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wears more than its former beauty. But who shall prevent the recurrence of its confusion? Who shall control the warring instincts of these lower creatures, and bind them all into continual harmony with the will of God? Who, after thus controlling their unrestrained forces, and linking all these creatures into one system of moral unity, shall present their tribute of praise-the incense breathed ever from earth's great altar-as reasonable service to the Lord of Heaven and earth? Here there was a problem for Divine wisdom to solve, and a work which needed for its accomplishment, a further and higher exercise of Divine power and goodness. The three glorious and Heavenly Witnesses seem here,—to speak with reverence,-united in solemn conclave, to decide on this new and untried step in the course of Providence, the birth-day of a higher and nobler creation. And God said, "Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth.....And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth." And now the work of recovery is complete. A head has been provided over all these lower creatures, to maintain their harmony, to offer up their silent and unconscious worship, and to rule over them in the image of his Maker. A law is at once assigned, not only to man, but through man, to all the lower creatures, by which the murderous instincts of the beasts of prey should be controlled and restrained. Then the topstone of the second or moral creation was complete. The purpose of Divine wisdom was attained, at least until a

new form of evil should call for a still higher and holier provision of love. "God looked upon all that he had made, and behold it was very good, and the evening and the morning were the sixth day." After ages of interminable changes, issuing only in confusion and darkness, the foundation of the earth was fashioned, and the corner-stone of it laid, more firmly than ever. What wonder then, when such a new era of hope and beauty had dawned, after such long and weary ages of change and desolation, that the blessed angels gazed with intense admiration and delight, and the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Twice only, perhaps, in later times, were they to have a nobler theme for their songs, when the second Adam should reveal himself, in wonderful humility, to recover the fallen world from its ruins, and when He shall appear the second time, as the Lord from Heaven, to reign in glory for ever, over the new creation of God.

T. R. B.

ESSAYS ON IDOLATRY.

No. III.

IN the foregoing Essays, we have endeavoured to shew from the Homilies, the sin and evil of setting up pictures or images in Churches or Temples intended for Christian worship; and we hope that in doing so, we have convinced some of our Protestant brethren, that however harmless such memorials of scriptural events may appear, there is great danger in admitting them, under any pretext whatever; as sooner or later they have ever been found to draw men from the spiritual worship of God, and to lead them into Idolatry.

We will now give the opinions to be found in those parts of the Homily on the Peril of Idolatry, which have not been noticed in our former Essays.

Setting out with the position which closed our last Essay. That images of God, our Saviour Christ, and his saints, if set up in Temples and Churches, are not things indifferent or tolerable, but against God's law and commandments ;-we now proceed to give the reasons assigned in the Homily for this assertion, and would earnestly entreat the attention of our readers to those reasons, which are,

1st. That all images, so set up in Churches or Temples, have been worshipped by unlearned and simple men soon after they have been so set up, and finally by the wise and learned.

2ndly. That this worship was not confined to former times, when darkness and superstition reigned throughout Christendom; but that even now they are honoured and worshipped, even in places where God's word is known and read.

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3rdly. That it is impossible that Images of God, Christ, and his saints, can be suffered—especially in Churches, for any length of time, without undue honour being shewn to them; and that idolatry which is most abominable before God, cannot possibly be escaped and avoided, without the abolition and destruction of images and pictures in temples and in Churches, because Idolatry is to images an inseparable accident, as it is termed, so that Images in Churches and Idolatry always go together, and therefore the one cannot be avoided, except the other be destroyed. In the face of all this, many are found to allege, that however people, princes, and learned men of old time, have fallen into idolatry by occasion of Images, yet that in our time, the most part, especially the learned and wise, take no hurt nor offence by Images, and that they know well what an Idol or Image is, and how it should be used; and that therefore it follows that Images in Churches and Temples can do no harm, although they may not be altogether expedient because of danger to the simpler sort. To this it may well be replied, that Solomon the wisest of men, did well know what an Idol or Image was, and took no harm from them himself for a great while, but even armed others against them by his godly writings; yet afterwards the same Solomon was led away by them, and from being the wisest and most godly of princes, became foolish and wicked also. While on the contrary, Hezekiah, who well knew that the brazen serpent was but a dead thing, and therefore took no

hurt from it himself, did, for the sake of his subjects, who had been deceived by that image into Idolatry, not only take it down, but also break it to pieces. And this he did to an image which had been set up by God's command, and before which, as a figure of our Saviour Christ which was to come and deliver us from the mortal sting of the old serpent, many and great miracles were wrought. The excellent king Josiah also, who himself took no hurt from Images, for he knew what they were, did, because of his people, cause them to be taken away, removing those stumbling-blocks which might be injurious to his subjects.

Wherefore they which reason that, although it be not expedient, it is lawful to have Images, and that they should be left, because very few take hurt from them, except the weak and simple, should remember, that whatever proves a stumbling-block to a Christian, must be unlawful, and that it is very inconsistent in those who have determined, that the Scriptures shall not be read by the simple, for fear of drawing them into dangerous errors, to plead for the setting up of Images which are forbidden by God, and admitted by themselves to be stumbling-blocks to the weak.

The Homily goes on to shew that the Images in Christian Churches, have been, are, and ever will be, none other but abominable Idols, and therefore no things indifferent. And to this end it says, "that Christian Images and the Idols of the Gentiles are all one, is most evident, the matter of them being gold, silver, or other metal, stone, wood, clay or plaster, as were the Idols of the Gentiles; and being either molten or cast, either carved, graven, hewn, or otherwise fashioned, after the similitude and likeness of man or woman; they are dead and dumb works of men's

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