ld cause them to abhor and to shun it; but many are
so wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God
that they may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on their
enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power
of God. They must have some means of quieting their consciences; and they
seek that which is least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a
method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him.
The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared
for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world,--those who
would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their
sins. Here is the secret of its power.

A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the
success of the papacy. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great
intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages,
when men were without God's word, and without the knowledge of the truth,
their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the
net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes
become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, "science falsely so
called;" they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if
blindfolded. God designed that man's intellectual powers should be held as
a gift from his Maker, and should be employed in the service of truth and
righteousness; but when pride and ambition are cherished, and men exalt
their own theories above the word of God, then intelligence can accomplish
greater harm than ignorance. Thus the false science of the present day,
which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing
the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did
the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in
the Dark Ages.

In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the
institutions and usages of the church the support of the state,
Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are
opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the
supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives
greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal
object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance,--a custom
which originated with Rome, and which she cla