perfectly harmonizing with the Metaphor of the Jews being the light of the World. Men, says our Lord, do not light a candle-or a lamp and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light to all that are in the house. As if he had said-Ye Jews have been appointed by Providence to be the light of the World, upon the same principle and for the same purpose that men light a candle in their houses, that all who are in them may see and enjoy the benefit of its light. This being the design of men, in their humble spheres of action, in common life; it is for a like purpose, though a far nobler one, that God has placed you in the super-eminent situation, which as a nation, in a moral and religious view, you now enjoy. In this sense-how beautiful, as well as pertinent is the conclusion which our Lord draws from this reasoning. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Having thus pointed out to his hearers the superior mportance and advantage of their situation among the nations of the earth, under the beautiful Metaphors of salt to preserve and of light to communicate the knowledge of God and having urged upon them the necessity of their improving these advantages, if they would not themselves, be deprived of them; he proceeds to guard them against imagining that to promote their ambitious and selfish purposes, it was his design, to introduce, or, in any way, to encourage a relaxation of the eternal laws of morality. Think not that I am come to destroy the Law and the Prophets-Very far from it—I am not come

to destroy either-but to fulfil both-to give perfection to the one and to accomplish what the others have written of me; for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass, one Iota-or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. And still farther to let them know, of what essential importance these eternal laws of righteousness-these lights, by which they were to shine before men, in his estimation, were, he adds, what must, for ever do the highest honour to him and his religion-Whosoever therefore, shall break one of the least of these Commandments and shall teach men so-he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven-but, whosoever shall do and teach them-he shall be called great--or shall be highly esteemed in the kingdom of heaven. He then adds, most evidently, with a particular view to the lax morality and the vitious conduct of the Jewish rulers of those who were the depositaries of the religious knowledge, which then existed in the world; for, I say unto you that except your righteousness shall much exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall, in no case, or upon no account whatever enter into the kingdom of heaven-You shall be totally disqualified for becoming the subjects of my kingdom.

In what follows, you plainly perceive that it was our Lord's object to correct, in detail, the highly vitiated morality of the Jews, in points of great and essential importance-but upon this I do not mean to enter-It I have made it appear to you that the Beatitudes, were intended to correct the prejudices of the Jews concerning the nature of the Messiah's kingdom, my end is, so far,

at least, answered, though I should not, in every instance, have given their precise meaning. My ideas of their sense have been, as much as possible, collected from other parts of the Gospel History, and I feel no doubt that not only you, but every one whose taste is not vitiated, will be struck with the wisdom which dictated it and with the internal proofs which it contains, of its having been levelled against the prejudices of the Jews concerning the nature of the Messiah's character.

I cannot however conclude my remarks upon this Sermon without observing to you that the description which ́ our Lord gave of the hypocritical and ostentatious manner in which the chiefs of the Jews performed their prayers and offered their alms that they might gain a reputation for superior sanctity, must have had an evident tendency to abate the reverence in which they were held and to give the people an high idea of the excellence of our Lord's character, as a divine Instructor. In fact, the whole of his discourse made such an impression that the Evangelist says that when he had finished it, the people were astonished at his doctrine ; for he taught them as one having authority and not as the Scribes. It was altogether such as they were unaccustomed to hear.

In my next letter, I shall beg leave to call your attention to the commission which our Lord gave to his disciples to announce the near approach of the Messiah's kingdom; in which you will not fail to observe some very striking instances of our Lord's great ob

ject in the exercise of the duties of his ministerial office his endeavour to remove the prejudices which they had imbibed concerning the nature of the Messiah's character. In the mean time

LETTER III.

UPON CHRIST'S COMMISSION TO HIS

APOSTLES.

REV. SIR,

THE HE manner in which the Evangelical historian introduces the account of the commission which our Lord gave to his disciples, to announce the approach of the Messiah's kingdom, is particularly beautiful and cannot fail to excite your admiration. Towards the close of the ixth. chapter, he says that Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel-or good news of the kingdom, i. e. of the kingdom of the Messiah and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion towards them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he to his disciples.-The harvest, truly, is plenteous-but the labourers are fewpray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he may