people (the natural and only valuable source of strength and riches), was a dishonest and miserable exchange. And however well the glory of a conquest might appear in the eyes of a common beholder, yet, when bought at that costly rate, a father to his country would behold the triumph which attended it, and weep as it passed by him. Amidst all the glare and jollity of the day, the parent's eyes would fix attentively upon his child: he would discern him drooping under the weight of his attire, without strength or vigour, his former beauty and comeliness gone off: he would behold the coat of many colours stained with blood, and cry,-Alas! they have decked thee with a parent's pride, but not with a parent's care and foresight. With such affectionate sentiments of government and just principles of religion Asa began his reign,- -a reign marked out with new eras, and a succession of happier occurrences than what had distinguished former days. upon by goodness, or that they are made by it too passionately fond of the present hour, and too thoughtless of its great Author, whose kind providence brought it about. This seemed to have been the case with the men of Judah; for, notwithstanding all that God had done for them, in placing Abijah and Asa his son over them, and inspiring them with hearts and talents proper to retrieve the errors of the foregoing reign, and bring back peace and plenty to the dwellings of Judah; yet there appears no record of any solemn and religious acknowledgment to God for such signal favours. The people sat down in a thankless security, each man under his vine, to eat and drink, and rose up to play; more solicitous to enjoy their blessings than to deserve them. But this scene of tranquillity was not to subsist without some change; and it seemed as if Providence at length had suffered the stream to be interrupted, to make them consider whence it flowed, and how necessary it had been all The just and gentle spirit of the prince in- along to their support. The Ethiopians, ever sensibly stole into the breasts of the people. since the beginning of Abijah's reign, until the The men of Judah turned their swords into tenth year of Asa's, had been at peace, or, at ploughshares, and their spears into pruning- least, whatever secret enmity they bore, had hooks. By industry and virtuous labour they made no open attacks upon the kingdom of acquired what by spoil and rapine they might Judah. And, indeed, the bad measures which have sought after long in vain. The traces of Rehoboam had taken in the latter part of the their late troubles soon began to wear out. The reign which immediately preceded theirs, seemed cities, which had become ruinous and desolate to have saved the Ethiopians the trouble. For (the prey of famine and the sword), were now Rehoboam, though in the former part of his rebuilt, fortified, and made populous. Peace, reign he dealt wisely, yet when he had estab security, wealth, and prosperity seemed to lished his kingdom, and strengthened himself, compose the whole history of Asa's reign. Ohe forsook the laws of the Lord; he forsook the Judah! what could then have been done more counsel which the old men gave him, and took than what was done to make thy people happy? counsel with the young men, which were brought What one blessing was withheld, that thou up with him, and stood before him. Such illshouldst ever withhold thy thankfulness?— advised measures, in all probability, had given the enemies of Judah such decisive advantages over her, that they had sat down contented, and for many years enjoyed the fruits of their acquisitions. But the friendship of princes is seldom made up of better materials than those which are every day to be seen in private life, in which sincerity and affection are not at all considered as ingredients. Change of time and circumstances produces a change of counsels and behaviour. Judah, in length of time, had become a fresh temptation, and was worth fighting for. Her riches and plenty might first make her enemies covet, and then the remembrance of how cheap and easy a prey she had formerly been, might make them not doubt of obtaining. That thou didst not continually turn thy eyes towards heaven with an habitual sense of God's mercies, and devoutly praise him for setting Asa over you? Were not the public blessings, and the private enjoyments which every man of Judah derived from them, such as to make the continuance of them desirable? And what other way was there to effect it, than to swear unto the Lord, with all your hearts and souls, to perform the covenant made with your fathers?-to secure that favour and interest with the Almighty Being, without which the wisdom of this world is foolishness, and the best connected systems of human policy are speculative and airy projects, without foundation or substance. The history of their own exploits and establishment, since they had become a nation, was strong confirmation of this doctrine. But too free and uninterrupted a possession of God Almighty's blessings sometimes (though it seems strange to suppose it) even tempts men to forget him, either from a certain depravity and ingratitude of nature, not to be wrought By these apparent motives (or whether God, who sometimes overrules the heart of man, was pleased to turn them by secret ones to the purposes of his wisdom) the ambition of the Ethiopians revived. With a host of men, numerous as the sand upon the sea-shore in multitude, they had left their country, and were coming forwards to invade them. What can Judah propose to do in so terrifying a crisis? where can she betake herself for refuge? On one hand, her religion and laws are too precious to be given up, or trusted to the hands of a stranger; and, on the other hand, how can so small a kingdom, just recovering strength, surrounded by an army of a thousand thousand men, besides chariots and horses, be able to withstand so powerful a shock? But here it appeared that those who in their prosperity can forget God, do yet remember him in the day of danger and distress, and can begin with comfort to depend upon his providence when with comfort they can depend upon nothing else. For when Zerah, the Ethiopian, was come into the valley of Zephatha at Maretha, Asa, and all the men of Judah and Benjamin, went out against him; and as they went, they cried mightily unto God. And Asa prayed for his people, and he said, 'O Lord! it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God! for we rest in thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.' Success almost seemed a debt due to the piety of the prince, and the contrition of his people. So God smote the Ethiopians, and they could not recover themselves; for they were scattered and utterly destroyed, before the Lord and before his host. And as they returned to Jerusalem from pursuing, behold the Spirit of God came upon Asariah, the son of Oded. And he went out to meet Asa, and he said unto him, -Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, whilst you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Nothing could more powerfully call home the conscience than so timely an expostulation. The men of Judah and Benjamin, struck with a sense of their late deliverance, and the many other felicities they had enjoyed since Asa was king over them, then gathered themselves together at Jerusalem, in the third month, in the fifteenth year of Asa's reign; and they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart, and with all their soul and they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets; and all Judah rejoiced at the oath. One may observe a kind of luxuriety in the description which the holy historian gives of the transport of the men of Judah upon this occasion. And sure, if ever matter of joy was so reasonably founded as to excuse any excesses in the expressions of it, this was one; for without it, the condition of Judah, though otherwise the happiest, would have been of all nations under heaven the most miserable. Let us suppose a moment, instead of being repulsed, that the enterprise of the Ethiopians had prospered against them: like other grievous distempers, where the vitals are first attacked, Asa, their king, would have been sought after and have been made the first sacrifice. He must either have fallen by the sword of battle, or execution; or, what is worse, he must have survived the ruin of his country by flight, and worn out the remainder of his days in sorrow for the afflictions which were come upon him. In some remote corner of the world, the good king would have heard the particulars of Judah's destruction. He would have been told how the country, which had become dear to him by his paternal care, was now utterly laid waste, and all his labour lost; how the fences which protected it were torn up, and the tender plant within, which he had so long sheltered, was cruelly trodden under foot and devoured. He would hear how Zerah, the Ethiopian, when he had overthrown the kingdom, thought himself bound in conscience to overthrow the religion of it too, and establish his own idolatrous one in its stead:-That, in pursuance of this, the holy religion, which Asa had reformed, had begun everywhere to be evil spoken of, and evilentreated: That it was first banished from the courts of the king's house, and the midst of Jerusalem, and then fled for safety out of the way into the wilderness, and found no city to dwell in :That Zerah had rebuilt the altars of the strange gods, which Asa's piety had broken down, and set up their images : That his commandment was urgent that all should fall down and worship the idol he had made :-That, to complete the tale of their miseries, there was no prospect of deliverance for any but the worst of his subjects;-those who in his reign had either leaned in their hearts towards these idolatries, or whose principles and morals were such that all religions were alike ;-but that the honest and conscientious man of Judah, unable to behold such abominations, hung down his head like a bulrush, and put sackcloth and ashes under him. This picture of Judah's desolation might be some resemblance of what every one of Asa's subjects would probably form to himself, the day he solemnized an exemption from it. And the transport was natural-To swear unto the Lord with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, and with cornets: to rejoice at the oath which secured their future peace, and celebrate it with all external marks of gladness. I have at length gone through the story which gave the occasion to this religious act which is recorded of the men of Judah in the text. I believe there is not one in sacred Scripture that bids fairer for a parallel to our own times, or that would admit of an application more suitable to the solemnity of this day. But men are apt to be struck with likenesses in so different a manner, from the different points of view in which they stand, as well as their diversity of judgments, that it is generally a very unacceptable piece of officiousness to fix any certain degrees of approach. XLI.-FOLLOW PEACE. 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'-HEBREWS XII. 14. THE great end and design of our holy religion, next to the main view of reconciling us to God, was to reconcile us to each other; by teaching us to subdue all those unfriendly dispositions in our nature which unfit us for happiness, and, the social enjoyment of the many blessings which God has enabled us to partake of in this In this case, it seems sufficient that those who will discern the least resemblance will discern enough to make them seriously comply with the devotion of the day; and that those who are affected with it in a stronger manner, and see the blessing of a Protestant king in its fairest light, with all the mercies which made way for it, will have still more abundant reason to adore that good Being who has all along pro-world, miserable as it is in many respects. tected it from the enemies which have risen up to do it violence, but more especially, in a late instance, by turning down the counsels of the froward headlong, and confounding the devices of the crafty, so that their hands could not perform their enterprise. Though this event, for many reasons, will ever be told amongst the felicities of those days; yet for none more so, than that it has given us a fresh mark of the continuation of God Almighty's favour to us: a part of that great complicated blessing for which we are gathered together to return him thanks. Let us, therefore, I beseech you, endeavour to do it in the way which becomes wise men, and which is likely to be most acceptable; and that is, to pursue the intentions of his providence, in giving us the occasion; to become better men, and, by a holy and an honest conversation, make ourselves capable of enjoying what God has done for us. In vain shall we celebrate the day with a loud voice, and with shouting, and with trumpets, if we do not do it likewise with the internal and more certain marks of sincerity, a reformation and purity in our manners. It is impossible a sinful people can either be grateful to God, or properly loyal to their prince. They cannot be grateful to the one, because they live not under a sense of his mercies; nor can they be loyal to the other, because they daily offend in two of the tenderest points which concern his welfare,--by first disengaging the providence of God from taking our part, and then giving a heart to our adversaries to lift their hands against us, who must know that if we forsake God, God will forsake us. Their hopes, their designs, their wickedness, against us, can only be built upon ours towards God. Could Christianity persuade the professors of it into this temper, and engage us, as its doctrine requires, to go on and exalt our natures, and, after the subduction of the most unfriendly of our passions, to plant, in the room of them, all those (more natural to the soil) humane and benevolent inclinations which, in imitation of the perfections of God, should dispose us to extend our love and goodness to our fellowcreatures, according to the extent of our abilities, in like manner as the goodness of God extends itself over all the works of the creation; -could this be accomplished, the world would be worth living in, and might be considered by us as a foretaste of what we should enter upon hereafter. But such a system, you'll say, is merely visionary; and, considering man is a creature so beset with selfishness, and other fretful passions that propensity prompts him to, though it is to be wished, it is not to be expected. But our religion enjoins us to approach as near this fair pattern as we can, and if it be possible, as much as lieth in us, to live peaceably with all men; where the term, if possible, I own, implies it may not only be difficult, but sometimes impossible. Thus the words of the text, Follow peace, may by some be thought to imply that this desirable blessing may sometimes fly from us; but still we are required to follow it, and not cease the pursuit till we have used all warrantable methods to regain and settle it; because, adds the Apostle, without this frame of mind, no man shall see the Lord. For heaven is the region, as well as the recompense, of peace and benevolence; and such as do not desire and promote it here are not qualified to enjoy it hereafter. For this cause, in Scripture language, peace For if they did not think we did evil, they is always spoken of as the great and compredurst not hope we could perish. Ccase, therefore, to do evil; for by following righteousness you will make the hearts of your enemies faint, they will turn their backs against your indignation, and their weapons will fall from their hands. Which may God grant, through the merits and mediation of his Son Jesus Christ, to whom be all honour, etc. Amen. hensive blessing, which included in it all manner of happiness; and to wish peace to any house or person was, in one word, to wish them all that was good and desirable. Because happiness consists in the inward complacency and satisfaction of the mind; and he who has such a disposition of soul as to acquiesce and rest contented with all the events of Providence, can want nothing this world can give him. Agree able to this, that short but most comprehensive hymn sung by angels at our Saviour's birth, declaratory of the joy and happy ends of his incarnation,—after glory, in the first, to God, the next note which sounded was, Peace upon earth, and good-will to men. It was a public wish of happiness to mankind, and implied a solemn charge to pursue the means which would ever lead to it. And, in truth, the good tidings of the gospel are nothing else but a grand message and embassy of peace, to let us know that our peace is made in heaven. The prophet Isaiah styles our Saviour the Prince of Peace, long before he came into the world; and, to answer the title, he made choice to enter into it at a time when all nations were at peace with each other, which was in the days of Augustus, when the temple of Janus was shut, and all the alarms of war were hushed and silenced throughout the world. At his birth, the host of heaven descended, and proclaimed peace on earth, as the best state and temper the world could be in to receive and welcome the Author of it. His future conversation and doctrine here upon earth was every way agreeable with his peaceable entrance upon it; the whole course of his life being but one great example of meekness, peace, and patience. At his death, it was the only legacy he bequeathed to his followers: My peace I give unto you. How far this has taken place, or been actually enjoyed, is not my intention to enlarge upon, any further than just to observe how precious a bequest it was, from the many miseries and calamities which have, and ever will, ensue from the want of it. If we look into the larger circle of the world, what desolations, dissolutions of government, and invasions of property,-what rapine, plunder, and profanation of the most sacred rights of mankind, are the certain unhappy effects of it!-fields dyed in blood, the cries of orphans and widows bereft of their best help, too fully instruct us. Look into private life: Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is to live together in unity! it is like the precious ointment poured upon the head of Aaron, that ran down to his skirts, -importing that this balm of life is felt and enjoyed, not only by governors of kingdoms, but is derived down to the lowest rank of life, and tasted in the most private recesses; all, from the king to the peasant, are refreshed with its blessings, without which we can find no comfort in anything this world can give. It is this blessing gives every one to sit quietly under his vine, and reap the fruits of his labour and industry; in one word,-which bespeaks who is the bestower of it,-it is that only which keeps up the harmony and order of the world, and preserves everything in it from ruin and confusion. There is one saying of our Saviour's recorded by St. Matthew, which at first sight seems to carry some opposition to this doctrine: I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword. But this reaches no further than the bare words, not entering so deep as to affect the sense, or imply any contradiction: intimating only that the preaching of the gospel will prove in the event, through sundry unhappy causes,-such as prejudices, the corruption of men's hearts, a passion for idolatry and superstition,-the occasion of much variance and division even amongst nearest relations,-yea, and ofttimes of bodily death, and many calamities and persecutions, which actually ensued upon the first preachers and followers of it. Or the words may be understood as a beautiful description of the inward contests and opposition which Christianity would occasion in the heart of man, from its oppositions to the violent passions of our nature, which would engage us in a perpetual warfare. This was not only a sword, a division betwixt nearest kindred; but it was dividing a man against himself, setting up an opposition to an interest long established-strong by nature-more so by uncontrolled custom. This is verified every hour in the struggles for mastery betwixt the principles of the world, the flesh, and the devil; which set up so strong a confederacy that there is need of all the helps which reason and Christianity can offer to bring them down. But this contention is not that against which such exhortations in the gospel are levelled; for the Scripture must be interpreted by Scripture, and be made consistent with itself. And we find the distinguishing marks and doctrines, by which all men were to know who were Christ's disciples, was that benevolent frame of mind towards all our fellow-creatures which by itself is a sufficient security for the particu lar social duty here recommended: so far from meditations of war-for love thinketh no ill to his neighbour;-so far from doing any, it harbours not the least thought of it, but, on the contrary, rejoices with them that rejoice, and weeps with them that weep. This debt Christianity has highly exalted; though it is a debt that we were sensible of before, and acknowledged to be owed to human nature,-which, as we all partake of, so ought we to pay it in a suitable respect. For, as men, we are allied together in the natural bond of brotherhood, and are members one of another. We have the same Father in heaven, who made us, and takes care of us all. Our earthly extraction, too, is nearer alike than the pride of the world cares to be reminded of; for Adam was the father of us all, and Eve the mother of all living. The prince and the beggar sprung from the same stock, wide asunder as the branches are. So that, in this view, the most upstart family may vie with antiquity, and compare families with the greatest monarchs. Wo are all formed, too, of the same mould, and must equally return to the same dust. So that, to us to follow peace with all men: the first is the root,-this the fair fruit and happy product of it. Therefore, my beloved brethren, in the bowels of mercy let us put away anger, and malice, and let us be kindly affectioned one to another, following peace with all men, and holiness, that we may see the Lord. love our neighbour, and live quietly with him, is to live at peace with ourselves. He is but self multiplied, and enlarged into another form; and to be unkind or cruel to him is but, as Solomon observes of the unmerciful, to be cruel to our own flesh. As a further motive and engage-evil-speaking; let us fly all clamour and strife; ment to this peaceable commerce with each other, God has placed us all in one another's power by turns-in a condition of mutual need and dependence. There is no man so liberally stocked with earthly blessings as to be able to live without another man's aid. God, in his wisdom, has so dispensed his gifts in various kinds and measures, as to render us helpful, and make a social intercourse indispensable. The prince depends on the labour and industry of the peasant; and the wealth and honour of the greatest persons are fed and supported from the same source. This the Apostle hath elegantly set forth to us by the familiar resemblance of the natural body; wherein there are many members, and all have not the same office, but the different faculties and operations of each are for the use and benefit of the whole. The eye sees not for itself, but for the other members, and is set up as a light to direct them; the feet serve to support and carry about the other parts; and the hands act and labour for them all. It is the same in states and kingdoms, wherein there are many members, yet each in their several functions and employments; which, if peaceably discharged, are for the harmony of the whole state. Some are eyes and guides to the blind; others, feet to the lame and impotent; some supply the place of the head, to assist with counsel and direction; others the hands, to be useful by their labour and industry. To make this link of dependence still stronger, there is a great portion of mutability in all human affairs, to make benignity of temper not only our duty, but our interest and wisdom. There is no condition in life so fixed and permanent as to be out of danger, or the reach of change; and we all may depend upon it that we shall take our turns of wanting and desiring. By how many unforeseen causes may riches take wing! The crowns of princes may be shaken, and the greatest that ever awed the world have experienced what the turn of the wheel can do. That which hath happened to one man may befall another; and therefore, that excellent rule of our Saviour's ought to govern us in all our actions,-Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise. Time and chance happen to all; and the most affluent may be stript of all, and find his worldly comforts like so many withered leaves dropping from him. Sure nothing can better become us than hearts so full of our dependence as to overflow with mercy, and pity, and good-will towards mankind. To exhort us to this is, in other words, to exhort Which God of his infinite mercy grant, through the merits of his Son, our Lord and Saviour. Amen. XLII.-SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. 'Search the Scriptures.'-ST. JOHN V. 39. THAT things of the most inestimable use and value, for want of due application and study laid out upon them, may be passed by unregarded, nay, even looked upon with coldness and aversion, is a truth too evident to need enlarging on. Nor is it less certain that prejudices, contracted by an unhappy education, will sometimes so stop up all the passages to our hearts, that the most amiable objects can never find access, nor bribe us by all their charms into justice and impartiality. It would be passing the tenderest reflection upon the age we live in to say it is owing to one of these that those inestimable books, the Sacred Writings, meet so often with a disrelish (what makes the accusation almost incredible) amongst persons who set up for men of taste and delicacy; who pretend to be charmed with what they call beauties and nature in classical authors, and in other things would blush not to be reckoned amongst sound and impartial critics. But so far has negligence and prepossession stopped their ears against the voice of the charmer, that they turn over those awful sacred pages with inattention and an unbecoming indifference, unaffected amidst ten thousand sublime and noble passages, which, by the rules of sound criticism and reason, may be demonstrated to be truly eloquent and beautiful. Indeed the opinion of false Greek and barbarous language in the Old and New Testament had for some ages been a stumbling-block to another set of men, who were professedly great readers and admirers of the ancients. The sacred writings were by these persons rudely attacked on all sides; expressions which came not within the compass of their learning were branded with barbarism and solecism,-words which scarce signified anything but the ignorance of those who laid such groundless charges on them. Presumptuous man! Shall he who is but dust and ashes dare to find fault with the words of that Being who first inspired man with language, and taught his mouth to utter; who opened the lips of the dumb, and made the infant eloquent? These persons, as they at |