pity to all who knew them. We can only faintly conceive of the misery of such a condition.

If we had seen the man, feelings of pity would doubtless have filled our hearts, though we might have fled from his presence with alarm. Yet there was One who feared not the rage of the devils. Moved by compassion, he had crossed the stormy lake, to destroy their power over the unhappy captives.

The unclean spirit would have fled from Christ, but he was secretly drawn into his Divine presence. Using the members of the man, he fell down, and worshipped; it was the homage of fear, not of love. He dreaded the Saviour's power, and cried, with terror, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Thus acknowledging the Divine nature of Christ, and also disproving the charge of the pharisees, that he was in league with fallen spirits. There was in the demon's address a mixture of defiance and alarm. "What have we to do with thee? thou art not our master: we have no Saviour in the Son of God; and yet we know that thou wilt be our Judge. But the time has not come, the day of judgment has not arrived; cast us not, then, into the deep prison of hell, there to be tormented before the long dreaded time."

Whether or not the people that stood around heard the cries of the spirit, we do not know; but, that they might be affected with the dreadful case of the man, our Lord asked the evil spirit, "What is thy name?" He replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." The name he had adopted was a word applied to a division of the Roman

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army, amounting to six thousand soldiers; though it may here express, not that precise number, but a large band of devils, who held dominion in the man. The spirit was unwilling to lose his power, and again implored that he might not be cast out of the country, and into the doleful pit of hell, in which fallen spirits are confined "in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day," Jude 6. He would rather dwell on earth, though it were in a herd of swine. Or, he may have hoped that if he were not cast out of the country, he might regain possession of the man, when Christ had departed. Or, did he expect, by damaging the property of the inhabitants, to prejudice them against the doctrines of Christ? Whatever was his object, it was known to the Saviour.

"If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go." The Jews were not allowed to eat swine's flesh, Lev. xi. 7; it was also contrary to the law to keep it, or to traffic in it. Swine were regarded as unclean animals; and it is also said, that one reason why they were forbidden as food was, that their flesh was supposed to promote leprosy, and other diseases, in an eastern climate. Gadara, however, being a Roman garrison, and situated in an extreme part of the land, many Jews, for the sake of profit, broke the law, selling this animal to the Gentile soldiers, by whom it was much valued. To punish the Gadarenes, or perhaps that the malice of the fallen spirits might be seen, Jesus permitted them to enter into the swine, when the whole herd of two thousand ran furiously down the steep, and were drowned in the sea.

The swineherds, who are commonly mentioned in history as infamous and wicked persons, were filled with alarm, and ran to the city, where they told what had been done. The inhabitants hastened to the shore. To them the present was a favourable season, if they would but seize it. Christ was now in their country, of whose works of mercy they may have often heard; but the loss of their swine excited their anger. They came to him, but it was not to bring their sick to be healed-not to listen to the gospel of peace-not to thank him for casting out the legion from their countryman: they drew nigh, it may be, to punish him as the destroyer of their swine. But they were awed, as they beheld the man at the feet of Christ-not now naked, and cutting himself with stones; but clothed, and calm, and happy: no longer running about with unrestrained madness, but in the full enjoyment of his bodily and mental powers. The people were seized with fear at what they saw, and their guilty consciences led them to apprehend that further judgments would come upon them, if Christ remained in their country. They desired him to depart he did leave them, to return no more.

As he entered the ship, the grateful man who had been restored, hastened to the shore, and entreated that he might be allowed to follow, as one of his disciples. He may have feared that, after the departure of Christ, the Gadarenes would revenge themselves on him as the cause of losing their swine; or that the legion would regain possession of his body. And he may even have thought that his future health and happiness would depend on his being near the person of his gracious Deliverer. Whatever were the thoughts of his

heart, his request was not granted; he was sent to tell to his friends "the great things that God had done for him." He at once obeyed, took leave of the Saviour and his disciples, and went forth through Decapolis, or the district of the ten cities, and published abroad "the great things Jesus had done for him:" thus showing that he had faith to discern that Jesus was Divine. May we not hope, that he was made a blessing in the country where he had long been only an object of terror?

1. Personal actions, as speaking, coming out of the man, and going into the swine, are here ascribed to the spirits, which, with their dread of the coming judgment, show that it was a case of real possession. Josephus, Lucian, Plutarch, and other Jewish and heathen authors, mention demoniacs as well known in their days, and state the effects of such possessions in the same way as the evangelists represent them. By our Lord casting out the legion, he showed that he came to destroy the empire of Satan, and seemed to foretell that, wherever his doctrine should prevail, idolatry and vice should be put to flight.*

2. In the Gospel narrative of the man at Gadara, we see the misery of those who are under the power of Satan. He now works by sin in the heart, as fatally as he did by the indwelling of a legion in the human body. His dominion is the same, though the effects are different. He drives the wicked down the descent of sin, and plunges them in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.

3. In the calm and happy state of the man ❤ Bishop Pearce, "Miracles of Jesus Vindicated. "

when delivered, we have represented to us the great change which is made in those converted by the grace of Christ. They once lived only to injure themselves, and distress others; now they are in their right mind, and as humble disciples sit at the feet of Jesus. They are clothed with the garments of salvation, and the robes of holiness. They are no longer degraded and ungovernable, living, as it were, among the dead; but they now serve a new Master, and in humility hear his words, while new pleasures and new objects engage their best affections.

4. When delivered from the power of Satan, we should make known the love and compassion of the Redeemer. Gratitude will make this duty pleasant, nor shall we think any labour too great for Him who has done so much for us.

5. How dreadful is it for sinners, like the inhabitants of Gadara, to desire Christ to depart from them! If he is rejected, there is no other Saviour; if he depart, they are undone for ever. History informs us, that a few years after the rejection of our Saviour, when a Roman army entered the country of the Jews, the city of Gadara was the first that fell: after suffering all the horrors of a siege, it was taken by storm, and burned to the ground. A few stones are now shown, as all that remains of this once populous place. If impenitent sinners refuse the offer of salvation, the judgments of God will overtake them, and they shall perish for ever.