Transcribed from the 1860 Joseph Masters edition by DavidPrice. Many thanks to the British Library for making theircopy available.
A TRACT FOR THE TIMES.
BYTHE
REV. JAMES SKINNER, M.A.
LONDON:
JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATESTREET,
AND NEW BOND STREET.
MDCCCLX.
p. 2LONDON:
PRINTED BY JOSEPH MASTERS ANDCO.,
ALDERSGATE STREET.
I desire to say what follows, inall earnestness, to my fellow-countrymen who have been, throughGod’s goodness, baptized intothe Church of England. I shall be thankful, also, if otherswill patiently consider what is here set down.
There can be no question that, in old times, God was pleased to set up a visible token,whereby the world might be convinced of His power and love. And this token was also a witness to God’s Truth. No one doubts thatthe Jewish Church and nation were the witnesses of God; and that they were His witnesses by Hisown express appointment. It is equally allowed, on allhands, that the Jewish Church and nation failed in theirwitness. They p.4failed—not because the need of witnessing had beentaken away; or their authority to witness had beenloosened. But they failed, because, having the power ofchoice free—to stand by God orto desert Him, they chose to desert Him. They failed,because they chose to blind themselves to the need ofwitnessing. They failed, because they chose to set atnought that authority to witness with which they had beenclothed. God’s law ofalways having His witness did not fail. The very failure ofthe Jewish Church and nation, in the place of witness, wasa witness. The Jewish Church and nation could desert itsplace of witness. It could prefer its own will to God’s will. It could prefer thewill of the people to the will of God. It could prefer the kingdom ofthis world to the kingdom of Heaven. And it didprefer its own will, and the will of the people, and the kingdomof this world.
Look at the prophecy of Hosea, and what is there said of allIsrael in the name of Ephraim. Read the seventhchapter. The Prophet is reproving the sins of the princes,and the great men of Israel. “All their kings arefallen.” The flame of civil discord has spread, anddried p. 5up thesources of legitimate authority among them. An anarchy ofeleven years, after the death of Jeroboam II., has terminated inthe assassination of Zachariah and his successors Shallum andPekahiah. “And yet there is none among them thatcalleth unto Me,” saith the Lord.
And then, he denounces judgment against the people in themass, for their hypocrisy and unfaithfulness. Whereas, byGod’s institution, they were apeculiar people,—witnesses for God, and separat