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had till now taken no step toward a formal and open separation from Judaism, but had contented Himself with gathering converts whom He left to follow the life He taught, without any organization as a distinct communion. The symptoms of an approaching rupture with the priests and rabbis had, however, forced on Him more decisive action. He had met the murmurs at the healing of the paralytic by the triumphant vindication of the language which had given offence. The choice of a publican as a disciple immediately after, had been a further expression of the fundamental opposition between His ideas and those of the Schools and the Temple, and His justification of the disuse by His disciples of the outward rites and forms which were vital in the eyes of the orthodoxy of the day, had been another step in the same divergent path. He had openly sanctioned the omission of fasts and of mechanical rules for prayer, which were sacred with the rabbis. He had even set the old and the new order of things in contrast, and had thus assumed independent authority as a religious teacher; the sum of all offence in a rigid theocracy. The choice of the Twelve, and the Sermon on the Mount, were the final and distinct proclamation of His new position. The Apostles must have seemed to a Jew the twelve patriarchs of a new spiritual Israel, to be instituted for the old; the heads of new tribes to be gathered by their teaching as the future people of God. The old skins had proved unfit for the new wine; henceforth new skins must be provided - new forms for a new faith. The society thus organized needed a promulgation of the laws under which it was to live; and this it received in the Sermon on the Mount.

The audience addressed consisted of the newly-chosen twelve; the unknown crowd who heard Him with pleasure, and were hence spoken of as His disciples; and the promiscuous multitude drawn to Him for the time by various motives. Jesus had no outer and inner circle, for public and secret doctrines, like the rabbis; for though He explained to the Twelve in private any points in His discourses they had not understood, the doctrines themselves were delivered to all who came to hear them.

This sermon, which is the fullest statement we have of the nature of His kingdom, and of the conditions and duties of its citizenship, was spoken under the open sky, to all who happened to form His audience.

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In this great declaration of the principles and laws of the Christian Republic - a republic in the relations of the citizen to each other - a kingdom in their relation to Jesus the omissions are no less striking than the demands. There is no reference to the priests or the rabbis - till then the undisputed authorities in religion; nor is the rite of circumcision even mentioned — though it made the Jew a member of the Old Covenant — as a mere theocratic form, apart from moral requirements. It is not condemned, but it is ignored. Till now a vital condition of entrance into the Kingdom of God, it is so no more. Nor are any other outward forms more in favor. The new kingdom is to be founded only on righteousness and love; and contrasts with the old by its spiritual freedom, untrammelled by outward rules. It opposes to the nationality and limitation of the old theocracy a universal invitation, with no restriction except that of character and conduct. Citizenship is offered to all who sincerely believe in Jesus as the Messiah, and honestly repent before God. Even the few opening sentences mark the revolution in religious conceptions which the new faith involves. Temporal evil, which under the former dispensation had been the mark of divine displeasure, became, in the teaching of Jesus, the mark of fellowship and pledge of heavenly reward. The opinion of the day regarded poverty, hunger, trouble, and persecution as punishments for sin; He enumerates them as blessings. Throughout the whole sermon political or theocratic ideas find place, but only spiritual. For the first time in the history of religion a communion is founded without a priesthood, or offerings, or a temple or ceremonial services; without symbolical worship, or a visible sanctuary. There is an utter absence of everything external or sensuous; the grand spiritual truths of absolute religious freedom, love, and righteousness alone are heard. Nor is the kingdom, thus founded, in itself visible or corporate, in any ordinary sense; it is manifested

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only by the witness of the Spirit in the heart, and by the power going forth from it in the life. In the fine words of Herder, Christianity was founded in direct opposition to the stupid dependence on customs, formulæ, and empty usages. It humbled the Jewish, and even the Roman national pride; the moribund Levitical worship, and idolatry, however, fanatically defended, were wounded to death.

This unique example of our Saviour's teaching displays in one view nearly all characteristics presented in the more detached illustrations preserved in the Gospels. Never systematic, the discourses of Jesus were rather pointed utterances of special truths demanded by the occasion. In perfect inner harmony with each other, these sententious teachings at times appear to conflict, for they are often designed to present opposite sides of the same truth, as the distinct point to be met required. The external and sensuous in all His teachings, however, was always made the vehicle of an inner and heavenly lesson. He necessarily followed the mode to which His hearers were used, and taught them as their own rabbis were wont, that He might engage attention. At times He puts distinct questions; at others He is rhetorical or polemic, or speaks in proverbs, or in more lengthened discourse. He often uses parables, and sometimes even symbolic actions; is always spontaneous and ready; and even at times points His words by friendly or cutting irony. But while thus in many ways adopting the style of the rabbis His teaching was very different even in outward characteristics. They delivered painfully what they had learned like children, overlaying every address with citations, in their fear of saying a word of their own. But the teaching of Christ was the free expression of His own thoughts and feelings; and this, with the weight of the teaching itself, gave Him power over the hearts of His audience. With a minute and exact knowledge of the teaching of the schools, He shows, by repeated use of rabbinical proofs and arguments, that He was familiar also with the current modes of controversy. His fervor, His originality, and the grandeur of the truths He proclaimed, were enough in themselves, to VOL. XI.-3

commend His words; but He constantly supports them by the supreme authority of the Scriptures, which were familiar to Him as His mother-speech. Simple, as a rule, in all He says, He yet often opens glimpses into the infinite heights where no human thought can follow Him. The spirit of His teaching is as transcendent as its matter. Tenderness and yearning love prevail; but there is not wanting, when needed, the sternness of the righteous judge. Throughout the whole of His ministry, and notably in the Sermon on the Mount, He bears Himself with a kingly grandeur, dispensing the rewards and punishments of the world to come; opening the Kingdom of Heaven to those only who fulfil His requirements, and resting the future prospects of men on the reception they give His words. Even to read His utterances forces from all the confession of those who heard Him, that "Never man spake like this."-Life and Words of Jesus, Chap. XXXV.

ELLERT, CHRISTIAN FÜRCHTEGOTT, a German poet and moralist; born at Hainichen, near Freiberg, Saxony, July 4, 1715; died at Leipsic, December 13, 1769. He was the son of a clergyman and entered the University of Leipsic at the age of nineteen, where he studied theology; but his constitutional timidity was such that after a single attempt, he gave up the idea of preaching, and became a private tutor, and subsequently Professor-extraordinary of Philosophy in the University. He wrote a novel, The Swedish Countess, several dramatic pieces, numerous fables, tales, essays, and odes. His literary reputation rests upon his sacred songs and his fables, which have become classics. He was among the founders of the modern school of German literature.

His lectures at Leipsic attracted the attention of literary Germany and had much to do with moulding the style and directing the taste of contemporary and subsequent authors. His Works have been frequently republished.

THE DISCONSOLATE WIDOW.

Dorinda's youthful spouse,

Whom as herself she loved, and better too
("Better?" methinks I hear some caviller say,
With scornful smile; but let him smile away!
A truth is not therefore the less true.
Let laughing cavillers to do what they may.)
Suffice it, death snatched from Dorinda's arms
Too early snatched, in all her glowing charms,
The best of husbands and the best of men:
And I can find no words; in vain my pen,
Though dipped in briny tears, would fain portray
In lively colors, all the young wife felt,
As o'er his couch in agony she knelt,

And clasped the hand, and kissed the cheek of clay.
The priest, whose business 'twas to soothe her, came:
All friendship came in vain;

The more they soothed the more Dorinda cried.
They had to drag her from the dead one's side.
A ceaseless wringing of the hands

Was all she did; one piteous "Alas!"
The only sound that from the lips did pass:
Full four-and-twenty hours thus she lay.

Meanwhile a neighbor o'er the way

Had happened in - well skilled in carving wood.
He saw Dorinda's melancholy mood,

And partly at her own request,

Partly to show his reverence for the blest,

And save his memory from untimely end,

Resolved to crave in wood the image of his friend.
Success the artist's cunning hand attended,
With most amazing speed the work was ended;
And there stood Stephen, large as life.

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