tice, and exercised without reason or mercy; perfectly agree with the pride of that rival enemy of God, seated in God's temple, figured out by the Apostle. For these inordinate pretensions are all of them, in the strictest sense, invasions of the honour and supreme rights of God, due to him alone, or to the authority of his inspired word. Romish infallibility disputing precedence with his authentic truth; traditions disfiguring his attributes and his worship; a servility and prostration of the conscience to man, dethroning God from his dominion over the believer's understanding: these are the usurpations of the Roman Hierarchy, concentrated in its head, which fall nothing short of the character of that man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped either God or Jesus Christ his Son :-so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, making a shew of himself that he is God:-a character which might have defied credibility, had it not been as truly verified, as accurately foretold." -Discourses on Prophecy, in which are considered its structure, use and inspiration. By the Rev. John Davison, B. D. late Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, p. 474.

No. 7.

As this appendix is swelling into dimensions much larger than I had originally contemplated, I must forbear from entering upon a subject which would open a wide and interesting field of inquiry, viz., the most successful method of discriminating between sound and erroneous interpretations of the Scriptures, and of deriving from them whatever knowledge is requisite for faith and practice. To the brief observations which were made upon this subject in the Charge, I will content myself with here adding extracts from "Archbishop Parker's Preface before a New Translation of the Old Testament, set forth by him," together with some quotations taken from a most eloquent and impressive Sermon of Bishop Jeremy Taylor's, on John vii.

17., preached to the University of Dublin, and entitled "Via Intelligentiæ."

"Of all the sentences pronounced by our Saviour Christ, in his whole doctrine, none is more serious or more worthy to be borne in remembrance, than that which he spake openly in his gospel, saying: Search ye the Scriptures; for in them ye think to have eternal life, and those they be which bear witness of me. These words were first spoken unto the Jews by our Saviour: but by him in his doctrine meant to all. For they concern all, of what nation, of what tongue, of what profession soever any man be. For to all belongeth it to be called unto eternal life, so many as by the witness of the Scriptures desire to find eternal life." * * * * "Christ calleth them not only to the single reading of Scriptures, (saith Chrysostom) but sendeth them to the exquisite searching of them for in them is eternal life to be found, and they be (saith himself) the witness of me. For they declare out his office, they commend his benevolence towards us, they record his whole work wrought out for us, to our salvation. Antichrist, therefore, he must be, that, under whatsoever colour, would give contrary precept or counsel to that which Christ did give unto us. Very little do they resemble Christ's loving Spirit, moving us to search for our comfort, that will discourage us from searching, or that would wish ignorance or forgetfulness of his benefit to reign in us: so that they might, by our ignorance, reign the more frankly in our consciences, to the danger of our salvation. Who can take the light from us in this miserable vale of blindness, and mean not to have us stumble in the paths of perdition, to the ruin of our souls? Who will envy us this bread of life, prepared and set on the table, for our eternal sustenance, and mean not to famish us; or, instead thereof, with their corrupt traditions, and doctrines of man, to infect us? All the whole Scripture, saith the holy Apostle St. Paul, inspired from God above, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to reform, to instruct

in righteousness, that the man of God may be sound and perfect, instructed to every good work.

Search, therefore, good reader (in God's name) as Christ biddeth thee, the holy Scripture, wherein thou mayest find thy salvation. Let not the volume of this book (by God's own warrant) depart from thee: but occupy thyself therein in the whole journey of this thy worldly pilgrimage, to understand thy way how to walk rightly before him all the days of thy life. Remember that the prophet David pronounceth him the blessed man, which will muse in the law of God both day and night. Remember that he calleth him blessed, which walketh in the way of the Lord, which will search diligently his testimonies, and will, in their whole heart, seek the same. Let not the covert suspicious insinuations of the adversaries, drive thee from the search of the holy Scriptures, either for the obscurity which they say is in them, or for the inscrutable hidden mysteries they talk to be comprised in them, or for the strangeness and homeliness of the phrases they would charge God's book with. Christ exhorteth thee, therefore, rather for the difficulty of the same, to search them diligently. St. Paul willeth thee to have thy senses exercised in them, and not to be a child in thy senses, but in malice. Though many things may be difficult to thee to understand, impute it rather to thy dull hearing and reading, than to think that the Scriptures be insuperable to them, which, with diligent searching, labour to discern the evil from the good. Only search with an humble spirit; ask in continual prayer; seek with purity of life; knock with perpetual perseverance; and cry to that good Spirit of Christ, the Comforter. And surely to every such asker it will be given; such searchers must needs find; to them it will be opened. Christ himself will open the Scriptures, not to the proud, or the wise of the world: but to the lowly and contrite in heart. For he hath the key of David, who openeth and no man shutteth, who shutteth and

no man openeth. For, as this Spirit is a benign and liberal Spirit, and will be easily found of them, which will early in carefulness rise to seek him; and, as he promiseth, he will be the Comforter from above to teach us, and to lead us into all the ways of truth, if that in humility we bow unto him, denying our own natural senses, or carnal wits and reasons: so he is the Spirit of purity and cleanness, and will recede from him, whose conscience is subject to filthiness of life. Into such a soul this heavenly wisdom will not enter. For all perverse cogitations separate us from God. And then how busily soever we search this holy table of the Scripture, yet will it then be a table to such to their own snare, a trap, a stumblingblock, and a recompence to themselves. We ought, therefore, to search, to find out the truth, not to oppress it, we ought to seek Christ, not as Herod did, under the pretence of worshipping him, to destroy him; or as the Pharisees searched the Scriptures to disprove Christ, and to discredit him, and not to follow him; but to embrace the salvation which we may learn by them."-Appendix to Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker, p. p. 128-130.

"I know," says Bishop Taylor, when addressing the members of the University of Dublin, “I am in an auditory of inquisitive persons, whose business is to study for truth, that they may find it for themselves and teach it unto others: I am in a school of prophets and prophets' sons, who all ask Pilate's question, What is truth? You look for it in your books, and you tug hard for it in your disputations, and you derive it from the cisterns of the fathers, and you enquire after the old ways, and sometimes are taken with new appearances, and you rejoice in false lights, or are delighted with little umbrages and peep of day. But where is there a man, or a society of men, that can be at rest in his enquiry, and is sure he understands all the truths of God? where is there a man but the more he studies and enquires, still he discovers nothing so

clearly as his own ignorance? This is a demonstration that we are not in the right way, that we do not enquire wisely, that our method is not artificial. If men did fall upon the right way, it were impossible so many learned men should be engaged in contrary parties and opinions. We have examined all ways but one, all but God's way: let us (having missed in all the other) try this: let us go to God for truth; for truth comes from God only, and his ways are plain, and his sayings are true, and his promises Yea and Amen: and if we miss the truth it is because we will not find it: for certain it is, that all that truth which God hath made necessary, he hath also made legible and plain, and if we will open our eyes we shall see the sun, and if we will walk in the light, we shall rejoice in the light only let us withdraw the curtains, let us remove the impediments and the sin that doth so easily beset us; that is God's way. Every man must, in his station, do that portion of duty which God requires of him, and then he shall be taught of God all that is fit for him to learn. There is no other way for him but this :-The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a good understanding have all they that do thereafter. And so said David of himself:-I have more understanding than my teachers, because I keep thy commandments. And this is the only way which Christ hath taught us; if you ask, What is truth? you must not do as Pilate did, ask the question, and then go away from him that only can give you an answer; for as God is the author of truth, so he is the teacher of it: and the way to learn it is this of my text. For so saith our blessed Lord:-If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or no."

*

* * *""

"There is in every righteous man a new vital principle; the Spirit of grace is the Spirit of wisdom, and teaches us by secret inspirations, by proper arguments, by actual persuasions, by personal applications, by effects and energies: and as the