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to their belief in the manner they did. If the Scriptures had net then been a sealed book to them, they would have been wiser.
How does Eber read therein, said Havilah, that he speaks with such certainty of the mistakes of his brethren in the faith?
The Christians of whom I speak, answered Eber, are not those of the present time, when each one may read the Scriptures for himself. I speak of those in past ages, who received the Gospel only from the lips of their priests, and who were therefore subject to do whatever the ambition of such men might command, whether it was to build splended temples to God, or palaces for the priests, or to spend their riches for the glory of the church, or their blood for the defence of their superstitions. The truth of God can never be aided by deeds like these. It cannot be made more safe by the defence of armor, or more triumphant by the sword, or more glorious by the sacrifice of a million of lives. This is perceived by all who understand the Gospel for themselves, and therefore is there now no war for the Christian faith.
Tell me, said Havilah, wherein the Scriptures of the Christians are so unlike the Scrip-
