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He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."-Matt. xxiv. 29. In a passage that follows, we have the whole solemn proceeding of eternal life and death detailed: The Judge on the throne-the train of glory-the attending angelsthe gathering of all nations before him-the awful separation-the unchanging sentence-the reasons of the judg ment-and the final doom: "These shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life. eternal."-Matt. xxv. 31-46. Saint Paul declares, as an awakening doctrine, that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."-2 Cor. v. 10. And he refers to this very thing in another place, and quotes the words of the prophet Isaiah in proof thereof: For we shall all · stand before the judgment seat of Christ; for it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, (Jehovah) every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.--Rom. xiv. 10, 11; Isa. xlv. 23. And he draws this as the natural conclusion: "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."--Rom. xiv. 12. And again, in language that may well make the ears of every one who hears it to tingle, he gives this description of the dread glories of the Saviour on that terrible day: "To you who are troubled, rest with us; when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power: When He shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."-2 Thess. i. 7-10. In the solemn charge he gives to Timothy, he declares that the Lord Jesus Christ is Judge, both "of quick and dead.” Whilst, in the verses following, speaking of his own blessed hope, he thus characterises that Saviour: "The Lord, the righteous Judge."-2 Tim. iv. 1, 8. 'And with this truth, the vision and the prophecy close. Now, amongst the most distant objects which revelation presents to our view, when looking down the long vista of coming ages, we have this great doctrine introduced as bounding the prospect, and shutting up the scene: "And I saw a

great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them: And I saw the dead, small ande. great, stand before God, and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire.”—Rev. xx. 11-15.

Taking, then, this united testimony, that of the Old Testament, which declares, that "God is judge;" and that of the New Tew Testament, which gives the judgment to the Lord Jesus Christ; with the Saviour's own express and positive declaration, that "the Father judgeth no man: but hath committed all judgment unto the Son," we gather such an overwhelming argument in proof of the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that it is more than madness or folly to resist it. To deny-to oppose this doctrine, is neither more nor less, than wilfully to dash our souls against the bosses of the Almighty's buckler; and we are constrained to draw the conclusion which an apostle has long before drawn; That "if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."-2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. Praying that God may open the eyes of all to the acknowledgment of, the truth, I remain, very truly, yours,

17th April, 1830.

VINDICATION OF THE REV. JOHN BROWN.

H.

"When mine enemies came upon me to cat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. They have prepared a net for my steps; they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen."

SIR,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ORTHODOX PRESBYTERIAN.

A PHALANX of opposition has mustered against me, from the mountains of Newtonlimavady to the lake of Geneva; and did the power of my assailants keep pace with their inclination, doubtless, my "life's life" would long since have been

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destroyed. But although, during my late absence from home, which prevented me from paying earlier attention to their attacks, some persons have entertained themselves merrily at my expense, I promise there will be grave faces before they settle the account; and that it will appear, how even cunning men may lay shares to catch themselves. I first incurred the hatred of the Poloni Fratres, when, as a Warder of Zion gates, I refused admission to one of their fraternity. Their displeasure was increased when, at the last meeting of Synod, wearied with the altercations they produced in our courts, and convinced that charity "which rejoiceth in the truth" as little sanctions conmunion with heretics, as she sanctions fellowship with the diseased and immoral, I urged my brethren to "come out from among them." In exposing the fallacy of their arguments, and the hollowness of their professions, I represented them as inconsistent, if not insincere, in their opposition to creeds; and, in support of this charge, adduced the fact, that the Arian declaimers against creeds in the Templepatrick Presbytery, looked on with approbation while the young men were signing an Arian Creed. This statement they have not found it convenient to controvert. Whereas they declaim loudly about charity, I showed that they are generally harsh in their judgments, and intolerant in their conduct towards all men who venture to reject their creed. In proof of this, I referred to the dark features of the sect in former times, and glanced at the enormities which they have lately perpetrated, under the mask of a professed love of freedom and liberality. For the "Unitarian Hallelujahs," which Dr. Drummond has so poetically described as bursting on the ear amidst the Swiss vallies, I found an accompaniment in the clanking of chains, and in the sighs and groans of the confessors of Christ, whom the iron hand of Unitarian violence has immured in dungeons. Noticing the indignities heaped on Malan and his associates I mentioned the shout of the Genevese mob, "Down with Jesus Christ" and, although I abhor the sentiment, I have ventured to write it, because I shall show Mr. Porter that it was uttered, not indeed by the Clergy, or the Christian population of Geneva, but by a mob that had been taught to contemn the leading feature of Christianity. I farther exposed the false pretensions of such men to liberality, by referring to regulations destructive of all free inquiry imposed on candidates for the ministry in the Church of Geneva.-That portion of the press which was under Arian influence, merely reported that a CERTAIN PERSON had spoken, unless when something ridiculous was invented for me, and then I obtained due notice.

From time to time I was put upon the rack-yet denied all liberty of self-defence. At length I ceased to notice, and I believe often remained ignorant of, their attacks; until, it would seem, calculating on my insensibility, they resolved to play off a clever ruse on the world. My speech, though not reported, was not forgotten; and its disjecta membra were carefully collected and circulated over Europe. A person in the North, I presume, informed his friend in Dublin, how he had writhed under my remarks, and urged him to obtain the best official contradiction to them which could be procured, for the double purpose of fixing me on the pillory, and of casting dust into the eyes of the public. The letter was forwarded to Geneva; and lo! the Learned Doctors met in solemn conclave!-Why all this stir? Has some field for the diffusion of religion presented itself, and are they deliberating how to occupy it with effect? No. In that venerable place where Reformers raised their voices, and startled Europe from the slumbers of ages, a company of wily foxes assembled to consult how they might aid in the mighty achievement of crushing a country Minister, in a secluded corner of the North of Ireland!! The conclave over, the solemn missive is despatched for the Arian brotherhood of Dublin; and it is now my business to examine and expose their Jesuit-like production.

The words have already been before the public, and when fairly construed, apply only to the Clergy of Geneva, of whom I had not spoken, except when I adverted to the demoralizing influence of their creed; and yet they are so artfully employed, that, with a little aid from Arian Translators, they become broader than the mantle of charity, and hide the blasphemies of a whole city! Let this resolution be returned to Geneva, and let the Doctors say plainly what they really mean; for an ambiguous denial is no denial. My unknown friend "Ehud," has rendered it unnecessary for me to dwell on the mean duplicity which pervades this resolution; but there is one of its features which, as it displays the regard that is shown at Geneva to the right of private judgment, it may be instructive to notice.

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The resolution asserts, that "it is absolutely false that Preachers are prevented from teaching directly Orthodox doctrines, if they believe them.' But who are the judges of sincerity in this case?-The Consistory. Men who, until restrained by the civil power, would not be persuaded of a man's sincerity by his readiness to submit to incarceration or death; and who, like their brethren of Lausanne, employed a

ruthless Gendarmerie to settle religious discussions, by hurrying those who refused to submit to their regulations beyond the limits of the Canton. Such is the fruit of that liberality which does not rest upon the Bible. It talks of freedom, but rivets its fetters.-Besides, were this resolution taken in the sense most favourable to my opponents, and were we to grant that the magistrates, grieved for the injuries which intolerance inflicted on their city, have secured a respite from persecution, yet my statement, relative to the regulations imposed on candidates for the ministry, would remain fully justified by proofs, which I shall hereafter adduce.

I have been held up as a slanderer, and cautioned not to skulk behind a man of straw, and twitted sneeringly for giving no authority; just as though it were necessary to quote authority for facts that are registered in the open page of history. I shall, however, give my authority, complying with all Mr. Porter's conditions of time, place, &c., but dispensing with the testimony of the "Native Swiss."*

1.-I first heard the fact, that the Genevese mob shouted, "Down with Jesus Christ," from the Rev. I. Saunders, Rector of Blackfriars, London, at a meeting of the Continental Society at Coleraine, several years ago. The circumstance was adverted to also by the Rev. Mr. Carson, of Tobbermore, at the same meeting, in the presence of a considerable assembly. I lately saw Mr. Saunders in London.-He at once admitted the statement, and referred me to the correspondence of the Society in support of it. When on the Continent in 1825, I visited Paris. By the Rev. Mr. Wilks I was introduced to a Missionary Seminary, superintended by a gentleman whose name I find, by referring to my journal, to be Galland. I attended a religious service, and in token of union with the Reformed Church of France, I commenced the service with prayer, a French Minister lectured, and Mr. Galland concluded with prayer and the benediction. There

* For the charges against the Neologists, (Arians and Socinians,) of the Cantons referred to on the testimony of a "Native Swiss," Mr. Brown is not accountable. We know the narrator; and we heard him state the charges, which, however horrible, were represented as occurrences publi and notorious at the time. Our narrator has already suffered the most severe persecutions for his profession of the Gospel. His name we shall not, therefore, surrender at the blusterings of Mr. Porter, lest we should causelessly expose him to more of the "tender mercies" of his Neologiam countrymen. But, if M. Cheneviere should, in another public document, attempt to palliate or deny the statement, we promise, in due course, adduce our evidence, and establish the accusations.-Edit.

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