popery has gone down with the most fearful celerity; and all the arts and ingenuity of its friends and abetters are wholly unavailing to support their dying cause. More has been done within a few years since, than could have been anticipated by the most sanguine friend of the Reformation. The beast now no longer presents that imposing and most formidable front as formerly, neither exhibits those menacing attitudes when attacked and assailed by enemies. No; the spiritual thunder of the pope has almost wholly spent its force. It no longer alarms the potentates of Europe, nor makes the nations tremble. The old man who now fills the chair of St. Peter has been obliged to take several important lessons in the virtue of modesty, and to good purpose.

We now come to speak of the future prospects of the church. These are dark beyond description. Every thing with regard to her has the most gloomy appearance, and down she must go; and all her friends on earth and friends beneath will not be able to sustain her. There are several circumstances which will tend to accelerate her downfall with most fearful rapidity, and from the powerful action of which nothing can possibly save her.

One is, her constant interference with the civil affairs of nations. For centuries the Roman pontiffs have claimed jurisdiction over all temporal rulers, and insisted that they held their kingdoms as their vassals, and not from mere inherent or hereditary right. This is now a most unfortunate circumstance for her, especially as no succeeding popes have made any animadversions upon their predecessors as though they had been mistaken in this matter, nor have given up a single pretension of this kind. The princes of Europe will bear in mind the most insufferable arrogance of the pope when he obliged Henry, emperor of Germany, to travel to Rome in the depth of winter, and to stand three days barefooted at his palace gate before he would grant him admission; and to kiss his big toe before he would grant him absolution, for having dared to say that his kingdom was his own, and that he would rule it as he pleased, despite of his holiness. They will remember his quarrel with John, king of England, respecting the nomination to the archbishopric of Canterbury, which was claimed by the pope and denied by John, and which, after several years' contention, resulted in the most humiliating degradation of the latter. They will also remember the numerous popish plots against the English government, after the establishment of Protestantism in that nation, especially the gunpowder plot, so called, and the numerous conspiracies against the life and government of Queen Elizabeth. All these things will be borne in mind, and will most powerfully tend to the total subversion of the papal power.

The second of these circumstances is, the persecuting spirit of this church. Not but what others have also persecuted; but her persecuting spirit has been of a pre-eminent character. Scores and hundreds have not satisfied her bloodthirsty spirit; thousands and even millions have been sacrificed to her cruelty. The destruction of the three million Waldenses, and the unparalleled sufferings connected with the slaughter, concerning which Milton has exclaimed

"Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughter'd saints,

Whose bones lie scatter'd on the Alpine mountains cold;"

all this will be remembered against her by the nations of Europe. The massacre of the French Protestants, and the unheard of cruelties of the Inquisition, especially in Spain, which nation has been partly depopulated by it, will all be treasured up against her. This must be the case, for these deeds have never been execrated or denounced by her as incompatible with the spirit of our holy religion. To be sure, Protestant communities have persecuted, but they learned it in the church of Rome; they brought it away with them, and it is one of the last rags of popery that they have been inclined to throw away.

A third circumstance is, the character of the monastic orders,― ignorant, lazy, licentious, corrupt, and shockingly avaricious in grasping for the wealth of others, they are now looked upon with the greatest contempt and detestation, and as worse than burdensome upon the community, yea, as a stinking nuisance. And as the monastic orders have been greatly patronised by the popes, and have been their principal support, they will be considered as a part and parcel of the Papal Church; and as they go down, the church must inevitably share their fate, and both be destroyed together.

The fourth and principal circumstance is, the pretensions of this church to infallibility, which also utterly precludes the possibility of her reformation. Now this pretension she has never given up, and probably never will. The consequence is, that she hereby declares that what she once was she now is, and always designs to be. She hereby declares that all her past doings are right, and of course, that if she had the power, she would do them again. This will always cause her to be regarded with a jealous eye. It also precludes the possibility of a reformation. This, if it could be brought about, might save her from final dissolution. But her very constitution does not admit of any cure for her diseases-she must inevitably die of them. I have heard some persons talk of a reform in the Church of Rome. I should as soon think of a reform in hell. Some think that a partial reform has already taken place; but this is a great mistake. The fact is, that the Church of Rome is now worse than she ever was; for with all the superior light afforded by the Reformation for more than three centuries, she has not changed a single doctrine or practice. Her present members consequently sin against greater light, and are therefore greater sinners, than their fathers.

But the word of prophecy of which we now come to speak will set this matter in a clear light, and show us that we are not to look for the reform of the Church of Rome, but for her destruction. This we shall do in few words. The prophet Daniel describes the Church of Rome as a little horn, before whom three other horns, (that is, states or kingdoms, which were those of Ravenna and Lombardy,) were plucked up by the roots; and as having the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and a back more stout than his fellows; and as having made war with the saints, and prevailed against them: and then adds, "until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and

the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." He farther proceeds in his description of the character of the little horn, thus: "And he shall speak great words against the Most High; and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." And then he says: "But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end." And concerning the period of its destruction as specified by the prophet, the time, times, and the dividing of a time, amount to one thousand two hundred and sixty years, which added to the year six hundred and six, in which Boniface III. was proclaimed œcumenical or universal bishop, and which may be put down as the commencement of this power, will bring it to the year eighteen hundred and sixty-six, which is but thirty years to come. And we presume from what the signs of the times most evidently indicate, that the power of the bishops of Rome will come to an end by that time. We do not suppose that all Papists will be converted by that time, for that may be the work of more years; but that both the temporal and superior spiritual power of the pontiff will be broken; and the conversion of his subjects may take place with the conversion of the rest of the world. St. John the Revelator, in his computation, agrees with Daniel, and after having described the rise, and progress, and special character of the Roman hierarchy, devotes the whole eighteenth chapter to an account of its fall and final dissolution, which he represents as being very violent and sudden, thus: "And a mighty angel took up a stone, like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be no more at all." Then shall the cry of the mighty angel be heard, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen; and the voice of the great multitude in heaven, saying, "Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

For the Methodist Magazine and Quarterly Review.

ART. IV.-PAUL AT ATHENS.

In the course of his labors among the Gentiles, Paul arrived at Athens from Berea, a city of Macedonia, whence he had been driven by the inveterate malice of the Jews. Having reached this celebrated city, his attention was soon directed, not to its schools, but to its temples, its statues, its altars; not so much to admire the beauty of the architecture, or the skill of the sculptor, as to mourn over the dark system of idolatry of which they formed so conspicuous and important a feature. We should do injustice to the distinguished reputation of Paul as a man of classical taste and refinement if we were to conclude from this circumstance that he was insensible to the claims of philosophy and literature; or unmoved by the works of art with which he was surrounded. But a paramount object engrossed all the powers of his mind, as well as his deepest sympathies, before which even the unrivalled schools of Athens, and the most splendid productions of human art, dwindled into comparative insignificance. The inexpres

sible solicitude which he felt for the glory of God, and the salvation of souls-a solicitude which would have led him, as in the case of the Thessalonians, "to have imparted unto them, not the gospel of God only, but also his own soul," was powerfully awakened in his pious bosom, and absorbed all thoughts leading to a gratification of an ordinary curiosity, when he "saw the city" to which he had undoubtedly been directed by the providence of God," wholly given to idolatry."

As was his custom, he first directed his attention to his own countrymen the Jews, who, it appears, had built a synagogue in this proud city; and then to the "devout persons," Greeks and others, who, having renounced idolatry, had embraced the Jewish religion. In addition to his stated labors in the synagogue, every day was employed by him in personal discussion "in the market with them that met with him."

Among others it appears he "encountered certain philosophers of the Epicureans and the Stoics." It is not at all likely that Paul, though a Jew, was ignorant of the philosophy of either of the "Attic schools:" these schools, at the time Paul was at Athens, still maintaining, in the fallen condition of the city, "their superior reputation." Adhering, however, to his determination of "knowing nothing among them save Jesus Christ, and him crucified," he preached in the market to all whom he met, philosophers as well as. common people, "Jesus and the resurrection." His "speech and his preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." He did not depend upon those rules of elocution taught in the schools of rhetoric in Athens, by which her orators attained such skill and celebrity in this renowned art; but he earnestly sought, and for success relied upon, that divine influence which is "quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The Spirit of God had fully taught him that the heathen could not be "turned from idols to serve the living God" by mere "excellence of speech," even though a Demosthenes himself spoke, but by preaching "Christ crucified." "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God."

Coming in contact with these philosophers, and by the novelty of his doctrines exciting their curiosity-a curiosity which was not wholly unmingled with contempt-he was favored with an opportu nity, before probably a large assembly of Athenians on Mars-hill, of testifying against idolatry, and enforcing the claims of Christianity.

Whether Paul was brought before the court of the Areopagus as a criminal, or whether he merely occupied Mars-hill as "a convenient place where those who were disposed might hear what his doctrine was, is a matter about which there exists difference of opinion.” We incline to that of Mr. Wesley, that "it does not appear he was carried thither as a criminal." Both at Philippi and at Jerusalem, when he was actually taken into custody, there is evidence sufficient of judicial proceedings. But the narrative in this case shows no marks of legal form. In the instance of Socrates' trial, a bill of

* Gibbon..

indictment was first found-regular charges were preferred by his accusers, and every opportunity allowed, at least so far as related to technical forms, for a full defence. But not so here; though, if Paul were tried, it was on a similar charge. Not only was there a want of form in the first steps taken in this case; the conclusion of it was equally irregular. It seems that the moment allusion was made to the resurrection of the body, the assembly was abruptly interrupted by the very persons who had called it together, a mode of procedure which does not comport in any respect with a court so celebrated for its impartial regard to justice as was the Areopagus. Even allowing that this court, as was the case, had greatly degenerated from its ancient purity, and rigid regard to justice, it certainly would show some respect to the common forms of a legal trial, especially as it is supposed to have had cognizance at this time of an offence deemed capital by the Athenian laws. Such an abrupt and irregular termination might suit the capriciousness of a promiscuous assembly, but does not at all comport with the technical forms of a solemn legal tribunal,

In addition to the want of evidence from the tenor of the narrative, so far as respects any regular arraignment of Paul as a criminal before the Areopagus, the reason assigned by the writer of the narrative for what occurred on Mars-hill appears to be satisfactory, that he occupied that position chiefly to accommodate the multitude, whose curiosity at this time was probably greatly excited to hear him. After stating that "they took" Paul," and brought him unto Areopagus," he says, "For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Here we have a clew to the object of the scene. Not only the Athenians, but the numerous strangers who flocked to the city to enjoy the benefits of its schools of rhetoric and philosophy, wished to "hear something new." It was the novelty of Paul's doctrine which engaged their attention, and produced the courteous request, "May we know what this new doctrine whereof thou speakest, is?" There appears in all this not a single circumstance that borders on a criminal accusation..

That Paul may have been brought to Areopagus as a convenient place for all to hear him, may be also indirectly inferred, if we suppose with some that by Areopagus is to be understood "the whole suburbs of Athens, wherein stood the hill on which the court was built." Somewhere within these precincts may have been a spot much better adapted than the market to accommodate the multitude. The concourse of people was probably, as has been asserted, exceedingly large. At places where the apostles had preached, so great was the interest excited, that whole cities flocked to hear. In this light Paul's preaching at Athens would resemble that of Whitefield's and Wesley's preaching, not in the thickly settled parts of London, but in Moorefields, to twenty thousand people at once. Besides, we know when the Athenians listened to their orators they loved to breathe the free air of Attica, not the pent atmosphere of a crowded city; and to stand, not under colonnades, but under the broad expanse of their clear firmament. The Pnyx, where their orators spoke, was out of the city, under the open sky, and in view of some of the noblest objects of