, were equally faithless, restless, and
implacable. Freedom of thought was proscribed, and the human mind was
placed under the most exacting and intolerable tyranny by which it was
ever oppressed.

The mutilation of this Dagon of hierarchical unity is one of the many
glorious results of the great Reformation. The sooner the remaining
fragments of this idol be crushed to atoms, the better for the peace and
freedom of Christendom. The unity of the Church cannot be achieved by
the iron rod of despotism, neither can the communion of saints be
promoted by the sacrifice of their rights and privileges. "Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." [656:1] Christ alone can draw
all men unto Him. The real unity of His Church is, not any merely
ecclesiastical cohesion, but a unity of faith, of hope, and of
affection. It is the fellowship of Christian freemen walking together in
the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost. It is the
attraction of all hearts to one heavenly Saviour, and the submission of
all wills to one holy law. Looking at the past condition or the present
aspect of society, we may think the difficulties in the way of such
unity altogether insurmountable; but it will, in due time, be brought
about by Him "who doeth great things and unsearchable, marvellous things
without number." Its realization will present the most delightful and
impressive spectacle that the earth has ever seen. "Every valley shall
be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the
crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; _and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together_." [656:2] "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the
_voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye_, when
the Lord shall bring again Zion." [656:3] "And the Lord shall be King
over all the earth; in that day shall there be _one Lord, and His name
one_." [656:4] AMEN.

THE END.

[ENDNOTES]

[3:1] Mr Merivale, in his "History of the Romans under the Empire,"
(vol. iv. p. 450,) estimates the population in the time of Augustus
at eighty-five millions, but in this reckoning he does not include
Palestine, and perhaps some of his calculations are rather low.
Greswell computes the population of Palestine at ten millions, and that
of the whole empire at one hundred and twenty millions. ("Dissertations
upon an Harmony of the Gospel