned by the apostasy of Judas, was filled up; by first selecting two out of

a hundred and twenty, and then casting lots. Some writers suppose these hundred and twenty to have been present, and to have formed the whole of the first Christian church. That the latter inference is unfounded, we may gather from 1 Cor. xv. 6, "After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." Why were not the remaining four hundred and eighty present also, if it were the privilege of the whole church to elect an apostle? Neither is it by any means certain that all who bore the names out of which the selection of two was made, were present. St. Luke merely says, parenthetically, "the number of the names together were about an hundred and twenty." Now, the phrase presumed to indicate the presence of this multitude is very remarkable, and occurs only in two other passages in the New Testament: Rev. iii. 4, "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis;" which evidently refers to the registry of the persons who bore them in "the book of life," mentioned in the next verse; and Rev. xi. 13, "And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand." The phrase translated "of men," is ovòμara avoρúπwv, "the names of men." This also, in the expansion of the same prophecy in chap. xiii. will be found to have a relation to their bearing the name of the beast, which indicates their enrolment in his book. Neither has it been satisfactorily shown that such a phrase was in use by the classical writers of Greece or Rome. They were in the constant habit, indeed, of using the word "voμa as a metonymy, but it was in the singular, and coupled with a proper name, or an adjective derived from one; as the rò 0ɛßauwv ovoμa (the Theban name) of Æschines, and the Nomen Romanum (the Roman name) of Cicero. The probability therefore is, that the oxλos óvoμárwv, literally, "the crowd of names,” indicates, not any personal presence, but a list or register of the persons recommended as suitable for the apostolic office by the church at large. Peter, in his speech on the occasion, evidently addresses none but the apostles. (ver. 16—22.)

The parenthesis being concluded, in the first verse of chap. ii. the evangelist resumes his narrative in the very words with which it broke off, and which unquestionably there applied to the Apostles alone. "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were ALL with one accord in one place." Besides, (ver. 7,) those who heard the gospel preached to them, every one in his own language, said one to another, "Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans ?” The Apostles were so. The angels call them so, (chap. i. 11.) But we can scarcely suppose all the hundred and twenty were. Again, (ver. 14,) Peter is spoken of as standing up, with the eleven ; and when he had done speaking, (ver. 37,) the auditory said unto Peter, and to the rest of the Apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Every thing, both in the letter and the spirit of the two first chapters of Acts, evinces that on the Apostles alone was conferred the visible and miraculous outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost.

(66.) That miraculous gifts were bestowed for apostolical or ministerial purposes only, St. Paul seems distinctly to intimate. Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds." 2 Cor. xii. 12.

(67.) Pilkington on the Unknown Tongues." And as to the Hebrew, I ask, whether it is not a known fact, that one of the gifted party has, for some time, been acquainted with the Hebrew language, and made it a subject of special attention? Thus the whole mystery of the case will be explained."-Fletcher's Sermon.

(68.) To this a prophet of their own assents: "If it were a voice from Satan, or if it were a presumptuous attempt of the flesh to counterfeit the work of the Holy Ghost, you would know it. Therefore, entertaining doubts on the proof, is just proof how low the men are fallen, and how little of the Spirit they have to enable them to detect what is false, or to sanction what is true."—Armstrong's Sermon. The Pulpit, No. 466, Oct. 27, 1831.

(69.) "They are not described as given to the same person; but one given to one person, and another to another person; they are distributed to the church. Now, this is of importance."-M'Neile's Sermon. The Preacher, No. 10. Oct. 21, 1830.

(70.) "Thus, from the dark recess, the Sybil spoke."-Virgil. One is forcibly reminded of a passage in Lucian's Dialogue of The Tyrant. As a company made up of

every condition of life, are voyaging together into the other world, Mycillus breaks out, and says, "Bless us! how dark it is! Where now is the fair Megillus? Who can tell here whether Simmiche or Phryne be the handsomer? Every thing is alike, and of the same colour; and no room for comparisons between beauties. Nay, my old cloak, which but now presented to your eyes so irregular a figure, is become as honourable a wear as his majesty's purple. For they are both vanished, and retired together under the same But, my friend the Cynic, where are you? Give me your hand you are initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Tell me now, do you not think this very like the blind march they make there?" Cynic. "Oh, extremely: and see, here comes one of the furies, as I guess, by her equipage, with her torch, and her terrible looks."

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(71.) How strangely fanaticism blunts the moral sense, we have an instance in John Lacy, (see Note 55,) who at length deserted his wife, after having done his utmost to leave her and her family in a state of utter destitution, and cohabited with another woman, justifying his conduct from Scripture: "Cast out the bond-woman and her son : for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman." Gal. iv. 30.

Of the tendency of fanaticism to deliver over its victims to infidelity, and of infidelity to plunge them in crime, have we not an awful example in Holloway, the murderer, who was executed only a few weeks ago? This wretch began by uttering enthusiastic exhortations among the Ranters, and ended by the commission of one of the most savage butcheries ever heard of.

(72.) Resbury's Exam. of Bellarmine, note 11.

(73.) CREDULITY is faith without reason; SCEPTICISM is reason without faith. Where the former prevails, the latter is sure to follow.

(74.) See Brandt's History of the Reformation, book ii. vol. i.

(75.) The unrelenting persecutions of persons suspected of witchcraft, by the Puritans and Covenanters of England and Scotland, are too well known to require illustration. In Sweden, a similar enthusiasm gave rise to similar cruelties. In one village alone, that of Monra, seventy persons were charged with this supposed crime at one time, of whom twenty-three were executed, along with fifteen children. The whole number of children implicated was about three hundred, most of whom were more or less tortured. The relation of these events, taken from the public register, and published by Sinclair, in his Satan's Invisible World Discovered, was confirmed by the Lord Lyonbergh, Envoy Extraordinary for the King of Sweden, at London, on the 8th of March, 1682. About the same time, a strange fancy possessed the Puritans of Boston, in New England, that numbers of them were under the power of witchcraft. The flame spread, says a contemporary author, with rage into every part of the country. They admitted, as evidence, stories of ghosts and visions, supposed to be delivered in sleep, to which they gave a name unknown in our law-books, that of Spectral Evidence. The prisons were crowded, and people were daily executed; yet the number of the witches, and of those bewitched, seemed continually to increase. The two Drs., Increase and Cotton Mather, who were respected as the apostles of the New England Church, gave their countenance to these measures; and Governor Phipps received an address of thanks from the preachers, for his cruelty and folly. On the Governor's relations, and those of Mr. Increase Mather, being charged with the supposed crime, the higher powers became sensible of their error, and put a stop to the prosecutions. A general fast was appointed, and prayers were ordered to be offered up "that God would pardon the errors of his people, in a late tragedy, occasioned by Satan and his instruments." The Quakers considered this as a judgment for the persecutions they had suffered. Arnold's History of America, chap. 2. The insane drivellings of Joanna Southcott are known to have been productive, since her death, of the grossest immoralities in certain towns in Lancashire.

Since these sheets were sent to press, the Rev. H. M'Neile has published Three Sermons, on Miracles and Spiritual Gifts," in refutation of the errors of the Regent's Square prophets and prophetesses. This is gratifying. He still, however, retains one doctrine in common with them, which opens a wide door for similar pretensions. The miraculous gifts of the Spirit, he thinks, are still to be coveted and prayed for. Certainly not. The difference between the miraculous gifts and the ordinary operations of the Spirit is this: the former were designed to qualify particular persons, labouring under every imaginable natural, local, and providential disadvantage, for the office of apostles, evangelists, and ministers of the gospel the latter were intended to enable all believers to walk aš children of light, and prepare them for their heavenly inheritance. Most of the qualifications conferred by the former were capable, under more favourable circumstances, and at a future period, of being substantially acquired by natural and ordinary means. Others are no longer wanted. For instance, though persons brought up among Jewish fishermen could not be expected to evince any great share of Christian wisdom,—persons brought up among well-instructed Christians may. Though ignorant Galileans, while the canon of Scripture was yet incomplete, and not generally accessible by private persons, could noť attain to any suitable degree of knowledge of the revealed will of God;-carefully educated Christians may, with the whole counsel of Jehovah complete in their hands. Faith, not saving, but guiding and sustaining faith, had not then the long succession of providential interferences in behalf of Christianity to lean upon, which it has now. Medical science was then in its infancy, and those on whom miraculous cures were performed, would otherwise have perished, or continued to languish in infirmity and pain. The same beneficial effects are now produced, probably to a greater extent, by the blessing of God on scientific skill. The innumerable instances of a miraculous change in heart and life, to which ministers can now point, are more than equivalent to the other miracles which the apostles, and other primitive Christians, were empowered to work. Prophecy is not needed now, as the whole history of time has been completely registered in its mysterious characters nor is discerning of spirits requisite now that the church, as to externals, has arrived at maturity; though it was obviously very needful in order to its first construction. As to tongues and their interpretation, there is no longer need of miracles to supply them. Travellers had ordinarily far more dangers to encounter in the age of the Apostles than they have at present. The countries they had to traverse were not so civilized, nor the roads so safe. They were frequently in perils from serpents and poison, which our missionaries, to any part of the world, need not encounter. All that miraculous gifts conferred, is now either no longer necessary, or may be acquired by the divine blessing on human endeavours. But the ordinary fruits of the Spirit, the Spirit only can produce; and therefore they have been common to all believers, from the day of Pentecost to the present moment, and will be so till heaven and earth shall pass away. That faith which unites the soul to the Redeemer,-charity, long-suffering, patience, meekness, purity,-there is but one principle that can produce, and that principle, therefore, was given to the church, not as a temporary substitute, but as a permanent requisite.

W. Tyler, Printer, 4, Ivy Lane, St. Paul's.