however, be also regarded as symptoms of its necessity and premonitions of its occurrence.
That about a century ago, the principles of true religion and the sentiments of genuine morality had not simply come to a standstill, but were in a state of disruption in all ranks of society, is a fact which no one acquainted with the history of the times will venture to deny.[1] That, as we have said, we consider to have been the time, and that disruption, to have been the occasion, for executing that last judgment which is predicted in the Gospels and represented in the Revelation. But before going farther into these explanations, it may be useful to refer to other judgments which have taken place under the Christian dispensation, prior to that which is designated the last: and these, no doubt, contributed to postpone the accomplishment of this final catastrophe: they checked the progress of events, which were accelerating the end, and, like the circumstance represented by the shadow going back on the sun-dial of Ahaz, deferred the time of consummation.
The state of the Lord's Church, with men is the test of the world's morality. The Church is the channel for the
- ↑ As an illustration of this, we cite the following allusion, made by Lord J. Russell, in his speech in the "Debates on the Corporation and Test Act." "Every one knows there is a church in this town called 'the qualifying office.' Here they attend, many of them not as if they understood what they were going to do. Some of them are sent for out of taverns, or worse places, when the service is ended, and then (that gentlemen may not have the fatigue of waiting, and may have the preference), the clerk says aloud, 'Gentlemen, you that come to qualify, draw near;' upon which they advance, receive the sacrament, pay their fees, and there is an end of it." Could anything more shocking be invented by which to unfold the fallen condition of a Church than that which made "the blood of the covenant" an unholy thing? And yet, at the time, the clergy strongly resisted the proposed abolition of a bill which had resulted in this profane proceeding.
