whether you look back to the earliest times of which we have any authentic history, or those nearer the birth of our Lord, all was one thick impenetrable mass of moral disorder and ruin. The most abject and disgusting idolatries, the worship of stocks and stones, the deification of kings and warriors, of human virtues and vices, of insects, and even of that most disgusting of all reptiles, the serpent, prevailed. Practices the most flagitious were interwoven in the histories and ceremonies of these wretched deities. From this source, aided by the corrupt heart of man, flowed out a torrent of vices and abominations in public and private lifefraud, theft, rapine, fell revenge, suicide, fornication, adultery, systematic abortions, murder of infants, unnatural crimes, the atro+ cious cruelties of war, the slavery and oppression of captives, gladiatorial shows, not only abounded, but were patronized, vindicated, countenanced by the great body of men-connived at, if not practised, by statesmen and philosophers-publicly reprobated by none. In fact, the language of the apostle in the text is attested by all kinds of evidencetheir knowledge of God in the works of creation was corrupted their imagination vain-their foolish heart darkened-the whole body of learned men were become fools, even when professing themselves to be wise-the - glory of the uncorruptible God was changed into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. In consequence, as the apostle proceeds to state, as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. 6. Add to this melancholy, but too faithful picture, that there was no hope of recovery from this state by any means then existing-there was no principle of reformation, no spring of revival from decay. Now, in Christian countries there is a standard of doctrine in our sacred books, where truth remains fresh and vigorous, and ready to be applied to the restoration of piety and virtue, if for a time they have declined and accordingly reformations of pure religion from time to time take place, and the knowledge and love of the true God, and the purity of his worship, and obedience to his laws, are re-established. But in the heathen world there was nothing to bring man back to God-no standard of truth whether you look back to the earliest times of which we have any authentic history, or those nearer the birth of our Lord, all was one thick impenetrable mass of moral disorder and ruin. The most abject and disgusting idolatries, the worship of stocks and stones, the deification of kings and warriors, of human virtues and vices, of insects, and even of that most disgusting of all reptiles, the serpent, prevailed. Practices the most flagitious were interwoven in the histories and ceremonies of these wretched deities. From this source, aided by the corrupt heart of man, flowed out a torrent of vices and abominations in public and private life-fraud, theft, rapine, fell revenge, suicide, fornication, adultery, systematic abortions, murder of infants, unnatural crimes, the atro+ cious cruelties of war, the slavery and oppression of captives, gladiatorial shows, not only abounded, but were patronized, vindicated, countenanced by the great body of men-connived at, if not practised, by statesmen and philosophers-publicly reprobated by none. In fact, the language of the apostle in the text is attested by all kinds of evidencetheir knowledge of God in the works of creation was corrupted their imagination vain-their foolish heart darkened-the whole body of learned men were become fools, even when professing themselves to be wise-the glory of the uncorruptible God was changed into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. In consequence, as the apostle proceeds to state, as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. 6. Add to this melancholy, but too faithful picture, that there was no hope of recovery from this state by any means then existing-there was no principle of reformation, no spring of revival from decay. Now, in Christian countries there is a standard of doctrine in our sacred books, where truth remains fresh and vigorous, and ready to be applied to the restoration of piety and virtue, if for a time they have declined and accordingly reformations of pure religion from time to time take place, and the knowledge and love of the true God, and the purity of his worship, and obedience to his laws, are re-established. But in the heathen world there was nothing to bring man back to God-no standard of truth -no written revelation-no code of morals— no order of men to instruct the people-no pure religious worship-nothing but the corrupt remains of natural light, with broken and disjointed traditions, and the defective institutions of civil society. These, indeed, just kept men together, and, aided by the enfeebled law of conscience, restrained some of the violence of human injuries—and left man without excuse before God, as the apostle argues—but were utterly insufficient to restore a lost world, to check the current of corruption, to open the path of truth, and make known a way of pardon and holiness. This state of mankind had been going on for three thousand years. The light even in the sacred, but narrow and almost unknown, land of Judæa had become nearly extinct by prevalent vices, divisions, and notions of a temporal Messiah so that the condition of the world may be pronounced to have been inveterate and incurable, just before the coming of our Lord. The disease had proved itself to be more and more hopeless as time rolled by-the institutions of society were become more corrupt -the standard of morals sank lower and lowerthe excesses of lewdness and cruelty in religious rites were more frightful; whilst, as if to mark the dire necessities of man, demoniacal possessions prodigiously increased. The moral misery, |