the Book which has brought life and immortality to light, by revealing a Saviour through whom mercy and truth have come as messengers of peace to a wretched world? The Book which abounds with heartcheering promises to every weak, weary, afflicted, tempted servant of God. The Book which bears upon its pages the broad stamp of its divinity, and communicates joy and peace to every soul that believes its faithful record. The Book which when opened at the final judgment, will declare your eternal doom. The Book which, although it details man's history, reprobates his sin; and whilst it fairly narrates the sufferings of those holy persons, who cleaved to the truth of God in their dying agonies, and in the midst of their persecutors, presents the delightful fact that they endured, seeing (by faith) Him who is invisible; and knew that they had “in heaven a better and an enduring substance."-To man, in every situation, the gospel is a blessing, -but how great a one is it in the dark night of sorrow and affliction! When other streams are dry, here is one flowing from the fountain of infinite love, which is ever full, ever near, ever inviting, one which mocks not the weary pilgrim as the deceptious sand in the deserts of the East mocks the exhausted traveller. Vain is the help of man in drying up the tears which real anguish produces ;-but God is a present help,-and how present but by his word and Spirit? Taught and upheld by them, every one of his afflicted children can hush to silence the rising murmur of the soul, and adopt the Psalmist's language, "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it." Psalm xxxix. 6. They have in the prophets," an example of suffering affliction and of patience; and though like Job, they may be left without property, or children, or health, yet they may be com, forted by his cheering testimony,

MARCH 1827.

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"I know that my Redeemer liveth." They have, therefore, no reason to be cast down; for although mother should forget her sucking child, yet God will not forget them."

In this season of inquiry, when the mind is beginning to assert its independence, and divine truth excites an interest unknown before, it cannot but be my anxious desire that your knowledge of, and rever. ence for the Scriptures should increase that your hope should not

be vague or uncertain, arising from a compliance with the ceremonies of a church, or the will of a minister, but be founded upon Jesus Christ, the Rock of ages. A mere profession will never. guard a man against inconsistency of conduct, or support his fainting spirit in death. The life of a true Christian is a life of faith, for he "looks not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen:

a life of love, for "faith worketh by love," and "he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him;" —a life of obedience, for love is the parent of it, as our Lord teaches us, "if ye love me keep my commandments; -a life of submission, for there is a fixed persuasion in the mind, that the Judge of all the earth does right, and that it is not necessary to obtain an explanation of the Lord's dealings, in order to acquiesce in the wisdom and rectitude of them;-a life of humiliation, for the faith that exalts the Saviour, humbles the sinner, shows him his helplessness and deformity, and pollution, strips off the garment of self-righteousness, convinces him that from first to last he must be "saved by grace," and consequently, that he should "not be high-minded, but fear; "a life of hope, for faith generates the hope that "maketh not ashamed;" the blessed, lively hope, which is styled the helmet of salvation, the anchor of the soul. This hope possesses an inspiring and cheering

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influence; it attends the steps of the heirs of salvation, throughout all their journeyings; it abides with them when lying in the depths of affliction, and it speaks the language of encouragement in that most trying season, when the gloomy vale of death is presented to the soul-a life of comfort; there is indeed "joy and peace in believing." "The kingdom of God is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The Lord Jesus Christ is King of Salem,-King of Peace, and he is the portion of the believing soul: he made peace for, he bequeathed peace to, and he preserves peace in his disciples. He is in fact their peace. He "gives them richly all things to enjoy," and by him will God supply all their need, according to his riches in glory, until he brings them to their eternal rest. Is this life, springing from union with Christ, your's? Can you say in truth, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God?" Do you bring forth the fruits of righteousness? Do you labour to promote the temporal and spiritual good of others as far as your means and influence extend? Do you love the precepts of the sacred Scriptures, and are you as anxious to obey them as to have a clear understanding of their doctrines, from the persuasion, that unless the fruit be good, the tree cannot be good? Can you enter into the meaning and spirit of your own petition, 'Lord have

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mercy upon us miserable sinners ?” Do you exhibit the self-abasement, which a conviction of sin, and a view of the Saviour must ever produce? When tried, opposed, vilified, can you hope in God, can you commit your cause unto him, under the assurance that he will "bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day," Psalm xxxvii, 6. Have you yet

found that ". godliness with contentment is great gain;" and that the lessons of redeeming love, which enlighten, instruct, and elevate the soul, and create in it a desire to participate in a glorious immortality, are to be learned upon earth? Have you yet applied yourselves to the study of them, and sought by prayer, the teaching of the Holy Spirit? Can you in sincerity declare with David, "I esteem all thy precepts, concerning all things, to be right, and I hate every false way? ?"

If you take the Scriptures for your guide, you will be preserved from error, and be enabled to form such an estimate of temporal and eternal things, as will be found correct in the last great day of trial and decision. May the Lord who is a sure refuge for the oppressed, "satisfy you early with his mercy, that you may rejoice and be glad all your days." May he "make you glad, according to the days wherein you have been afflicted, and the years wherein you have seen evil." Your very affectionate Pastor, And faithful Friend,

Kilkenny, Jan. 1, 1827.

PETER ROE.

CAROLINE FRY.

AMONG the various heretical dogmas that, during the sixth century, distracted and divided the Church of Christ, those which had their origin in the opinions propagated by Eutychus, and which were condemned in the fourth general council of Chalcedon, formed a prominent part. A monk of Constantinople, named Servius, was busily occupied in disseminating these opinions, and became the leader of a sect, designated after him Servians. He was countenanced by the Empress Theodora; while the Emperor Justinian favoured the orthodox creed. Vigilius, a Roman deacon, was at this period (A. D. 530.) a seeker of preferment at the imperial court; and, hearing of the death of the Bishop of Rome, promised the Empress to support with all the power of St. Peter's keys the dogmas of Servius, provided she would forward his ambitious views in obtaining the envied post, to which he had long aspired. The Empress, glad of an opportunity of forwarding opinions she so warmly espoused, not only acquiesced in the views of this worthy deacon and aspirant for infallibility, but, to make assurance doubly sure,' added the promise of large sums of money, provided the Servian creed might be ushered forth into the world with the impress of unerring approbation.

Furnished with a secret order to the famous General Belisarius, then in Italy, he proceeded on his journey but in the interim another bishop had been regularly and canonically elected by the clergy and Roman people. But this was a trifling impediment to the General (bribed, as we are told,* to hasten

Vigilius having delivered to Belisarius the order which he brought, and having promised him two hundred pieces of gold, over and above the seven hundred pieces he was to give him, found no great difficulty to persuade him to drive away Silverius (his competitor). Dupin, New Fce. Hist. Vol. v. p. 46.

the business,) and his unscrupulous colleague. The imperial commander summoned the bishop into his presence, accused him of corresponding with the enemy, producing letters forged for that purpose, stripped him of his sacerdotal vestments, and delivered him to his opponent; who, fearing disturbance from his prior and lawful claim, banished him to the Isle of Pontienna, where he died of FAMINE, WANT, and MISERY! What a preparative for the exercise of infallibility! He was, however, the historian tells us, universally acknowledged,' and is therefore an undoubted link in this unerring chain.

We shall soon see whether he upheld this privilege from error, of which, seated in that chair, he was, say the Papists, (and say it they must, or all falls,) the undoubted possessor. His first step (finding it absolutely necessary to quiet the minds of the people,) was to renounce the error, which he was bound to advocate: but this was not sufficient to reinstate him in their favour; for, they could not endure an usurper, who had caused the death of their lawful bishop.' But iniquity will, sooner or later, meet its deserved reward: this bad man soon found that the envied preeminence, which he had looked up to as the end and aim of all his wishes, and which he had employed such nefarious means to obtain, was only a bed of thorns; for, being unable to fulfil his promise to his patroness, of supporting her heretical dogmas, she dispatched an

There wanted not forgers, who counterfeited a letter written in the name of Silverius to the King of the Goths.' Dupin, in loc. cit. Du Plesis's Mystery of Iniquity, page 97, who states these facts on the authority of Deacon Liberatus, of Carthage, whom Dupin (vol. v, page 58,) mentions with approbation, as a very correct historian of these times. See also Dean Comber's Church History, &c. 4to. 1695. p. 318.

order summoning him to the imperial court; and he left his episcopal see, followed (we are told) by the audible curses and impre.. cations of the people.'*

While Vigilius was thus journeying towards Constantinople, there 'was preparing matter there which would call into full exercise his newly acquired faculty of infallibility. The merits and demerits of the learned Origen were at this period a subject of keen controversy among the disputatious Greeks. One party, upholding him as an eminently holy man, and looking upon his works as the fountainhead of pure divinity; and the other, viewing him as tainted with heresy himself, and his writings as the store-house whence the various heresiarchs derived their poison. The Emperor (who, it seems, prided himself upon his critical and theological acumen) issued a decree, condemning the works of this father, and at the same time anathematizing the sect of the Acepheli, one of the numerous offsets of the Eutychian stock. This decision displeased many, and among others the Empress, who, distrusting her own power of warding off the blow levelled against her favourite Servians, (who were included under the term Acepheli) called to her aid Theodorus, Bishop of Cesarea, a defender of the sect, and a fa vourer of Origen. In order to save the reputation of his favourite author, and secure his party, he per. suaded the Emperor that his condemnatory sentence would not have the effect he anticipated; namely, that of allaying a little the din of wordy war;' but that he might with great facility unite to the church all the various sects anathematized at the council of Chalcedon, by condemning the works of three authors, read in, and approved of, by that council; namely, Theodorus of Mospuesta, Theo

* Dupin, in loc. cit.

doret (the historian) against Cyril, and the letter of Ibas. Pleased with this apparently easy mode of gaining so desirable an end, the Emperor issued a decree, which he caused to be approved of in a synod of bishops, assembled for that purpose. Its effect, however, was somewhat similar to that of oil poured upon the devouring flame; a new bone of contention was thrown among these disputatious wranglers; and the edict of the three chapters, (for so it was called) became the watch-word of party contumely, or courtly applause.

It may be asked, were the works in question of so much value to the cause of truth, or were they so powerfully argumentative against the Eutychian heresy, as to make it an object to support or condemn them? They were not: but the question at issue was, the reputation of the council of Chalcedon; which the Acephelites hoped to asperse, as having erred in its judgment, while their opponents were as anxious to save it from such an imputation.

The first imperial decree was received by the Pope at Sicily, as he was journeying to court. Not pleased that the Emperor should meddle in ecclesiastical matters, he wrote to him in an angry mood, disapproving of his proceedings and that of the synod; and on arriving at Constantinople, he confirmed his opinion, by refusing to hold communion with the Patriarch and the other bishops. Convinced however by the golden arguments (we may presume) of the Empress (for her influence we are informed was the procuring cause) he altered his sentiments, re-united with his brethren, and approved of the decree; and lest any future doubt should arise, as to his liability to such un-popelike variations of judgment; he issued (in the plenitude of his power) a brief (or judicatum, as it was termed) applauding the pro

ceedings of the synod and their imperial guide.

Infallibility was not however, it appears, so much in repute in the sixth century, as in this proudly deemed enlightened age; for all the African* and many of the Asiatic and European prelates condemned the conduct of the Pontiff, and withdrew from his communion.

Alarmed at the threatened defection from Peter's patrimony, and perceiving the awkward dilemma in which his unerring decision had placed him; he endeavoured by a little double dealing to please both parties, withdrawing his judicatum, and professing to leave matters as they were, until determined by a General Council. But this was not quite agreeable to the imperial theologue, who issued another -mandate more strongly condemnatory of the three chapters. The poor Pope was now in a serious difficulty; he determined however to side with his western friendsfeeling perhaps the chair of St. Peter growing a little unsteady beneath him. And to convince them of the

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steadiness of his present infallible intentions, he excommunicated all who should receive, favour, or countenance the imperial decrees: †

* ' Dans un concile (en Afrique) qui

fut assemblé l'an 550, on excommunia le Pape Vigile, on le separa (dit Victor, auteur cotemporain) de la communion Catholique, en lui donnant lieu à la repentance.

+ Nous avons vu un Pape changer dejà trois fois de sentiment. Il étoit orthodoxe à Rome, il devint éterodoxe à Constantinople; come disoient les Africains. Il vient avec le dessein de defendre les trois chapitres; il arrive avec cette pensée; il excommunie ceux qui les ont condamnez. Quelque temps après il succombe sur l'autorité de Justinien, et souscrit à ses arrêts. Il change de sentiment une troisième fois, et il anathematise sans quartier tous ceux qui ne changent point.'-Basnage, tom. i. p. 526, 527.

That is, We have seen a Pope changing his sentiments thrice. He was orthodox at Rome, he became heterodox at Constantinople, as the Africans say. He went there with the design of defending the three chapters; he arrived with that

then fearing lest despotic power might retaliate for such an open breach of order, he took refuge in St. Peter's church.

To end this vexatious strife, the Emperor summoned a Council, known as the second of Constantinople, and fifth general. Thus we have all the mighty powers of infallibility, brought to a focus, and one general council assembled to invalidate the acts of another, and to condemn the unerring conduct of the head of the church. To convince the assembled fathers of the changeful mood of the Roman Bishop, and to place the Pope in opposition to himself, the Emperor brought forward three of his letters, condemning in the strongest manner the three chapters, and degrading from the ministry two deacons of his church, for then presuming to advocate opinions not, at that time, suiting his purpose to support, but which he now pronounced, ex-cathedra, to be in all points orthodox. The council easily fell in with their sovereign's views, and condemned the controverted works; and Vigilius refusing to appear (though he had promised to do so) was sent into exile. His, however, was not the spirit to bear up under trial; for changing his opinion for the fourth time, he wrote a submissive letter, condemning the three chapters, and anathematizing all who should defend them; on which he was permitted to return to court: when, as if with a view of placing his tergiversation in the strongest possible light, but more probably with an intention of pleasing the Emperor, he published on his return a letter or brief, in which he brings forward every possible argument to prove that the chapters are worthy

purpose; he excommunicated all who condemned them. Some time after, he bowed to the authority of Justinian, and subscribed his decrees. He changed his opinion a third time, and anathematized without mercy those who had never changed.