of the answer of Jesus Christ himself; Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans? Suppose ye that those eighteen were sinners above all that dwelt in Jerusalem? 1 tell you, nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Considering the text in this view, we shall learn to avert the judgments of God from falling on our own heads, by the way in which we shall consider his visitations on others. God grant it. Amen.

What was the occasion of Pilate's cruelty, and of the vengeance he inflicted on those Galileans? This is a question difficult to determine. The most enlightened commentators assure us, that they find no traces of it either in Jewish, or in Roman history. The wary Josephus, according to his custom on those subjects, is silent here; and, probably, on the same principle which induced him to make no mention of the murder of the infants committed by the cruel Herod,

Pilate you know in general. He was one of those men, whom God, in the profound secrets of his providence, suffers to attain the most distinguished rank, to execute his designs, when they have no view but to gratify their own passions. He was a man, in whom much cruelty, joined to extreme avarice, rendered proper to be a rod in God's hand; and who, following the passions which actuated his mind, sometimes persecuting the Jews to please the heathens; and sometimes the Christians to please the Jews, sacrificed the finisher of our faith, and thus after troubling the synagogue, he became the tyrant of both the

churches.

Perhaps, the vengeance he executed on the Galileans was not wholly without a cause.

Here is what some have conjectured upon this narrative. Gaulon* was a town of Galilee; here a certain Judas was born, who on that account was surnamed the Gaulonite, of whom we have an account in the fifth chapter of the book of the Acts. This man was naturally inclined to sedition. He communicated the spirit of revolt to his family, from his family to the city, from the city to the province, and from the province to all Judea. He had the art of catching the Jews by their passions, I would say, by their love of liberty. He excited them to assert their rights, to maintain their privileges, to throw off the yoke the Romans wished to impose, and to withhold the tribute. He succeeded in his designs; the Jews revered him as a patriot. But to remedy an inconsiderable evil, he involved them in a thousand disgraces. It has been conjectured that those whose blood was mingled with their sacrifices, were some of the seditious who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and of whom Pilate wished to make an example to intimidate others.

What we said of Pilate's cruelty, suggested by the subject, is wholly uncertain; we say the same of the tragic accident immediately subjoined in our text; I would say, the tower of Siloam, which crushed eighteen people under its ruins. We know in general, that there was a fountain in Jerusalem called Siloam, mentioned in the ninth chapter of St. John, and in the eighth chapter of Isaiah. We know that this

* Joseph, Antiq. lib. 18. c. 1.

+ Theudas, verse 36.

fountain was at the foot of mount Zion, as many historians have asserted. We know that it had five porches, as the gospel expressly affirms. We know several particulars of this fountain, that it was completely dried up before the arrival of the Emperor Titus; and that it flowed not again till the commencement of the seige of Jerusalem: so we are assured by Josephus.* We know likewise, that the Empress Helena embellished it with various works, described by Nicephorus. We know likewise various superstitions to which it has given birth; in particular, what is said by Geoffroy de Viterbus, that there was near it another fountain called the Holy Virgin, because, they say, this blessed woman drew water from it to wash the linen of Jesus Christ, and of her family. We are told also that the Turks have so great a veneration for it as to wash their children in the same water, and to perform around it various rituals of superstition. But what this tower was, and what the cause of its fall was, we cannot discover, nor is it a matter of any importance.

Let us make no more vain efforts to illustrate a subject, which would be of little advantage, though we could place it in the fullest lustre. Let us turn the whole of our attention to what is of real utility. We have proposed, conformably to the text, to inquire, first, into the erroneous light in which men view the judgments God inflicts on their own species; and, secondly, the real light in which they ought to be considered. Here is in substance the subject of

* Wars of the Jews, lib. v. cap. 26. + Eccles. Hist. lib. viii. cap. 20. See Jesuit Eusebius Nieremberg de Lerrapromis, cap. 48.

our discourse. Mankind regard the judgments God inflicts on their own species, 1. With a spirit of indifference; but Jesus Christ would thereby excite in them a disposition of thought and reflection. 2. They regard them with a spirit of blindness; but Jesus Christ would excite in them a spirit of instruction and knowledge. 3. They regard them with a spirit of rigour to others, and preference of themselves; but Jesus Christ would excite in them a compassionate and humble temper. 4. They regard with an obdurate spirit; but Jesus Christ would excite in them a spirit of reformation and repentance. These are terms, to which we must attach distinct ideas, and salutary instructions. If we shall sometimes recede from the words of Jesus Christ, it shall be to approximate ourselves more to the situation in which Providence has now placed us. And if we shall sometimes recede from the circumstances in which Providence has now placed us, it shall be to approach the nearer to the views of Jesus Christ.

The first characteristic of the erroneous disposition with which we regard the judgments God inflicts on other men, is stupor and inattention. I do not absolutely affirm, that they are not at all affected by the strokes of Providence. The apathy of the human mind cannot extend quite so far. How was it that this unheard of cruelty, could scarce impress the mind of those who were present? Here are men who came up to Jerusalem, who came to celebrate the feast with joy, who designed to offer their victims to God; but behold, they themselves become the victims of a tyrant's fury, who mixed their blood with that of the

beasts they had just offered! Here are eighteen men employed in raising a tower, or perhaps accidentally standing near it; and behold, they are crushed to pieces by its fall! Just so, wars, pestilence, and famine, when we are not immediately, or but lightly involved in the calamity, make indeed a slight, though very superficial impression on the mind. We find, at most, in these events, but a temporary subject of conversation; we recite them with the news of the day, There were present at that season, some who told him of the Galileans; but we extend our inquiries no farther, and never endeavour to trace the designs of Providence. There are men who feel no interest but in what immediately affects them, provided their property sustain no loss by the calamity of others; provided their happiness flow in its usual course; provided their pleasures are not interrupted, though the greatest calamities be abroad in the earth, and though God inflict before our eyes the severest strokes, to them, it is of no moment. Hence the first mark of the misguided disposition with which men regard the judgments of the Lord on others, is stupor and inat

tention.

But how despicable is this disposition! Do men live solely for themselves? Are they capable of being employed about nothing but their own interests? Are they unable to turn their views to the various bearings under which the judgments of God may be considered? Every thing claims attention in these messengers of the divine vengeance. The philosopher finds here a subject of the deepest speculation. What are those impenetrable springs, moved of God,