of the book, which perpetually assures us that, whatever appearances there may be to the contrary, 'God is no respecter of persons,' and that he will, in due time, prove it. Meantime, I can not but express my astonishment," he continues, "that these two instances should ever have been pleaded as affording even prima facie evidence to the contrary. For, if ever sin was seen to be a 'hard bargain,' if ever it was seen in its punishment, it is in the history of these two men. The whole sequel of their lives was tinged, and in a great degree embittered, by it. Rebecca never saw again that darling son for whom she had brought the guilt of perjury on her soul and his; Jacob himself was driven into exile from his father's house for twenty years; and during nearly all that time he was the hireling and the victim of his rapacious kinsman, who 'deceived' him by just such trickery as he himself had practiced on his fatherpalming upon him Leah for Rachel, and 'changing his wages ten times.' After twenty years he returned, but in abject dread of his injured brother, at whose approach he was thrown into that ecstasy of sorrow and terror which ushered in his solitary night-vigil by the brook Jabbok. To this add all the mournful episode of Joseph's exile, Dinah's dishonor, and his other domestic trials, and who can think his sin 'unvisited?'

"As to David, it was declared to him at the very moment he was told that his repentance was accepted, that his iniquity was marked and would be remembered before God; that though he thought he had wrapt his crime in secrecy, it should be blazoned to the world with every note of shame and ignominy. So the oracle ran, and left David for long years to expect when and how this dreaded bolt would fall-perhaps not the least part of his punishment. At last it fell, and hardly could he have imagined how dreadful the stroke would be. His favorite son Absalom rises in rebellion against him, drives him from his throne and capital, involves his people in the horrors of civil war, and in pursuit of his detestable policy, visits on his father,

and 'in the face of the sun,' the dishonor, and worse than the dishonor, which David had brought into the house of Uriah. If such chastisement in the case of Jacob and David be instances of the divine partiality and favoritism, who of us but must pray, 'O God, in thy great mercy, deliver us from being at last accounted among thine enemies.'"

For themselves men are quite likely to accept life's blessings as indications of God's approval; while they fear that the misfortunes of others are occasioned by some open or secret sin. It is well to remember that prosperity may not be always a reward, and that sudden calamity may not be always a judgment. Though God's acts are often clearly marked and easily understood, and though he is no respecter of persons, he is not always pleased to manifest at once and uniformly his displeasure against sin. A pleasure steamer starts off on its Sunday excursion, and goes to the bottom, carrying all on board. A score of yachts leave port the same Lord's day, and return in safety. An atheist once lectured on Sunday in the Parker Fraternity Hall, in Boston, in the morning on "The Blood-stained History of Christianity," and in the evening on "King George the Third of England and Jehovah of Heaven Compared," and came out of it unscathed. God did not smite him dead, as he smote Herod, for blasphemy. Personal sins and social vices may be indulged, and for a time go unpunished; but suddenly God may show himself, and the people may learn that there is a living, moral Governor of the world. He does not visit every transgression with its just recompense of reward when it is committed, for evidently, in this life, we have only the beginnings of moral government, whose awards hereafter shall be complete and final. Moreover, such a course on the part of God might limit man's moral freedom and tend to frighten him to a virtuous life, while God may desire to have man chose righteousness for its own sake, and hate sin because it is supremely hateful.

It may be remarked, finally, that providence, general and particular, though it may not be the infliction of pun

ishment or the bestowment of reward, may be regarded as disciplinary and educative, having the highest moral ends in view. Accept the Christian view that this life is man's probation, in which he is not only on trial, but under discipline by which he may be fitted for another world and a higher life, and every thing-the earth he inhabits, its created glories and its beneficent laws, the circumstances of his life, all that makes up his experience, either of joy or of sorrow, have the highest spiritual uses. The heavens declare God's glory; but it is that man may behold it and be impressed by it. Much more the lights and the shadows of man's experience are to cultivate in him the convictions and emotions of a religious life. He who is able to

"Find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing,"

surely will not find it difficult to discover in the prosperity which brightens his days, or the adversity which beclouds them, calls to faith, gratitude, penitence, or submission. The irreligious man may receive blessing and not affliction from the Lord; and thereby be reminded that God hath not dealt with him after his sins, nor rewarded him according to his iniquities. Under the softening influences of his undeserved treatment his heart may become less hard and selfish, more thoughtful for others, and more disposed to acknowledge its infinite indebtedness to the great source of all life and blessing. In him may be exhibited an illustration of God's expressed design in his dealings with men, "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." On the other hand, the true servant of God may receive much that is afflictive here, with the assurance that it is part of the needful discipline of life. A thought so common in the Bible as this needs not to be enlarged upon. It is said: "Sweet are the uses of adversity

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."

The faith is tried, the affections are purified, the character is strengthened. In the future life the wisdom of that VOL. VI, No. 22-15

providence which assigns so large a place here to hardship and evil, will be abundantly manifest.

The old mystery of the origin and permission of moral evil in the world, under God's providential government, remains a mystery still, and is likely to continue such. But of all physical evil it may be said, that it is never appointed as an end in itself, but always as a means for the accomplishment of a higher spiritual good, and that, as related to that end, its existence is justified by reason as not inconsistent with the wisdom of a holy and merciful God.

Dr. Archibald Alexander Hodge, in his "Outlines of Theology," under the subject of providence, lays down four propositions which, with one slight modification, we adopt:

"I. Every moral agent in this world has more of good and less of evil than he deserves.

"2. Happiness and misery are much more equally distributed in this world than appears on the surface.

"3. As a general rule, virtue is rewarded and vice punished even here.

"4. The present dispensation is a season of education, preparation, and trial, and not [altogether or in large part] one of rewards and punishments."

ARTICLE VI.

BAPTISTS AND LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE.

THE ENGLISH BAPTISTS, 1644-1689.

SECOND PAPER.

BY HENRY C. VEDDER.

IN a former article the history of the doctrine of liberty of conscience for all men was traced in England from the reign of Henry VIII to the publication of the Baptist Confession of 1643. It appeared that down to that year William Chillingworth was the only Englishman not a Baptist who consistently and unwaveringly defended the right of every man to interpret the Scriptures for himself, and to worship God as his conscience prompted him, without interference on the part of the secular power. During this period there is no case producible of a Baptist who was any thing else than the consistent and unwavering advocate of this principle. It remains now to trace the history of this idea to the year 1689, when it took form in the Act of Toleration.

The year 1644 was noteworthy for the republication, with a second preface, of the Confession of the Seven Churches, and for the printing of what is probably the most famous book in all the literature of this subject. Roger Williams was that year in London, whither he had come for the purpose of securing a royal charter for his new colony. among the Narragansett Indians, and he took advantage of this fact to get printed his book, "The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution. "'* The teachings of this book are too well. known to need description here, especially as but for the

*There are two excellent reprints of this rare book. One is in the publications of the Hanserd Knollys Society, the other in the publications of the Narragansett Club. The latter is edited with great care and fidelity by Rev. S. L. Caldwell, D. D., the accomplished president of Vassar College.*