date of the prophecy to the destruction of the temple, whether the prediction can be applied to any ruler of Israel, under any dynasty of its own, or of its foreign sovereigns.

VI. The sixth Chapter relates the conduct of the holy Jesus from his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, till his submission to the Roman guard, to whom he was betrayed. I have generally avoided devotional remarks on the New Testament, because every commentator abounds with them; and because they obviously present themselves to the mind of every reader of this wonderful, and beautiful book. I have, however, sometimes deviated from my rule, and was more especially tempted to do so, when I contemplated the joyful entry of our atoning Saviour into his once "holy city." The cleansing of the temple, the miraculous withering of the fig tree, and the voice from heaven, when the Greeks of the dispersion asked to see him, were sufficient to attest his divine power; but they were not miracles sufficiently splendid to attract universal notice, and to excite the jealousy of the Pharisees. As the time of his betrayal was come, he did not hesitate to reprove, with more boldness than he had hitherto shewn, all the sects among his countrymen. He commanded the Herodians to render to Cæsar the things that be Cæsar's, and to God the things that were God's. To the Sadducees he explained, from the books of Moses, the doctrine of the Resurrection. The inconsistency of the apparently austere, but, in reality, immoral Pharisee, is reprobated with unsparing and indignant severity. The prophetic parables, the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem, and the allusions to the great event of which it was typical-his institution of the Eucharist, to be received by us all till he shall again come to judge the living and the dead-his exhortations to his disciples, his promises of his Holy Spirit, his meekness, his gentleness, and his love, present the perfect portrait, which the simple pen of inspiration alone can adequately describe. The view, which I have submitted to the reader, of the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, ap

pears to be justified by the various circumstances which prove our Lord to be the second Adam. Our faculties must be enlarged in another state of existence, before we can comprehend the mysteries of Revelation. "One little part alone we dimly scan," that our faith may be strengthened with an earnest of the future great discoveries of God and his government, which shall await us in eternity.

VII. From the apprehension of Christ to the crucifixion. The Lamb of God is sacrificed-the atonement is accepted -and man is pardoned! All unite to reject our Lord. His disciples deserted him-the most zealous of their number denied him-the high-priest insulted him-the servants mocked him the soldiers spat in his face, and ridiculed his pretensions-the Sanhedrim condemned him. Though his betrayer declared the innocence of his victimthough Pilate acquitted him—though his accusers agreed not together, yet the heads of opposing factions unite to destroy him. The power of Rome, the religious hatred of an apostate Church, the changeable populace, who perhaps imagined their clamours were the voice of God, all combined to fulfil the prophecies, and murder the willing Sacrifice, which was about to intercede for them all. Our Lord never forgot his divinity in the midst of these scenes. When he was dying as a man, he forgave sins as a God. He refused to deliver his assumed body from the cross, but he declared his power as Lord of the invisible world. I have fully expressed my opinion on this point in the twenty-fifth note to the present Chapter. I believe the death of Christ to be a mysterious atonement for the sins of man. I have no hope of everlasting happiness, but from my faith in this mysterious atonement. I believe this doctrine to be the one peculiar, fundamental, and characteristic truth of Revelation. I humbly prostrate my reason to the God who has given Revelation to guide us, as the best proof of my most rational homage to the Deity: and I pray that the consolation which I derive from this faith in the atonement of our only Lord and Saviour, may never be shaken by the presumptuous

conclusions, and the shallow speculations, of the philosophy

which rejects Revelation.

I have

VIII. From the resurrection to the ascension. already mentioned the authorities upon which I have divided this chapter. The reflections upon our Lord's ascension, in the forty-third note to this Chapter, are such as every Christian will adopt, who believes in the immortality revealed in Scripture.

IX. Before the Gospel was offered to the Gentiles, the Apostles made their appeal exclusively to their own brethren. Our Lord had told the Jews, that their rejection of his ministry should be forgiven them; but their refusal to be convinced by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, should neither be forgiven in this, nor in the future world. The present chapter gives an account of the preaching of the Apostles from the ascension, to the time for the calling in of the Gentiles, and the miraculous conversion of St. Paul to Christianity for that purpose.

The first section of this most interesting chapter, presents us with a view of the return to Jerusalem of the timid disciples of Christ, and their meeting for devotional purposes in one of the Hyperoa, or upper rooms, in which the Jews were accustomed to celebrate their passovers; totally unconscious of their lofty destiny, as the moral and religious renovators of mankind. I have taken the opportunity in beginning the second volume with this chapter, to request the reader to compare the claims of Christianity to the homage of a rational and immortal being, with the pretensions of any of the absurd speculations which have insulted the reason, and debased the morals, of society. It will be perceived that I have not availed myself of any part of Mr. Faber's work on the same subject. The note was written before his book was submitted to the public.

The election of Matthias, related in the second section, has been generally considered an argument for the popular election of the Clergy. We live under this curse, that what

ever form of regimen we adopt, whether in Church or State, thorns and thistles must be produced. Our own wisdom and prudence may increase or diminish their number: but some evil will be found, and we try in vain to escape from it. To avoid one class of real or supposed grievances in the appointment of the Clergy, without appeal to the congregation; other, and sometimes greater evils have been preferred, by popular elections. By these, the errors of the people are perpetuated, where the opinions of the congregation are erroneous. The teacher is compelled to preach the sentiments of his hearers; and to learn implicitly, where he ought to instruct freely. As no dominion is more cruel, arbitrary, capricious, and unjust, than the dominion of large, and therefore irresponsible bodies; no slavery is so intolerable, as subserviency to their fluctuating opinions.

The prayer of the disciples, at the election of Matthias, may be considered as one proof of their acknowledgment of the divinity of our Lord.

We are brought, in the third section, to that wonderful event, by which the ignorant, timid, prejudiced disciples of our Lord, obtained, in one instant, by the especial Providence of God, advantages, accomplishments, knowledge, and every other requisite qualification for the noble office, which would have otherwise required the labour of many years. Endued with power from on high, they became at once prudent legislators, sober and learned judges, eloquent preachers, liberal without compromising truth, tolerant without religious indifference. Through the whole of the remainder of the New Testament, the Apostles appeal to the miraculous gifts of healing, of languages, of discerning of spirits. The contrast of their present and former conduct demonstrates the internal change which had taken place. Without these assistances, indeed, the religion which commanded the submission of the passions, for the sake of a crucified criminal, whom they asserted to have been a divine Being, could never have prevailed. The immediate effects of

this great event are related in the next sections, the accession of converts, and, what must now appear almost as wonderful, the union of Christians in this truly primitive Church. They were neither divided by absurd jealousy, by the pride of intellect, by adherence to some strange errors, to which their fathers pledged themselves, and which did not die away with the political events, or foolish controversies, in which they originated. They were neither influenced by the fear of offending, by a regard to self-interest, by attachment to opinions which they received without inquiry, and maintained without examination. Truth, confirmed by undeniable evidence, and demonstrated by irresistible argument, was the object they pursued, and obtained.

After the conversion of the cripple, the attention of the people of Jerusalem was so much excited, that the Sanhedrim ordered the Apostles to be summoned; and enquired, what new imposition was about to be practised on the Jewish nation. How unbounded must have been the rage and indignation of the Sanhedrim, who were in daily expectation of a powerful and temporal Messiah, a conqueror of the Romans, and an elevator of the Jewish nation to the height of political power; when the fishermen of Galilee stood before them, and affirmed, that the condemned and innocent victim from Nazareth was the true and long expected Messiah; and that the Sanhedrim had murdered their heaven-descended Sovereign! In the note to section eight, I have given the parallel between Christ and Moses, whose prediction St. Peter had applied to our Saviour. To what extent this parallel may have been explained, is uncertain. If the Sanhedrim heard of this application, they must have been more highly enraged. They imagined they had crucified the new religion, when they crucified its founder. They had but nurtured with blood the seed which should grow into the tree, which should refresh the world with its leaves, and the Church with its fruits, of life. Annas and Caiaphas, and the most learned Talmudists, the eminent, the honour