renders the heart callous, and calls into birth all the envious and malignant passions. Thus the "gathering up of the tares," might "root up also the wheat with them." Both, therefore, must grow together, until the time of harvest, when a proper separation between them will take place, without doing injury to the one by the extirpation of the other. Till then, forbearance must be exercised, and the spirit and injunction of the householder should be remembered.

This is simply the lesson which Jesus Christ in this parable intends to teach his disciples. However degenerate professors may become, in doctrine or in practice, the disciples are not to use violence towards them, to cut them off, or have recourse to persecution, from the vain pretence of rescuing them from heresy, and doing God service. Hence the true disciples of Christ can never be violent or persecuting in their spirit, but must be gentle and peaceable, resting their cause on the Judge of all the earth, who will make a just discrimination between the tares and the wheat, and who alone has a right to decide as to their future disposal.

But still, in this spirit of forbearance and charity, on the part of the true disciples of Christ, there is to be no compromise. They are not to confound the tares and the wheat together; but to regard them as they severally are, and call them by their proper names: the tares as tares, and the wheat as wheat, as Jesus himself did.

Nor is there anything of church discipline, exercised in the spirit of peace and love, forbidden by this parable. In fact, it does not allude to the Church within itself, but to the Church in the world; for the field is the world, and “the children of the kingdom," indicated by "the good seed," are sown in the world. Nevertheless, our Saviour has taught us how we are to behave to an offending member, (Matt. xviii. 15-17). We are to use every means to conciliate him, and be at peace with him. If we fail in this good purpose, we are to seek the friendly aid of one or two more. If we still fail, we are then, in the same spirit, to call in the aid of the Church. And if, after all, our efforts still prove in vain, the offending party is to be to us as a heathen man and a publican; we are to separate ourselves from him. We are thus to act in cases of offences within a Christian community.

And with respect to a more extended view of the world, we should remember that Jesus Christ cautioned his disciples to "beware of men," (Matt. x. 17); to "beware of false prophets, who would come to them in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly they would be ravening wolves. Ye shall know them," he said, "by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt. vii. 15-20). Hence, while living in peace and good will with all men, we are not to countenance evil, or false doctrine; but to make a just discrimination between truth and error, right and wrong, and to "be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

The parable teaches Christian professors to be zealous in spreading the grand truths of the gospel. For "the children of the Kingdom" are "the good seed" which the Son of man sows in his field, the world. And that seed cannot be fruitful so long as it is kept in the granary. It must be sinful to keep it there unused; and dangerous, too; as it must in time contract putridity, and be fit only to be cast away. Thus it is with natural grain, when kept continually in store. And thus it is with spiritual grain, in a similar case, but in a spiritual sense; namely, in inactive professing Christians. They are grain only in store and in store only to corrupt. While they do nothing to diffuse the gospel, they every day become more indifferent to it, and this indifference, at length, ends in aversion, or spiritual deadness. They are then the seed that has become putrid, and is fit for nothing but to be thrown upon the dunghill, or to be burned in the fire. Zealous Christians, on the contrary, are that good seed which is widely scattered abroad; which springs forth into fruitfulness, and continues to increase in fruitfulness, until in the end it covers the whole earth. "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath," Matt. xxv. 29. The virtues that are exercised, flourish; while those that are neglected, pass away, and the opposite vices take their place.

The parable teaches us vigilance, as well as diligence and zeal; and it shews its great necessity and importance, at the same time. For it was while men slept, those that were appointed to watch, slept, that the enemy came, and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. And what evils may arise in the moral and religious world, from the want

of vigilance, on the part of Christian professors! What errors in doctrine and in practice! So that in this night of mental darkness, truth may be lost, religion may be corrupted and the baneful spirit of superstition, bigotry, and persecution may be spread abroad. The enemy, the wicked one, the spirit of evil personified, is still in the world, prowling everywhere, to cast tares among the wheat, in a stealthy way; and he will not fail to effect his envious and malicious purpose, when those who should watch, are found asleep. Let then the disciples of Christ beware; especially, when corruption, to a considerable extent, may anywhere prevail. Let them remember the exhortation:-"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour," 1 Peter, v. 8.

It is remarkable, that nothing is said in this parable about heresy, or heretics. Iniquity and righteousness only are mentioned, in reference to character, and the future state and condition of men; and the retribution that is spoken of, is a moral retribution. False views, in leading to wrong practice, will so far occasion suffering. Whatever tends to evil, will be punished in the evil; and whatever tends to good, will be rewarded in the good.

Such appears to be the doctrine of future retribution, as taught in this parable; and Christians should remember it, and regulate their conduct accordingly. The wheat will be gathered into the barn, while the tares will be burned. That which is good in man, will endure for ever; while that which is evil, will perish.

It

And can

But what is this fire, which will burn up the tares? is the fire of remorse, the fire of evil passions. there be a more raging fire in the human breast, than that which these direful materials can kindle? It will burn, until they are consumed. And when the evil is destroyed, will not the misery be destroyed with it? The tares, the evil passions, at once the fire, and the materials making the fire, are within the children of the wicked one. These alone constitute them so; and these alone, strictly speaking, bear that character; though the individuals, the persons themselves, in whom they reside, are spoken of under this designation. But this must be, in consequence of the evil things within them; for the children of the wicked one could not be the tares, if these tares, these evil things, did not dwell in them; any more than the children of the kingdom could be the wheat, if this wheat, or these good things, did not reside in them.

But all that is evil will be destroyed. And will not all the misery connected with it, be destroyed? The wheat will be preserved. All that is good will be preserved. And will not all the happiness connected with it, be likewise preserved? Destroy evil, and good naturally rises up in its place. And with good, it is invariably found that happiness is naturally connected. Evil and misery, therefore, will ultimately vanish; and goodness will universally reign. Then all things will be subdued unto Christ, and God will be all in all.

Such appears to be the grand consummation pointed out in this parable. And its spiritual, more than its strict literal sense, should be taken.

(Lecture III. to be concluded in our next No.)

LECTURES ON ENGLISH HISTORY.
PART VII.

THE period comprised under the term "dark ages," ranges, by common consent, from the seventh or eighth century to that of the beginning of the fifteenth. During this long term, between seven and eight hundred years, it is generally supposed that the human intellect was nearly a blank, that arts, sciences, philosophy and religion, were buried under the rubbish of barbarism and superstition, that ignorance was the leading characteristic of the time, and that nothing worthy of the human mind appeared or could flourish. Such is the inference drawn from a superficial view of the progress of events, but it is by no means warranted by a closer inspection. Gross darkness never wholly covered the land, though often there were very near approaches to it. Still it was a twilight, and it advanced towards more perfect day. Many men of subtle and penetrating intellects arose during the most unfavourable periods for the display of their faculties, and, from what they really effected, gave evidence of what they might have performed had times and circumstances facilitated their researches, and enabled them to make more rapid progress. We smile at the apparently futile labours of those who are technically denominated " the schoolmen," and a perusal of their works would now be justly regarded as one of the severest penances that could be imposed. many of them were men far in advance of their age, and their wire-drawn distinctions, their logomachy, or war of mere words, were useful exercises at the time; they were leaders of

Yet

the forlorn hope of literature, whose bodies were left in the ditch, yet who made a breach in the fortress of ignorance, through which we have entered and found a sure footing, so that we can demolish the walls at our leisure, or, to use a simile of Bishop Berkeley's, they put "a crop into the ground and we have ploughed it in for a dressing." Honour to the seraphic and the subtle doctors; we owe them a much larger debt than ignorance and our vanity have suffered us to pay, but we should no longer delay the acknowledgment. Duns Scotus and Thomas Aquinas were no ordinary men, and, compared with the mass of their contemporaries, deserved, in a great degree, the high-sounding, and to our ears, the most extravagant titles wherewith they were greeted. Nor was religion quite at so low an ebb as has been generally represented in those times. We have already seen, that mingled with great superstition and many nefarious practices, there was no small amount of piety, genuine and sincere good feeling, and right conduct at that period. The Papal power was never all paramount in England; the good sense of the people, their jealousy of foreign interference, the high spirit of the nobles, and the frequently disputed succession of the kings, tended greatly to diminish implicit deference to the decrees of Rome, and every now and then some gifted spirit made its appearance. Some individual, ardent by nature, gifted with eloquence, and whose lips had been touched by a coal from the altar, started from the ranks, and declared boldly what he knew of the oracles and the purposes of God, and strongly, permanently, influenced the minds of numbers. Such was the case of Wickliffe, who has been termed "the morning star of the Reformation." He was pious and learned, of ready speech, zealous, energetic, yet not fierce; his preaching made the deepest impression at Oxford, of which University he was a member, and where he held a fellowship. He completely exposed the ignorance, hypocrisy, and impudent knavery of the begging friars, a numerous and powerful fraternity, and gained much favour with all ranks by his earnest and successful endeavours to put down many of the crying enormities which prevailed in the Church. His great patron was the celebrated John of Gaunt, Shakespeare's "time honoured Lancaster," son to Edward the Third, and at that time Regent of the kingdom. He resolutely defended Wickliffe from the persecution of the Romish clergy, and his protection, was, for a long period, all powerful. No express law for the persecution of heretics had