ON THE STATE OF THE WORLD AT THE COMMENCEMENT To the philosophy of the world at this interesting period, we now turn our attention. Which is a subject of as interesting a character, as it discloses the emptiness of the human mind; and proves that the utmost which reason can effect, when destitute of revelation, although aided by tradition and occasionally by intercourse with men who possessed heavenly light, is to argue out and arrange a mass of absurdity and contradiction, or to end its labours in universal doubt. This by no means detracts from the worth of reason, which is the eye of the soul; for as no one expects the eye to contain the prospect and the light, by means of which it surveys the extended landscape, so no one can- (in justice can)-expect to find in the eye of the mind the spiritual realities to be seen, and the medium of vision, which is revelation. But we proceed to facts, which incontrovertibly demonstrate the necessity of "a teacher sent from God." The philosophy of this age seems to divide itself into two kinds; namely, the Oriental, or the Eastern, and the Grecian, or the Western. The Oriental philosophy, or doctrine of the Magi, is distinguished by inculcating the belief, that the universe is governed by two principles; the one good, the other evil. It is deduced from reasonings, founded on a traditionary knowledge of God, and an experimental acquaintance with moral and physical evils. It is a vain attempt to account for the existence of moral evil, and a fruitless endeavour to reconcile it with the perfection of God. It was distinguished by the exercise of a bold and luxuriant imagination, which created fictions pure and plausible, which in the absence of truth were received by the Persians (among whom, in ages then long past, they were generated), the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syrians, and even by some Jews. Its influence extended over a great part of Africa and Asia, and was felt in every quarter of the globe. It was believed by the vulgar, and was the basis of speculation among the philosophical. It acknowledges no founder, and cannot be traced, as the philosophy "of the porch," and "the grove" to their respective authors. It existed under various modifications, and assumed different aspects at different times and in different places. The leading principles of this philosophy, as it existed in the days of our Lord, appear to have consisted of an acknowledgment of a supreme and perfect Being called Light, whose nature is wise, benevolent, and holy. Those adherents who were versed in Greek, named it ßulog, the deep. The space where he dwells, the πληρωμα. From this eternal nature they imagined two other beings, one of either sex, to be produced. These, they supposed, gave existence to succeeding generations, called ons, on account of the immortality of their natures. They further suppose, that one of these Eons whom they called Demiurge, formed the world, in opposition to the will of God, from extraneous matter, which was eternal, and existed beyond the regions of light. Respecting the origin of moral evil, the orientalists are not so united. They all look upon it as foreign to Deity; but some place it in matter, and others ascribe it to the tyranny of the Demiurge, who by exciting the matter which belongs to men, is constantly producing evil. From which those souls are freed, who throw off the yoke of the creators and rulers of this world, and rise to the supreme and perfect Being. Those, on the contrary, who pursue a different course, shall pass into new bodies and remain imprisoned until they awake from their sinful lethargy and seek for freedom. But this conflict, however protracted, shall at a distant period ordained by the Bv0os, terminate in the annihilation of evil, the present modification of matter, and the deliverance of the greater part of the enslaved souls; when peace shall be restored and_virtue only shall exist, and when God shall reign with the happy spirits in the pleroma for evermore." * The western or (as it is called) the Grecian philosophy-(for Rome derived her philosophy as well as her letters from Greece)—now flourished in the Roman empire * See Dr. Mosheim's, Ecc. Hist. cent. 1. part 2. chap 1. to a great extent. The sects were principally distinguished by an open declaration against all religion, or by the acknowledgment of a Deity and the admission of religion. Of the former class, were the atheistic Epicureans, who, if they did not deny the existence of a God, excluded Him from any concern in the affairs of men; and the Academics or Pyrrhonists, those universal sceptics, who, advancing under the garb of modesty, introduced doubt into the entire range of speculation, until scepticism was patronised as universal wisdom, and this state of doubt was contended for in the most dogmatical manner as the most perfect knowledge by men who were professedly sceptical. So much so, that they were uncertain whether the gods existed or not; whether the soul was mortal or immortal; and whether virtue or vice was the most preferable. These sects which lay the axe at the root of all that is just, of all that is lovely, and of all that is of good report, were at this time the most numerous. The second class consists of the Aristotelians, the Stoics, and the Platonists. The Peripatetics, or followers of Aristotle, who modified, added to, and altered the philosophy as taught by Plato, were at this time patronised by Augustus Cæsar, in the person of Nicolaus. This sect acknowledged the being of God, who is represented as distinct from the world and matter, but imparting of necessity, not voluntarily, to both, their energy and motion. They did not acknowledge Him as Creator, or mindful of human affairs, but held matter to be eternal. And according to Morell's History of Philosophy, there is no reason to suppose that this philosopher taught, or even conjectured the immortality of the soul. The Stoics, or followers of Zeno, who had obtained so much authority during the Republic, continued to flourish under the imperial government. The god of the Stoics possesses more majesty than the divinity of Aristotle; he is neither inattentive to the affairs of men, nor indulging in lethargic indolence. Yet he is described as united to matter by necessity, and subject to fate. What is nature, says Seneca, but God? the divine logos or reason, inherent in the whole universe, and in all its parts; or you may call Him the author of all things. This was the God of the Stoics. To the soul they gave existence for a certain period of time. The Platonics or followers of Plato. Plato is generally considered to be superior to all the other philosophers in wisdom, and certainly taught the existence of God. He held the immortality of the soul, a future state, and that the enjoyment of God was the chief good. But then he has so much that is fabulous and indistinct mixed up with these truths, and so little foundation for their belief, that if he, according to some, did derive them through the medium of corrupted traditions from the Jewish Scriptures, they were but of little use, and only twinkled as the glimmering of a distant star, which, by just piercing the gloom of a dark night, serves to make the darkness visible. The religion of the world at this time was idolatry and polytheism. "The world by wisdom knew not God," and was without God. All nations were sunk under the influence of the most abominable superstitions. All nations had their gods, their rites; and many, their mysteries. But they were peaceable. However they might differ from each other, they bore no animosity against each other on account of their differences. Idolatry gave birth to no persecutions. And the great reason is simply this; they looked upon the world as one great empire, divided into various sections, over each of which a certain number of deities presided; and none, therefore, could behold the gods of other nations with contempt, or compel strangers to pay homage to theirown gods. Minor reasons are many, arising from policy and unbelief. Thus their toleration, instead of meriting the applause of a liberal and generous policy, is resolvable into an atheistic philosophy. This is proved by the treatment of Christianity on its appearance. The origin of such a system, and so extensive in its influence, is a most interesting pursuit. But passing by its origin, leaving the dispute as to whether it arose from worshipping the heavens in place of Jehovah, endowing them with intelligence, and then personifying the ascribed attributes (which the Scriptures seem to countenance), whether it arose from the employment of symbols to represent various occurrences and opinions, whether it arose from the respect paid to family resemblances, or from a combination of all-passing by all those considerations, it is sufficient to remark, that its progress has been the progress of intellectual weakness, human ignorance, and diversified crime; and that at the period of the birth of Christ, the dark character of idolatry could not be excused as fabulous or symbolic, for every idea of its origin was erased. It had become the political engine of powerful men, the lucrative employment of professional men, and the indulgent patron of depraved men. Its rites were cruel, and its worship obscene. The gods were both numerous and diversified. The material creation furnished many such; as the sun, moon, and stars, which were superior gods; the earth, the sea, the wind, rocks, groves, hills and mountains, which were inferior gods. Vegetable and animated creation, furnished some; as trees, plants and animals, Departed heroes were deified, and consecrated as divinities. Virtues, vices, and diseases, also, were adored as deities. These gods were worshipped in the most costly magnificence. Most nations offered animals; and some, human sacrifices. These were offered by pontiffs, priests, and ministers, who, distributed into various classes, officiated in and presided over this strange worship. By them the rites were solemnized, and by them the prayers were offered. In addition to the public worship of these gods, many eastern nations, beside the Greeks, celebrated certain religious rites and ceremonies in private. These were called mysteries; from which all, except the initiated, were excluded. These procedings were kept secret; to divulge was to endanger one's life. These are the general features of idolatry and polytheism yet there were some things peculiar to different nations. The gods of the Egyptians were plants, animals, and other natural productions. The Greeks adored Jupiter, as the chief of the celestial association, as the protector of men and the sovereign ruler of the universe; while their atheistical philosophers have generally looked upon this personage as an emblem of the higher regions, and his wife Juno as the lower atmosphere. The common people adored Cybele, as the mother of the gods; they looked upon her as a symbol of the earth; Apollo was the sun ; and his sister, Artemis, or Diana, the moon. The religious system of the Romans was similar to that of the Greeks, with the addition of a few more absurdities, which were engrafted upon the original stock and exhibited in proceedings more cruel and vicious. Leaving the Grecian and Roman system—the northern seems to have been a military superstition; since all the traditions that we find among the Germans, Gauls, and Celts, respecting their gods and their rites, very evidently tend to excite and nourish a martial spirit. While the Eastern superstition, especially that of the Persians, Egyptians, and Indians, as evidently appears to be designed for the preservation of the public peace, the advancement of civil virtue, and the support of established government. We pass now to the moral condition of the world existing under such a state of policy ; learning, philosophy, and religion. The natural results of that policy, which held the bulk of the people in a state of slavery, uneducated and degraded-which countenanced the sports of the gladiators and laid no restraint on the exercise of unnatural lust, the licentiousness of divorce, the custom of exposing infants, and procuring abortions-which tolerated the consecration of public stews to certain divinities, under the influence of those philosophical systems-which unloosed the bands of society, and led men, if not to deny, at least to doubt the existence of a God, or else to believe that the government of the world was infinitely below His dignity are not easily described; while the results of that religion--whose acknowledged divinities were monsters of cruelty, lust and drunkenness--whose worship was distinguished by the shedding of blood, and practices the most obscene-can be conceived more easily than described. We are not astonished, that in an age when the Epicureans taught that sensual pleasure was man's chief good, when the sceptics doubted whether vice was not preferable to virtue, when the stoics held that all crimes were equal, then debauchery was predominant, suicide fashionable, murder frequent, and dishonesty of every kind pleasing. No pen can describe their condition, so well as the apostolic. At that time they walked in "the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness; and were without hope, and without God in the world." To conclude; from the picture of the Gentile world with which we are presented in the page of history, and at which we have just taken a rapid glance, as it existed at the birth of Christ, it is evident we should be at no loss to prove that the criminality or inexcusability of the heathen world arose from a suppression of or holding of the truth in unrighteousness, and a wicked perversion of that truth, in changing through a conceit of wisdom the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things; that their moral degradation followed as the natural result of their departure from God. There being no tendency in the systems of Philosophy or of religious worship which they adopted, to promote virtuous dispositions, moral conduct, in man-to lay restraint on his sinful passions, excite his hopes or rouse his fears but, on the contrary, everything-both in the character of the gods and in their worship-to degrade man into the brute. : Man being thus degraded by sin, and separated from God and His goodness through ignorance, stood in need of some Divine teacher to lead him in the paths of rectitude and truth, by instructing him in the principle of true godliness and infusing into his soul a love of goodness. This has been done by our Lord Jesus Christ, through the instrumentality of His Gospel; and that, too, with such success, that men can scarcely believe they were once so degraded as they evidently were, both from the testimony of history and the Gospel, and, consequently, are robbing the Gospel of its glory by ascribing that change in the sentiments, practices, and condition of men to natural causes. Thanks be unto God, we have not so learned to undervalue the Gospel; but from its statements, which harmonize with facts—its adaptation to the moral wants of man—and its glorious results on his temporal as well as his spiritual-prospects to receive it as a Divine blessing. The wisdom of God also shines out pre-eminently in the selection of that period in which Christ made his advent. Then the Scripture had for some time been translated into the Greek, and had concurred with other causes to produce a general, although indistinct, notion of the birth of some great personage. Then the nations of the world were nearly all united under one government, which produced an almost general peace, and afforded many advantages to the apostles and first heralds of mercy in the way of access to different nations. And then the age was learned and inquisitive. So that now the honour of Christianity cannot be impeached, as though the age in which it extended most rapidly was ignorant and unskilled in the art of reasoning. When Christianity was first published, neither Gothic nor Vandalian ignorance reigned triumphant; nor were erudition and learning held in universal contempt. But philosophy proudly reared its head, and stood prepared to dispute every inch of ground with the religion which it looked upon as foolishness. Yet it fell before it, like Dagon before the ark. The popular superstition, supported as it was by kingly power, priestly cunning, and vulgar prejudice, also fell before it with astonishing rapidity. In such an age as this, and met by such opposition as this, Christianity rose, extended and conquered. "Oh! the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out !"-(To be continued.) Erratum-At page 6, line 13, for" Arabia" read" Africa." STANZAS, BY ROBERT HERRICK. In the hour of my distresse, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When I lye within my bed, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the tapers now burn blue, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the priest his last hath prayed, When the tempter me pursu'th Sweet Spirit, comfort me. When the judgment is reveal'd, Sweet Spirit, comfort me. No. I. NICHOLAS RIDLEY, D.D., BISHOP AND MARTYR. THE aspect of the present times requires that our periodical literature should endeavour to familiarize the public mind with the great events, which transpired in this country at the time of the Reformation. Believing, as we do, that the permanent stability of our glorious constitution, depends mainly for its security on the maintainance and profession of those principles bequeathed to us by our Reformers, we purpose in the present volume to furnish a series of biographical notices of those champions of the English Church, who at this eventful crisis, and in subsequent times, witnessed a good confession, and became martyrs and confessors to the sacred verities of our holy faith, and who were mainly instrumental in establishing the religious blessings we so richly enjoy. Foremost in the rank of those eminent worthies--who ought to be had in everlasting remembrancestands the intrepid, the learned, and the pious RIDLEY; who in his day so unflinchingly advocated and ably defended the true Catholic faith, in opposition to those peculiar novelties and opinions which the See of Rome had ingrafted upon it; and more especially by exposing the weakness of the grounds on which she rests her claims to spiritual sovereignty over Christendom. Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY, descended from "a stock right worshipful," was born in the beginning of the sixteenth century at Wilmontswick, in Northumberland. From the grammar school at Newcastle upon Tyne, he was sent in 1518 to Pembroke Hall, Cambridge: his character at this time appears to have been that of a zealous Papist. In 1522 he took his degree of B.A.; two years after was elected Fellow and in 1525 he commenced M.A. In 1527, by the kindness of his uncle, he was sent for further improvement to the University of Sorbonne, at Paris: studied also at Louvain, and returned in 1529 to Cambridge, where he applied himself to the study of the Scriptures. To imprint them on his memory he used to walk much in the orchard at Pembroke Hall, called in consequence Ridley's Walk, where he learned to repeat nearly all the epistles in Greek. In 1534 he was chosen Senior Proctor; and while in that situation, it became his duty to sign the judgment of the University, which denied that any jurisdiction over England is divinely assigned to the Roman bishop. But however firmly Ridley might have been persuaded of this unquestionable truth, he had not then shaken off the bulk of those prejudices amidst which his mind had been matured. In the same year he took his degree of B. D., and was also appointed chaplain to the University, and public reader. Ridley's well known acquaintance with the Scriptures and the fathers, induced Cranmer to desire his assistance; and in 1537, he became, as chaplain, a member of his family. The plague raging at this time at Lambeth, the archbishop retired to Ford, in Kent, where Ridley had more frequent intercourse with him, and was in the following year preferred by the Primate to the vicarage of Herne, in the same county, of which he personally performed the duties, greatly to the benefit of his parishoners. To enliven the devotion of his flock, he used to have Te Deum read in his parish church in English, which was afterwards urged in accusation against him. After two years' residence in this retirement, he was recalled to Cambridge as master of his college, and admitted to the degree of D.D. He was also made chaplain to the king; and on the restoration of Canterbury cathedral to its ancient state, he was appointed one of its prebendaries. Professional engagements did not, however, induce him to discontinue his studies; on the contrary, his attention was ever anxiously fixed upon the controversies which have rendered his age so famous. The result of this honourable perseverance was, a gradual, but a firm conviction, that Popery, being the religion neither of Scripture nor ecclesiastical antiquity, must be steadily opposed by every Christian minister, who knows his duty, and hopes to give no ill account of his important trust hereafter. During his residence at Herne, Ridley was first led to reject the doctrine of VOL XII. H |