It may be safely here assumed as an axiom in Divinity, that he only is a Christian who labors to demean himself according to the spirit of the Gospel and to the rules which are laid down as the directory of our conduct in the holy Scriptures. No one has even a pretence for ranking himself among the disciples of Christ, who is not solicitous to know in order that he may practise the will of God. So soon as a person is in any measure renewed in the spirit of his mind, so as to have his will and affections turned to God, he begins to study his Bible, if he has the ability of reading it; and if not, he will necessarily embrace every opportunity of conversation with his more enlightened brethren, and become a diligent and conscientious attendant on all the means of grace, in order that he may furnish himself with a knowledge of its contents: and in this pursuit he keeps in view, not only the necessity* of a more enlarged acquaintance with the way of salvation through faith in Jesus, but also of a more comprehensive and distinct perception of the path of duty in which he is to walk. When Saul of Tarsus had heartily embraced the principles of the gospel, he immediately discovered an anxiety after conformity to its precepts, and therefore asked, "Lord, what wilt Thou "have me to do?" A foreigner, who had been naturalized in this country and admitted to a full participation of its privileges, if he were a wise and good man, would be desirous of knowing its laws and customs, in order that he might conform himself to them. And can we hesitate to denounce that man to be void of every spark of the Divine life, who has no wish to know, and to practise so far as he knows, the whole will of God? The love of Christ has a constraining influence on the human soul, and conse

quently on the life of every sound professor. The mighty power thereof, when it is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost, on every branch of the believer's deportment, may be illustrated by the instance of some light body floating on the surface of an impetuous stream. So soon as the path of duty is made known, the believer whose heart is occupied by emotions of gratitude to his Saviour and Lord, resolves. without delay to walk therein, without any deviation to the right hand or the left. Every one who is desirous to know the whole will of God and is thus Divinely disposed to do it, must soon discover that it is the command of the King of kings and Lord of lords, that all who are His subjects should pray earnestly and affectionately for all those in whose hands His providence has placed the reins of authority, and thenceforward consider himself as under the most sacred obligation to a constant performance of this duty. The exhortation of the Apostle, writing under the inspiration of the Spirit, has on his mind all the force of an express command from God: if any doubt before existed in his breast, it is at once removed when he reads the following decisive words: "I exhort that, "first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all "men; FOR KINGS, AND FOR ALL THAT ARE "IN AUTHORITY, that we may lead a quiet " and peaceable life in all Godliness and honesty: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 66 men to be saved, and to ledge of the truth." *

who will have all come to the know, "If, (says every

1 Tim. ii. 1, &c. It has been observed that this injunction was given, when that monster Nero wore the imperial purple.

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genuine disciple of Christ) this be good and "acceptable in the sight of God my Saviour, I "have no further inquiries to make: His will is my law. Henceforward, at every season of public worship, and frequently in my familycircle, and when in my closet I bend my "knees before my Father who seeth in secret, I ❝ will endeavour, in the spirit of prayer, to carry "my King and those who serve under him to "the throne of grace. I will pray that every "personal, domestic and national blessing may "be bestowed on them. And this I will do in

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simplicity, on this ground, that it is my "Saviour's will." The political as well as the religious creed of every follower of Christ, is taken from the Bible, so far as it affords him information and direction on the subject.

If the person of whom we are speaking be at all acquainted with ecclesiastical history, he will naturally consider the conduct of the primitive Christians as affording a lively comment on the precepts of Scripture. He will perceive, that in those early days more precise attention was paid to the rules of the Gospel than is given to them in the present licentious age; that Christians were then more insensible to worldly interests and maxims, and more alive to eternal things, than the generality are at the present day; and he will, therefore, wisely conclude that their example is worthy of imitation. Though the positive declarations of Scripture will prevail with him against the united opinion and practice of the whole world, yet, where any doubt arises, he will, without any impropriety, inquire, how did my elder brethren, who lived in an age not so distant from the apostolic times, and who ar to have been so much more under the

influence of Christian principles than their de-' generate followers of the eighteenth century, act in such a case? When this inquiry has been made with respect to the behaviour of Christ's disciples towards the government under which they lived, he will find, that though the Emperors of Rome were heathens from the time of the first propagation of Christianity until the reign of Constantine the Great, and thought they were enemies to God and persecutors of His church, yet Christians looked on the existing powers as ordained of God, and made it their constant practice to offer up supplications on their behalf. Very remarkable are the words of Tertullian, who died A. D. 216, in his Apology for the Christians addressed to the Emperor Severus: "We pray," says he, "for the safety "of the Emperors to the eternal God, the true, "the living God, whom Emperors themselves "would desire to be propitious to them above "all others who are called gods. We, looking

up to heaven with out-stretched hands, be"cause they are harmless; with naked head, "because we are not ashamed; without a prompter, because we pray from the heart; "constantly pray for all Emperors, that they

may have a long life, a secure empire, a safe "house, strong armies, a faithful senate, a well"moralized people, a quiet state of the world, "whatever Cæsar would wish for himself in his

public and private capacity. I cannot solicit "these things from any other than from Him "from whom I know that I shall obtain them, "because He alone can do these things, and I "am he who may expect them of Him, being "His servant who worship Him alone, and lose "my life for His service. Thus then let the

"hoofs pierce us, while our hands are stretched, "out to God, let crosses suspend us, let fire "consume us, let swords pierce our breasts, let "wild beasts trample on us: a praying Christian " is in a frame for enduring any thing. Act in "this manner, ye generous rulers; kill the soul "who supplicates God for the Emperor. Were "we disposed to return evil for evil, it were easy " for us to revenge the injuries we sustain, But "God forbid that His people should vindicate "themselves by human fire, or be reluctant to "endure that by which their sincerity is evinced. "Were we disposed to act the part, I will not say of secret assassins, but of open enemies, "should we want forces and numbers? Are we "not dispersed through the world? It is true "we are but of yesterday, and yet we have "filled all your places, cities, islands, castles,

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boroughs, counsels, camps, courts, palaces, "senate, forum. We leave you only your "temples. To what war should we not be "ready and well prepared, even though unequal " in numbers, we who die with so much plea"sure? Were it not that our religion requires "us rather to suffer death than to inflict it. "Were we to make a general secession from your "dominions, you would be astonished at your "solitude."-He afterwards takes notice of "the extreme readiness with which Christians "paid the taxes to Government, in opposition "to the spirit of fraud and deceit with which "so many acted in these matters. But I must "not enlarge; the reader may form an idea of "the purity, integrity, heavenly-mindedness, "and passiveness under injuries, for which the "first Christians were so justly renowned."

* Milner's History of the Church, vol. i. p. 308.