fessed, and in the recompense of the just we promise them an increase of eternal salvation."

But the same Pope, Innocent III., surpassed even this, by the terms in which he asserted his power to forgive sins. Speaking of our Lord's saying, that a brother should be forgiven "seventy times seven," he interprets the expression, in a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople, in this wise:-"The number seven multiplied into itself in this place signifies all the whole sins of all men, all which Peter alone can remit; and not only these, but also the accusations of all men. The Lord suffered Peter alone to be His vicegerent in office, and his successor in power. Therefore, after the Lord's ascension, Peter began to govern the Church as His successor; who, when he had consecrated the Roman Church by his own blood, bequeathed the primacy of the Chair to his successor, transferring to him the whole plenitude of power." Thus the Pope alone, in the plenitude of his supreme and infallible authority, claimed and exercised the power of remitting all sins of all men! Professor Hussey, in concluding his "sketch of this wide subject," as he properly terms it, observes :

"I have now traced in its outline, as it were the Papacy, noting down distinctly, though as shortly as possible, the critical changes and additions in it, the several steps by which it mounted, from the precedence which it originally possessed, to supremacy; a supremacy which was not merely above all other powers, but rather the absorption and concentration of all power in the world. For civil government was supposed to be subject to it; and whatever authority existed in any part of the Church, was believed to be derived from the Pope, and virtually exercised by the Pope. It was a Pope who thus described the office:-That he is the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the successor of Peter, the anointed of the Lord, the God of Pharaoh ; short of God, beyond man; less than God, greater than man; who judges all men, and is judged by no man.'" (pp. 198, 199.)

It is not to be supposed that these awful claims in behalf of Papal supremacy were advanced without indignant protests by those who detected the weakness of the individual, while they appeared to give their support to the system. Even Jerome, one of the chief pillars of the Roman Church in the fourth century, was constrained to condemn the incipient aims at supremacy of Pope Damasus, though utterly insignificant compared with the full-blown blasphemy of succeeding Popes. "Away with jealousy," he writes in his 15th Epistle. "Let the ambition of Roman pre-eminence retire. I speak to the successors of the fisherman, and the disciple of the cross. While I follow no chief but Christ, I am joined in communion with your beatitude, that is, the seat of Peter. On that rock I know the Church is built."

The Papacy likewise of early times contradicts the assertions

of later Popes. Even Gregory I. contradicted and condemned, by anticipation, the pretensions of Gregory VII. The extent of authority asserted, and the grounds on which it was claimed, are contrary, we need not say, to the doctrines of Scripture, the precepts of the Gospel, as well as to truth and justice, but even to all which history declares concerning the Bishopric of Rome from the earliest ages of the Church, whether we regard what the Bishops of early times considered to be their own due, or what the opinion and practice of the Church had allowed.

From a review of this question, it would seem as if nothing which has ever been done by Papal authority can be consistently called in question by those who hold the doctrine of "Supremacy." Although one might hold everything else which is taught and required by the Church of Rome, yet if he doubted that Popes can depose princes from their thrones, and release subjects from their obedience; or that the Pope, by his plenary power, can remit all sins; or that all the Councils of the Church have, and can have, authority only from the Pope's confirmation; or that all Bishops and Clergy have mission and power to minister by the authority of the Pope alone; or that all heretics are to be extirpated by the secular power; or that all the property of the Church belongs to the Pope, so that he can dispose of it as he will; or that all jurisdiction in the Church proceeds from the Pope, so that all ecclesiastical causes, whether in China or America, Africa or Siberia, must be carried to Rome for final settlement;-if one doubted these or similar assertions, he must offend against the great duty of obedience to the so-called successors of the great Apostle of the Circumcision.

The doctrine of Papal supremacy must be received undoubted and entire, such as the Popes have declared it, and acted upon it. To attempt to qualify or modify it, is to deny the authority of it altogether. For if, as Professor Hussey rightly concludes, "if it be anything less than it has asserted itself to be, unless (such as it has asserted itself to be) it be in everything the Divine ordinance of our blessed Lord and Saviour, it is false, a fiction, and an imposture."

A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS.

THE general history of the Jewish people, from the call of Abraham to their final dispersion in the first century of the Christian era, is well known to all. It is so prominently brought before us in the services of our national Church, that we can scarcely be ignorant of it. But all have not considered

thoroughly the design of Almighty God in choosing that people to be peculiarly His own. Yet this, a very important subject, is one which every member of the Christian church. should understand, and know how to apply to himself. There are many passages of Scripture which throw light upon it, but there is one which places it in the clearest light. And as the history of Israel comes before us at this season of the year, our readers may feel pleased to have their attention called to it, especially as it does not occur in the Sunday lessons. We refer to Exodus xix. 3-6.

The Israelites, liberated from Egypt, had now encamped before Mount Sinai, awaiting the proclamation of the ten commandments from its summit. Moses ascends the mountain for further instructions, and God, calling to him out of the Mount, charges him with this message to the whole nation :"Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

With this short message Moses was sent down from the Mount. Does it not show that the God of Israel wished the whole nation, even before receiving His law, to understand throughly His object in redeeming them, and bringing them on eagles' wings near to Himself? Does it not also show that a due appreciation of His design, in calling His people into covenant with Himself, is the best preparation for receiving His law, the strongest motive to obedience?

What, then, was His design, and what was Israel to understand from this special message?

1. They were to understand that God had chosen them to be His own peculiar people, exalted above all others, and to rejoice in this privilege; but they were not to suppose that, in choosing them, He had abandoned the rest of the world. He had not surrendered His right over other nations, nor shut them out from His merciful regard. Satan lied, when, after showing to the tempted Jesus the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he said, "All this is delivered unto me." God says, "All the earth is mine." The nations surrounding Israel had indeed forsaken Him; they had set up false gods, and even devils, as objects of worship; but He had not withdrawn His sceptre, nor ceased to rule over them. Men may forget, resist, and even defy God, as indeed many do, but they cannot thereby cast off His authority. They are His subjects still. He holds them responsible for every act, and at any

moment can smite down their pride and courage, stop their rebellion, and summon them to judgment. And what shall a puny mortal do within His grasp, and what shall the disobedient say when standing face to face with Him? Let not the force of these words be overlooked, "All the earth is mine."

2. But this sentence not only affirms the unceasing authority of God over all the nations of the world; it contains also an intimation of His mercy towards them. The honour and dignity conferred upon Israel was for their good also. Israel was elevated and distinguished before other nations, that he might be the medium of conveying heavenly blessings to the rest of the world. "Ye shall be unto Me a peculiar treasure." Not, surely, a treasure by which God Himself was enriched; but a treasure by which He would enrich the nations around them, for all the earth was His. The same intimation is given in the expression, "Ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests," as we shall see if we notice it more closely.

We all know that the whole tribe of Levi was shortly after selected from the general body of the Israelites, consecrated to be a sacred tribe perpetually engaged in religious services, and that from these a still further selection was made of the family of Aaron to be a body of priests to offer sacrifices for the whole nation, as well as to be the depositaries of His laws, the guardians of His temple, and of all that pertained to religion. The head of this body was also president of the Sanhedrim, the council by which both Church and State were ordinarily governed. When, therefore, God declared to the twelve tribes encamped before Sinai, that they should be unto Him a kingdom of priests, did He not signify that they, as a church and nation, should be to the world at large what the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron were to be to the Jewish nation? "All the earth is mine, and ye shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." Their elevation was that of a light to shine upon the moral and spiritual darkness around them by the diffusion of truth. They were to be a holy nation, exhibiting to other nations what a nation ought to be.

3. An important question here arises. Was it intended that the surrounding nations should adopt the same forms of worship, the same ceremonies and institutions, as the Jews? or become proselytes in the Jewish Church? We think not. The religion of Noah and Melchisedec was not abrogated or nullified by the call of Abraham to be the founder of a peculiar people. It was the same religion as that of Abel and Enoch, having derived its origin from God, and needed only to be purged or preserved from the superstition and idolatry then defiling it, and to be enlightened with those simple truths which had been republished by the call of Abraham, and by

those further revelations of God's will about to be given to Israel by the hand of Moses. Suppose, for instance, that the surrounding nations had adopted the ten commandments as the basis of their religion and laws, would not idolatry, superstition, and devil-worship have been swept away? And would they not, without becoming Jews, be worshippers of the one true God, living under His smile and blessing, prepared to receive further communications of His will, and ultimately to welcome Him who was "the desire of all nations"?

Now the religion of Moses, the same in substance as that from the beginning, only more fully developed, and accommodated to a single nation, "a peculiar people," was given to keep the Israelites free from idolatry, its errors and vices, to fence them in from the contaminating influences of other peoples already fallen into these evils, to make them a people enlightened by truth and able to teach others also, a people who should stand forth and be recognised as the children of God, whom the rest of the world had forsaken. And while thus ' sanctified and preserved, and shining forth into the darkness around them, they were also to intercede with God, "the God of the whole earth," as His priests in behalf of other nations, and labour for their conversion and restoration to Him. See how thoroughly David entered into the spirit of this idea in that well-known Psalm (lxvii.), " God be merciful unto us (the Jewish people), and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us; that Thy way (religion) may be known on earth, Thy saving health among all nations." Hear him, too, pleading as God's royal priest on their behalf,-" Oh, let the nations rejoice and be glad, for Thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Let the people praise Thee, O Lord, let all the people praise Thee!"

4. But how were they to become qualified, as a kingdom of priests, for this dignity and usefulness? Sent to offer them this honour, Moses was charged also to tell them the indispensable requisite," If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, THEN shall ye be unto Me a peculiar treasure-a kingdom of priests." All usefulness for God depends, then, upon obedience to His voice, and stedfastness in His covenant. A disobedient priest is a useless priest. He who has no light from God in his soul cannot shine. He who prays not for himself cannot effectually intercede for others. Holiness is influence. How far Israel fulfilled this design, and wherein they failed, would be an interesting subject of inquiry, but too wide a one for our present purpose. We proceed, therefore, to consider,

5. What bearing this has upon the Christian Church, and upon ourselves as members of it.

We may be allowed to say that Israel, more or less faithfully,