"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. ii. 11).

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Cor. iv. 4).

"Neither give place to the devil" (Eph. iv. 27).

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. vi. 11). "For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you, and our labour be in vain" (1 Thess. iii. 5).

"And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim. ii. 26).

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James iv. 7).

"Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith" (1 Pet. v. 8, 9).

Making every allowance for the figurative style of Eastern language, there still remains in these passages sufficient to shew that the human heart was then, and still continues to be, exposed to the arts and influences of an unseen spiritual world.

He is but half a philosopher, whatever be his acquirements in particular sciences, who has not the humility to admit the possibility of such a doctrine. Let us take a very ordinary illustration: unless we had seen with our own eyes the magnetic needle trembling on its pivot, and yet pointing with determined constancy to the pole, we

never should have been disposed to admit that there is an unseen but powerful current of invisible energy streaming through air, earth, and ocean-through every substance, organic and inorganic-through the walls of our housesthrough the bodies of animals-through our very heart and our very brain, ready to exercise its mechanical power wherever a magnet may be found or placed. The true philosopher will never say that anything is impossible; because he knows that we see only the surface of things; and that there lie beneath, and above, and within us, principles which we do not know and cannot understand; but which, meeting us at every turn, teach us that the docility of the child is the genius of the philosopher. The true Pharisee of science is no other than the Sadducee of revelation.

When we have admitted the reality of the demoniacal possessions recorded in the New Testament, there is no difficulty in understanding, or rather of expecting this modified agency of unclean spirits: in the one case, they took possession of the entire person; in the other, they merely influence or excite the faculties to action, with more or less power, according to the activity of the unclean spirit, or the passivity of the person who is tempted.

It is not necessary that we should know how the spirit operates, although it would be easy to speculate upon the subject; it is sufficient to observe what are the grand facts of the doctrine ::

1. It appears that Satan delights in tempting, overcoming, and destroying men (1 Pet. v. 8), more especially God's own people (Luke xxii. 31).

2. He exhibits great art and subtlety in his modes of attack (2 Cor. ii. 11).

3. He skilfully takes advantage of circumstances favourable to his designs (1 Cor. vii. 5).

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4. He tempts to sin by stimulating pride (1 Chron. xxi. 1), covetousness (John xiii. 2), love of applause (Acts v. 3), fear (Luke xxii. 31), and lust (1 Cor. vii. 5).

5. By occupying the mind with worldly thoughts and imaginations, he prevents the truth from reaching the attention and the heart (Luke viii. 12; 2 Cor. iv. 4).

6. We have it in our power to encourage or resist successfully, by God's help, the temptations of Satan (Luke xi. 22; 1 Pet. v. 8, 9; James iv. 7; Eph. vi. 11; Luke xxii. 32).

7. When the temptations of Satan are not resisted, they become snares and chains out of which it is difficult to escape (John xiii. 2, compared with verses 26, 27, 30; 2 Tim. ii. 26).

We have only further to observe, that, in all these passages, the temptation is ascribed to Satan, or the devil (διάβολος, not δαίμων), and yet it does not follow that the agents are not the demons, under their prince, the devil. They are spoken of collectively in the New Testament under the name of Satan and the devil, in passages where we are sure that this is the case; for example, Christ's ministry is thus spoken of by Peter (Acts x. 38): “He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil" (diáßodos); and again, when the apostles returned and told Christ how the devils (dapóvia) were subject to them, Christ said, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke x. 18). We should not be warranted, therefore, in making a distinction between the agency of the unclean spirits and Satan their prince; and indeed, unless we had very strong statements to the contrary, we must suppose that Satan is a finite being, who can be engaged in only a limited number of acts at the same time, whereas the temptations of mankind must be carried out by innumerable agents under his com

mand. We deplore the fact that his kingdom is at present so strong; but, blessed be God, we are assured that the time is rapidly approaching when it shall be utterly destroyed.

H.

SCIENCE OF FORCE AND SPIRIT.

THE science of FORCE, which at present occupies so much of the attention of scientific men, will yet, in all probability, be the greatest of all the sciences; or rather it will be the central science from which every other will depend.

We have stated in the text that light, heat, electricity, magnetism, and momentum, are all of them only different forms of one substance or essence, which, for want of a better name, is called FORCE; just as, in the mercantile world, sovereigns, shillings, and pence, are merely different forms of MONEY; and, as we can have a pound of money in the shape of a golden sovereign, or 20 silver shillings, or 240 copper pence, so may we have a footpound of force in the form of so much light, or so much heat, or so much electricity, &c.

The tendency of recent research has been to lead to the supposition that light is nothing more than vibratory motion, and heat nothing more than circular motion. The remarkable agreement of the phenomena of light and heat, with certain calculations that have been made upon this theory, invests it with a very high degree of probability. But where is this to end? If light be a vibratory motion, and heat a circular motion, what kind of a motion is electricity? or magnetism? or any of the other

forms that force assumes? We must also keep in mind that, in connexion with these other forms, there are attractive influences without motion; and what are we to make of them, as well as of the other forms which force assumes, when it ascends into the vegetable and animal kingdoms? There is one attraction of chemical affinity, another of electricity, and a third of magnetism; what kind of motion can account for the sympathy existing between objects under their influences at a distance from one another? And yet heat is capable of being converted into these very sympathies; will mere circular motion accomplish this ?

A

The solution of this difficulty is quite consistent with the dynamic theory of light and heat. The phenomena of light may be produced by vibratory motion, and the phenomena of heat by circular motion, and yet these motions may be produced by something else, which is not motion, else would these motions continue for ever. circular motion, subject to mere mechanical law, can never transfer its force to anything which does not come within the radius of its circle. If, therefore, we find that the force is transferred to some object that does not come within its radius, we must conclude that the motion is not subject to mere mechanical law, and that there is something behind, or within, of which it is merely the effect. It is quite possible, therefore, that sound, and light, and heat, are merely varieties in the mode of action of one of the forms which force assumes (viz., momentum); but momentum is something more than motion, because it can be converted into electricity and other forms which are not motion.

It is of importance to institute a close examination