dence addressed to the faith of men, by a lowering of the claims of truth, and by pandering to a guilty, unbelieving state of mind. So he at once, and without any wavering or hesitation, put away the temptation to earn so barren a victory.

The third temptation, in which the adversary promised the Saviour "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them," upon condition of his worshipping him, is more difficult to be understood. In what did the temptation here consist? It is usually said that the devil offered Christ the temporal rule of all the kingdoms of the world, or of some portion of them called the world, with all the riches and pomp and worldly power pertaining to such a position. But are there not serious objections to such a view? Is there the least evidence that such an offer would have been any temptation to Christ, that he had the least desire for such things as worldly riches, and power, and rank? The other things by which Satan tried to tempt him. he did desire, if they could be had in the right way; but what reason is there to suppose that then, or at any other time, he wished upon any conditions to be a temporal ruler of all kingdoms, or of any one kingdom, on earth?

Or, again: If he had desired this, could the devil make a plausible pretence that he had it to give? If Christ did not desire worldly power, and the devil had none to confer, and it was palpably evident to any man that he had none, can he be supposed to have made so absurd an offer, or, if he did, would the offer have been any temptation to the Saviour?

We would propose another explanation of this point, not as one which we will as yet pledge ourselves to sustain, but as one which we are willing to leave to stand or fall as it shall approve itself, or fail to approve itself, to the judgment of the reader. It is this:

There is a sense in which this world is the devil's kingdom. He is called the prince of this world the god of this world. It is to a great extent given over to his power. The exercise of this power is of course optional on his part. He can resign it if he chooses. Why not, then, suppose that this is just what he offered to do, to relinquish his sway over mankind, if Christ would worship him?

The termination of the rule of Satan in this world was a thing

which the Saviour desired. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and to deliver the world from his power. It was the object nearest his heart. It was the strongest possible temptation that could be presented to him. If Satan's influence over the hearts of men should cease, what an obstacle to the recovery of a ruined world to God would be removed! This is to be done sometime. Satan is to be bound, so that he can no more hurt the nations. Here he offers to retire from the struggle, and no more practise his hellish arts upon the souls of men. What a temptation to the loving, compassionate heart of the Redeemer, this picture of all the kingdoms of the world at once rescued from the grasp of the arch-enemy of man. But desirable as the thing in itself was, it was offered upon a condition that left no room for a moment's hesitation. The condition was in perfect keeping with the pride and ambition of him who could not, in heaven, brook the authority of his sovereign, and who would have doubtless been willing to give up all his power over man for one act of homage from the Son of God. There was but one being in the universe capable of such arrogance, and the moment that this Lucifer-like ambition discloses itself, the Saviour, as though for the first time clearly recognizing the tempter, exclaims, "Get thee hence, Satan."

It may be said that this proposition of Satan was an absurd one, as a compliance with its condition by the Saviour would defeat the end which he would have in view. But all sin involves absurdity; and the absurdity here is not as patent as it would be in the offer of temporal dominion, for here the Saviour desired the thing offered and Satan could give it. There was in it a kind of devilish plausibility that well becomes its author.

According to the view now presented, the temptations to which our Saviour was subjected were an appeal to his natural appetite, to his desire for recognition and honor, and to his benevolence. In this last, he was tempted to do evil that good might come. He was thus tempted in all essential points like as we are, with the important qualification yet without sin. He was neither tempted by any sin in his own heart — the source of our strongest temptations; nor was he drawn into sin in the least degree. He thus in his experience comes near

us where we are weakest, and shows himself to be one with mankind in almost the only respect in which he could innocently stand upon common ground with all men, namely, in their exposure to temptation.

ARTICLE VII.

JOHN CALVIN.

THE two preachers, Farel and Calvin, felt that the field of labor in which they were so deeply interested must not be relinquished without an effort. After their so summary expulsion from Geneva, they proceeded to Berne and Zurich, hoping that their restoration might be accomplished through the intercession of these two reformed cities. At Zurich they found a synod assembled, before which they appeared and stated their case, while Bucer read in their behalf a paper drawn up in the handwriting of Calvin, in which were briefly declared the conditions on which they were willing to return. A part of these articles show their readiness to conform, in general, to the outward changes proposed by the Council of Berne, while in the remainder they by no means shift their ground as to the necessity of a firm internal discipline, in order to the safety of the church at Geneva. A letter was addressed from Zurich to the Genevese, exhorting them to patience with their ministers. It was also thought best that a deputation from Berne should accompany the, banished ones to Geneva, and there act as mediators in the attempt to effect a reconciliation. This aid was granted, but all was in vain.

The ministers were not even allowed to enter the city. Had they attempted to do so, their lives would have been the forfeit, for they afterwards learned that a regular ambush of banditti was lying in wait for them not far from the gates. Nor did the embassy from Berne succeed in its mission. The propositions they bore were rejected with new demonstrations of hatred and abhorrence, and the party of license signalized its triumph by acts of wild and in

temperate disorder, only too prophetic of the period of riot and anarchy that was to follow.

Calvin and Farel now turned their steps towards Basle, which they at length reached, "well soaked with the rain, and completely spent and worn out," not without dangers encountered from the rapid mountain-torrents swollen by the rains. Even Farel seems to have been daunted by the experience he had just gone through, so that he would willingly have abandoned his post as preacher of the Gospel, in an age so unfavorable to Gospel order and peace. But he could not be false to what was so truly his mission, and the church at Neufchatel, which like that at Geneva owed its existence to him, obtained. him, after much solicitation, to be their pastor. Calvin had found a home at Basle with the well known scholar and theologian Grynæus, but he was soon very urgently called to Strasburg, that city so distinguished in the history of civil and religious liberty and of free education. Through the solicitations of Capito and Bucer, he was induced to accept the new charge offered to him, though Geneva still lay heavy on his heart. The persecutions in France had now driven many exiles into those cities and states which lay on its borders, where liberty could be found to worship God after the pure and simple rules of the Bible. Many such persons had collected in Strasburg, and it was proposed that Calvin should take them. under his charge, and form them into the order and discipline of a church. This work was undertaken by him with great success, unhindered by any of those embarrassments which had assailed him at Geneva. He was even so happy as to convince some of those Anabaptists who had found their way thither, of the error of their opinions, and receive them to the communion. "That we may not boast, however," he says, in relating this circumstance to Farel," and glorify ourselves in this service, the Lord humbles us in a thousand ways. Yet," he adds, "we have always this consolation that we do not serve God in vain, even when, to all appearance, we seem to toil to no purpose."

The two years spent at Strasburg were among the most active and most fruitful in Calvin's life. Many of those labors were here commenced, and those relations entered into, which

form the thread and clue of its whole remaining history. Although the ordinary duties springing from his position must have occupied much of his time, for we find that he either lectured or preached daily, yet he found time for many other more strictly literary tasks. He here published a revised edition of the "Institutes," as well as a little work on "The Supper,' remarkable as having received the approbation of Luther, always so excitable in regard to this subject. It was at this time, too, that there appeared at Geneva a translation of the Bible into French under Calvin's name. So far as Calvin was concerned, however, it was little more than a revision. But the most important work here produced was the Commentary on Romans, the first of that valuable series which occupied him till the end of his life. The claims of grammatical and exegetical criticism had doubtless not yet met with full recognition among biblical scholars, but great advances had necessarily been made in this direction. The qualities to be looked for in commentators were however quite different from those which are justly expected at the present day, as the wants of the age were also different. The sincere opinions of a great mind which has earnestly occupied itself in studying the text of Scripture will always be of value, especially when characterized by an energetic grasp of the subject, and presented with directness and in concise and forcible terms. When we con· sider that these qualities were united in the case of Calvin with high scholarship, a great degree of exegetical talent, together with a wonderfully clear insight into the doctrine of Scripture, considered as a whole, we cannot wonder at the great influence which these writings of his exerted upon his own times, and those which immediately succeeded. He avoided many faults which were fallen into by other expositors of that age, some of whom allowed themselves to be led quite away from the text by their earnestness in behalf of some particular dogma, or their zeal for the overthrow of some dangerous error,

more careful to obtain the support of Scripture for the truth they were desirous of defending, than to discover yet farther, from that sacred and inexhaustible source, what might still be wanting to the fulness or definiteness of their own conception. The aim of others was the instruction of a particular class, the