world by the sacrifice of himself on the cross; he therefore said unto Satan, "get thee behind me, thou savorest not the things that be of God." This care and sympathy of Peter for his master, was not in itself wrong; but as it blinded him from perceiving, that for this very purpose, namely, the suffering of death, Christ came into the world; he needed to be corrected, as we find he was, and Satan rebuked for his wickedness, in misleading the well meaning mind of Peter. It is impossible to accuse Peter of being the malicious author of that thought, unless we can believe he was understandingly an enemy to the plan of the atonement, by the death of Christ, and had of set purpose determined to dissuade him from such a determination. And therefore, as the malice against God's promise, namely, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and also against the human race in trying to prevent the atonement, was not knowingly Peter's; our Lord, therefore, as a discerner of spirits, addressed his reproof where it chiefly belonged, namely, to Satan, as to the prime and moving cause of St. Peter's remarks. Now, if the Saviour meant Peter, and him solely, when he said, "get thee behind me Satan," we find Peter did not so understand him; for instead of getting behind him, or of departing from his presence, as was the import of the words, he still remained with his master, sharing the confidence of him who had called him to be an apostle and a minister of his word, and even honored him, a few days after, by allowing him to be present with him, in company with two others of his disciples, on the mount of his transfiguration. The reproof, however, was no doubt given in the following sense: Peter, that thought of thine is of the devil; beware how you give it place in your mind, as it savors not of God, it is of earth, mere earthly selfishness; cast it from thee, and know, that for this very purpose, to die for the offences of man on the cross of the Romans, am I come forth, which your well meant tenderness directly opposes, and agrees exactly with the desires of Satan, the great enemy of mankind.

That the Jews in our Saviour's time, believed in the being of a Satan, as a bad, or fallen angel, we prove from their accusations against our Lord; which was, that he cast out devils by the aid of the prince of devils; see Matth. ix. 33, 34-"And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitudes marveled, saying, it was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, he casteth out devils through the prince of the devils." Also, in Matth. xii. 24, and Mark, iii. 22, the same charge was preferred against him, namely, that he cast out devils by the power of the prince of the devils; setting forth that he was at most nothing more than an accomplished magician. But what said Jesus to this charge? why, that "if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself, how then shall his kingdom stand. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your chil

dren (or disciples) cast them out, therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the spirit of God, then is the kingdom of God come nigh unto you." In this reply we perceive that the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God, are both declared to exist; and if one is a fiction, on a mere idea, why not both? and the heads of these two kingdoms equally fictious. If a belief in the existence of Satan, and of devils, as real beings, was an error in the time of our Saviour, in the theology of the Jews, then did our Lord omit to correct that error; leaving the people uninformed on this subject, and never insructed his disciples to correct it. We therefore consider the point as settled and established by unavoidable inference, the most satisfactory, except to those who have made up their wills not to believe this thing, however clearly it may be proved from the Bible, and such there are in great abundance.

But if inference on this subject is not esteemed as sufficient evidence to prove this belief, we should imagine that express Scripture is, and that Scripture, the very word of the Son of God, who certainly knew whether there is a Satan, and evil spirits, or not, as real beings. See Matth. xiii. from verse 24 to 30, inclusive. "The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this." But we aşk, who was that enemy? Who sowed the tares? See verse 39 of the same chapter; where it is said, that it was the devil. But on the plan of the Universalist doctrine, which is, that the evil passions and lusts of the soul, are the only devil there is, and that it was this, which the Saviour said was the enemy who sowed the tares; it will then follow, that the tares are the very evil passions, and devil, or enemy spoken of in the text, and that they sowed themselves in human nature; which thing, it is impossible to have any consistent conception of. But if the tares did not sow themselves in human nature-which they could not have done, -then, as man is held by Universalists, to be in the condition in which God created him in Adam and Eve,-it follows that God was that enemy who had sowed the tares in the field of human nature, if they were sowed at all; and that he sowed them for the best and wisest of purposes, namely, for the great good of the great whole. But if God sowed them, it follows that they are not tares; for whatsoever he does, is right, and in and of itself, intrinsically holy; and destroys the idea of the existence of tares at all, in the field of human nature, as he cannot create a sinner. But in relation to the parable, consisting of the field, the hus

bandman who sowed the good seed, and of the good seed itself, with the tares, the reapers, the barn into which the wheat was to be gathered, and the fire which was to burn the tares at the end of the world, were all, as it appears, brought forward in the form of a parable, which even the disciples did not understand, as shown on verse 36, of the same chapter. On which account, after the Saviour had finished his discourse to the multitude, and had retired into a house near by, his disciples said unto him,-—— "Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field." To which the Saviour replied. "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man: (meaning himself) The field is the world: (not Judea alone) the good seed are the children of the kingdom: but the tares are the children of the wicked one : The enemy that sowed them is the devil: the harvest is the end of the world: (mundane system) and the reapers are the angels (of heaven.) As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world," (not of Judea alone) but when time shall be no longer. Now this exposition of the parable, by the author of it-the Saviour himself who certainly understood his own meaning, makes it clear that there is a devil, or Satan, who is capable of corrupting the minds of men, in catching away the good impressions, which by any means are made upon the heart. That he is capable of doing this, if not resisted by the soul in holy prayer; we prove from Luke, viii. 12—the influence of the devil, as follows: "Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." But if there is no devil who has a distinct being, then, as it appears to us, the language of Jesus Christ was wrong; for he has pointed out a being, and given him a name, a person, and identity, as plainly as language can speak, and has shown him to be his enemy, in catching away the seed out of men's hearts, which himself had sown. He should, however, rather have told them, that there was no devil but themselves, who were their worst and only enemies. But instead of this, he taught an entire contrary doctrine, by telling the Jews, and all who heard him, that it was the devil who came, and caught away the seed out of their hearts, because men did not resist him; as is shown by other parts of the New Testament, to be theirs, and all men's privilege.

Mr. Ballou, an apostle of the Universalist order, in his book on the parables of the New Testament, gives us no account of this enemy in that parable, who sowed the tares in God's field, called the world, and seems to be somewhat averse to meddle with him at all, and throughout the whole work, treats him but indifferently. This, he should not have omitted, as that something called a devil, and Satan, appears to have been in those days, at any rate, the prime enemy of all righteousness, and great opposer of Jesus Christ, in the establishment of his spir

itual kingdom among men; and so much so, that he is everywhere alluded to in the New Testament as an enemy.

A little above, the reader may recollect, that on the subject of the tares, it is said they are to be gathered and burned in the fire, at the end of the world, as men burn tares gathered from among the wheat when harvesting. Perhaps in this place it will be well to enquire, what world is meant, at the end of which, it is said the tares are to be burnt? whether the end of the Jewish polity, as a nation, or the end of this mundane system, the globe, or the end of time, as it is well known that Universalists believe the former? In this enquiry, we shall no doubt do well if we can explain Scripture by Scripture, so as to find out what world is meant, that was to have an end. On this point, see the following quotations: Romans, v. 12, "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the WORLD." Is more than Judea meant here by the word world, think ye? Romans, v. 13, “For until the law (of Moses) sin was in the world." Was Judea alone that world in which sin was found, till the law was given by Moses? We think not; as Judea, previous to the law, was unknown, as also the Jewish nation, by that particular name. Romans, x. 18, "But I say, have they not heard? yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." In this quotation we find both the word earth and world used as synonomous, and means more than Judea; for the apostle was declaring to the Romans that a rumor of salvation by Christ, had gone into all the world, even to the ends of the earth, or entirely around it, among all nations. Mark, viii. 36, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and loose his own soul." The word world, in this place, no doubt means more than the land of Judea, even the whole earth. The same is said by Luke, ix. 25, "For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and loose himself, or be a cast away." This word world, is used by St. Mark, xiv. 9, in a sense which at once is plain, that he meant the whole earth, as follows: "Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done (a certain woman) shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her." Also, St. John's Gospel, chap. i. 10, the whole earth is comprehended by the word world: "He (Christ) was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." Also, St. Paul uses the word in this sense, as comprehending the whole earth; see Acts, xvii. 24, "God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands." Again, St. John, iii. 16, uses the word in a sense which embraces the whole world, instead of the land of Judea only: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting

life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." Also, the same writer, namely, St. John, chap. iv. 42, has used the word in a sense which embraces not only Judea, but all the world: "Now we believe, (said the Samaritans to the woman,) not because of thy saying, (alone,) for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the (conditional) Saviour of the world." Again, 1st John, iv. 14, "We have seen and do testify, that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world," (conditionally.) John, xvi. 33, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Was it in Judea only that Christians were to have tribulation? and was it Judea only that he meant, when he said to his disciples, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world? We think not. 1st John, ii. 2, "And he (Christ) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world." Does this mean Judea only, and not the whole of mankind? St. John, xii. 46, "I came a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." Was it Judea alone that he came to enlighten? We think even a Universalist will not admit this, though he loose in that respect, the restricting of the word world to the little country of Judea.

We will now repeat the text, which we are attempting to explain by all the foregoing quotations, respecting the word world, as follows: "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world." Now as we have shown that the word world, in a multitude of places as used in the New Testament, cannot be restricted to the mere country of Judea, why, therefore, should it be restricted in that one text, except it be to answer the Universalists a particular purpose, in making out that the end of the world, so often spoken of, was to be the end of the Jewish nation only? which it cannot be made to do except by violence. It is no where said in the New Testament, that the end of the Jewish nation, as a people, or ecclesiastical body, was to be the end of the world. It is no where said in the New Testament, that Judea was a world, and that the destruction of that people was considered as the end of the world. Could it be found any where in the Bible that their country was called the Jewish world, there would then be some countenance for the Universalist opinion about the end of that world, and no other. Why should they be thus distinguished, any more than other nations round about them, who were greater than they? That an end of the world of mankind, and the earth itself, is to come, is shown even by Universalists themselves, inasmuch as they believe most strongly in a general resurrection of all the dead of the human race, at a given time or period. Now this being so, it will follow that the earth is to be bereft of its