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few only ;-it appears to them singular, extravagant, impracticable: but every fresh adherent brings another and another, which keep multiplying in geometrical progression, until the increase of numbers who advocate the opinion, and the more frequent repetition of the opinion itself, causes it at last to arrest attention, and then perhaps to be received with that measure of deference which renders it influential to a cer tain extent, For if an opinion does not win us over to its advocacy, or lead us to embrace it so far as to act upon it; yet will it often neutralize our opposition to it, and also our course of conduct as influenced by some other opinion; and in this respect it effectually makes its way, and proves itself to be operative to that degree.

The influence of an opinion frequently reiterated and allowed is further witnessed in cases where persons are not affected by any increase of the numbers who advocate it; for the mere circumstance of the mind becoming familiarized to an opinion which it abhors, has a tendency in the course of time to blunt the acuteness of those sensibilities which were provoked against it, till at length it is listened to patiently, next with indifference, after that with complacency, and finally it lays hold of and contaminates the mind. What the poet says in regard to vice is here often strikingly exemplified :

which I must make by way of qualification of this statement. First, that though all actions may be traced up to the influence of opinions, all opinions are not equally operative; nor do they influence all persons in like manner. For some, being fortified by opposing principles, perhaps at once resist them; and hence the conflict which takes place continually between light and darkness. Secondly, there must be taken into account the aptitude of human nature to be influenced by principles of evil, rather than principles of good: for the former fall in more readily with the corrupt bias of the heart; and in the unregenerate, the hold which principles of light have taken upon the heart is but feeble, and offers but a faint resistance to the powers of darkness when they are permitted to assail it.

It is then, I apprehend, upon the principles here contended for that the Scriptures proceed, when they warn the Israelites, in the first place to be circumspect, and make no mention of other gods, neither let it be heard out of their mouths ;m and when they further direct them, if an own brother, son, daughter, wife or friend, should entice them secretly, saying-" Let us go and serve other Gods, &c" not to consent or hearken to him; neither to pity, spare or conceal him, but surely to kill him. The broaching of such a sentiment was considered a sufficient overt act, and to have a necessary tendency, if borne with, to lead on to the deed itself; and the very mention of the names of oThere are two remarks however ther gods in ordinary discourse was

Vice is a monster of so frightful mien;
That, to be hated, needs but to be seen;
But seen too oft, familiar with its face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.*

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* I have known several instances of individuals who from the mere circumstance of constantly reading a newspaper, the sentiments of which they have at first disapproved, have nevertheless imperceptibly fallen into a habit of thinking and speaking in the same strain, till at last they have become decidedly imbued with them, almost without being conscious of the change that has taken place in them. I mention this only by way of illustration.

m Exod. XXIII. 13; Josh. XXIII. 7. n Deut. XIII. 6—11.

viewed, as calculated to familiarize the mind with the evil of idolatry, and to deaden that abhorrence of it which ought continually to exist. So the righteous are afterwards exhorted, "to cease to hear the instruction which causeth to err from the words of knowledge;"o and under the New Testament they are exhorted, that if any preach any other Gospel than that which the Apostle had delivered, to let him be ac cursed.p

Much might be said here, were it not irrelevant to my present object, upon the evil of persons, who know the truth as it is in Jesus, habitually listening, nevertheless, to that instruction which is contrary to the "words of knowledge." But I must turn rather to the subject which I purposed to treat of in the outset, and ask how far that freedom of opinion, which the world now so loudly clamours for, is consistent with the principles here stated? and whether the unrestricted liberty of the press, which is considered one of the great bulwarks of civil and religious liberty, be not rather a mighty engine of Satan, whereby he is effectually enticing men away from that service of God which alone is perfect freedom? I do not hesitate myself to pronounce it an EVIL. The very circumstance, that the carnal man, and the men in particular who are least under the influence of godliness, should be so eager for it, ought to be sufficient to lead him that is spiritual to suspect it: for why should the god of this world excite his servants (which these are) to contend for a principle, unless that principle be the offspring of the wisdom which is from beneath? He is crafty enough to know well the importance to his kingdom of letting all the conceptions of men's

evil hearts have full vent and a free course given to them; for he not only is aware that, in the vast majority of instances, the evil treasure of the heart will produce evil things; (for "how can they that are evil speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh;"'q) but that they are actually the spirits of demons themselves, which in numerous instances speak by the mouths of men ;r for indeed "the whole world lieth in the wicked one;" (Ev T Tоνηρw. 1 John v, 19.)

I am aware of the objection which may be readily brought forward, that restrictions upon the liberty of the press or upon the freedom of utterance are liable to abuse; and that good and sound doctrine might be and has been suppressed, under erroneous apprehensions of its character and tendency. The answer to this is equally ready.-If to tolerate this evil be contrary to the word of God, it is then our bounden duty to walk by the spirit of that word, and leave the consequences to Him. To take for example the duty of a governor; it is the same as that of the father of a family, only on a larger scale: and if it be the duty of the father of a family "to command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord,'s it is the duty of the monarch, or of the state which acts for Him, to do the same. Most men agree that power must be lodged in the state; but is not power, exercised in the restraining and punishing other offences, equally liable to abuse? How comes it then, that the power should not be extended to suppress the publication of opinions having a direct tendency to lead men into apostacy from God, and into the commission of all evil offen ces against each other? Men will o Prov. XIX. 27. P Gal. 1. 8, 9. q Matt. XII. 34, 35. r Ephes. 11. 2; 1Tim. Iv. 1, 2; Rev. xvI. 13, 14, s Gen. XVIII. 19,

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allow that the parent of the state should punish theft, murder, adultery &c. how comes it that they should not see the importance of checking the promulgation of those sentiments and opinions that necessarily lead to these offences? It is because "the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not."t How unwise and infatuated would that man be thought, who having a tree in his garden producing fruit, which he was aware would prove deleterious and destructive to his children if picked up and eaten, should content himself with having the fruit picked up as it fell from its boughs and cast away, instead of having the tree that produced it cut down yet thus it is when men punish the fruit of opinions, and allow the opinions themselves to flourish and take root undisturbed. It is like attempting to kill the viper, yet suffering men to hatch the cockatrice egg, which" breaketh out into a viper."u Ah! he that eateth of their eggs dieth,"v saith the Lord :-the very principles are pernicious and deadly to the soul!

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erated in print, which would not be endured for a moment if uttered by the lips. Many, for example, would not suffer an individual to have access to their families, if they conceived that his conversation would be infidel, or calculated to vitiate the sense of moral purity and propriety; who nevertheless will suffer newspapers, novels, poetry and other printed works to find entrance, in which they know passages having a tendency to weaken the bonds of religion and virtue continually creep in, and often appear in naked and undisguised language. It is quite deplorable also to notice, how the love of "filthy lucre" deadens the sensibilities of the mind and blinds the heart in this respect. Many persons engaged in trade would at once see the impropriety of uttering infidel language, or of giving countenance to or repeating those conversational opinions of others, which they conceive prejudicial to religion, morals, or good government.-And let it be proposed to pay them for so doing, and to make a gain by retailing blasphemy or sedition orally, and I verily believe that the majority of the class to which I now allude, would shrink with horror from the suggestion, and view such a step as leading them into the depths of baseness and apostasy. Yet, marvelous to say! print this same language in a book, and convert it thus by means of the press into an article of merchandize, and many of them can give it circulation and make a gain from it without any scruple, not seeing that the moral turpitude of the action is just the same; but acting as if there were some deity in the press, or some deity in trade, who has power to release his votaries, when engaged in his service, from all responsibility to the Lord Jehovah. u Isa. LIX, 5. v Ibid.

The delusion however with which Satan has continued to bewilder men in regard to the press is singular from its great absurdity. He seems to have succeeded in investing it with a degree of obscurity, and at the same time to have cast a certain halo around it, which has caused many to regard it as a sort of divinity, (which if they do not actually worship they defer to,) unable to perceive, that it is after all nothing more than the words and conceptions of mere men, and that words printed have in reality no greater majesty than words spoken, and should be dealt with in precisely the same manner. Yet there are numerous instances in which things are tolt 2 Cor. IV. 4.

There are some other circumstances equally glaring. It is a favourite maxim now with many, that, admitting the evil tendency and abominable character of many published opinions of the day, you give increased publicity to them by prosecuting them; and do likewise excite a more prurient desire in the minds of many to read them, by forcibly withdrawing them from observation. One would have supposed that with the example before men's eyes of the horrible state of morals in a neighbouring country, and of the evil fruits there of a revolution brought about chiefly by the unbridled license given to the publication of infidel sentiments ;-one would have supposed, I say, that men would have been struck by the great practical negation thus presented to their theories. But I would urge another consideration. Where would the advocates of the unbridled licentiousness of the press draw the line and set the limit?-If it be wrong to forbid the utterance of blasphemy by the infidel against the Lord Jesus Christ,* it is also wrong to forbid a treatise recommending absolute idolatry to the nation. No man can give a satisfactory reason, on the principle which I now contend against, why an idolater, or a man favourable to idolatry, should not endeavour by means of the press "to entice men to go and serve other gods." If the press must be left at liberty in other matters, it must be left at liberty

in this matter also: unless indeed the principle of a restricted liberty be admitted; and then the very thing is admitted which I would advocate: only that I would insist, it is as much the duty of the censor to prevent blasphemy and infidelity from uttering its voice, by means of the press, as it is to prevent idolatry from so doing.

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It is not however my province or my object to prescribe the remedy or to point out the restrictions; nor should I ever be likely to be listened to by those in power if I did. My object has been to expose one of the devices of Satan, and to warn the christian reader against him; so that the believer may take heed that he be not led away with the error of the wicked." For there are many professors of religion whom I have heard in public utter things, in regard to the freedom of opinions, and the impropriety of any restrictions upon knowledge, which I deem very calculated to help on this delusion : and many things have I likewise met with of the same character in books, published by men affecting serious religion, which however it were invidious to quote. Our duty is rather to oppose the principle, whereever we have lawful opportunity of so doing; and to strip off the vizor from the assumed angel of light.

In my next I hope to draw attention to another device connected with this matter.

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* Under the Mosaic Law the blasphemer of the Lord was commanded to be put to death. Lev. XXIV. 16. I am very far from intending to recommend the punishment of death in cases of blasphemy, &c. under a Gospel dispensation. That would be as much in the extreme one way, as the toleration of the evil is in the other. But it appears quite a duty, first to endeavour to suppress the nuisance and prevent the injury; and secondly, if possible, to correct the offender. I think it is Dean Swift who somewhere states, in illustration of this subject, that as a man may be permitted to have poisonous drugs, so long as he keeps them for experiment only in his closet, but must be dealt with as a dangerous member of society when he begins to dispense them indiscriminately to the public; so men may enjoy their pestiferous opinions, whilst they can keep them to themselves, but they should not be allowed to sport with those opinions in public, and thus to endanger the welfare of mankind.

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Review and Notices of Books.

(1) The Name and Number of the Beast; by the REV. REGINALD RABETT, A. M. of Queen's College Cambridge, and Vicar of Thornton, Leicestershire.

Lond. Seeley & Co. 8vo. pp, lvi and 306.

There has perhaps been nothing which has more tended to discourage christians from pursuing the study and investigation of prophecy, than the conflicting interpretations of various parts of it, which have from time to time been published to the world; and among those portions of prophecy which have chiefly suffered in this respect, we shall perhaps not be far wrong if we instance the two witnesses of Rev. xI and the name and number of the beast of Rev. XIII. Such a multiplicity of solutions of the latter enigma have been offered, and so greatly have some of them differed from each other, and the number 666 has consequently appeared to possess such a peculiar facility of adapting itself to almost any name, person, church or sect, by a little twisting and adjustment of letters, that whilst profane persons have altogether laughed at the matter, even men of piety have settled down in the conclusion, that there can be no certainty attach itself to any interpretation; that whatsoever degree of plausibility may seem to belong to some one of the solutions offered, it is effectually neutralized by the equal plausibility of those of a contrary character. Now, whatever may be the difference of opinion in this matter, there is one evil which we would most earnestly warn our christian friends against: viz. not to suffer themselves

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to fall into an apathetic frame of mind in regard to it; as if, amid the distracting theories and expositions offered upon parts of prophecy, it were in vain to seek an explication of them, and that the duty of the believer were to sit a passive spectator only, waiting until it should please the Lord to cast some extraordinary light upon it. Here is wisdom-Let him that hath understanding cOUNT the number of the Beast, &c." This is the word of the Lord respecting it; and it appears to us that when he excites his people in such terms as these to investigate a particular mystery, it betrays a want of spiritual understanding and wisdom for any to treat the subject with neglect.

Turning then to the publication of Mr. Rabett, we cannot but regard its appearance as both seasonable and useful. He does not indeed profess to have made any new and dazzling discovery: he merely takes up an old and almost exploded hypothesis of the eminent Irenæus, and having laid down the principles upon which the inquiry should be conducted, he applies those principles to vindicate the suggestion of this ancient Father, and to exhibit the fallacy of those numerous subsequent theories, which have well nigh overwhelmed it. Without therefore meaning to assert, that what Irenæus so long before the event advanced as a mere guess, has been actually proved by the event and demonstrated by Mr. Rabett to be the real solution; yet do we conceive that it is no mean service rendered to the cause of prophetical interpretation thus to narrow as he

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