moral liberty. It is; or else the extrinsic temptation would fall harmless upon us, as an arrow blunted, having only rung on the opposing object. But who are they who affirm the objection? They who grudge human depravity its allprevailing ascendency, and by whom every thing is done to deny its existence, and to qualify its strength. And yet they will explode the dea of these fallen spirits having power to impress forms and positions of moral corruption on our nature, which have hitherto been deemed, by common consent, fiend-like and demoniacal; as though they fell not within the sweep and the range even of human corruption and mortal wickedness.

There are those who, sceptics of the Saviour's deity and impugners of the atonement, very firmly and very resolutely raise themselves against the idea and the supposition that any such spirits existed; and it may not appear at first, that this is, but an accidental appendage. Why should it be blended with a system with which it seems not to have any thing in common or sympathetic? But, on further reflection, we shall find, that, if such spirits do exist, then sin is an evil widely spread, and according to its extension must be its evil and its turpitude. But in their creed, evil is their good; and it is by evil that evil is to be cleansed; and it is by evil that evil is to be extirpated. Besides, if these spirits do exist, then there is an intrenchment that they have made in our world which would defy all popular argument, all philosophical analysis, all moral suasion. How, then, could they form these intrenchments? What principles, what incentives, what appetites, are theirs? But if such spirits do exist, they exist to depreciate the Saviour's glory, and to deride the Saviour's atonement, and to draw a veil over every mystery of his kingdom. See the alternative: if these spirits exist, they are their own adversaries; so that if there be fiends who oppose the Saviour, the opponents of the Saviour in the human form must strike a truce and alliance with them; and thus we find house divided against house, kingdom divided against kingdom, and Satan casting out Satan.

I want but one argument to satisfy my mind of that wide influence, and of that subtle power, which these demons possess amongst us; and that is, that there can be found those who deny and ridicule their existence. By looking to those numberless and those proverbial associations, in which their very name becomes the subject of merriment and of sport, he has well laid the snare when he can induce in his victims a disposition to jest concerning him. This it is that must give point to an antithesis, and breadth to a lampoon. Oh, how intoxicating must be his blandishments, how potent must be his spells, how subtle must be his toils, how distilled must be his poison! The very names with which he, who leads the van of the infernal army, is invested, those ascendant titles which are given him, may well rouse our watchful alarm. He is Satan-the adversary, standing in an ever-opposing attitude of hostility to God and to man. Apollyon-the destroyer, loving misery and mischief for their own sake. Belial— the libertine, sanctioning and fomenting unsatiable passions, and spurring on to constant gratification of the flesh. Beelzebub-prince of devils. He is the prince of this world; and here he has his court and his retinue. He is the god of this world; and he has his temple, and his altars, and his worshippers. He is the murderer, the liar, the deceiver, the accuser: he is the lion, the dragon, the old serpent. He hath the power of death; for he introduced it. He still deceiveth the whole world, and the whole world lieth in this wicked one, in his fell bosom, and in his deadly embrace.

Look at idolatry it is the debasement of the human intellect: it is the little

ness of our reason, and also its disgrace, in leaving its own province, and in not endeavouring to assert its own independence. And yet we know that an idol is nothing in the world: "eyes have they, but they see not; ears have they, but they hear not; neither speak they through their throats." Are there behind those grim visages, those quaint forms of polytheism, any listening, any gazing, any existing spirits of the primal fall? To them are offered these lavations of blood these strumpet orgies; to them they bend the knee; around them the incense curls; to them the song arises. "They sacrifice their sons and their daughters to devils:" the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God; and every such altar is a “table of devils." And we know, that when we think of idolatry, we have to think of idolatry in connection with the name, and under the symbol of the arch-fiend himself; because it is so much his instrument, because it wears so much of his character, and does so much of his work.

Look at superstition. By compromises, by torturings, by curtailments, by perversions, truth may be made the most active agent and the most capacious vehicle of error. There are two forms of superstition which obtain the most prominent notice amidst the obscurities of inspired revelation: there is the little horn added to the ten horns of the fourth beast, diverse from all the rest, speaking great words against the Most High, thinking to change the times and the laws, and wearing out the saints-and also the little horn added to the fourth horn of the he-goat, which waxed exceedingly great towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the pleasant land. We find that these prophetic symbols are responded to by others in a future inspired page: thus we read of the beast and the harlot; and we read of the Euphratean cavalry. Now it is observable that the papal usurpation is represented as "after the coming of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders:" the dragon gives its state and its authority and great power to the beast: "Babylon is the habitation of devils." The rise of Mahometanism is distinguished in the same manner; for that usurpation is represented as having a presiding chief; and they have a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit. And when Paganism, and when Romanism, and when Mahometanism, are represented in their conjoint influence, it is said there came out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, which are the spirits of devils. And it is observable, that when the beast and the false prophet are bound and cast into the lake of fire, then the old dragon is represented as also bound, and a seal is set upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more.

Look at infidelity. Men boast themselves because they have the light, and because they can triumph in the illumination; but to other intelligences, when they boast of their light and triumph in their illumination, it is a darkening interposition, it is an eclipse, it is a being struck blind their very selves. For how are we to account for those whose eyes do not see, whose reason does not judge, whose heart does not appreciate the truth. How has the evidence been obstructed? What dark page has come between them and all this effulgence? It is a proof how these spirits after all domineer over our race. “I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." "If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." So that it would

VOL. I.

B

seem that notwithstanding their proudest reason and their clearest intellect, they are the subjects and they are the victims of that pestilential breath which has gone over our world, and that deep darkness which broods upon it.

Look at dissipation. There is recklessness, and there is daring. How attractive is its glare, how inventive is the musing, how soothing is the dream! But what is the happiness of the world in this respect? It is only the song of captives—it is only the dance of slaves. They follow the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience. Hear, ye worldlings, who is your Lord; for he stands in strict fellowship with you. His very name is your own: it is he who is in the world; and there must have been a truth and an emphasis even in his own effrontery, when he said, offering the kingdoms of the world and the glory of to Christ, "All this is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it." But these general statements may seem to leave the individual unaffected. These are institutions of wickedness-these are the strongholds of evil: they rule mankind in masses: they have all the influence of long established customs: they surround themselves with all the authority of usages: they have a joint field of empire: they may be compared to the nets of some mighty hunter, drawn around every avenue, leaving only a small intervening space, but so tenacious of the prey already ensnared, that it need but be more closely drawn to affright and to harrass its present victims. Satan cannot have a small power when he is called the prince of this world, having his kingdom, and having his vassals. He cannot have a small power when he is called the god of this world, having his temples, and his worshippers, and his missionaries. It may be said that this must leave the individual unaffected; but the Scripture shows there is an individuality in this representation; and it is in the multiplication of individual cases, that the domination of hell consists. "Ye are of your father, the devil; for his works ye do." "The devil sinned from the beginning;" and he that sinneth is therefore of the devil. "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil."

Can we doubt, therefore, the influence of which we speak? The fall is a monumental fact which proves it; the first-born of man" was of that wicked one, and slew his brother:" and the ancient dispensation knew no deeper curse than this, that "Satan standeth at his right hand." Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. Think of his temptations! think of his agony! think of his crucifixion! and then say, did he combat with a shadow, or were they ideal things against which he struggled, and against which he prevailed? Ask further, what is the purpose of Christianity? It is a great scheme of deliverance and disenthralment; therefore it is to turn us from the power of Satan unto God-to deliver us from the power of darkness, and to translate us into the kingdom of God's dear Son. And observe how the fact is constantly admitted and assumed. Is the ministry of the word ineffective! "The devil cometh, and catches away the good seed out of the heart." Is there hypocrisy? Satan is transformed into "an angel of light;" and, therefore, no great wonder if his ministers become ministers of righteousness. Is there prevarication in holy engagements? "Why hath Satan put it into thy heart to lie unto the Holy Ghost?" Is there persecution? It is "where Satan dwelleth," and where Satan's "seal" is, and he casteth into prison. Is there defection? "Many have turned aside after Satan." But there is no end to the wiles of the devil, nor can we ever sound the depths of Satan.

My brethren, what a melancholy spectacle opens to us to-day. The prince of hell, the anarch of heaven, has traced his dark footsteps to our earth. Here he has raised his cursed throne, here he exercises his cruel mastery, here sways his iron sceptre. The vassal nations crouch before him. He has blighted our earth into moral barrenness, save a few acres of verdure, a few inclosures of fruitfulness skirting the wide waste. The battle-blast is his music, the breath of pestilence is the wing on which he strides onward in his course: tears and sighs are the libations and the hymns of his worshippers: the shouts of idolatry and superstition are received as the applause of his supremacy, and the homage of his deification. He travels like light from region to region; and from pole to pole he drinks in the groan of creation's travail. He goeth to and fro in the earth, and walketh up and down upon it. Because his time is short, he scatters the brands of mischief and ruin thick around us; and they, setting on fire the course of nature, are themselves set on fire of hell. This is the voice from the deep; and it tells us that demons are not forgetful of their power, nor unmindful of the tenure on which they hold their dominion.

Secondly, we observe THAT THERE ARE EXPEDIENTS FORMED TO COUNTERACT THEIR INFLUENCE, AND TO DEPOSE THEIR ASCENDENCY, WHICH ONLY PROVOKE THEIR CONTEMPT.

The full rage and violence of human depravity could not consist with our social institutions: give it but way, and all their designs, all their safe-guards, their very frame-work, would be shattered and swept away by the torrent. Therefore, men, though unenlightened by religion, have often resorted to particular methods for restraining somewhat, and rectifying somewhat of human depravity. They could not reach the source, they could not purify the fountain; but they rolled back some of the overflowings: and you will observe, therefore, that man, being a social creature, finding his interest in particular relationships and interchanges of charities, is quite competent to form some social rules, some salutary precautions. And there is, likewise, a dissatisfaction in the human mind constantly urging men to reflection, to retrieve their losses, to enlarge their vision, and to raise themselves in the universal scale.

But we know that man is a restless being; he not only thinks of his simple safety, but he is dissatified with what he is; and this belongs to himself. He has often been disappointed; again he enquires: he has failed; again he investigates. You will therefore find that in the very restlessness of human nature some good is done. He has sought out many inventions, and some of the inventions are worthy the being. His long-imprisoned limbs he has stretched forth into an attitude of freedom, of power, and majesty; and in consequence of that restless ambition there have arisen important results. And there is, perhaps, in us, distinguishing us from "the beast whose spirit goeth downward," a zest for improvement which determines us not to live as former generations did. The animal never reasons upon its ancestry. The bee no better builds its mellifluent comb than when it retired homeward to its cell beneath the twilight of the world's young days, and laden with the honey of the world's young flowers. But man is constantly improving on his ancestors, improving on himself: and it is by a paradox that we may measure his career; for he gains by losses, he wins by defeat, he vanquishes by discomforture: and we must allow that human nature has done great things to adorn and to dignify itself. What exquisite polish has it impressed on its manners; what keen penetration has it infused

into its researches; what daring flight has it given to its imagination; and what sagacious foresight has it poured into its institutions. We behold man constantly rousing, and constantly elevating himself; and while we behold him thus, we see what is the force of his intellect. But it is his intellectual part which is aggrandized to the neglect of every moral part. And what are all his energies of thought but those which give strength to the delusion? And what are all his elegancies of taste but those which give refinement to the temptation by which Satan binds him to himself and to his cause? Some of the expedients have been more designed, others have been mere accidents; and the philanthropist and the reformer have employed themselves on these different measures to embank (so to speak) the current of human passions, to staunch the wound with which human nature bled, and to extricate it from the tendrils by which it was impeded. But let us just view some of those expedients

Education. What master minds, what prodigious intellects have employed themselves to expand the human understanding and to develope the human character. The grove, the portico, the lyceum, awaken within us fervent and impassioned recollections. Noble were their courses of thought, deep and profound were their investigations; and those who were the choice and elevated men of their age always felt it to be their duty and their dignity, to step from their seats, and, so far as possible, to enlighten and to awaken susceptible minds. They did not, indeed, descend to the crowd, deeming, in their prejudice, that the crowd was incapable of any such excitement and any such tuition.

Legislation was another expedient. The ancient bards probably were the first legislators; and when we hear of their minstrelsy, as they passed from country to country, it was that men listened to their instruction and to their laws, who were more senseless than the trees, and more obdurate than the beasts : and you will remember, therefore, that the jurist, and the publicist, and the legislator, stand amongst the most choice of the benefactors of mankind.

Art has been another expedient. It attained a very early perfection; and this seems to have been one of its characteristics. Such is eloquence-such is poetry-such is grammar-such is rhetoric-such likewise is painting, is music, is sculpture, is architecture. These have all excited inquiry: these have all produced a taste for improvement: and these have all tended to harmonize human character and human conduct.

Science is of far earlier date than we may suppose; for men have always observed and collated facts. Science tends to take away some of the grosser opinions to which men were addicted. Thus, there is a superior element thrown around it, and it lives in a little world of its own. Knowledge is a doubtful and equivocal good; but ignorance is a certain evil.

Some of these expedients, therefore, we must allow were beneficial: they did produce an advantageous effect: and those who took part in urging them were amongst the most benevolent of their species. They might have their golden dreams, but they were dreams which would only pass current in well-constituted and well-dispositioned minds. But what was the result? Allow that there was the tiger, it was only the tiger tamed; that there was the serpent, it was only the serpent charmed. Did they expiate guilt, and detach any of its stains from the conscience? Did they subdue the principle of depravity, or throw any hallowing influence into the heart? Did they produce any thing like a state of being, called a state of well-being? We have melancholy proof-we have grievous demonstration, that here all was useless, and that the hostility which these