takes place when (Ch. x, ver. 5) Jesus sends forth the twelve 'to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' Matthew, xii, 43-45. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places [desert, without water, where no man abides] seeking rest and findeth none, &c.' That state of man, in which he is not only purified from evil but occupied also with good, is the safest from a relapse into evil. In a passive, indolent, trifling state of mind, however innocent the few thoughts and however good the intentions of the party, there is much danger that the fiend who seduces mankind, and destroys their peace, may not only revisit but find entrance and possession; so that the last state of the party shall prove the worst. We should be thoroughly intent on duty, and our affections earnest in the pursuit of it. Matthew, xiii, 12. For whosoever hath [knowledge the fruit of faith and obedience-which knowledge is power: Comp. ver. 23.] to him shall be given [further instruction] and he shall [thus] have more abundance: but whosoever hath not [faith and a willing mind] from him shall be taken that [portion of knowledge and power] that he hath.' Thus I would expound this somewhat mysterious passage: which seems to point to the indispensable pre-requisite to a growth in grace, to-wit, a lively faith. Unto the disciples, who had this, and gave proof of it by leaving all to follow Christ, it was given to know the mysteries of his kingdom. To the rest of his hearers, this was not given nor to the disciples themselves, but in such degrees as they needed it. Our Lord was not willing to let them at once into the full understanding of his meaning: but the words they remembered, and as happened in other instances, were able best to understand them, when they had the most need of the lesson they contained. Matthew, xv, 5. 'Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, &c.'—I believe it would be well here to put in Italics after gift,' to the temple, or, to the treasury of God: which would at once fix the [otherwise obscure] mearing to the inexperienced reader. Matthew, xvii, 24-27. Our Lord here styles himself, if not also Peter, a son or descendant of the kings of the earth; which thing is true by his genealogy-' the son of David, the son of Abraham.' He says likewise, in royal style, 'Notwithstanding lest we offend them [or stumble, or estrange them] do so and so: making it a matter of condescension, as well as of politic caution towards doubtful allies, thus to acknowledge their right to take it. 9 Matt. xviii, 28. This passage might be improved by putting for took him by the throat (as if to strangle him) took him by the collar'—a mode of securing a prisoner probably quite as ancient as the time of our Lord's ministry. Matt. xx, 28. Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister [always in a spiritual office] and to give his life a ransom for many. A ransom implies slavery: to whom was the slave in bondage? And when redeemed by the blood of Christ, what was that slavery out of which he was to come, by laying hold on the proffered terms in faith? Again, the ransom paid, the message sent, the succours furnished, and the redemption thus far effected, what further act is required, on the slave's part, to effect his liberation? Must he not, believing the messenger, of his own free-will prepare for his journey homeward, and depart from the territory of the Lord who before held him in bondage? He may disbelieve the message, or prefer his present condition, and so remain where he is! Matt. xxiii, 34-39. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' In this passage I may first notice the fullness of assertion of the power and authority of the Godhead in himself, by Christ, in that he says 'Behold, I [the Wisdom of God] send unto you prophets, and wise-men [teachers or judges] and scribes.' He does not ascribe the sending to a higher power than his own; though he condescended himself, to be one of the company of teachers, yea to wash the feet of the rest and wait upon them at table, for example's sake. 6 Then comes the wrong putting of shall' for will,' making Christ (or the Godhead) the author of persecution and murder, by fore-ordination-of which I have already treated elsewhere. Lastly, the apostrophe (as the Rhetorians call that mode of speaking) in verses 37-39-which is quoted even by those who deal in words alone, as the finest example of the kind in any author. See also Luke xi, 49: and compare the following in order: John xx, 21; John xvi, 15, iii, 35, v, 19; John x, 30. Matt. xxvi, 21. And as they did eat he said, Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me.' The word shall' in this place must sound very uncouthly to an experienced ear, at this day. To the rest it serves, cum multis aliis, to keep up the delusion of predestinarianism; where arguments and inferences fail. Matt. xxvi, 30. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out to the mount of Olives.' I am not sure that simple Psalmody, or the public reciting or chaunting of hymns and spiritual songs, whether in metre or not, has been rightly laid aside in the Religious circles in which I move. The difficulty seems to be, with those who would seek edification, and not amusement, that on few occasions are the minds of a whole company or congregation prepared to join, without any mixture of insincerity, in the exercise. But real sacred poetry (and such are many passages of Holy Scripture, though not put in metre in our version) contributes powerfully, in private, to stir up the gift of God in us, and excite to true devotion. See on this subject Barclay, Apology Prop. xi, § 26 and 28, where he is very plain on the subject-but how do we 'plead for the spiritual singing, now? Verse 50. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come?" Purver renders it companion,' and nearer to the sense of the original. It is an example of that peaceable mode of address which it becomes us to make use of, in the first instance, towards those who in approaching seem to intend some violence. I have availed myself of it, in meeting suspicious persons by the way: it may, by indicating presence of mind and coolness, even contribute to turn aside the evil intent, already beginning to be formed in them. 6 Verse 59, 60. The chief-priests and elders and all the council made enquiry for evidence (such as might seem to be legal) against Jesus, that they might put him to death: yet, though many false witnesses came, found they no evidence.' How short is our version, for want of the right choice of words, of telling the plain reader all this! Verse 63. The definitive article is in the Greek, here, the Christ the Son of God.' And Jesus assenting fully to the thing as propounded to him, proceeds immediately to style himself the Son of man: the whole together being what none but himself could say. Further, the Law saith that no man is bound to accuse himself. Hence the need of witnesses to the fact charged; and Jesus might have claimed his privilege of not being his own accuser; and have shewn by declaring what he did say about the temple, how falsely these men spoke: he might also have called witnesses who heard, and would testify to, the thing-but the accusers wanted not, and probably would have refused to hear them. Verse 72. It is of greater importance to the man who speaks falsely to swear (of his own accord) than to him who speaks truth. We may here recur to our Lord's words: 'Let your yea [affirmation] be yea, and your nay [denial] be nay: FOR WHATSOEVER IS MORE THAN THESE COMETH OF EVIL.' Matt. xxvii, 11, 12. I should prefer to render this passage thus, And as Jesus stood before the governor, the governor said to him, Thou art then, the king of the Jews! But Jesus replied, Thou thyself sayest this. Pilate was sensible that the whole ground of the charge was envy and malice: he now repeated it from the accusers-they on their part produced no evidence (the pretended threat to destroy the temple would have availed nothing here) and our Lord puts by the whole with this simple answer, These are thy own words. In which we may be sure he did not admit the thing, in the sense the accusers intended to impress on the mind of Pilate, that of treason against Cæsar. See John xviii, 36. Verse 34. The vinegar was probably the article provided for the soldiers as their common drink-but being charged with that nauseous defilement, Jesus refuses it: but afterwards takes a little from a sponge, when administered in compassion, or to prevent his expiring immediately from faintness: ver, 48. Verse 46. A commencement, plainly, of a recitation of the Twentysecond Psalm; in which is contained so remarkable a prophecy, in descriptive terms, of the very deed now acting! It does not appear whether our Lord had strength left to finish the Psalm: or that, beyond the expression of his own deep feeling of desertion, he had more in view than to remind his persecutors of that passage of Scripture; by which they ought to have taken warning before. But they would neither hear Moses nor the prophets, nor believe when he had risen from the dead! Verse 65. • Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, make it as sure as ye can." I should rather express this peevish answer thus-You have the charge [of him, now] go &c. The Greek adopts the very term of the Roman governor, custodiam, the custody: echete koustodian. Ch. xxviii, ver. 2. 'And behold there was a great earthquake, for the angel &c. Considering the 'for' I incline here to the opinion of those who make the earthquake' to have been merely a great commotion upon the spot. The Greek seismos may very well admit of this interpretation. Verse 17. And when they saw him they worshipped him: but some doubted.' Hesitated, so as that it appeared by their behaviour they were not yet ready to acknowledge Christ in this appearance: on which account he immediately draws near and speaks to them; not waiting their further coming on. The unpleasant impression is liable. to be left by the Com. version (pointed as it stands) that after all, some of the eleven doubted finally whether it were their risen Lord or not. Ed. ART. IV.-Anticipation. How heavy are these heart-felt Cares, How drags the fretting Chain; The Captive in the galley shares Not more consuming pain! Then why should Man, a slave, be bound tug the labouring oar," No solace felt, no respite found, Till on life's farthest shore? Glad is the day, and hail'd the hour, Which frees me from these pains; E'en now I feel th' enlivening power Like bird that's been in cage confined, And, leaving Earth's dull clods behind, W. ART. V.-Derivations and Meanings of Words. Continued. Crime; offence; trespass; transgression. The first of these is from the Greek krima, through the Latin, crimen. It implies, in these languages, something more precise than our present use of the word. Johnson defines crime, An act contrary to right; an offence; a great fault; a wickedness'-but, in the usage of the ancients, none of these would be crime until the act were specified and the judge had passed sentence upon the party, or assigned his punishment. When a man has waylaid another and killed him, we say he is guilty of murder-we mean in strictness, he has done the act to which the Law attaches that crime. 6 Offence is directly from the Latin, offendo; the strict meaning of which is, I provoke by striking: a sense which has been extended so as to include a variety of ways in which I may give pain or uneasiness to another: but still preserving the character of a personal wrong. Johnson makes offence to mean in the first place crime, act of wickedness-I think weakly, upon his own showing. He gives from Fairfax, Where Christ the Lord for our offences died:' the meaning, clearly, for our offences against God. And again, from Shakespear, Thou hast stolen that which after some few hours were thine without offence [against me the party injured; or affected injuriâ-by an act against right.] He then brings Locke, with the extended or less proper sense of the word, If by the law of nature every man hath not a power to punish offences against it :-The law cannot be offended; the offence is against the lawgiver. Trespass is French, transplanted with the Norman code. It is the setting foot on another's land and transgression, which is almost mere Latin to the very same purpose, has acquired together with the former, a high and extended acceptation, by entering so much into our Scriptural phraseology. In the case of any transgression, the boundary assigned to the party offending has been overstepped in conduct; and the law broken-a plain allusion if not to the two tables, at least to the practice of writing Laws anciently on slabs of stone. Punishment. To punish is from punio, Lat. and this being from pana (whence our pain) it seems strictly applicable only to such legal inflictions as regard the person. But we have extended it, both in this and in the term penalty, to a variety of cases besides-especially those affecting the estate. The Latins have tormentum (tortum inentum, a rope's end?) to signify an infliction, very painful or cruel, on the offender's person-and which was probably at first by simple flogging: though the ingenuity of the evil mind extended it, in after ages, to a great variety of torments. Pardon; absolution. Most persons would say these were precisely synonymous; but there is a considerable difference in the meanings. The Etymon of the first seems strictly French, although the words, pardono, and pardonatio, be found also in our Law Latin; applicable to the forgiving of offences against the King. It is probably from don Fr. by gift; or of free grace, which the Sovereign by virtue of the par |