be mortified by these things, let us bless the Saviour that his condescension and love have been able 'to do exceeding abundantly above all we could ask or think.' Those who are truly wise discern a glory in humility, and discover what is admirably adapted to answer the most valuable moral purposes, when Jesus, who by his union to Deity, is the most exalted of creatures, puts honour on that grace that so well becomes the loftiest subject-willingness to stoop to any thing that may glorify God.

"Has he bowed down to hold out to us a helping hand, taking, not the nature of Then angels, but the seed of Abraham ? we will stretch out to him the hand that lays hold of the hope set before us. His union to us by the incarnation should bring us into contact with him by faith, and by the residence in us of that same spirit that dwelt in him. For as we are bound to adore the Holy Spirit for the part he took in our redemption, by forming the body of the Saviour, which was the temple of the Deity, in which dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and which was offered up a sacrifice for us; so we are encouraged by this to seek and expect the operation of the same spirit, to apply that redemption to our souls, that Christ may dwell in our hearts, the hope of glory.'

"We must not turn from the manger in Bethlehem without reflecting how many prophecies there meet their fulfilment, and in how strange and surprising ways. That Jesus should descend from David and a long line of kings, and yet that he should be poor and despised of men, the royal race is at once preserved and depressed--a tree cut down to the ground, a mere stump, but still retaining life and vigour, to send forth a branch that shall form the sceptre of universal empire. In order that Messiah should be born in the city of David, an ambitious monarch sets his unwieldy empire in motion, from the Baltic to the Atlantic, and from Britain or Gaul to the extremity of Egypt. Such is the commencement of a series of accomplishments of prophecies, which we shall see growing upon us, as we advance upon the track of the Redeemer, till they will form a mass of evidence that should vanquish doubt, and put infidelity to shame."--pp. 49--51.

The same useful current of observation is maintained through the whole of this volume, sometimes rising into a higher strain of impassioned address, and sometimes varying the manner by explanatory remarks, and elucidating the text by various information. From the seventh lecture on the Tempta

tion of Christ, we select the following specimen of his manner of treating this profound subject.

"The third temptation still remains to be considered. The pride of life is the last class of sins which John mentions, and this closing temptation of our Lord was to pride or ambition For this, the enemy taketh Jesus to an exceedingly high mountain. In vain we inquire what mountain for no one on the face of the earth could literally present to view all the kingdoms of the world. It was probably on one of the summits of Horeb that the enemy pointed and said, There, on the east and south, is Persia, with her splendid metropolis; south-west is Egypt, the empire of the Ptolemies; on the north is Parthia, the rival of Rome; and to the west Rome herself, the imperial city, mistress of a world. Now all these shall be thine, if thou will first do homage to me as the giver; for they are all mine, and to whomsoever I will I give them.' It may be supposed that the form of the traveller was now dropped, and exchanged for that of some splendid intelligencer, who, pretending to admire Christ's victory over the former tempter, and to be himself a very different being, would reward the Saviour, by giving up to him an universal empire, on the easy terms of owning that he received it from the hands of this glorious being, that now appeared before him, whom he was therefore to bow down

and adore.

"This last was the master-stroke; for never are we in greater danger than when we are tempted for our virtue, and, under pretence of rewarding us for our victory, the triumph is attempted to be wrenched from our hands. But what horrid blasphemous insolence, to ask the Son of God to worship the devil! who, a vagabond spirit, pretends to have the world at his command, to rule for himself, or give to his minions! But gladly would Satan have quitted all the earthly dominion he possessed, could he but have turned Christ aside from setting up the kingdom of heaven upon earth,

"The resistance of Christ is now roused to the utmost pitch of holy indignation. His meekness had before allowed the enemy to go on; but his holiness at last says, this is too much to be suffered to proceed. Plucking the mask from the foe, who had assumed his fairest form to do his foulest deed, Jesus flung it away, and left the naked wretch all the devil convict. Get thee hence, behind me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' This again is an appeal to what is written, and should be looked out in Deut. vi. 13. It is a command to all

man, to worship the Lord his God, and him only. The Saviour takes no notice of the offer of kingdoms, or worlds, teaching us not to parley with temptation, or weigh offers against God and duty. For he that does this is lost. We learn here, that we should not, for a moment, seem to admit, that if kingdoms or worlds could be given us, we would for them depart from the sole worship of the Lord our God."--pp. 142--144.

The succeeding scenes of the Saviour's life are treated with equal ability, , and every lecture is replete with useful observation, and with sound and just interpretation. It is not necessary that we should examine minutely the comparative merit of the lectures. They are all useful and judicious, and it is almost a matter of indifference from what lecture we take our extracts.

The author's manner is uniformly sober and scriptural, and it is impossible to open at any part, without finding the evangelical strain of the original biographer of Christ ably elucidated and expounded. From the lecture on the Conversion of the Thief upon the Cross, the Death of Christ, and the Resurrection, we shall now present an extract. Upon these grand subjects, the author's ability as an expositor and divine will be abundantly manifest.

CONVERSION OF THE THIEF.

"The riches of divine grace are displayed in the Saviour's answer. Verily I say unto thee, this day shalt thou be with me in paradise.'

"Instant acceptance is granted to the robber's prayer. He that was deaf and dumb to his revilers, who had no ear to regard their blasphemies, and no tongue to return their curses, is all ear and all tongue to hear a dying sinner's prayer, and give the answer of peace. All that this man saw in Christ he felt conscious of himself, authority over the invisible eternal state into which he was going to be owned and adored king; dominion over the souls of men, living or dying on earth, and power to change the state of the condemned sinner, by turning towards him one gracious thought.

"Answering this prayer as soon as it was uttered, the Saviour gave the dying man an assurance of paradise. Thou shalt be with me in paradise.' This name is generally given to the garden of Eden, in

which our first parents were placed in innocence, though the scriptures never give this appellation to the happy abode. The three times in which this word is found in the Old Testament lead us to think either of a pleasure-ground in general, or of the park of the king of Persia, in whose language this word is most used. The apostle, however, applies the appellation to the abode of blessed souls, when he speaks of being caught up into paradise; and when the Jews wished any one the bliss of heaven, they said let his soul be in the garden of Eden.' Christ, knowing this common phrase, and intending to be understood by this man, employed this word to convey to his him a promise of the immediate felicity of his departing spirit. This view of the place of the blessed was peculiarly soothing to a man in the agonies of the cross, which he was taught to expect would be exchanged for the bowers of Eden, when, from all the mental and physical anguish which sin had produced, he should be translated to the peaceful abode of spotless

innocence. The Second Adam promises paradise which, through the first Adam,

to his seed that he shall be restored to the

we had lost.

"Yet to one who had so lately seen the Saviour's glory paradise would, without Jesus, be a hell. What, just open my and then be snatched from the beatific eyes to see who was bleeding by my side, vision! What is paradise? Wherever Jesus is.' To meet this affection, the Saviour says, Thou shalt be with me in paradise.' "O glorious hope! To be in such a place with such company! And to be assured of this! To know it in a dying hour! To hear it from the lips of Jesus, that shall pronounce our eternal doom! Such was the favour granted freely, by grace without works, to him that believed in Christ for righteousness. For, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.'

"Immediate possession is granted this man, by the riches of divine grace. For Christ, though apparently under the power of death, and with his hands nailed to the cross, shews his conscious dominion over death, by turning its keys to give a departing soul dismission, through the gates of death, into the happy part of hades, or the unseen world. To bind or loose souls dwelling in flesh, to open or shut the dread gates of death, to fix the time for departure, and determine the abode into which the soul shall be gathered, are acts of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, but Jesus exercises them in his lowest state of humiliation, when himself crucified in weakness.

"But those who hold what is termed the soul-sleeping system endeavour to es

cape the hostile force of this passage, by altering the stops, which certainly are not of divine authority, and representing Christ to say, I tell thee, to-day, that thou shalt be with me in paradise,' i. e. hundreds or thousands of years hence, when the dead shall rise. This is scarcely worthy of a refutation. The oldest version, the Syriac, renders the passage in a way that shews it was understood according to the ordinary punctuation, I say to thee, that to-day thou shalt be with me;' and one of the Greek manuscripts has a reading which expresses the same sense. But it will be more conclusive with many, that the word paradise is not applied to the consummate state of bliss, after the resurrection of the body, but to the intermediate felicity of the soul. To most also there will be still more conviction in the remark, that our Lord could not mean gravely to inform this man of what he knew without any information, that the Saviour was speaking to him that day; while, on the ordinary view of the Saviour's words, they express an important answer to the mercy requested. The robber had prayed for a certain favour, to be granted at a certain time; that Christ would remember him, when Christ was come into his kingdom; and the Saviour answers both parts of the request by assuring the suppliant that he should be with Christ that very day; in paradise, his kingdom. Indeed, this subterfuge concerning the stops has been abandoned by one who still denies the separate state of the soul, and who says, our Lord intended to promise the dying robber a quiet repose in the dust, along with Jesus and departed saints. But this was language which could not have been understood, by him to whom it was addressed, to convey any such meaning. No evidence has been adduced to prove that to be a mere dead body without sense or consciousness, even though destined to a happy resurrection, was ever called by the Jews paradise; while we know, not only from the usage of the Jews, but by the testimony of the scriptures, that they who are in paradise are supposed to hear unutterable words,' and eat of the tree of life.'" -pp. 428-431.

THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

"Mark, then, with deep and devout attention, the Saviour's dying words and dying acts.

1. Christ's dying words. "The last words of a creature departing into eternity are often supposed to be fraught with the mysterious importance of that world into which he is entering. But, as all Christ's words have the weight and value of eternity in them, with what intense interest should we listen to those with which he breathes out his soul, that is now making an offering for sin. Those

"This is the language of a beloved son. The hour of death wakes up all the tender charities of life. Then you see, in perfection, all the parent or child, or the busband or wife; all the brother or friend. Here, on the cross, in the article of death, you behold all the glory of the Son of God. On his entrance into this life, on his coming forth into public, on his transfiguration on the mount, the Father hailed him Son of God, most beloved; and now that he is dying, apparently afflicted and deserted of God, Jesus hails the Father, in whom his soul confided. This soul, the one precious thing that remained to him, after he bad been stripped of all, he commits into his beloved Father's hands.

"It is the language of the great atoning victim. The prophet who, long before Christ was born into the world, shewed him dying, said, When his soul shall make an offering for sin, he shall see his seed; and by the knowledge of him justify many, because he hath poured out his soul unto death and borne the sin of many.' The doctrine taught by the ceremonial lawwas, that the blood of the sacrifices contained their life, was the soul of the beast, and, therefore, was to be poured out at the foot of the altar; for it was given to make an atonement for the offerer's soul. Here, then, the Lamb of God pours out his soul in death, to make atonement for our souls.

"The language of an obedient servant is uttered by Christ in this solemn moment. Obedience unto death is the utmost pitch to which we can go; for all that a man hath will he give for his life.' Christ had already given up all his time and labour, and made it his meat and drink to do his Father's will. At last, he gave up his liberty, and allowed himself to be put in fetters-his limbs, and suffered them to be racked and tortured. His soul, his life, is all that now remains, and this he lays at his Father's feet.

"But, as a mighty conqueror too, Jesus cries aloud.' That he was able to cry with such force, and to utter distinctly these words, which the psalmist had long before told the church should be the Messiah's dying cry, proves that he died not from mere exhaustion, as was usual with those who expired on the cross. This, indeed, might have been expected, from all that he had suffered before, through the night of Gethsemane, and a day of torture. But far from losing his voice, as the dying usually do, so that he who attends the death-bed should be able to hear whispers, Jesus cries aloud, as if challenging death, or bidding him approach

He

"It is remarkable that though there are sufficient evidences, there are no eyewitnesses of Christ's resurrection. died in open day, in the sight of all the world; but he rose in the dark, hidden from the eye of all mortals. We should have reversed the order, concealed the ignominy of his death from the eye of scorn, and paraded his resurrection with proud exultation.

"We may, therefore, be assured, that

the narrative of his resurrection is not a mere human invention. It is not thus that men invent. Here, however, the wisdom of God outshines all human devices. The death of Jesus being placed out of the reach of doubt, it was not necessary for any one to see him rise. When he was seen alive, it was certain that he must have risen.

"Nor should we fail to reflect that this

reserve and concealment suited the new state of being into which our Lord was then entering. He is now in a state of glory, which is hidden from human gaze, to be penetrated only by the eye of faith.

"But it must not be concealed that the narrative of the resurrection has a remark

able appearance of confusion, and almost of contradiction, in many of the particulars, though there is also a striking similarity in the story of all the four evangelists. This again, though at first sight staggering, is, on a deeper insight, confirmatory to our faith. It is exactly what we ought to have expected. Let a person mark the manner in which several distinct and independent witnesses relate any extraordinary fact, and he will find just such minute variations, combined with a general coincidence." pp. 516, 517.

"7. The report of the guards forms the next proof of the resurrection.

"Matthew says, 'Now, when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into the city, and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye his disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took the money, and did as they were taught; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.'

"Though Matthew wrote his gospel, about eight years after the event, when the nation was yet existing, and many of the

NEW SERIES, No. 7.

parties interested in the affair were living, no contradiction of his statement ever ap peared.

"The frightened soldiers, most proba bly, ran in different directions. If some of them went away to the guard house, or the barracks, and told their companions in arms what strange events had occurred, others went to the chief priests, knowing that it was at their instigation that the guard was placed over the tomb. Hearing from the lips of their own guards what should have brought them to repentance, the priests seem to have said, "We have committed ourselves now, and cannot retreat. What then do they? Forge a lie. From the treasury of the temple they take large sums of money to bribe the soldiers

to tell the lie. Judas had sold Christ for a little. But the soldiers were either unwilling to tell a tale that exposed their military character to danger, or pretended to be unwilling, in order to get more money. As to the governor,' said the priests, if he should hear of this, we will persuade him that you have done your duty, so that no harm shall come to you.'

monly reported among the Jews, until this Matthew says, this story is comday.' Justin Martyr, in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, says, You are the authors of the prejudice against us; for after that you had crucified that only spotless and just one, and he had risen from the dead, and ascended up to heaven, as the prophets foretold, you not only did not repent of the evils you had committed, but you sent men from Jerusalem into all the earth, to say those things against us which ignorant persons repeat.'

"That such a story as this which Matthew mentions could ever have been told may excite surprize, for it carries with it inform us what was done while they were its own confutation. The soldiers gravely asleep. If they were asleep, they had forfeited their lives, according to the Roman law; so that nothing but collusion with people in power could induce them to own it. If they were asleep, they could tell no more than we, what happened at that time. But if, as we have a right to presume, Roman soldiers set to watch on a grand national business, were not asleep, then why did they not preserve the body? for they were set there to prevent its being taken away. They did not secure the body, and therefore we must conclude they could not.

"The evangelists, however, assign the only credible reason for this: the supernatural events, the earthquake, and the angel, against which Roman troops had no power. Whichever way you consider the resurrection, you are compelled to admit its truth. But to him who has conversed with the Jews, on their reasons for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, it will not

3 C

appear surprising that even such a story as this which the soldiers told should be commonly reported among the Jews unto this day.'"-pp. 526-528.

Upon the whole we must say, the portion of the sacred books which Mr. Bennett has selected, is at once the most sublime and the most interesting he could have chosen; and though it is also the most simple of the whole volume, yet it requires the greatest portion of talent, learning, piety, and we might even add genius, to do it full justice. The infidel Rousseau has said, with a certain degree of truth, of the Gospel, "This divine book, the only one necessary for a Christian, and the most useful of all to every one, even though not a Christian, needs only to be considered, to fill the soul with a love for its Author, and a desire of fulfilling its precepts." It is true, in one sense, the Gospel contains the doctrine, the precept, and the practice, and if this were more intimately studied, the beauty of Christianity would be more powerfully and generally felt. We trust Mr. B.'s work will tend in some degree to this important end, and then we are assured he will feel, that he has attained the richest reward of the labour which these lectures must have required. The style is generally plain and unambitious; sometimes it is defective and wanting in ease, and occasionally we have observed both sentences and observations not in good taste. Upon the whole, we should say the diction is frequently too familiar and colloquial, or even rugged and void of grace; and there is too much common place uniformity through the whole. The first sentence in the first lecture is, perhaps, the most unfavourable specimen in the three volumes. It is neither correct, chaste, nor clear. Nor is it a solitary instance of carelessness and haste. We could have wished, for the sake of the usefulness of the work, and the permanent repu

tation of the author, that more time and labour had been bestowed upon the work. It was an undertaking worthy of Mr. B.'s extensive acquirements and utmost vigour. The freedom we exercise in these remarks will, we hope, be taken as intended. Where so much excellence is to be seen, we cannot but regret that any defects should obscure its lustre; and we are always anxious to see the classical and literary reputation of our leading divines and authors well sustained. The deficiencies we have noted will not, we trust, be viewed as lessening the substantial merit of the performance.

The reference above made to Rousseau reminds us that his testimony to the Life and History of Jesus may not be generally known among our readers, and as it cannot fail to be interesting, since it is the testimony of an unbeliever, we shall append it to this article.

"Can a book, at once so sublime and wise, be the work of man? Can the person, whose history it relates, be himself a man? Does it contain the language of an enthusiast or ambitious sectary ? What sweetness, what purity, in his

manners! What affecting goodness in his instructions! What sublimity in his maxims! What profound wisdom in his discourses! What presence of mind, what ingenuity and justness in his replies! What government of his passions! Where is the man, or philosopher, who knows how to act, suffer, and die, without weakness or ostentation? When Plato describes his imaginary good man, overwhelmed with all the ignominy of guilt, and worthy of every reward of virtue, he paints, feature for feature, Jesus Christ. The resemblance is so striking, that all the fathers have taken notice of it; and that it is not possible to be deceived therein. How prejudiced, how blind must we be, to dare compare the son of Sophronisca