of themselves too weak to have carried this insidious bill. As was the case with the Emancipation Act, it remained for those who attained to power by their profession of Protestant principles, to undermine the Constitution, and to admit enemies within the citadel; and we rejoice in the conviction, that when a dissolution of Parliament shall take place, the present prime Minister will find, that the Protestants of England, having discovered him again to be an Ahithophel in the council chamber, will continue to him no longer that confidence, which has only been continued to him so long, because no better man was at hand to confide in. We know that Statesmen argue that the measure which occasions all this stir among true Protestants is but trifling and inexpensive, that it is but increasing a grant already existing, and that it is to conciliate a whole Population. We deny this: the payment to the Maynooth Seminary-had though it be-has hitherto been a grant, a benevolence, and which might at any time be withheld; but the present measure is a chartered Endowment of Popery, it assimilates Popery with the Constitution, it makes it part and parcel of the Statute Laws of the Kingdom, it taxes us and our children for the support of a system which as Protestants we abhor, and which as descendants of martyred saints we dread. Do not let it be said that in thus writing we subject ourselves to the charge of intolerance, a man may be a papist if he will, and wallow in its absurdities if so determined; we will not persecute him on that account, nay we glory in the fact, that England tolerates every religion; and we would scorn any other than prayer and persuasion to turn him from the error of his ways: but, as Protestants, we aver that it is most monstrous for us to pay men to spread those absurdities the wider, and as the sons of Englishmen who died victims to Popish intolerance, we will not cease to expose the folly and treachery of those, whothough it may be with the silly idea, that by hush-money, they shall now securely uphold the Church Establishment in Ireland-thus give to Papists weapons which will be employed in strengthening themselves to extort new demands, until, as god, Popery sitteth in the temple of God, and then brandishing the blade of persecution, which now is but scarcely sheathed, will commence that sharp but brief career of bloodshed, which shall terminate in her own final and eternal everthrow. Babylon the great will then be for ever fallen, and the opening gates of the Philadelphian church-state will then introduce Christ's purified church to all the splendours of that spiritual reign, when "the heathen shall be given to him for an inheritance, and all the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession." Shall it be said, then, that because we clearly read in the page of prophecy that thus Popery shall yet again triumph, we may as well yield to the current, and disregard its approach? "It must needs be that offences come, but woe be to that man by whom the offence cometh." And as certainly as Popery shall yet once again" sit as a Queen, and say within herself, I shall see no more sorrow," so shall she be permitted thus to triumph and thus to scourge, as a punishment for the accumulated guilt of a people's transgressions, and as a visitation for the indifference and supineness now too prevelant even among the saints of the Most High. Say not, then a confederacy, with those who say, a confederacy, with Antichrist. Come out from her, and from them who thus associate to aid her, that ye be not partakers in their plagues. Protestants of England! merge all minor differences; unite against the common foe; and now that the Abomination which maketh desolate, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standeth where it ought not, flee to the mountains, the everlasting hills, from whence alone cometh help. We say, merge all minor differences: some object to this endowment because disapproving of all alliance of Church and State, they therefore disapprove of any grant from the State to any religious purpose; and some, like ourselves, though dissenters because we do not acquiesce in the Church forms and the Church government, yet glorying in the national profession of faith which a National Church exhibits, denounce this endowment as being a fostering of the Bible Antichrist, and a further concession of power to the Beast. Merge, therefore, these differences: let not your petitions contain sentences awakening them, but in language in which all who are Protestants can agree, beseige the Parliament and the Throne to abandon a measure which will undoubtedly bring down upon the nation God's retributory scourge. Protestants of England! cease ye from man, and while in all loyalty and obedience we strive by lawful means to avert this evil by petitions to our Queen, let us all, with still greater earnestness, unitedly and individually petition the King of kings, and Lord of lords; and we would suggest, that by the universal concurrence of the Protestants of England, a day be set apart, openly and specially, all over the kingdom, for this most important purpose. Cease ye from man! Ye have found that Statesmen are nothing, and their professions worse than nothing. They have no God but expediency, and no Religion but the love of place. Abandon then all hope, all confidence in these mighty nothings, and seek the throne of the Almighty, praying that England, of which Protestantism hath so long been the polar star, and which hath so long been the free and the favoured habitation of true Religion, may yet be preserved from the darkness and bondage of Rome's fatal superstitions. May our God be pleased to prosper his people's endeavours, and hear his people's prayers, and turn again, and have compassion upon us, and delay yet longer the threatened scourge, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. THE EDITORS. THE first thing which we have to notice is, the thirsty soul. A man that is thirsty, must be alive; a dead man cannot thirst. No, no, it is a living soul only that can thirst. Therefore it is said, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come." The Lord's family are all taught by the Holy Ghost; the promise runs, They shall be all taught of God;" and there is nothing they so much desire, as the presence of God, sensibly felt and enjoyed in their souls. Nothing short of that will satisfy their poor souls. When his presence is withdrawn, then the sweet communion they once enjoyed is stopped; they have no sweet access to him in prayer, no sweet outpourings of the soul, but all seems dark and confused. Their souls feel as hard as the nether mill-stone. The words which the poor soul uses in prayer, seem to dwell on his lips, and instead of entering into the holy of holies, they rebound to his own breast. If he at such a time takes the word to read, it appears as dry as an old newspaper. Then comes the devil on the back of it, Now, says he, how can you prove yourself to be a child of God? What, a child of God feel like you? A child of God feel such a hard heart? What, a child of God to feel such a prayerless spirit, to feel so unconcerned about the things of God and truth as you? This puts the poor soul upon searching, trying, and self-examination, to see how his reli gion begun, and where. When the poor soul is brought here, he is well tried; here he thirsts and pants for God, that the water of eternal life may flow in, and revive and refresh his soul. He has got a thirst in his soul after the Lord. He cries out from a deep sense of his need, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" But, poor soul, he obtains no answer, it comes back again to his own breast. Here he is as miserable as ever he can hold, he wishes he had never been born, calls himself a fool for opening his mouth about religion, and were his days to come over again, never would he be so foolish again. Upon the back of this the devil sets to work, stirs up the depravity of his carnal heart, his inbred corruptions, so that all manner of devilishness, filth, craft and deception is working in his heart, so that it appears more like the dwelling-place of devils, than a palace for God. Then the poor soul begins to question, What, am I a christian? Christians are said to be holy, how can I be a christian? How is it possible, says the poor child of God, that I can be a christian, with such a swarm of unclean birds in my heart? Here Satan hunts him. child, tries to look back at past experience, to see if there is any refuge, to see if he can find something to rest upon, any thing that the Lord has done for his soul. Here the devil hunts him out, makes him start and run. When he comes to a promise that he thinks has been applied with divine power to his conscience, then Satan will not let him shelter himself here, but hunts him out, saying, Oh, it was nothing but natural, fleshly feeling, nothing but the operations of the flesh, and so did not come from the Spirit of God, never came from the blessed influence of the living God. Thus the devil is ever distressing him, telling him he is nothing but a deceiver, and that he has not He, poor only deceived the children of God, but he has deceived the church and God's ministers, and so is an apostate, and will at last prove to be such. This causes the poor soul to thirst, as David did, when he cried out, My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." Have you ever seen a hart hunted naturally, with the hounds in full cry after him? The poor little creature runs with all its might, while its heart seems ready to fly out of its breast through fear; presently it espies a stream, when it rushes towards it with renewed energy, and the moment it comes to it, in the poor creature plunges, and while it is refreshing to its weary body, it throws the hounds off the scent, and so frequently ends the pursuit. Now this is just the way with the Lord's dear family; when the devil comes upon them like a blood-hound, and would let fast upon them, and hunt them out of every retreat in which they try to take shelter, and from every promise which formerly they found so sweet and refreshing, he comes and hunts them out, then the poor soul begins to cry after the Lord, and to pant for his presence, saying, “O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me. Save me, O God, for the waters are come into my soul, I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free Spirit. O God, forsake me not. O Lord, look upon me, let not the pit shut her mouth upon me." Here the poor soul cries with all bis might, and can get no access. There is no occasion to tell him it is his duty to cry. I would not give a rush for fifty boat loads of such advice, it is not worth putting in a farm yard for swine to lie upon, such empty trumpery, telling him it is his duty to cry, when he feels he must sink if the Lord does not appear for him. Now would you tell a drowning man it is his duty to try to get out of the water? Should we not think such advice nonsense? He is well aware he must perish if he does not, or is not helped out. Will not a man endeavour with all his strength to save his life? What should we say of telling a man, who, in nature, had his throat parched with burning thirst, and so much so, as that his tongue cleaved to the roof of his mouth, that if he did not get water he must die; that it was his duty to seek after water? Why the poor soul will be in search after water wherever he goes. Meet such an one travelling on a journey upon a hot, burning day, and you enter into conversation with him, his first question would be, Sir, can you tell me where I can get a little water? Then suppose you said to him, Never mind about water, never set your mind upon that, but come see what a beautiful prospect, what a charming day we have; see how the Lord has made every thing agreeable in its season; see how vegetation is progressing, all in regular order; see how the seasons are regulated, how the Lord in his wisdom regulates and rules the whole; come, man, contemplate these things, and never think about water. Now could the man take any pleasure in this conversation? No, he would say, All this is nothing to me, I must have something to drink, can you inform me where I can get any water? and then if you were to shew him where there was some, but at the same time tell him he was but to sip it, just take a drop or two, and no more, why he would think you was out of your senses, and you would never persuade him to it; Nay, saith he, I am perishing with thirst, and I must have a full draught, so that I may assuage my thirst. But this is the very way that some persons act; they come to a poor seeking soul, and tell him not to rest satisfied short of Christ being revealed in his heart the hope of glory. They might as well save their breath, for I will never believe that a soul who has the life of God implanted within, can ever rest satisfied short of Christ; he must have him, must enjoy him as the waters of eternal life flowing into his soul to quench his thirst, and not only quench his thirst, but deliver him from the enemy who has been hunting him. When the soul by precious faith is led to those streams from that river which makes glad the city of God, and is enabled to take a deep plunge, just as the hounds after the hart lose the scent, so in a moment, when the poor soul is enabled by precious faith to feel the sweet streams of pardoning and electing love, of a full, free and finished salvation, a salvation all of grace, the word being brought home to his heart with divine power, he enjoying the sweetness of the cooling and refresh ing stream, Christ brought forth in the soul, then the devil loses scent, for the moment he comes to the brink of the stream, he starts back, he cannot come to the river, but flees from it, and thus the poor soul escapes. Come, then, ye thirsty souls, ye poor and needy ones, ye who have been thirsting for days, weeks, months and years crying, panting for the water of eternal life, "Come needy, come filthy, Come loathsome and bare, Ye can't come too filthy, Come just as you are." Here, then, although you may be ready to drop through exhaustion, as a parched traveller at the side of the fountain, who eagerly takes a full draught, come, and may the Lord Almighty help you to come, and take of the water of life freely. I know thou canst not come of thyself, it must be the Lord that makes thee, who not only gives feet, but inclines them to run after him. This is, say you, a parable. The word of God abounds with parables from Genesis to Revelation. It is a parable to all that are dead in trespasses and sins, and also to the Lord's family, unless opened up to the heart by the Lord the Spirit. When the Lord Jesus comes to thy heart, as he did to the poor man who was afflicted with the palsy, and says, Arise, take up thy bed and walk; then the poor paralyzed limbs begin to move, virtue being communicated with the words, and he who before could not move, the moment he hears the powerful voice of the Lord Jesus, arises, and stands firmly upon his feet. Christ says that he will draw them with the cords of love, and with the bands of a man. It is sweet walking when the Lord draws, for then we can do any thing. David, when he felt the powerful influence of the Lord drawing him, said that he could run through a troop of devils and men; with God's electing love sweetly and powerfully drawing, he could leap over a wall. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Come, then, ye poor bankrupts, ye needy and insolvent ones, ye who have no money, here is good news for you, for you who have tried all, and have nothing left; have tried all you can do, and find you can do nothing; who have been brought to a state of complete poverty; ye who appear a stench in your nostrils, while all your doings, your prayers, your alms-deeds; ye who have been brought to hate all this before God with a perfect hatred: although you have tried hard before God from your very heart and soul, yet find you are poor bankrupts, who feel you have no money, who have long been looking at self, running after other saviours, and still find yourself worse and worse, concluding you are too base and vile for the Lord to look upon, that you are poor and |