dye; for inftances have not long fince occurred, in which the guilt of the parties too nearly refembled that of Herod, combining the two atrocious crimes of adultery and inceft! Surely fuch enormities as these are enough to make us tremble, and loudly call for the interpofition of the legiflature, left they bring down upon us the just vengeance of an offended God. "Shall I not vifit for these things, faith the Lord! Shall not my foul be avenged on such a nation as this?"

Another reflection arifing from this fhort hiftory of Herod and John the Baptift is this; that although, in the ordinary courfe of divine adminiftration, the punishment of the wicked does not always overtake them here, but is reserved for the laft awful day of account; yet it fometimes happens (as I obferved in my laft Lecture) that their crimes draw after them their just recompence, even in the prefent life. This was eminently the cafe of the flagitious Herod; for befides thofe terrors of confcience, which, as we have feen, perpetually haunted him, which raised up before him terrific forms and agonizing apprehenfions, and reprefented John the Baptift as rifen from the dead to avenge his crimes; we are informed by the hiftorian that his marriage with Herodias drew upon him the refentment of Aretas, king of Arabia Petræa, the father of his first wife, who declared war against him, and, in an engagement with Herod's army, defeated it with great flaughter. This, fays the hiftorian, the Jews confidered as a juft judgment of God upon Herod for his murder of John the Baptiftt. And not long after this, both he and Herodias were deprived of their kingdom by the Roman emperor, and fent into perpetual banishment. And it is added by another hiftoriant, that their daughter Salome met with a violent and untimely death. Inftances like this are intended to fhew, that the Governor of the univerfe, though he has appointed a diftant period for the general diftribution of his rewards and punishments, yet, in extraordinary cafes, he will fometime interpose to chaftife the bold offender, to affert his fuperintending provi

dence and fupreme dominion over all his creatures, and to give them the moft awful proofs that, from his all-fearching eye, no wickedness can be concealed.

The remaining part of this chapter is occupied with the recital of two miracles, on which I have only to observe, that they have both of them a fpiritual as well as a literal meaning, are both of a very extraordinary nature, as calcu lated to make, as they did, a moft powerful impreffion on the minds of the fpectators; thefe were, the feeding above five thousand perfons with five loaves and two fishes, and our Saviour's walking on the fea. The firft of these had a reference to that fpiritual food, that celeftial manna, that bread of life, which our Lord was then difpenfing in fuch abundance to thofe that hungered and thirfted after righteoufnefs. The other was meant to encourage the great principle of faith; of truft and reliance upon God, in oppofition to that felf-confidence, that high opinion of our own ftrength, which we are too apt to entertain, and to which St. Peter, above all the other apoftles, was peculiarly liable. When therefore, in confequence of his own requeft, he was permitted to go to Jefus on the water, and forgetting immediately who was his guide and fupport, began to be afraid and to fink, and called out to his divine mafter to fave him, our Lord graciously ftretched forth his hand and caught him, and faid unto him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didft thou doubt?" A reproof well calculated to convince him that it was not in proportion to his own natural ftrength, but according to the degree of his faith, that he must rise or sink. And what he fays to Peter, he fays to all who waver in their belief: "O ye of little faith why do ye doubt?"

But there is another circumstance belonging to these miracles, which is of great importance; they are very extraordinary and aftonishing inftances of our Lord's power over nature, and of fuch a kind as to admit of no poffibility of being counterfeited. And accordingly we find that although fome cheats have pretended to cure difeafes miraculously, and fome have even attempted to raise the dead, yet no impoftor I believe has ever yet been fo bold as to undertake to feed five thousand people at once with five loaves and two fifhes, or to walk upon the fea. And

the reafon is plain. It would not be very eafy to perfuade five thousand people that they had been plentifully fed, when in fact they had received no nourishment at all; and it would be rather too dangerous an experiment for any man, not really supported by the hand of God, to attempt walking on the fea, when he cannot but know that the lofs of life must be the inevitable confequence of it. Indeed this act has always been confidered as utterly beyond all human power to atchieve; accordingly two feet walking upon water was an Egyptian hieroglyphic to denote impoffibility. And Job reprefents the power of treading on the waves of the fea as a distinguishing mark and attribute of the Deity. Yet this did Jefus do; this impoffibility did he . accomplish a most inconteftible proof that God was with him. And in fact, this miracle feems to have made a ftronger impreffion on the minds of his difciples that any other recorded in the gofpels, even than that of railing the dead; for we are told in St. Markt, that when our Lord went up into the fhip from walking on the fea, the difciples were fore amazed in themfelves beyond meafure, and wondered. The words in the original are ftill ftronger; indeed fo ftrong, that it is impoffible for the English language to exprefs all their force. In comparison of this miracle, even that of the loaves and the fishes seems to have appeared nothing in the eyes of the difciples; for St. Mark tells us, that they confidered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened; but at the act of walking on the fea they were amazed beyond meafure; they were overwhelmed and overcome with this aftonishing difplay of divine power; they fell inftantly at the feet of Jefus, and worshipped him; and exclaimed, as every one who confiders this ftupendous miracle muft do, "Of a truth thou art the SON OF GOD!"

MATTHEW xvii..

SHALL now requcft your attention to a very remarkable part of our Saviour's hiftory, that which is called by the evangelift his TRANSFIGURATION, and which is related in the feventeenth chapter of St. Matthew. It fo happens, that many years ago I turned my thoughts very much to this particular fubject in the facred writings, and ventured (though without my name) to lay my fentiments concerning it before the public. I could have wifhed therefore to have excufed myfelf from repeating here any part of what I have faid elsewhere, and to have paffed over this incident unnoticed. But when I confidered that this tranfaction is of a very peculiar and extraordinary nature; that there are circumstances attending it which cannot fail to excite the curiofity of an inquifitive mind; that there are difficulties in it which stand in need of a folution, and conclufions to be drawn from it of confiderable utility and importance; when I confidered further, that much the greatest part of this audience had probably never feen or even heard of what I had formerly written on this fubject; I determined not to omit fo material a part of the task I am engaged in, but to give you what I conceive to be a true explanation of this interefting event. And I now feel the lefs difficulty in doing this, becaufe, upon a careful review of that interpretation, after an interval of twelve years, I am ftill convinced of its truth, and have had the additional fatisfaction of finding it confirmed by the authority of fome learned and judicious commentators, whofe opinions on one or two leading principles coincide with my own; but whofe obfervations I had not feen (having confulted but very few expofitors on the fubject) when my effay went to the press.

The relation of this fingular tranfaction is given us by three out of four evangelifts, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and alluded to in the writings of the fourth. They all agree in the main points. There is no material variation, and not the least contradiction between them. But, as is very natural, where different perfons relate the fame fact (and as indeed must generally happen where the story is not concerted among them) a few particulars are taken notice of by fome which are paffed over in filence by others. St. Matthew's account of it is as follows:

"And after fix days Jefus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did fhine as the fun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold there appeared unto them Mofes and Elias talking with him. Then anfwered Peter, and faid unto Jefus, Lord, it is good for us to be here; if thou wilt, let us make three tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Mofes, and one for Elias. While he yet fpake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold a voice out of the cloud, which faid, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the difciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were fore afraid. And Jefus came and touched them, and faid, Arife, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they faw no man fave Jefus only. And as they came down from the mount, Jefus charged them, saying, tell the vifion to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

"And his difciples afked him, faying, Why then fay the fcribes, that Elias must first come? And Jefus answered and faid unto them, Elias fhall truly first come, and restore all things. But I fay unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they lifted: likewife alfo shall the Son of man fuffer of them. Then the difciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist."

Such is the hiftory which the evangelift gives us of the transfiguration; and on the very firft view of it, every one