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monarchies, raised by human wisdom, and sup-: ported by physical strength, soon perished, like the short lived beasts, under which, they were represented to the mind of the prophet, by the deity;-leaving behind them, little more than the traces of bloodshed and slaughter, oppres-. sion and tyranny, that generally followed their actions. If this was the case in the empires, whose rulers knew nothing of the Creator:-if their strength was changed into weakness, when their princes boasted" of the might of “their power, and the honor of their majesty," as if," the most high ruled not in the kingdom "of men ;-and gave not dominion to whomsoever he thought proper;"-men, who are appointed to carry on the affairs of a great nation, professing the principles of Christianity, ought to be careful, how they enact laws, which are not in union with those of God.-It is an easy thing to ridicule the idea, that God interferes in the affairs of the world;-it is not a difficult matter to represent a person as a “visionary," who asserts that God takes notice of the different acts of kingdoins and nations:-but, when a state is reduced from independence and freedom, and is compelled to submit to the power of a conquering enemy :-or, wher a monarch is hurled from his throne, like the proud king of Babylon, because he paid no attention to the will of God;-the idea of the divine government, may be smiled at,-but it will be adnitted, without hesitation, that the liberty of the

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one, and the crown of the other are seldom recovered, without great difficulty and exertion.— If the deity is excluded, according to the opinion of many modern statesmen, from taking any interest in the political affairs of a kingdom, does not such an exclusion trench deeply upon one of the attributes of God; his omniscence?For, if the deity knows every thing, he can at no time be ignorant of what is doing for the good or injury of his creatures, by the wise or unwise counsels of men in power; and must approve or condemn accordingly. If it is supposed, that religious, and not political subjects, pass under his observation and notice, this does not extricate us from difficulty.-But, there is a much closer connection between religious and political subjects, than some men are disposed to allow.-What is politically right, or really beneficial to a state, will seldom be religiously wrong.-Many things which appear advantageous to the political interest of a country, are directly the contrary, because they are not founded upon the principles of justice :-both history and experience shew this; consequently, whatever is wrong, when tried by the religion of justice and truth, bestowed upon man by his maker, can never be politically right, or really and lastingly beneficial to the interest of any government or nation. In other words, no government can be considered good and lasting, unless it is founded upon a basis corresponding with the divine

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laws and even then, the chief magistrate must be very circumspect in all he does-he must guard against irreligious innovation-he must never lose sight of the righteous laws of him, who gave him his "dominion and power”— and he must endeavour to make his subjects imitate his own virtuous example, or his "king"dom may be taken from him, and given to one that is more deserving of it."-When we consider these things, we cease to wonder that the mighty empires of Greece and Rome fell, and crumbled into pieces-Deficient in the great points that give stability and glory to empires, their strength soon became weakness, and their dissolution inevitable.-Their learning, so much admired by, and so valuable to us, was comparatively of little use to them-It restrained no licentiousness-it eradicated none of those passions, which disgrace human reason-it destroyed none of the errors of idolatry and paganism.-The furious dispositions of wild beasts, with all their savage qualities characterized them, in each period of their existence, and hastened their destruction,-notwithstanding all the beauty and sweetness of the numbers of Homer and Virgil-the eloquent orations of Demosthenes and Cicero-the delightful histories of Herodotus and Livy-the reputed justice and impartiality of the Grecian Areopagus-and the wisdom and caution of the Roman Curia.-The literature of Greece and Rome then first became really useful, when it

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was united with the wisdom and knowledge that flowed from the writings of the sacred historians. When the bible was torn from under the heavily pressing feet of the "great beast," and men, in defiance of Papal Bulls and decrees, studied it, and drew their own draughts of knowledge from the divine fount, then, a surprising alteration took place in the manners and opinions of some of the nations of Europe. The great discovery of the art of printing, caused the sacred writings to be known, and paved the way for universal civilization and science; whilst the magnetic needle, introduced us to the acquaintance of strangers, in the different quarters of the globe; and the concise and beautiful history of St. Luke taught us a lesson, that we could never have learned from all the ponderous volumes of antiquity, that these strangers were the brethren of Christians, and entitled both to their love and assistance.

If, then, ignorance, with the long catalogue of miseries that generally attends it, still pervades the countries, where the Roman Catholic religion prevails;-if the laity of that communion are still kept in darkness, concerning those truths in the sacred writings, that would animate their exertions in the cause of their fellow creatures, and cheer them in every difficulty and trouble, they might meet with in the different stages of their existence, what can with propriety be urged, in defence of the

advocates of persons professing a religion, which entails wretchedness and slavery upon those who belong to it?-Why are not Spain, and Italy and Ireland as happy and as free as England? The answer is,-happiness and liberty accompany the knowledge of the gospelEngland knows the true God, and bends before his altar.-Ireland, Italy, and Spain, it they know God, honor him not as God;-Saints, angels, pictures receive that homage and adoration from them, which puts them at enmity with the creator, and makes him "remove his countenance from them"-When the the first inhabitants of earth deserted God, he deserted them; and the pleasure and happiness of the garden of Eden, were succeeded by "the thorns "and thistles" of a dreary wilderness, and the pain and labour of cultivating the ground "in the sweat of their brows."-Christ teaches the way to root out these thorns and thistles, and smooths the path of human life-The Papacy suffers them to grow, and to plague and torment the world.

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(4)---CHRISTIANS.--

Not the followers of " Paul or Apollos, or "Cephas," but of Christ :--the followers of him, who declared that "no man could serve two "masters"-who set us an example how to do good; but, at the same time, advised us, whilst endeavouring to imitate him, to mix

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