even the most enlightened countries were atrociously savage, and administered in a relentless spirit. Hon. Edmund Burke said he could obtain the consent of the House of Commons to any bill imposing punishment by death. English law recognized 223 capital crimes—not wholly a legacy of the dark ages, for 156 of them bore no remoter date than the reigns of the Georges." Then he quotes the following examples from another author: "If a man injured Westminster bridge he was hanged. If he appeared disguised on a public road he was hanged. If he cut down young trees, if he shot rabbits, if he stole property valued at five shillings, if he stole anything at all from a bleach-field, if he wrote a threatening letter to extort money, if he returned prematurely from transportation-for any of these offenses he was peremptorily hanged. . . . Men who resisted the government were cut in pieces by the executioner, and their dishonored heads were exposed on Temple Bar to the derision or pity of passers-by." In Rome, according to a law of the Twelve Tables, the debtor whose obligations remained unpaid after an imprisonment of sixty days could either be sold into slavery or cut in pieces and distributed among his creditors.

When we consider these inhuman penal inflic

tions in heathenism, and even in civilized England at no distant period in the past, and contrast such conditions with those existing at the present time in Christian nations, we can see that considerable advance has been made in this respect. The more true Christianity spreads, the greater will be the humane sentiment, and the greater the regard for human life. These principles have so far pervaded society already that in a number of countries and in several States of the Union capital punishment has been abolished entirely. Whatever may be said in defense of capital punishment as a necessity of law under certain conditions for the prevention of crime, it is evident that the destruction of human life is not in accordance with the spiritual precepts of the gospel. And we sincerely hope that the time will come when society will be so far elevated that such executions will be no longer deemed necessary. But, aside from this, our penal institutions are constantly developing reformatory principles, and their treatment is more in accordance with the ideas of justice and humanity.

Everywhere we see a more humane feeling. Instead of regarding all other nations as enemies we begin to consider them brothers. And when severe reverses befall them, how quickly the heart

of the Christian nations begins to beat with sympathy, and Christian liberality manifests itself, as during the India famines of recent years, the Messina earthquake, and the Mount Pelee disaster. In fact, the arms of Christian brotherhood are already reaching around the world. Christian missionaries, imbued with the spirit of love for their lost brethren of other nationalities and of other races, are going forth into the dark places of the earth to labor unselfishly in the cause of their divine Master and for the good of precious immortal souls for whom Christ died. And through the influence of the gospel and the educational efforts of Christian nations the heathen governments of the world are being tempered more in accordance with the advanced development of the times, and thus a door of opportunity is now being opened for the enlightenment of millions of darkened souls.

In view of all the facts, we can not fail to attribute these propitious conditions to the influences of Christianity. These have been the means of developing our own state of civilization, and they are now working on a broader and grander scale for the universal enlightenment of the human While our Lord is now reigning as heaven's King in the hearts of his humble followers, still we possess a holy unrest for fields of greater op

race.

portunity and greater activity; and we rejoice in the exulting anticipation of the extension of his kingdom throughout the whole wide world, and sing with the poet:

"Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;

His kingdom, spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

"From north to south the princes meet,
To pay their homage at his feet;
While Western empires own their Lord,
And savage tribes attend his word."'

-Isaac Watts.

CHAPTER XIV.

TRUE RELIGION IN ALL THE AGES,

Having noticed some of the external effects of Christianity in the general progress of society, we wish to show in this chapter that true Christianity has existed during all the centuries since the incarnation of Christ. However, lest our treatment of the subject should become tedious, we will not attempt to take the matter up by centuries, but will content ourselves with a brief historical sketch giving a few examples of this spiritual teaching.

I will repeat a statement heretofore madethat true Christianity consists not in external rites and theological systems, which, however, may be associated with it, but in that inner experience of the heart called the new birth, or regeneration. Without this internal soul-work, all forms of religion are powerless to purify the life and to exalt the heart to supreme love for God. This blessed experience was the center of that gospel system which was proclaimed by the apostles, and which rang out through the Roman world in their day. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness," says the apostle Paul; and, again, “I