Star.
London, England, 1808-04-16 00:00:00

'' 4

tirio,
power from on higit ; and particuiariy,ity, *wil-
ing of the book of the prophet Daniel: '.,-../
' . :si,
tiii rtuati nada
re *v Ae he Ad opend Me third rad, i SeheYA and kii,
blaci horse; and he that sat on him had a pair Of kola ft 1 .
in his hand. And / heard a *via say—A ineappre e
wheat for &limy, and Mree meeisurei of barley for a
penny; and see thou hurt not the bil and the wine:"
The colour' of this horse is Wad, appropriated to
deceit, cunning, hypocrisy ; and the rider, by his ac-
companiment, is Marked out as ainercliaritof couise,
not an honest one. But, what has Merchandize to do
with either the advancement or the obstruction of
Cti anis kingdom ? Pci tit ans*ers this questitm,‘4Thire
shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies, even denyingthe M.tsrasethat bought them;
.through covetousness shall thq, with feigned words)
make MERCHASIDIZE of you," (2 Pet. ii. 3). Of course,
the wheat, barley, wine, and oil, are here put for the
word of Gob and the comforts of the gospel : nor is
this the only place *here figures of the same kind are
employed. Isaiah, spealcing of him who should svass/-
low up death in victory, says, " THE LORD shall make
Unto all people a feast of fat Mingo, a feast ojwinEs on the
lea - wines es the lees, well re.finedi" (Isa. :ay: 6).
CIIMST himself coMpares the word of GOD to seed,
(I. e. corn) sown in the heart, (Luke.' iii.s) ; and the
wise virgins are distinguied from the foolish by the
oil in their lamps, (Mat. xxv. 4). Ho* different is
the conduct of these merchants from that of PAUL !
The false teachers had begun to shew themselves eren
in his time—They accused him of it being crafty, and
having caught the Corinthians with guile." He refutes
the charge by this siMple appeal, ,4 Did I make a gain
of you, by any of them whom I sent untolou ?s did
Taus make a gala of you P (2 Cor. xii. 17). The apos-
tles did not proclaim themselves to be Lords or iv-
' lens, but Ctinisr Jxsys as the only Lord, and themselves
but servant:, for his sake (2 Cor. iv. 5) ; and their ex-
hortation to the Elders, Bishops, or Presbyters of the
chnrChes, which were established under their own
eye, was, that they should feed the dock of Gob and
oversee them, not forfilthy lucre, (1 Peter v. 2,3).

The men alluded to in this seal Make merthandize
of the wheat and the barley. Instead of feeding the
flock, their only aim is to obtain power, and to enrich
themselves, " counting gain godliness." The third seal
then predicts such a famine as we find described by
Amos, (viii. 11.) " Behold Me day: come, with THE
LORD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
1f bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of
TIM LORD"—and shews to what a miserable state of
ignorance and darkness mankind were to be reduced,
even to believe that the favour of HEAVEN might be
pm-chased with money !t Nor was this kind of men
chandizing confined to the period of a man's life iri
this world : a state of purgatory was contrived, froM
which a person might be delivered, and obtain a safe
passport to paradise, by the prevailing prayers ef these
favourites of HEAVEN ; and that, sooner or lateri ac-
cording to the value of the bequest left, for this pious
purpose for the length and number of these devotions
were, in every case, weighed in the balances, and pro-
portioned to the price paid for the commodity. Who
but these metchants could ever give so rich a return
to their customers ?—the price payable after death
too! when the money could be of no use to its former
possessor. Is it any wonder, then, that they had an
extensive trade, and became at length possessed of
such large and princely domains, as to yield them
reason to hope that, in process of time, their body
would become the sole proprietors of the soil of those
countries in which they carried on their traffic ?§—
This would have been the case, had not their influ-
ence been limited to " an appointed time," and had
not means been predetermined for their destruction,
(Rev. zvii. 16).

The concluding words of the opening of this seal
are most remarkable, 4, See thou hurt not the oil and the
wile." Such is the restraint laid upon the bearer of
the balances. It is the fiat of HEAVEN ! In spite of
the falsehoods and impostures which he was to vend,
the Scriptures were still to he preserved as the proper

$ The rights and privileges of the clergy were very considerable
before the end of the fifth century, and the riches they had accu-
mulated, immense ; and both received daily augmentations from
the erowth of Superstition in the sixth. " The arts of a rapacious
priesthood were practised upon the ignorant devotion of ate simple,
and even the remorse of the wicked was made an instrument of
increasing the ecclesiastical treasure. For an opinion was propa-
gated with industry among the people, that the remission of their
sins was to be purchased by their liberalities to the churches and
monks ; and that the prayers of departed saints, whose efficacy was
victorious at the throne of God, were to be bought by offerings
presented to the temples which were consecrated to these" (Ma-
hussinsa] " Celestiil Mediators," Maclaine's Mosheim, vol. ii. p.
114. edit. 1790, and 1806.

I Can a greater instance of impeltid blindness in Elovernments
be adduced, than the encouragement they hold out to incanted
individuals to play upon the fanaticism, bigotry, and timidity, of
the infirm and dying, to induce them to bequeath their prbperty
for ►eligicrf e:es, as they call them, to the prejudice of their fami-
lies, and the evident injury of the public, by giving validity to
such deeds It is high time that an end should be put to these
practices. The remedy is obvious.

§ It appears by the letters of Pope Gregory (,lmmi►at. Opine.
t. 4. p. 1266), who lived in the end of the sixth century,
that the Church of Rome was then possessed of large estates not

"lily in Italy, but abQ in Sicily, in France,

rd

in the most distant provinces •f } urrpe ; and he speaks of them
as ancient possesdons. Indeed, before this time, we find the
Clergy rating care of their acquisitions. In the Council held by
Symmat hus, A. I). 503, it was decreed, that from that time for-
wardit•shoald not be lawful for any, to sell or alienate any lands
or possesaions, large or small, that belonged to the Church—that
all such contracts were null and void ; and that all should be ex-
communicated who sluislid consent or agree to the= ~