opinions respecting the most acceptable way of pleasing God, and Christianity itself not having long since become extinct, prove incontrovertibly its divine origin; for whereever there is division respecting any human work or undertaking, that work in a short time comes to nought.

3. The various opinions that have and do exist, respecting LIBERTY, do not prove that either liberty is not man's birthright, nor that it is an imposition.

4. Infidels ought to recollect, or rather to learn, that scarcely even two Infidel philosophers ever existed who agreed respecting right and wrong, virtue and vice! Cicero himself informs us, "that there was so great a dissension among philosophers that it was almost impossible to enumerate their different sentiments!" And now, after the lapse of nearly six thousand years, no two of them, in Europe or in America, could be produced who wonld agree upon the first principles of morality. Not so with real Christians. No two opinions exist among them on these points; their difference consists in their zeal for morality-not in their zeal for immorality; which is the rock on which Infidels split. See Morality.

SEPTUAGINT. This translation of the Old Testament into Greek, was so called either from seventy-two persons having been employed to make it, or from its having received the approbation of the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, which consisted of seventy-two persons. It was executed during the joint reigns of Ptolemy Lagus, and his son, Philadelphus, in the third and fourth years of the hundred and twenty-third Olympiad, that is, about the years 285 and 286 before the Christian era.

This is one, out of many, incontrovertible evidences,

(if it be necessary to allude to any evidence in proof of what no man now denies,) that the Old Testament was in existence hundreds of years before the New Testament. Pseudo-Aristeas, Josephus, Philo, and many other ancient writers, mention it.

It is well known that at the period above noticed there was a great multitude of Jews settled in Egypt, particularly in Alexandria; and, as the great bulk of the common people were no longer acquainted with biblical Hebrew, (the Greek language being alone used in their ordinary intercourse,) it became necessary to translate the Pentateuch into Greek for their use. This was the origin of the Septuagint translation.

The Jews who settled in Alexandria were most strictly observant of the religious institutions and usages of their forefathers. They had their Sanhedrim, or grand council, and very numerous synagogues, in which the law was read to them on every Sabbath: hence their anxiety to obtain this translation.

SERMON. The Lord's sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matt. v. vi. vii. fully justifies the declaration, 'this man spake as never yet man spoke." For, whether we direct our attention to the spiritualising of the law of God-to the laying the axe at the root of human pride -to the practical discountenance of enthusiasm—to the unequivocal condemnation of all hypocrisy-to the precepts inculcating humility, charity, benevolence, kindness, &c., we must be at a loss to say in which one of these subjects divine wisdom and real philosophy are most apparent. The Saviour begins by pronouncing nine distinct blessings; and the first of these upon HUMILITY" blessed are the poor in spirit," (ver. 3.) In verse 17, he says, "Think not that I am come to destroy

the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." This appears to have been deemed by the Lord a necessary preface to what he was just going to say; knowing well, that his enemies then, and now, would interpret his spiritualising of the laws of God, as an attempt to abrogate or do them away; therefore, he adds, so far from his coming to diminish or lessen their obligation, "heaven and earth should pass away, before one jot or tittle should in any wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." But if it be asked, did he not alter several of the commandments, such as the law of adultery, of oaths, the law respecting the Sabbath, &c, I answer, no; not one of them; but was freeing them from those human traditions, by which they had not only become obscure, but burthensome and intolerable! The human traditions were actually eclipsing them. Therefore, Jesus said, "in vain ye do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." 66 Why do ye also transgress the commandments of God by your tradition?” Matt. xv. 3. 6. 9. "Thus have you made the commandments of God of none effect by your tradition." "Wo unto you, &c., for ye pay tithes of mint," &c., Matt. xxiii. 23. How did he alter the 7th commandment? Was it by checking it at its source? (27, 28.) How did he alter the 3d commandment? Was it by prohibiting oaths on unimportant occasions, or in common conversation? How did he abrogate the 4th commandment? Was it by permitting good to be done on that day? Where did God ever prohibit the doing of good on the Sabbath? Nowhere. But the traditions of men did. The fact is, human wisdom has at all ages of the world, obscured, more or less, the revelation of God to men; and thus it has given the enemies of truth an additional weapon against the Bible.

SERPENT. The form assumed by the tempter, when he seduced our first parents, has been handed down in the traditions of most ancient nations, particularly by the Persians, Hindoos, Greeks, the Egyptians, and the Scythians or Goths, and by many nations the serpent tribe were worshipped, as types, or figures, of the evil principle. See Deane's Treatise on the Worship of the Serpent throughout the world. London, 1830. 8vo.

SERPENTS. Tamed by Indian jugglers. See Appendix, E.

SERPENT. 66 Flying Serpents" are mentioned in Isaiah, xxx. 6.; of which Dr. R. R. Madden says, "the winged serpent, which naturalists deem a fabulous reptile, several Bedouins have assured me they had seen in the Hedjaz, (near the Red Sea), and I remember having heard the same from an English traveller in Cairo, in the house of Mr. Burton, who stated that he had seen the winged serpent in the Arabian desert, and described it as a small species of the serpent, which was able to fly a few feet only above the surface of the earth." Travels; vol. ii. page 136.

Herodotus says he has seen them, and describes them, lib. 3. cap. 107. 110. Bochart describes them as short, spotted, and with wings resembling those of a bat. Harris. Nat. His. p. 376.

SIGNS. It is written in Mark, xvi. 17, 18, "And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay

hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' If we look to the Acts of the Apostles, we find not only this promise of the Lord's literally fulfilled; but we also learn on whom those miraculous powers were conferred. To whom then had these promises reference? That is, were these powers conferred on the Apostles onlyor on those to whom the Apostles transferred them; or on all believers to the end of time? On consulting the Acts, chap. viii. 5. 17, we learn that this power was confined to the two former classes; that is, to the Apostles, and to those on whom the Apostles laid their hands. It is related in this chapter that Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them, performing miracles of every description (ver. 6, 7, 8.) Now be it remembered that Philip and Stephen were not Apostles, yet both did great miracles (vi. 8.) When, therefore, the Apostles themselves, who were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, and had believed through Philip's preaching, and were baptized by him, (ver. 12,) "they sent unto them Peter and John;" (ver. 14.), that they, Peter and John, might lay their hands on the believers in Samaria, to enable them to work miracles, (ver. 15, 16, 17,) which was synonymous with the phrase, "Gifts of the Holy Ghost." So then we perceive, that although Stephen, and Philip, had themselves the power of working miracles, and the privilege of preaching the Gospel, and of baptizing in water, yet they were not able to transfer that power to others: hence the Apostles themselves had to come down to Samaria to do so. An incontrovertible evidence of the termination of miraculous powers with the Apostolic converts; and of Apostolic authority with the Apostles themselves. An attentive perusal of the passage in Mark, from the fifteenth verse to the end of the