59 Sermon Illustrations on Authority of Scripture

It is stated, in the life of Ridley the reformer, that, in October, 1553, a closet council of Roman bishops was held at Bononia, to advise the pope as the best means of checking the progress of the reformation. After making many very curious concessions, the bishops of Termulae, Capralae, and Thessalonica, thus concluded their address to Pope Julius III:—"But we have reserved the most considerable advice, which we could at this time give your highness, to the last. And here you must be awake, and exert all your force to hinder, as much as you possibly can, the gospel from being read, (especially in the vulgar tongue,) in all the cities that are under your dominion. Let that little taste of it which they have in the mass serve their turn, nor suffer any mortal to read any thing more; for as long as men were contented with that little, things went to your mind, but grew worse and worse from the time that they commonly read more. This, in short, is the book that has, beyond all others, raised these storms and tempests, in which we are almost driven to destruction. And really, whosoever shall diligently weigh the Scripture, and then consider all the things that are usually done in our churches, will find that there is a great difference between them; and that this doctrine of ours is very unlike, and in many things quite repugnant to it."

An elderly female, of the Roman Catholic persuasion, residing near Montreal, in Canada, having obtained a Bible, was visited by her priest, who earnestly endeavored to prevail on her to give it up. Finding he could not persuade her to relinquish her treasure, he attempted to induce her to sell it; offering first five, then ten, fifteen, and at last twenty dollars. The good woman, after refusing these offers, at length consented to sell it for twenty-five dollars. The priest agreed, the money was paid, the obnoxious volume was given up, and he departed in triumph. But the old woman set off immediately to Montreal, and, with the priest's twenty-five dollars, purchased twenty-five new Bibles, for herself and her neighbors.

# 300. Idolatry.

The Rev. Mr. Temple, one of the American missionaries at Malta, has related the following fact:—My teacher, a native of Italy, came into my room one morning, and took up a tract, then lying on my table, and immediately cast his eyes upon the ten commandments, which I had inserted at the end. As soon as he had read the second commandment, he expressed much astonishment, and asked whether this was part of the decalogue. I immediately showed him this commandment in Archbishop Martini's "Italian Translation of the Latin Vulgate." He could not suppress his feeling of surprise on reading this in the Italian Bible, and in a version, too, authorized by the Pope. "I have lived," said he, "fifty years; have been publicly educated in Italy; have had the command of a regiment of men, and fought in many campaigns; but, till this hour, I never knew that such a commandment as this was written in the pages of the Bible."

Wherever religion has spread its banners and enrolled its armies, order, discipline, and efficiency have characterized its followers. A distime to examine every thing that appeared upon the subject, which, as I have told you, I could never explain or teach so as to produce conviction; but at length I have given up the point, most thoroughly assured, that without an express divine sanction attached to the laws of morality, and without positive laws, accompanied with determinate and urgent motives, men will never be convinced that they ought to submit to any such code, nor agree among themselves concerning it. From that time I have never read any book upon morality but the Bible, and I return to that always with fresh delight."

## ATION TO GOD.

woods at night, the rustling of a leaf would frighten me; terrified by I knew not what, fleeing when no man pursued, I galloped home as fast as my horse could carry me. Now, if I go to visit a poor dying man, or if I have been enjoying the word of life, I come home in a calm and peaceful frame of mind. I find that the Lord is present with me; and as I walk my horse gently along, I look up and see the bright stars above my head, and am happy in the assurance that the God who made them all is mine in Christ. O, what a mercy!—the loneliness of the wood, the rustling of the leaves, the stillness of night, no longer alarm me. I am, I trust, reconciled to my God, and at peace with him and my own conscience, through the death of his Son. He that fills the heavens with his glory, and the earth with his mercies, condescends to dwell in, and to comfort my poor sinful heart."

## FORMING POWER OF.

charged soldier had been a notorious Sabbath-breaker. He was often met on that day, ragged and barefoot, accompanied with one or two of his children, in a similar condition, strolling with a gun or a fishing pole to his accustomed employment of the day. His house was the picture of wretchedness. After the lapse of a few years, a gentleman in the town where he lived, noticed, one Sabbath morning, a decent wagon proceeding to church with a well-dressed family. He thought he knew the driver, who appeared to be the head, of the family, and accosted him. He was not mistaken. It was the identical Sabbath-breaker and idler. He had become a religious man, which his appearance evinced, while his tongue confessed it. His house was found to exhibit economy and industry. Its windows, which were once stuffed with rags, were now glazed. His children attended the Sunday school. He was himself respectable, clean, and thriving; at peace with his own mind, and living peaceably with his neighbors. Such are some of the trophies of religion, showing itself, as indeed it is, profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

A woman went one day to hear Dr. — preach, and, as usual, carried a pocket Bible with her, that she might turn to any of the passages the preacher might happen to refer to. But she found that she had no use for her Bible there; and on coming away, said to a friend, "I should have left my Bible at home to-day, and have brought my dictionary. The doctor does not deal in Scripture, but in such learned words and phrases as require the help of an interpreter to render them intelligible."