LIBEAEY 
 
 OK THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 ( BX 5037 .T69 1810 v.l 
 
 Townson, Thomas, 1715-1792. 
 & The works of the Reverend 
 r Thomas Townson . . . 
 
I 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/worksofreverendt01town_0 
 
THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 * 
 
 OF THE REVEREND 9 
 
 / V 
 THOMAS TOWNSON, D. D. 
 
 LATE ARCH DEACON OF RICHMOND ; 
 ONE OF THE HECTORS OF MALPAS, CHESHIRE; 
 AND SOMETIME FELLOW OF ST. MARY MAGDALEN 
 COLLEGE, OXFOKD. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR, 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DISCOURSES 
 ON THE GOSPELS, 
 
 AM) A SERMON ON THE QUOTATIONS IN THE OLD 
 TESTAMENT, 
 
 BY 
 
 RALPH CHURTON, M. A. 
 
 ARCHDEACON OF ST DAVID'S, 
 RECTOR OF M1DDLETON CHENEY, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, 
 AND LATE FELLOW OF BRASEN NOSE COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 VOLUME THE FIRST. 
 
 L O N 
 
 PRINTED FOR F. C. AND 
 CHURCH-YARD ; AND 
 
 D 0 N: 
 
 J. RIVINGTON, ST. PAUL'S 
 T. PAYNE, PALL-MALL. 
 
 1 8 1 0. 
 
JOHN NICHOLS and SON, 
 PRINTERS, 
 
 Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London. 
 
■ iii ) 
 
 CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Account of the Author vii 
 
 Introduction xcvii 
 
 Sermon on the Quotations in the Old Testa- 
 ment cxxxi 
 
 Discourses on the Gospels 1 
 
 Sermon on our JLord's Manner of Teaching . 275 
 
 Index to the Discourses on the Four Gospels 293 
 
SOME ACCOUNT 
 
 O F 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Non possum reticere, Dea, qua Manlius in re 
 Jurerit, aut quantisjuverit offidis. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
ACCOUNT 
 
 © F 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 THE Reverend Thomas Townson, D.D. whose 
 works, having long been out of print and 
 much called for, are now collected and laid before 
 the Public in a new edition, was the eldest son of 
 the Reverend John Townson, M. A. rector of 
 Much Lees in Essex, by his wife Lucretia, daughter 
 of the Reverend Edward Wiltshire, rector of Kirk- 
 anders in Cumberland. He was born in 1715, and 
 baptized the seventh of April. They had issue, be- 
 sides, two sons and three daughters: Anne Stuart, 
 who died in 1750 : Lucretia, married June 10, 1761, 
 to the Reverend Thomas Winchester, D.D. rectoi'- 
 of Appleton, Berks: Edward Wiltshire, and Eleanor, 
 who both died young : and John, who in 17S0 was 
 chosen member of Parliament for Milbourn Port, 
 and re-chosen in 1784; and, having for many years 
 been one of the Directors of the Honourable East 
 India Company, departed this life March 3, 1797, 
 aged 72. 
 
 Mr, 
 
viii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 Mr. Tovvnson the father was a native of Lanca- 
 shire ; but the family came originally from York- 
 shire: and it is believed that Robert Tovvnson, bishop 
 of Salisbury in the last century, was of the same 
 stock 1 . He was educated in St. Mary Magdalen 
 Hall in Oxford ; and was admitted to the degree of 
 Master of Arts in 1710. He was presented in June 
 1713 to the rectory of Much Lees, by Margaret, 
 Catharine, and Anne Lennard, coheiresses of the 
 Honourable Henry Lennard, second son of Francis 
 Lord Dacre ; who afterwards sold the advowson to 
 Lincoln College in Oxford. Mr. Townson rebuilt 
 the parsonage (17 16), and instituted a charity 
 school ; which being, I presume, supported by sub- 
 scriptions contributed or procured by him, fell at 
 his death. He was chaplain to the last duchess of 
 Buckingham ; and traveled with her son, the last 
 duke. Those who remember him say, " he was a 
 most ingenious man 2 ;" which the reader probably 
 will readilv believe on perusing the following lines, 
 with which J shall cV,se what I have here to say 
 concerning the family, and return to the more im- 
 mediate subject of this narrative : 
 
 Translation of Sannazarius's Verses on Venice 3 , 
 By J. T. 1715. 
 
 Venice amidst the waves when Neptune saw, 
 And to thefetter'd ocuan giving law ; 
 Now, Jove, lie said, Tarpeian towers oppose, 
 And walls where Mars his habitation chose : 
 To Tiber's stream if Adria must give way, 
 The glories of each city well survey : 
 
 > On the authority of the late James Harris, Esq. of Salisburv, 
 one of whose ancestors married a daughter of Bishop Townson. 
 See Gent. Mag. 1792, p. 817. 
 
 5 The Rev. Thomas Chappell, of Witham, Es^ex, now (Au- 
 gust 1792) in his SCd year. Morant also calls him " the ingenious 
 Mr. Townson." Hist of Essex, vol. ii. p. 98. 
 
 3 See Delectus Epigramm. L viL ii. 
 
 And, 
 
THE AUTHOR. IX 
 
 And, these compar'd, you will confess this odds, 
 That Rome had men to found her, Venice gods. 
 
 Having been instructed a while by his excellent 
 father, he was placed under the Reverend Henry 
 Nott, vicar of the neighbouring parish of Terling ; 
 where he was soon distinguished for quickness of ap- 
 prehension and a most retentive memory 1 . From 
 Terling he was removed to the free school at Fel- 
 sted, a seminary of antient repute, where, besides 
 other persons of eminence, Dr. Wallis and Dr. Bar- 
 row were educated. It flourished at this time under 
 the direction of the Rev. Mr. Wyatt, studious alike 
 to cultivate purity of morals and accuracy of learn- 
 ing in his young charge. Mr. Townson's father 
 however, though he confided his son to so worthy a 
 master, did not neglect one precaution ; which was, 
 to put into his hands such editions or such copies of 
 Horace and other classics, from which those passages 
 that cannot enter the mind without contaminating it, 
 had been carefully expunged ; with an injunction 
 religiously to avoid the danger of perusing them. 
 He remembered with gratitude this parental precept 
 throughout life, and, as occasion served, gave simi- 
 lar advice to others ; convince'! that the absence of 
 temptation, and ignorance of vice, are among the 
 best preservatives against its contagion. 
 
 He was entered a commoner of Christ Church 
 March 13, 1733; and had for his tutor the Reve- 
 rend John Whitfield, M. A. who afterwards (1738) 
 succeeded the ingenious Mr. Spence as Poetry Pro- 
 fessor in the university, and was a man of parts and 
 elegant learning. Here, as at school, Mr. Townson's 
 proficiency was rapid ; and his poetical as well as 
 general talents, united with the utmost regularity 
 
 1 From the information of Mr. Chappcll, bis school-fellow 
 there. 
 
 and 
 
ACCOUNT OF 
 
 and obligingness of manners, soon recommended 
 him to notice and esteem He had been at college 
 little more than a year when he sustained an irrepa- 
 rable loss in the death of his ever honoured father, 
 who deceased in May 1734, and was interred in the 
 chancel of his own church. His widow, an excel- 
 lent and pious lady, survived him long ; and had the 
 happiness of seeing her children prosper in the 
 world. She died the day she completed her 76th 
 year, January 3, 1760. 
 
 In July 1735, he was elected Demy of St. Mary 
 Magdalen College, and two years afterwards Fellow 
 of that society, having in the intermediate year (Oc- 
 tober 20) been admitted to the degree of Bachelor of 
 Arts. He commenced M. A. June 20, 1739; and 
 was ordained deacon December 20, 1741, and priest 
 September 10, 1742, by Dr. Seeker, bishop of 
 Oxford. 
 
 1 From the information of the late bishop Smalhvell, one of 
 his contemporaries. He has two copies of hexameters, while he 
 was an undergraduate, in the Oxford Gratulations ; one on the 
 marriage of the Princess Anne to the Prince of Orange, 1734 ; 
 the other on the marriage of Frederick Prince of Wales, 1/36 : 
 and a tliird, when he was B. A. on the death of jQueen Caroline. 
 They have merit ; but two other copies, extant also in the Ox- 
 ford collections, which I suspect to be his, (for 1 find them writ- 
 ten in his hand, and dated, one, " 61." the other, " Sept. 8, 62.") 
 though they appear under another name, are superior to them in 
 energy and an easy flow of numbers. These however are of much 
 later date ; for the first of them is on the nuptials of his present 
 Majesty, 1*61, and begins thus : 
 
 " Nympha, animum et formam cui sidera !a;ta decusque 
 Dcdere, stirpe digna, digna nuptiis; 
 Nympha veni," &c. 
 
 The other are hexameters on the birth of the Prince of Wales : 
 
 " Nasccris, alme puer," &c. 
 
 Some verses indubitably Dr. Townson's will occasionally be intro- 
 duced in the following pages. 
 
 Three 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Three days after this he set out for France with 
 Mr. Dawkins, in company with Mr. Drake and Mr. 
 Holds worth. After about eight months they pro- 
 ceeded by way of Marseilles and Toulon to Italy. 
 From Florence Mr. Townson was about to return to 
 England alone ; Mr. Dawkins, with whom he tra- 
 veled, having taken up a resolution to visit Pal- 
 myra with Mr. Bouverie and Mr. Wood, who were 
 then in Italy. But Mr. Drake prevailed upon him 
 to accompany him and Mr. Holdsworth during the 
 remainder of the tour. They continued in Italy 
 about a year and half, crossed the Alps by Mount 
 Cenis on their return, passed through Germany and 
 Holland, and landed at Harwich, August 26, 1745- 
 From the minutes of his journal, kept with regu- 
 larity and marked with intelligence, an agreeable vo- 
 lume might easily have been formed, had he been 
 disposed to attempt it. But of the accuracy of such 
 books of travels as are usually given to the public, 
 from a transient view of a country, lie entertained no 
 very favourable opinion: in support of which he 
 occasionally related the following anecdote of his 
 friend and fellow traveler, Mr. Holdsworth. When 
 this gentleman first went into Italy, he composed 
 with some care an account of what he saw. On vi- 
 siting the same country again, with his former jour- 
 nal in his hand, he altered the narrative, and con- 
 tracted the substance of it. When he made the 
 same tour a third time, he burnt his papers. 
 
 Whilst he was on this classic ground, where every 
 scene revived the memory of some splendid achieve- 
 ment, or introduced him to some illustrious antient, 
 he did not forget ins own proper business and pro- 
 fession. When he was at Naples, and twice visited 
 with sympathetic fondness the tomb of his favourite 
 Virgil, he found time nevertheless, with a still more 
 honoured name and sublimer po^t, to contemplate 
 the glory of God in the works of creation and in his 
 
 written 
 
ACCOUNT OF 
 
 written law : and the result of his meditations ap- 
 pears in a very fine sermon on the nineteenth Psalm, 
 begun while he was in that city. 
 
 Mr. Russel, the ingenious author of " Letters 
 from a young Painter abroad," makes honourable 
 mention of Mr. Drake and the two companions of 
 his travels, with whom he was acquainted at Rome, 
 and painted them in " a conversation piece 1 ." It 
 is a small unfinished sketch ; and the portrait of Mr. 
 Townson, though mildness and sense are charac- 
 tered in the countenance, never was perhaps a strik- 
 ing likeness 2 : which is the more to be regretted as 
 he would never afterwards, I believe, certainly not 
 in latter life, consent to sit for his picture, though 
 repeatedly solicited by some of his most esteemed 
 and intimate friends. 
 
 The following lines, referring to this tour, and 
 written not long after it, may not improperly in this 
 
 Slace be laid before the reader. They were sent to 
 Ir. Drake, with Mr. Nelson's Address to Persons of 
 Quality : 
 
 1 In the possession of William Drake, Esq. The family have 
 also a miniature of Mr. Townson, but copied from this, and 
 therefore at double distance from the original. Dean Colet, as 
 some thought, resembled Dr. Townson. See the print in hi* 
 Life by Knight. But the print of Mr. Gambold (published Dec. 
 10, 1771> by J. West, from a painting by A. L. Brandt) with 
 some small similitude of feature, gives a better impression of the 
 air and manner of Dr. Townson ; in whose looks however a more 
 vigorous intellect was stamped. The shade which I have now 
 (1309) ventured to prefix, to these volumes (encouraged to do so 
 by his late highly esteemed and coetaneous friend, Sir Roger 
 Newdigate, Baronet) was sketched without his know ledge, by a 
 gentleman, who dined with him the year before his death. It Ls 
 a striking, but not quite a favourable, likeness. The facsimile 
 of his hand is from one of his last letters to me, Dec. 5, 1*91. 
 
 ' The portrait of Mr. Holdsworth, whose features were 
 stronger, is esteemed a better likeness. 
 
 O decus, 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 O decus, O nostrum, cui pectora culta Camcenis 
 
 Virtutum Sanctis ignibus urit amor ! 
 Tecum oram vidi Tiberinam, ubi Roma tot annos 
 
 Tam valida gessit maxima sceptra raanu ; 
 Vidi una septem sparsas in collibus urbis 
 
 Antiquae cineres imperiique tninas. 
 Prona solo solidis centum subnixa columnis 
 
 Templaque et insana mole thealra jacent. 
 Inde vides arcns longa pendere ruina, 
 
 Ibat ubi aeriam lympha Latina viam ; 
 Hinc magnis marmor positum victoribus aetas 
 
 Submit, &, victrix ultima sternit humi. 
 Et quae caeruleo se porrigit Appia tractu, 
 
 Ipsa suum mceret busta sepulta ducum. 
 Ecqua urbs, quae superet llomanas allior arces, 
 
 Major et imperio sanctior ecqua manet? 
 Pace potens regina, parens pulcherrima, magno 
 
 Complexa heroas ccelicolasque sinu ; 
 Cui neque vis sevi turres nec f'ulmina lacdant, 
 
 Nec manus aeternas Barbara vastet opes ? 
 Marmore quaetacito null i tegat ossa, perenni 
 
 Fonte trahens vitam laititiamque novam ; 
 Majestas sedeat cui sacri in culmine nioiitis 
 
 Suprema, et prresens templa sit ipse Deus ? 
 Hue age, Nelsono duce, nitere fortiter, et me 
 
 Nec tardis comitem passibus ire velis : 
 Qua pia gens nescit metas et tempora rerum, 
 
 Hie mihiamicitiam fas sit habere tuam ! 
 
 On his return from the Continent he resumed in 
 college the arduous and respectable employment of 
 tuition, in which he had been engaged before he 
 went abroad. In this capacity, besides those who 
 were members of the foundation, he had under his 
 care several young men of rank and fortune, and not 
 less distinguished by their abilities. Mr. Lovibond, 
 the admired author of the Tears of Old May Day, 
 and of other elegant poems, was one of his pupils 
 before he traveled ; and after he came back Lord 
 Bagot stood in the same relation to him ; and at this 
 time was laid the foundation of that entire friendship 
 
 between 
 
xiv 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 between them, which was interrupted only by that 
 event which dissolves the dearest ties of mortality. 
 
 In 1746 his friend Mr. Wyatt resigned the vicar- 
 age of Hatfield Peverel in Essex ; of which he in- 
 formed him by letter the same day, adding that 
 " he thought he ought to make application for it 
 to Mr. Dabbs," the patron ; " whose friendship it 
 might be well worth his while to cultivate 1 ." But 
 on the subject of soliciting for preferment his notions 
 were more rigid than those of his worthy school- 
 master ; and I believe he took no step whatsoever in 
 consequence of the advice given with so much zeal 
 and kindness. There was no reason however why 
 an affectionate mother should not voluntarily ask a 
 favour for her son ; and the living was given him at 
 her request ; in which perhaps she was seconded by 
 Mr. Wyatt, who was the first to acquaint him that 
 it was conferred. He was instituted the 25th of 
 August by that learned and excellent prelate, Bishop 
 Gibson. 
 
 He had a high veneration for Mr. Wyatt, main- 
 tained a constant friendship with him while he lived, 
 and wrote the following ode upon occasion of his 
 death, January 1749: 
 
 O alma Virtus, la:ta capessere 
 Veros labores, qua patriae datur 
 Prodesse, felicesque vitam 
 Excoluisse licet per artes ; 
 
 Te, Diva, sanctum consilium et tuum 
 Prffibente namen, sus inuit diu 
 Crito juventutis togatae 
 Ingenuas auimare mentes, 
 
 1 Mr. Wyatfs Letter, May 6, 1?46. 
 
 Amore 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 XV 
 
 Amore magnx laudis, et ingeni 
 Ciere lurneu lumine de suo ; 
 Acerba donee mors ab auris 
 jfclhereis rapuit magistrum. 
 
 Critona moerent exanimem boni ; 
 Et ipsa Virtus mceret, et inclitus 
 Laudum, ille vivus quas amavit, 
 Q.uas coluit, chorus. Hueret urna; 
 
 Affixa, mcesto non sine carmine, 
 Camrena ; fletu turn Pietas genam. 
 Humectat; et suspirat altuiu 
 Pectus amicitiiE fidele. 
 
 Nor was this the only or last instance of his re- 
 gard for the memory of Mr. Wyatt. For a few 
 years before he died, finding there was no sepulchral 
 memorial of him, he put up a neat tablet in the 
 church of Little Waltham, where he was interred, 
 having been rector of the parish ; with an inscrip- 
 tion, which commemorates his " learning, integ- 
 rity, piety, and charity." 
 
 In 1 749 he was senior Proctor of the university ; 
 and it is remembered of him that in performing the 
 duties of that difficult office he so tempered salutary 
 discipline with just lenity, and so recommended 
 whatever he did by the manner of doing it, that he 
 was universally esteemed and beloved. The Kad- 
 cliffe Library was opened this year with a speech by 
 the famed orator, Dr. King; aud the celebrity, graced 
 with a large and splendid company of the friends of 
 the university, was distinguished also by conferring 
 honorary degrees on the Trustees of Dr. Madeline's 
 benefaction. The speech delivered by the senior 
 proctor, upon the expiration of his office, is usually 
 a review of the events of the year; and Mr. Town- 
 son on that occasion, in an oration of classical ele- 
 gance 
 
xvl 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 gance and spirit, speaking of the foregoing memo- 
 rable occurrence, applauds the graceful eloquence 
 of the orator, and mentions, with much satis- 
 faction and merited praise, two of his friends who 
 received at that time academical honours, Mr. Drake 
 and Mr. Bagot, now Lord Bagot. He also bestows 
 a passing compliment on the poetry professor, Mr. 
 Lowth ; which cannot in the present day add to his 
 fame, but, since the life by which learning was ad- 
 vanced and religion adorned is now closed, it may 
 safely be quoted : " Quern de poetica sacra sic ex 
 cathedra explicantem audivimus, ut omnibus omari 
 rebus videretur, qua? aut naturae munera sunt, aut 
 instrumenta doctrinae." This is handsome certainly; 
 but it should be noted as the more candid and 
 honourable in the speaker, not only because Mr. 
 Lowth and he were generally looked up to as the 
 two first scholars in the university a circumstance 
 which in ordinary minds might have created some 
 jealousy ; but still more because there had been a 
 design of bringing him forward as a competitor with 
 Mr. Lowth for the poetry professorsh'p. Such com- 
 petition however his modesty could not sutler; and 
 the learned world will for ever be delighted and im- 
 proved by the admirable Preelections on Hebrew 
 poetry; a work, which if the correct judgement and 
 taste of Mr. Townson could have equaled in point 
 of manner and style, his more limited knowledge 
 of the language, which is the subject of it, could 
 not have supplied the matter. 
 
 This same vear (1749) he resigned Hatfield; 
 and was presented to the rectory of Blithfield, in 
 
 1 From the information of* the late Henrv Homer, Mi A. rector 
 of Lirdingburv, Warwickshire, one of Dr. Townson's first j upils, 
 a person of strong sense, of amiable manners, and of general 
 worth; who died greatly lamented July 14, 1791 > having- some 
 time before draw n up a very just character of his levered friend 
 and tutor : which see in Gent. Mag. 1/92. p. 5S7, 588. 
 
 Stafford- 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xvil 
 
 Staffordshire, by Sir Walter Wagstaffe Bagot, Ba- 
 ronet. He was instituted August 29th, by Bishop 
 Smalbrook. It was the custom of this bishop to 
 examine the clergy, who came to him for institution, 
 by solemn interrogatories, partly in English, partly 
 in Latin, on theological subjects: and he was also 
 commendably strict in enforcing the residence of his 
 clergy. But Mr. Townson, who underwent the 
 usual scrutiny, was for the present excused in the 
 article of residence on account of the office, which 
 he now held as proctor in the university. 
 
 Soon after he quitted the proctorship he was ad- 
 mitted (June 15) to the degree of Bachelor in Di- 
 vinity ; and the same summer Mr. Drake offered 
 him the lower mediety of Malpas, in the county of 
 Chester. This living, though of considerable value, 
 he felt no small reluctance to accept, as it was so 
 remote from his native county, and from most of 
 his friends ; and also because, being incompatible 
 with his fellowship, it would entirely remove him 
 from Oxford, a place which he loved with filial re- 
 spect and affection. At length however, upon de- 
 bating the matter seriously with a friend, who 
 among other considerations suggested to him, that 
 as to his fellowship, the relinquishing of which was 
 a main difficulty with hun, such a situation was not 
 to be regarded as a settlement for life, but rather as 
 a means to an end, qualifying the possessor for a 
 sphere of greater activity and wider influence ; on 
 this view, lie determined with Ciod's blessing not to 
 refuse what was so handsomely tendered. He was 
 instituted by Bishop Peploe, January 2, 1751. At 
 the close of the year (December 10) he quitted Ox- 
 ford, and resigned his fellowship the month follow- 
 ing. It was afterwards matter of much satisfaction 
 to him, as it was of sincere joy to the parish, that 
 he did not agree to an exchange for Whitechapel in 
 London, which was once (1756) proposed to him. 
 
 He 
 
xviii 
 
 ACCOUNT or 
 
 He divided his time between Malpas and Blithfield, 
 which he held for a few years with his new prefer- 
 ment ; and then having resigned it, he inducted 
 (February 23, 1759) his worthy successor the 
 Reverend Walter Bagot, M. A. son of his esteemed 
 friend and patron. 
 
 In 1758 a considerable accession of fortune came 
 to him. The Reverend William Barcroft, M. A, 
 rector of Fairsted and vicar of Kelvedon in Essex, 
 was a friend of the family at Much Lees, and had 
 a particular value and esteem for the eldest son. Mr. 
 Barcroft had two sons ; but both of them dying be- 
 fore him, he became the only surviving branch of 
 the family, of whom several had been clergymen, 
 and educated, as he was, at Cambridge. He de- 
 parted this life February 14, 1758, having be- 
 queathed to Mr. Townson, whom he constituted 
 the sole executor of his will l , his library of books, 
 and the principal part of his fortune, amounting in 
 the whole to more than eight thousand pounds. On 
 receiving this intelligence, he repaired to Kelvedon, 
 and paid with all decency the last offices of respect 
 to his very worthy and generous friend and be- 
 nefactor. 
 
 The lower parsonage at Malpas, when he came 
 into possession of it, was small and incommodious ; 
 and the house was separated from the garden by a 
 farm yard and barns. He removed the barns (176*0) 
 and threw the site of them into the garden, thus 
 connecting it with the dwelling-house, which he en- 
 larged and altered, and rendered it a very pleasing, 
 compact, and comfortable residence, suitable to the 
 living. 
 
 And now having established him at Malpas, his 
 \ Prerog. Off. Hutton, 61 
 
 only 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 XIX 
 
 only preferment, and the seat of his constant resi- 
 dence, it will be proper to take a view of him in 
 performing the important duties of his station ; and 
 for that purpose a short account of the parish ap- 
 pears requisite. 
 
 The parish of Malpas, Cheshire, consists of twen- 
 ty-four hamlets, or, as they are styled in that county 
 palatine, townships; and is, in some directions, 
 about ten miles long. There are two rectors to su- 
 perintend this ample district ; but when, or on what 
 occasion, the partition originated is not known. It 
 has subsisted more than five hundred years; and the 
 portions, from the relative situation of the two par- 
 sonages, have, for more than half that length of 
 time, been commonly called the Upper and Lower 
 Rectory or mediety. Advowsons are usually ap- 
 pendant on manors, the original lord of the soil re- 
 serving the right of presentation to the preferment 
 which he himself founded ; and for the same reason 
 a parish and manor are commonly co-extensive. At 
 Malpas Mr. Drake has three-fourths of the manor, 
 ami also of the advowson, being possessed of the 
 entne patronage <">f the lower rectory, and present- 
 ing t'i tiie upper alternately with Lord Chohnonde- 
 ley ; who has the tide of Viscount from the town, as 
 he has that of Earl fro;n one of the townships in the 
 parish, when the family seat is. The two rectors 
 have each oT ihein a carate, with whose assistance 
 they {>erform the duty alternately by weeks. There 
 are two sermons on Sunday, prayers twice a week 
 and on holidays, and every day in the week before 
 the sacrament, which is administered on the first 
 Sunday in every month, and at the great festivals. 
 There are two chapels, to one of which the rector or 
 his curate, who is not engaged in the parish-church, 
 goes every Sunday, except on sacrament days, when 
 they all assist at the mother church. 
 
 In 
 
XX 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 In the duties thus apportioned, Dr. Townson 
 always took his full share, as well in the desk as the 
 pulpit ; and the service of the church of England is 
 no where performed with greater decency and so- 
 lemnity, and rubrical exactness. Indeed from the 
 number and order of its clergy, this large arid lofty 
 edifice has somewhat of the appearance and conse- 
 quence of a collegiate church ; and as the consti- 
 tution is highly comfortable, and, in a moral view, 
 advantageous to the ministers themselves, by ex- 
 citing emulation and giving room for example ; so 
 is it, from the diversity of talents wherewith God 
 may have blessed them, peculiarly useful and edi- 
 fying to their hearers. The honest plainness and 
 authority of one preacher rouses the torpid ; the 
 energetic pathos of another bears along with it the 
 soul of sensibility ; and the mild persuasive elo*- 
 quence of a third, profitable to all, has its best 
 effect and influence upon the virtuous and the good. 
 This latter was universally the manner of Dr. Town- 
 son. In his looks there was meekness joined with 
 intelligence ; in his conversation gentleness, and yet 
 authority ; in his whole deportment condescension 
 with dignity. When he read prayers in the con- 
 gregation, there was a warmth and fervour in his 
 manner, that was at once awful and edifying: his 
 utterance was never rapturous, it was never languid; 
 and a service highly reasonable in itself, wherein 
 human wisdom and evangelical devotion are so 
 happily combined, appeared and was felt from his 
 lips as more strikingly reasonable. When he 
 ascended the pulpit, the same meekness of majesty 
 attended him ; every eye was fixed upon him, every 
 ear listened with eagerness. His sermons were 
 various in method and manner, as the subject re- 
 quired or suggested ; but what was most peculiar and 
 characteristic in him, were reflections easy and na- 
 tural, but without the strict form of a studied dis- 
 course, on some portion of scripture, on some me- 
 morable 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 XXI 
 
 rrtorable events or some distinguished peYsonagfc, on 
 a psalm, or a parable. A discourse-thus constructed 
 was not "fin abstract dissertation, remote from lite and 
 common apprehension ; but delineating real events 
 and real characters, which by- the observations and 
 arguments of the preacher were brought home to 
 present times, and -rendered applicable to all ; in- 
 struction was thus united with and enforced by 
 example : you saw misery as the sure consequence of 
 sin in all ages ; you saw present tranquillity and 
 everlasting peace, by the constitution of things and 
 by divine promise, the attendants and rewards of 
 obedience. When he spoke professedly on points of 
 Christian doctrine, on the blessed sacraments, or the 
 prime festivals, though the form and manner were 
 less removed from the common track, his words, ele- 
 vated and warmed with the superior grandeur of the 
 subject, were, if possible, still more highly awful 
 and impressive. All his sermons were distinguished 
 by ingenuity; in all there was strong sense conveyed 
 in easy and familiar words; in all of them piety and 
 humility were prominent and conspicuous features. 
 At the same time his elocution, which was clear and 
 well modulated, and his gesture, which was grace- 
 ful and easy, grave and correct, set off and adorned 
 the matter : there was indeed, especially when time 
 had shed a more venerable lustre on his countenance, 
 the air and dignity of an apostle about him, tem- 
 pered only and softened by the recollection that he 
 was a man of our own days ; easy'; unaffected,^ and 
 affable in private, as he was powerful and com- 
 manding when he spoke as a minister of the gospel 
 and ambassador of heaven. You would pledge 
 your soul on his sincerity ; you were sure he longed 
 for nothing so fervently as your salvation. Your 
 heart glowed within you ; and you went home re- 
 solved to love God above all, and vour neighbour as 
 yourself. i 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 c 
 
ACCOUNT Of 
 
 . IJte greatly admired, from full conviction of Its 
 excellence, the Common Prayer of the Church of 
 England. The spirit of devotion, which pervades 
 :ind animates it, the energy and simplicity of it, are 
 incontestable; but ft was his opinion that the 
 prayers, compressed a* they are in short collects, or 
 couched in single jxjtitkms, were at onCe well 
 adapted for the family or the closet, and incompa- 
 rably the best for social and public worship. For 
 though possibly an individual may with equal im- 
 provement use a longer form, the words of which 
 he himself utters; yet when numbers join mentally 
 irt prayers spoken by one, their attention is less 
 likely to grow weary, or to wander, when assisted 
 by frequent pauses ; bv alternate petitions, responses, 
 and ejaculations, as in the established liturgy. 
 
 Though he lamented the unhappy disputes and 
 philosophical refinements on the scriptural simpli- 
 city, which had made it necessary to introduce so 
 much technical phraseology, not merely into works 
 of theological speculation, but of practical devotion, 
 yet he considered the Athanasian creed, where such 
 terms abound, as a very fine composition ; in which, 
 with admirable judgement and accuracy, the direct 
 path of evangelical truth is marked out, and, by a 
 language clear and unequivocal, equally secured 
 against opposite errors; against the Sabellian or 
 Swedenbourgian hypothesis, which confounds the 
 persons in the Godhead, and the Arian heresy, 
 which divides the substance and unity of nature in 
 the holy Trinity. 
 
 His attention extended to small matters, as well as 
 more important; and there being a difference in the 
 mode of reading the introductory invocations of the 
 Litany, where some persons lay stress on the pro- 
 noun (us), others on the preposition preceding 
 (upon), the latter he esteemed, the proper way of 
 
 pronouncing 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xxiii 
 
 pronouncing the clause; since the Litany is not a 
 prayer for the congregation exclusively, but, as the 
 rubric explains it, u a general supplication" lor all 
 mankind. 
 
 He thought a certain decency and solemnity of 
 form were of great use in giving life and effect 
 to religious offices intrinsically excellent. " Order" 
 indeed, in the judgement of the div ine Hooker, is 
 that " without which peace could not be in hea- 
 ven 1 ;" but it is fit that a religion intended for an 
 inferior and compound being should be adapted to 
 his whole nature, and engage whatever is innocent 
 in him on the side of virtue ; so that, while the sen- 
 timents have the concurrence of the understanding, 
 and the spirit and energy warm the heart, the exte- 
 rior circumstances may catch the imagination and 
 influence the passions. Thus the whole man is em- 
 ployed in his best service, and every faculty con- 
 spires in paying homage to Him who gave it. Such 
 were his sentiments of whom we are speaking; 
 and in addition to the regular order which he 
 found at Malpas, he himself introduced one custom 
 now observed there, that two of the clergy should 
 officiate on Sundays at the altar. It appeared, he 
 thought, decent and respectful that the Almighty 
 should be well attended at his holv table. 
 
 When he had been rector of Malpas some time, 
 a handsome pair of silver chalices were found in the 
 church ; and it was afterwards discovered, that he 
 was the donor of them. They are inscribed with 
 this verse: " All things come of thee, O Lord; and 
 of thine own have we given thee." 1 Chron. xxix. 14. 
 He afterwards gave a chalice to the neighbouring 
 church of Harthill, with the same inscription. 
 
 ' Walton's Life of him, ad finem 
 C 2 
 
XX iv AttoLXJ or 
 
 But it is time that we attend him in the conduct- 
 of his houshold, and the care of his flock. On the 
 former head it may suffice to observe, that it was 
 the house of a truly devout and christian pastor, 
 who summoned all under his roof to morning and 
 evening prayer ; and the same sedate and holy fer- 
 vour, which was so edifying in the church, njfcver 
 failed to animate these less public addresses to heaven. 
 On Sunday evenings one hour was devoted *to 
 reading the holy Scriptures in his family with some 
 practical comment 1 ; and the instructive lesson be- 
 gan 2 and ended with prayer. At the same time it 
 was a rule with him not to encroach on the duties 
 of this day by writing letters, much less by the too 
 common practice of traveling. It was always, 
 within his walls, a day of peculiar hospitality and 
 equal cheerfulness. 
 
 In visiting the sick, a duty to which he was scru- 
 pulouslv attentive, he sometimes availed himself of 
 the liberty which the Canons give 3 ; and made appo- 
 site alterations in the prayers of the church, or 
 adopted a prayer from a private manual. But in 
 general he adhered strictly to the. established forms: 
 selecting,* and commonly by memory, from the ap- 
 pointed oflice and from other parts of the liturgy, 
 what he judged most suitable to the occasion. Pe- 
 cuniary assistance, if necessary, was at the same 
 time afforded with a liberal hand ; and, as circum- 
 stances demanded, reproof also or consolation, or 
 instruction, or encouragement was, wisely admi- 
 nistered, at a season when the mind is usually most 
 susceptible of good impressions. In some instances, 
 if other means of access did not occur, or did not 
 succeed, he privately wrote to persons living in 
 known habits of vice. To imagine that any, or that 
 
 1 Commonly Qsten aid ; in Pa-sion week Bonnell's Harmoay. 
 ' Second collect in Advent. 
 1 Canon lxvii. 
 
TIIE AUTHOR, 
 
 XXV 
 
 all these methods of reclaiming from wickedness, 
 with whatever wisdom chosen, or whatever vigour 
 pursued, would in all cases produce the desired 
 effect, were to suppose that men were not men : 
 but much good undoubtedly, under the blessing of 
 God, was thus accomplished ; and even those, who 
 were too perverse, or too hardened to be reformed 
 by their spiritual guide, still however, such was his 
 known probity, such his suavity of manners, and 
 genuine piety, universally loved and revered him. 
 
 Besides distributing copies of the holy Scriptures 
 and books of piety, which now and then were doubly 
 endeared to the receiver by some affectionate inscrip- 
 tion of the donor 1 , he also took no small care that 
 children especially (of whom he generally kept se- 
 veral at school) should be taught and should use 
 morning and evening prayer; and likewise that they 
 should learn by heart that admirable compendium of 
 Christian morality, the third chapter of the Epistle 
 to the Colossians. 
 
 On a special occasion he composed and used the 
 following prayer, by the desire of the sufferer : 
 
 " O Almighty and everlasting God, whose blessed 
 Son Jesus Christ did give to his apostles and other 
 
 1 A specimen perhaps may not be unacceptable : 
 
 " A present 
 to Mr. D. B. 
 from one of those 
 who promised for hiin at hi^ baptism, 
 that lie should renounce the works of the devil, 
 and the sinful lusts of the flesh ; 
 ♦hat he should believe all the articles of the Christian faith, 
 and that he should walk in the commandments of God 
 all the days of his life. 
 God grant that these promises 
 may be faithfully and religiously kept, 
 for the comfort of Him who made them, 
 and the happiness of Him 
 for whom they were made.'' 
 
 ministers 
 
xxvi 
 
 ACCOUNT Ol 
 
 ministers of liis word power over unclean spirits, 
 Grant, O Lord, that if any evil spirits have afflicted 
 this thy servant, they maybe driven away from him, 
 and be suffered no more to hurt or come near him, 
 Hear, O Lord, our humble supplication in the name 
 and through the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 Amen." 
 
 The hypothesis, on which this proceeds, as he was 
 well aware, though consonant to the sentiments of 
 our best divines, is not the current opinion of the 
 day. But what is unfashionable is not always false. 
 It is thought by some to be in all cases a sufficient 
 proof that nothing beyond natural disease has hap- 
 pened, because, when by medical aid bodily health 
 has been restored, the mind is again perfectly free 
 and tranquil. He esteemed this argument by no 
 means satisfactory. There are persons, who will 
 converse with you coolly and rationally on any sub- 
 ject whatsoever, who yet have occasionally propo- 
 sitions darted into their mind (as they believe and 
 express themselves) as distinct from their own train 
 of thoughts, as if they were pronounced hy another 
 person. To allege that the body occasions these 
 things is surely to assign an effect without a cause, or 
 (which js the same thing) without an adequate cause; 
 for it is not? I hope, the body that creates thoughts 
 and forms propositions. To say, again, that the mind 
 itself is the sole agent in the business, is to argue 
 against the consciousness and conviction of that 
 mind ; for the person thus molested shall at the same 
 instant be talking with you cheerfully on a subject 
 totally different, shall be reading, or praying. If 
 these momentary interruptions are seldom experi- 
 enced but when the body is more or less indisposed, 
 and cease when it has regained the full tone and 
 vigour of health, this only shows that a disordered 
 body was the predisposing occasion or organ, but 
 does not prove it to have been the immediate or ef- 
 ficient cause. It will not be denied that there are 
 
 malignant 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xxvii 
 
 malignant beings, who watch every opportunity, 
 and eagerly seize every permitted mode, of as- 
 saulting us ; and where then is the absurdity of sup* 
 posing they may be able to harass us, when one part 
 of the machine is disordered, in a different manner 
 or degree, from what is in common eases possible, 
 when the whole moves in perfect harmony ? When 
 a wicked monarch was troubled by a more wicked 
 spirit, the melody of the harp composed and re-, 
 freshed him, and he was well ; and his foiled as- 
 sailant departed from him '. 
 
 In niiat I have stated, I am assured, I represent 
 facts ; and I know, as to the probable cause of 
 those facts, I express His sentiments, whose opi- 
 nions as well as actions, so far as it is material to 
 record the one or the other, it is my duty tjo exhibit 
 with all fidelity. We cannot pronounce- with cer- 
 tainty what is merely natural disease, what demo- 
 niacal possession, and what the occasionaK mo- 
 lestation of the powers of darkness ; for we have 
 not, as one has justly remarked on the subject 2 , that 
 miraculous gift, the discerning of spirits ; but it is 
 right surely to pray for deliverance from the more 
 extraordinary degrees of temptation or trouble, as 
 well as from those which are less uncommon, pro- 
 vided it be done with a condition expressed, that the 
 case be what to us appears probable : and a better 
 prayer for the purpose will not easily be devised, 
 than that which precedes and occasioned these 
 remarks, 
 
 From parochial labours to literary pursuits the 
 transition is easy and natural. About the year 1 766", 
 and for some time afterwards, he employed himself 
 
 ' 1 Sam. xvi. 23. 
 
 ■ Bishop n&wton in his Dissertation on the Demoniacs. See 
 his wqiks, voliii. p. 191. 
 
 with 
 
xxv iii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 with much care and diligence in composing an ex- 
 position of the Apocalypse. The work was finished, 
 but never published ; and he once mentioned the 
 circumstance to a very worthy friend as an instance 
 of the success of prayer. It was his humble request 
 to God, that if his system were wrong, the work 
 might never see the light ; and it so proved, that 
 whenever he thought of revising his papers and pre- 
 paring them for the press, something still intervened 
 and hindered his design. With regard to the inter- 
 pretation of the unaccomplished prophecies in this 
 awful book, he remarked, at a later period, having 
 an eye to what he had written on the subject, " I 
 once thought I had it all very clearly before- me; 
 but 1 now suspect we know very little of the matte**' 
 He was the more confirmed in this notion" when he 
 beheld that unforeseen and marvelous '•''event, the 
 total overthrow of the Gallic constitution ; and he 
 dropped a hint, a few days before his death, that if 
 the papal power was to be destroyed bv the sword, 
 the French probably were the people who would ac- 
 complish its downfal. As to his comment on the 
 Apocalypse, it was suffered to lie quiet in his studv* 
 with a direction to be burnt, which he never Ye- 
 scinded. 
 
 Tn the intervals of his application to this learned 
 work, he found leisure to attend to the controversy 
 of the Confessional, which then made some stir in 
 the world. He published, on that occasion, three 
 short pamphlets, but without his name ; partlv, no 
 doubt, from his native modesty, and still more to 
 avoid, as far as possible, dispute and' altercation. 
 The first is intituled, " Doubts concerning the au- 
 thenticity of the last publication of the Confessional, 
 and the current editions of certain books cited in it: 
 addressed to the Author of that learned v ; k." It 
 is written, as might be conjectured frpni the title, 
 in a strain of irony, and is a very masterly per- 
 formance : 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 formance : in the course of which, he clearly though 
 obliquely proves the charge implied in botlt^ts 
 parts, showing the inconsistency of the author with 
 himself in several instances, and the unfairness of 
 his quotations in many more. Dr. Glocester Ridley, 
 in. his Letters to the Author of the Confessional, 
 disclaiming any confederacy with the writer of the 
 Doubts, or even knowledge of him, or so much as a 
 guess who he was ; adds, " You, however, and 
 your friends, may do well to recollect, that the 
 same genius to which we ascribe the Batraehomyo- 
 macliia, could when he pleased write an Iliad i.'' 
 
 The Doubts came out in November 1767 ; and in 
 August 1768 he published " A Defence" of them, 
 " in answer to Occasional Remarks, &c." In this 
 piece he fully establishes all the controverted points 
 against the Remarker, with exception onlv of a sin- 
 gle mistake, where he lost his way in the labyrinth 
 of a long note. To this circumstance, and to his 
 being obliged to go over all his work again, the 
 motto aptly alludes : 
 
 / Tiursus perplexum iter omne revolvcns 
 
 Fallacis s)lvae. jEm. ix. 391. 
 
 In June 1768 he published, but for other book- 
 sellers the better to conceal himself, " A Dialogue 
 between Isaac Walton and Homologistes ; in which 
 ' ' character of Bishop Sanderson is defended against 
 be Author of the Confessional." It is superfluous 
 here to mention what the charges were, which the 
 writer in question had brought against Bishop San- 
 derson ; and scarcely necessary to observe, that in 
 the Dialogue he is fully vindicated, in every instance 
 where he had been attacked. The Confessional hath 
 long since had its day; the name of Bishop Sander- 
 
 1 Postscript to third Letter to the Author of the Confessional. 
 
 SOU 
 
XXX 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 so* will be clear to posterity while candour, piety, 
 and learning are known and valued. 
 
 In September this year, at the earnest request of 
 his friend and patron Mr. Drake, he went abroad 
 with his eldest son, Mr. William Drake, a gentleman 
 commoner of Brasen Nose College. The party was 
 rendered more agreeable by the addition of a third, 
 Henry Maxwell, Esquire, a gentleman commoner 
 of Christ Church, now of Ewshot y Hants. When 
 they were met to set forth, he made one stipulation 
 with his companions, that he should read the service 
 of the church of England to them every Sunday ; 
 and it is but justice, as he remarked, to add, that 
 they both very readily consented. 
 
 And now, while he is pursuing nearly the same 
 tour with young Mr. Drake, which, as we have 
 seen above, he performed six and twenty years be- 
 fore in company with his Father, it may be proper, 
 on account of some circumstances involved in the 
 transaction, and others connected with it, to 
 mention a person, who about this period became 
 known to him, and was afterwards admitted into 
 his intimate friendship and regard. 
 
 The writer of these memoirs was the younger son 
 of one of Dr. Townson's parishioners, a yeoman. 
 At a proper age he was put to the grammar-school 
 in Malpas, with wishes, I believe, rather than ad- 
 just hopes, of bringing him up for the church. It 
 phased God that both his parents died: but he con- 
 tinued at school; and his worthy* master, the Rev. 
 Mr. Evans, mentioned him to Dr. Townson, who 
 made him presents of books, and frequently as- 
 sisted and directed his studies. By Dr. Tow nson's 
 Tccommendation he was entered at Brasen Nose in 
 1772 ; and the same generous hand contribute d one 
 iolf towards his academical expences. Jn 1 7 7 S ht 
 
 was 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xxxi 
 
 was chosen fellow of his college ; and his kind 
 friend and benefactor lived to congratulate him on 
 being presented by tbat Society, March 12, 17.92, 
 to the rectory of Middleton Cheney, in Northamp- 
 tonshire. 
 
 Dr. Townson landed at Dover, October 42, 176*0, 
 after an absence of " one year and sixteen days, 
 with his two virtuous and good young companions." 
 The journal of his former tour, when he was fresh 
 from Oxford and his classical studies, concludes 
 with a Latin sentence, expressive of gratitude for 
 safety and protection, to the God of all power and 
 all goodness ! . The second journal ends thus ; 
 •' Blessed be his good Providence who hath pro- 
 tected us during our journey, and brought us back 
 in health and safety to the land of our Nativity !" 
 
 On his arrival at Malpas, he was welcomed with 
 , rejoicing, which it is equally impossible to describe 
 or forget. The whole parish crowded to see him ; 
 and every one that saw him blessed him. His own 
 joy on the occasion, if more serene (as the poet 
 pourtrays the passion, M taciturn pertentant gaudia 
 pectus") was not less heart-felt : for indeed he loved 
 his nock with sincere affection : and, upon his re- 
 turn to them, applied himself with new ardour to 
 his pastoral duties and theological studies. 
 
 Of these his studies one of the productions was 
 the " Discourses on the four Gospels ;" the progress 
 of which we must now trace. The sermon, which 
 opens the subject, " was in substance first preached 
 in the parish church of Blithfield, when Sir Walter 
 Bagot was one of his hearers." This probably was 
 whilst he was rector of Blithfield ; but certainly be- 
 
 1 " Deo Opt. Max. gratise immortales, cujqs providenti& in 
 patrjam incohmies reyersi sunius." 
 
 fore 
 
xxxn 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 fore the year ] 7GS ; for on the twentieth of Janu- 
 ary in that year, this excellent person, " beloved by 
 all who knew him," " with the most edifying con- 
 tentment and composure, and I may add, desire of 
 the great change, resigned his pious soul into the 
 hands of his God and Saviour." So he speaks of 
 the solemn and affecting scene, at which he was 
 present. • 
 
 The discourse was laid by, as his manner was,' 
 till, the .contents being in good measure forgotten, 
 he could read "and consider it with a degree of cool- 
 ness and indifference. It was preached before the 
 university, of which he still continued a member, 
 June 2, 1 77 1. His learned audience desired him to 
 publish what they had heard with so much satis- 
 faction. Such approbation induced him maturely 
 to re-consider the subject ; and he threw into an 
 appendix the proofs of certain points, which it had 
 been necessary in the sermon to assume as granted. 
 The matter grew upon him, till the work acquired 
 its present form and size. Having submitted it, at 
 different times, to the perusal and censure of some 
 very learned and judicious friends ; he at last, in 
 compliance with their repeated solicitations, gave 
 up the manuscript for publication. It came out in 
 the spring of 1778 : but even then, by his own gooa 
 will, his name would not have appeared ; which 
 was given with his acquiescence rather than con- 
 sent, by his worthy friend and brother-in-law, 
 the Rev. Dr. Winchester, who superintended the 
 publication. 
 
 I forbear to exhibit any abstract or analysis of a 
 work, which is in every one's hands; but it st-emcd 
 neither uninteresting nor unimportant to give tins 
 short history of it ; as it shows, what might indeed 
 in part be collected from the book itself, with what 
 caution and attentive patience he proceeded in the 
 
 arduous. 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xxxih 
 
 arduous province of Scriptural Criticism. What he 
 aimed at, as he said very truly, was not the polish- 
 ing of words and sentences, but to send forth his 
 work as conformable to truth, on so sacred a subject, 
 r as his care and attention could lead him K With 
 this view he neglected no aid that could be procured 
 from any quarter, remote or near at hand, friendly 
 or hostile ; but he used to say, that if he was to 
 write upon any question, he would rather read what 
 had been written against it than for it. Some of the 
 most shining passages in these Discourses, at least 
 some which have most of novelty, and give full con- 
 tent to the reader, incidentally owe their origin to 
 this circumstance. The admirable account of the 
 superscription on the cross 2 , completely vindicating 
 it from the objections of Middleton, may be ad- 
 duced as one instance of this sort. And the reason as- 
 signed for the message to the disciples, Matth.xxviii. 
 7. 10. equally ne^' and satisfactory, in the Discourse 
 on our Lord's Resurrection 3 , is another example of 
 the same nature. Thus error defeats itself, and is 
 • made to advance the- cause which it was designed to 
 overturn. 
 
 Another remark, connected with the foregoing, 
 and verified in his practice, was, that it was an use- 
 ful method in treating a subject to put yourself in 
 the situation of an opponent, and consider as far as 
 possible all that might be objected to your hypo- 
 thesis or your proofs. Hence the character given of 
 Socrates, which Homer also, as that philosopher 
 observed, ascribes to Ulysses, " that he was a safe 
 speaker may with great justice be applied to him. 
 It would be difficult to name a work, abounding 
 like this in variety of matter, that is so little liable 
 
 1 Letter to John LoveJay, Esquire, Nov. 23, 17T2. 
 
 2 Disc. vi. sect. ii. 4. 
 . 2 P. 121 — l'SS. 
 
 4 Xen. Mem 1. iv. vi. § 15. Odyss. 1. ix. 171- 
 
 to 
 
xxxiv 
 
 ACCOUNT Of 
 
 to just exceptions 1 , and carries such full conviction 
 to the mind of an impartial reader, on points where, 
 from the very nature of the subject, probability in 
 different degrees, not absolute certainty, must be 
 the result of the inquiry. 
 
 As to himself, what afforded him principal con- 
 tent, in the course of his researches, and upori the 
 final issue of them, was, to find that the internal 
 evidence all along confirmed external testimony ; 
 that the Gospels were published in the same order in 
 which they now stand ; and that each of them was 
 written with that special view and design, which the 
 early fathers and the tradition of the church re- 
 spectively assign to them. 
 
 Of the presents which he bestowed of this work; 
 those to his two colleges were distinguished by notes 
 inscribed in them " from the author," which merit 
 preservation. One was, " for the library of St. 
 
 1 The Reviewers objected to the account of the Transfigura* 
 tion (Disc. i.-p. 8. _4to. ed. p. 10. 3vo.) thinking it improbable 
 that the apostles should sleep, as it Is there stated, during the 
 display of such majesty and glory. But had they consulted the^ 
 Gospels, or attended properly to the passage which they criticised, 
 they would have seen, that the only point for conjecture was, 
 what might be the cause of their sleep j for that tliey did sleep, 
 (luring some part of the time, is an attested fact: Luke ix. 32. 
 ft appears, but is not generally observed, that our blessed Lord 
 was on the mountain a whole night (Luke ix 37.) but whether 
 the transfiguration was in the day, or during the night, or partly 
 in both, we are not informed. Our Lord went up into the moun- 
 tain " to pray" (Luke ix. 28.) and I think in every instance re- 
 corded of his private prayer (of which sort was this with his 
 three confidential disciples) wliere the time is mentioned or (an 
 be collected, it was by night. His prayer in the garden with 
 these same three disciples (Matth. xxvi. 37, &c.) will instantly oc- 
 cur. See also Matth. xiv. 23 — 25. Mark i. 35. Luke vi. 12 
 So that, in the literal sense, it might be said, He " worked the 
 work of him that sent him while it was day ;" and took from 
 "the night, when no man can work," hours of prayer for 
 strength to perform it. John ix. 4. 
 
 Man 
 
tttE AUTHOR, 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Mary Magdalen College ; in grateful remembrance 
 of the advantages he received, and of the happiness 
 he enjoyed, while a member of the college founded 
 by the munificent and venerable WjUiam of Wain- 
 fleet: to which, as in duty bound, he devoutly wishes 
 perpetual prosperity, temporal, literary, and reli- 
 gious." The other was, " for the library of Christ 
 Church ; in which college he had the happiness of 
 beginning his academical studies; and to which he 
 gratefully wishes perpetual prosperity, under a suc- 
 cession of Deans as worthy to preside as the present:'' 
 a just compliment to his learned and excellent friend 
 Dr. Bagot, at that time Dean of Christ Church, af- 
 terwards the exemplary Bishop of St Asaph. 
 
 The various letters which he received in conse- 
 quence of this publication, though highly honour- 
 able to the author and the work, it would be tedious 
 to mention. Perhaps, however, a single exception 
 ought to be made. His friend, Bishop Lowth, to 
 whom he gave a copy, after reading it through, de- 
 livers this opinion of it : " that it is a Capital Per- 
 formance, and sets every part of the Subject it treats 
 of in a more clear and convincing light, than it ever 
 appeared in before 1 ." 
 
 But he received testimony to the merit of his book, 
 on which he set a higher value than on the com- 
 mendation of anv individual, however exalted in 
 character, or dignified by station. Tins was the de- 
 gree of Doctor in Divinity by diploma, which " was 
 with perfect unanimity conferred on him 2 ," in full 
 
 ' letter to the author, March 21, 1?"S. 
 -' Tbe Vice-Chancellor's letter with the diploma; which is hi 
 these terms : 
 
 f Cancellarius &e. Cum nihil nobis tit antiquius quam at 
 academue nostra alumni pietatis et eraditionis omnium abiqne 
 judkio pFBecellentes a nobis otiam peculiari quadam honoris tes- 
 sera 
 
XXXVI 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 convocation, by the university of Oxford, February 
 2 3j 1779- His .sense of this honour he expressed in 
 the follow inn- letter to Dr. Home, then Vice-chan- 
 cellor, afterwards the worthy bishop of Norw ich : 
 
 " Mil. ViCE-CllANCELLOR, 
 
 Last post, March the 2d, I received the favour 
 of your letter, in which you are so kind as to ac- 
 quaint rfie that the degree of D. I): by diploma has 
 been conferred on me by the Convocation. 
 
 No testimony can be given to any one's labours 
 more valuable than the suffrage of the University of 
 Oxford. But my pretensions are so far exceeded by 
 the honour which has been done me, I must con- 
 sider this honour as designed by the University not 
 to distinguish one, but to encourage all to the study 
 of useful learning, and especially of the holy Scrip- 
 tures, when they see how well-meant endeavours are 
 rewarded in the first among the seats of literature. 
 
 Be pleased, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, to accept, and 
 to testily to the Heads of Colleges and the Convo- 
 cation, my most grateful acknowledgements, and to 
 express for me my ardent wishes for the welfare and 
 prosperity of the University ; which, from my first 
 admission into it, 1 have constantly loved and re- 
 sera insigniti publicam virtutum cornmendationemconsequantur; 
 eiunque vir reverendus Thomas To" nson, S. T. B. Collegii 
 Magdalena: oliri) socius, largas ingenii etdoctrinae copias, quibus 
 uhice imtructus est, in sacris Uteris oxplicandis feli- iter intende- 
 rit, beatorum Evangelisiarum scripta illustrando, singulorura 
 mentem et consilia aperiendo, omnium ridem e< harmoniam ex- 
 ponendo pia plaudentibus ud iique eruditis studia promoverit — 
 Nos igitur" &c. In gratitude for this distinguished honour, the 
 second edition of the Discourses on the Gospels 1/68, was in- 
 scribed to the University of Oxford, the first ha\ing had no dedi- 
 cation or inscription whatsoever. 
 
 spec ted . 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xxxvii 
 
 spected, and to which I have now motives of stronger 
 attachment, if possible, than ever. 
 I am, 
 
 Mr. Vice-Chancellor, 
 With the highest regard, 
 
 Your and the University's 
 Most obliged, 
 And most obedient humble servant, 
 T. TOWNSON." 
 
 March 5, 1779- 
 
 Bringing into one view the account of this work, 
 we have passed by an event, which, in point of time, 
 should have been introduced sooner. This was the 
 death of his sister, Mrs. Winchester, January 26, 
 1772. This lady, strongly resembling her brother 
 in countenance, was so like him also in the features 
 of her mind and in all that is good, that an attempt 
 to do justice to the merits of the one, ought not to 
 be silent to the worth of the other; and I am happy 
 that I can speak of her in words much better than 
 rny own. The late John Loveday, Esq. of Caver- 
 sham, near Reading, and the Rev. Thomas Bag- 
 shaw, Chaplain of Bromley College, Kent, two highly 
 esteemed friends of Dr. Townson, thus speak of 
 Mrs. Winchester; the former in a letter on the oc- 
 casion of her death, the latter in a sepulchral elo- 
 gium : 
 
 " The Christian heroism of the deceased was be- 
 yond expression; so resigned, so much mistress of 
 herself, so thoughtful for her friends, and so consi- 
 derate upon what was proper to be done upon an 
 event's taking place, that her soul longed for. Be 
 consoled, good Mr. Townson, she was ripe for hea- 
 ven ; a fairer character is not on earth : it is no small 
 honour to have been related to her ; some (I would 
 hope) to have been acquainted with her ; but a con- 
 
 Vol. I. d dem nation 
 
xvxvin 
 
 ACCOUNT or 
 
 demnation not to have been the better for such ao 
 
 quaintance 1 ." 
 
 " Skilled in all accomplishments for social intercourse, 
 
 in all the liberal employments of domestic privacy, 
 the delight of thy acquaintance, and comfort of the poor, 
 what could enable thee so meekly to bear 
 the reverse of these enjoyments, unactive sickness ; 
 to view death approaching without complaint or dismay ; 
 to sustain thyself so nobly in the last adieus to thy friends, 
 and conquer for a time thy native meltingness of heart; 
 but an heavenly assistance, 
 and unshaken hope in the merits of thy Redeemer ?" 
 
 The loss of such a person, deeply lamented by all 
 who knew her, was peculiarly afflictive to her sur- 
 viving husband. But his sorrow was the sorrow of 
 a Christian ; and though he never spoke or thought 
 of the deceased but with emotions of tenderness, re- 
 signation to the will of God gradually restored his 
 native cheerfulness. After some years he was happy 
 in a second marriage ; but earthly happiness is of 
 short duration ! To the lasting regret of all who 
 knew him, he was taken oft" by a paralytic stroke, 
 May 17, 1780. He was the author of a Disserta- 
 tion on the xviith Article of the Church of England 2 ; 
 in which, from the writings of those who compiled 
 our Articles, it is clearly and unanswerably proved, 
 that they were not Calvinists. No one was better 
 
 1 Letter to Dr. Townson, Feb. 1, 1772. 
 
 J The full title is, " A Dissertation on the xviith Article of 
 the Church of England : wherein the sentiments of the Com- 
 pilers, and other contemporary Reformers, on the subject of the 
 Divine Decrees, arc fully deduced from their own writings. To 
 which is subjoined, a short Tract ascertaining the reign and 
 time in which the Royal Declaration before the xxxix Articles 
 was fir.^t published. Oxford 1773." 8vo. It was reprinted for 
 Jflessrs, Rivington m 1303, with a short account of the Author 
 pi elixedto it, and fcnfU the seconJ number of the Churchman's 
 Keiii< rnbrancer. 
 
 qualified 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 qualified to do this than Dr. Winchester ; for no 
 one was more accurately versed in the history of the 
 Church of England ; no one was, from principle 
 and conviction, more firmly and zealously attached 
 to it ; and few have equally adorned it hy the lustre 
 of example. Let me be forgiven in paying this 
 slight tribute, not unconnected with the mOre im- 
 mediate object of this narrative, to the memory of 
 one, to whose generous friendship and instructive 
 conversation I owe some of the happiest hours of 
 my life. 
 
 The Discourses on the Gospels were scarcely pub- 
 lished, when some cavils respecting one of the evan- 
 gelists, and an attack made upon Mr. West's book 
 on our Lord's Resurrection, put him on considering 
 the part of the Gospels which relates to that subject ; 
 and he sketched out a harmony of them, which he 
 " conceited 1 " (to use his own modest expression on 
 the occasion) was simpler and clearer than Mr. 
 West's, and accorded better with the literal sense of 
 the several evangelists, than that or any other which 
 he had the opportunity of consulting. When he 
 had his plan before him, it was quickly committed 
 to paper ; and quickly also deposited in his desk, to 
 lie quietly by for a season. And there at present we 
 must leave it; for this is the work, which is to en- 
 gage, at intervals, his best thought and pains for 
 I tie remainder of his life. 
 
 The following little poem, composed about the 
 -ame time that he was planning the harmony of the 
 resurrection, may not unfitly be introduced here. It 
 is a translation of the Mundus Archetypus of Boe- 
 rhius 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Loveriav, April '20, 1?78. 
 
 1 See Boethius De Consul. L iii. metr. ix. Delectus Epigramm. 
 .1. vi. Ixvxviii. Harris's Hermes, p. 31 c 2. 361. Arrange-in. p. 277. 
 £u>\\ ell's Life of Johnson, i. lis. Rambler, >io. ~. 
 
 d 2 « O Thou 
 
xl 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 " O Thou, whose power and wisdom still uphold 
 This universe, which thou alone couldst mould, 
 Who, fixt thyself, bidst time from ages roll, 
 And motion be, and animate the whole ; 
 Urg'd by no outward causes to forsake 
 Thy blissful solitude, and worlds to make, 
 Tjut pure adorable benevolence, 
 Good through full orbs of being to dispense ; 
 Thou from thyself this beauteous frame hast wrought 
 The just resemblance of the fairest thought; 
 Thou bidst the warring elements conspire, 
 Of water, earth, and air, and purer fire ; 
 And cold and hot, and moist and dry, contend 
 Harmonious to promote the gen'ral end. 
 Raise, Father, raise to thee my mind, replete 
 With strength to ken the glories of thy seat ; 
 Light of the just and joy ! my clouded eye 
 Irradiate, and' my earthly purify. 
 Wisdom from thee begins, in thee must rest; 
 Our pilot, gale, and course, and haven blest." 
 
 In the summer of 1 778, Dr. Porteus, bishop of 
 Chester, held his primary visitation in the cathedral 
 of his see, and Dr. Townson, by his lordship's de- 
 sire, preached on the occasion. He was requested 
 by his diocesan to publish the sermon ; and the re- 
 quest of a lawful superior carrying with it, in his 
 construction, a positive duty, it was published, as he 
 expresses it, " in obedience to his lordship's com- 
 mand." Whether it were command or intreaty, 
 those who read the discourse, and " observe the many 
 marks of sagacity and judgement, which are inter- 
 spersed throughout it, will," no doubt, as his Lord- 
 ship "assured himself, think themselves obliged to 
 him, for following the writer up close, and not suf- 
 fering his modesty to stand in the way of public uti- 
 lity 1 ." By a similar act of violence, but without 
 equal authority, those who had the care of the se- 
 
 1 Bishop of Chester's letter to Dr. Townson, Jan. 8, 1779. 
 
 cond 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Xll 
 
 cond edition of the work on the Gospels added this 
 sermon to it, as being, in their judgement, a proper 
 appendix ; and one of them affixed, with the author's 
 approbation, the title it bears, " The manner of our 
 Saviour's teaching." 
 
 Two years after this the Archdeaconry of Rich- 
 mond became vacant by the death of Dr. Peploe ; 
 and the same worthy bishop offered it to Dr. Town- 
 son ; or, to speak more exactly, he pressed him to 
 accept it, with so much civil earnestness, when he 
 was under his lordship's own roof, that he could not 
 refuse it. The following is the letter of thanks 
 which he wrote shortly afterwards : 
 
 " My dear Lord, 
 
 Though the honour, which your Lnrdship has 
 conferred upon me, was far from my thoughts and 
 ambition, when I paid my last visit to the palace; 
 yet I cannot but prize it highly as a mark of your 
 esteem, and think of the very kind manner of be- 
 stowing it with great pleasure and gratitude. 
 
 If I hesitated to pass the line of a mere parish 
 priest, no wonder that the zeal and abilities of my 
 Diocesan in promoting the welfare of his diocese, 
 made me doubtful of myself, whether I could answer 
 his reasonable expectations in the character of an 
 archdeacon. My doubts still hang upon me, in part 
 perhaps a constitutional infirmity : and the best an- 
 tidote that I find against them is the encouragement 
 which your lordship has given me to proceed." * * * 
 
 Oct. 26, 1781. 
 
 The archdeacon of Richmond has a stall in the 
 cathedral at Chester, and his portion in the duties of 
 
 the 
 
ACCOUNT OF 
 
 the church ; hut in other respects he has really no 
 authority or charge belonging- to him ; for the bishop 
 is himself, in effect, archdeacon both of Chester and 
 Richmond ; the endowments of which two archdea- 
 conries constitute the principal revenue of the see. 
 The bishop however, laudably solicitous for the good 
 of his diocese, and "having perfect confidence in the 
 abilities and circumspection vi of his archdeacon, 
 gave him a special commission, April 23, 1~82, to 
 visit the five northern deaneries within the archdea- 
 conry of Richmond, the most distant part of the 
 diocese. The object of this visitation was to inspect 
 and inquire into the state and condition of all the 
 churches, chapels, and parsonage-houses ; and to in- 
 quire also into the residence of the clergy on their re- 
 spective benefices or cures. It was designed by his 
 lordship as a prelude to his own intended visitation 
 the following year ; that, being previously certified 
 of the condition and circumstances of those remote 
 parts, if regulations were necessary, they might with 
 better effect be supplied. In the execution of this 
 commission, he rode, by his own computation, being 
 then almost seventy years of age, 572 miles; on 
 which occasion, his intimate and much respected 
 friend, the Rev. Rowland Chambre, rector of Thorn- 
 ton le Moors, voluntarily accompanied him, in the 
 capacity of Secretary, as he pleasantly styled himself. 
 From the information obtained in this journey, he 
 composed a very elegant and methodical book or re- 
 gister ; which exhibits a full and distinct view of each 
 parish and chapelry, under the several heads pointed 
 out for his examination. But of this, as being of a 
 private nature for the use of the see, nothing further 
 needs be said. One circumstance, more generally 
 interesting, deserves to be known ; and I give it in 
 his own words : " The Queen's bounty has proved 
 a great blessing to the northern part of this diocese. 
 
 1 Word? of the commi^ion. 
 
 There 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xliii 
 
 There were chapels endowed with not more than 
 forty, and some with but twenty, shillings a year; 
 in which, when any duty was done, it was performed 
 by a layman, perhaps very illiterate. But by the 
 help of the bounty, aided by some contributions, 
 they are now able to support regularly ordained 
 ministers, who are generally of irreproachable lives 
 and characters ; and not w ithout a competent share 
 of knowledge ; and some of them are really learned, 
 though few of them have seen an university. As 
 they live in a cheap country, at a distance from the 
 great world and its ambitious views, they appear 
 contented and happy J ." 
 
 His sight, owing in great measure to intense study 
 in the earlier part of life, was rather feeble, and 
 would not always bear the fatigue of long applica- 
 tion. On these occasions poetry was one of his 
 amusements ; and it was probably in the autumn of 
 this year that the following stanzas were produced. 
 The subject and the measure seem to have been sug- 
 gested by a translation of the same beautiful Greelv 
 ode, the first it is said that ever appeared in our 
 language, which was inserted in the St. James's 
 Chronicle, August 27, 1782. The poem has been 
 translated into Latin by Grotius and others ; but 
 perhaps never had more justice done it than here. 
 The elegant poetess, we are told, died at the age of 
 nineteen : 
 
 ERINNA'S ODE ON ROME". 
 
 Hail Rome, from mighty Mars by birth, 
 
 Dread Queen with crown of radiance pure ! 
 Whose seat Olympus is on earth, 
 
 Sacred, secure. 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Loveday, Oct. 14, 1782. 
 
 1 See the original in Poetriar. octo Fragm. Hanib. 1734. ed. 
 Wolf. 4to. p. 14. Elegiaca Gr ed. Chandler, Oxon. 1759, p. 84. 
 
 The 
 
xliv 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 The Fates consign to thee alone 
 
 Fixt power, renown, and empire wide; 
 And bid thee, on exalted throne, 
 
 Peerless preside. 
 
 Thou hold'st alone, with firm command, 
 
 The reins of earth and hoary sea : 
 The nations; guided by thy hand, 
 
 Are safe in thee. 
 
 Time, that confounds the works and pride - 
 
 Of mortal life, still swells the sails, 
 That bear thy rule along his tide 
 
 With prosp'rous gales. 
 
 Thy stem the first of warriors yields : 
 The first of men thy sons arise, 
 Thick as her fruits, in golden fields, 
 
 Glad Ceres eyes. 
 
 The next year he received the following letter, 
 which requires no introductory comment : 
 
 " Lower Grosvenor Street, Aug. 11, 17S3. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Although I recollect our former acquaintance 
 with great pleasure, it is not on account of that ac- 
 quaintance, nor of your long and intimate connexion 
 with those whom I shall ever love and esteem, that I 
 trouble you with this letter. Upon the death of 
 Doctor Wheeler, the King commanded me to look 
 out for a proper successor ; by which words his Ma- 
 jesty understood some person confessedly well-quali- 
 fied for the Divinity Chair, whose promotion should 
 be acceptable to the Public at large, and, particu- 
 larly, to the University of Oxford. I have since en- 
 deavoured to execute His Majesty's commands, and, 
 after the most minute inquiries, I can not^ find any 
 person in the kingdom who corresponds so'exactly to 
 
 his 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xlv 
 
 his Majesty's definition of a Divinity Professor, as 
 Dr. Townson ; a gentleman, whose character is uni- 
 versally beloved and esteemed, and whose general 
 learning, and particular knowledge in Theology has 
 been acknowledged in the most distinguished man- 
 ner by the University, where the Professorship is now 
 vacant. You will, therefore, I hope, give me an 
 opportunity of acquiring credit to myself, of pro- 
 moting theological knowledge, and of giving satis- 
 faction to the Public and to His Majesty, by accept- 
 ing a situation, which by the public testimony of the 
 University of Oxford, and by the general consent of 
 all who are acquainted with you, you are the pro- 
 perest person in England to fill. I have the honour 
 to be, with the greatest respect, 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most faithful, 
 Humble servant, 
 
 NORTH." 
 
 He returned the following answer : 
 
 " Malpas, Cheshire, Aug. 16, 1783, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 It is hardly possible for me to express the sense I 
 have of your Lordship's goodness to me, and of the 
 honour your Lordship has done me, in thinking of 
 me for the vacant divinity professorship. But I am 
 now so far in the decline of life, that I am very ap- 
 prehensive, or rather satisfied, that I am not equal 
 to the exertions, which a faithful discharge of the 
 duties of that office would require. Regard there- 
 fore for your Lordship's credit, and the good of the 
 university, both which I am highly bound to consult, 
 as well as the peace of my own mind, lays me under 
 a necessity of intreating vour Lordship, that, with 
 that goodness, with which you have orfered me this 
 preferment, your Lordship will permit me to decline 
 it. 
 
 It 
 
xlvi 
 
 ACCOUNT Of 
 
 It is a most pleasing consideration to me, that a 
 Place which I have the strongest reasons to value and 
 esteem, is under the protection of a nobleman so 
 studious, as well as able, to promote its welfare, and 
 to second His Majesty's royal care for his University, 
 as a seat of religion and literature. I hope and trust 
 it can without difficulty supply a person more in the 
 vigour of his age, and every way qualified to answer 
 His Majesty's and your Lordship's expectations in 
 this charge and dignity. 
 
 Lord Bagot has promised to call here in a day or 
 two, on his way into Wales. But I could not think 
 of delaying a moment to make my acknowledge- 
 ments to your Lordship. Nor indeed did I wish to 
 have any personal conference with Him, till the 
 matter was decided I am already sufficiently dis- 
 
 1 From this passage, and an allusion in the preceding letter, I 
 had some doubts whether Lord Bagot might not, without Dr. 
 Townson's knowledge, have applied to his friend Lord North on 
 this occasion. But in answer to my inquiries on that head, I am 
 favoured by his Lordship with the following account, which it 
 would be injustice to all parties to withhold from the reader : 
 " I think it will be for the credit of my dear friend the late Earl 
 of Guilford, to recollect, as far as my memory will serve me, 
 and mention to you, all the circumstances I know relative to the 
 Divinity Professorship. Lord Guilford was at Oxford at the 
 same time I was, and at that time became first acquainted with 
 Dr. Townson. He has met him since more than once here, and 
 after he became Prime Minister: and always had the regard for 
 him that his Goodness aud Abilities so highly deserved. I may, 
 for aught I know, have said frequently in Lord Guilford's hear- 
 ing, that I wished to see Dr. Townson upon the Bench \ but I 
 am very certain I never applied for any specific preferment for 
 him ; and so far from having written in his behalf on this occa- 
 sion, the first knowledge I had of the Professorship being vacant 
 was from the Doctor himself, to inform me of all that had passed 
 betwixt him and the Minister, and that he had absolutely refused 
 to accept it; that the reason of his not having gi\en me earlier 
 intelligence of the business, was, the fear of my being urgent 
 with him to accept so great and honourable an offer, and that ho 
 had taken his resolution. I mention this thus fullv, as I think 
 
 it 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xlvii 
 
 tressed with the thought that I must thus answer an 
 offer made me in such a manner, and in such terms ; 
 happy only in this, that your Lordship retains a 
 remembrance of our former acquaintance, and is 
 pleased to notice it. 
 
 I am, my Lord, 
 With the utmost gratitude and respect, 
 Your Lordship's most obliged, 
 
 And faithful humble servant, 
 
 T. TOWNSON." 
 
 Such was his unaffected diffidence, and so great 
 his deference to those he conversed with, that his 
 friend Mr. Falconer, an acute observer of character, 
 in an early stage of their acquaintance used to re- 
 mark, " the only way to get at Dr. Townson's senti- 
 ments on any subject, is to state your own sense of 
 the matter first ; and then, prefacing his words with 
 ' what you say is very ingenious ■ perhaps I am 
 wrong ; but I used to view the point in such a light 
 Jie will give an opinion which is so much better, that 
 yours vanishes in a moment." It is certain, he ne- 
 ver obtruded his notions upon any one ; and when- 
 ever he saw occasion to give advice, especially if it 
 were respecting forms and circumstances and the 
 minute but pleasing decencies of life, it was much 
 oftener done bv a hint or allusion l , or some apposite 
 
 it equally creditable to them* both. The Doctor was indebted 
 purely to his own merit for the offer, and I know how happy 
 the Earl of Guilford was in having an opportunity of making it, 
 and how desirous that it should have been accepted. From the 
 moment he became Chancellor of Oxford, 1 verily believe his 
 sole object was to prefer in the L'niversilv the best men, and 
 such as were most likely to be the ablest defenders of the Church 
 of England, of which he himself, to his dying dav, was a most 
 sincere friend, and most powerful support, in times when such, 
 support was most wanted. * * * 
 
 Klithfield, Jan. 30, 1793." BAGOT." 
 
 1 1 am tempted to give a single instance of this indirect mode 
 of instruction. When I was a boy, just beginning to have some 
 
 notion 
 
xlviii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 anecdote (of which no one had greater store, or in- 
 troduced them with happier propriety) than by di- 
 rect recommendation of what he approved, or posi- 
 tive censure of petty enormities. There were, how- 
 ever, persons and times when even with regard to 
 these minor virtues, the decorums rather than the 
 duties of life, watching the mollia fandi tempora, 
 of which he was an admirable judge, he declared 
 himself without any restraint or reserve. A single 
 instance will show his manner. We were walking, 
 as we often did, in his room, and conversing freely 
 together, when he stopped short, and raising him- 
 self up (for his head generally inclined a little 
 forwards) he said, with a smile of ineffable sweet- 
 ness, " Are you in high good humour r" " To- 
 lerably so, I hope.'' " Then I'll tell you of a little 
 fault you committed in the company where we have 
 just been." " Was it speaking of a certain person 
 with severity ?" " No ; I had not observed that ; but 
 you did so and so." They must be adamant who 
 are not benefited by such reproof. 
 
 The attention of the reading and literary world, 
 about this time (1783, &c.) was occupied by the 
 controversy between Dr. Priestley and the Archdea- 
 con of St. Albans. Dr. Townson sent to the Arch- 
 deacon some remarks on his opponent's letters ; to 
 which he prefixed the following note, but, with his 
 usual modesty, concealing his name : 
 
 " These few strictures on Dr. Priestley's letters are 
 transmitted to Dr. Horsley, not to inform him of any 
 thing he did not know, or what could otherwise es- 
 
 notion of Latin verse, he gave me the " diyecta membra" of the 
 following distich to put in order ; which I mention the rather, 
 as I presume the lines were his own, composed on the occasion : 
 
 Excutc desidiam, nec viter incumbe priori ; 
 Ni nova succnrrit, piistina famaperit. 
 
 cape 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 xlix 
 
 cape him, but merely to take an opportunity, which 
 the writer of them has long wished for, of returning 
 his sincerest thanks to Dr. Horsley, for his excellent 
 charge : which he and many others have read with 
 infinite satisfaction. 
 
 They join in hoping, that the Doctor, though he 
 has to deal with one, cut non persuadebis etiamsi 
 persuaseris, yet, for the sake of the Christian church 
 in general, will again exert the abilities and learn- 
 ing with which he is blest, in contending for the 
 faith, which was once delivered unto the saints." 
 March 2, 1 784. 
 
 These strictures were printed in the Appendix of 
 Dr. Horsley' s Letters to Dr. Priestley, published in 
 17 84, but unfortunately with one or two typogra- 
 phical mistakes that affect the sense. It may be 
 proper therefore here to correct them K 
 
 Of his classical criticisms, which sometimes en- 
 riched the Gentleman's Magazine 2 , and more fre- 
 quently adorned his correspondence, or illumed his 
 
 ' App. No. iii. p. 184. I. 21. read " might St. Matthew ask." 
 p. 185. 1. 2. read "consist well, on Dr. P.'s plan, with what." 
 lb. I. G. read " alios itu loquentes." Correct the same mistakes 
 in Bishop Horsl'ey's " Tracts," &c. Glocester, 1789. p. 304. lines 
 3. 20. 23, 24. 
 
 5 The following papers, and perhaps a few others, in the 
 Gent. Mag. are by Dr. Townson: 1771. p. 20. Parallel between 
 the Author of the Confessional and a patriotic Alderman, (where, 
 col. i, read, " In the cause of these, two heroes have taken the 
 field.") 1775. p. 3G1 — 363. On Brydone's Account of .ffitna. 
 1776- p. HI. Doctrines and Ceremonies different things, p. 
 170. On Dr. Price's Civil Liberty. 1778; p. 124, 125. On 
 Matth. xxviii. 5. p. 171, 172. On the same. 1783. p. 412. 
 Introduction to the Account of Mr. Naylor's Apparition. 1786. 
 p. 284. Defence of Virgil, against Mr. Heron. 17S9. pi 21C. 
 Pascal and Priestley contrasted, p. Sb4. Query about the mean- 
 ing of UiiiT»5, which some one, not perceiving the writer's hu- 
 mour, answered gravely, p. 1099. 1 
 
 conversation 
 
I 
 
 ACCOUNT Oi' 
 
 conversation with his learned friends, I shall submit 
 one example to the judgment of the intelligent 
 reader as it regards an interesting passage : 
 
 " There is an epigram of Martial, which, as cri- 
 tics in general allow, relates to the Christians. It 
 alludes to the persecution in which the humanity of 
 Nero, to speak of him in Mr. Gibbons words, 
 caused them to be wrapt in pitched tunics or shirts, 
 and burnt by way of torches. The epigram is this : 
 
 * In matutinanuper spectatus arena 
 
 Mucius, imposuit qui sua membra focis ; 
 
 Si patiens fortisque tibi durusque videtur, 
 AbderitaiiiE pectora plcbis habes. 
 
 Nam cum dicatur, tunica praesente molesta, 
 L ie manum ; plus est dicere, Non facio '.* 
 
 Having read this epigram more than once with- 
 out being able to construe the two last lines, though 
 the drift of them is intelligible, I consulted Dr. 
 Lardners Collection of Testimonies, where I found 
 it thus translated, vol. I. p. 35 j : 'You have perhaps, 
 lately seen acted in the theatre Mucius, who thrust 
 his hand into the fire. If you think such an one 
 patient, valiant, stout, you are a mere senseless do- 
 tard. For it is a much greater thing, when threat- 
 ened with the troublesome coat, to say, I do not 
 sacrifice, than to obey the command, burn the hand.' 
 
 The Doctor, not quite satisfied with his version 
 of the conclusion, which indeed is rather a para- 
 phrase, gives another : ' For it is a much greater 
 thing, when threatened with a troublesome coat, you 
 are commanded to burn your hand, to say, 1 will 
 not.' This is more literal, but does not remove the 
 
 1 Lib. x. xsv. Delect. Epigr. 1. iv. iviii. Conf. 1. viii. xxx. 1. i. 
 
 xxii. Delect. Epigr. 1. iv. xxiv. 1. i. xiii. 
 
 difficulty ; 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 diificulty ; for the alternative proposed to the Chris- 
 tian, was not, Either burn your hand, or burn in 
 this shirt; but, Either burn some incense, to the 
 statue of the Emperor perhaps, or bum in this shirt. 
 
 In spite therefore of all the editions of Martial 
 that I have seen, I have no doubt that he wrote, 
 instead of ' Ure manum,' as we now read, s Ure 
 manu,' Ure aliquid thuris manu, and escape this 
 dreadful punishment. According to which the 
 words may be rendered, ' When you are told, the 
 pitched shirt being placed before you, you must 
 either burn in this shirt, or offer a little incense 
 with your own hand, it is a greater instance of for- 
 titude to say, I will not do it, than even to burn off 
 that hand.' 
 
 The last words, ' Non facio,' are not easily trans- 
 lated. They mean not only, I will not do it, but, 
 I will not sacrifice. For so Facio sometimes sig- 
 nifies ; as in Virgil : 
 
 Cumfaciam vitula. pro frugibus. Ecl. iii. 77." 
 
 But criticisms on the sacred text better suit the 
 occasion and object of these pages ; and I shall there- 
 fore bring forward a larger selection of them ; yet, 
 with one obvious but necessary caution. Of the 
 remarks to be produced, some were submitted to the 
 absolute discretion and use of the persons to whom 
 they were given ; but none of them, doubtless, were 
 designed by the writer to meet the public eye in 
 their present shape, short and detached as they are; 
 neither had he weighed them, probably, with all that 
 care, which he employed on sacred subjects before 
 he ventured to print his thoughts. The reader there- 
 fore will estimate these fragments by their own 
 evidence and probability. Sir Isaac Newton sub- 
 joined to one of his great works certain speculations 
 in the form of queries ; which are regarded by phi- 
 losophers 
 
 I 
 
hi 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 losophers as highly curious and valuable, although 
 his vast mind was not fully contented with them. 
 In a modest distrust of himself, in laborious inves- 
 tigation, and patient thinking, Dr. Tovvnson re- 
 sembled the immortal Newton ; and if these brief 
 disquisitions did not always receive his full consi- 
 deration and entire acquiescence, they will yet, 
 many of them, no doubt, be found perfectly just, 
 and all of them wortby of attention. With this 
 apology and caution I proceed ; and shall dispose 
 the papers not in chronological sequence as thev 
 were written, but, as seems more convenient, in 
 the order of the Scriptures to which they refer. 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 " At this season (Advent,) the course of the les- 
 sons has disposed me to read Bishop Lowth's Isaiah 
 again. The more I consider it, the more it strikes me 
 as a noble work 1 . Tbe version and illustration of 
 
 1 T have reserved for this place what he had before said re- 
 specting this work, in a letter to the author, dated Nov. 27, 
 1778. 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 The book which your Lordship has been so kind as to send me. 
 is a return indeed for such a performance as mine (see abo\e p. 
 xxxv.) I have just had time to go once over it ; and have l ead 
 it with infinite satisfaction : both because I can comprehend the 
 meaning and spirit of Isaiah much better than before ; and be- 
 cause it is a work, as far as I can judge, altogether worthy of its 
 Author's character and writings. To find out, and to prove, 
 that the prophets wrote in verse, and to show the important uses 
 of this discovery, was reserved for your Lordship. This is a 
 subject, 
 
 ' Unde prius nulli velarunt tempore musce.' 
 
 Literal as the translation is, there is not only great energy and 
 elegance, but to my ear great harmony in it. The prophecy 
 concerning Babylon, I am persuaded, has never had such justice 
 done it as by your Lordship's hand, in a noble Latin ode, and by 
 admirable observations now given upon it. But tliis is a single 
 instance out of a multitude of passages explained in a masterly 
 
 manner 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 chapter xlix. I admire particularly. I send you a 
 little criticism, which is not worth returning. When 
 you have read it, you may throw it into the fire. 
 The bishop on Isaiah vii. 15. adopts his learned 
 friend Dr. Jubb's interpretation : 
 
 ' Butter and honey shall he eat When he shall 
 know to refuse what is evil, and choose what is 
 good.' 
 
 But it may be questioned whether the Bishop's fa- 
 ther had not given as good a version, the same as 
 Bishop Chandler's: 
 
 ' Butler and honey shall he eat Till he shall know, 
 &c.' 
 
 Dr. Jubb thinks Till makes ver. 15. incoherent 
 and inconsistent with ver. 16 ; which I confess I do 
 not see, as Mr. Lowth and Bishop Chandler state 
 the matter to this purport : 
 
 " The distress brought upon the land by its inva- 
 ders shall not be so great, nor so durable, but that 
 the child shall have sufficient plenty of the delicacies 
 usually given to children : For (the prophet adds) 
 before he shall be out of his childhood, both the in- 
 vaders of the land shall be destroyed." 
 
 manner, and beautifully illustrated. To my grateful acknow- 
 ledgements for this little-deserved favour, let me have leave to 
 add my devout wishes, that it may please God to support your 
 Lordship with his consolations under the heavy loss of an excel- 
 lent Son; and to bless you with a continuance of health and spi- 
 rits, for the credit and benefit of our Church, and the furtherance 
 <A' His religion. 
 
 1 am, my Lord, 
 
 With the greatest respect, 
 
 Your Lordship's most obliged, 
 And faithful humble servant, 
 
 T. TOWNSON." 
 
 Vol. II. e And 
 
 I 
 
Liv 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 And this appears to suit best with the drift of the 
 prophecy, which is to promise speedy relief, before 
 the child arrived at a certain state of knowledge 
 (Comp. viii. 4.) ; not a long continuance of secu- 
 rity, When, or, After he arrived at that state. For 
 the prophet having assured the'people of Judah, that 
 God would deliver them from the danger then 
 hanging over them, assures them of no more ; but 
 changes his style instantly, ver. 17, to denunciations 
 of heavy judgements that would overtake them for 
 their sins, by means of more powerful invaders. 
 
 I have said this on a supposition that "O must sig- 
 nify For. But Stockius in his Lexicon, referring to 
 this very place, renders it (Juin imo : and the Bi- 
 shop translates it Yea, xv. 5. and Yea verily, xxviii. 
 II. 
 
 And possibly this sense might agree very well with 
 the place before us '." 
 
 He afterwards (June 4, 1 78 1) remarked to the 
 same correspondent, that Mr. Postlethuaite, in his 
 Discourse on this passage, was pretty severe on Bi- 
 shop Lowth : " but (he added) in my humble opi- 
 nion, Mr. Lowtlfs version, ' Until he shall know,' 
 is preferable to either ; for this intimating, that the 
 Virgin's infant son should be nourished and fed as 
 other infants were, carries on the prediction more 
 explicitly, that Iminanuel should really take our 
 nature upon him. In other respects, I cannot but 
 think that Mr. Postlethwaite has maintained the 
 clearest and most satisfactory explication of this im- 
 portant passage. A child instead of The child is the 
 sense of Stockius: Puer aliquis. See under the letter 
 He, p. 244" 
 
 ' Letter to Mr. Loveday, Dec, 22, IJ80. 
 
 GENEA- 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Iv 
 
 GENEALOGY OF OUR LORD. 
 
 " As to the genealogy of our blessed Lord, I 
 have, I confess, never studied the matter accurately, 
 nor can at present turn my mind to the subject. I 
 can only give you a few loose hints on it, that per- 
 haps may be but of little consequence. 
 
 The genealogy seems a transcript from some pub- 
 lic record to the end of ver. If?, delivered to St. Mat- 
 thew, and not drawn up by himself; for in his own 
 person he would not have concluded this part with 
 saying, £ Of whom was born Jesus, who is called 
 Christ.' What follows, I presume, is his own. But 
 you observe, he only says of the first fourteen, that 
 they are all. Some hints are given, Discourses, p. 
 121- Svo. about the reason of this division, but whe- 
 ther worth consulting I know not : nor can I pretend 
 to give a just account of it. Three times fourteen, 
 you know, make the mystical number of forty-two 
 occurring in the Revelation ; but if there is a mys- 
 tery in the number in St. Matthew, I do not pre- 
 sume to dive into it. Reasons have been given for 
 the omission of three kings, that appear to me ra- 
 ther refined than satisfactory. 
 
 If St. Luke gives the natural, and St. Matthew 
 the civil or political, if I may so call it, genealogy 
 of our Lord, I believe it is not without example in 
 profane history. 1 think Mr. Falconer 1 has told me, 
 
 1 I shall be pardoned, I trust, if in grateful remembrance of 
 one of the kindest of friends, I take this opportunity to lav before 
 the reader the elegant and just epitaph, inscribed to the memory 
 of Mr. Falconer, by his only surviving- brother and heir, William 
 Falconer, M. D. of Bath, well known by many learned works 
 ill his own profession and other branches of literature. 
 
 M. S. 
 
 TtiOMM FALCONER Armigeri 
 Filii nam maximi GVLIELMI FALCONER Ann. 
 
 e 8 qui 
 
 \ 
 
Ivi 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 that the pedigree of Leonidas the Spartan differs in 
 Herodotus and Pausanias, without mistake in either; 
 the first giving his real descent, the other the line of 
 kings that preceded him. 
 
 Whatever comparison David Levi may make be- 
 tween the fniracles of Moses and Christ, there is, if 
 I mistake not, this remarkable difference between 
 them, that Moses acts in every instance by special 
 command, and as a mere instrument of the Al- 
 
 qui per plures annos ofncium Proprastoris hujus Vrbis 
 gerebat, et ELIZJE filise RANVLPHI WILBRAHAM de 
 TOWNSEND, 
 in Comitatu Cestriae Armigeri Conjugis ejus. 
 Vir fuit Literal um elegantiis et morum comitate egregie ornatus, 
 Memoria praeditus vix credibili, et Industria 
 quae nec labori, nec aegritudini diutumae succubuit. 
 Maxima autern laus est, 
 quod Benevolentia, vitae Integritate, et eiga Deum Pietate, 
 nemini fuit impar. 
 Obiit4t° die Scptembris, A. D. 1*92. iEtatis su;e tun. 
 Vale, 
 Vir summe ! 
 Pietatis pariter ac Literarum Exemplar, 
 Vale! 
 
 Frater tui amantissimus hocce exiguum quamvis 
 Cenotapbium Virtutibus tuis sacrum 
 Posuit. 
 
 Mr. Falconer was buried in St. Michael's church, within the 
 city of Chester, where he died; but the preceding epitaph is in- 
 scribed on a tablet of white marble near the monument of his 
 father, in St. John's church in that city, in which parish he re- 
 sided till within a few years of his death. He was the author of 
 " Devotions for the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, with an Ap- 
 pendix containing a Method of digesting the Book of Psalms, so 
 as to be applicable to the common Occurrences of Life, by a Lay- 
 man :" which has gone through several impressions. " Observa- 
 tions on Pliny's Account of the Temple of Diana at Ephesus," 
 printed in the Arehaeologia, vol. xi. No. i. " Chronological Ta- 
 bles from the Reign of Solomon to the Death of Alexander the 
 Great," printed at the Clarendon press, 1796, 4to. His very 
 learned and elaborate Edition of Strabo, after being many years^ 
 in the Clarendon press, was finally published in 1807 by his ne- 
 phew, the Rev. Thomas Falconer, M. A. of Bath, the translator 
 of Hanno's Periplus, and Author of several work?, not unworthy 
 of the fame of his father and his uncle. 
 
 mighty. 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ivii 
 
 mighty, and does not take upon him to say with 
 authority, C I will, be thou clean;' ' Damsel, I say 
 unto thee, arise,' &c. 
 
 However splendid some of the miracles of Moses 
 were, can any of diem be compared to that of Christ 
 raising himself from the dead ! It seems providen- 
 tially ordered to keep one character in due subordi- 
 nation to the other, that it should be recorded of 
 Moses, that he died and was buried. The resurrec- 
 tion was a necessary miracle, not for the benefit of 
 one nation, but of all mankind 
 
 " You seem to approve the remark that I sent you 
 on o Xsyofx.svo£ Xg»s-o£. It appears obvious enough ; 
 and yet I am as much at a loss as you are, to say 
 who had ever made it. What are the Jew's objec- 
 tions to the two genealogies I know not. But if he 
 objects to misnomers, this may very easily be retorted 
 on a Jew. There are such in the Old Testament, 
 which we cannot account for by supposing the same 
 person to have had two names, 2 Chron. xxi. 12. 
 Elijah is made to write a letter to king Jehoram se- 
 veral years after his assumption to Heaven. The let- 
 ter must have been written by Elisha, as Dr. Kenni- 
 cott observes, reclamantibus omnibus manuscriptis. 
 Jeremiah xxvii. 1. is dated in the beginning of the 
 reign of Jehoiakim, which should have been Zede- 
 kiah, as appears from ver. 3. Levi will say, and, 
 I doubt not, say true, that these were not the faults 
 of the original writers, but of their copyists. But 
 if he requires this allowance to be made him with 
 regard to the Old Testament, can he reasonably re- 
 fuse it to us with respect to the New, if any passage 
 of it should require it; which I do not know to be 
 the case. As to the name of Cainan in St. Luke's 
 genealogy, and in the Septuagint, but not in the 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Churton, October 27, 17S3. 
 
 Hebrew 
 
Iviii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 Hebrew, whether it ought or ought not to stand, I 
 leave to be settled between you and archdeacon 
 Yardley ; and have for this time done with the sub- 
 ject 1 ." 
 
 Shortly afterwards he wrote what follows to a 
 common friend : 
 
 cf Mr. Churton tells me that he has shewed you 
 what I said to him about our Saviours genealogy- 
 It could not be much ; for I had never much consi- 
 dered the subject. But while I was lately thinking 
 of it, a point occurred to me ; my thoughts on 
 which I shall transmit to you, Mr. Churton being 
 absent from Oxford. 
 
 The point is, What was Solomon's right to the 
 throne of Israel; in which, if his line failed, was 
 involved the right of Nathan, his next brother; from 
 whom, I think it evident, Christ by the blessed Vir- 
 gin was descended. 
 
 It will be said perhaps, that the appointment of 
 David his father was a sufficient title. It might be 
 so : but I think this appointment was not arbitrary, 
 but founded on a law of custom, prevalent in some 
 nations: how far over those eastern parts in general, 
 I will not pretend to say. But possibly the designa- 
 tion of Solomon to the crown, as proper heir of it, is 
 intimated 2 Sam. xii. 24, 25- He was in the state 
 of those, who, if I mistake not, were called in the 
 Greek empire zso^jqoysvv^rai, that is, he was born 
 after his father became king; king, I mean, of all 
 Israel : of these he was the eldest, and as such might 
 be considered as intitled to succeed to the crown, in 
 preference to any elder brother, born before the fa- 
 ther was invested with this royal mantle. This was 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Churton, Dec. 5, 17SS. 
 
 the 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lix 
 
 the rule at Sparta; as Demaratus, one of its exiled 
 kings, urged to Darius in favour of Xerxes' title to 
 the Persian empire, before his elder brother Artaba- 
 5anes, who was born while Darius was yet a subject: 
 Herodotus, b. vii. ch. iii. The same rule, as Baron 
 de Tott tells us, is observed among the Turks. He 
 who is to succeed the reigning Grand Seignior, must 
 be one that was born after his father's advancement 
 to the throne. It may be that the same considera- 
 tion determined Abner and the Israelites to anoint 
 Ishbosheth king, rather than Mephibosheth the son 
 of Jonathan, whose father was never other than a 
 subject ; whereas Ishbosheth was born in the year 
 in which Saul his father was made king. Compare 
 2 Sam. ii. 10. with Acts xiii. 21. 
 
 Now whether Joseph descended from Solomon, or 
 as seems probable, his line having failed, from Na- 
 than, the next royal heir of the house of David ; 
 the adopted son of Joseph, and the real son of Mary, 
 who, I doubt not, sprang from Nathan, was by legal 
 right, as well as divine appointment, King of Israel, 
 if the matter is here rightly stated: which may have 
 been so stated by others ; though I know not that 
 it has. I only observe further, that divine Provi- 
 dence g arded this royal line by its depression against 
 Herod s jealousy, and gave another direction to it 
 by the elevation of another of the Asamonean fa- 
 mily. 
 
 Further this deponent sayeth not about the ge- 
 nealogy of Christ ; but was disposed to commit these 
 thoughts to paper, such as they are, while they were 
 fresh in his memory, and to submit them to his es- 
 teemed friend at Williamscot. 
 
 P.S. I suppose the sons of Davit! by Bathsheba are 
 
 mentioned 
 
Ix 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 mentioned 1 Chron. iii. 5. exactly in an inverted or- 
 der 
 
 In reference to the foregoing letter, he said after- 
 wards, 
 
 " I acknowledge that Solomon had a divine ap- 
 pointment to the crown of Israel ; for this is evident 
 from 1 Chron. xxviii. 5. I only meant to prove, that 
 Heaven so ordered, that the appointment should have 
 the concurrence of a custom of royal succession, that 
 was allowed by the people to give an equitable claim 
 of preference. So Saul, though anointed, as God 
 had commanded, by Samuel, was chosen king by 
 the people agreeing to refer the decision of the mat- 
 ter to lot. (l Sam. x.) And David, though anointed 
 in like manner, became king of ten of the tribes by 
 their own free assent to his title. 2 Sam. v. 1 — 3. 
 If this was not so, I see not how the right of suc- 
 cession, on the failure of Solomon's line, could de- 
 scend to the stem of his next brother Nathan : for 
 which there is no special appointment of Heaven 
 upon record, that I am aware of. The right, as 
 far as appears, was a certain human right ; and this 
 therefore founded on a custom of succession, which 
 had coincided in Solomon with the divine ordinance: 
 unless you will suppose that the posterity of David's 
 sons elder than Solomon was at an end, which may 
 be true, but I presume cannot be ascertained ; and 
 for that reason I was for establishing the claim of 
 Nathan's family (from whom it is probable both Jo- 
 seph and Mary descended) on other grounds 2 ." 
 
 In conversation on this subject he remarked, that 
 " there was no promise of the Messiah made to Solo- 
 
 1 Letter of Jan. 3, 1789, to John Loveday, D. C. L. of Wil- 
 liamscot, near Banbury, late of Doctors Commons. 
 a Letter to Mr. Churton, Jan. 26, 1789. 
 
 men, 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixi 
 
 mon, which affords a presumption that his line 
 failed, and that of Nathan succeeded. To this we 
 may add, that the continuance of Nathan's branch, 
 even after the coming of Christ, seems to be implied 
 i n a passage of Zechariah, xii. 12, 
 
 MARK XII. 27—31. 
 
 " LL. D. has before sent puzzling questions to 
 D. D. but, as some perhaps will think, none more 
 so than this on the doctrine of the articles. D. D. 
 will not take upon him to deny, that the use of the 
 prepositive article in Greek may sometimes be a mat-? 
 ter of indifference, and the sense the same with or 
 without it ; as it seems to be in English whether we 
 say, One of them, or, The one of them, whose 
 name was Cleopas h Luke xxiv. 18. 
 
 Yet he sees, or imagines he sees, generally a rea- 
 son why the article is prefixed or omitted. 
 
 ' He states this a little more explicitly in another place, thus : 
 " In modern languages where a prepositive article is used, there 
 are instances whore it may be indifferent ; there are others where 
 it is regulated by the position of the words. 
 
 (1) Indifferent: We may ask, who is owner of this house ? 
 or, Who is the owner of this house ? In many instances we may 
 say, The Thames, or simply, Thames. 
 
 (2) Regulated by position of the words : We say, The king's 
 prerogative; but, The prerogative of the king. Were we enu- 
 merating the princes of Europe, we should say, in one form or 
 order of words, George is king of Great Britain; Lewis is king 
 of France, &c. but in another order, The. king of Great Britain 
 is George : The king of France is Lewis. One whose native, 
 language was Latin, and who would say, Rex Britannia? Geor- 
 gius est, might think, if he understood our language only as a 
 learned language, that the article The has no meaning in it, since 
 it is used or omitted in expressing the very same thing. To an 
 English ear the matter appears otherwise. And so we may con- 
 clude it did in many cases to a native Greekj Where the difference 
 does not appear to us." 
 
 1.1 
 
Ixii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 In Mark xii. 27. the reading varies ; but let us 
 take it as we commonly find it, only construe the 
 words as they stand in St. Matthew xxii. 32. ex s$iv 
 0 0;O£, Qsog vsxowu, aXha ^wvtwv. The article, justly 
 prefixed to@sog, signifying the one God, seems justly 
 omitted in the second instance, where Qsog is taken 
 in a sort of distributive sense : ' God is not a God of 
 the dead, but of the living;' not such a God as 
 would intitle himself God of his departed servants, 
 if he had suffered them to sink into non-existence. 
 See our version, Luke xx. 38. 
 
 In what follows, 28 — 31. are various things to 
 be considered. , In ver. 29, 30, the quotation from 
 Deuteronomy vi. 4, 5. is according to the Septuagint; 
 which seems rightly to have dropt the article before 
 Ku§jo£ answering to Jehovah : ' Jehovah our God is 
 one Jehovah.' Comp. Matth. iv. 7. 10. 
 
 It may be harder to account for the omission of 
 the article before some other words in this passage ; 
 and to do it, we must go perhaps a little out of the 
 road of common interpretation. 
 
 What then if we suppose the Scribe's notion, to 
 have been, that among the precepts of the law there 
 might be a first class of coequal precepts ; and that 
 he only wanted to have a precept named to him, 
 which belonged to this class ? ' Of all the precepts 
 of the law, which is a first, or, as it is expressed in 
 St. Matthew, a great precept ?' 
 
 If this was the drift of the Scribe's question, our 
 Lord answered it fully, by calling the love of God, 
 not the first and great, but a first and great com- 
 mandment, and the love of our neighbour a second 
 like unto it. 
 
 Nevertheless 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 Nevertheless having answered the question as pro- 
 posed to him, he then, to show the supereminence 
 of these two commandments, added, ex abundante, 
 *. On these two commandments hang all the law and 
 the prophets.' 
 
 T o lissioti of the article before ctocott,, fAeyaArj, 
 fceofega, both in stating and resolving the question, is 
 observable; and, occurring in both the evangelists 
 uniformly, gives some countenance to the supposi- 
 tion here made concerning the nature of the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 If LL. D. is not satisfied with this response to his 
 mashals and enigmas, he will be so good as to remem- 
 ber, that 1). D. is neither the Solomon of the Jews 
 nor the CEdipus of the Greeks 1 ." 
 
 He bestowed much pains on this subject, and 
 composed tables with short strictures on the article, 
 as prefixed or omitted before K.voio$, and ©=oj, and 
 Ir]creg. The result seems to be, that, in a great plura- 
 lity of places in the New Testament, where Kvoiog 
 answers to Jehovah in the Old Testament, it is with- 
 out the prepositive article ; and that the passages in 
 which it answers to Jehovah of the Old Testament, 
 and yet has the article prefixed, are most of them pe- 
 culiarly circumstanced, as quotations from the Sep- 
 tuagint, or the like : that " the article before 0?o> is 
 intensive 2 ; but before Kupio^ seems otherw ise in the 
 language of the New Testament, and when Christ is 
 
 • Letter to Dr. Loveday, April, 17S3. 
 
 - In virtue of this principle, he puts an ingenious cjuestion : 
 "Johnix. 16. The Pharisees say, «toj u a^fa-roc xx. e,-i •ssa.^a. ts 
 ©;«. The blind man says, ver. 33. u ^xti tiv btos ■ro-apaQsa, a* tiV/a-ro 
 ■nrotsiv »J>v. Was the article used in one place, and not in the other, 
 to intimate, that the Pharisees were bolder in denying Christ's 
 mission from God, than the poor blind man in asserting it?" 
 
Ixiv 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 the subject, often distinctive. See Acts xi. 20, 21 V 
 That where Kupiog lya-eg or ~Kpi$os litres Kvpiog occur 
 without the article, the places " seem to be expres- 
 sed with solemnity, as confessions of faith : as Rom. 
 x. 9. 2 Cor. iv. 5. 1 Cor. xii. 3. Phil. ii. 11." And 
 that, " the evangelists prefix the article to the name 
 of Jesus, except in the following cases : 1 . Where 
 it is accompanied with some adjunct to distinguish 
 it. 2. When on immediately precedes. 3. When 
 aTTsxpibri immediately precedes. 4. When 8s or 8v 
 immediately follows." 
 
 MARK XIV. 51, 52. 
 
 He dropped a hint in conversation that " a certain 
 young man' here mentioned " was probably the 
 evangelist himself, roused from his bed by the noise 
 of those who led Christ, and running into the street 
 to see what it was." If this conjecture be admitted, 
 as apparently it may, it is obvious that St. Mark 
 could from his own knowledge vouch for this part of 
 the narrative, to those of his first readers, who 
 might wish to hear him tell of an event so highly in- 
 teresting and momentous. And thus a circumstance, 
 at first sight not very material in the awful history, 
 has its weight and consequence. But it is my busi- 
 ness to relate, rather than to criticise. 
 
 JOHN XIX. 10, 11. 
 
 " Before I release you, I must trouble you with 
 one more observation. John xix. 10, 11. has always 
 
 1 So he remark* on James v. 14. that " the article seems to be 
 used there to mark that the anointing was to be performed in the 
 name of Christ." 
 
 appeared 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixv 
 
 appeared to me a difficult passage. I was lately 
 speaking of it to a friend, when we consulted Dod- 
 dridge, Macknight, and others, without being sa- 
 tisfied. It then came into my head, that it should 
 be read and explained as follows : 
 
 ' Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest thou not 
 unto me ? knowest thou not, that I have power to 
 crucify thee, and have power to release thee ? 
 
 Jesus answered (Thou couldest have no power at 
 all against me, except it were given thee from above), 
 Therefore, he that delivered me unto thee hath the 
 greater sin.' 
 
 Which I thus paraphrase: 
 
 Pilate — I have power to crucify thee, and power 
 to release thee. 
 
 Jesus — Therefore, he that, knowing my innocence, 
 hath delivered me unto thee, who hast this power of 
 the sword, hath the greater sin. Be assured, how- 
 ever, that thou couldest have no power at all against 
 me, except it were given thee from above. 
 
 This appears to me the natural explication of our 
 Lord's inference. But others may see it in a diffe- 
 rent light. To the judges therefore I submit it. 
 But, hath the greater sin, I think, should be, hath 
 greater sin, or more sin, i. e. hath his sin in deli- 
 vering me up to thee aggravated and increased. 
 
 If you dislike the parenthesis, we may still keep 
 the referenee of therefore to Pilate's words, to which 
 indeed I think it belongs, by supposing a few words 
 understood, in this manner : 
 
 Thou couldest have no power at all against me, 
 
 except 
 
Ixvi 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 except it were given thee from above. But since 
 I huu hast this power of the sword, Therefore he that, 
 knowing my innocence, &c. 1 " 
 
 l COR. X. 16—21. 
 
 " In order to deter the Corinthians from partaking 
 of the feasts at idolatrous sacrifices, St. Paul seems 
 to argue on the following principle : 
 
 That real effects, good or evil, are connected with 
 sacrifices, and communicated to the partakers of the 
 sacrifice. 
 
 This principle he shows to hold in the participa- 
 .ion of the Christian sacrifice, and of Jewish sacri- 
 fices, that thence he may argue to the effects of ido- 
 latrous sacrifices. 
 
 With regard to the Christian sacrifice he reminds 
 them (ver. 16.) that at the Lord's table there is a 
 communion of Christ's sacrifice. In the next place, 
 
 Ver. 17. He instructs them concerning the effects ' 
 of this sacrifice, that in consequence of partaking of 
 the sign and pledge of it, the eucharistical bread, the 
 faithful are united into one body. 
 
 Ver. lS. The effects of Jewish sacrifices he does 
 not ascertain, it being sufficient for his purpose to 
 remind them, that it is an acknowledged truth, that 
 they who eat of the sacrifice partake of the altar. 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Loveday, April 24, 17SO. Bishop Pearce, 
 as he afterwards observed, " seems to agree with him in explain- 
 ing e»« Tars" in this passage. 
 
 Ver. 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixvil 
 
 V^er. 19. But granting all this, it will be said, per- 
 haps, that the object of heathen sacrifices not being 
 the one Almighty God of the Jews and Christians, 
 but a senseless piece of wood, stone, or metal, the 
 sacrifice made to it must partake of the inefficiency 
 of its object; and there being no just analogy be- 
 tween the cases, the argument from one to the other 
 is inconclusive. 
 
 Ver. 20. St. Paul in answer allows, that the idol 
 itself is as nothing ; but then asserts with apostolical 
 authority, that the sacrifices made before the idol do 
 not terminate in it, but are in truth offered to devils, 
 powerful and malignant beings ; and the efficacy of 
 the sacrifice being established by the reality and 
 power of its object, the conclusion, on the foot of 
 analogy, too surely follows, 
 
 That, as the partaking of the Lord's table is a 
 communion of Christ, so the partaking of the table 
 of devils is a communion of them ; which must se- 
 parate us from our union with Christ, and lead us 
 fatally in a contrary direction 1 . 
 
 The seventeenth verse, 1 conceive, determines a 
 very material point, the meaning of the preceding 
 word, Communion ; whether we understand this 
 verse as our translators do, or in the sense which Dr. 
 Waterland, as well as Dr. Bell adopts, and which 
 has always appeared to me the more natural : 
 
 ' Because the bread is one, we being many are 
 one body ; for we are all partakers of that one 
 bread.' 
 
 1 He afterwards expressed it thus 1 That an idolatrous sacri- 
 lice being performed not to God but devils, the partaking of it is 
 a communion of devils, which is utterly inconsistent with our 
 union with Christ; and must b« fatal in its consequences." 
 
 The 
 
lxviii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 The body of which St. Paul here speaks, is r as 
 he calls it, xii. 27. the body of Christ ; with whom 
 the members of it have the like internal and inti- 
 mate connection, as the branches have with the vine. 
 He is the head, from whom all the body by joints 
 and bands, haying nourishment ministered, and knit 
 together, increaseth with the increase of God. Col. 
 ii. 19- 
 
 Christ only could originally constitute such a 
 body, and his power and energy must be perpetually- 
 necessary to animate and compact it. (Eph. iv. 16.) 
 Without Him the head, no social act of any num- 
 ber of Christians can avail any thing to that purpose. 
 
 But, by ver. 17. the joint participation of the sa- 
 cramental bread does avail to that purpose. It must 
 be therefore because he is present in the celebration 
 of the ordinance, and hath appointed it as a mean, 
 by which he imparts and the faithful receive of that 
 sanctifying spirit, which unites the members to the 
 head and to each other, and compacts the whole 
 into one body. This imparting and receiving must 
 then be implied in the communion of ver. l6\ For 
 nothing short of this is adequate to the effect, which, 
 by ver. 17, is annexed to the joint partaking of that 
 one bread." 
 
 July, 1781. 
 
 In a sermon 1 on the first of these verses, he ob- 
 serves, " The Lord's supper is not only a remem- 
 brance and commemoration of the death and sacri- 
 fice of Christ, but a feast upon this sacrifice. When 
 St. Paul tells us, 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, ' Christ our passover 
 is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast;* 
 his yvords imply, that the Jewish passover yvas a sa- 
 crifice and feast upon it ; and that Christians have a 
 
 1 Written in December, 1780. 
 
 passover 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixix 
 
 passover which resembles it." And he states this re- 
 semblance or parallel at some length. 
 
 GALATIANS, III. 
 
 " Is this the substance of the apostle's argument ? 
 
 God made a promise to Abraham, which hath 
 the nature of a covenant, that in his seed, in one 
 person descended from him, that is, Christ, all na- 
 tions should be blessed. 
 
 Four hundred and thirty years after this, the law 
 from mount Sinai was ordained by the ministry of 
 angels, and the mediation of Moses. 
 
 The very nature of mediation supposes two par- 
 ties, between whom the Mediator exercises his of- 
 fice. 
 
 One of these parties is plainly the people of Israel. 
 And who is the other? As plainly God. 
 
 God therefore was a party, both in the Abrahamic 
 and Sinaitic covenants. 
 
 But God is one ; one in a moral as well as natural 
 sense, by simplicity of will as well as of essence. 
 
 As such he could not will or intend by the Sinaitic, 
 a subsequent and limited, covenant, to alter or in- 
 fringe a prior and universal, the Abrahamic cove- 
 nant. 
 
 This therefore stands good, and hath its full ef- 
 fect, without need of support from the other. 
 
 Vol. I. f Is 
 
ACCOUNT OF 
 
 Is therefore the law of the Sinaitic covenant hos- 
 tile to the promise of the Abrahamic ? By no means. 
 By showing what sin is, it shows the want of the 
 covenant in Christ ; it contains the promises of him, 
 and typifies his character and offices. It is therefore 
 an introduction to Christ. But when it has answered 
 this end, it is of no further use. It cannot deliver 
 from the guilt or power of sin : it is not of a nature 
 to give life. These are the prerogatives of the 
 Abrahamic covenant, brought to perfection by the 
 advent and performances of Christ the promised 
 seed.." 
 
 PHILIPPIANS, II. 6—11. 
 
 " As far as I can collect, the sense of Philippians 
 ii. 6 — 11. which Wolfius approves, is to this effect : 
 
 ' Who possessing a state of divine majesty (and 
 by consequence the real nature of (rod) did not 
 pompously display, and pertinaciously retain it, but 
 took on himself a servile state.' 
 
 Here they seem all to agree, that the servile state, 
 here intended, was that of a mean condition among 
 men. 
 
 But as every created being is in a servile state, a 
 state of subjection, with regard to his Creator, may 
 not the meaning of a servile state be the state of a 
 creature of God ? the apostle then explaining what 
 this creaturely state was, which the Son of God as- 
 sumed, namely that of man ; in which state he fur- 
 ther humbled himself by being obedient to death, 
 even the death of the cross." 
 
 To these scriptural criticisms, it seems not impro- 
 per to subjoin the following letter on the liturgy, 
 written to a friend, Jan. 5, 1786". 
 
 « You 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixxi 
 
 " You have great objections to many passages in 
 the Psahns ; and so should I too, it' I did not consi- 
 der them in a different light, as warnings not 
 wishes, as the voice not of an individual, uttering his 
 private resentments, but of the church ; in which I 
 join, not to execrate any, but to declare, on the au- 
 thority of God's word, what will be the final end of 
 the unjust, of the cruel, the malicious, the enemies 
 of God and his religion. 
 
 Such undoubtedly is her voice in the Commina- 
 tion : which resembles the public reading of an act 
 of parliament against certain vices, or one in parti- 
 cular, for instance swearing. The legislature, by or- 
 dering such a thing to be done, means not to thrust 
 any one within the fangs of the law ; but by show- 
 ing how it will strike the offender, to deter from the 
 offence. And this seems an act, not of malice or 
 revenge, but of parental kindness. The Coinmina- 
 tion does not say, Cursed be the man, but, Cursed 
 is the man : how cursed ? by lying under the sen- 
 tence of the divine law, and being liable to its penal- 
 ties, unless he repent of his sins, and forsake them. 
 By pointing out the evil of his present state, it warns 
 him to flee from it. 
 
 But this, you will say, does not reach the case of 
 those passages in the Psalms, to which you object. 
 These do not run in the form, They u ill be wiped 
 out of the book of life, but, Let them be wiped out. 
 Yet what if the real sense of these seeming execra- 
 tions is either purely declarator)-, or prophetic ? The 
 very verse in which you instance^ Psal. lviii.o. (which 
 by the by seems a very obscure passage) runs in the 
 future tense in the bible translation ; and the whole 
 psalm may fairly be interpreted as a forcible remon- 
 strance to men in power, against oppression and per- 
 version of justice. If then it was penned by David 
 in the time of his royalty, does it not indicate a 
 f 2 princely 
 
Ixxii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 princely concern for his inferior subjects, to admo- 
 nish his nobles and judges, that one higher than they 
 will surely call them to account for abuse of autho- 
 rity ? 
 
 The three most remarkable psalms of the sort 
 which you complain of, are xxxvth, lxixth, and 
 cixth ; all of which may, on the best grounds, be 
 considered as prophetic. Christ, as St. Paul says, ' is 
 the end of the law,' of the law appointed by Moses, 
 and subsisting till the gospel times. Its most signifi- 
 cant rites, and most important prophecies and events, 
 had an aspect upon Him. And to these psalms, our 
 Lord himself says, John xv. 25, that the Jews, by 
 hating him without a cause, fulfilled the words of 
 their law : which words occur in Psalm xxxv. 1Q. 
 St. Peter tells us also, Acts i. 16*. that Judas, by be- 
 traying his Lord, incurred what David had predicted 
 of him ; and then cites two clauses from Psalms lxix. 
 and cix. Nay he says, that the Holy Ghost spake 
 these things by the mouth of David : whose lan- 
 guage and descriptions, under this influence, went 
 often, as did those of the other prophets, beyond his 
 own immediate and distinct views. If in the xxiid 
 Psalm his first design was to paint his own distresses, 
 it hath been so ordered, that he has done it in co- 
 lours much better adapted ultimately to the suffer- 
 ings of Christ : to which the evangelists apply seve- 
 ral parts of the psalm. The end of the workman 
 and his master, you know, may be different in the 
 same thing. The end of the man, whom you hire 
 to plough and sow your field, may be only to earn 
 the price of his labour ; your's is to obtain a crop of 
 corn. Whatever therefore were the intentions of the 
 Psalmist, which I hope were much milder than you 
 suppose, in tne passages that seem to curse his own 
 ibes, 1 read them as intended by Him who seeth the 
 end from the beginning as denunciations against the 
 enemies of Christ and his Gospel. Are they pro- 
 phetic ? 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxxin 
 
 Jhetic ? I adore, in their accomplishment on the 
 evvish nation, the hand of Him who says, ' Ven- 
 geance is mine, and I will repay.' Are they decla- 
 ratory? I would sound, in the ears of sinners, their 
 infinite peril, who crucify the Son of God to them- 
 selves afresh by their lusts, Heb. vi. 6'. In this light 
 I consider these passages, that is, as either prophe- 
 tic, or monitory. If any private devout Christian 
 cannot see them in the same light, as He may with 
 as good a conscience be silent, when they are read, 
 so I think I can read them aloud. 
 
 The Churching of women, being performed in 
 many churches at the communion table as a separate 
 service, would be too short, as you propose to re- 
 trench it, and I think lose, instead of acquiring, so- 
 lemnity. 
 
 I believe the Morning Prayer, the Litany, and 
 Communion service were intended by our Reformers 
 to be distinct; and, if I am rightly informed, were 
 for a considerable time performed in some cathedrals 
 at different times of the morning, that they who 
 could not be present at one, might attend another. 
 The joining them together, as is now done, has oc- 
 casioned a more frequent repetition of the Lord's 
 prayer, and very much lengthened the service. But 
 long is a relative term : and though I think there is 
 no great danger, that the patient perseverance of 
 your ancestors in hearing and praying should return ; 
 yet since things improbable are possible, how shall 
 the Church, if she "is to establish any thing perma- 
 nent, accommodate the length of her offices to the 
 variable modes of thinking, that succeed each other 
 in her children ?" 
 
 The merit of these articles, I trust, will abund- 
 antly compensate the length of them. I now resume 
 the thread of narration. 
 
 In 
 
ACCOUNT OF 
 
 In the northern part of the diocese of Chester, the 
 Roman Catholics form a considerable bodv. This 
 circumstance, and his connection with that district 
 as archdeacon of Richmond, although, as we have 
 seen, the relation was little more than nominal, in- 
 duced him to turn his mind to examine the claims 
 of the church of Rome; and he composed a disser- 
 tation on the subject, deducing his arguments igainst 
 the pretensions of the infallible see chiefly from a 
 consideration of the vision in the Apocalypse con- 
 cerning Babylon, as it is understood by learned ex^ 
 positors of that communion to signify the city of 
 Rome. 
 
 His travels abroad, and his studies at home, con- 
 curred to qualify him for this inquiry : and what he 
 wrote on the subject was highly approved by the ju- 
 dicious friends to whose perusal he submitted it, and 
 they urged him to publish. The work was carefully 
 and repeatedly revised, and transcribed for the press; 
 but, with his wonted diffidence, he deferred the 
 publication ; nor did he at last, when the question 
 was put to him, pronounce decisively whether it 
 should, or should not, be printed. 
 
 Another matter there was however, on which, 
 whenever a fit occasion presented itself, he never 
 showed any hesitation or reluctance. This was to 
 cultivate and promote charity; of which one instance 
 ought here to be remembered, that regarded a new 
 institution, set on foot under the auspices of Bishop 
 Porteus, in the Archdeaconry before mentioned. 
 There had long been a very ample subscription for 
 the benefit of the necessitous clergy in the archdea- 
 conry of Chester ; but there was none for those who 
 wanted it most, in the northern deaneries, where the 
 livings are the smallest, and the country, compara- 
 tiveh/j poor and ill inhabited. It was thought by 
 many a hopeless undertaking to raise any thing like 
 
 a to- 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixxv 
 
 a tolerable fund in a district so desolate. The zeal, 
 however, of the good prelate determined him to at- 
 tempt it; and with the help principally of Dr. 
 Townson, who was uncommonly active in the busi- 
 ness, and of the Rev. Mr. Hutton, vicar of Burton, 
 the project succeeded beyond the most sanguine ex- 
 pectations of those who patronised it 1 . Both the 
 gentry and clergy subscribed cheerfully and liberally. 
 There is now a very handsome fund, and infinite 
 service is daily done by it to the poor clergy, to their 
 widows and families, in those parts. Dr. Townson 
 was chosen President of the infant establishment 2 , 
 was an annual subscriber to it, and gave also to it 
 annually a benefaction of ten pounds. 
 
 Meanwhile he was going on with and perfecting, 
 at intervals of leisure, the Discourse on our blessed 
 Saviour's Resurrection ; which was begun, as we 
 have mentioned, in 1778. In the following spring 
 he spoke of the work as being so far finished, that, 
 as he then thought, he could make it no better; 
 only that a few notes were to be added 3 . In I7S4 
 he printed part of it, to which he prefixed the fol- 
 lowing modest advertisement 4 : 
 
 " A few copies are printed of the First Part of this 
 Discourse, for the sake of submitting it to more im- 
 partial judges than most authors are of their own 
 performances. If the friends of the writer think the 
 plan he has pursued unsatisfactory, he had rather 
 stop, and suppress what is here laid before them, 
 than trouble the Christian world with any thing fur- 
 
 1 From the information of the Bishop of London, January \, 
 1793. 
 
 a Kendal, July 3, 1778. 
 
 1 Letter to Mr. Loveday, March 22, 1779. 
 
 1 The title was, " A Discourse on the Evangelical Histories 
 of the Resurrection and first Appearances of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ." 53 pages.. 4to. 
 
 ther 
 
Ixxvi 
 
 ACCOUNT Of 
 
 ther on a subject that has been so frequently canvas- 
 sed. Their free opinion of the whole, or, if they 
 approve the plan in general, of particular passages 
 to which they may object, will be very thankfully 
 received by him." 
 
 He distributed six or eight copies among those in 
 whose judgement he placed confidence. The plan 
 was, in all material parts, the same as it now is, and 
 as it had been from the first. The words however 
 of the evangelists were not disposed in regular se- 
 quence, but introduced occasionally in the body of 
 the work, and followed by remarks and illustrations. 
 
 One of the friends, to whom he gave this prelimi- 
 nary specimen of the work, was Sir Roger Newdi- 
 gate, Baronet, who had studied the subject of the 
 resurrection with much care and attention. His ad- 
 vice to the author, after an exact perusal and consi- 
 deration of the plan, was, that he should compose 
 a harmony of this part of the Gospels, in the man- 
 ner of Toinard, arranging the words of each evange- 
 list in parallel columns, with a connecting para- 
 phrase by the side ; and that the proofs and illustra- 
 tions should be subjoined to this unbroken series of 
 narration. The scheme suggested met his appro- 
 bation ; and he new modeled the work accordingly ; 
 and was more and more convinced, the more he 
 considered it, that this plan would turn out the 
 clearest and most satisfactory 
 
 Still however no intreaties could extort the manu- 
 script from him ; and when he understood that a 
 learned work or two on the subject were just come 
 
 1 Letters to Dr. Lovedav, Dec. "20, 1787, and March 27, 
 1788. 
 
 out 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxxvii 
 
 out in Germany l , he eagerly seized the intelligence 
 to repress the solicitations of friendly importunity for 
 immediate publication. The works were procured, 
 and the substance of the most material passages was 
 translated for him from the German. They occa- 
 sioned no alteration in his performance, though the 
 desire of seeing them had afforded a plea for defer- 
 ing to publish. Bishop Newcome's " Review of 
 the chief difficulties in the Gospel-history relating to 
 our Lord's Resurrection," published in Dublin at 
 the close of the year 1791, he did not see ; and had 
 it reached him, as his Lordship " accedes to Dr. 
 Benson's hypothesis," with which he was well ac- 
 quainted, it would probably, in his estimation, have 
 been classed with other labours of the learned, 
 which he did not wish to notice, where he could 
 not commend. 
 
 In his last illness, and in the last part of that ill- 
 ness, he revised the work again. Lie improved the 
 index, and made some slight emendations in the 
 discourse itself. He thought there was a passage in 
 St. Augustin's Consent of the Evangelists still more 
 to his purpose, than what he has quoted 2 ; but he 
 could not discover it. " Some one perhaps, he 
 said, will meet with it, and will say, ' What he 
 has cited is not much amiss; but he might have 
 produced this, which would have more availed 
 him.' With all my heart; he is perfectly welcome 
 to his triumph." 
 
 Lie at first proposed, as a motto for the work, 
 Acts ii. 24. " Whom God hath raised up, having 
 loosed the pains of death ; because it was not pos- 
 
 1 The History of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by John Frederic Plessing ; Hallo, 17S8. 2 vol. 8vo. 
 
 On Golgotha, or the Sepulchre of Christ, by the same ; ib 
 1789. 
 
 ' P. 137. 
 
 sible 
 
Ixxviii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 sible that he should be holden of it." He afterwards 
 wished for some little ornament or vignette for the 
 title-page ; and he suggested a drawing of the Church 
 of the holy Sepulchre from Cotovicus or Sandys, and 
 in the east the sun just risen, according to St. Mark, 
 xvi. 2 ; with these words of St. Luke under it: " He 
 is not here, but is risen." xxiv. 6. This, he thought, 
 if done neatly, would be very proper. Next day, 
 which was the day before his decease, he mentioned 
 " a very ingenious young lady" in the neighbour- 
 hood, w ho he thought would execute the design with 
 elegance ; and from her drawing, which I will 
 not disparage by attempting to praise, the plate is 
 engraved. 
 
 He wrote a letter to his friend Dr. Loveday — the 
 last he ever wrote — to accompany the Discourse : in 
 which he tells him, " At last come the papers to 
 you, that you have been so long desiring; and now 
 they are come, perhaps you may begin to wish, you 
 had not been so eager after them. For now the 
 whole trouble of transacting with the bookseller, and 
 of revising the press, will devolve upon yourself. — 
 You see how exceedingly gracious I am to you." 
 After this stroke, and more, of his usual pleasantly-, 
 together with some directions relative to the publi- 
 cation, he concludes, " I pray God to have you all 
 in his holy keeping '." 
 
 Under the inspection of the friend to whom the 
 work was thus intrusted, it is now faithfully printed 
 from the corrected manuscript. As to the merit of 
 the performance, his only remark w as, " that he had 
 done the best he could; and if the world were not 
 satisfied, they must criticise ; — but, Mr. Churton, 
 if they do not make haste, I shall be out of their 
 way !" 
 
 1 April 12, 1702. 
 
 In 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixxix 
 
 In this detail, which I trust is, in part, a view of 
 the Author as well as the work, we have attended 
 him to the verge of the grave. But we must look 
 back upon one or two circumstances of earlier oc- 
 currence. 
 
 No one can live long in this world without sur- 
 viving some of his dearest friends. It is the condi- 
 tion of mortality, designed by gracious Providence, 
 among other wise purposes, to make us content to 
 go hence, when it shall please God to summon us to 
 another part of his universal kingdom. Mr. Love- 
 day's name has appeared in these papers as a friend 
 and correspondent of Dr. Townson's. He was " the 
 constant object of his esteem and affection, from a 
 very early period of his life 1 ;" and he did not scru- 
 ple to declare, that he owed the turn of study which 
 produced his theological works, " more to Mr. 
 Loveday's friendship and conversation, than to any 
 other human means 2 ." This incomparable person, 
 thus connected with Dr. Townson, and therefore 
 with these memoirs, departed this life, May l6\ 
 1780. He used to say, that when any one died, a 
 certain portion of knowledge was lost to the world, 
 and died with him : a remark that has seldom been 
 more strikingly exemplified, than in himself. For 
 though his abilities were great, and his communi- 
 cations to works of literature as liberal as his stores 
 were ample, he never himself published any thing. 
 In history and antiquities he possessed a fund of in- 
 telligence, that was almost inexhaustible ; and if he 
 could not instantly inform you on a subject, he al- 
 ways knew where information, if books could sup- 
 ply it, was to be found. He was eminent in philo- 
 logical learning of all sorts ; and for exact skill in the 
 original languages of the holy Scriptures, he had 
 
 1 letter to Mr. Churton, May 23, 1789. 
 ' Letter to Mr. Loveday, July 25, 177? . 
 
 scarcely 
 
Ixxx 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 scarcely perhaps, after the death of his intimate 
 friend Bishop Lowth, his equal in the kingdom. 
 His taste was polished, his judgement candid : and 
 he particularly excelled in the virtues of the heart, 
 and the graces of conversation ; in sensibility and 
 charity ; in modest}', humility, and universal cheer- 
 fulness. We have it under his own hand, — which 
 never wrote what his heart did not dictate, ec that, 
 take all things together, he never relished life 
 more 1 " than in his 79th year ; and at that advanced 
 period, with a slight decay of memory, and under a 
 gradual decline of bodily strength, he still retained 
 " just the same degree of understanding, with which 
 his God originally endowed him He lived with- 
 out an enemy, and died without a groan; leaving 
 regret to his friends, and to the world a character 
 that will never perish. 
 
 The year after the decease of this his dear and 
 honoured friend, an infirmity came upon Dr. Town- 
 son, which rendered traveling painful and hazardous. 
 The malady, in itself not very severe nor uncommon, 
 was affecting in its circumstances. It was the first 
 symptom of approaching dissolution; and it cut him 
 off from visiting those distant friends, whom he 
 loved and respected. His feelings were sensibly 
 touched on the occasion ; but he quickly became 
 content, and almost pleased with the dispensation. 
 " I do not," he said with emphasis, " regret this at 
 all. There is a time when it is right a man should 
 stay at home." And the sincerity of the declaration 
 
 ' Note ta Dr. Townson, March 19, 1789. See in the Gent. 
 Mag. for that year, p. 471, some account of Mr. Loveday, and 
 also, p. 487, a character of him, signed Crito, drawn with equal 
 ability and truth by John Taylor, M. D. of Reading, a member of 
 Brasen Nose College — to which those who have every reason to 
 wish well, cannot wish better than that it may always produce 
 similar talents and worth. 
 
 was 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxxxi 
 
 was evinced by his spirits and cheerfulness, which 
 flowed, if possible, with a fuller tide than ever. 
 
 Poetry, if it is not of a gloomy cast, is commonly 
 an indication that the spirits do not flag. At the 
 close of this year, 1790, he wrote the following ode, 
 to his friend William Drake junior, esquire, in re- 
 turn for a present he had received from him : 
 
 Ausus et ipse manujuvenum tentare laborem. 
 
 GULIELMO DRAKE, JUNIORI, ARMIGERO. 
 
 > Integer vitae Gulielme, Tecum 
 Tiberis ripas adiisse gratum est, 
 Quaque florentis populi alluebat 
 Sequana turres, 
 
 Tunc ovans amnis ; neque enim sciebat 
 Quanta vis, orci e tenebris, Sororum 
 Missa dirarum male feriatam 
 Urbem agitaret. 
 
 Nunc dolet priscis Pietas ab aris 
 ,Pulsa ; cesseiunt et Honos et Ordo ; 
 Rege detruso, modo qui per orbem 
 Claruit omnem ; 
 
 Rege captivo, et trepidante, plebis 
 Inter insanje miseros tumultus, 
 Quae suum miro Dominum colebat 
 Nuper amore. 
 
 Gens levis, gens sunt malefida Galli. 
 Sed Fides antiqua beatiorem 
 Anglica terra retinet — tuoque 
 Pectore sedem. 
 
 Quas pares grates tibi, proque cultis 
 Versibus reddat nitidoque dono, 
 Qui tuo imprimis animo foveri 
 Gaudet, amicus ? 
 
 Exeat 
 
lxxxii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 Exeat felix abiturus annus ; 
 Ducat et longam seriem sequentum, 
 Cuncta qui plene cumulent tuisque 
 Et Tibi fausta. 
 
 Dec. 4, 1790. 
 
 He still composed sermons occasionally for the in- 
 struction of his parish. Nor was he inattentive, 
 amidst his sacred studies, to the publications of the 
 day, and to works of philology and genius. In 
 the autumn of 1791, he was reading Mr. Cowper's 
 Iliad " with no small pleasure ; and had proceeded 
 about half way, but then' stoDt, finding his reiish 
 for such intellectual amusement* failing him. Whe- 
 ther I have recovered it, he says, I have not yet 
 made the experiment ; and at this time of day it 
 would be no great matter whether I have or not, if 
 my thoughts had so much more fully taken a higher 
 direction '." 
 
 When he wrote this he was struggling with that 
 malady, which it pleased God was his last. Some 
 symptoms of dropsy came upon him with the coid 
 weather in December. However he still attended 
 church ; and on the first day of the new year 
 preached with good elocution, twenty-three minutes, 
 on Proverbs xxvii. 1. " Boast not thyself of to- 
 morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may 
 bring forth." A sermon on this text was the first 
 that he preached in Malpas church ; and another on 
 the same text happened to be the last. His com- 
 plaint, attended with an asthma, increased after 
 this in a very rapid and alarming degree ; and, for 
 the first time during his residence at Malpas, me- 
 dical assistance was called in. 
 
 ' Letter to Mr. Churton, Feb. 16, 1792. 
 
 Upon 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Ixxxiii 
 
 Tpon the first attack of the disorder his spirits 
 sank considerably ; but divine goodness, aiding his 
 endeavours, soon restored his cheerfulness in all its 
 vigour. Medicine also afforded some relief to the 
 disorder; but this very relief was not without its 
 inconvenience ; and he wrote the following epigram 
 on the " dilemma between taking and refusing the 
 medicines prescribed for shortness of breath 1 :" 
 
 Pharmaca, qure stomachum vexant et viscera, sumo, 
 Nempe ea succumint debili anhelitui. 
 
 Ni sumo, intereo male spiralis ; ast ubi sumo, 
 Non queo ferre cibos, intereoque fame. 
 
 He read Isaac Walton's Lives during his illness ; 
 with a view, no doubt, to trim his lamp and prepare 
 for his Lord, by comparing his conduct with the 
 examples of those meek and holy men, described by 
 the pleasing and faithful biographer. He also read, 
 and assuredly with similar intentions, Mr. Herbert's 
 Country Parson. In conversing with a very worthy 
 and highly-esteemed friend, the Rev. Ralph Bridge, 
 M. A. one of the curates of Malpas, on an event 
 which it was foreseen could not be tar distant, the 
 " passage of death" was mentioned ; and, in allusion 
 to that expression, he shortly afterwards desired 
 him, in the following distich, to pray, that, if it 
 pleased God, his departure might neither be linger- 
 ing, nor painful : 
 
 Funde preces Domino, ne transitus huncce per angi- 
 Portum sit longus, neu milu dirficilis. 
 
 His respiration at times was laborious, especially 
 after any little exertion ; but in general, at least by 
 his own account, he suffered very little pain. He 
 slept comfortably ; and often when he awaked felt 
 
 1 Letter to Dr. Loveday, March 15, 1792. 
 
 as 
 
lxxxiv 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 as well as ever he was in his life, till he began to 
 move, and found the want of strength and activity. 
 
 Though it was winter, and his friends pressed him 
 to stay at home, he attended church with very few 
 intermissions. And on Easter Sunday, April 8, the 
 hand that writes this, administered to him, at the 
 holy table, the blessed emblems of the body and 
 blood of his dear Redeemer. 
 
 On the following Saturday he had had a remark- 
 ably good night ; and read prayers to his family 
 with greater strength of voice, than he had done for 
 several days. He was extremely cheerful. His cu- 
 rate, the Rev. James Heaton, M. A. called, and he 
 gave him privately four guineas for a charitable sub- 
 scription, with an injunction to put down his name 
 for half the sum only. And this may, not impro- 
 perly, be called the last deed of his life. For in less 
 than an hour, as he was walking alone, he fell ; and 
 though he was not bruised by the fall, the concussion 
 and the cold (for it was in the open air) hurt him 
 greatly. His breathing was difficult ; and he dozed 
 most part of the time. 
 
 This accident, in all human appearance, shortened 
 his days perhaps a week or a fortnight. But the 
 stroke was not without circumstances of mercy. 
 He had this very morning given the only direction, 
 which remained to be given respecting his work — 
 had no alteration taken place, his Brasen Nose 
 friend, who was now with him, would have re- 
 turned, as duty called him, to Oxford — and, lastly, 
 he must otherwise, in a few days, have been con- 
 fined to a bed of debility and languor. But, as 
 matters were ordered, the Father of all wisdom, 
 and God of all comfort, who Bad permitted an at- 
 tachment he once had to be disappointed, was 
 pleased so to extend his goodness to his faithful 
 
 servant 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxXXT 
 
 servant, both in his former unexampled good health, 
 and in the circumstances of his final sickness, that 
 those endearing attentions, which female tenderness 
 and affection alone can administer, should not be 
 wanted : and what servants can perform, was done^ 
 in the best manner possible. 
 
 He rose on Sunday morning, April 15, at the usual 
 hour ; but his strength was not recruited. He had 
 frequent and calm slumbers ; felt no uneasiness, 
 except " some times a very very little pain in his 
 breast." His memory was as quick as ever, and his 
 attention to his friends undiminished. Towards 
 evening, when it was proposed to assist him to bed, 
 he put it oft" with civil excuses. About eight o'clock 
 he consented; and walked between two persons with 
 some alertness. I was supporting him while the 
 servant took off" his clothes, and he fainted in my 
 arms ; and it was feared life was no longer in him. 
 But when he was laid gently down in bed, he re- 
 vived ; and lay, he said, quite easy. At the hour 
 of prayers, as it was judged he was too infirm to 
 join in them, those who could be spared withdrew 
 to another room. When we returned, the labo- 
 rious respiration had ceased ; he breathed feebly, 
 but seemingly with perfect ease. In a very short 
 space he opened his eyes, and with a placid coun- 
 tenance looked steadfastly upwards best part of a 
 minute. Then he closed his eyes, and in less than 
 another minute had ceased breathing, but so calmly 
 ■and gently, that the friend who stood nearest could 
 not perceive his last breath. 
 
 He was interred near the grave of his diligent and 
 respected curate, the Rev. Mr. Turner, on Monday 
 the 23d of April ; when ten of the neighbouring 
 clergy, those whom he loved and valued whilst he 
 lived, paid the last sad offices due to humanity. At 
 the mournful solemnity, crowds indulged their af- 
 
 Vol. L g fection 
 
lxxxvi 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 fection and their grief, by a voluntary attendance 
 and abundant tears ; and the principal inhabitants 
 put on the robe of sorrow, to soothe their melan- 
 choly and show their regard. So is goodness ho- 
 noured and lamented ! 
 
 In his will, written with his own hand, and dated 
 May 2S, 1~,91, he " commends his soul into the 
 hands of his Creator, who gave it, through his in- 
 finite mercies in his only Son, our ever blessed Re- 
 deemer and Saviour, Jesus Christ ; and if he dies 
 at Malpas, he desires his body may be buried some- 
 where in the cluirch-vard, towards the north side of 
 the church." To his friend and patron, William 
 Drake, Esquire, he bequeathed one hundred pounds 
 to purchase books: and desired the Right Honour- 
 able Lord Ragot to accept some of his Italian books, 
 " as a small token of his gratitude and esteem :" and 
 left also memorials to other branches of the family, 
 which he had known so long and valued so highly. 
 To his godchildren likewise he left remembrances, 
 and legacies to his distant relations ; annuities to 
 certain widows and poor neighbours, and legacies to 
 all his servants. To Magdalen College, of which he 
 had been fellow, he gave one hundred pounds ; and 
 the like sum to each of the Societies for Promoting 
 and Propagating the Christian Religion, of both 
 which he had been many years a member l . To the 
 poor of Malpas he gave fifty pounds, to be distri- 
 buted at the discretion of his worthy brother rector, 
 the Rev. Reginald Heber, M.A. sometime fellow 
 of Rrasen Nose College; and the reversionary in r 
 terest of five hundred pounds South Sea stock, after 
 some annuities fall in, for educating young children ; 
 or other charitable purposes, as the rectors for the 
 
 1 He became a subscribing member of the Society for Pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge in 1*52; and a member of the 
 other before IfS/J ; and was one of the Stewards for the Feast of 
 the Sons of the Clergj in 1771. 
 
 time 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxxxvii 
 
 time being should think best. He likewise directed 
 certain books out of his library should be given to 
 his friend Mr. Loveday, or, if he survived him, to 
 his son Dr. Loveday. The rest of his property, 
 real and personal, he bequeaths to his dear brother 
 and sole executor, John Townson, Esquire, of 
 Gray's Inn. 
 
 Thus affection, piety, and charity, conspicuous 
 features in his life, peculiarly distinguish also this 
 his final will and testament. It is supposed, that 
 out of an income of about eight hundred pounds a 
 year, he generally bestowed a fourth part, and some- 
 times half, in deeds of beneficence. This revenue 
 of charity was managed by him with all possible se- 
 crecy, with the most amiable condescension and 
 kindness to those who were the objects of it, and in 
 every respect with the greatest wisdom and circum- 
 spection. For indeed lie was blessed with an ex- 
 cellent understanding and judgement, improved by 
 much reflection, and observation of the world, as 
 well as large and well-selected reading. Having in 
 early life laid bis foundation in the sciences, and 
 formed his taste on the best models of antiquity, he 
 thenceforth devoted his time and talents to his pe- 
 culiar profession ; and human learning became the 
 handmaid of theology. Of the success of his la- 
 bours in this sublime study, and of the extent and 
 accuracy of bis knowledge, it is needless to speak; of 
 this his works, in which intelligence at once various 
 and profound is so admirably brought to bear on the 
 subject in hand, are a lasting monument. He had 
 in truth the most perfect command of all his intellec- 
 tual stores ; and so intimately was he versed in the ce- 
 lebrated authors of Greece and Rome, and their great 
 English rivals, that there was scarcely a shining pas-^ 
 sage in their immortal w orks, that was not treasured 
 up in his wonderful memory. His conversation, 
 whether with a few or with more, was rich, animated, 
 g 2 and 
 
Ixxxviii 
 
 ACCOUNT OF 
 
 and interesting; and perhaps no one, endowed with 
 any degree of sensibility, ever was in his company 
 without feeling himself, for the time, happier and 
 better. His cheerfulness was invariable, and his 
 civility the genuine virtue of the heart ; and that a 
 heart overflowing with benevolence, and hallowed 
 by religion. From this source streamed an efful- 
 gence of countenance, which those only who beheld 
 can adequately conceive; but which perhaps never 
 was better expressed, than in the words of our great 
 poet : 
 
 " Till oft converse with heav'iily habitants 
 Begin to cast a beam on th' outward shape, 
 The unpolluted temple of the mind 1 ." 
 
 He was graceful in person, of middle stature, and 
 rather thin, till he made his second tour into Italy, 
 when he returned and continued of a fuller habit. 
 He had long used glasses; but, sight excepted, his 
 bodily senses were unimpaired, and his teeth as firm 
 and as white as ivory. But, " of the soul alone the 
 form is immortal 2 ," and ofThatthe fairest ornament 
 was pietv. We have before spoken of his devotion, 
 domestic and public. His more private aspirations 
 to heaven, the exercise of his closet, I presume not 
 to " draw from their sacred abode." They were 
 known to Him who seeth in secret; and He will one 
 day reward them openly. Public facts, however, are 
 within the province of the historian ; and, if good, 
 should be held forth to imitation. His piety was an 
 earl)' habit, and it never forsook him. It was the 
 guide of his youth, the support of manhood, the 
 crown of old age. In foreign countries this was his 
 comfort ; in all the felicity of his native land, whose 
 constitution none more ardently loved and admired, 
 
 1 Milton's Comus, 459. 
 
 ' I 'jraia mentis clenia. Tacit. Vit. Agric, ad fiU. 
 
 as 
 
THE AUTHOR. 
 
 lxxxix 
 
 as few better understood ; in all the felicity of this 
 favoured land, religion was his delight, and the 
 Church of England his glory. The full effects of 
 this piety can be known only at that day, which shall 
 reveal all things; but many, doubtless, were in every 
 way won to righteousness by its transcendent loveli- 
 ness. It was humble and unobtrusive, never dashed 
 harmless mirth, never courted human applause; but, 
 associated with joy and serenity, was ever ready, at 
 home or abroad, in the moment of gladness or day of 
 affliction, to advance the love of God, the belief of 
 his gospel, and the good of mankind. 
 
 His candour was as striking as his other virtues. 
 He gave full praise to merit wherever it appeared ; 
 and was most willing to make allowance for human 
 infirmity. The depravity of the age, that stale topic 
 of the idle and censorious, was no subject of com- 
 plaint with Him ; he hoped and believed better 
 things of the world he lived in. He was a kind and 
 gracious master ; a most generous and faithful friend. 
 Greater humanity has rarely dwelt in man ; nor ever 
 with more perfect obedience to a still higher princi- 
 ple. To behold him when he parted with those 
 he loved, or when they were removed by death, was 
 a lesson of affection to the heart, and of faith to the 
 soul. He who records this had long been treated by 
 him with parental tenderness; and in his last illness, 
 when moments were precious, he never suffered him 
 to retire to rest, without some act or expression of 
 kindest regard. 
 
 Never, perhaps, in these latter ages, has any man, 
 in a like situation, been equally esteemed, and equally 
 lamented. His parish, his friends, and all good men 
 grieved for an event, that extinguished one of the 
 brightest ornaments of religion and learning, and 
 took from the poor, the widow and the orphan, a 
 protector, a guide, a father: of whom we may affirm, 
 
 almost 
 
xc 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 almost without a figure, that his every sentiment was 
 piety, and every deed beneficence ; his spirit was 
 meekness, and his soul charity. 
 
 Such was his life ; and his death was similar, 
 equally serene, resigned, and edifying. Without a 
 struggle, without a sigh, his heart fixed on heaven, 
 and his looks directed thither, he closed his eyes, 
 pever to open till the resurrection of the just. 
 
 R. CHURTOX. 
 
 Brasen Nose College, 
 Feb. 15, 17i>3. 
 
 P. S.Nov. 2", lSoo. To the foregoing account 
 it may be proper to add, that the affection of John 
 Townson, Esquire, of Gray's Inn, for the best of 
 brothers caused a neat marble tablet to be erected to 
 his memory in the church at Malpas, with the 
 following inscription ; which not having been drawn 
 up when the preceding memoirs were' compiled, is 
 here submitted to the indulgence of the candid 
 Reader; and I am happy to add a testimony more 
 worthy of the Deceased, paid to his memory by his 
 esteemed friend and successor in the Rectory of 
 Bliihfield, the Reverend Walter Bagot, M. A. who 
 himself departed this life, July 10, l So6 > , aged 74. 
 
 On 
 
( xci ) 
 
 On the South Wall in the Chancel at Malpas. 
 
 The Reverend Thomas Townson, D. D. 
 Archdeacon of Richmond, 
 whose remains are interred, as he directed, 
 near the north wall of the church yard, 
 
 was sometime Fellow of 
 St. Mary Magdalen College, Oxford, 
 and more than forty -one years Rector of 
 the lower mediety of this Parish ; 
 where constant attention 
 to the temporal wants and spiritual welfare 
 of every rank, 
 joined with benignity of mind 
 and courtesy of manners, 
 gained him universal esteem 
 and cordial affection. 
 He was learned, humble, pious : 
 his writings were distinguished by 
 classical elegance, sound argument, 
 evangelical purity : 
 his devotion 
 was fervent without enthusiasm, 
 his liberality 
 inexhaustible, yet studiously concealed ; 
 his cheerfulness invariable, 
 and his countenance heavenly. 
 His life and death were alike edifying, 
 
 the one was piety, the other peace. 
 He expired full of hope in Jesus Christ 
 on Sunday evening April 15, 17 92, , 
 aged 77 years. 
 
 On 
 
( xcii ) 
 
 On a tablet of white marble, agaiiist the South Wall in 
 the Church at Blithfield ; his arms below : quarterly, 
 first and fourth, on a Saltier, between 4 Escalops, 
 5 Cross Crosslets ; second and third, 5 Crosses plain 
 and a Chevronel : Crest, on a wreath 3 Cross Crosslets 
 fitchy, surmounted with an Escalop. The first and 
 fourth, Gules and Or, were borne by Ralph Townson, 
 son of Robert Townson, bishop of Salisbury. Guil- 
 bm, p. 247. b. 
 
 In 
 
 Memory of 
 Thomas Townson, D. D. 
 Rector of this Parish from 1749 to 1759 
 A learned humble and truly pious Christian 
 A faithful minister of the Church of God 
 Which he constantly supported and adorned 
 both by his Life and Writings 
 Loved and regretted by all who knew him 
 He died at Malpas in Cheshire 
 April 1 5, 1792, aged 77. 
 and was there buried amidst the sighs and 
 tears of his afflicted Parishioners. 
 
 JM future Rectors follow if they can 
 The bright Example of this holy man ! 
 
( xciii ) 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE following discourse was the result of an 
 inquiry, carefully pursued, at intervals of lei- 
 sure, during the space of five or six years or more. 
 In the selection of examples to establish the hypo- 
 thesis, to which the investigation was uniformly 
 found to lead, two objects were in view : to bring 
 forward and compare, out of a multitude of pas- 
 sages noted for the purpose, and alike conclusive, 
 such as seemed at once to demonstrate the point in 
 hand, and were also, from the subject matter of 
 them, or from some collateral circumstance, judged 
 to be best suited to the nature of a public discourse. 
 
 The penmen of holy Scripture, who always wrote, 
 nmder the guidance and controul, and often by the 
 immediate suggestion, of the Holy Spirit, were 
 placed in a situation so pre-eminent and distin- 
 guished from all other writers, that some difference 
 in their modes of proceeding might naturally be ex- 
 pected ; and this, in particular, seems to have been 
 a peculiar and invariable rule with them, that they 
 frequently quote, especially in historical matters, 
 the pre-existing accounts of their inspired brethren, 
 but never mention that they do quote them. If 
 this position is satisfactorily proved in the discourse 
 subjoined, I shall not repent submitting it to the 
 
 candour 
 
xciv 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 candour of the Public, in humble hope that it may 
 form no improper introduction to the Discourses of 
 Dr. Townson on the Gospels; by showing that what 
 is there maintained, in the case of the Evangelists, 
 was the known and established practice of reve- 
 lation, from the days of the first prophets that suc- 
 ceeded Moses. 
 
 Learned and ingenious men frame to themselves 
 theories of what a Gospel should contain, where it 
 should begin, and where it should end; and then 
 they pronounce, concerning the order and design of 
 the existing Gospels, as they agree or disagree with 
 these abstract rules and canons of their own de- 
 vising. But this, surely, is a very fallible criterion. 
 The ways of God are not as man's ways ; and al- 
 though those that search with meekness of under- 
 standing (for to such especiallv " mysteries are re- 
 vealed 1M ) may generally discover plain marks of 
 wisdom, in the whole progress and several parts of 
 divine revelation ; yet the manifestations which 
 have been made, and the things which have been 
 done, have very seldom been such as the wit of 
 man would antecedently have concluded to be rea- 
 sonable and proper. Most men, in Naaman's si- 
 tuation, would probably have thought as he did, 
 that the holy prophet would come out to such an 
 extraordinary and illustrious visitant, and call on 
 his God, and recover the leper ; but we can all see, 
 in the sequel, how the glory of the God of Israel 
 was advanced, and true humility and goodness pro- 
 moted, as Heaven conducted the business, more 
 than if it had been ordered as the haughty Syrian 
 expected. 
 
 In the new dispensation imparted to mankind, it 
 was always, without question, a part of the divine 
 
 ' Eccles. iii. 19. 
 
 economy. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XCV 
 
 economy, that there should be four distinct Histo- 
 ries of the life, and miracles, and discourses, and 
 death of our blessed Lord ; and that they should, 
 jointly and severally, tend to the same great end, 
 the confirmation of our belief in Him as the Son of 
 God, and Redeemer of the world. But each Gospel 
 in succession, was, no doubt, called for by the then 
 existing circumstances of the Christian church, or of 
 some considerable portions of it ; so that it was ex- 
 pedient, that a work, of such a description and cha- 
 racter, should then and there be published, rather 
 than at a different period, or in a different place. 
 
 " The progress in planting the Christian faith," as 
 Dr. Townson observes, " was from a church purely 
 of the circumcision, to a mixed community ; and 
 from thence to distinct churches of the Gentiles 1 ." 
 And it has been shown, from many internal marks, 
 that St. Matthew wrote for the first, St. Mark for 
 the second, and St. Luke for the third settlement of 
 the faith.'' In this order the Gospels have all along 
 been disposed ; and the testimonies of the early fa- 
 thers show, that they generally understood them to 
 have been published in this order 2 . The proof must 
 be cogent indeed, which shall convince us, contrary 
 to this consentient evidence from within and without, 
 that the Apostles and their inspired companions, re- 
 versing their known practice in preaching the Gos- 
 pel, composed a written Gospel first for the Gentiles, 
 and afterwards for the Jews. 
 
 1 Disc. vi. Sect. in. 2 §. 
 
 3 Dr. Mil!, in his Prolegomena, § C>2. says, " Lucam con- 
 scripsisse Evangelism suum ]>ost scriptum Evangeliura Matthaei, 
 inter omnes convenit." Mr. Danster's Discursorjf Considerations 
 on the subject 1 am sorry that I have not been able; to procure ; 
 but the Testimonies of the Ancients on this head (of which see a 
 summary view in Dr. Townson. Disc. ii. Sect, ii.) are indeed so 
 full and decisive, that I must abide by them, conceiving that they 
 cannot be set iitide, or explained away, but by such arguments as 
 would invalidate all historic evidence whatsoever. 
 
 It 
 
xcvi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It is a just remark of an excellent Commentator 
 on the Gospels : " Credidisse dicuntur qui Jirmius 
 credunt 1 ." When our Lord manifested his glory 
 by his first miracle, it is expressly said, that " his 
 disciples believed in him 2 ." And yet, long after 
 this, when they had seen him perform numberless 
 miracles, he said, on the occasion of the death of 
 Lazarus, " I am glad for your sakes that I was not 
 there, to the intent that ye may believe 3 :" and after- 
 wards, almost as it were with his dying breath, he 
 exhorted them, u Ye believe in God, believe also in 
 me 4 ." From any one of the three, or indeed of the 
 four, Gospels an impartial reader might, no doubt, 
 " know the certainty'' of those things, which he had 
 been taught by oral instruction ; but the evidence is 
 more full and unexceptionable, and our conviction 
 more complete, when three or four distinct wit- 
 nesses, whether by word or in writing, attest the same 
 thing. 
 
 In the constant correspondence and intercourse, 
 which subsisted among the first Christian churches, 
 with the frequent visits of the Apostles and others to 
 the central and mother church at Jerusalem, it is by 
 no means probable, that an authentic and inspired 
 record of the life of the blessed Jesus should have 
 been published, even for a single year, and the fact 
 not be known to the believers at Jerusalem and many 
 other distant places. If the writers of the Gospels 
 had been merely uninspired Historians, supposing 
 them not to have seen, severally in succession, the 
 Gospels already written, it would naturally have 
 happened, and if they had seen the prior accounts, 
 they would probably, like the celebrated biographers 
 of the Athenian sage, have made it their choke, to 
 
 1 Grot, in Joan. ii. 11. » John ii. 11 
 
 3 Ibid. xi. 15. « Ibid. xiv. l. 
 
 relate 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 xcvii 
 
 relate new and distinct facts and discourses of their 
 Lord ; so that, although there had been no disagree- 
 ment, there would have been little identity, in the 
 several histories. But now, whether the Evangelists 
 did or did not see each others' works, so the fact is, 
 that the three first Gospels are, in great measure, the 
 same ; it having seemed good to heavenly wisdom, 
 that we should have a sufficient and indeed an ample 
 number of miracles recorded, in such a manner, that 
 in the mouth of three witnesses every word should 
 be established, rather than that our attention should 
 be distracted by an almost endless variety of facts, 
 each of them related by a single, but credible, his- 
 torian. 
 
 Two objects were in the contemplation, not only 
 of the Evangelists, but generally of all the inspired 
 writers: to benefit, ultimately, by their writings all 
 future ages ; but, primarily and chiefly, to warn and 
 instruct their own generation, the persons to whom 
 they immediately addressed themselves. Circum- 
 stances therefore of a local and temporary nature 
 constantly give a colour and character to their works ; 
 a point, which, if duly attended to, would have pre- 
 vented innumerable errors in doctrine, as well as 
 mistakes in sacred criticism. Let it then be ob- 
 served, that we meet with these distinctive traits, not 
 only in the parts which are historical or monitory, 
 but likewise where certainly we should least of all 
 expect them, in the ten Commandments. We 
 know, on St. Paul's authority, where he particularly 
 notices the promise annexed to the fifth command- 
 ment, that this promise, as it regards Christians and 
 mankind in general, denotes simply length of days 
 and prosperity l . But the promise itself in the de- 
 calogue, as delivered to the Israelites, was restricted 
 
 1 Ephes. vi. 3, 
 
 It. 
 
xcvni 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to Canaan the lot of their inheritance, " the land 
 which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 1 ' The Hebrew 
 term, Sabbath, adopted thence into most languages, 
 is not a clearer indication, that the precept, in which 
 it occurs, was addressed to the Jews ; nor does u Re- 
 member the Sabbath day" more plainly refer to the 
 ordinance of the Sabbath, already given them, than 
 " the stranger within their "-at.es" does to the mixed 
 multitude of other nations, dwelling among them 
 and subject to them : of whom, in the days of So- 
 lomon, the number was more than one hundred and 
 fiftv thousand 2 . And had these laws of eternal obli- 
 gation been first promulgated to other people, or in 
 another country, the meek animal of peace would 
 probably not have been named in them, rather than 
 the generous horse, calculated as he is alike, in most 
 other countries, for purposes of agriculture and 
 peace, as well as to encounter the rage of battle. 
 
 Allusions in St. Matthew's Gospel to the service of 
 the temple, admonitions against Jewish customs and 
 prejudices, and other marks, which show that he 
 wrote for the Jews, are so many presumptive argu- 
 ments, that his was the first and an early Gospel! 
 Many circumstances of this nature have been noticed 
 by Dr. Townson ; to which many others may be 
 added. St. Matthew alone refutes the charge of 
 violating the sabbath by an argument drawn from 
 the known custom of the priests : " On the sabbath 
 days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, 
 
 1 This did not escape the learned and sagacious Selden. "It 
 was spoken, he says, to the Jews with reference to the land of 
 Canaan ; but the meaning is, if I honour my parents, God will 
 also bless me. We read the Commandments in the Church-ser- 
 vice, as we do David s Psalms : not that all there concerns us, 
 but a great deal of them does." Scld. Table Talk, art. Sabbath. 
 
 2 See Exod. xii. 33. 2 Chron. ii. )?. 
 
 and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XCXTL 
 
 and are blameless 1 ." He alone warns his readers not 
 to swear " by Jerusalem, the city of the great 
 king 2 ;" nor " by the altar," nor " by the temple 3 ." 
 He denounces wrath against those, that say to their 
 brother, " Raca 4 ." He injoins strict obedience to 
 the Scribes and Pharisees, because they " sit in Mo- 
 ses' seat," at the very time when he condemns their 
 pride in loving " to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi ;" 
 and forbids the disciples to be so called 5 . In the 
 parable of the servant or steward, appointed over his 
 lord's houshold (which St. Luke has copied from St. 
 Matthew, as many internal marks and improve- 
 ments evince) he says of the careless servant, his 
 lord " shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his 
 portion with the hypocrites 6 ." St. Luke retains 
 the words and the order of them (and Oi^oro^frsi oc- 
 curs no where else in the New Testament;) but in- 
 stead of " hypocrites" he says, " with the unbe- 
 lievers 7 " The heavenly Speaker, no doubt, used 
 both terms ? and each Evangelist adopted that, 
 which best suited his purpose, St. Matthew as 
 writing among hypocritical Jews, and St. Luke 
 among Gentile unbelievers. In the parable of the 
 lost sheep, spoken perhaps at Capernaum, St. Mat- 
 thew represents the owner as " going into the moun- 
 tains" to seek for that which was gone astray 8 . St. 
 Luke, in the corresponding passage, merely says, 
 he "goeth after that which is lost, until he find it 9 ." 
 
 1 Matth. xii. 5. J Ibid. v. 35. 
 
 3 Ibid. xx. 20, 21'. * Ibid. v. 22. 
 
 5 Ibid, xxiii. 2, 3. 7, 8. G Ibid. xxiv. 51. 
 
 7 Luke, xii. 46. I venture to retain this instance, though. I find 
 Dr. Townson hatl remarked upon it nearly to the same efirbcr : 
 p. 55. 
 
 8 Matth. xviii. 12. Sec. xvii. 24. 
 
 9 Luke xv. 4. He says, " Doth he not leave the ninety and 
 nine in the wilderness?" having, before, often mentioned wilder- 
 nesses in Judea: i. 80. iii. 2. iv. 1. v. 46. via. 29. ix. 10. one of ' 
 which appears to have been near Capernaum': iv. 42 with 31. 
 
 St. 
 
e 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 St. Matthew alone informs us of the message of 
 Pilate's wife, and of the earthquake at the cruci- 
 fixion, and at the resurrection ; and that the rocks 
 were rent 1 , and the graves opened, and "many bo- 
 dies of saints which slept, arose, and came out of the 
 graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy 
 city, and appeared unto many." He alone informs 
 us, that Joseph of Arimathea laid the blessed body 
 '* in his own new tomb, which lie had heivn out in 
 the rock ;" and that the chief priests " made the se- 
 pulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a 
 watch 2 ;" with the report of some of the watch con- 
 cerning the resurrection, and the story, which they 
 were taught to propagate, instead of the truth. 
 
 Now though some of these particulars, if sepa- 
 rately viewed, may possibly be thought slight cir- 
 cumstances, whereon to found an argument, yet 
 their collective force, surely, is not inconsiderable; 
 and will warrant the supposition, that these facts 
 and these speeches were, under the guidance of hea- 
 ven, committed to writing at the time and in the 
 place, where they were most wanted, and might 
 
 1 Matlh. xxvii. 51 — 53. Maundrell, in his Journey to Jerusa- 
 lem, p. 73. says, " At about one yard and a half distance from 
 the hole, in which the foot of the cross was fixed, is seen thai 
 memorable cleft in the rock, said to have been made by the 
 earthquake, which happened at the suffering of the God of na- 
 ture. This cleft is about a span wide and two deep ; after w hich 
 it closes : but opens again below, and runs down to an unknown 
 ilepth in the earth." And "that it is anatural and genuine breach, 
 and not counterfeited by any art, the sense and reason of every 
 one that sees it may convince him ; for the sides of it fit like two 
 tallies to each other ; and yet it runs in such intricate windings as 
 could not well be counterfeited by art, nor arrived at by any in- 
 struments." A gentleman of veracity, who was on the spot 
 about thirty years ago, and put his hand down this deft, has given 
 me a similar account of it. 
 
 Q Matth. xxvii. 60. 
 
 have- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ci 
 
 have most efleet ; while the persons mentioned or 
 alluded to were, all or most of them, living on the 
 spot, and could attest or confute the things re- 
 ported; while Jerusalem was still regarded and called 
 " the holy city," and the temple revered as sacred; 
 and not delayed thirty years, till many of the Apos- 
 tles and eye-witnesses were dead, and the day was 
 now at hand, which should plant the ensigns of abo- 
 mination in the holy place, lay the city in ruins, 
 and not leave one stone of the temple upon another. 
 Of all the writers of the New Testament the 
 form of Baptism is given by St. Matthew alone, and 
 who can think, that this essential document was not 
 carefully inserted in the first, and that a very earl}', 
 Ciospel, that Christians in general, and particularly 
 the uninspired ministers of the gospel (and such, 
 doubtless, there were almost from the first) might 
 have infallible grounds, not only for the command to 
 make disciples of and baptize all nations, but like- 
 wise for the form of words, in which the holy ordi- 
 nance was to be administered? 
 
 This induction (I beg leave to repeat) the candid 
 Reader will consider, not in the minuteness of its 
 constituent parts, but in its accumulated weight and 
 tendency ; and that not singly, but in conjunction 
 with many other internal marks pointed out by Dr. 
 Townson, which not only evince the early date of 
 St. Matthew's Gospel, but fix the time of its publi- 
 cation with some precision. 
 
 But here it may be necessary to advert to certain 
 objections, which have recently been made to some 
 of those arguments, in a work intitled, " Discursory 
 Considerations on the Hypothesis of Dr. Macknight 
 and others, that St. Luke's Gospel was the first 
 written 1 ." 
 
 ' Printed 180S by and for J. Nichols and Son, Messrs. Riving- 
 ton, &c. The Author, by whom I have been favoured with a very 
 Vol. I. h candid 
 
cn 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 And truly sorry I am, that I cannot entirely ac- 
 quit the worthy Author of some want of fairness and 
 some want of accuracy, in these his animadversions 
 on the work of Dr. 1 ownson. In the very outset of 
 his strictures he says, " Dr. Townson. looking to 
 his Concordances, ascertained the nine repetit ions of 
 the word r t ysu.iov. — He appears, however, to have 
 looked no further '." It had been stated, on the 
 surest evidence, as far as one man can know and 
 rely upon the words of another, that what afforded 
 the Writer upon the Gospels " principal content, in 
 the course of his researches, and upon the final issue 
 of them, was, to find that the internal evidence all 
 along confirmed external testimony 2 .'' ( )n this Mr. 
 Dunster says, " I venture to consider tJiat as his oft* 
 ject, in his work, w hich his biographer considers as 
 the result of it 3 ." And again he speaks of " His 
 zealous wish to prove that this was so 4 ," and "a 
 wish to reconcile the internal evidence, of the Gos- 
 pels themselves, with the supposed Testimony of 
 the Fathers 5 and regrets that he was " diverted 
 from the immediate point in question by previtnffc 
 opinions assumed under the best of principles 6 ." 
 
 It is not very candid to advance, without proof, 
 assertions and surmises, such as these, concerning 
 anv man ; but in the long and deathless list of Di- 
 vines, who have defended and adorned the Church 
 of .England, it would be difficult to name one, in 
 w hom there was less ground for any charge of this 
 sort, than in the eminently pious Author of the 
 Discourses on the Gospels. Meek and patient, as 
 
 tnnc'.id letter on communicating to him the substance of the fol- 
 lowing remarks, i? known to be the Rev. Charles Dunster, Bff. A. 
 Hector of Petw ovth in Sussex. 
 
 1 Diseursory Considerations, p. "25. n. 
 
 3 Lite of Dr. Tow naon, p. xvxiv. 
 
 J J)iscurs. Consid. p. 79. 4 Ibid. p. 82. 
 
 1 Ibid. p. 115. 6 Ibid. p. 117. 
 
 well 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ciii 
 
 well as learned and acute, bis theological inquiries 
 were conducted with all possible care and circum- 
 spection. He conferred with his friends, personally 
 and by letter, on any difficulties, which occurred, 
 and was most willing' to avail himself of their sug- 
 gestions. He laid his papers aside for months and 
 even for years, that he might examine them again, 
 when the contents of them were no longer " warm 
 from the brain," but in great measure forgotten. 
 He sought for truth and truth alone, well assured 
 that wherever it could be discovered, whether it hap- 
 pened to coincide or not with " previous opinions" 
 of himself or others, it would, in the issue, redound 
 most to the glory of God and the good of mankind. 
 
 Of the various instances adduced by Dr. Townson 
 to show, that St. Luke has often quoted St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark, and consequently wrote after them, 
 Mr. Dunster has not attempted to disprove any one, 
 His remarks are confined solely to the Section, in 
 which certain peculiarities in St. Matthew's Gospel 
 are noted as indications, " that he wrote very earlv 1 ." 
 As these arguments, which consist chiefly of an in- 
 duction of particulars, are (however unintentionally) 
 considerably weakened in the abbreviated form, in 
 which they appear in Mr. Dunster's book, the inge- 
 nuous critic will view them as they stand in the ori- 
 ginal work ; and allow me also to offer a few words 
 on what seems most material in Mr. Dunster's ob- 
 servations. 
 
 Dr. Townson's two first arguments are founded on 
 these two circumstances, that St. Matthew " alone 
 ascribes those titles of sanctity to Jerusalem, by 
 which it had been distinguished by the prophets ;" 
 and "testifies also a higher veneration than" the other 
 Evangelists " for the Temple!' These arguments 
 
 1 Disc. iv. Sect. iii. 
 
 h 2 Mr. 
 
civ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mr. Dunster is " led to answer, somewhat in detail* 
 (with what success the Reader will judge;) and then 
 observes 1 , that it was " in tact needless for him thus 
 to do.'' For " To these two first circumstances, or 
 heads of argument, adduced to prove St. Matthew's 
 early writing, Dr. Townson had before furnished a 
 short, but most satisfactory answer in his account of 
 St. Matthew, in his Preliminary Discourse, p. ~'.J." 
 " We find in St. Matthew the marks of his relation 
 to Galilee, where he had been bred and employed : 
 the style of one who had imbibed and retained the 
 Veneration of his people for their City and Tem- 
 ple." In the " Preliminary Discourse" every point- 
 could not be confirmed by examples ; and this was 
 one of the points not there exemplified ; but it is ex- 
 emplified, in both its parts, in the Section alluded 
 to ; and this the Discursor is pleased to call "a short, 
 but most satisfactory answer!" The enunciation 
 of a proposition answered by the subsequent demon- 
 stration of it!! 
 
 Thirdly, Dr. Townson observes, that from St. 
 Matthew's use of the word " Gospel" with son it 
 term to point out or limit its meaning, as " The 
 Gospel of the kingdom," " one would judge," that 
 when he wrote, it " was not yet become an appro- 
 priate term of the church for the good tidings de- 
 clared by Christ and his Apostles." Now to this it 
 is no answer, or not a sufficient answer, if St. Mark 
 also once or twice perhaps has the word with some 
 restrictive epithet or circumstance 2 : the peculiarity 
 or ground of contrast is, that he often uses the word 
 limply by itself 3 , and St. Matthew never. But 
 when Mr. Dunster observes 4 , that " St. Mark has 
 
 ' P. 85. * St. Mark i. 14. xiv.9. 
 
 1 St. Mark i. 15. viii. 35. x. 29. xiii. 10. xvi. 15. And the firi* 
 verse of his Gospel perhaps may be regarded as a parallel iiistance. 
 ♦ P. 86. 
 
 not 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ay 
 
 not only the combination the Gospel of the kingdom, 
 but has extended it still further to the Gospel of the 
 kingdom of God ;" if he means, that both those ex- 
 pressions occur in St. Mark's Gospel, I have sought 
 for them there in vain ; and if he forms both out of 
 one (i. 14.) there is an ambiguity, or want of preci- 
 sion, in the remark. 
 
 A difference has been noted between St. Matthew 
 and the other Evangelists in speaking of our Lord's 
 Apostles, St. Matthew commonly styling them, 
 " The twelve Disciples" the others simply, "The 
 Twelve ;" which, when they wrote, was become the 
 settled language of the church. Of this familiar use 
 of the appellation I will adduce a single instance, 
 from each of the three later Evangelists, referring 
 to other passages where it occurs, and leave the whole 
 to the judgement of the Reader. St. Mark says, 
 " He calleth unto him the twelve 1 :" and this is con- 
 stantly his mode; so that, speaking of them collec- 
 tively at least nine times, he never once calls them, 
 "The twelve Disciples," or " Twelve Apostles ;" not 
 even when he records their appointment to be our 
 Lord's constant attendants and ministers. St. 
 Luke says, " The Twelve were with him 2 ." " St. 
 John, " Then Jesus said unto the Twelve 3 .^ 
 
 But we have now a more serious charge : " Dr. 
 Townson, I must say, is not correct in stating that 
 Mark, " as soon as he has related the death of the 
 Baptist, changes his style, and calls him [St. John 
 the Apostle] only John 4 ." The incorrectness how- 
 
 ' 1 St. Mark. vi. 7. The other instances are iii. 14. iv. 10. ix. 
 35. x. 32. xi. 11. xiv. 10. 20. 43. 
 
 11 Luke viii. 1. He speaks of them collectively not very often, 
 or not with specification of their number. The places are vi. 13. 
 ix. 1. xviii. 31. xxii. 3. 14. 4?. 
 
 3 John \i. 67. He very rarely mentions them collectively ; 
 " have not I chosen you twelve" (ib. 70.) and " one of the twelve" 
 (ib, 71- and xx. 24.) being, I believe, the only instances. 
 
 4 Discurs. Consid. p. 91. 
 
 ever 
 
CVl 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ever is in the remavker, not in Dr. Townson ; for 
 the very first time St. Mark mentions St. John after 
 the death of the Baptist, is in the passage, to which 
 Dr. Townson refers, namely ix. 2, and there he 
 does call him only John ; as he does again in the 
 same chapter, verse 38. " And John answered 
 him." In a subsequent instance (x. 3,").) he has 
 " James and John the sons of Zebedee ;" not so 
 much perhaps to inform us what John was meant, 
 as to distinguish James (as Mr. Dunster observes) 
 from the other James, the son of Alpheus. Where-: 
 ever he occurs after this, he calls him simply John : 
 as x. 41. xiii. 3. xiv. 33. 
 
 It " is, in Mr. Dunster's judgement, a most ex- 
 traordinary stretch of imagination *" to suppose, that 
 in the newly converted church of the Samaritans 
 there might be persons, whose minds might have 
 been alienated from St. John by the knowledge of 
 the fact, that he " had not long before expressed a 
 strong enmity to their nation, by wishing to com- 
 mand fire from heaven to consume one of their vil- 
 lages ;'' and that, for this reason probably, St. Mat- 
 thew omitted to mention the circumstance . But if 
 the learned Author had not overlooked what follows 
 in the same sentence, that " the open enemies, or 
 false friends, of the Gospel, such as Simon Magus, 
 Avould gladly have seized" such " an opportunity" as 
 this might have given them "of sowing dissensions 
 and raising disturbances among" the brethren, there 
 would have been less occasion for his surprise; nor 
 would he perhaps have deemed the reason assigned 
 for the omission at all marvelous or incredible, if he 
 had duly attended also to the just remark, which 
 follows in the same paragraph: namely, that " The 
 silence of St. Matthew, and the narrative of St. 
 J^uke are the more remarkable, asdep \uresfrom 
 
 1 P. 94. 
 
 the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cvii 
 
 the rule, to which they severally adhere, St. Mat- 
 thew of divulging the failings of the Apostles, and 
 St. Luke of concealing them." 
 
 Whether Dr. Townson, as Mr. Dunster supposes, 
 borrowed his argument grounded on St. Matthew's 
 frequent mention of Governor, in speaking of Pi- 
 late, from Bengelius, or not, I am not able to say ; 
 nor is it necessary. The strength of an argument is 
 not increased by its novelty, nor impaired because 
 others have used it before. It is not however to the 
 praise of Mr. D mister's accuracy, in criticising an. 
 Author of established reputation, that he tells us, I 
 scarcely know how often, that the word wfepubv oc- 
 curs nine times " in the xxviith chap, of St. Mat- 
 thew ;" and that " the proper name Pilate occurs 
 exactly as often in this Chapter, as his official de- 
 scription of Governor 1 ;" which is a double mistake. 
 For though Pilate is mentioned by his name nine 
 times in that chapter, Governor does not occur there 
 so often, the ninth instance being in the following 
 chapter. And if it were admitted, as Mr. Dunster 
 contends, that in two or three of these instances, 
 <c the word Governor seems to be used officially, and 
 does not personally relate to Pilate ;" and if it were 
 further admitted, that he has sometimes (but not 
 uniformly, as I understand Mr. Dunster to mean) 
 <c applied the names alternately to vary the constant 
 repetition of the identical denomination of so princi- 
 pal a person and so frequent a speaker in this great 
 scene ;" the question will still recur, why he was thus 
 studious to vary his terms, when St. Luke, a superior 
 master of language, and more attentive to the ele- 
 gances of it, contented himself, as the other two Evan- 
 gelists also did, with the unvaried repetition of the 
 name of Pilate; which he uses as often as St. Mat- 
 thew dogs, St. Mark oftener, and St. John no less 
 
 tha n 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 than twenty times. It will be difficult therefore, as 
 it seems, to devise a better and more satisfactory- 
 reason, why St. Matthew alone has used the word 
 Governor, and that so frequently, as synonvmous 
 with Pilate, than what Dr. Townson, after Benge- 
 lius 1 (and from him, if you please) has assigned, 
 that Pilate was still Governor, when St. Matthew 
 wrote his Gospel. 
 
 It will not, I hope, be thought, that I have 
 dwelt too long on these strictures of Mr. Dnnster; 
 the subject, doubtless, is interesting and important; 
 and truth alone is the object of us both. I pass 
 over his frequent assertions, that St. Luke was the 
 earliest writer, and had full y described this or thatfact, 
 and that St. Matthew therefore entirely omitted it, 
 or briefly glanced at it. Of these assertions every 
 one will judge, as he deems the hypothesis suffici- 
 ently proved or otherwise. 
 
 But there is still one passage, respecting Dr. 
 Town son's work, which calls for notice. He has 
 remarked of St. Matthew, most truly, as any one 
 will see on comparing han with the orlier Evange- 
 lists, that a in a certain masterly way" he " gives 
 the essential circumstances of our Lord's miracles ; 
 but is the least distinct and particular in reciting 
 them. And judged perhaps, that the notoriety of 
 these recent miracles did not then require a minuter 
 description 2 ." But Mr. Dunster says, this " posi- 
 tively indicates St. Matthew to have been a secon- 
 dary Writer ; this f masterly way of reciting essen- 
 
 * It is not mi business to defend Benjrelius ; but surely this 
 frequent use of the term Governor, throughout this part of St. 
 Matthew's Gospel, i.- sufficient to justify the rem.uk of that critic, 
 " >'y?/iovo,- titulus — in historia passionis- a Maltha-n constanter tri- 
 huitur Pilato, - ' which Mr. Dimeter savs, " is, cleail; . an egregious 
 blunder." p. 16. 
 • 8 Disc. iv. Sect. iii. §. in. 
 
 tials" 
 
INTRODUCTION". 
 
 tials" being, in truth, abridging well known ac- 
 counts of recorded facts And in a subsequent 
 part of his work he argues thus : 
 
 As St. Luke's primary object appears to be the 
 Facts, upon which the authority of the Doctrines 
 rests ; while the more immediate object of St. Mat- 
 thew may burly be stated to be the Doctrine* " 
 therefore. tt on the principle that a foundation is 
 prior to a superstructure. I cannot but consider St. 
 Luke, thus minutelv attentive to these most impor- 
 tant Facts on which the Doctrines rest, as indicating 
 himself to be the earliest Writer : and I consider 
 St. Matthew, thus exuberant in Doctrines, while 
 sparing and compressive in Facts, as a subsequent 
 If riter. trusting in a certain degree to the founda- 
 tion so amply laid by St. Luke, the previous 
 writer " ; ."' 
 
 Now admitting the case as here stated, it may 
 well be questioned, whether the very reverse is not 
 the true conclusi m to be drawn from it. Facts are 
 more easily remembered than words. The servants 
 of the king of ^vria had witnessed, at most, only 
 one miracle of Elisha, the healing of the leprcsv of 
 Nttfflu, when they said to the king their master, 
 " Elisha the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the 
 king of Israel the word* that thou speakest in thv 
 bed-chamber 3 ." If St. Matthew wrote in Judea, as 
 is agreed on all hands, and within a few vears of the 
 Ascension, as has generally been supposed, there 
 was not one of his tirst readers, who had not heard 
 v t. and very few who had not seen, some of our 
 
 ■ P 9" He is not however very consistent on this point : 
 for he >a\? afterwards, p 105. " The Evangelists — by mo meams 
 aknd~(tl, or transcribed the writings of the others." 
 
 * Rscurs. Consul p. 1 13. 
 
 1 2 Kings. tL 12. 
 
 Lords 
 
ex 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lord's miracles, the reality of which his very ene- 
 mies admitted. 
 
 It was sufficient, if a writer, so circumstanced, 
 stated his facts succinctly; but since the facts or 
 miracles had not, of themselves, produced convic- 
 tion, the great object was to deliver accurately and 
 at large the doctrines and discourses, and to enforce 
 the argument from prophecy, which afforded a clear 
 demonstration, that our Lord did not, as the Jews 
 constantly alleged against him, oppose Moses and 
 the prophets, but was the very person, whom they 
 foretold and described. 
 
 On the contrary an Evangelist, writing at a later 
 period, and in a country remote from Judea, where 
 the miracles were performed, would feel it incum- 
 bent upon him, if not to be more copious in facts, 
 at least to relate them more circumstantially, that 
 those who had not seen, might yet believe K 
 
 I deceive myself greatly, if an impartial reader, 
 considering the matter carefully, will not deem this 
 view of the subject, and these inferences from Mr. 
 Dimster's premises, altogether as probable as those 
 which he has drawn. 
 
 But let us recur, for a moment, to the case itself. 
 St. Luke's " primary object" is " Facts," St. Mat- 
 thew's is " Doctrines ;" or, as it had before been 
 stated, St. Luke is " studious to bring forward every 
 Fact;" and St. Matthew " abounds, proportionately, 
 more in Doctrines 2 ." Bv " Facts," I presume, we 
 are to understand Miracles, since " the authority of 
 
 1 What has been said, by no mean judge, of human eloquence, 
 is not inapplicable to inspired narration: " Est probabilius quod 
 gestum es»e dicas. cum queinadmotdum actum bit t xponas." 
 Cic. de Orat. L. ii. 80. 
 
 1 P. 
 
 the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxi 
 
 the Doctrines," it is said, " rests upon them ;" 
 and we expect, from this account, to find a greater 
 number of miracles recorded by St. Luke, thau 
 by St. Matthew. But now, upon actual enume- 
 ration of the miracles in St. Matthew and St. 
 Luke, though some perhaps might reckon one or 
 two more, or one or two less, there appear to be 
 just as many in one as in tjtae other, twenty-three in 
 each ; some of them related by each Evangelist 
 singly, but the greater part common to both 1 . 
 When to this we add, as we are on every account 
 bound to add, the intimations or rather declarations 
 of numberless miracles wrought by our Lord, but 
 not particularly recorded 2 ; and when we observe, 
 that the declarations of this sort are not less fre- 
 quent, and even more emphatic, iu St. Matthew's 
 (iospel, than they are in St. Luke's, I cannot but 
 consider the notion or position, that St. Luke 
 abounds in facts more than St. Matthew, as totally 
 groundless; the only and that indeed a very striking 
 difference between the two being that already noted 
 from Dr. Towuson, that St. Matthew is succinct, 
 and St. Luke circumstantial, in the recital of facts ; 
 but whether the reason of St. Matthew's succinctness 
 
 1 I reckon twenty-one miracles in St. Mark, and ten in St. 
 John. What tnay be the entire number of distinct miracles in the 
 t'oni- Gospels, I have not thought it necessary to examine. Toi- 
 nard makes them Fortv-seven. 
 
 2 As these declarations, concerning the number and effects of 
 our Louts miracles, are, in many respects, highly important, 
 and were particularly so in a Gospel published early in Judea, by 
 enlargimr the Held for detection, had the assertions not been true, 
 I will refer to the principal passages, where they occur. In 
 Matth. iv. 23 — 25. we read, that " Jesus went about all Galilee — 
 healing all manner of sickness — and his fame went throughout 
 all Syria." Add, viii. 16. ix. 35. x. l.xi. 5. 20 — 23. xii 15. xiii. 
 58. xiv. 2. xv. 30, 31. xix. 2. xxi. 14. xxiii. 37. In St. Luke sec 
 iv. 23.40, 41. v. 15. vi. 17— 19. vii. 21. viii. 2. ix. 1.6. 11. x. 9. 
 17- 13. 15. xxiv. 19. The instances are about a dozen in each. In 
 St. Mark see i. 32. 34. 39. iii. 10, 11. vi. 5. 14. 56. In St. John, 
 V}. 2. vii. 31.x. 32. xi. 47. xii. 37. xx. 3Q. xxi. 25. 
 
 was 
 
C'XU 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 was because he was relating recent events, and 
 among persons, who, in general, knew them al- 
 ready, or because he was framing an abridgement of 
 St. Luke, is a point to be determined by other cir- 
 cumstances. Of an abridgement, certainly, St. 
 Matthew's Gospel has little appearance, being in 
 fact nearly as long as St. Luke's and having no 
 small portion of matter not found in the other ; and 
 as truth for the most part is prior to error, the gene- 
 ral voice of antiquity, declaring St. Matthew's the 
 first written Gospel, should not be disregarded. 
 Another circumstance, decisive of the question, is 
 the internal evidence that St. Luke has often quoted 
 St. Matthew; because, in the parallel passages of 
 the two, the variations in St. Luke are uniformly 
 improvements, not in the graces of language, of 
 which neither perhaps was studious, but in the use- 
 ful qualities of perspicuity, propriety, and order. 
 Some examples of this shall presently be given, 
 in addition to those, neither few nor short, which 
 have been produced by Dr. Townson 
 
 It is not a little remarkable, how extremely un- 
 willing learned men appear to be to allow, that an 
 inspired Evangelist has, in any instance, quoted 
 another Evangelist, w r ho was equally inspired ; while 
 it is at the same time admitted, and even contended, 
 that they may, one and all, or at least the three 
 first of them, have borrowed half their Gospels from 
 some unknown private source, some common docu- 
 ment, or from an indefinite number of such ; which, 
 if they ever existed, are no longer in being, but va- 
 nished from the earth in the first ages. As to the 
 
 1 In a 12 mo edition of the Greek Testament, unbroken with 
 chapters, verses, and contents, St. Luke's Gospel occupies 7<»" 
 pages, and St. Matthew ~1. 
 
 » Sec. Disc. Third, Sect. iii. Disc. Fourth, Sect. ii. and consider 
 ucll t)ie principles and conclusions in Sect. v. vi. of Disc. Third. 
 
 reluctance 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxiii 
 
 reluctance of admitting, what seems to be an incon- 
 testable fact, that the Evangelists did often quote each 
 other, this will perhaps cease or abate, when it is 
 seen that the practice of the historians of the Old 
 Testament was perfectly the same. In the mean 
 time, with regard to such memoirs of our blessed 
 Lord, as were compiled by private Christians, let it 
 be observed, that St. Luke, who alludes to such nar- 
 ratives, gives no intimation whatsoever, that he was 
 indebted to them for any part of his information; 
 his words, on the contrary, manifestly imply, that 
 his " perfect understanding of every thing" rested on 
 better authority. He does not however, as has been 
 hastily said, " speak of his own work as necessary, 
 because many had attempted to digest the facts, but 
 so imperfectly, that without this further assistance, 
 his friend Theophilus could not be certainly assured 
 of the truth of what he had learned , ." This is 
 plainly not his meaning ; for, as it has been more 
 accurately observed, he does not " censure but com- 
 mend these writers;" and "in some sort classes him- 
 self with them, and justifies his own undertaking 
 by their example, in saying, " It seemed good to 
 me also." Had he judged them to have miscarried, 
 he would rather have said, " It seemed good to me 
 therefore to treat of this subject 2 ." 
 
 The promise of our blessed Lord to his Apostles 
 was, that " The Spirit of truth should guide them 
 into all [the] truth ;" and " teach them all things, 
 and bring all things to their remembrance, whatso- 
 ever he had said unto them 3 ." This holy promise 
 was assuredly made good, in its full extent, to St. 
 Matthew and St. John, two of the Apostles ; and 
 though St. Mark and St. Luke were not of that 
 
 1 Brit. Ci it. July 1 809. p. 38. 
 
 - Dr. Townson on the Gospels, p. 212. 
 
 3 John xvi. 13. xiv. 26'. 
 
 number, 
 
cxiv 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 number, nor probably eye-witnesses of what thev 
 relate, yet who can doubt, but they were endowed 
 with equivalent gi fts ; and, being also assisted, one 
 by St. Peter and the other by St. Paul (who was 
 taught the gospel bv immediate revelation from 
 Christ 1 ) were abundantlv qualified to do the work of 
 an Evangelist, and make full proof of their ministry J 
 Could writers, under such circumstances, possibly 
 stand in need of, and would they condescend to use, 
 private memorials, which, however credible or con- 
 sistent with truth, were unauthentic ? Who will 
 conjecture, when he can prove ? who will speak with 
 the fallible voice of man, when he is armed w ith the 
 demonstration and power of the Holy Ghost? • 
 
 Unwilling, as it seems, and with good reason, to. 
 admit " the necessity of recurring to any common 
 source,"' and desirous also " to preclude the idea of 
 copying."' Mr. Dunster espouses another hypothesis; 
 which he thinks accounts for the '•' similarity in so 
 nianv passages of the three first Gospels, in a manner 
 sufficiently satisfactory." This is the hypothesis of 
 Dr. Macknight, in which chance is the prime, or 
 rather the sole, agent. " Many thousands of peo- 
 ple," as Dr. Macknight says in Mr. Dunster' s page, 
 " must have been eve and ear witnesses of what our 
 Lord said and did. — Twelve persons, called Apostles, 
 constantly attended him £ — and " there were other 
 seventv also, who were frequently with him. — And 
 upwards of five hundred brethren saw him and 
 conversed with him after his resurrection. All these 
 marked with the utmost veneration the words 
 which he spake, and the actions which he per- 
 formed, treasuring them up in their memories with 
 care. — The history of Jesus — made the principal 
 subject of their discourses in the public assemblies, 
 and of their conversations in private meetings. — So 1 
 
 Gul. i. 12. 
 
 — that 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CSV 
 
 - — that we may believe there was not among the first 
 Christians a single person, arrived at any degree of age 
 or consideration, who had not heard all the important 
 articles of our Lord's history repeated perhaps above 
 a thousand times. And therefore they must all of 
 them have been perfectly well acquainted with his 
 history; perhaps more fully than we can be, who in 
 this remote age draw our knowledge of Jesus from 
 the short commentaries of the Evangelists, wherein 
 are recorded not the hundredth part perhaps of his 
 sermons and miracles. This circumstance deserves 
 the rather to be taken notice of, as it shows clearly 
 how four different historians, giving an account of 
 our Lord's transactions, especially his sermons, have 
 happened to deliver them almost precisely in the 
 same words. They were the only interesting sub- 
 jects of conversation among Christians. To remem- 
 ber the words of the Lord Jesus, and to meditate 
 upon them, was the great business of his followers." 
 
 The premises here may, most of them, be al- 
 lowed ; but the conclusion drawn from them is won- 
 derful. The Roman philosopher regarded it as in- 
 credible, that the letters of the alphabet, casually 
 thrown together, should produce a single verse of a 
 regular poem 1 ; but here a process altogether simi- 
 lar is the parent of' historic narration. Out of the 
 rich and inexhaustible materials lying before them, 
 three distinct writers, unacquainted (as is here sup- 
 posed) with each other's design, select in the pro- 
 portion of less than one fact out of a hundred ; and 
 yet nine times in ten they happen to fix upon pre- 
 cisely the same fact ; and they happen also, nine 
 times in ten, to relate it, or some material circum- 
 stances of it, precisely in the same words, and in 
 the same order of words. Does this need any se- 
 rious refutation ? 
 
 ' De Nat Deor. ii. xxxvii. 
 
 The 
 
cxvi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The province of the sacred Historians of our Lord 
 was, to record his speeches at length, or to frame 
 abridgements of them ; as seemed best to their own 
 judgement, under the guidance of their heavenly 
 Director. They had also to translate these his dis- 
 courses into another language, a language abounding 
 with synonymous terms, and admitting great variety 
 of arrangement. Under such circumstances no three 
 writers or speakers, however faithfully they may re- 
 cord one and the same speech, will deliver it exactly 
 in the same words, and in the same order ; nor 
 will even one and the same individual, relating 
 the same fact or speech two or three times, strictly 
 adhere to the same words and same order, unle.-s 
 perhaps (if such occur) in one or two remarkable ex- 
 pressions, or proverbial phrases. St. Paul, no doubt, 
 had often related, to St. Luke and to others, his 
 own miraculous conversion: lie certainly himself 
 perfectly well remembered what was said, and seen, 
 and done, in that signal display of heavenly glory 
 and transcendent mercy. Observe then, with what 
 variation of words and order it is related, once by St. 
 Luke, and twice by St. Paul, in the book of Acts. 
 
 Acts ix. 1—7. xxii. 5 — 10. xxvi. 12— 1G. 
 
 And Saul 
 
 As also the high priest As 1 went to Damascus, 
 doth bear me witness, with authority and com- 
 and all mission 
 
 &entnntothe\righ.jaie&t ) the estate of the elders: from t he chief priests. 
 
 And desired of him from whom also 1 re- 
 ceived 
 
 letters to Damascus, lettersuntothebrethren, 
 to the synagogues — andwentto Damascus,— 
 
 And it came to pass, that 
 And as he journeyed, he as I journeyed, and came at mid day, 0 king, 
 came /war to Damascus, near to Damascus, 1 saw in the way 
 
 about noon, a light from heaven, 
 
 and suddenly there shone suddenly from heaven above the brightness of 
 
 the sun, 
 
 round about him, there shons a great light shine round about vie, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxvii 
 
 (Acts ix.) 
 
 (xxii.) 
 
 (xxvi.) 
 
 a light from heaven. round about 7ne. 
 
 And when he had fallen 
 to the earth, 
 he heard a voice, 
 saying to him, 
 
 Saul, Saul, why 
 persecuted thou me ? 
 
 And I fell 
 to the ground, 
 
 And heard a voice 
 saying to me, 
 
 Saul, Saul, why 
 persecutest thou me ? 
 
 And he said, 
 Who art thou, Lord ? 
 And the Lord said, 
 I am Jesus, 
 
 whom thou persecutest. 
 
 It is hard for thee 
 
 t o kick against the pricks. 
 
 And he trembling and 
 astonished said, 
 Lord, what witi thou 
 have me to do ? 
 Then the Lord [said] 
 to him, Arise, 
 
 and enter into the city, 
 
 and it shall be told 
 
 to theewhat thoumust do, 
 
 And I answered, 
 Who art thou, Lord ? 
 And he said to me, 
 I am Jesus 
 of Nazareth, 
 whom thou persecutest. 
 
 andthemwhichjourneyed 
 with me. 
 
 And when we were all 
 fallen to the earth, 
 / heard a voice speaking 
 unto me, and saying 
 in the Hebrew tongue, 
 Saul, Saul, why 
 persecutest thou me ? 
 It is hard for thee 
 tokick against thepricks. 
 And I said, 
 Who art thou, Lord? 
 And he said, 
 I am Jesus, 
 
 whom thou persecutest. 
 
 And they that were with 
 me saw indeed the light, 
 and were afraid; but they 
 heard not the voice 
 of him that spake to me. 
 
 And I said, 
 
 What shall I do, Lord? 
 
 And the Lord said 
 to me, Having arisen, 
 
 go into Damascus, 
 and there to thee it shall 
 be told of all things, 
 which it is appointed 
 for thee to do. 
 
 But arise, 
 
 and stand upon thy feet; 
 
 for I have appeared unto 
 thee for this purpose, to 
 make thee a minister, # c. 
 
 And the men that 
 journeyed with him 
 stood speechless, 
 hearing a voice, 
 but seeing no man 
 
 1 There are similar variations in the account of the conversion 
 of Cornelius, which also is summarily related three times in the book 
 Vol. L i C £ 
 
oxvm 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Now as these three narratives are, without doubt, 
 true and faithful reports of this heavenly vision, each 
 consistent with itself and with the other two, though 
 varying in many respects from each other, involving 
 also one or two nearer approaches to a seeming re- 
 pugnance or contradiction, than will easily be found 
 in other parts of Scripture ; who shall say, that if a 
 miracle or discourse of our blessed Lord had been 
 recorded, by two or more Evangelists, with similar 
 variety of words and circumstances, it would not, 
 in like manner, have been faithfully and accurately 
 related, by one and by all ? And who shall say, 
 when we do find a fact or a speech related, by two 
 or more Evangelists, without such variety, with a 
 perfect concurrence and identity of order and of 
 words, continued through several sentences, or one 
 entire sentence, or considerable branch of a sen- 
 tence ; with only some slight alterations, or improve- 
 ments, to suit the particular views of the respective 
 writers ; who shall say, that, in this case, one did 
 not copy the other, as surely as when they pro- 
 fessedly quote a passage from the Old Testament ; in 
 which case the agreement between the copy and the 
 original is seldom more exact, than is often found 
 between parallel passages in the different Evange- 
 lists ? 
 
 It is not necessary here to give directions, how, 
 in such cases, we may determine which writer led 
 
 of Acts ; once by the historian, once by Cornelius, and once by 
 St. Peter. I will quote a single sentence of each: "And now 
 send men to Joppa, and send for Simon, who is called Peter : he 
 locigeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side ; 
 he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." x. 5, 6. " Send 
 therefore to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is called Peter : he 
 lodgeth in the house of Simon a tanner, by the sea side ; who when 
 he cometh shall speak unto thee." x. 32. " Send men to Joppa, 
 and send for Simon called Peter; who shall tell thee words, 
 whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." xi. 13, 14. Com- 
 pare also x. 4. with 31. and x. 11 — 16. with xi. 5 — 10. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxix 
 
 the way, and which followed. The internal marks, 
 which are often, but not always, apparent in the 
 passages themselves, will generally lead the reader, 
 conversant in sound criticism, to the true conclu- 
 sion ; especially if he avails himself of the very just 
 observations offered on the subject in the Discourses 
 on the Gospels But as I have, in a course of 
 years, chiefly by the aid of Mons. Toinard's Har- 
 mony, a work of immense labour and accuracy, but 
 extremely scarce, noted not so few as threescore 
 passages in the Gospels, in which, as it seems, the 
 fact of quotation must be admitted — at least till the 
 common document, which they all transcribed, shall 
 be produced, I will beg leave to subjoin a few in- 
 stances ; and here conclude these preliminary re- 
 marks, which have already led me far beyond my 
 wishes, but not further, I hope, than the occasion 
 will justify. 
 
 1. §.Matth. vii. 3 — 5. 
 
 Ami ivhy beholdest thou the mote 
 
 that is in thy brother's eye, 
 
 but considerest not the beam 
 
 that is in thine eye? 
 
 Or how wilt thou say 
 
 to thy brother, 
 
 Let me east out the mote 1 
 
 out of iliine eye ; 
 
 and lo, there is a beam 
 
 in thine eye. 
 
 Thou hypocrite, cast out first 
 the beam out of thine eye; 
 and then thou shalt see clearly 
 to cast out the mote 
 out of thy brother's eye. 
 
 Luke vi. 41, 42. 
 
 And why beholdest thou the mote 
 
 that is in thy brother's eye, 
 
 but considerest not the beam 
 
 that is in thine own eye? 
 
 Or liow canst thou say 
 
 to thy brother, Brother, 
 
 let me cast out the mote 
 
 that is in thine eye, 
 
 thou thyself not beholdinglhebeam 
 
 in thine eye. 
 
 Thou hypocrite, cast out first 
 the beam out of thine eye ; 
 and then thou shalt see clearly 
 to cast out the mote 
 thai is in thy brother's eye. 
 
 The two passages are almost verbatim the same; 
 but there are one or two alterations, in the original 
 words of St. Luke, so easy and proper, that St. Mat- 
 
 DUc, iii. Sect, vi, 
 i 2 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 thew, if he had seen, would probably have retained 
 them. 
 
 2. ^. The healing of the Centurions servant at 
 Capernaum is recorded bv St. Matthew (viii. "> — 13.) 
 and by St. Luke (vii. 2 — 10.) The appropriate 
 warning Of our blessed Lord, on this occasion, to the 
 Jews, " the children of the kingdom," is naturally 
 omitted by St. Luke, adapting his Gospel peculiarly 
 to the use of the Gentiles ; and he also defers the 
 prediction of the coming in of the Gentiles, meaning 
 to introduce the same or a similar declaration in a 
 subsequent part of his Gospel (xiii. 29.) But each 
 narrative here, besides one or two short identical 
 clauses, contains the following passages : 
 
 Matlh. viii. 8, 9. 
 
 But only say a word, artel my 
 servant shall be healed. 
 For I also am a man 
 under authority, 
 having soldiers under vie ; 
 and I say to this, Go, ami 
 he goeth ; and to another, 
 Come, arid he cometh ; and 
 to my servant, Do this, 
 and he doeih it. 
 
 Luke v ii. 7, 8. 
 
 But say in a word, and my 
 servant shall be healed. 
 For I also am a man set 
 under authority, 
 having soldiers under me ; 
 and I say to this, Go, and 
 he goeth ; and to another, 
 Come, and he cometh : and 
 to my servant, Do this, 
 and he doeth it. 
 
 Now as these passages, if not perfectly, are very 
 nearly, the same 1 in both Evangelists, which of the 
 two, may we believe, saw and copied the other ? If 
 the many new circumstances, thrown into the ac- 
 count bv St. Luke, can leave any doubt of St. Mat- 
 thew's priority, might not this alone determine the 
 
 1 Toinard gives them as verbatim the same, after the word, 
 «=»-,?. but I find no authority for set, ta.ir-cy.sroc, in St. Matthew • 
 which was probably the easy and useful addition of St. Luke. 
 UiH mentions forty MSS. which exhibit the first words in St. 
 Matthew, not a~i fwyai, as commonly printed, but turf >.»yu, as 
 in St. Luke. 
 
 point? 
 
INTRODUCTION. CXX1 
 
 point? It was customary with the Jews to address 
 the messenger, as if he was the person, whom he 
 represented 1 ; and, accordingly, St. Matthew here 
 speaks, as if the Centurion in person intreated our 
 Lord to heal his servant, and personally received the 
 gracious answer, " I will come and heal him." But 
 would he have used this peculiar mode of narration, 
 if he was abridging St. Luke, who had told the plain 
 literal fact, that the modest Centurion, not thinking 
 himself worthy to come to our Lord, sent the elders 
 of the Jews to intercede for him-? 
 
 3. In the miracle of healing a man sick of the 
 palsy, St. Mark and St. Luke have many circum- 
 stances, which are not in St. Matthew ; and the 
 three have several clauses nearly the same; particu- 
 larly the following : 
 
 Matth. ix. 6. Mark ii. 10, 11. Luke v. 24. 
 
 Bv.t that ye may know, But that ye may know, But that ye may know, 
 that the Son of man hath that the Son of man hath tltattheSon of man hath 
 power on earth to forgive power onearth to forgive power ouearth to forgive 
 sins (then sins, sins, 
 
 he saith to the paralyt ic) (hesaithtothcparalyticj (lie said to the sick of 
 
 the palsy) 
 
 I say unto thee, 1 say unto thee, 
 
 Arise, Arise, Arise, and 
 
 take up thy couch, and take up thy led, and having taken up thy 
 
 couch, 
 
 depart to thy house. depart to thy house. go to thy house. 
 
 Of these three sentences, so minutely correspond- 
 ing, even to the parenthesis, who will hesitate to 
 pronounce, that two were manifestly copied from 
 the other ? In the first part the words are precisely 
 the same ; but as the original words in St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark might mean, " Hath power to forgive 
 sins on earth," St. Luke, by an easy variation in 
 the order, lias more clearly expressed the sense given 
 
 1 See 1 Sam. xxv. 40, 41. Exod. xviji. 6, 7- and other parages 
 referred to by the Commentators on bt. Matth. \iii. 5. &c. 
 
 in 
 
CXX11 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in our translation ; which, no douht, they all 
 intended. And as paralytic was perhaps applicable 
 to past or present malady, " the beloved physician," 
 whose accuracy in the use of medical terms has often 
 been noted, has substituted another word, tn-ajaXsAu- 
 psvos, denoting perhaps more certainly the continu- 
 ance of the disease: and he uses the same word 
 also, for the same disorder, twice in the book of 
 Acts : viii. 7. ix. S3- 
 
 St. Mark, writing at Rome, expresses the couch 
 by a term, xpuG€a.Tov, which, whether of Greek or 
 Roman origin, was familiar to the Romans ; and St. 
 Luke also has it in the Acts (v. 15. ix. 33.) but not 
 here. 
 
 4. §. Matth. xi. 20 — 24. 
 
 Then began he to upbraid 
 the cities wherein mast of 
 his mighty works were done, 
 because they repented not. 
 
 Wo unto thee, Chorazin / 
 womitoth.ee, Bethsaida! 
 for if the mighty works, 
 which were done in you, 
 had been done in Tyre and 
 Sidon, they icould have re^ 
 pented long ago 
 in sackcloth and ashes. 
 But I say unto you, 
 It shall be more tolerable 
 for Tyre and Sidon at 
 the day of judgement, 
 thanfor you. 
 
 And thou, Capernaum, which 
 art exalted unto heaven, shalt 
 be brought down to hell : 
 for if the mighty works, which 
 have been done in thee, had 
 been done in Sodom, it would 
 have remained until this day. 
 
 But I say unto you, That 
 it shall be more tolerable for 
 the land of Sodom in the day 
 pf jud§ejnei\t, thanfor thee. 
 
 Luke x. 12—15. 
 
 But I say unto you, that it 
 shall be more tolerable in 
 that day for Sodom, than 
 for that city. 
 
 ll'o unto thee, Chorazin ! 
 uo unto thee Bethsaida ! 
 for if the mighty works, 
 which were done in you, 
 had been done in Tyre and 
 Sidon, they would have re- 
 pented long ago, sitting 
 in sackcloth and ashes. 
 But 
 
 it shall be more tolerable 
 for Tyre and Sidon at 
 the judgement, 
 thanfor you. 
 
 And thou, Capernaum, which 
 art exalted unto heaven, shalt 
 be brought down to hell. 
 
 He that heareth you, 
 hearelh me, SrC. 
 
 Here 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxxiii 
 
 Here we have three entire verses almost verbatim 
 the same in the two Evangelists ; except that St. 
 Luke, by introducing the word " sitting in sack- 
 cloth and ashes," has rendered the matter more in- 
 telligible to those, who were less acquainted with 
 the Jewish custom of putting on sackcloth, and 
 sitting in ashes, in token of solemn fasting and hu- 
 miliation. 
 
 It is also to be observed, that the passage stands 
 in a later part of St. Luke's GospeJ, where he relates 
 the appointment of the seventy disciples. Whether 
 the words were actually spoken on two different oc- 
 casions by our blessed Lord, it may not perhaps be 
 very easy to determine. If they were spoken once 
 only, and are here inserted by St. Luke solely on 
 account of the affinity of matter, that, no doubt, is 
 the reason, why he omits, " I say unto you," in 
 verse 13 ; knowing that the words were not really 
 spoken to the Seventy, though a kindred admonition 
 did actually form a part of our Lord's address to 
 them. 
 
 5. §. Matth. xi. 25, 2G, 27. 
 
 At that time Jesus answered 
 and said, 
 
 I thank thee, O Father, 
 Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these 
 things from the wise andprudcnl, 
 and hast revealed them 
 unto babes. 
 
 Even so, Father ; for so it 
 seemed good in thy sight. 
 
 All things are delivered 
 to me of my Father ; and 
 no man knowelh the Son, 
 but the Father ; neither 
 knoweth any man the Father, 
 but the Son, and he to 
 tvhom the Son will reveal him. 
 
 Lukex. 21, 22. 
 
 In that hour Jesus rejoiced 
 inspirit, and said, 
 
 I thank thee, 0 Father, 
 Lord of heaven and earth, 
 because thou hast hid these 
 things from the wise andprudenl, 
 and hast revealed them 
 unto babes. 
 
 Even so, Father ; for so it 
 seemed good in thy sight. 
 
 All things are delivered 
 to me of my Father ; and 
 no man knoweth who the Son is, 
 but the Father ; and who 
 the Father is, 
 but the Snn, and he to 
 uhom the Sun will reveal him. 
 
 These 
 
CXX1V 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 These parallels, again, stand in different parts of 
 the respective Gospels; in St. Matthew, on the re- 
 turn of the twelve Apostles ; in St. Luke, on the 
 return of the Seventy, whose appointment and mis- 
 sion he alone records. If the blessed Redeemer, on 
 both occasions, gave thanks to his heavenly Father, 
 in the same words, or to the same effect, no law of 
 truth compelled two distinct writers to translate the 
 speech into another language, precisely in the same 
 words, and to place them in the same order. And 
 the variations in the second verse of St. Luke are so 
 easy, and make the sense so clear and emphatic, 
 that, as we have already observed in another in- 
 stance, St. Matthew, with that Gospel before him, 
 would probably have retained them. 
 
 6. §. Matth. xii. 27, 2S. Luke xi. 19, 20. 
 
 And if I by Beelzebub cast out 
 devils, by whom do your children 
 cast them out ? therefore 
 they shall be your judges. 
 
 But if I by the Spirit of God 
 cast out devils, then 
 the kingdom of God 
 is come upon you. 
 
 ib. 39 — 42. 
 
 But he answered, 
 and said to them, 
 An evil and adulterous 
 generation seeketh after a sign, 
 and there shall no sign be 
 given to it, but the sign 
 of Jonas the prophet. 
 
 For as Jonas was three 
 days and tliree nights in 
 the whale's belly ; so shall the 
 son of man be three days aud 
 three nights in the heart 
 of the earth. 
 
 Tlie men of Nineveh shall 
 rue up in judgement with 
 
 If I by Beelzebub cast out 
 devils, by whom do your children 
 cast them out ? therefore 
 your judges they shall be. 
 
 But if I by the finger of God 
 cast out devils, then 
 the kingdom of God 
 is come upon you. 
 
 ib. 29—32. 
 
 And when the people were 
 gathered thick together, 
 he began to say, 
 This is an evil generation, 
 they seek after a sign, 
 and there shall no sign be 
 given to it, but the sign 
 of Jonas the prophet. 
 
 For as Jonas was a sign 
 rtnlo the Ninevites, so shall 
 also the Son of man be 
 to this generation. 
 
 The queen of the south shall 
 
 rise up in judgement with 
 
 this 
 
INTRODUCTION'. 
 
 CXXV 
 
 this generation, 
 and shall condemn it ; for 
 they repented at the 
 preaching of Jonas ; and 
 behold, a greater than Jonas 
 is here. 
 
 The queen of t lie south shall 
 rise up in judgement with 
 this generation, 
 and shall condemn it ; for 
 she came from the ends of 
 the earth, to hear the wisdom 
 of Solomon ; and behold, 
 a 'greater than Solomon 
 is here. 
 
 ib. 43—45. 
 
 When the unclean spirit is 
 gone out of a man, he walkcth 
 through dry places, seeking rest, 
 and Jindeth it not. ' 
 
 Then he saith, I will return 
 to my house, whence I came out: 
 and when he is come, he 
 Jindeth it emptv, swept, 
 and garnished. 
 
 Then he goeth, and takcth 
 with himself seven other spirits, 
 more wicked than himself, 
 and hosing entered in they 
 dwell there : and the last state 
 of that man is worse than 
 the first. So shall it be also 
 unto this evil generation. 
 
 the men of this generation, 
 and shall condemn them; for 
 she came from the ends of 
 the earth, to hear the wisdom 
 of Solomon ; and behold, 
 a greater than Solomon 
 is here. 
 
 The men of Nineveh shall 
 rise up in judgement with 
 this generation, 
 and shall condemn it ; for 
 they repented at the 
 ■preaching of Jonas ; and 
 behold, a greater than Jonas 
 is here, 
 
 ib. <24— 26. 
 
 Hlien the unclean spirit is 
 gone out of a man, he walkelh 
 through dry places, seeking rest, 
 an/1 finding it not, 
 he saith, I will return 
 to my house, whence I came out .- 
 and when he is come, he 
 jindeth it swept, 
 and garnished. 
 
 Then he goeth, and taketh 
 seven other spirits, 
 more wicked than himself, 
 and having entered in they 
 dwell there: and the last state 
 of that man is worse than 
 the first. 
 
 In these passages, though differently disposed and 
 connected in the two Gospels, there is great simila- 
 rity, or rather identity, in many parts. In the loth 
 verse, St. Luke, by changing the position of a single 
 word, oturoi, has increased the emphasis, without di- 
 minishing the ease and propriety of the clause. He 
 drops the term, adulterous, probably because spiri- 
 tual whoredom, the desertion of God who had es- 
 poused to himself his covenanted people, was a no- 
 tion not familiar to the Gentiles. And for a similar 
 
 reason, 
 
cxxvi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 reason,, as Dr. Tovvnson has observed 1 , he has 
 omitted the sign of the prophet Jonas as typical of 
 our Lord's death and resurrection ; which omission 
 perhaps induced the difference of order, which, re- 
 versed in each, seems in each most proper. In the 
 third passage the concluding application to the Jews 
 is naturally omitted by St. Luke, in writing to the 
 Gentiles. 
 
 7§.Matth.xix.l3 — 15. Mark x. 13 — 16. Lukexviii. 15 — 17- 
 
 Then were there brought And they brought And they brought 
 
 to him little children, to him little children, to him also infants, 
 
 that he should that he should that he should 
 
 put his hands on them, touch them. touch them, 
 and pray. 
 
 And the disciples 
 rebuked them. 
 
 But Jesus 
 
 said, 
 
 Suffer the little children, 
 
 and forbid them not 
 to come unto me ; 
 for of such is 
 the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 And the disciples 
 rebuked those that 
 brought them. 
 But when Jesus saw it, But Jesus 
 he was much displeased 
 
 And when 
 the disciples saw it, 
 they rebuked them. 
 
 And he put hishandsupon 
 them, and departed 
 thence. 
 
 and said to them, 
 Suffer the little children 
 to come unto me, 
 and forbid them not ; 
 
 for of such is 
 the kingdom of God. 
 Verily I say unto you, 
 whosoever shall not 
 receive the kingdom 
 of God as a little child, 
 heshallnot enter therein. 
 And he took them up 
 in his arms, 
 
 put his hands upon them, 
 and blessed them. 
 
 called them to him, 
 and said, 
 
 Suffer the little children 
 
 to come to me, 
 
 and forbid them not ; 
 
 for of such is 
 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 Verily I say unto you, 
 
 whosoever shall not 
 
 receive the kingdom 
 
 of God as a little child, 
 
 he shall not enter therein. 
 
 St. Mark, as usual with him, has here enlarged 
 upon St. Matthew ; and St. Luke follows him, 
 where he may seem to have improved the order of 
 
 1 P. 183. 
 
 words ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxxvia 
 
 words ; and continues on verbatim, with him, the 
 speech of our blessed Lord ; but stops short at the 
 affecting circumstance, naturally recorded by St. 
 Mark, under the direction of St. Peter, an eye- 
 witness, that our Lord "took the little children up 
 in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed 
 them." 
 
 8.§.MaUh. xix.27— 30. Mark x. 2S— 31. Luke xviii. 28— 30. 
 Then answered Peter, And Peter began 
 
 and said unto him, to saij to him, And Peter said, 
 
 Lo, we haw left all, Lo, ice have left all, Lo, we have left all, 
 and followed thee ; and Jolloiced thee. and followed thee, 
 what shall wc have 
 therefore? 
 
 And Jesus said And Jesus answered, 
 
 to them, and said, And he said to them, 
 
 Verily I say unto you, Verily I say unto you, Verily 1 say unto yon, 
 that ye which have fol- 
 lowed me hi t he regenera- 
 tion, when th<> Son of man 
 shall sit in the throne 
 of his glory, ye also shall 
 sit upon twelve thrones, 
 judging the twelve tribes 
 of Israel. 
 
 And every one that hath there is no man that hath there is no man that hath 
 lift houses, or brethren, left house, or brethren, left house, 
 or sisteis, or fathers, or oi sisters, or father, or or parents, 
 mother, mother, 
 
 or wife, or children, or or children, or or wife, or children, 
 
 lands,formynamessake, lands, for my sake, for the kingdom 
 
 and the gospel's, but he of God's sake, who shall 
 shall receivean hundred- shall receive an hundred- not receive man if old 
 fold, fold more 
 
 now in this time, in this time. 
 
 houses, and brethren, and 
 
 sisters, and mothers, and 
 
 children, anddands, with 
 
 persecution, 
 
 and shall inherit and in the world to come and in the world to come, 
 
 everlasting life. everlasting life. everlasting life. 
 
 But many that arc first, But many that are first, 
 shiillbclast; aiidthelust, shallbe last ; andthelast, 
 first. first. 
 
 There can be little doubt here, that St. Mark had 
 seen St. Matthew's Gospel, and that St. Luke had 
 
 i seen 
 
GXXV1II 
 
 INTRODUCTIOK. 
 
 seen both. The two striking omissions in St. Mark 
 are both probably to be ascribed to his spiritual fa- 
 ther and director, St. Peter ; who, as a married man, 
 had been preserved from the hard trial of leaving his 
 " wife," for the sake of the gospel 1 ; and, as an 
 Apostle, with the true humility, which has often 
 been noted in him after his sad fall, forbore to men- 
 tion the promise made to the Apostles, that they 
 should " sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel." But then St. Luke, who, not 
 being of the number of the Twelve, had not the 
 same plea of modesty for suppressing the circum- 
 stance, has omitted it for another reason ; because 
 he meant to record, and has recorded, a similar pro- 
 mise made to the Apostles by our Lord, the night 
 before he suffered. Lukexxii. 2$ — 30. 
 
 9. Matthew xxi. 1 — 9. Mark xi. 1—10. Luke xix. 29 — 38. 
 
 The triumphant approach of our blessed Lord to 
 Jerusalem is related, with great similarity and many 
 identical expressions, by the three Evangelists; 
 each in succession omitting some things already 
 told, and adding some to the account of his prede- 
 cessors. St. Matthew, who throughout his Gospel, 
 as has been observed of him 2 , makes frequent use 
 of the argument from prophecy, reminds the 
 " daughter of Sion," on this occasion, that she had 
 been instructed by the prophet, that her " King 
 should come unto her, sitting upon an ass, and a 
 
 1 That St. Peter was married is well known from our Lord's 
 miracle in healing his wife's mother of a fever, which is related 
 by the three (Matth. viii. 14. Mark i. 19. Luke iv. 38.) w ith great 
 similarity, but by St. Mark with some peculiar marks of St. Pe- 
 ter's modesty (as that the house, which St. Matthew and St. 
 Luke call Peter's, belonged to Andrew as well as himself, &c.) 
 and that his faithful partner long survhed the Ascension, and did 
 not desert her husband in his apostolical labours, may be inferred 
 with probability from what St. Paul says, 1 Cor. ix. 5. 
 
 • Dr. Townson, Disc, iv. Sect. v. 3. §. 
 
 colt, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 cxxix 
 
 colt, the foal of an ass." This prediction St. Mark 
 and St. Luke, on their different plans, naturally 
 omit. But St. Mark, from the ocular testimony of 
 St. Peter, minutely describes the situation where 
 they found the ass, " tied at a door without, in a 
 place where two ways met." St. Luke, who was 
 not a spectator, passes over this circumstance ; in- 
 forming us however, that those who questioned the 
 disciples, as to what they were about, were the 
 "owners" of the colt; and that it was at the 
 descent of the mount of Olives, that the acclama- 
 tions of our Lord's attendants and of the whole mul- 
 titude began. 
 
 St. Matthew mentions an ass tied and a colt with 
 her; and if, as his narrative seems to import, the 
 holy Redeemer sat on each by turns, the prophecy 
 of Zechariah, which he quotes, would appear to 
 have a more minutely literal accomplishment. But 
 if the chief design of St. Mark and St. Luke was to 
 shew our blessed Lord's meekness of majesty, at the 
 very time when he came as the Son of David, and 
 King of Israel, perhaps this his princely and peerless 
 humility was most strikingly displayed, by riding 
 on a young ass, whereon never man had sat ; and 
 therefore they mention the colt only. 
 
 St. John (xii. 12 — 18.) glances very rapidly at 
 these transactions ; and yet it is memorable, how 
 much, in a few words, he has added to the former 
 accounts, without appearing to notice them. We 
 learn from the Three, that many strewed branches 
 of trees in the way, and that the whole multitude, 
 those before, and those that followed, hailed him 
 with Hosannas. St. John says, a great multitude 
 of those that were come to the feast, went out 
 purposely to meet him ; taking with them branches 
 of palm, the appropriate badge of victory and joy. 
 
 " Having 
 
cxxx 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " Having found" or procured (svpwv) a young ass 
 ( — in the manner well known from the former Gos- 
 pels) he sat thereon, thus fulfilling the prophecy, 
 of which he quotes a few words, not simply to point 
 out its accomplishment, as Christians were by this 
 time well acquainted with the writings of the pro- 
 phets : but for the sake of remarking, that the dis- 
 ciples, at the time, did not understand these things, 
 but that after the Ascension, then they remembered 
 both the Scripture itself, and its completion ; one 
 instance, among many, of things brought to their 
 recollection by the promised gift of the Holy 
 Ghost. St. John also connects the procession of 
 the people, and their testimony and rejoicings, with 
 the raising of Lazarus, which he alone has recorded ; 
 and informs us, that because they had heard of 
 that great miracle, they " went forth to meet him." 
 
THE 
 
 QUOTATIONS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 CONSIDERED, , 
 
 IN 
 
 A SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF. 
 
 OXFORD, 
 
 AT ST. MARY'S, May 31, 1807- 
 BY 
 
 RALPH CHURTON, M. A. 
 
 RECTOR OF MIDDLETON CHENEY IN NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, 
 ARCHDEACON OF ST DAVID'S, 
 AND LATE FELLOW OF BRASEN NOSE COLLEGE. 
 
( cxxxiii ) 
 
 A SERMON. 
 
 ROM. xv. 4. 
 
 WHATSOEVER THINGS WERE WRITTEN AFORETIME., 
 WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING. 
 
 IT is observed of the works of creation, that the 
 more they are examined and the better they are 
 understood, the more they set forth the wisdom and 
 p-oodness of the divine Creator. View them in the 
 whole, or m their component parts, consider them 
 by themselves or in relation to each other, and there 
 is no defect or deformity in them ; they serve the 
 purposes, for which they were made ; and are, each 
 in their time and place, as they were at first pro- 
 nounced to be, " very good." 
 
 What is true of the volume of nature, the imme- 
 diate work of God's hand, is equally true of the 
 written word, the volume of the book, which he in- 
 spired. It challenges and rewards patient investi- 
 gation. The more we know, the more we shall ad- 
 mire; and if the matter and facts, as most important, 
 engage our chief attention, the manner will not be 
 found unworthy of regard. To the one and to the 
 other, and to the Old and the New Testament and 
 their several parts, we may safely apply the decla- 
 ration of the Apostle: "Whatsoever things were 
 written aforetime, were written," and so written, 
 
 Vol. I. k " for 
 
cxxxiv 
 
 ftUOTATIONS LN THE 
 
 " for our learning," that we might be steadfast in 
 faith, joyful through hope, and wise unto salvation. 
 
 On a transient inspection of the sacred Scriptures 
 it may seem remarkable, that the holy writers of 
 them so seldom quote or refer to each other's works. 
 The succession of prophets, who followed Moses, 
 do indeed constantly and expressly appeal to the 
 writings of Moses, as to the law and to the testimony, 
 on which the whole polity and system of the moral 
 and religious duties of the chosen people were 
 founded : and our blessed Lord and his Apostles ap- 
 peal, in like manner, to Moses and the prophets; 
 for the first and second covenant were necessarily 
 connected, and the one foreshowed and was intro- 
 ductory to die other. But over and above these as 
 it were unavoidable quotations, by way of authority 
 or proof, it is not perhaps in general supposed, that 
 anv of the inspired writers, of either Testament, 
 have at all quoted tli2 other writers, whether ante- 
 rior or contemporary, whose works are contained in 
 the same volume. The fact, I believe, on closer 
 examination, will be found to stand thus : The 
 holy Bible abounds in quotations, even more perhaps 
 than most other books ; but they are introduced in 
 a way which is peculiar to revelation and its own. 
 When a prophet or Apostle mentions one of his own 
 holy brethren, as when Ezekiel names Daniel, or 
 Daniel Jeremiah ; when St. Peter speaks of Paul, 
 or Paul of Peter, or of Luke the physician; uhen 
 they mention them, they do not quote them ; and 
 ichen they quote them, they do not mention them 
 
 1 Erceptio proLat regulam. " Micah the Morasthitc" is quoted 
 in the book of Jeremiah (xxvi. lfs.) but it is not by the prophet 
 himself, but by " certain of the elders of the land." See Mic. 
 iii. 12. Daniel is mentioned by Ezekiel, chap. xiv. 14, &c. xxviii. 
 3. Jeremiah by Daniel, chap. ix. 2. and likewise 2 Chron. xxxv. 
 25. xxxvi. 12. 21, 22. Ezra i. 1. And on this ground of men- 
 tioning and not quoting, it may perhaps be questioned, whether, 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 CXXXV 
 
 It shall be my endeavour, in this discourse, to as- 
 certain and illustrate what is thus stated, respecting 
 the Scriptural quotations ; after which I will con- 
 clude with a reflection or two, arising from the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 And here, as we mean to limit our inquiry to the 
 Old Testament, and principally to the historical 
 books, in which these quotations are chiefly found, 
 it would facilitate the research, if it were known by 
 whom those books, and the distinct parts of them, 
 were severally written. This being uncertain, it is 
 the more necessary, that the instances to be ad- 
 duced, though as short as possible, be more in num- 
 ber, than might otherwise suffice. 
 
 We begin however with an example, where there 
 is no such doubt. The book of Joshua was written 
 by the gallant chief, whose name it bears ; and the 
 book of Judges by some of the elders that outlived 
 Joshua, or by their successors, one or more. The 
 conqueror of Canaan informs us, how Caleb, the 
 son of Jephunneh, as strong for war when he was 
 fourscore and five, as he had been when he was 
 
 when we read, 2 Chron. xxxv. 25. that the mournful strains of 
 Jeremiah on the death of Josiah " are written in the Lamenta- 
 tions," it is not more reasonable to suppose, with Josephus, that 
 the reference is to the book of Lamentations, than that any 
 work of so great a prophet as Jeremiah, thps referred to, should 
 have been lost. Certainly the affectionate terms, "the breath of 
 our nostrils" &c. (Lam. iv. '20.) are more likely to have been 
 spoken of such a prince as Josiah, than of the wicked and perse- 
 cuting Zedekiah. But there is perhaps nothing improbable in 
 the supposition, that the lamentations, poured forth on ..ie de- 
 feat and death of Josiah, may have been remodeled and adapted 
 by the author to the heavier state of distress an l calami y, when 
 Jerusalem was taken, and " her king and her princes" \\. re cap- 
 tive " among the Gentiles" (ii. 9.) to which state of misery and 
 desolation, the whole book, as we now have it, seems best suited. 
 But theoe disquisitions are not necessary to our present purpose. 
 
 k 2 forty, 
 
CXXXV1 
 
 &UOTATIONS IN THE 
 
 forty l , took possession of Hebron, his alloted por- 
 tion among the children of Judah -. The author of 
 the book of Judges relates the same exploit, which 
 occupies five consecutive verses 3 , in the very words 
 of Joshua; but he introduces a circumstance respect- 
 ing Caleb's kinsman Othniel, whose prowess was 
 rewarded with his daughter Achshah to wife, the 
 same who was afterwards raised up to be a judge 
 and deliverer of Israel 4 , that he was Caleb's younger 
 brother. Or if we take it with the Septuagint, that 
 he was the younger son of Kenaz, Caleb's brother, 
 it is either way a new circumstance, twice mentioned 
 by this author 5 , but not discoverable from the book 
 of Joshua, or any other part of holy Scripture. 
 
 The greater part of the first book of Samuel was 
 written by the prophet, in whose name we have it ; 
 and the remainder, together with the second book, 
 probably by Nathan and Gad, by one or both ; as 
 we are expressly informed, that Samuel and these 
 two wrote the acts of David 6 . The prophets Ahi- 
 jah and Iddo, Shemaiah and Jehu the son of Ha- 
 nani, and the prophet Isaiah, also wrote the trans- 
 actions of the kings of Israel and Judah of one or 
 
 1 Josh. xiv.T- 10. II, 
 
 • lb. xv. 15—19. 
 
 3 Judges i. 1 1 — 15. 
 
 ♦ Ibid. iii. 9—11. 
 
 * lb. i. 13. iii. 9. 
 
 6 1 Chron. xxix. 29, 30. 
 
 7 2 Chron. ix. 29. xi. 2. xii. 15. 5. 7 xiii. 22. It is said (xx. 34.) 
 " Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, 
 they are written in the book [or, words] of Jehu the son of Ha- 
 nani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel." But 
 on turning to the book of Kings, we have his prophecy against 
 Baasha, King of Israel (1 Kings, xvi. 1 — 7;) but no mention of 
 him, where the deeds of Jehoshaphat are recorded. He wrote 
 therefore some parts of the Kings, where he is not named : and 
 particularly, we may presume, the account of Jehoshaphat in 
 1 Kings xxii. ; and he also " went out to meet him" on his re- 
 turn from Ramotk-Gilead, and reproved him for helping " the 
 
 ungodly." 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 cxxxvii 
 
 more, an entire reign, or some part only; and, be- 
 sides these, no other historians of the kings are men- 
 tioned. In collating therefore Samuel or Kings 
 with the Chronicles, we may sometimes be com- 
 paring the works of different authors ; and some- 
 times distinct works of one and the same writer ; 
 but even in this case, not often distinguishable from 
 the other, this at least will be seen, that one book 
 is quoted in another, without particular notice that 
 the passage alleged is a quotation. 
 
 The defeat and death of Saul are recorded at large 
 in the first of Samuel and first of Chronicles; nearly 
 in the same words ; but with some variations and 
 additions, which show the account in Chronicles to 
 be a revision of the other. The armour of the slairr 
 monarch, the writer in Samuel says, " was put in 
 the house of Ashtaroth ;" " the house of their gods," 
 as the Chronicles say 1 ; but the former having 
 merely named the city, where they suspended the 
 body of Saul, fastening it " to the wall of Beth- 
 shan," the Chronicler says, it was " in the temple of 
 Dagon," a greater insult of the vaunting Philistines, 
 and keener cause of anguish to those, who wept 
 even for a wicked king, slain in " his high places," 
 
 ungodly." 2 Chron. xix. 2. In like manner we read (2 Chron. 
 xxvi. 22.) " Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, 
 did Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz write." Isaiah therefore 
 was a writer in the historical books : for when the book of his 
 prophecy is referred to (2 Chron. xxxii. 32.) the expression is 
 different ; nor are any of the acts of Uzziah recorded in the pro- 
 phecy of Isaiah, but merely his name, i. 1. and death, vi. 1. 
 
 1 1 Sam. xxxi. 10. 1 Chron. x. 10. I suppose 1 Chron. x. 10, 
 with 12. is either pars pro to to, the head for the body, or that the 
 head and body were both in one place ; but if, on comparing the 
 passages, it is thought the head was suspended in one place 
 and the body in another (both however probably in the city of 
 Beth-shan) that does not militate against the argument. In any 
 view, the Chronicles furnish new circumstances, illustrative and 
 explanatory of the account in 1 Samuel. 
 
 on 
 
CXXXV11I - QUOTATIONS IN THE 
 
 on the mountains of Gilboa, within his own domi- 
 nions. 
 
 The valiant men of Jabesh-gilead could not brook 
 this indignity and disgrace. They arose by night, 
 and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of 
 his sons ; and buried them under a tree at Jabesh, 
 says the book of Samuel ; the other account says, 
 " under the oak in Jabesh memorable, no doubt, 
 and consecrated to sorrow ; though of less fame than 
 the palm tree of Deborah, under which the holy 
 prophetess dwelt, and judged Israel 2 . 
 
 The repeated victories of David over Hadadezer, 
 or Hadarezer, and the Syrians are succinctly related, 
 in the same order and in the same words, in the se- 
 cond of Samuel and the first of Chronicles ; each 
 narrative concluding with an account of the spoils : 
 but concerning the very much brass, brought home 
 from these wars, the Chronicles add, that there- 
 with " Solomon made the brasensea, and the pillars, 
 and the vessels of brass 3 ." 
 
 David's numbering of the people, with the con- 
 sequent pestilence and deliverance, is considerably 
 abridged, and yet much enlarged, in the first book of 
 Chronicles. Many identical clauses are retained, 
 which show the writer had the prior account before 
 him ; and at the same time many new circumstances 
 are thrown in, which make it evident, that the his- 
 torian had in himself ample and accurate knowledge 
 of what he related. It will suffice to mention one 
 
 1 1 Sam. xxxi. 11 — 13. 1 Chron. x. 11, 12. The bones were 
 afterwards removed by David, and deposited in the sepulchre of 
 Kish, Sauls father. 2 Sam.xxi. 12—14. 
 
 ■ Judges iv. 5. 
 
 , 2 Sam. \iii. 3— S. 1 Chron. xviii. 3—8. 
 
 particular. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 CXXX1X 
 
 particular. When we read in Samuel, that " the 
 angel of the Lord was by the threshing-place of 
 Araunah the Jebusite," we might imagine that he 
 stood upon the ground, in that lofty situation, con- 
 tiguous to Jerusalem ; and thence " stretched out 
 his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it '." In Chro- 
 nicles we have the same locality of the vision, " by 
 the threshing-floor of Oman ;" but we are told, that 
 " David lift up his eyes, and saw the angel of the 
 Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having 
 a drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jeru- 
 salem 2 ." It appears also that David's attendants, 
 the elders of Israel, who, as well as David, fell upon 
 their faces, saw the angel ; and it is expressly said, 
 that Ornan saw him 3 . 
 
 In the history of the dedication of the temple, the 
 two descriptions, one in Kings, the other in Chro- 
 nicles, tally exactly for many verses together, not 
 only in reciting Solomon's prayer, which was a sort 
 of public document to be copied by either author, 
 but likewise in the previous account of the bringing 
 of the ark " out of the city of David, which is Zion" 
 (so both books inform us 4 ) to the most holy place, 
 appointed for it, in the temple: and there is also 
 one and the same statement of the assemblinrr of 
 the people, and of various other circumstances pre- 
 paratory to the great solemnity. As to the prayer 
 itself, worthy of the occasion and the speaker, being 
 in truth one of the noblest ever uttered by man, it is 
 preserved, as it deserved to be, in both books ; but, 
 strictly speaking, by a copious extract only, as nei- 
 ther book separately delivers the entire prayer. 
 
 1 2 Sam. xxiv. ] G. 
 
 3 l Chron. xxi. 1«. 
 ' lb. 20. 
 
 4 1 Kings viii. 1. 2 Chron. v. 2. 
 
 Connected 
 
cxl 
 
 aUOTATIONS IN THE 
 
 Connected with this splendid and interesting cele- 
 brity, the Chronicles supply two circumstances, 
 both useful, and one of them highly important to be 
 known. We are informed, that " Solomon had 
 made a brasen scaffold" or platform, " of five cubits 
 long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, 
 and had set it in the midst of the court." There 
 " he stood," and there he " kneeled down upon his 
 knees, before all the congregation of Israel, and 
 spread forth his hands towards heaven "And when 
 he had made an end of praying, the fire came down 
 from heaven, and consumed the burnt-offering and 
 the sacrifices ; and the glory of the Lord filled the 
 house 2 ." This signal attestation, from the High 
 and Holy One, to the acceptableness of the prayers 
 of his servant, was never meant to be withheld from 
 future generations ; but, memorable and well known 
 at the time, it was reserved, by Him who ever 
 guided the pen of inspiration, to be recorded in the 
 later account of the consecration of that holy tem- 
 ple, where Jehovah himself, enthroned between the 
 cherubim, vouchsafed to dwell, and to bless his 
 people Israel. 
 
 The visit of the queen of Sheba occupies nine or 
 ten parallel verses in the first book of Rings and se- 
 cond of Chronicles 3 , with scarcely more than a sin- 
 gle variation. Both accounts reckon among her pre- 
 sents an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and 
 abundance of spices ; but the second author calls our 
 attention also to the quality of the spices : " neither 
 was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave 
 king Solomon." Here both historians interpose a di- 
 gression of two verses, connected with the subject not 
 chronologically, but merely in point of matter, con- 
 
 ' 2 Chron. vi. IS. 
 9 lb. vii. 1. 
 
 * Kings x, 1—10. 2 Chron. i.v 1—9. 
 
 cerning 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 cxli 
 
 cerning the gold and almug trees and precious stones, 
 brought from Ophir by the navy of Hiram for Solo- 
 mon, and the purposes to which they were applied ; 
 and then both writers resume and conclude together 
 their narrative of the queen of Sheba. 
 
 It were easy to extend the series of parallelisms, 
 and to carry it into later periods of the inspired his- 
 tory. We have dwelt chiefly on the reigns of David 
 and Solomon, because, as the acts of these kings re- 
 spectively were recorded by three prophets, Da- 
 vid's, as already said, by Samuel and Nathan and 
 Gad, and Solomon's by Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo 1 , 
 it is the more probable, that, in some instances at 
 least, we have been comparing together different au- 
 thors, and not merely distinct works of one and the 
 same writer. The worthies or mighty men of Da- 
 vid, their names and achievements, are very nearly 
 the same in both the enrollments of them ; but the 
 book of Samuel having mentioned the graceful ap- 
 pearance of the Egyptian, whom Benaiah the son of 
 Jehoiada, one of this select band of heroes, slew, 
 that he was " a goodly man," or " a man of counte- 
 nance 2 ,'' an d had a spear in his hand; the writer in 
 Chronicles note?, that he was " a man of stature, 
 five cubits high, and in his hand was a spear like a 
 weaver's beam 3 ." 
 
 I will advert only to one instance more, of a date 
 long subsequent, in the reign of Hezekiah, partly for 
 the sake of suggesting a slight correction in the ela- 
 borate work of a consummate critic. Nearly three 
 entire chapters in the second book of Kings are de- 
 voted to the invasion of Sennacherib, the sickness of 
 
 1 2 Chron. ix. 29. 
 
 * 2 Sam. xxiii. 20, 21. and the margin, 
 3 1 Chron. xj. 23. 
 
 Hezekiah. 
 
cxlii 
 
 QUOTATIONS IN THE 
 
 Hezekiah, and the embassy of congratulation to him 
 from Babylon 1 ; and they occupy an equal space, 
 divided into four chapters, in the book of Isaiah 2 . 
 The last and the two first may be regarded as dupli- 
 cates or different copies, of the same narration in 
 the book of Kings ; and, whether it was that the 
 holy prophet was transcribing from himself, or what- 
 ever might be the reason, they are, I believe, the 
 longest quotation (though with some variations or 
 omissions) that is to be found in the whole Bible. 
 But the intervening; account of Hezekiah's sickness 
 and recovery evidently is, what bishop Lovvth says 
 it seems to be, " an abridgement"' of the same history 
 in thesecond of Kings 3 . But " the abridger,"of whom 
 he unwarily speaks, as of a different person, was 
 doubtless the inspired prophet himself ; the abridge- 
 ment is a very masterly one ; and if this circumstance 
 and the tenor of the whole chapter had been more ma- 
 turely weighed, I persuade myself the two last verses 
 would not have been removed, contrary to all autho- 
 rity of manuscripts, for the sake of placing them, 
 where certainly in point of time they should stand, 
 before the song of Hezekiah on his recovery. They 
 cannot be introduced into that first part of the chap- 
 ter without violence ; and if they are brought thither, 
 still they do not identify the narrative with the book 
 of Kings; and thev have, in their present situation, 
 a propriety, which, in the sacred as in other 
 
 1 2 Kings xviii. 13. 1/. JOL 19. 
 
 - Isaiah xxxvi — xxxix. The writing or sor.£ of Hezekiah on 
 his recovery (xxxviii. 9 — 20.) is new matter, recorded hi re on!\ ; 
 and, with the rehearsal or abridgement of other parte of his his- 
 tory, justifies the expectation, raised by the note in the second of 
 Chronicles, that the transactions of Hezekiah, more or fewer of 
 them, formed an original part of the prophecy of Isaiah : " Now 
 the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they 
 are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Auioz, 
 and in the books of the kings of Judah and Israel." 2 Chron. 
 xxxii. 32. 
 
 J Bishop Lowth on Isaiah xxxviii. 4, 5. and sec him onxxxxi. 
 
 writers, 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 cxliii 
 
 writers, is often allowed, in subordinate matters, to 
 predominate over rigid chronology. The first of 
 the two verses, in which the remedy for the disease, 
 in itself far inadequate, is mentioned, is connected 
 with the conclusion of Hezekiah's song ; where he 
 ascribes his recovery to its proper cause, " The 
 Lord was ready to save me.'' And both verses make 
 the transition more easy to the following chapter, in 
 which the history of Hezekiah is continued. 
 
 i 
 
 The survey, which we have taken of this subject, 
 might be further illustrated and confirmed, by ob- 
 serving the manner, in which some of the psalms, 
 or certain portions of them, are sometimes intro- 
 duced in the historical books. The xviiith psalm, 
 for instance, forms the twenty-second chapter of 
 the second book of Samuel ; and either one might, 
 at first sight, be taken for a mere transcript of the 
 other; yet of the seventy-four variations, which 
 critics find in the two copies some at least are 
 probably original, and not owing to mistakes of co- 
 pyists. 
 
 But on the day when David brought the ark of 
 God from the house of Obed-edom, and set It in 
 the tent, which he had pitched for it ; on that day 
 he delivered to Asaph a psalm of praise, which, it is 
 probably supposed, thenceforth became a daily part 
 of the divine service 2 . Now either this hymn was 
 afterwards divided and enlarged, so as to form two 
 distinct psalms, but with many variations in one 
 (the ninety-sixth) and in the other (the hundred and 
 fifth) with the addition of thirty entire verses ; or 
 else the hymn itself was composed from those two, 
 previously written by the holy psalmist. But as it 
 
 1 Patrick on "2 Sam. xxii. 1. 
 1 1 Chron. xvi, 7. 
 
 stands 
 
cxliv 
 
 QUOTATIONS IN' THE 
 
 stands in the first of Chronicles, like the other just 
 mentioned in the hook of Samuel, it forms an inte- 
 gral part of the history ; in which it is inserted, 
 without the smallest intimation, that the whole 
 song, or any portion of it, is elsewhere to be found 
 among the writings of inspiration. 
 
 If this discourse, hastily put together, but not 
 hastily considered has been satisfactory to a learned 
 audience, they have probably gone before me in ex- 
 tending their views from the writers of the Old Tes- 
 tament to those of the New. 
 
 The counsels of God are all in his foreknowledge, 
 and his ways uniform. His earlier dispensations 
 were preparatory to those, which were to succeed ; 
 and what was once done hy those whom he inspired, 
 was an example and precedent to those who should 
 come after. 
 
 With the constant practice, which we have seen, 
 of God's ancient church before their eyes, and with 
 the same Almighty Spirit for their guide, what was 
 it to be expected, that the historians of our blessed 
 Lord would do ? What, but the very thing, which 
 they have done ? that they would walk in the path, 
 which the holy prophets of old had marked out ? 
 that they would often tread full in each other's 
 steps ; often relate the same miracle, or discourse, 
 or parts of it, in the words of the prior writer ; 
 sometimes compress, sometimes expand ; always 
 show to the diligent inquirer, that they did not de- 
 rive their information, even of facts which they re- 
 late in another's words, from him whom they copv, 
 but wrote with antecedent plenitude of knowledge 
 
 * See the beginning of the Introduction, p. xciii. 
 
 and 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 cxlv 
 
 and truth in themselves ; without staying to inform 
 us, whether what they deliver is told for the first 
 time, or has its place already in authentic history. 
 
 " Are they not written in the book of the kings 
 of Judah and Israel '." " Are they not written in the 
 hook of the chronicles of the kings of Judah 2 ?" 
 These reciprocal references, from one record to the 
 other, were perhaps inserted by Ezra, when each 
 volume was complete; but if, which isiscarcely pro- 
 bable, they were from the hands respectively of the 
 authors of the history, as it was progressively com- 
 posed in portions, through successive reigns, still, 
 by their usual tenor, " the rest of the acts," they 
 prepare us to expect new and distinct transactions, 
 but afford no hint of what is oftener the case, that 
 the same facts are in the corresponding memorial, 
 frequently in the same order, and not seldom in the 
 game words, 
 
 " So Saul died for his transgression," says the 
 book of Chronicles, " and for asking counsel of one 
 that had a familiar spirit 3 ." But the transgression of 
 Saul and his consulting the wizard are not reported 
 in Chronicles, but in the book of Samuel ; with 
 which therefore the writer of the Chronicles sup- 
 poses his readers to be previously acquainted. In 
 like manner we read of Hezekiah in the second book 
 of Chronicles, that " in the business of the ambas- 
 sadors of the princes of Babylon, — God left him to 
 try him 4 ," which, with similar remarks elsewhere, 
 is an useful comment on what is recorded, not in this 
 
 ' 2 Chron. xxv. 26. 
 
 2 1 Kings xiv. 29. 
 
 3 1 Chron. x. 13. 
 
 4 2 Chron. xxxii. 31. This chapter, from verse 9, Is a brief 
 nummary of Sennacherib's invasion and Hezekiah's sickness, but 
 with much additional matter, on these and other points. 
 
 book, 
 
cxlvi 
 
 QUOTATIONS IN THE 
 
 book, but in the book of Kings, and in the prophecy 
 of Isaiah. 
 
 " Many other signs truly," St. John says, " did 
 Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not 
 written in this book '." Why so ? For one obvious 
 reason, because they were already extant and well 
 known from the other Gospels ; to which in St. 
 John's gospel there are many tacit references, be- 
 sides this, as there are some few also in the other 
 gospels. 
 
 The ways of God are not as our ways. His deal- 
 ings with mankind, seldom such as man's imagina- 
 tion would previously have devised or expected, al- 
 ways have in them, when we have actually beheld 
 and consider them, clear marks and demonstrations 
 of wisdom and goodness. Writers, who have no 
 other resources, but human ingenuity and learning, 
 appeal to other authors, past or contemporary ; and 
 cite their works for proof, for example, or for orna- 
 ment. But with the inspired penman truth alone is 
 the paramount consideration ; and this he possesses 
 largely in his own breast; for he drinks at the pure 
 Fountain of all truth. He is the living depositary 
 and witness of the Providence and interposition of 
 the Most High. If he adopts words, which his pre- 
 decessors have employed, and relates facts as thev 
 have related them, he corroborates their testimony, 
 without weakening his own. He continues the 
 chain of inspiration arid prophecy, which is im- 
 moveably fixed in the rock of ages. 
 
 The history of the kings of Judah, descendants of 
 David, is interesting and important. They are the 
 
 1 John xx. 30. 
 
 progenitors 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 cxlvii 
 
 progenitors of the promised Son of David ; and it 
 might be expedient, while the apostate house of Is- 
 rael is not so honoured 1 , that Their acts and Their 
 lineage should be recorded, in full series, in two 
 concurrent volumes. But four holy witnesses, four 
 consentient Gospels, shall declare the life, and esta- 
 blish the truth of God's own Anointed; for he is 
 " the root and the offspring of David, King of kings, 
 and Lord of lords." Rev. xxii. l6\ xix. l6\ 
 
 i 
 
 1 Of the nineteen kings of Israel I think six only are mentioned 
 in the Chronicles, as their affairs, whether of peace or war, hap- 
 pened to be connected with the kings of Judah. They reigned, 
 on an average, not more than 13 years each; and there was not 
 one in the whole number (unless we make a favourable exception 
 for the first years of Jehu) that did not " work wickedness in the 
 6ight of the Lord." The kings of Judah (twenty-three, including 
 Athaliah) reigned, on an average, 2*2 years; some of them were 
 eminently good, and some extremely wicked. 
 
DISCOURSES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 FOUR GOSPELS, 
 
 CHIEFLY WITH REGARD TO THE 
 
 PECULIAR DESIGN OF EACH, AND THE' ORDER AND 
 PLACES IN WHICH THEY WERE WRITTEN i 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 AN INQUIRY CONCERNING THE HOURS 
 
 OF ST. JOHN, OF THE ROMANS, 
 AND OF SOME OTHER NATIONS OF ANTIQUITY. 
 
 BY THOMAS TOWNSON, D. D. 
 
 ARCHDEACON OF RICHMOND ; ONE OF THE RECTORS OF~ 
 MALPAS, CHESHIRE ; AND SOMETIME FELLOW OF ST. 
 MARY MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 MIRABILIA TESTIMONIA TUA, IDEO 
 
 .SCRUTATA EST EA AN IMA MEA. PsAL. CXIX. 129. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED, 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 ON THE MANNER OF OUR SAVIOUR'S TEACHING. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 
 A. 
 
IMPRIMATUR. 
 
 GEO. HORNE, 
 Vice-Can. Oxon. 
 
 Nov. 10, 1777- 
 
( "i ) 
 
 TO THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD 
 
 THESE 
 
 DISCOURSES ON THE FOUR GOSPELS 
 
 ARE 
 
 WITH ALL RESPECT 
 AND GRATITUDE 
 MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED. 
 
( v ) 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE EDITION IN MDCCLXXVIII. 
 
 THE Author of these Discourses has considered 
 the subject which they treat of with some care 
 and attention, and so.as to satisfy himself, that all 
 material parts of the work rest on a good foundation. 
 Yet he had not now ventured to lay his thoughts be- 
 fore the Public, but in pure deference to the judge- 
 ment of two or three very valuable and learned 
 friends, who have perused these papers and urged 
 the printing of them. He will be happy that he has 
 submitted to their advice, if his humble endeavours 
 prove subservient to the cause of truth ; if they tend 
 in any measure to illustrate the Gospels, and to 
 confirm the evidence of their authenticity. He has 
 only to add his sincere thanks to one of these friends, 
 who has been so kind as to undertake the whole 
 trouble of the publication. 
 
 THE 
 
( v. ) 
 
 M DCC LXXX VIII. 
 
 THE Person meant in the conclusion of the pre- 
 ceding Advertisement was the late worthy Dr. 
 Winchester, formerly Fellow of St. Mary Magdalen 
 College, Oxford ; and then Rector of Appleton, 
 Berkshire, to his death in the year of our Lord 
 mdcclxxx : till which time the Author was happy 
 in his constant and valuable friendship from an earlv 
 period. 
 
 The like thanks are now due to two other highly 
 esteemed friends ; who have not only corrected the 
 errors of the former edition, and superintended the 
 printing and publishing of this ; but, to render the 
 work less incomplete, have been at the pains of 
 composing an Index to it. 
 
 CON- 
 
( vii ) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FIRSJ. 
 
 A SERMON, in TWO PARTS. 
 On John xx. 30, 31. 
 
 Sec the Heads, - Page 3, 4 
 
 Part the Second - - - - - 15 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SECOND. 
 
 A Collection of Historical Proofs. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 General Introduction to the folio-wing Discourses 27 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Testimonies of the Ancients concerning the Four Gos- 
 pels VAvi'fft 
 
 Ancient xvriters mentioned in this Discourse, and the 
 times in which they Jiourished - - - 3S 
 
 DIS- 
 
vm 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 DISCOURSE THE THIRD. 
 
 Preparations for determining the Order of the 
 Evangelists by internal Evidence. 
 
 SECT. L 
 
 The question proposed, Whether the succeeding Evan- 
 gelists had seen the foregoing Gospels • - 39 
 
 SECT. II. 
 Parallel Passages of St. Matthew and St. Mark 40 
 
 SECT. III. 
 Parallel Passages of St. Matthew and St. Luke, 5 1 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 Parallel Passages of St. Mark and St. Luke - 56 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Conclusion drawn from the preceding comparisons, and 
 confirmed by so?ne other considerations - - 6 1 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Principles of determining the order of the Evangelists 
 on the ground of the preceding conclusion - 79 
 
 DIS- 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FOURTH. 
 
 ON ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 SECT. I 
 St. Matthew wrote before St. Mark - - 85 
 
 SECT. II. 
 He wrote before St. Luke - - - - 9^ 
 
 SECT. III. 
 He wrote very early - - - - 107 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 Some objections considered and answered - -115 
 
 SECT. V. 
 He wrote for the Jews, andinJudea - - 121 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FIFTH. 
 ON ST. MARK. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 St. Mauk wrote before St. Luke - - - 139 
 
 SECT- II. 
 
 He wrote his Gospel under the direction of St. Peter 1 5 1 
 
 SECT. 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 He composed his Gospel for a mixt society of Jewish and 
 Gentile converts - - - - -163 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 He published his Gospel at Rome or in Italy - 171 
 
 SECT. V. 
 When He published his Gospel - - - 178 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SIXTH. 
 ON ST. LUKE. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 St. Luke wrote for the Gentile converts - - 1 8 i 
 
 SECT. II. 
 Where He published his Gospel - - - 196 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Review of the argument concerning the order of the 
 Gospels ------ 206 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 Observations on St. Luke's Preface - - 20S 
 
 DIS- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SEVENTH. 
 
 ON ST. JOHN. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 The design of St. John'* Gospel - - -219 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 When He published his Gospel, and where - 223 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Each succeeding Evangelist confirms the authenticity of 
 the preceding Gospels. The credit and testimony of 
 St. Mark and St. Luke not weakened, because they 
 had seen St. Matthew's Gospel. - - 229 
 
 DISCOURSE THE EIGHTH. 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 Part the First. 
 
 On the Method in which St. John 
 reckons the Hours. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 Three instances of St. John's hours considered. 
 
 - 233 
 
 SECT. 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 The fourth instance considered - - - 238 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 St. John divides the day according to the Roman man- 
 ner ; but his hours are Asiatic - - -255 
 
 Part the Second. 
 
 The Hours of the Romans and of some other 
 ancient Nations considered 263 
 
 A SERMON. 
 The Manner of our Saviour's teaching. 
 Luke iv. 32. 
 
 And they were astonished at his doctrine : for his word 
 was with power - - - - -27y 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Of Texts occasionally illustrated - - - 295 
 Of Persons and Things - - - 302 
 
 DIS- 
 
DISCOURSE THE FIRST. 
 
 A SERMON, IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 John xx. 30, 31. 
 
 AND MANY OTHER SIGNS TRULY DID JESUS IN 
 THE PRESENCE OF HIS DISCIPLES, WHICH ARE 
 NOT WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK. 
 
 BUT THESE ARE WRITTEN, THAT YE MIGHT BE- 
 LIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST THE SON OF 
 GOD, AND THAT BELIEVING YE MIGHT HAVE 
 LIFE THROUGH HIS NAME. 
 
 ST. John here declares what he chiefly purposed 
 by writing a Gospel ; and at the same time ob- 
 viates some objections, which the nature of this Gos- 
 pel might occasion to be raised against the other 
 Evangelists or himself. 
 
 For a person who had read and compared their 
 writings might have observed to him : You tell us 
 things about which the other Evangelists are silent, 
 and till towards the conclusion scarce take notice of 
 any thing which they have related : if then you have 
 given a full and true account of your Lord's actions, 
 what are we to judge of their narrations ? 
 
 B That 
 
2 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 That their veracity might not be questioned for 
 this difference, St. John acquaints us, that he had 
 related only some parts of the public life of Christ : 
 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the pre- 
 sence of his disciples, which are not written in 
 this book. 
 
 But on this avowal, w hich guards the credit of the 
 other Gospels, might be founded an exception against 
 his own. For it might be asked again : If Christ ma- 
 nifested his glory by such a number and variety of 
 works, why have you recorded so few of them ? 
 
 But we find this question also sufficiently answered. 
 For first, his chief and ultimate view in writing a 
 Gospel carries with it a plain reason of many omis- 
 sions. These things, he says, are written that ye, 
 might believe. The readers, to whom he makes 
 this apostrophe, were a society of Christians. "What 
 then would he teach them to believer Not surely, 
 that Jesus was the Christ foretold and promised to 
 the fathers : for of this he could not suppose them 
 ignorant or doubtful, who had read and received the 
 other Gospels. But if some were fallen, or in danger 
 of falling, into Jewish errors and indisposed to think 
 of the nature of Christ, as the truth and their hap- 
 piness demanded, that they might have life through 
 his name; it was a task worthy of an Apostle, to 
 add some further illustrations of this high point. 
 
 The principal design of St. John's Gospel will 
 meet us again in another place : what I would now 
 observe upon it is, that it did not require a distinct 
 memorial of all the works of Christ, but chiefly an 
 historical deduction of such passages, as proved the 
 transcendent dignity of his nature. 
 
 1 See Bp. Bull's Judicium Ecclesioc Catholicx. C. 1. § 13. 
 p *i9h 
 
 Secondly, 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 3 
 
 Secondly, the words, In the presence of his dis- 
 ciples, point out another limitation of St. John's 
 plan : that he proposed to relate only those things 
 which were public and well known to the disciples of 
 Christ, and which he, this Evangelist, could attest 
 as seen or heard by himself. And what the adherence 
 to such a plan takes from the fulness of the history, 
 it adds to the weight of it's authority. 
 
 A third reason of his silence concerning many 
 transactions was, that it was unnecessary to repeat 
 them. They are not writ ten in this book, because 
 they are already written by the other Evangelists in 
 books of equal credit and fidelity : a reason intimated 
 in the text, and implied in the whole tenor of his Gospel. 
 
 Lastly, it is evident, that he and the other Evan- 
 gelists, writing for persons of all degrees, studied to 
 make their Gospels not only as plain but as short as 
 the subject could admit ; that they might not perplex 
 the understanding, nor overburthen the memory, of 
 the simple and laborious. And to this end it was 
 necessary to select what was most to the purpose of 
 each, out of that variety and abundance that were 
 before them : the life of the blessed Jesus being so 
 rich in heavenly wonders, that a full and exact ac- 
 count of them had been an immense, or rather an 
 impossible work ; as St. John assures us by a strong 
 hyperbole in the concluding verse of his Gospel. 
 
 The text being thus opened, and our thoughts 
 directed by it towards the other Gospels as well as 
 St. John's ; I shall now proceed to make some obser- 
 vations on them all in the following method : 
 
 First, I shall give some account of the peculiar de- 
 sign of each Gospel, and show to what state of the 
 church it was adapted : 
 
 b 2 Secondly, 
 
4 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PA KT I. 
 
 . Secondly, I .shall briefly view the characters of the 
 Evangelists, and their qualifications for writing their 
 several Gospels : 
 
 Thirdly, I shall suggest a few reflections arising 
 from the subject before us. 
 
 But here it may be proper to take notice, that 
 these observations proceed on a supposition of the 
 following facts : 
 
 That the Gospels were composed in the order in 
 which they stand ; at least that St. Matthew's was 
 the first, and St. John's the last : 
 
 That St. Matthew wrote early in Jerusalem or 
 Judca, St. Mark and St. Luke in other countries: 
 
 That St. Matthew wrote more immediately for the 
 Jews who had embraced the faith, St. Mark for both 
 Jewish and Gentile converts, St. Luke particularly 
 for the latter : 
 
 And that the Gospel of St. Mark was written un- 
 der the inspection of St. Peter, of whom he was the 
 follower, as St. Luke was of St. Paul. 
 
 These things must here in great measure be sup- 
 posed, not because proof of them is w anting, but be- 
 cause it cannot be admitted into the present discourse. 
 
 The first then of the four Gospels was St. Mat- 
 thew's, compiled within a few years of our Lord's 
 ascension, while the church consisted w holly of the 
 circumcision, that is, of Jewish and Samaritan be- 
 Hevers, but principally Jewish ; to whose use it was 
 admirably suited. 
 
 Tor 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART I- 
 
 6 
 
 For the Jews were much disposed to consider the 
 letter of the Law as the complete rule and measure 
 of moral duty ; to place religion in the observance of 
 rites and ceremonies, or in a strict adherence to some 
 favourite precepts, written or traditionary ; to ascribe 
 to themselves sufficient power of doing the divine 
 will without the divine assistance; and, vain of a civil 
 or legal righteousness, to contemn all others, and- 
 esteem themselves so just that they needed no repent- 
 ance, nor any expiation but what the law provided. 
 They rested in the covenant of circumcision and their, 
 descent from Abraham as a sure title to salvation, 
 however their lives were led : and though they look- 
 ed for a Messiah, yet with so little idea of an atone- 
 ment for sin to be made by his death, that the cross 
 proved the great stumbling-block to them. They 
 expected him to appear with outward splendor, as 
 the dispenser of temporal felicity; the chief blessings 
 of which were to redound to their own nation in an 
 earthly Canaan, and in conquest and dominion over 
 the rest of mankind 
 
 A tincture of these delusive notions, which they 
 had imbibed by education and the doctrine of their 
 elders, would be apt to remain with too many, even 
 after their admission into the church of Christ. How 
 necessary then was it, that just principles concerning 
 the way of life and happiness, and the nature and 
 extent of the Gospel, should be infused into the 
 breasts of these sons of Sion, that they might be able 
 to work out their own salvation, and promote that of 
 others : since they were to be the salt of the earth, 
 and the light of the world ; the first preachers of 
 righteousness to the nations, and the instruments of 
 calling mankind to the knowledge of the truth. 
 
 1 See Justin Martyr's Dial, with Tiypho the Jew, p. 153, 156, 
 164, &c. Ed. Thirlby. Bull's Harmonia Apostolica : Pars Pos- 
 terior. Ch. xv, xvi, xvii. Whitbv on Matlh. iii. 9. Rom. ii. 13. 
 2 Thess. ii. p. 438. 
 
 St. 
 
6 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 St. Matthew therefore has chosen, out of the mate- 
 rials before him, such parts of our blessed Saviour's 
 history and discourses, as were best suited to the 
 purpose of awakening them to a sense of their sins, 
 of abating their self-conceit and over-weening hopes, 
 of rectifying their errors, correcting their prejudices, 
 and exalting and purifying their minds. After a short 
 account, more particularly requisite in the first writer 
 of a Gospel, of the genealogy and miraculous birth 
 of Christ, and a few circumstances relating to his in- 
 fancy, he proceeds to describe his forerunner John 
 the Baptist, who preached the necessity -of repentance 
 to the race of Abraham and children of the circum- 
 cision ; and by his testimony prepares us to expect 
 one mightier than he ; mightier as a prophet in deed 
 and word, and above the sphere of a prophet, mighty 
 to sanctify by his Spirit, to pardon, reward, and pu- 
 nish by his sovereignty. Then the spiritual nature of 
 his kingdom, the pure and perfect laws by which it 
 is administered, and the necessity of vital and uni- 
 versal obedience to them, are set before us in various 
 discourses, beginning with the sermon on the mount, 
 to which St. Matthew hastens, as with a rapid pace, 
 to lead his readers. And that the holy light shining 
 on the mind by the word and life of Christ, and 
 quickening the heart by his Spirit, might be seconded 
 in it's operations by the powers of hope and fear ; 
 the twenty-fifth chapter of this Gospel, which finishes 
 the legislation of Christ, exhibits him enforcing his 
 precepts and adding a sanction to his laws by that 
 noble and awful description of his future appearance 
 in glory, and the gathering of all nations before him 
 to judgement. 
 
 St. Matthew then passing to the history of the Pas- 
 sion, shows them, that the new covenant, foretold by 
 their prophets, was a covenant of spiritual not tem- 
 poral blessings, established in the sufferings and death 
 of Christ, zvhose blood was sited for many for the 
 
 REMISSION" 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 7 
 
 remission of sins ' ; which it was not possible that 
 the blood of bulls and goats should take away. To 
 purge the conscience from the pollution of dead and 
 sinful works required the blood of Him, who through 
 the eternal Spirit offered himself xvithout spot to 
 God. 
 
 With the instructions of Christ are intermixed 
 many hints, that the kingdom of God would not be 
 confined to the Jews, but, while numbers of them 
 were excluded through unbelief, would be increased 
 by subjects of other nations. And thus the devout 
 Israelite was taught, in submission to the will and 
 ordinance of Heaven, to embrace the believing Sa- 
 maritan as a brother, and to welcome the admission 
 of the Gentiles into the church, which was soon after 
 to commence with the calling of Cornelius. 
 
 And as they suffered persecution from their own 
 nation, and were to expect it elsewhere in following 
 Christ ; all that can fortify the mind with neglect of 
 earthly good, and contempt of worldly danger, when 
 they come in competition with our duty, is strongly 
 inculcated. 
 
 The second Gospel was St. Mark's, admirably 
 suited to it's order and time : for St. Matthew's, we 
 presume, was already known and read throughout 
 the Christian church. And as it contained so large 
 and excellent a recital of our Lord's instructions by 
 precept and parable, St. Mark thought it less needful 
 to be copious on this head, and hath more particu- 
 larly applied himself to give an accurate and distinct 
 account of facts ; some few of which are first men- 
 tioned by him : but in general he follows the occur- 
 rences, though not always the order, of St. Mat- 
 
 ■ Matth. xxvi. 28. 
 
 thew's 
 
s 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 thew's history. He tells the same miracles and ac- 
 tions, and nearly in the same language, yet often with 
 additions of considerable circumstances 1 : so that 
 his Gospel has the spirit of an original, of a work 
 composed by one who did not learn from St. Matthew 
 what he has adopted from him, but wrote with an 
 antecedent knowledge of his subject, and described 
 things as an eye-witness would describe them. 
 
 It was published, according to the general suffrage 
 of the ancients, in Italy or at Rome. And indeed it 
 bears evident tokens of being calculated for a church 
 that consisted, as did the Roman, of Pagan inter- 
 mixed with Jewish converts. It concurs with St. 
 Matthew's in delivering the censures, which our Lord 
 passed on the corrupt traditions and maxims of the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, and in relating matters which 
 more immediately concerned the Jews. But then St. 
 Mark plainly supposes a part of his readers to be not 
 much conversant in their usages and affairs, and in- 
 serts either direct or oblique explications, in places 
 where St. Matthew goes on with the subject as need- 
 ing no exposition. And when in other respects they 
 perfectly correspond, we may observe some one par- 
 ticular expressed a little differently by St. Mark, for 
 the sake of rendering the sense more easy, or more 
 edifying, to those who had been aliens from the com- 
 monwealth of Israel. 
 
 We may therefore consider him as suiting St. 
 Matthew's text to a change in the church by the ad- 
 dition of foreign members, and as often enlarging on 
 his facts for the benefit of distant and less informed 
 
 1 There is scarce any one story related by both these Evange- 
 lists, in which St. Mark does not add some considerable circum- 
 stances which St. Matthew has not. Jones s Vindication of St. 
 Matthew'* Gospel, -p. 5o. where thii matter is exemplified. 
 
 believers ; 
 
DISCOURSE I. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 9 
 
 believers : in doing which he so fully harmonizes 
 with St. .Matthew, as to confirm his evidence by a 
 fresh testimony. 
 
 But this agreeing testimony is also of apostolical 
 authority : for there is a very general consent of an- 
 cient writers, that St. Mark composed his Gospel 
 under the inspection of St. Peter ; and their authorities 
 are confirmed by many internal characters. The great 
 humility of this Apostle is conspicuous in every part 
 of it, where any thing is related or might be related 
 of him ; his weaknesses and fall being exposed to 
 view, while the things that redound to his honour are 
 i'h her slightly touched, or wholly concealed. And 
 with regard to Christ, scarce any action that was 
 done, or word that was spoken by him, is mentioned, 
 at which this Apostle was not present. 
 
 It hath an introduction of only fifteen verses, be- 
 fore it brings us to the calling of St. Peter. And 
 these verses comprise all that St. Mark relates of the 
 public preaching of John, the Baptism of Christ, and 
 the Temptation in the wilderness. St. Peter had been 
 a hearer of the Baptist, and might probably be a 
 spectator of the baptizing of Christ. But because he 
 was not a witness of the Temptation in the wilder- 
 ness, it is very concisely told in general terms, and 
 without notice taken- of the incidents which attended 
 if. In the description of the Transfiguration, which 
 seems animated by the impressions that this glorious 
 scene had made on St. Peter, we have the voice from 
 heaven, w hich he certainly heard, and the appearance 
 of Moses and Elias, whom he as surely saw *. But 
 
 1 St. Mark mention- a st l iking- circumstance, ix. 15. of which 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke take no notice; that on the descent 
 of our Lord from the mount, on which he had been transfigured, 
 All the people when the;/ beheld him were greatly amazed; that is, 
 fcs Dr. Doddridge after Whitby seems well to explain it, "At those 
 
 " unusual 
 
10 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART J. 
 
 the subject of their conference with Christ, which we 
 learn from St. Luke is not mentioned. St. Peter, 
 perhaps overpowered by the heavenly glory 2 , was 
 asleep during part of the conversation. 
 
 St. Chrysostom, no incompetent judge of the lan- 
 guage of the Apostles, discovers in this Gospel the 
 concise style of St. Peter, as in St. Luke's the more 
 diffuse diction of St. Paul 3 . And certainly there are 
 passages in it, where St. Peter appears to have direct- 
 ed not only the matter and circumstances, but the 
 very words of the narration. 
 
 In the miracle of feeding the five thousand with 
 five barley loaves and two small fishes 4 , t lie green 
 grass on which the multitude sat down seems a slight 
 circumstance to enter into the description of so won- 
 derful a work ; yet was naturally enough mentioned 
 by one, who had seen that multitude sit down, and 
 assisted in ministering to them. This, then, being 
 the account of a spectator, is that of St. Peter. And 
 hence it appears, why also St. Matthew and St. John 
 speak of the grass, and of the much grass, that 
 was in the place, and why St. Luke takes no notice 
 of it. 
 
 If St. Mark was not a Galilean, and he seems ra- 
 ther to have been a native of Jerusalem, he probably 
 learnt of St.. Peter to call Herod Antipas, who be- 
 
 " unusual rays of majesty and glory, which yet remained on his 
 countenance." Compare Exod. xxxiv. 29, 30. 
 1 Luke ix. 31. 
 
 a This is the cause assigned for the sleep of the Apostles by St 
 Chrysostom on Match, xvii.4. 
 
 3 Horn, in Matth. V. ii. p. 20, lin. 1 . Ed. Savil. 
 
 4 See Mark vi 39. Matth. xiv. 19. Joh. vi. 10. Compare 
 Luke ix. 15. 
 
 headed 
 
DISCOTJKSE I. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 11 
 
 headed John the Baptist, king Herod His subjects 
 spoke of their sovereign in this stvle of honour ; and 
 therefore St. Matthew, who, as well as St. Peter, had 
 stood in this relation to him, once uses it 2 . But 
 others, I presume, Jews as well as Greeks, gave him 
 the title only of Tetrarch 3 , as St. Luke has done. 
 
 The same account may be given, why St. Mark 
 calls the lake, where St. Peter had employed so many 
 of his younger years, the Sea of Galilee*; as St. 
 Matthew and St. John likewise term it. The title of 
 Sea, which had been familiar to them in their own 
 language, was naturally transferred to the Greek by 
 those who were bred on the borders of this lake, at 
 a distance from the ocean; and seemed justified by 
 the magnitude of such a bodv of waters, the idea of 
 which had been early impressed upon their minds. 
 But St. Luke, who seems to have been born or edu- 
 cated in a different situation, never calls it a Sea, but 
 always a Lake : and probably St. Mark would have 
 given it no other name, if he had used his own, and 
 not followed St. Peter's mode of expression 5 . 
 
 1 Mark vi. 14 — 27. Tetrarcham regem vocat, quia sic a suis 
 vocabatur. Grot, in loc. 
 
 2 Matth. xiv. 9. 
 
 3 So, I believe, Josephus always calls him. 
 « Mark i. 16. &c. 
 
 5 It was anciently called the Sea of Chinnereth. Numb, xxxiv. 
 1 1 . But when the author of the first book of Maccabees lived, 
 The water of Gennesar. 1 Mace. xi. 67- Josephus calls it the 
 Waters of Gennesar. Antiq. xiii. 5. § 7. the lake of Gennesareth ib. 
 v. 1. § 22. xviii. 2. § 1. 3. and the Lake of Gennesar. Jewish War, 
 ii. 20. § 6. iii. 10. § 1. 7- So that in St. Mark's time, the name 
 of a sea seems to have been retained chiefly in provincial lan- 
 guage among those who spoke of it in Greek. 
 
 In the following sentence the change of sea into lake is the 
 more remarkable, as St. Luke in the other words agrees exactly 
 With St. Matthew and St. Mark : 
 
 Matth. viii. 32. Mark v. 13. Luke viii. 33. 
 
 The herd ran violently down The herd ran violently down 
 a steep place into the sea. a steep place into the lake. 
 
 From 
 
12 DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 From these and other considerations, too many to 
 be now offered, it seems evident, that this Gospel was 
 dictated by St. Peter, and, as far as the connection of 
 the history admitted, was limited with scrupulous 
 exactness to those occurrences in the life of Christ, 
 which he could attest as seen or heard by himself. 
 
 It hath been observed, that St. Mark's Gospel was 
 compiled for a mixt society of the faithful ; but St. 
 Luke's, which we are next to consider, was designed 
 immediately for the converted Gentiles,- who were 
 become a considerable part of the mystical body of 
 Christ. For the sacred inclosure of the church being 
 opened, a large multitude of sincere believers was 
 received within its pale, gathered by the blessing of 
 God on his own appointment, not only from among 
 the devout Gentiles or worshipers of one God, such 
 as was Cornelius the Centurion but also from among 
 the idolatrous part of them : one of whom, and the 
 first upon record, was Sergius Paulus, the governor 
 of Cyprus 2 . 
 
 These persons were called out of darkness into a 
 marvelous light. But a light, which showed them 
 a law of perfect righteousness and God the judge of 
 all men, must have filled their awakened minds with 
 terror and anguish, unless they had seen, that as Jus- 
 tice and judgement are the habitation of his 
 throne, mercy and truth go before his face 3 . 
 St. Luke therefore has been careful to present them 
 with this view of things, and to exhibit to them such 
 passages of the life and doctrine of Christ, as are 
 examples of divine goodness towards those who were 
 not of the race of Abraham, or yield the liveliest as- 
 
 1 Acts x. 1. 
 
 * lb. xhi. 7— 11. 
 
 3 P*al. lxxxix. 14. 
 
 surances 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART I. 
 
 IS 
 
 surances of acceptance to sincere penitents. For 
 though our blessed Lord was personally sent only to 
 the lost sheep of the house of Israel, yet with hea- 
 venly foresight and providence he had said and done 
 many things, which, when he commissioned his Apos- 
 tles to call the Gentiles to repentance, would afford" 
 them the strongest encouragement to obey the call. 
 Several things of this character are peculiar to St. 
 Luke's Gospel ; and among them we may reckon the 
 story of the prodigal son ; which sets forth the case 
 of the Jew and Gentile in a beautiful parable of a pro- 
 phetic nature ; and intimates, that the Gentile, repre- 
 sented by the younger the prodigal son, returning at 
 length to his heavenly Father, would meet with the 
 most merciful and gracious and affectionate reception 1 . 
 
 St. Matthew, in deducing the genealogy of Christ, 
 had contented himself with showing, that Jesus was 
 the son of Abraham and David, from whom the 
 Scriptures taught the Jews to expect the Messiah to 
 spring. But St. Luke traces his lineage up to Adam 2 ; 
 and thus signifies, among other important truths, 
 that he is the Seed of the /Toman, promised to our 
 first parents, as the common Saviour of them and all 
 their posterity, without distinction of Greek or Jew, 
 bond or free; and that, as in Adam ail die, even 
 no in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 
 St. Luke is equally solicitous to instruct the Gen- 
 tiles in the duties and doctrines of the Gospel, as 
 
 1 So Jerom, Augustin, Gregory the Great, and others of the 
 ancients, understood this parable, according to Cornelius a La- 
 pide on Luke xv. 1 1. See also Grotius on Matthew xxii. 9. 
 
 V on «7r<} 'AS faotfj. Ktt.1 r.t. O $1 A&xas, ars >coiv» ct.-cti JiaXs- 
 
 yopttoZ) murtgw rov \oyov a-ictyti, pr^fiTS A^iay. vrfo'ielt, Chrj'SOstoni, 
 V. ii. p. 3. lin.36. Ed. Savil. See also Irenacus B. iii. C. xxxiii. at 
 the beginning. 
 
 to 
 
14 
 
 DISCOURSE I. TAUT I. 
 
 to encourage them to embrace it ; to expound what 
 was new to them ; clear what was doubtful ; and 
 render the whole of his history plain and comprehen- 
 sible. It would lead me too far to illustrate these 
 matters by apposite examples. I shall therefore men- 
 tion only one instance, which, though of less conse- 
 quence, is a proof of his care to inform them. As 
 they were little acquainted with the transactions of 
 Judea, he has marked the aeras, when Christ was 
 born, and when John began to announce the Gospel, 
 by the reigns of the Roman emperors : to which 
 point St. Matthew and the other Evangelists have 
 not attended. 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FIRST, 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 
 LET us now turn our eyes towards St. John, who 
 having perused and approved the three former 
 Gospels, and being, as many suppose, the only sur- 
 vivor of the Apostles, judged it expedient to add, 
 in historical order, several important notices con- 
 cerning Christ, which had been hitherto omitted. 
 
 Accordingly the greater part of his Gospel is com- 
 posed of occurrences either preceding the time at 
 which the other Evangelists begin our Lord's public 
 ministry, or which happened at Jerusalem, or in the 
 neighbourhood of that city. For they almost wholly 
 confined themselves to relate what was done in or 
 near Galilee, or beyond Jordan ; and chose rather to 
 be silent than say little about our Lord's miracles and 
 discourses at Jerusalem 1 . This part the Holy Spirit, 
 dividing severally as hesaiv good, reserved as a pe- 
 culiar province for St. John 2 , till \vc come to the last 
 
 1 However they plainly suppose these discourses and miracles 
 at Jerusalem. What our Lord said in that city concerning it a 
 little before his crucifixion, he is represented by St. Luke, xiii. 
 34, as having already spoken in Galilee : " O Jerusalem, Jeru- 
 salem how often would I have gathered thy children toge- 
 ther, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye 
 would not :" on which occasion the whole propriety of the 
 speech seems to depend on the number of his visits to Jerusalem 
 during the course of his ministry. 
 
 T(\nori;cv( Xo'yov,-. Origen. Comment, in Joannem. 
 
 days 
 
16 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PAKT II. 
 
 days of our Saviour's life ; and then all the four Evan- 
 gelists as it were meet together in the same place 
 near Jerusalem. But even from hence St. John pro- 
 ceeds as much as possible in an unbeaten track, and 
 still observes the same method of reciting only so 
 much in common with the other Evangelists, as may 
 serve to connect his Gospel with theirs. By not re- 
 peating what had been related by them, he gives hi> 
 testimony, that it is faithfully and justly related ; and 
 at the same time leaves himself room to enlarge the 
 gospel-history. 
 
 In this view his Gospel is a supplement to the other 
 three. But this was only a secondary end of writing 
 it. For heresy sprang up, and was branching into 
 heads 1 ; and Faith called the authority of the be- 
 loved disciple to her aid. He interposed for her se- 
 curity and assurance 2 ; and explained, Who and 
 What he is that was made flesh and dwelt among us: 
 which he taught more directly in his own words, and 
 more copiously in the words of Christ, than the other 
 Evangelists 3 ; who, though they fail not in many 
 places to give plain evidences of his divinity, have 
 chiefly recorded his practical addresses to the people: 
 but St. John sets before us his conferences with the 
 eminent and learned Jews 4 ; and those other dis- 
 
 1 See Irenreus Adversus Hceres. B. iii. C. xi. p. 21S. Ed. Oxcm. 
 
 2 Omni fiducia plenum est evangelism istud. ib. p. 222. 
 
 3 See the testimonies, particularly that of Origea, before St. 
 John's Gospel in Mill's Greek Testament. See also Dr. Knight's 
 .Seimons at Lady Mover's Lecture, p. 205. 
 
 4 Lightfoot in his Harmony, part iii. Eachard in his Eccl. 
 Hist. V. i. c. iv. Dr. Doddridge in his Fam. Expositor, V. i. p. 
 290. &c. are of opinion, that our Lord's Discourse, John v. 
 17—47. was delivered before the great Sanhedrim : and it is 
 highly probable, that the persons there concerned were at least 
 members of it ; for the 33d verse, Ye sent unto John and he bare 
 witness unto the truth, refers to the deputation which they had 
 sent unto John and hi9 answer to them (Joh. i. 19 — 24.) ; and 
 ver. 44. was spoken to those who valued themselves on the ho- 
 nours and dignities which they bore. See Doddridge. 
 
 courses, 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART II. 
 
 17 
 
 courses, in which he had occasion to speak of the 
 dignity of his nature and his union with the Father. 
 And that we might be duly prepared to conceive the 
 force and import of his words, and to understand 
 them in their sublimest sense, St. John opens his 
 Gospel with instructing us, that " The IVord which 
 " was made Flesh xvas in the beginning with God, 
 "and was God" and, that " all things were made 
 ** by him, and without him was not any thing made 
 " that was made.'" And having displayed the divi- 
 nity of this Word incarnate in a variety of lights, he 
 calls upon his Christian readers in concluding, to re- 
 view what he had laid before them as sufficient evi- 
 dences, that Christ is the Son of God, the only be- 
 gotten of the Father, in that high sense which he set 
 out with asserting : " These things are written, 
 " that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ 
 " the Son of God, and that believing ye might 
 " have life through his name.'" 
 
 The Spirit of Inspiration having confirmed the 
 certainty of this high article, and guai ded the church 
 against errors of faith by the Gospel of St. John, 
 sealed the volume of the book ; if not the volume of 
 the whole New Testament, at least that which de- 
 scribed the Son of God's abode on earth. 
 
 I proceed, secondly, to view briefly the characters 
 of the Evangelists, and their qualifications for writing 
 their several Gospels. 
 
 St. Matthew had his education and employment 
 among the publicans, or farmers of the public taxes ; 
 men of so odious a character and so famous for in- 
 justice and oppression, that in Judea publicans and 
 sinners were names usually joined together; as if he 
 who was a publican by professior was sure to be a 
 C sinner 
 
18 
 
 ETSCOVKSE I. PART II. 
 
 sinner by life. Yet many of them attended to the 
 instructions of John the Baptist, and of Christ, and 
 became sincere penitents. Zaccheus in particular 
 made fourfold restitution for every act of extortion, 
 and then gave the half of his income to the poor 1 . 
 So that our Lord himself, who vouchsafed to visit 
 him, declared him a Son of Abraham, and that 
 Salvation zcas come to his house. St. Matthew 
 takes no notice of Zaccheus, whose conduct might 
 have helped to retrieve the credit of his profession, 
 but farfhfully records the passages in which they are 
 ranked with sinners and heathens 2 . Injiaming him- 
 self, which it was twice necessary to do, he has shown 
 as much humility as could have place on either occa- 
 sion. He mentions indeed, that when he was called 
 by Christ he arose and followed him, but not, as St. 
 Luke relates, that he left all to follozc him ; nor 
 that he made a great feast at his oxen house 3 , 
 which our Lord honoured with his presence. "When 
 he enumerates the twelve Apostles, whose preemi- 
 nence to the other disciples lie studiously suppresses, 
 he places himself after St. Thomas, before whom he 
 is ranked by St. Mark and St. Luke 4 . Thev do not 
 join his former profession with the apostolical name 
 of Matthew, but rather veil it under the less known 
 name of Levi ; but he reminds us, that he was Mat- 
 thew the publican 5 . 
 
 ' Luke xix. 2 — 10. 
 
 ■ Matth. ix. 11. xi. 19. xviii. 1*. xxi. 31, 32. 
 3 Matth. ix. 9. compare Luke v. 2* — 29. 
 
 * Matth. x. 3. compare .Mark i Li. IS. Lukevi. 15. 
 
 * ' A?iov $< Kotl ra arroro/.y ^zvud^xt tv/ crof •srki: m x~i'.fj— leleU 
 Atfrfi Tov rpvtfbtitet ISlov, u.Wx xal To OVOJMC Ti9/t!T», I'M oXXM nfti-J-avTin 
 
 avVo nrjioTrryoft* ETf'pa. Chrysost. V. ii. p. 204, ad sum. pag. Ed. 
 Savil. See also a line passage oil this and the foregoing point, in 
 Euseb. Demonstrat. L. hi. C. v. p. 109. quoted by Dr. Lardner, 
 Credibility, V. viii. p, 83. Compare Matth. ix. 9. Mark ii. 14. 
 Luke v. 27. 
 
 If 
 
DISCOURSE t. PART II. 
 
 19 
 
 If he is the least distinct of the Evangelists in his 
 history he designed by the brevity of the narrative 
 part to render the doctrinal more complete : silent 
 as much as possible himself, that Christ may dis- 
 course, more at large in his Gospel. For being in- 
 vited to be a disciple, he became an attentive hearer 
 of our Lord, and let the word sink deep into his 
 heart. We may charitably believe, that while he sat 
 at the receipt of custom, he observed the Baptist's 
 precept, of exacting no more than that zvhich w&£ 
 appointed him. But if the publicans, among whom 
 he lived, acted upon the general maxims of their so- 
 ciety, and behaved like the rest ; the difference which 
 he beheld in Him, who called him, must render the 
 doctrine and life of Christ more striking and vene- 
 rable and dear to him : by the sacred energy of 
 which, as the whole tenor of his Gospel demon- 
 strates, he conceived as just a sense, and as ardent 
 a love of every grace and virtue that appertained to 
 his high calling, as Could animate the breast of man. 
 We may therefore esteem him an instrument in the 
 hands of Providence, peculiarly fit to record his 
 divine Master's lessons and instructions, which are 
 the rule of our practice. 
 
 But St. John entered into the family of Ciuot 
 while his youth was unspotted from the world ; and 
 being led on to still higher degrees of purity and 
 holiness under the blessed influence of his Lord, who 
 loved and honoured him with his intimacy, he was of 
 a mind aptly qualified to apprehend the higher mys- 
 teries of the kingdom of heaven. For if the pure 
 in heart have a promise, as of a congenial reward, 
 that they shall hereafter see God 2 ; we may believe, 
 
 ' Grot, on Matth. viii. j>. 
 
 ' Matt. v. 8. Slcxig yaj ro x.«Tocri£ov sav i xa-^a-ov, rori it^;rxi tx; 
 s/x^ao-ttj, ht'ji xai i Ky.Qxgx 4 ,t, X*' ^'x !Tal o^" t»?» rZ* ypx^pZt 
 
 yvww. Sicut speculum, si fuerit munduin, recipit imagines, ita 
 c 9 etiam 
 
20 
 
 E-I3COURSE U PART II. 
 
 that, in such measure as their hearts are pure, they 
 will have a capacity for some anticipation of this 
 blessed Vision here on earth. St. John therefore, as 
 a person of this character, was especially qualified to 
 conceive and teach those mysterious truths, which 
 are the object of our Faith, 
 
 St. Mark was trained up under the discipline, if 
 not of our Lord himself, yet of his prime Apostles, 
 and, according to the consent of Antiquity, of St. 
 Peter in particular ; a witness of the simplicity of his 
 mind, the sanctity of his life, the meekness of his in- 
 structions, and of that zealous love of Christ, for 
 the sincerity of which this Apostle dared appeal to 
 Him who knoweth all things ! . With these advan- 
 tages St. Mark so profited in the School of Christ, 
 and so approved himself to his venerable director, as 
 to merit from him the endearing title of his Son 2 ; 
 and at length, as the histories of the church relate, 
 to be promoted to the highest rank of the pastoral 
 office 3 . Thus being a scribe instructed unto the 
 kingdom of heaven, he was able, we presume, to 
 have compiled his Gospel from a store of general 
 knowledge, and upon his own plan 4 ; but that he 
 chose to confine himself to the testimony of St. Peter, 
 and in great measure to St. Matthew's history, that 
 in the mouth of two witnesses every word might 
 be established ; sacrificing every thought and counsel 
 of his own to the glory of God, and the edification 
 of his church. 
 
 eliam anima pura accipit visionem Dei et Scripturarum notitiam. 
 Theophylact in cap. v. Matthsei. 
 
 1 John xxi. 17. 
 
 3 1 Pet.v 13. 
 
 3 He is said to have been the first bishop of Alexandria in 
 Egypt. Cave's Hist. Literar. V. i. p. 24. Jerom in Lardner'* 
 Suppl. V. i. p. 176. 
 
 4 .Lardner, ib. p. 467. 
 
 St. 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART II. 2 A 
 
 St. Luke, it is well known, was a follower of St. 
 Paul, whom he attended with great constancy and 
 friendship. And as strong affection works a likeness 
 of manners, he would be led by this great Apostle's 
 conversation, under the power of heavenly grace, 
 to that love of truth and holiness, that spirit of re- 
 signation, fortitude, and neglect of earthly things, 
 essential to one who was to understand the mind of 
 Christ, and to write as He had taught and lived ; and 
 to that largeness of thought and comprehensive 
 charity, which would be strongly impressed with such 
 passages of his life and doctrine, as most suited a 
 Gospel for the use of the Gentiles. 
 
 Nor was he less furnished with the knowledge than 
 the temper of an Evangelist. Instructed by those who 
 from the beginning zvere eye-witnesses and mi- 
 nisters of the word, and by him who was taught the 
 Gospel by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he had 
 a perfect understanding of all things from the very 
 first. And with this extent of intelligence, having 
 different views from St. Mark, he modeled his Gos- 
 pel after a different manner ; and prefaced the account 
 of our Lord's public ministry with several interesting 
 particulars, relating to the birth of John the Baptist, 
 the annunciation of the blessed Virgin, the nativity 
 of Christ, and his presentation in the Temple ; which, 
 though they made no part of the testimony of a 
 faithful witness, came within the province of a well- 
 informed historian. 
 
 And thus God was graciously pleased to provide 
 chosen instruments for recording the life and doctrine 
 of his blessed Son ; that what he requires us to do 
 and believe, in order to salvation, might be delivered 
 to us by a fit number of the best qualified persons 
 
 rrit ©io'titw anf.'£?iar )iaT«V^«jut». Epiphan. Hcer. LI. ii. xix. 
 
 I shall 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART II. 
 
 I shall now, lastly, suggest a few reflections arising 
 from the subject before us. 
 
 We ascribe, and I trust with equal piety and jus- 
 tice, the gift of inspiration to all the Evangelists. 
 But this must be supported against cavils and objec- 
 tions by a reasonable account of their consent with 
 each other. Now if we attend properly to the nature 
 and design of each Gospel, and the character and 
 situation of its author, they will commonly point out 
 the reason, why he is general or more distinct in his 
 narration, brief in one article and copious in another ; 
 why he expresses himself in such or such a manner, 
 or dwells on this or that particular, and passes by 
 others, which of themselves may appear of equal 
 or greater importance. Not only the propriety and 
 spirit of many passages will be more conspicuous in 
 this light, than if they are viewed in disjointed pieces, 
 or in a blended text ; but little variations of one. 
 Gospel from another will be seen to result from the 
 genius of the work, in an equal consistence with 
 truth ; and seeming repugnances between the sacred 
 historians will find an easy solution. 
 
 Again : the genuineness and integrity of the Gos- 
 pels are matters of the greatest importance to our 
 Christian faith : and though, God be praised, we 
 have abundant proof of both from the consentient 
 testimony, the numerous citations *, the comments 
 of antiquity, and the well-known care of the primi- 
 tive and succeeding ages of the church to preserve 
 these sacred deposits inviolate 2 ; yet a religious mind 
 
 ' See Mr. Jones's New and full Method of settling the Cano- 
 nical Authority of the New Testament, part iv. 
 
 ' (juis dicat hoc mereri non potuisse Apostolorum ecclesiam, 
 tam fidam, tarn numerosam fratrum concordiam, ut eorum 
 jcripta fideliter ad posteros trajicerent, cum eorum cathedras 
 
 usque 
 
DISCOURSE I. PART II. 
 
 2.3 
 
 must observe with comfort and delight, to how great 
 a degree the Gospels authenticate themselves. 
 
 If we take a few plain historical facts from ancient 
 and credible authors, that four Gospels were com- 
 posed by such men, on such occasions, and in such 
 a manner, and then carefully examine the distinct 
 characters of the Gospels as we now have them ; 
 we shall find them answer, with great exactness, to 
 the idea given of their state in the ages of these 
 authors I. 
 
 But with a very few notices from other writers, an 
 examination of the Gospels themselves will open to 
 us a further view, and show clearly, that we possess 
 them not only as the Fathers transmitted them, but 
 as the Evangelists wrote them. For if we consider 
 them attentively, we shall find in each such a plain 
 and unstudied agreement with the circumstances of 
 its author, and of persons and things then subsisting, 
 as could only proceed from the Evangelist himself. 
 
 ' "W'e find in St. Matthew the marks of his relation 
 to Galilee, where he had been bred and employed: 
 the style of one who had imbibed and retained the 
 veneration of his people for their city and temple ; 
 who had a familiar acquaintance with the laws and 
 maxims and manners of the Jews ; and addressed 
 himself to them in his Gospel. His language, in 
 treating of the most significant and exalted character 
 which hath appeared among men, is so simple and 
 
 usque ad pra-sentes episcopos certissima successione servaverint : 
 rum hoc qualiumcunque hoininum scriptis, sive extra eeclesiam, 
 give in ipsa ecclexia tanta facilitate proveniat ? Augustin. contra 
 Faustum. L. xxxiii. C. G. 
 
 1 Irenaeus in particular, besides quoting innumerable texts 
 from the four Gospels, tells us, B. hi. Ch. xi. how each begins : 
 and CI), xiv. gives a catalogue of passages peculiar to St. Luke. 
 
 unadorned, 
 
24 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART II. 
 
 unadorned, as to be a clear indication, that the 
 noble and majestic, which are sometimes intermixed 
 with this simplicity, were the plain and faithful re- 
 presentation of what he had seen and heard. 
 
 There are in his Gospel and in St. John's very 
 evident tokens, that they were composed by Apostles 
 of Christ : nor is it less conspicuous, that St. Mark's 
 was dictated by a person of the same order. 
 
 Another character is distinguishable in St. Luke ; 
 the character of one who wrote with a comprehensive 
 knowledge of his subject, but not as an Apostle, 
 or eye-witness. Those little circumstances, which 
 the description of a beholder is apt to associate w ith 
 the chief action, may be observed in several places of 
 St. Mark, and sometimes in the latter part of the 
 Acts of the Apostles ; but we hardly meet with them 
 in St. Luke's Gospel. 
 
 He treats the failings of the Apostles with much 
 greater tenderness than they themselves do ; and 
 calls them by this name of preeminence, which they 
 do not assume. 
 
 When he makes mention of Christ, as from him- 
 self, he substitutes the title of Loi d for the name of 
 Jesus oftenerthan all the other Evangelists together. 
 
 o p 
 
 St. Matthew in his own person never uses it ; St. 
 John seldom : and St. Mark only at the end of his 
 Gospel, where he speaks of Christ's session at the 
 right hand of God. Perhaps St. Luke had seldom 
 or never seen Him as made a little loxcer than the 
 angels, whom he continually saw, in his signs and 
 wonders, in his gifts and graces and spiritual blessings 
 to his church, as crowned with glory and honour, 
 and Lord of all : and what was ascendant in his 
 thoughts had an influence on his diction. 
 
 Thus 
 
PISCOURSE Z. PART II. 
 
 25 
 
 Thus, while the great objects proposed to us in 
 the Gospels help to assure our minds, that our reli- 
 gion is from God ; an inferior train of circumstances 
 is interwoven with the history of this religion, 
 which, if we duly attend to them, will help to satisfy 
 us, that the history is authentic. The use of certain 
 words or phrases by one Evangelist, the change or 
 omission of them by another, little diversities, en- 
 largements, or contractions, in relating the same 
 thing ; these and other incidental peculiarities, which 
 are found in each of the Gospels, have a congruity 
 with the characters or designs of the several Evange- 
 lists, that is so just and natural, and often consists in 
 something so minute and insignificant in itself, as to 
 exclude all suspicion of after-device. Hence there- 
 fore we have a powerful confirmation of the external 
 evidence, that each Gospel is the work of the author 
 whose name it bears, and has all along subsisted just 
 as he published it. 
 
 But a regard not only to the peculiarities but the 
 concurrence of the Gospels may afford us matter of 
 instruction : with one remark on which article I shall 
 conclude this discourse. 
 
 From the infancy of Christ till the day of his 
 showing unto Israel, only one incident, that he was 
 found in the Temple among the doctors, is recorded 
 of him. Now if St. Mark confined his narration to 
 the testimony of St. Peter, and St. John to what was 
 done in the presence of the Disciples and himself; 
 St.JVIatthew and St. Luke allowed themselves more 
 latitude, particularly in the introductions to their 
 Gospels ; where a few chapters more would very little 
 have affected their designed conciseness. Yet if we 
 except this incident mentioned by St. Luke, they also 
 a re as silent as the other Evangelists concerning thirty 
 
 years 
 
26 
 
 DISCOURSE I. PART II. 
 
 years of a Life, which, in the most private and hum* 
 ble parts of it, was no doubt highly exemplary and 
 instructive. 
 
 If we may presume to ask, why so strict a silence 
 in this matter was imposed on the Evangelists by 
 their Divine Inspirer ; and then to assign reasons for 
 it ; one appears to have been, That the primary end, 
 for which the Son of God took our nature upon 
 him, was, that he might suffer and make atonement 
 for sin. And therefore a veil and covering are thrown 
 over so great a space of his life, and many bright in- 
 stances of exalted love of God and man are wrapt in 
 obscurity, that his meritorious death and passion may 
 stand forth to view more eminent and illustrious: 
 the history of which is circumstantially related by all 
 the Evangelists ; not to move our affections with the 
 tragical disasters of a just person, but to call our at- 
 tention to the great sacrifice of the Cross ; and that 
 with a clue sense of our own demerit, and of his 
 mighty love, we may look up to Him, " Jl'hom God 
 " hath set forth to be a propitiation through fait': 
 " in his blood." Rom. iii. 25. 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SECOND. 
 
 A COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL PROOFS 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Genemllntroduction to the following Discoiwses. 
 
 I SHALL endeavour in these Discourses to verify 
 the facts which 1 mentioned in the Sermon as then 
 taken for granted. They are such as cannot fail of 
 throwing some light on the Gospels, if clear proof of 
 them can he made : and should it fall short of cer- 
 tainty, it seems to me, that the inquiry itself will not 
 be uninteresting. It will lead us to examine and 
 compare a variety of texts ; and will bring in^view 
 many passages, which either show the variations of 
 the Evangelists to be perfectly consistent with their 
 inspiration, or afford strong evidence of the authen- 
 ticity of their writings. And though these two sub- 
 jects will not be professedly resumed, yet I hope 
 that many illustrations of them will meet the reader's 
 notice in the course of the work ; which treats more 
 immediately of the following articles : 
 
 I. That St. Matthew was the first writer of a Gos- 
 pel ; that he composed it early for the instruc- 
 tion 
 
28 
 
 DISCOURSE II. SECT I. 
 
 tion of the Jewish people, and published it in 
 Judea : 
 
 II. That St. Mark was the second Evangelist ; 
 whose Gospel was revised or even dictated by 
 St. Peter : that it was compiled for a mixt so- 
 ciety of Jewish and Gentile converts, and, ac- 
 cording to all appearances, published at Rome 
 or in Italy : 
 
 III. That the next Evangelist, St. Luke, wrote 
 with a more peculiar view to the converted 
 Gentiles, and, as seems likely, in Achaia : 
 
 IV. That St. John had seen the three former Gos- 
 pels, and bore testimony to the truth of them ; 
 and wrote his own probably after the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem in Asia Minor. 
 
 On these several heads I will first allege autho- 
 rities from ancient Christian Avriters; and then en- 
 deavour to bring a consonant evidence from the Gos- 
 pels themselves. 
 
 But as I purpose to consider chiefly the internal 
 evidence, I shall give only a summary view of the 
 historical ; collections of which may easily be found 
 in learned authors, as Le Clerc in his Evangelical 
 Harmony, Dr. Mill in the testimonies prefixed to 
 each Gospel, Mr. Jones in his book intitled, A new 
 md full Method of settling the Canonical Authority 
 of the New Testament, and Dr. Lardner in his valu- 
 able work, The Credibility of the Gospel History. 
 
 SECT. 
 
DISCOURSE II. SECT. II. 
 
 29 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Testimonies of the Ancients concerning 
 the Four Gospels. 
 
 1. §. St. Matthew was the first writer of a Gospel. 
 
 THIS appears to have been a settled point among 
 the ancient writers of the church ; some of whose 
 testimonies will follow in the next article but one. 
 
 2. §. He wrote it within a few years of the As- 
 
 cension of Christ. 
 
 If Irena;us, in a passage which will elsewhere be 
 examined did not mean to declare when St. Mat- 
 thew's Gospel was published, the earlier writers now 
 extant have left no certain information concerning 
 the date of it. But Cosmas of Alexandria about the 
 year dxxxv says, that it was written in the persecu- 
 tion which began with the stoning of Stephen 2 . 
 Isidore of Seville, who lived towards the close of 
 the same century, supposes it to have been written in 
 the reign of Caligula, which ended A. D. xli. 3 
 Theophylact in the eleventh century, and Euthymius 
 in the beginning of the twelfth, fix upon a date, for 
 which the authority of Eusebius in his Chronicon is 
 pleaded by some 4 , but rejected by others as spurious 5 : 
 they say, that St. Matthew compiled his Gospel in 
 the eighth year after our Lord's ascension. The sub- 
 scriptions at the end of the ancient manuscripts of 
 this Gospel, and of the ancient translations of it, say 
 
 1 Discourse IV. Sect. IV. § 6. 
 
 * Lardner's Supplement, V. i. p. 100. 
 
 3 Lardner's Credibility, V. xi. p. 375. 
 
 4 Suppl. V. i. p. 101, 102. See also the testimonies prefixed 
 to St. Matthew's Gospel in Mill's Greek Testament. 
 
 * Lardner's Credibility, Part ii. V. viii. p. 176. 
 
 the 
 
JO 
 
 DISCOURSE it SECT. H. 
 
 the same thing These are evidences of a prevailing 
 opinion, that it was early written. But if they are 
 less regarded, as authorities partly of a lower anti- 
 quity, and partly anonymous, let us recur to Cosmas 
 of Alexandria, who stands next to the higher ages, 
 as an interpreter of their sentiments to us. 
 
 3. §. He wrote for the instruction of the Jeics, 
 and in Jerusalem or Judea. 
 
 His Gospel doubtless was designed for the benefit 
 of the universal church, as well immediately by the 
 history and doctrine of Christ, as mediately by a 
 right institution of the Jewish believers, who were 
 to be the first teachers of the Gentiles. But the 
 Holy Spirit, under whose influence it was written, 
 seems to have guided or left St. Matthew to recite 
 many particulars more directly relative and interest- 
 ing to the Jews. This is meant by saying, that he 
 wrote for their instruction. And this was the sense 
 of antiquity. 
 
 Irenaeus relates, B. hi. C. 1 . that " Matthew among 
 "the Hebrews published a written Gospel in their 
 " own language f and then speaks of the other three 
 in the order in which we still find them. 
 
 Origen says, " that he was taught by tradition 
 " concerning the Four Gospels, which alone are ac- 
 " knowledgcd by the whole church of God. that the 
 " first was written by Matthew, formerly a publican 
 " and afterwards an Apostle of Jesus Christ, who 
 " composed it in Hebrew, and published it for the 
 
 1 Vindication of St. Matthew's Gospel by Mr. Jones, p. 219. 
 See also V. i. p. 194. of an Historical Dissertation on the books 
 of the New Testament by Mr. Robert Cockburne, printed 1755, 
 which seems a work of more merit than fame. 
 
 u Jews 
 
DISCOURSE If. SECT. II. 
 
 31 
 
 " Jews converted to the faith 1 ." So St. Jerom : 
 •' First of all Matthew the publican, surnamed Levi, 
 11 published a Gospel in Judea in the Hebrew lan- 
 " guage, principally for the sake of the Jews believing 
 "in Jesus 2 .'" And St. Augustin : " They are said 
 " to have written in this order ; first Matthew, next 
 " Mark, then Luke, and last of all John — of these 
 " four Matthew only is said to have written in He- 
 " brew, the rest in Greek 3 ." More authorities are 
 needless. 
 
 Dupin, in the History of the Canon of Scripture, 
 ( ites these and several other writers all affirming, 
 that St. Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew 4 : 
 the truth of which point has been much questioned 
 or rather denied by learned moderns, who contend 
 that he wrote in Greek. But there seems more reason 
 for allowing two originals than for contesting either ; 
 the consent of antiquity pleading strongly for the 
 Hebrew, and evident marks of originality for the 
 Greek. There are instances of authors who have 
 themselves published the same work in two languages. 
 So Josephus wrote the History of the Jewish War 5 . 
 And as St. Matthew wanted not ability nor disposi- 
 tion, we cannot think he wanted inducement, to "do 
 " the work of an Evangelist*' for his brethren of the 
 common faith, Hellenists as well as Hebrews ; to 
 both of whom charity made him a debtor. The po- 
 pular language of the first believers was Hebrew, 
 what is called so by the sacred and ancient ecclesias- 
 tical writers ; but they who spoke Greek quickly be- 
 came a considerable part of the church of Christ. 
 
 1 Testimonies prefixed by Mill to St. Matthew's Gospel. 
 0 Pra;f. Comment, in Matth. 
 
 3 De.Consensu Evang. L. i. C. i. Lardner's Credibility, Part 
 ii. V. x. p. 228. 
 
 4 English Translation, V. ii. page 29. note (d), 
 
 5 See his Introduction to it. 
 
 Origen, 
 
52 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 SECT, n: 
 
 Origen, who, as we have seen above, speaks of St. 
 Matthew's Gospel as written in Hebrew, seems in his 
 book on Prayer to suppose it published by him in 
 Greek too : for in discoursing on the word 'Eft-ieo-iov 
 he considers it as a word formed by the Evangelist 
 himself. Eusebius also, who in one place relates 
 that Matthew wrote in Hebrew [Hist. 13. iii. C. 24.] 
 in another remarks, that in Chapt. xiii. ver. 35, he 
 does not follow the Seventy, but as a Hebrew makes 
 his own translation 2 . 
 
 4. §. The second writer of a Gospel was St. Mark. 
 
 So we have just seen him placed by Irenaeus and 
 St. Augustin. Origen also 3 , St. Jerom 4 , and Cosmas 
 of Alexandria 5 , call him the second Evangelist : and 
 in this order he is mentioned by the ancients in 
 general. 
 
 5. §. His Gospel was revised or even dictated 
 by St. Peter. 
 
 St. Jerom tells us, that " Mark the disciple and 
 u interpreter of Peter, being requested by the bre- 
 M thren at Rome, wrote a short Gospel according to 
 " what he had heard Peter relate ; and that Peter 
 " being informed of this approved it, and delivered 
 " it to be read in the church confirmed by his own au- 
 " thority, as Clemens in the sixth book of his Insti- 
 " tutions, and Papias bishop of Hierapolis write 6 ." 
 Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho, men- 
 tioning a circumstance relating to St. Peter, says, that 
 
 ' SeeC. clxi. p. 150. Ed. Reading. 
 
 * Euseb. ap. Lardner, Credib. V. viii. note (g). p. 180, 
 3 See the next article. 
 
 * Prolog, to Comm. on .St. Matthew. 
 
 5 Lardner's Credib. V. xi. p. 267. Suppl. V". i. p. 1?3. 
 
 * C'atal. Viror. illust. in Marco. 
 
 it 
 
\ 
 
 DISCOURSE Hi SECT. II. 33 
 
 it is written in his Commentaries 1 ; plainly referring 
 to St. Mark's Gospel, which alone contains the w hole 
 passage here cited by Justin. Tertullian says, "that 
 " the Gospel which was published by Mark may be 
 "esteemed Peter's, whose interpreter he was 2 ." 
 Origen, " that the second Gospel is that according 
 " to Mark, who wrote it as Peter dictated it to him 3 ." 
 Eusebius, " Peter testifies these things of himself, 
 " for all things in Mark are said to be memoirs of 
 " Peter's discourses 4 ." The Synopsis ascribed to 
 Athanasius, " The Gospel according to Mark was 
 " dictated by Peter at Rome, and published by the 
 " blessed Apostle Mark 5 ." 
 
 (). §. He wrote for a mixt Society of Jews and 
 Gentiles, and probably at Rome or in Italy. 
 
 I find no express testimony of the ancients for this 
 account of his more general plan : but it is intimated 
 by them, when they say, that he wrote at the request 
 of the believers in Rome, under the inspection of 
 St. Peter. For a part of these believers being Gen- 
 tiles, St. Peter certainly paid a just attention to their 
 circumstances ; as in his first general Epistle, dated, 
 as many think, from this same city under the name 
 of Rabylon, he shows his pastoral care not only for 
 the converted Jews, but for those also, " who in 
 " time past were not a people, but now are the people 
 " of God ;" that is, undoubtedly, the Gentiles. See 
 chapt. ii. 10. 
 
 1 Page 365. Ed. Thirlby, p. 333. Ed. Paris. See Jones's 
 Method, Part iv. p. 91. 
 1 Adv. Marcion. L. iv. C. 5. 
 ' Ap. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. L. vi. C. 25. 
 
 4 Eusob. Demonst. Evang. L. iii. C. 5. Lardner's Credib. V. 
 viii. p. 88. 
 
 5 Lardner's Credibility, V. viii. p. 250. 
 
 D The 
 
34 DISCOURSE II. SECT. II. 
 
 The evidence concerning the place where this Gos- 
 pel was composed, part of which has heen already 
 given, is thus summed up by Dr. Lardner : "Chry- 
 " sostom speaks of its being written in Egypt. But 
 " he is almost singular. That it was written at Rome 
 " or in Italy, is said not only by Epiphanius, Jerome, 
 " Gregory Nazianzen, \'ictor, and divers others ; 
 " but the Egyptian writers likewise all along say the 
 " same thing, that it was wri.ten by Mark at Rome, 
 " in the company of the Apostle Peter. So say 
 " Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius, the supposed 
 " author of the Synopsis of Scripture, Cosmas and 
 " Eutychius, all of Alexandria. Ebedjesu likewise 
 " in his Catalogue of Syrian Writings, says, that 
 " Mark wrote at Rome 1 ." 
 
 7- §• The third writer of a Gospel zcas St. Luke. 
 
 " He appears to have written after Matthew and 
 " Mark, according to the judgment of almost all, 
 " both ancients and moderns : as frenaeus, iii. 1. Ter- 
 " tullian against Marcion, iv. 5. Eusebius, Hist 
 " iii. 24. Augustin, concerning the consent of the 
 " Evangelists, ii. 2. &c. Grotiiis thinks he hath ob- 
 " served him treading in the steps of Mark, i. 4. and 
 " 23. ii. 12. 21. iv. 20, 21. vi 14. xii. 40. &c. 2 Cle- 
 " mens of Alexandria, as quoted by Eusebius, Hist. 
 " vi. 14. is the only one [of the Ancients] who seems 
 " to place him before Mark, by saying, that the Gos- 
 " pels which contain the G enealogies were first writ- 
 " ten." Fabricius, Bibl. Grace B. iv. C. 5. k 4. 
 
 8. §. He wrote with a more peculiar view to the 
 converted Gentiles, and probably in Achaia. 
 
 "The third Gospel," says Origen, " is that ac- 
 " cording to Luke, commended by Paul, composed 
 
 ' Lardner's Supplement, V. i. p. 184. 
 
 * These references are to chapters of St. Mark. 
 
 "for 
 
DISCOURSE H. SECT. II. 
 
 35 
 
 " for the converted Gentiles 1 ." And Fabricius ob- 
 serves, that there is a wonderful agreement of the 
 ancients in making St. Luke the interpreter and 
 attendant of St. Paul, as St. Mark of St. Peter 2 . 
 It is said by Irenasus, that Luke wrote the Gospel 
 which Paul preached 1 : and by Tertullian, that 
 " some made Paul the author of his Gospel, because 
 " it is reasonable to ascribe to the master the works 
 " published by the disciple 3 ." St Chrysostom, as 
 was before mentioned 4 , finds in it the style of St. 
 Paul. In the Synopsis ascribed to Athanasius it is 
 affirmed, that " the Gospel of Luke was dictated by 
 " the Apostle Paul, and written and published by 
 " the blessed Apostle and Physician Luke 5 ." 
 
 Some suppose him to have written it a t Alexandria 
 in Egypt; but in the judgment of Dupin 6 , with 
 which Dr. Lardner concurs we ought to adhere to 
 what St. Jerom has said of it as most reasonable, that 
 Luke composed it in Achaia or Boeotia. Gregory 
 Nazianzen agrees with St. Jerom, and describes where 
 the three first Gospels were written in the following 
 distich 8 . 
 
 MaiSaTot; [xsv sypa-tysv 'E£gai'oi£ ^aufxala ~Koi(fl3, 
 MapKOt,- 0* 'iTaAiYj, A&xdg 'Ap/ai'a3» 9 . 
 
 Matthew wrote the Miracles of Christ for the Jews, 
 Markj'or Italy, Luke for Achaia. 
 
 1 See in Mill the testimonies before St. Luke. 
 
 2 Bibl. Graec. B. iv.C. 5. p. 133. 
 1 Advers. Marcion. L. iv. C. 5. 
 
 * Sermon, p. 10. 
 
 9 Lardner's Credib. V. viii. p. 250. 
 
 6 Can. of Scripture, V. ii. C. ii. Sect. v. p. 40'. 
 
 7 Supplement, V. i. p. 2/7- 
 
 s Lardner's Credibility, V. be. p. 133. 
 
 9 Instead of Anx.u( 'Ax«i'A, Fabricius, Bibl. Graec. L. iv. p. 
 13'2. reads, AsJxioj 'A%csth, and with others, of the learned sup- 
 d 2 poses 
 
36 
 
 DISCOURSE II. SECT. II. 
 
 9. §. St. John had seen the three former Gospels, 
 
 and bore testimony to the truth oj them. 
 
 Eusebius relates, that, the three first-written Gos- 
 pels being published to the world, and known to 
 John, he is said to have approved then?, and con- 
 firmed the truth of them with his own testimony 1 . 
 The same account is given by St. Jerom 2 , and by 
 Sophronios 3 from him ; by Theodorus of Mop- 
 suestia, and by Cosmas of Alexandria 4 . 
 
 10. He xcrote after the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, at Ephesus or in Asia Minor. 
 
 Irenaeus tells us, that " John published his Gospel 
 " to root out the errors sown among men by Cerin- 
 " thus, and long before by those who are called 
 " Nicoltxitans 5 ." If he says elsewhere, that John 
 composed his Gospel " foreseeing by the Spirit the 
 " divisions of evil teachers," I find no inconsistence 
 in the two accounts. He may suppose St. John to 
 have foreseen that other evil teachers would lollow 
 Cerinthus, and to have provided both an antidote 
 against future heresy, and a remedy for that which 
 actually existed. St. Jerom concurs with Irenarus in 
 saying, that "John the Apostle wrote a Gospel at the 
 " request of the bishops of Asia against Cerinthus and 
 " other heretics ; and especially against the doctrine 
 " of the Ebionites then springing up, that Christ had 
 " no being till he was born of Mary 6 ." This doctrine 
 is said to have begun among the Christians at Pella, 
 
 poses Lucius mentioned Rom. xvi. 21. to be St. Luke. See 
 VVolfius on the place. 
 
 1 Ecrl. Hist. B. ii. C. 24. 
 
 3 Catal. Script. Eccles. 
 
 3 For Sophronius and Theodorus see before St. John's Gospel 
 in Mill. 
 
 4 Lardner's Credibility, V. xi. p. 265. Supplem. V. i. p. 38$. 
 s B. iii. C. xi. p. 218. Edit. Grabe, B. iii. C. .wiii. p. 241. 
 
 c Catal Script. Eccles. n. 20. 
 
 A. D. 
 
DISCOURSE II. SECT. II. 
 
 37 
 
 A. D. ex xi, the year after the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem 1 ; but Cerinthus is placed about A. D. lxxx. 8 
 Ircnaeus therefore supposed St. John to have vvrilten 
 .some years after the destruction of Jerusalem. Per- 
 haps it may not be necessary, with Epiphanius, to 
 make it so late as when he was ninety years old 3 . 
 And yet even at that advanced age many have re- 
 tained great vigour of understanding, and even of 
 memory, especially with regard to the occurrences 
 of their earlier days : and whenever St. John wrote, 
 it was of a subject graven deep on his mind by con- 
 stant meditation and daily discourse of it. Irenasus 
 says further, that he published his Gospel at Ephesus 4 ; 
 and it seems allowed by all, that he did it in some 
 part of Asia Minor. Theodorus of Mopsuestia 5 , 
 and Cosmas of Alexandria 6 ", inform us, that his 
 usual residence was at Ephesus. 
 
 The earlier fathers leave us most to seek concern- 
 ing the precise times in which the Gospels were 
 written. With regard to order and place they are 
 more explicit. And Isidore of Seville, who lived 
 about A. D. dlxxxxv, delivers their sentiments in 
 general as well as his own in the following passage : 
 
 " Of the four Evangelists the first and last relate 
 " what they had heard Christ say, or seen him per- 
 " form. The other two, placed between them, re- 
 " late those things which they had learned from 
 " Apostles. Matthew wrote his Gospel first, in 
 " Judea ; then Mark, in Italy ; Luke the third, in 
 " Achaia; John the last, in Asia 7 ." 
 
 1 Cave's Hist. Literal - . Conspectus Saecl. Apost. p. 1 
 
 5 lb. p. 36. 
 
 3 Hieres. 41. n. 12. p. 432. Ed. Colngn. 16S2. 
 
 * B. iii. C. i. 
 
 ? See Mill before St. John's Gospel. 
 
 6 Lar drier's Suppl. V. i. p. 388. 
 ' lb. p. 223. 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 Ancient Writers mentioned in this Discourse, 
 and the Times, according to Dr. Cave, in 
 which they flourished. 
 
 Papias — — — — A. D. 1 10 
 
 Justin Martyr — - — ■ — — 110 
 
 Irenaeus — — — ■ — — 1 6~ 
 
 Tertullian — — — — — 192 
 
 Clemens of Alexandria — — — 192 
 
 Origen — — — — — 230 
 
 Eusebius — — — — — 315 
 
 Athanasius — — — — — 3'J6 
 
 Epiphanius — — — — — -368 
 
 Gregory Nazianzen — — — 370 
 
 St. Jerom — — — ■ — — 378 
 
 Sophronius — — — — — 390 
 St. Augustin — — — — — 396 
 
 St. Chrysostom — — — — 398 
 
 Victor of Antioch — — — — 401 
 
 Theodorus of Mopsuestia — — ■ — 407 
 
 Cosmas of Alexandria — — — 535 
 
 Eutychius — — — — 553 
 Isidore of Seville — — — — 595 
 
 Theophylact — — — -— 1077 
 
 Euthymius — — — — — 1116 
 
 Ebedjesu, according to Dr. Lardner, ■ — 1300 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE THIRD. 
 
 Preparations for determining the Order of the 
 Evangelists by internal Evidence. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 The question proposed, llliether the succeeding 
 Evangelists had seen t lie foregoing Gospels. 
 
 I SHALL now attempt to confirm the foregoing 
 articles by proofs taken from the Gospels them- 
 selves. 
 
 But the argument from internal evidence is so con- 
 nected in many instances with the question, Whether 
 the succeeding Evangelists had seen the former 
 Gospels, that it is first necessary to consider this 
 question. And the great use Of deciding it must be 
 my apology for the length of debating it. 
 
 It may be taken for granted, at least for the pre- 
 sent, that St. John had seen the Gospels written be- 
 fore 
 
40 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 fore his own. The inquiry is limited to St. Matthew, 
 St Mark, and St. Luke : from whose Gospels I will 
 first bring together some parallel passages, with a tew 
 remarks intermixt ; and then examine what conclu- 
 sion we may justly draw from the uniformity of tiiese 
 passages. 
 
 The comparisons are made in our common version. 
 But the reader will perceive, that here and there a 
 word is altered. This was done chiefly because the 
 translators have somet mes rendered the same words 
 by different, or different by the same ; and 1 was de- 
 sirous of giving as exact an idea as 1 could of the 
 agreement of the texts in the places compared '. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Parallel Passages St. Matthew and St. Mark. 
 
 1. §. Matth. iv, 17 — 11. 
 17- From that time Jesus began 
 to preach, and to say, 
 Repent : for the kingdom 
 of Heaven is at hand. 
 
 Mark i. 14—20. 
 
 14. Jesus came into Galilee, 
 preaching the gospel of the 
 kingdom of God, 
 
 15. And saying, The time is ful- 
 filled, and the kingdom of' God 
 is at hand: repent ye, and believe 
 the gospel. 
 
 ' They who would judge from the originals will find some of 
 the following instances standing collaterally in the Harmonies 
 Which have hcen publi hed in Greek. The accuracy of Mon-ieur 
 Toinard's is such, that the smallest agreement or variation of the 
 texts may be seen with the greatest facility in all parts of the 
 Gospels which he deems to be parallel. See also the learned Dr. 
 Owen's valuable Observations on the Four Gospels : in which a 
 number of passages are compared in Greek j either the same, or 
 to the same purpose, as these which are here compared in English. 
 
 18. And 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 41 
 
 Matth. iv. 17 — 22. 
 18. And Jesus, walking 
 by the sea of Galilee, 
 saw two brethren, Simon 
 called Peter, 
 and Andrew his In-other, 
 easting a net into the sea .• 
 (for they wi re fishers ;) 
 19 And he saith unto them, 
 Follow me, and I will make 
 you .^hers of men, 
 
 20. And straightway they left 
 their nets, and followed him. 
 
 21. And going on from thence 
 he saw other two brethren 
 James the son of Zebedce, 
 and J hn Ids brother, 
 
 in a ship 
 
 with Zehedee their father, 
 mending their nets : 
 and he called them. 
 
 22. And they straightway left 
 the ship and their father, 
 
 and followed him. 
 
 Mark i. 14—20. 
 16. Now as he was going 
 by the sea of Galilee, 
 he saw two brethren, Simon 
 
 and Andrew his brother, 
 casting a net in the sea : 
 (for they '.'.ere iishers ;) 
 17- And Jesus said unto them, 
 Follow me, and I will make 
 you to become fishers of men. 
 
 18. And straightway they left 
 their nets, and followed him. 
 
 19. And goiwr on from thence 
 a little further he saw 
 James the sun of Zehedee, 
 and John his brother, 
 
 who also were in a ship 
 
 mending their nels. 
 
 20. And straightway he called 
 them : 
 
 and they left 
 
 their father Zehedee in the ship 
 with the hired servants, 
 and went after him. 
 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark, who pass over what 
 our Lord did in Judea and other parts in the interval 
 between his Temptation and John's imprisonment, 
 botli open the history of his public ministry w ith the 
 calling of St. Peter ; which they relate in the same 
 words, even to the parenthesis, For they were fishers. 
 
 But this is, as it were, the surface of their con- 
 formity, which goes deeper. For this calling of 
 St. Peter is, in the judgement of many learned com- 
 mentators and harmonists the very same which 
 St. Luke thus describes : 
 
 1 Grot ius, Hammond, on the place. Spanheira, Dub. Evangel. 
 Par. iii. Dub. 72. p. SM. Cheinnitius, Cradoek, Lightfqpt, Le 
 Clerc, Doddridge, in their Harmonies. Spanheim has parti- 
 cularly considered and answered the chief objections. One re- 
 mark of Spanheim is, Nod temere multiplicandas esse historian, 
 quae eucdem deprehenduntur, quod cum Osiandio sine necessitate 
 
 faciunt 
 
42 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. IT. 
 
 Ch. v. And it came to pass, that as the people 
 pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood 
 by the lake of Gennesareth. 
 
 And saw two ships standing by the lake : but the 
 fishermen were gone out of' them, and were wash- 
 ing their nets. 
 
 And he entered into one of the ships, which was 
 Simon s, and prayed him that he would thrust, out a 
 little from the land. And he sat down and taught 
 the people out of the ship. 
 
 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto 
 Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down 
 your nets Jor a draught. 
 
 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, ice 
 have toiled all night and have taken nothing: never- 
 theless at thy word I will let down the net. 
 
 And ahen they had this done, they inclosed a 
 great multitude of fishes ; and their net brake. 
 
 And they beckoned unto their partners which, 
 were in the other ship, that they should come and 
 help them. And they came and filled both the 
 ships, so that they began to sink. 
 
 When Simon Peter saiv it, he fell down at Jesus' 
 knees, saying, Depart from me, for lama sinful 
 man, O Lord. 
 
 For he was astonished, and all that were with 
 him, at the draught of fishes which they had taken : 
 
 And so was also James and John the sons of Zebe- 
 dee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus 
 said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou 
 shalt catch men. 
 
 And when they had brought their ships to land, 
 they forsook all and followed him. 
 
 This account will be found on a near inspection, 
 to tally marvelously with the preceding, and to be 
 one of the evidences, that the Evangelists vary only 
 in the number or choice of circumstances, and write 
 
 faciunt illi, qui nullas £r??<«"»s et ■a^Xr.-l^: apud sacros scriptores 
 admittunt. See also the learned Bishop of \Vaterford s Harmony 
 of the Go=pels, § 26. and p. 13. of the notes. 
 
 from 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 43 
 
 from the same idea of the fact which they lay before 
 us. Every one knows, that the Sea oj Galilei ; and 
 the Lake of Gennesareth are ihe same. And though 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark do not expressly tell us 
 that St. Peter was in his vessel when he was called by 
 Christ, they signify as much in i aying, that he was 
 casting a net into the sea ; for this supposes him to be 
 aboard, and our Lord in the vessel with him, as St. 
 Luke relates. The latter does not mention St. An- 
 drew, either here or elsewhere, except in giving the, 
 catalogue of the Apostles, vi. 14. and perhaps may 
 design to suggest, that the prophetic promise of catch- 
 ing men, principally respected St Peter. However, 
 the sense of this promise is precisely the same with 
 that of beingjishers of men. Again, St Luke tells 
 us, that James and John the sons of Zebedee assisted 
 Peter in landing the fish which he had taken ; and 
 that when they, that is, the four partners, had brought 
 their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed 
 Christ. And here also this Evangelist harmonizes 
 with the two others St. Mark says, that I Hi en 
 Christ had gone a little further thence, from the 
 place where Peter and Andrew began to follow him, he 
 saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, 
 who also were in a ship, as Peter had been when he 
 was called *, mending their nets, their nets torn by 
 the weight of fish which they had hauled to shore ; and 
 straightway he called them — and they went after 
 him, in company with Peter and Andrew. 
 
 The two accounts, that of St. Matthew and St. 
 Mark on one side, and that of St. Luke on the other, 
 thus concurring in the place and situation in which 
 St. Peter was called, in the promise made to him, 
 
 1 I see not what else aho can refer to. Kal «uW{ ?v rZ TrXoia is 
 the original : the latter part of which I have rendered, In a ship; 
 as our Translators do the same words, in Matth. iv. 21. So De 
 Beausobre and L'Enfant, Dans ime barrrue. 
 
 and 
 
44 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. IT. 
 
 and the time when he was called, speak evidently of 
 the same vocation. Consequently St. Matthew and 
 St. Mark have abridged the story. And the very 
 same abridgement of it being found in both, the in- 
 ference to be drawn from their agreement scarce 
 needs any proof, but what this example furnishes. 
 
 Only one circumstance is peculiar to St. Mark, 
 that John and James left their father Zebedee in the 
 ship With the hired .servants; which shows, that Christ 
 in calling them, and They in obeying the call, did 
 not leave the father destitute of assistance to carry on 
 his business. A circumstauce worthy to be noted by 
 an Evangelist who wrote, either where it was not 
 known, or when it might be forgotten. 
 
 The argument, as far as it turns on identity of lan- 
 guage in comparing St. Matthew with St. Mark or 
 St. Luke, supposes the originality of St. Matthew's 
 Greek. This learned moderns have maintained so 
 strenuously, as to deny that he wrote also in Hebrew. 
 Without intermeddling with the latter question, I hope 
 to confirm the former by a few observations, which 
 will arise here and there in the course of this work. 
 
 2. §. Matth. xiii. 1—9. 
 
 1 . The same day went Jesus 
 out of the house, and sat 
 
 by the sea-side t 
 
 2. And great multitudes were 
 gathered together unto him, 
 so that he went into a ship, 
 and sat, and the whole 
 multitude stood on the 
 shore. 
 
 3. And he spake many things unto 
 ihem in parables, say ing, 
 
 Behold, 
 
 a sower went forth to sow • 
 
 4. And when he sowed, 
 
 Mark iv. 1 — 9. 
 I*. And he began to teach 
 
 by the seaside : 
 
 and a great multitude was 
 
 gathered together unto him, 
 
 so that he went into a ship, 
 
 and sal in the sea, and tlic whole 
 
 multitude was by the sea oh the 
 
 land. 
 
 2. And he taught them many 
 things in parables, and said 
 unto them in his doctrine, 
 
 3. Hearken, Behold, 
 
 a sower went forth to sow : 
 
 4. And it came to pass when he 
 
 sowed, 
 
 some 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 45 
 
 Matth. xiii. 1—9. 
 
 some fell by the way-side, 
 and the fowls came 
 and devoured them up. 
 
 5. And some fell on stony ground, 
 where they had not much earth, 
 and forthwith they sprang up, 
 because they had no deepness 
 of earth : 
 
 6. And the sun being vp, they 
 •were scorched, and because 
 they had not root, they 
 withered away. 
 
 7. And some fell among thorns, 
 and the thorns sprang up 
 
 and choked them. 
 
 8. But other fell on good ground, 
 and brought forth Jruit* 
 
 some an hundred-fold, some 
 sixty-fold, some thirty-fold. 
 
 9. Who hath ears to hear, 
 let him hear. 
 
 Mark iv. 1^9. 
 
 some fell by the way-side, 
 and the fowls of the air came 
 and devoured it up. 
 
 5. And some fell on stony ground, 
 where it had not much earth, 
 and forthwith it sprang up, 
 because it had no deepness 
 
 of earth : 
 
 6. And when the sun was up, il 
 was scorched, and because 
 
 it had not root, it 
 
 withered away. 
 
 7- And some fell among thorns, ' 
 
 and the thorns sprang up 
 
 and choked it, 
 
 and it yielded no fruit. 
 
 8. And other fell on good ground, 
 and brought forth fruit, 
 
 that sprang up and increased, 
 and yielded 
 
 some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, 
 and some an hundred-fold. 
 
 9. And he said unto them, 
 Who hath ears to hear, 
 let him hear. 
 
 In relating this parable, St. Mark has here and 
 there supplied a word or small circumstance omitted 
 by St. Matthew : in speaking of the seed that was 
 sown he has altered the plural to the singular, as in 
 the explication he makes just the contrary change 
 and he has inverted the close of the sentence in 
 verse 8. These little variations in a few places 
 make it evident, that such exact concurrence as we 
 observe in the rest, was not requisite to a just repre- 
 sentation of the parable : which will appear in a 
 stronger light to the learned reader, who will consult 
 the Greek text of Luke viii. 1 — 8, and compare it 
 with these, particularly in the seventh verse of all 
 three. 
 
 ' Ver. 19—23. of Matthew, vev. 14— <30. of Mark. 
 
 The 
 
46 DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 The parable was delivered in public, and followed 
 by several others spoken at the same time. The 
 Evangelists, however, all agree to suspend the narra- 
 tion ot them, and to insert the exposition of this, 
 which was not given till afterwards to the disciples in 
 private '. 
 
 3. §. Matth. xx. 24— 2S. 
 
 24. And when the Ten heard it, 
 they were moved with 
 indignation 
 
 against the two brethren. 
 
 '25. But Jesus called them unto 
 
 him, and said, 
 
 Ye know that they which 
 
 rule over the Gentiles, 
 
 exercise dominion over them ; 
 
 and they that are great, 
 
 exercise authority upon them. 
 
 '26. But it shall not be so among 
 
 you. But whosoever will 
 
 be great among you, let 
 
 him be your minister : 
 
 2~. And whosoever will be 
 
 chie f among you, let him 
 
 be your servant : 
 
 '28. Even as the son o f man 
 
 came not to be ministered 
 
 unto, but to minister, 
 
 and to give his life 
 
 a ransom for many. 
 
 Mark x. 41 — 15. 
 
 41. And when the Ten heard it, 
 they began to be moved with 
 
 indignation 
 
 against James and John. 
 4'2. But Jesus called them unto 
 him, and saith unto them, 
 Ye know that they which are 
 accoun tedtoruleovertheGent ties, 
 exercise dominion over them ; 
 and they of them that are great, 
 exercise authority upon them. 
 
 43. But it shall not be so among 
 you. But whosoever will 
 
 be great among you, shall 
 be your minister : 
 
 44. And whosoever will be 
 chief among you, shall 
 
 be servant of all: 
 
 45. For even the son of man 
 came not to ' e. ministered 
 unto, but to minister, 
 
 and to give his life 
 a ransom for many. 
 
 The likeness or rather sameness of expression in 
 these paragraphs is too visible to need any remarks 
 upon it. 
 
 4. §. Matth. xxi. 23—27. 
 
 23. And when he was come 
 into the Temple, the chief 
 priests, and the 
 
 eldersof thepeople ,came untohim, 
 
 Mark xi. 27—33. 
 
 27- And as he was walking 
 in the Temple, the chief 
 priests and the scribes, and the 
 elders, come unto him, 
 
 1 Mark iv. 10. 
 
 as 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 47 
 
 Malth. xxx '23—0.7. 
 
 tts he was teaching, 
 and said, 
 
 By what authority docst 
 thou these things ? and who 
 gate thee this authority ? 
 
 24. And Jesus answered and 
 said unto them, I also wilt 
 ask you one thing, 
 
 which if ye will tell me, 
 I in like wise will tell you 
 by what authority I do these 
 filings. 
 
 25. The baptism of John, 
 whence was it 0 
 
 from Heaven or of men ? 
 
 And they reasoned with them- 
 selves, saying, If we sliall say, 
 From Heaven, he will say unto 
 us, Why then did ye not 
 believe him ? 
 
 '2G. But if we shall say, Of men, 
 we fear the people : 
 for all hold John 
 as a prophet. 
 
 '^7- And they answered Jesus 
 and said, H e cannot tell. 
 And he said unto them, 
 
 Neither tell I you, by what 
 authority I do these things. 
 
 Mark xi. 27 — 33. 
 
 28. And say unto him, 
 By what authority doest 
 thou these things ? and who 
 gave thee this authority 
 
 to do these things ? 
 
 29. And Jesus answered and 
 said unto litem, I also will 
 ask you one thing, 
 
 and ansiver me, and 
 I will tell you 
 
 by what authority I do these 
 things. 
 
 30. The baptism of John, 
 was it 
 
 from Heaven or of men ? 
 answer me. 
 
 31. And they reasoned with them- 
 selves, saying, If we shall say. 
 From Heaven, he will say, 
 
 Why then did ye not 
 believe him ? 
 
 3'2. But if ice shall say, Of men. 
 they feared the people : 
 for all held John 
 that he was a prophet indeed. 
 33. And they answered and said 
 unto Jesus, We cannot tell. 
 And Jesus answering saith unto 
 them. 
 
 Neither tell I yon, by what 
 authority I do these things. 
 
 The rulers, who conferred among themselves on 
 the question proposed to them, were all of one mind 
 ahout the difficulty of answering it; but did not all 
 express the danger of owning their real sentiments in 
 the same terms ; for while some said, IVe fear the 
 people, others declared, All the people will stone tts. 
 Luke xx. 6'. There was therefore, at least in this 
 particular, a libe rty of varying in words without de- 
 parting from the truth. 
 
 5. §. Matth. 
 
43 
 
 Df.SCOURSE III. 
 
 SECT. If. 
 
 5. §. Matth. xxiv. 32—35. 
 
 32. Now learn a parable of 
 the fig-tree ; when her branch 
 is yet tender, and puttcth 
 
 forth leaves, ye know that 
 summer is nigh ; 
 
 33. So likewise ys, when ye 
 shall see all these things, 
 
 know that it is near, 
 even at the doors. 
 
 34. Verily I say unto you, This 
 generation shall not pass 
 
 till all these things be fulfilled. 
 
 35. Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, but my words shall 
 
 not pass away. 
 
 Mark xiii. 28—31. 
 
 28. Now learn a parable of 
 the fig-tree ; when her branch 
 is yet tender, and putteth 
 forth leaves, ye know that 
 summer is nigh : 
 
 29. So likewise ye, when ye 
 shall see these things 
 come to pass, 
 
 know that it Li near, 
 even at tlie doors. 
 
 30. Verily I say unto yon, This 
 generation shall not pass 
 
 until all these things be fulfilled. 
 
 31. Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away, but my icords shall 
 
 not pass away. 
 
 Luke xxi. 29. And he spake to them a parable : 
 
 Behold the Jig-tree, and all the trees ; 
 50. IVhen they now shoot forth, ye see and know of 
 
 yourozcnselves, that summer is now nigh at hand. 
 31. So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things 
 
 come to pass, know ye that the king dom of God 
 
 is nigh at hand. 
 
 The opening of the parable, as it stands in St. 
 Luke, shows that Christ did not instance in the 
 budding of the fig-tree only, but of that and all the 
 trees, as a sign of approaching summer. 
 
 C. §. Matth. xxvii. 39—44. 
 
 39. And they that passed by 
 railed on him, wagging their 
 heads, 
 
 40. And saying, 
 
 Thou tiiatdestroyest the Temple, 
 and buildest it in three days, 
 save thyself ; 
 
 if thou be the Son of God, 
 come down from the cross. 
 
 41. Likewise also the chief priests 
 
 Mark xv. 29—32. 
 
 29. And they that passed by 
 railed on him, wagging their 
 heads, 
 
 and saying, ah ! 
 
 Thou thai nestroyest the Temple, 
 
 and buildest it in three days, 
 
 30. Save thyself, and 
 
 come down from the cross. 
 
 31. Likewise also the chief priests 
 
 mocking, 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 49 
 
 Matth. xxvii. 39—44. 
 
 marking, said 
 
 with the scribes and elders, 
 
 42. He sared others, himself 
 he cannot save. 
 
 If he be the king of Israel, 
 
 let him now come down from 
 the cross, 
 
 and we will believe him. 
 
 43. He trusted in God ; let him 
 deliver him now if he will have 
 him : for he said, I am the Son 
 of God. 
 
 4 4. After the same manner also 
 the thieves that were crucified 
 icith him, reviled him. 
 
 Mark xv. 29—32. 
 
 mocking, said among themselves 
 with the scribes, 
 He saved others, himself 
 he cannot save. 
 32. The Christ, the king of 
 Israel, 
 
 let him nov: come down from 
 the cross, that we may see 
 and believe. 
 
 And they that ivere crucified 
 with him, reviled him. 
 
 I will here place St. Luke's account of the same 
 things opposite to St. Mark's. 
 
 Mark xv. 29— 32. 
 
 29. And they that passed by rai- 
 led on him, itagging their heads 
 and saying, Ah ! thou that de- 
 siroyest the Temple, and buddest 
 it in three days, 
 
 30. Save thyself and come down 
 from the cross. 
 
 31. Likewise also the chief priests 
 mocking, said among themselves 
 with the scribes, 
 
 He saved others, 
 himself he cannot save. 
 
 32. The Christ, 
 the king of Israel, 
 
 let him now come down from the 
 cross, that we may see andbelieue. 
 
 Luke xxiii. 35 — 40. 
 
 35. And &he people stood behold* 
 ing, 
 
 and the rulers also with them 
 derided him, saying, 
 
 He saved others, 
 let him save himself, 
 if he be Christ, 
 the chosen of God. 
 
 36. And the soldiers also mocked 
 him, coming to him, and offer' 
 
 ing him vinegar, 
 
 37. And saying, If thou be the 
 king of the Jews, save thyself. 
 ************ * 
 
 And 
 
30 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. II. 
 
 Mark xv. 29—32. Luke xxiii. 35 — 40. 
 
 And they that were crucified with 39. And one of the malefactors, 
 him reviled him. which were haftged, railed on 
 
 him T say big, If thou be the Christ, 
 
 save thyself and us. 
 
 40. But the other answering, 
 
 rebuked him. 
 
 We perceive by this last comparison, that St. Luke 
 differs a little in expression from St. Mark ; that he 
 mentions the insult of the soldiers, of which the other 
 takes no notice ; and that he is much more distinct 
 in the history of the two crucified thieves. It is 
 therefore to be considered, why St. Mark, from whom 
 St. Luke thus varies, accords so entirely with St. 
 Matthew in relating the same train of particulars in 
 the same language. 
 
 I must beg leave to observe on this occasion, that 
 the Evangelists have represented the different taunt- 
 of Jews and Romans with the most precise adherence 
 to propriety and truth. The Jexos reviled our Lord 
 as pretending to be king of Israel. So they con- 
 stantly spoke of their Jless/ah '. The Roman sol- 
 diers derided him as king of the Jcrcs : which was 
 the title always used by the Gentiles for the same 
 person 2 . Thus the Wise Men. who came to worship 
 our Saviour at his nativity, inquired after him, Where 
 is he that is born king of the Jews ? And this is 
 a sufficient proof, that they were not Jews them- 
 selves, as a late learned Commentator on the Gos- 
 pels supposes them to have been 3 . 
 
 1 See Matth. xxvii. 42. Mark xv. 32. John i. 4f). xii. 13. 
 
 ' Matth. ii. 2. xxvii. 1 1. 29. 3?. Mark xv. 2. 9. 12.18.26. Luke 
 xxiii. 3. 37.38. John xviii. 33. 39. xix. 3. 19. 
 
 3 Bishop Pearce in his Commentaiy and Notes on the Four 
 Evangelists. See note on Matth. ii. 1. 
 
 SECT. 
 
DiSCOUHSE Iir. SECT. III. 
 
 51 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Parallel passages of St. Matthew and St. Luke. 
 
 1. §. Matth. Hi. 7— 12. 
 
 7. But when he saw many of 
 
 the Pharisees atul Sadducecs 
 
 come to his baptism, 
 
 he said unto them, 
 
 O generation of vipers, who hath 
 
 warned you to flee from the 
 
 wrath to come ? 
 
 JS. Bring forth therefore fruits 
 
 Meet for repentance, 
 
 9. And think not 
 
 to say within yourselves, 
 He have Abraham to our father: 
 for I say unto yon, that God is 
 able of these stones to raise up 
 children unto Abraham. 
 
 10. And 7iow also the ax is laid 
 unto the root of the trees : 
 therefore every tree which 
 bringeth not forth good fruit 
 
 is hewn down, and cast into 
 the fire. 
 
 11. I indeed baptize yon with 
 water nolo repentance ; but 
 he that eomcth after me is 
 mightier than I, 
 
 whose shoes I am net wcrthy 
 to bear : 
 
 he shall baptize you with 
 
 the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 
 
 12. Whose fan is in his hand, 
 and he. will throughly purge 
 his floor, and gatlter his wheat 
 into the garner ; but he will 
 burn up the chaff icith 
 unquenchable fire. 
 
 Luke iii. 7—9, 16, 17. 
 7. Then said he to the multitudes 
 
 that came forth to be baptized 
 of him, 
 
 0 generation of vipers, who hath 
 warned you to flee from the 
 wrath to come ? 
 
 H. Bring forth therefore fruits 
 meet for repentance, 
 and begin not 
 to say within yourselves, 
 We have Abraham to our father. ■ 
 for [say unto you, that God is 
 able of these stories to raise up 
 children unto Abraham. 
 9. And now also the ax is laid 
 unto the root of the trees : 
 therefore every tree which 
 bringeth not forth good fruit 
 is hewn dewn, and cast into 
 the fire. 
 
 ******** * 
 1C. John ansxvered, saying un- 
 to them all, 
 
 1 indeed baptize you with 
 water; but 
 
 one cometh 
 mightier than I, 
 the latchet of whose shoes I 
 am not worthy to unloose : 
 he shall baptize you with 
 the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 
 17- Whose fan is in his hand, 
 and he will throughly purge 
 his floor, and gather the wheat 
 into his garner ; but he will 
 burn up the chaff with 
 unquenchable fire. 
 
 Mark 
 
52 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. III. 
 
 Mark i. 7, 8. And [John] preached, sax/hip, 
 There comet h one mightier than I after me, the 
 latchet of whose shoes I am not worth]/ to sloop 
 down and unloose. 
 
 I indeed have baptized you with water : but he 
 shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 
 
 If we except the substitution of the multitudes for 
 many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, the reason 
 of which will appear hereafter 1 ; and that St. Luke 
 varies from St. Matthew, as he does from himself 
 (Acts xiii. 25.) in the proverbial phrase of bearing 
 or loosing the shoes ; this summary of the Baptist's 
 instructions, as far as it is recited by St. Matthew, 
 stands sentence for sentence, and almost word for 
 word, the same in St. Luke. Yet John not only said 
 " many other things in his exhortation to the 
 "people," but sometimes delivered these very things 
 in another order, as may be seen by the short para- 
 graph of St. Mark subjoined to the other two. 
 
 <2. §. Matth. xi. 2—1 1. Luke vii. 19—28. 
 
 2. Now when John had heard in 10. And John 
 the prison the works of calling unto him two of his 
 
 Christ, 
 
 sending two of his disciples, 
 3. He said unto him, 
 Art thou he that should come, 
 or look we for another ? 
 
 d'lsciples, sent them unto Jesus, 
 
 saying, 
 
 Art thou he that should come, 
 or look we for another ? 
 23. When the men were come 
 unto him, they said, John Baptist 
 hath sent us unto thee, saying, 
 Art thou he that should come, or 
 look we for another 9 
 21. And in that same hour he 
 cured many of their infirmities, 
 and plagues, and of evil spirits ; 
 and unto many that were blind he 
 gate sight. 
 
 1 Disc, vi, Sect. 1. 
 
 4. Then 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. III. 
 
 53 
 
 Matth. xi. 2—11. 
 
 4. Then Jesus answering said 
 unto them, Go your way, 
 and tell John what ihbigs 
 
 ye do hear and nee. 
 
 5. The blind see, and the lame 
 
 walk, 
 
 the lepers are cleansed, 
 
 the deaf hear, 
 
 the dead are raised, 
 
 and the poor have the gospel 
 
 preached unto them. 
 
 6'. And blessed is he whosoever 
 
 shall not be offended in me. 
 
 7- And as they departed, 
 
 Jesus began 
 
 to say to the micllitudes con- 
 renting John, 
 What went ye out into the 
 wilderness for to see P 
 a reed shaken with the wind ? 
 S. But what went ye out for to 
 see ? 
 
 a man clothed in soft raiment ? 
 Behold, they that wear soft 
 clothing, 
 
 are in kings houses. 
 
 9. But what went ye out for to 
 
 see P 
 
 a prophet P Yea, I say unto you, 
 and more than a prophet. 
 
 10. For this is he of whom it is 
 written, 
 
 Behold, I send my messenger 
 before thy face, which shall 
 prepare thy way before thee. 
 
 11. Verily I say unto you, 
 Among them that are born of 
 women, there hath not risen a 
 
 greater 
 than John the Baptist: 
 notwithstanding he that is 
 least in the kingdom of heaven, 
 is greater than he. 
 
 Luke vii. 19—28. 
 
 22. Then Jesus answering said 
 unto them, Go your way, 
 
 and tell John what things 
 
 ye have seen and heard. 
 
 The blind see, the lame walk, 
 
 the lepers are cleansed, 
 the deaf hear, 
 the dead are raised, 
 the poor have the gospel 
 preached unto them. 
 
 23. And blessed is he whosoever 
 shall not be offended in me. 
 
 24. And when the messengers 
 of John ivere departed, he began 
 to say unto the multitudes con- 
 cerning John, 
 
 What went ye out into the 
 
 wilderness for to see P 
 
 a reed shaken ivith the wind ? 
 
 25. But what went ye oat for to 
 see p 
 
 a man clothed in soft raiment ? 
 Behold, they that are gorgeously 
 apparelled, and live delicately, 
 are in kings courts. 
 
 26. But what went ye out for to 
 see ? 
 
 a prophet P Yea, I say unto you, 
 and more than a prophet. 
 27- This is he of whom it is 
 
 written, 
 Behold, I send my messenger 
 before thy face, which shall 
 prepare thy way before thee. 
 2S. For I say unto you, 
 Among them that are born of 
 women, there is not a greater 
 
 prophet than John the Baptist 
 notwithstanding he that is 
 least in the kingdoni of God t 
 is greater than he. 
 
 St. 
 
54 
 
 DISCOURSE III. Si-CT IIT. 
 
 St. Matthew, who as usually hastens on to the dis- 
 course of Christ, only intimates in these words, " Go 
 " your way, and tell John what' things ye do hear 
 " and see,''' that our Lord at that time did many 
 miracles. This St. Luke declares in express terms. 
 In other respects the relation is almost verbatim the 
 same in both Evangelists. 
 
 3. §. Matth. xi. '21—23. 
 
 21. Wo unto thee- Chorazin ; 
 wo unto thee, Bethsaida : 
 for if the mighty works which 
 were done in you, had been done 
 in Tyre and Sidon, they 
 ■would have repented long ago, 
 in sackcloth and ashes. 
 
 22. But I say unto you, it 
 shall be more tolerable for 
 Tyre and Sidon at the day of 
 judgement than for you. 
 
 23. And thou, Capernaum, 
 which art exalted unto heaven, 
 slialt be brought down to hell. 
 
 Luke x. 13—15. 
 
 13. Wo unto thee, Chorazin ; 
 wo unto thee, Bethsaida ; 
 for if the mighty works which 
 were done in you, had been done 
 in Tyre and Sidon, they 
 would have repented long ago, 
 sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 
 
 14. But it 
 
 shall be more tolerable for 
 Tyre and Sidon at the 
 judgement, than for you. 
 
 15. And thou, Capernaum, 
 which art exalted unto heaven, 
 shalt be brought down to hell. 
 
 Though Christ must have often visited Chorazin 
 and Bethsaida, the two Evangelists no where take 
 notice that he had been at either. Yet St. Luke is apt 
 to order and dispose his narration in such a manner, 
 that the preceding part may illustrate the subse- 
 quent 1 . And this makes his correspondence with St. 
 Matthew in relating the wo denounced against these 
 cities the more remarkable. 
 
 4. %. Matth. xxiv. 45—51. 
 
 45. Who then is that faithful 
 and wise servant, whom his Lord 
 hath made ruler over his house- 
 hold, to give them meat 
 in due season ? 
 
 Luke xii. 42 — 46. 
 
 42. Who then is that faithful 
 and ui.se steward, whom his Lord 
 shall make ruler over his house- 
 hold, to gii'e them their portion 
 of meat in due season ? 
 
 1 .S?* Due. vi. Sect. I. 
 
 46. Blessed 
 
DISCOURSE Iir. SECT. III. 
 
 55 
 
 Matth. xxiv. 45—51. 
 
 46. Blessed is that servant, whom 
 ids Lord when he cometh shall 
 find so doing. 
 
 47. l 'erily I say unto you, that 
 he will make him ruler 
 
 oi^er all his goods. 
 
 48. But and if that, evil servant 
 shall stay in his heart, My Lord 
 delayeth his coining ; 
 
 •49. And shall begin to smite 
 his fellow servants, 
 <uid to eat and drink tvith the 
 drunken ; 
 
 50. The Lord of that servant 
 shall come in a day when he look- 
 eth not for him, and. in an hour 
 that he is- not ware of ; 
 
 51. And shall cut him asunder, 
 and appoint him his portion 
 with the hypocrites. 
 
 Luke .vii. 42—46. 
 
 43. Blessed is that servant, whom 
 his Lord ivhen he comet h shall 
 find so doing. 
 
 44. Of a truth I say unto you, 
 that he will make him ruler 
 over all his goock. 
 
 45. But and if that servant 
 shall say in his heart, My Lord 
 delayeth his coming ; 
 
 and shall begin to smite 
 
 the men servunts and maidens, 
 
 and to eat and drink and be 
 
 drunken ; 
 40. The Lord of that servant 
 shall come in a day wheh he look- 
 eth not for him, and in an hour 
 that he is not amre of; 
 and shall cut him asunder, 
 and appoint him his portion 
 with the unbelievers. 
 
 This monition, and the denunciation just men- 
 tioned, were twice delivered. St. Matthew recites 
 them as spoken on one occasion, St. Luke on ano- 
 ther ; yet there is hardly any variation of language 
 between them, till we come to the two last words of 
 the latter parallel ; where we tind hypocrites in St. 
 Matthew, and unbelievers in St. Luke. It is very 
 possible that Christ might mention both 1 ; and each 
 Evangelist chose the term that was most to his pur- 
 pose. If each wrote with a view to different classes 
 of converts, the very nature of his design must occa- 
 sion such small diversities : which cannot affect the 
 conclusion to be drawn from their accordance. 
 
 » So Grotius supposes on Matth. xxiv 51. 
 
 SECT. 
 
S6 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. IV. 
 
 SECT 
 
 Parallel passages of S 
 
 1. Mark i. 21—28. 
 
 SI. And they went into Caper- 
 naum ; 
 
 and straightway on the sabbath' 
 day he en tered into the synagogue, 
 and taught. 
 
 22. And they were astonished at 
 his doctrine .- 
 
 for he taught them as one that had 
 authority, and not as the scribes. 
 
 23. And there was in their syna- 
 gogue a man 
 with an unclean spirit, 
 
 and he cried out, 
 
 24. Saying, Let us alone ; 
 what have we to do with thee, 
 thou Jesus of Nazareth '? 
 art thou come to destroy us ? 
 J know thee who thou art, 
 the Holy One of God. 
 
 25. And Jesus rebuked him, 
 saying, 
 
 Hold thy peace, and come out of 
 him. 
 
 26. And when the unclean spirit 
 had torn him, 
 and cried with a loud voice, 
 he came out of him. 
 
 It- And they were all amazed, 
 
 insomuch that they questioned 
 among themselves, saying, 
 Hhat thing is this ? 
 what new doctrine is this ? 
 for with authority 
 he commandeth even the 
 vpclean spirits, 
 
 IV. 
 
 . Mark and Sr. Lukl. 
 
 Luke iv. 31—37. 
 
 31. And [lie] came down to 
 Capernaum, 
 a city of Galilee, 
 and was teaching them on the 
 sabbath-day. 
 
 32. And they were astonished at 
 his doctrine ; 
 
 for his word was with authority. 
 
 S3. And there was in the syria- 
 goguea man 
 
 which had a spirit of an unclean, 
 devil, 
 
 and he cried out 
 with a loud voice, 
 
 34. Saying, Let us alone ; 
 what have we to do with thee, 
 thou Jesus of Nazareth ? 
 art thou come to destroy us f 
 I know thee who thou art, 
 the Holy One of God. 
 
 35. And Jesus rebuked him, 
 saying, 
 
 Hold thy peace, and come out of 
 him. 
 
 And when the devil 
 had thrown him in the midst, 
 
 he came out of him, 
 and hurt him not. 
 
 36. And they were all in amaze- 
 ment, 
 
 and spake among themselves, 
 saying, 
 
 What a word is this ? 
 
 for with authority and power 
 he commandeth the 
 unclean spirits, 
 
 and 
 
DISCOUUSE III. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 IV. 
 
 ^7 
 
 Mark i. 21— ^8. 
 
 and they oheij him. 
 
 28. And immediately his fame 
 
 spread abroad throughout 
 
 all the region round about 
 
 Galilee- 
 
 Luke iv. 31 — 3?. 
 
 and they come out. 
 37- And a report concerning him 
 went out into every place of 
 the region around about. 
 
 This miracle, recited only by St. Mark and St. 
 Luke, is the first miraculous cure mentioned by either 
 of them : though Christ had done some before in 
 this very city of Capernaum. Luke iv. 23. It is 
 prefaced in both with the same observation on the 
 authority of his doctrine, and closed with the same 
 remark on the spreading of his fame : which remark 
 is the more to be noted in St. Luke, as it was said by 
 him a little above, ver. 14. " And there xcent out 
 " a fame of him through all the region round 
 " about and he is very sparing of repetitions 
 
 The first word of the demoniac's speech, Ea, which 
 is translated, Let us alone, is in the opinion of able 
 critics not a verb, but a Greek interjection, not often 
 found in prose writers, and no where else in the New- 
 Testament 2 : which made Grotius not hesitate to 
 say, that here certainly Luke copied Mark, with the 
 change only of a few words. 
 
 St. Luke makes no comparison of Christ with the 
 Scribes, but says only, that " His word was with 
 authority.'''' This is agreeable to his method of de- 
 ferring to name what he cannot yet explain 3 . 
 
 2. §. Markx. 1?— 20. Lukexviii. 18—21. 
 
 17. And when he was gone forth 
 into the way, tfiere came one 
 
 running, and kneeled to him, 18. And a certain ruler 
 and asked him, asked him, saying, 
 
 ' See Disc. iv. Sect. v. § G. note. 
 '- Raphelii Annot. in Marc. i. 24. 
 3 Sec DiiC. vi. Sett. i. 
 
 Gcea 
 
5S 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 IV. 
 
 2. §. Mark x. 17 — 20. 
 
 Coed master, what shall I do 
 that I may inherit eternal life ? 
 18. And Jesus said unto him, 
 Why callest thou me good 9 
 There is none good but one, 
 that is, God. 
 
 1!). Thou knouest the command- 
 ments, 
 Do not commit adulter//. 
 Do not kill, Do not steal, 
 Do not bear false witness, 
 Defraud not, 
 
 Honour thy father and mother. 
 20. And lie answered and said 
 
 unto lii in, 
 Master, all these things 
 have I observed from my youth. 
 
 Luke xviii. lft— 21. 
 
 Good master, what having done 
 shall 1 inherit eternal life 9 
 
 19. And Jesus said unto him, 
 Why callest thou me good ? 
 There is none good but one,' 
 that is, God. 
 
 20. Thou knowest the command- 
 ments, 
 
 Do not commit adultery, 
 Do not kill, Do not steal, 
 Do not bear false witness, 
 
 Honour thy father and mother. 
 
 21. And he said, 
 
 All these things 
 
 have I observed from my youth. 
 
 The circumstance, that " If lien Je sus was gone 
 forth into the way there came one running and 
 kneeled to hint,'" is one of those little incidents that 
 characterize the narration of a beholder. Of these 
 there are many in St. Mark, which St. Luke would 
 naturally omit. Otherwise there is almost a perfect 
 uniformity in the two passages; and it is distinguished 
 by an inversion of the sixth and seventh command- 
 ments, and a translation of them different from the 
 Septuagint, which St. Luke usually follows. The 
 Septuagint says, and St. Matthew here agrees with 
 it, Thou shaft not kill, Thou shalt not commit 
 adultery ; St. Mark and St. Luke, Do not commit 
 adultery, Do not kill. 
 
 In another place they both deviate a little from 
 St. Matthew and the Septuagint, who say, Thou, 
 shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul ; to which they add, And 
 with all thy strength. Dent. vi. 5. Matth. xxii. 
 37. Mark xii. 50. Luke x. 27. 
 
 3. §. Mark 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 SECT, 
 
 IV. 
 
 59 
 
 3. §. Mark xii. 38—40. 
 
 3S. And he said unto them 
 in his doctrine, 
 
 Beware of the scribes, which 
 desire to walk in long robes, 
 and salutations 
 in the market places, 
 
 39. And the chief seats in the 
 synagogues, 
 
 andtheuppermosi rooms at feasts; 
 
 40. Devouring widows houses, 
 and for a pretence 
 
 making long prayers : 
 these shall receive 
 greater damnation. 
 
 Luke xx. 45 — 47. 
 
 45. Then in the audience of all 
 the people, he said unto his dis- 
 ciples, 
 
 46. Beware of the scribes, which 
 desire to walk in long robes, 
 and love salutations 
 
 in the markets, 
 
 and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues, 
 
 and the upper most rooms at feasts; 
 47- Which devour widows houses 
 and for a pretence 
 make long prayers : 
 these shall receive 
 greater damnation. 
 
 There are two things in this parallel which deserve 
 our attention : 
 
 1. Our Lord delivered a much longer discourse 
 on the subject of the Serines and Pharisees [Matth. 
 xxiii.] out of which both Evangelists have selected 
 these particulars only. 
 
 2. They coincide in the arrangement of them ; 
 ■which in one place exactly inverts the order of St. 
 Matthew. This St. Luke rarely does, and then 
 chiefly in conjunction with St. Mark. 
 
 Mattfr. xxiii. 6, 7- 
 
 And love the uppermost rooms at 
 feasts, 
 
 and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues, 
 
 and salutations in the markets. 
 
 4. §. Mark xiv. 13—16. 
 
 13. And he sendeth two of his 
 disciples, 
 
 Mark. Luke. 
 
 And love salutations in the mar- 
 kets, 
 
 and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues, 
 
 And the uppermost roomsatfeasts. 
 
 Luke xxii. 8 — 13. 
 8. And he sent Peter and John, 
 
 saying. Go and prepare us the 
 passoccr, that we may eat. 
 
 9. And 
 
60 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. IV. 
 
 Mark xiv. 13—16. 
 
 and saith unto them, 
 Go ye into the city, and 
 
 there shall meet you a man 
 bearing a pitcher oj water : 
 follow him, 
 
 14. And wheresoever he shall go 
 in, 
 
 say ye to the good-man, 
 
 The master saith, 
 M here is the guest-chamber, 
 where I shall eat the passover 
 with my disciples ? 
 
 15. And he will show you a large 
 ■upper room furnished and pre- 
 pared : 
 
 there make ready. 
 
 IS. And his disciples went, 
 
 and came into the city, 
 
 and found as he had said unto 
 
 them ; 
 
 and they made ready the passorcr. 
 
 Luke xxii. 8 — 13. 
 
 f). And they said unto him, 
 Where wilt thou that we pre- 
 pare f 
 
 10. And he said unto them, 
 Behold, when ye are entered 
 
 into the city, 
 there shall meet you a man 
 hearing a pitcher of water : 
 follow him into the house, 
 where he entercth in. 
 
 11. And ye shall say to the good- 
 
 man of the house, 
 The master saith unto thee, 
 Where it the guest-chamber, 
 where I shall eat the passover 
 with my disciples f 
 YZ. And he will show you a large 
 upper room furnished : 
 
 there make ready. 
 13. And they went, 
 
 and found as he had said untd 
 them ; 
 
 and they made ready the passorer. 
 
 St Mark and St. Luke are much more explicit 
 than St. Matthew in relating our Lord's directions 
 to the two disciples whom he sent on this occasion. 
 The incidents that were to happen are told by both 
 in the same words ; and both style the upper room, 
 where the passover was to be kept, 'Avwyeov which 
 is an uncommon name, and is found in no other 
 part of the New Testament. 
 
 The word prepared in ver. 15 of St. Mark is not 
 superfluous. It alludes to the manner of making 
 the room ready for the celebration of the passover : 
 which was examined in every hole and corner by the 
 light of wax candles, and cleared from the smallest 
 crumb of leaven with a scrupulous nicety As the 
 
 1 Ainaworth cn Exod. xii. 15. 
 
 time 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. IV. 6l 
 
 time perhaps was short, that the two disciples might 
 better attend to the other parts of their office, the 
 care of searching the room was providentially super- 
 seded, as our Lord intimates by this word. The 
 room, into which they would be conducted, was not 
 only furnished with necessary accommodations, but 
 prepared according to the ritual. And no wonder 
 that St. Mark from the mouth of St. Peter, who 
 found it so, relates this circumstance. But the ob- 
 scurity of it to those who were not versed in Jewish 
 affairs (which probably made some copyists leave out 
 the word prepared as a gloss upon the preceding) 
 would induce St. Luke to pass it over. 
 
 St. Mark in turn omits a particular mentioned by 
 St. Luke ; that is, the names of the two disciples 
 sent on this errand. This he did, as will be shown 
 in another place, because St. Peter was one of them. 
 
 The variations of the Evangelists carry a plain 
 reason generally with them. Our present inquiry 
 is after the cause of their agreement. 
 
 S E C T. V. 
 
 Conclusion drawn from the preceding comparisons, 
 and confirmed by some other considerations. 
 
 Let me then ask, how we are to account for this 
 exact concurrence of the Evangelists in so many 
 places. Shall we impute it to accident, or necessity, 
 or divine influence ? 
 
 1. §. It cannot, with any show of probability, be 
 ascribed to accident, even in the recital of our Lord's 
 
 discourses. 
 
eg 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 discourses. Let the Evangelists here, if you will, be 
 considered as translators. The rendering of a few 
 periods only into another language will seldom be 
 performed by two persons perfectly alike. Of which 
 take an instance from our common version, in a sen- 
 tence translated severally from the same words in St. 
 Mark and St. Luke : 
 
 Mark xii. 38, 39. 
 Which lo\ e togo in Itingclotbmg, 
 
 and lore salutations in the mar- 
 ket-places ; 
 and the chief seats in the syna- 
 gogues, and the uppermost 
 rooms at feasts. 
 
 Luke xx. 4G. 
 Which desire to walk in iota* 
 robes, 
 
 and lore greetings in the mar- 
 kets , 
 
 and the highest seats in the sy- 
 nagogues, and the chief 
 rooms at feasts. 
 
 The two versions of this short and easy sentence 
 have seven variations. The Hebrew or Syriac, in 
 which our Lord spoke his instructions, and the Greek, 
 in which the Evangelists relate them, were languages 
 of a dissimilar genius, as Josephus a judge of both 
 intimates'. This increases the improbability, that the 
 translations of different hands from the one into the 
 other should exactly coincide. But indeed the Evan- 
 gelists did not translate the speeches of Christ as from 
 a book lying before them. His discourses were con- 
 tinued ; and an abridgment was to be made, or 
 parts selected. And yet whether they give a sum- 
 mary of the whole, or choose out particular passages, 
 there is often a full agreement between them. 
 
 The same obtains in the history of his actions. 
 The deeds of pietv, and works of wonder and bene- 
 licence, done by him, were all important ; and every 
 circumstance with which he did them, as bearing the 
 impress and character of divine, was worthy of per- 
 petual memory. We find however a general uni- 
 formity of the three first Evangelists, in recording 
 
 1 Preface to his Antiquities. 
 
 the 
 
DISCOURSE If I. SECT. V. 
 
 the same miracles and actions; and frequently in two 
 of them a description and omission of the very same 
 particulars. In so ample a field they must confine 
 their walk ; but it is utterly improbable, that they 
 should so repeatedly, and in very critical points, tread 
 full in each other's steps by mere accident. 
 
 2. They were not compelled to this agreement 
 by a necessity arising from the laws of truth. It is 
 evident that our Lord's discourses did not so abso- 
 lutely confine them ; since even one of the most 
 solemn and awful is in some parts variously expressed 
 by them. In the institution of the Eucharist, what 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark translate, This is my 
 blood of the New Testament ; St. Luke and St. Paul 
 render, 'This cup is the New Testament in my blood 1 . 
 What in St, Luke is, My body given for you ; is in 
 St. Paul, My body broken for you. What our Lord 
 calls in St. Matthew, My Father s kingdom ; he 
 styles in St. Mark, The kingdom of God. Now as 
 each of these inspired writers has, beyond all doubt, 
 faithfully represented the meaning of Christ ; we see 
 that it might be truly done in different words, or in 
 a different form of the same words. 
 
 His sentences also sometimes admitted a difference 
 of arrangement : for the order in which two sentences, 
 or the several members of the same sentence, are 
 disposed bv St. Matthew, is in several places inverted 
 by St. Mark. 
 
 And with regard to his actions, though the most 
 material parts of whatever they were going to relate 
 must command their attention ; yet there was no such 
 
 1 See Matth. xx*i. 2S. Mark xiv. 24. Luke xxii. 20. 1 Cor. 
 xi. 25. 
 
 superior 
 
64 
 
 mscoc use tit. sect v 
 
 superior attraction in one specific number and order 
 of secondary circumstances, as could turn their 
 thoughts absolutely and exclusively to them. This 
 is plain from instances of the contrary. One Evan- 
 gelist is sometimes distinct where another is concise, 
 and describes what the other passes over. 
 
 3. §. If the agreement which I speak of was not 
 necessary to the truth, it seems already determined, 
 that it is not to be ascribed to the immediate opera- 
 tion of Heaven. The Holy Spirit sanctified their 
 hearts with a lively and powerful sense of spiritual 
 tilings ; enlightened their minds with a just knowledge 
 of the truth; and endued them with wisdom to re- 
 late the life of Christ in a manner becoming the sub- 
 ject and suited to their several designs. And these 
 gifts, which exalted the natural powers of the mind 
 without destroying them, would produce verity and 
 propriety, but not identity of relation. 1 'his must 
 have proceeded, if the Holy Spirit was the author of 
 it, from so many special acts of his over-ruling in- 
 fluence. But the scriptural history of Providence 
 instructs us, that Heaven interposes miraculously, and 
 grants extraordinary aids so far only as is necessary. 
 The Angel, whose light shone round St. Peter in the 
 prison, who made his chains fall off, and led him 
 through dangers and impediments which human 
 ability could not surmount, suffered him to go on by 
 himself when his own discretion could direct him h 
 And in like manner we may conceive, that the illu- 
 minating Spirit, who took the Evangelists by the 
 hand to conduct them clear of error and into all the 
 truth, left them to the exercise of that habitual wis- 
 dom which he had given them, where it was a suffi- 
 cient guide ; as seems the case in the following and 
 similar instances : 
 
 1 Acts xii. 6—10. 
 
 St. 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. G5 
 
 St. Matthew* St. Mark, and St. Luke \ call our 
 Lord's figurative speeches parables invariably, even 
 those that come under the common notion of pro- 
 verbs- : but St. John 2 as constantly styles thein pro- 
 rerbs, where the appellation of parables would be as 
 proper, if we were to distinguish between them. 
 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke relate the very same 
 particulars of our Lord's Temptation in the wilder- 
 ness, but do not dispose them in the same order 3 . 
 
 In which instances it is surely more adviseable to 
 think, that they were left to their own option, than 
 to suppose them unequally instructed, if there were 
 a superior excellence in either mode of expression 
 and arrangement ; or, if both were matter of much 
 indifference, that there was any direction of Heaven 
 when none was requisite. 
 
 This is consonant to the sentiments of learned and 
 judicious divines and commentators 4 ; who, without 
 a wish or thought of circumscribing the inspiration 
 
 1 Gjnsultthe original of Luke iy. 23. 
 
 2 See the original of John x. 6. 
 
 3 Matth. iv. 1— 11. Luke iv. 1—12. 
 
 * Lowth's \ mil.. jatjoa of the Divine Authority and Inspi- 
 ration of the Old and New Testament, 2d Ed. Ch. i. p. 34. 
 Atterbury's Sermons, Vol. iii. p. 236. 
 
 Wall's Critical Notes on the New Testament, on John vi. 19. 
 p. 96. 
 
 Twells's Vindication of St. Matthew's Gospel, p. 43. 
 Aichbp. Seeker's Sermons, V. vi. Serm. i. on 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17- 
 p. 6. 
 
 Witsii Miscellanea Sacra, L. i. C. xxii. § 19. 
 
 Beausobie et L'Lnfant, Preface generate, p. 154. 
 
 Hoibery's Sermons, p. 182. 252. Oxford, 1774. The inspira- 
 tion of Scripture is treated in Sermon vii, viii, ix, with great 
 accuracy by this late valuable author ; who was as much loved 
 by all who knew him for a pleasing simplicity of manners, as ad- 
 mired for strength and clearness of reasoning. 
 
 F of 
 
66 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 of the Evangelists within undue limits, yet hold 
 that diction and method were in great measure their 
 own. 
 
 Again : St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. John, in 
 describing the miracle of feeding the five thousand, 
 mention the grass on which the multitude sat down ; 
 but St. Luke takes no notice of it. Now surely we 
 need not deduce the difference from Heaven when a 
 sufficient reason of it arises out of a circumstance 
 before observed ; that St. Luke probably had not 
 seen the miracle done, of which the other relaters, 
 St. Mark being here but the secretary of St. Peter, 
 were eye-witnesses. 
 
 Since therefore it appears, that the Evangelist? 
 were left in ordinary cases to their own judgement 
 in the choice of words, circumstances, and method : 
 we are not authorized to resolve a concurrence in 
 these into the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 4. §. Some have supposed, that detached pieces of 
 the history of Christ, written by the Apostles or un- 
 der their inspection, were extant among the faithful 
 before any one of the Gospels was published ; and 
 that these being severally copied into them by the 
 Evangelists occasioned the agreement which we are 
 considering. 
 
 But before we acquiesce in this solution of the 
 point in debate, should we not have some little evi- 
 dence of the real existence of these detached pieces; 
 and indeed some probable assurance that they were 
 written by Apostles, if we are to allow them the 
 dignity of directing not only St. Mark and St. Luke, 
 but St. Matthew also ? 
 
 Now though many had undertaken, as St. Luke 
 tells us, to write of the ministry of Christ ; the 
 
 writing* 
 
DISCOURSE lir. SECT. V. 
 
 67 
 
 writings on this subject were not unconnected stone?, 
 but continued narrations [^tr^/reig] 1 : nor were the 
 authors Apostles, but subordinate members of the 
 church, as the same Evangelist plainly intimates. 
 As to the Apostles themselves, Eusebius informs us> 
 " That of all the disciples of the Lord, Matthew and 
 " John only have left us memoirs of him 2 ." It is 
 certainly remarkable, that so many of the chosen wit* 
 nesses, all of whom were zealous for the glory of 
 their Lord, whom they loved and adored, and whose 
 word they preached throughout the world without 
 dread of danger or remission of labour, should com- 
 mit nothing to writing concerning his wonderful life 
 and character. Yet, 1 conceive, a reasonable account 
 may be given of their conduct, which appears to 
 have been wise and provident. They saw it to be of 
 the last importance to mankind, that what was writ- 
 ten by them on the subject of Christ should be pre- 
 served in its original purity ; and that therefore it 
 was to be guarded with extreme care and vigilance 
 against all dangers of corruption, till it was of suf- 
 ficient strength to resist the practices of false friends 
 or insidious foes : which strength, the being circu- 
 lated and known in all parts of the church, the being 
 read and studied and prized by the whole community, 
 would assuredly give it; it being impossible that any 
 change should be made unperceived in a text upon 
 which the eyes of all were intent. But this security 
 of the truth must diminish, if books of the same sort 
 multiplied, and especially if they multiplied apace. 
 The numbers of them would enlarge the frontier 
 to be defended against forgery and fable ; and, by 
 dividing the attention of the faitliful among many 
 
 1 Luke iA. 
 
 ' 'Qjj.ii; i' u» c| o.-a.,Tuv run tu Kvftx fict%-u.i u^n-tripxra. MzrSaTo; 
 nfiTv y.at 'luami>s povAi Koura\Aahrain». Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. c. <24. 
 See Laidner's Credibility, vol. viii. p. 90. Testimonies before 
 St. John's Gospel in Mill'. 
 
 f S objects 
 
68 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 objects of equal value, would weaken their regard for 
 any in particular, and abate their watchfulness over 
 it. It was therefore not adviseable, not to be wished 
 by those to whom the cause of religion was dearer 
 than the indulgence of curiosity, that Gospels should 
 be set forth by every Apostle in any time of their 
 ministry, and much more in the outset of it. But it 
 for this reason the generality of them abstained from 
 writing on the whole argument ; for the same or a 
 stronger reason thev would not retail the life of Christ 
 by writing it in small portions and separate articles, 
 to be sorted, like the Sibyl s leaves, at the discretion 
 of those who collected them. For by this procedure 
 they had opened a door to the adversary, whom the\ 
 were so solicitous to exclude. The example might 
 have encouraged rash or designing men to compose 
 false anecdotes concerning Christ, or to adulterate 
 the true ; and to disperse them in the names of tlu 
 Apostles. And in a variety of small and scattered 
 compositions, how could these have taken cogni- 
 zance, or the simple and unlearned been aware, of 
 the deceit ? 
 
 However, it was expedient for many reasons that 
 a written history of Christ should appear without 
 much delav after his Ascension The Apostles there- 
 fore, as their great caution and reserve lead us to 
 infer, determined, that one of their body, and for 
 the present one only, should undertake and publish 
 such a work ; a work appealing to a multitude of 
 living witnesses for many of its facts, and attested by 
 the chosen witnesses in all its parts : and therefore fit 
 to be recommended to their, followers and converts 
 as a standard of truth, by which the credibility of 
 other relations might be examined and proved. This 
 it was easy to preserve from interpolations or cor- 
 
 1 See the next Section. 
 
 . ruptions; 
 
DISCOURSE III. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 V. 
 
 fig 
 
 ruptions ; since copies of it, taken by believers or 
 for their use, might be verified by the original re- 
 maining with the central church in Jerusalem. And 
 for the sake of a like advantage, I apprehend the 
 other Gospels were afterwards published in cities of 
 great resort, and in which Christian churches, the 
 depositaries of the authentic manuscripts, were well 
 established. 
 
 Now if such was the plan laid down and pursued 
 by the Apostles, till the enlargement of the church 
 required some little variation of measures ; it is evi- 
 dent, St. Matthew's must have been the Gospel com- 
 posed in consequence of that plan. And then he 
 might be the first writer of all our Lord's disciples 
 and followers. I believe him to have been so ; but 
 for the present wave the argument from the early 
 publication of his Gospel ; and returning to the in- 
 ference which I esteem justly made, that these de- 
 tached portions of history, if they existed before his 
 Gospel, came not from the hands of the Apostles, I 
 ask, Whether he could have any inducement to make 
 use of them ? A member of the apostolical college 
 wanted no information from without on the subject 
 of Christ's ministry : and it might weaken, but could 
 not confirm, the authority of his book, if it appear- 
 ed that he had made collections here and there, and 
 transcribed from authors less acquainted than himself 
 witti the works and doctrine of his Lord, and less 
 honoured with his confidence. The whole tenor of 
 his Gospel, peculiar yet uniform in style and manner, 
 refutes the idea of such a compilation. 
 
 The question then is reduced to St. Mark, and St. 
 Luke. They might copythese detached pieces, though 
 St. Matthew did not. And if they did so, it must 
 follow, that the frequent, and in some instances re- 
 markable, coincidence of their narrative with his was 
 
 entirely 
 
70 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 entirely casual. But this, I trust, hath been shown 
 to be highly improbable ; nor is it indeed consistent 
 with the scheme before us, which, by proposing its 
 reason lor this coincidence, disclaims the vague notion 
 of chance. 
 
 The agreement in question then having no other 
 assignable cause, that I perceive, than That the suc- 
 ceeding Evangelists had seen the former Gospels, 
 I must abide by this. 
 
 And to strengthen the conclusion to which I am 
 led, I will subjoin a few examples of a concurrence, 
 not in language and circumstances, but of another 
 kind, which is sometimes found in the Gospels, and 
 seems to lie totally beyond the reach of the just-men- 
 tioned hypothesis; and that is, a consent of two 
 Evangelists in an order of history which is not go- 
 verned by the course of the events. 
 
 The first of these examples will show, that St. 
 Matthew and St. Mark have stopt exactly in the same 
 place, to return to a transaction which they passed by 
 at the time when it happened ; as will appear on 
 comparing them with St. John. The relation of St. 
 Matthew and St. Mark is so very nearly the same, 
 that it will be sufficient to cite St. Mark'b. 
 
 5. §. Mark xiv. 1 — 10. Sec MatLh. xxvi. 1 — 14. 
 
 sifter two davs was the feast of the passovev, and 
 of unleavened bread : and the chief priests and 
 the scribes sought how they might take him by 
 craft, and put him to death. 
 
 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there 
 be an uproar of the people. 
 
 And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 
 leper, as he sat at mcui, there came a woman having 
 
 an 
 
mscounsE nr. 
 
 sect. v. 
 
 71 
 
 an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very pre- 
 vious; and she brake the box, and pouredit onhis head. 
 
 And there were some that had indignation within 
 themselves, and said, Ifliy was this waste of the 
 ointment made ? 
 
 For it might have been sold for more than three 
 hundred pence, and given to the poor. And they 
 murmured against her. 
 
 And Jesus said, Let her alone, why trouble ye 
 her ? She hath wrought a good work on me. 
 
 For ye hare the poor with you always, and when- 
 soever ye tvill yc may do them good : but me ye have 
 not always. 
 
 She hath done what she could : she is come afore- 
 Iiand to anoint my body to the burying. 
 
 J 'erily I say unto you, Wlieresoever this gospel 
 shall be preached throughout the ivhole world, this 
 also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a me- 
 morial of her. 
 
 And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto 
 the chief priests to betray him unto them. 
 
 John xii. 1 — 8. 
 
 Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came to 
 Bethany, where Lazarus ?vas which had been dead, 
 whom he raised from the dead. 
 
 There they made him a supper, and Martha 
 served : but Lazarus was one of them that sat at 
 the table with him. 
 
 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, 
 very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and 
 wiped his feet with her hair : and the house was 
 foiled with the odour of the ointment. 
 
 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, 
 Simon! s son, which should betray him, 
 
 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred 
 pence, and given to the poor ? 
 
 This 
 
72 
 
 discourse nr. sect. v. 
 
 This he said, not that he cared for the poor ; but 
 because he teas a thief, and had the bag, and bare 
 what ivas pat therein. 
 
 Then said Jesus, Let her alone : against the day 
 'of my burying hath she kept this. 
 
 For the poor always ye have with you ; but me 
 ye have not always. 
 
 Some seeming differences between this account and 
 the preceding have made it a question, Whether they 
 relate to the same action ? But the woman described 
 by St. Matthew and St. Mark did more than pour the 
 ointment on the head of Christ, as he himself tes- 
 tifies : She is come aforehand to anoint my body to 
 the burying. Mary also did more than anoint and 
 wipe the feet of Jesus with her hair, as St. John inti- 
 mates where he says, It was that Mary which anointed 
 the Lord, and wiped his feet with her hair. xi. 2. For 
 this parenthesis I take to be designed as a connection 
 of his account with that of the other Evangelists : 
 and to mean, that Mary anointed the bodv as well 
 as the feet of our Lord. The Evangelists on each side 
 relate, that this happened in Bethany ; they call the 
 precious ointment by the name of spikenard, and 
 rate the value of it at three hundred pence : they men- 
 tion the same murmurs at the supposed waste of it, 
 and the .same reply of Christ, with regard to the 
 poor ; and the prophetical construction of the wo- 
 man's, action. It is not at all likely, that so mairy the 
 same circumstances should concur on two different 
 occasions ; but very likely, that St. John should tell 
 different circumstances of the same thing, (it being 
 his common practice to supply the omissions of the 
 other Evangelists, and repeat but so much as is neces- 
 sary of their relation :) and since they had spoken only 
 of the more usual honour of anointing the head, that 
 he should take notice of the less customary honour of 
 anointing the feet, which strongly marked the devout 
 
 and 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 73 
 
 and humble affection of the doer ; and that he should 
 take notice of this singly ; as he plainly intended his 
 Gospel to be read in conjunction with the others ! . 
 
 Mary therefore is the woman meant by the two 
 former Evangelists. But since the supper at which 
 our Lord was anointed by her was six days before the 
 passover ; (for St. John seems to relate everything in 
 exact order of time ;) whence is it, that St. Matthew 
 brings us within two days of it, and then takes us 
 back to this story ? These reasons appear on the face 
 of the narration : First, He would not interrupt the 
 account of our Lord's progress from Jericho and en- 
 trance into Jerusalem : Secondly, He would give one 
 view of the history of Judas ; the several parts of 
 which, his death excepted, are thus brought almost 
 close together : He chiefly, perhaps he solely, had 
 indignation at Mary's costly devotion 2 : after which, 
 and belorc the Jewish passover, he made his infamous 
 bargain w ith the rulers : and at this time, the incident 
 which had exasperated him, and which helped to 
 drive him to such an act of perfidy, is mentioned by 
 St Matthew : Thirdly, and especially, he was now 
 entering on the events, to which the anointing made 
 by Mary, and our Lord's comment upon it, had an 
 immediate reference. 
 
 1 Sec Discourse vii. Though Commentators and Harmonists 
 are divided on this questions they, who hold t tie side which is 
 here maintained, are not few "nor inconsiderable. See. Lucas 
 Brugensis in Quatuqr Eyangelia ; Beza, Grotius, Erasmus 
 Sehmidius, on Matth. xxvi. 6. Hammond on Luke vii. 37- Toi- 
 nard and Doddridge in their Harmonies. 
 
 3 Possibly it may be thought, that St. Matthew must mean 
 more than Judas, because he says, IVhen his disciples sou; it they 
 had indignation. But he speaks in the same general way of king 
 Herod, ii. c 20. They are dead irhich sought tlic young child's life; of 
 the thief on the cross who upbraided our Saviour, xxvii. 44. and 
 BO Other occasions. See Joshua vii. 1. and Patrick on the place. 
 
 But 
 
74 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 But if these reasons influenced St. Matthew, it is 
 not easily admissible, that they had of themselves, and 
 abstractedly considered, the very same effect on St. 
 Mark; and led him to introduce the story at the 
 same juncture of time, and place it among the same 
 particulars above and below. 
 
 6. §. St. Matthew and St. Luke describe the driving 
 of the buyers and the sellers out of the temple, as if 
 it had been done by our Lord on the first day of his 
 public entry into Jerusalem. Yet, according to St. 
 Mark, it did not happen till the day after 1 . The reason 
 why St. Matthew anticipated this event seems plainly 
 to have been, that he might clear the way for an 
 uninterrupted narration of our Lord's conferences and 
 discourses on the succeeding days : for which reason 
 he also anticipated some incidents relating to the Fig- 
 tree that withered. Compare Matth. xxi. IS — C'J. 
 with Mark xi. 12. &c 
 
 Our Lord, on the day of Ins solemn procession to 
 Jerusalem, went into the Temple, " and looked 
 round about upon all things." It is very likely there- 
 fore that he then testified his displeasure at the pro- 
 fanation of it, and gave warning that he would no 
 longer suffer it. He was at that time followed by 
 " a very great multitude.'' The next day his visit to 
 rhe Temple was more private ; and then it was that 
 he drove the traffickers out of it. In this he chose a 
 time better suited to the mild dignity of his conduct, 
 and which showed more distinctly the power of his 
 command : for thus it became visible, that they who 
 bought and sold submitted to it not through fear of 
 his numerous attendants, but under influence and awe 
 of the authority with which he appeared and spoke. 
 
 1 Matth. vxi. 12. Luke xix. 45. Compare Mark >:i. 11. 15. 
 
 Ok 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 75 
 
 On all accounts we must espouse the order of time 
 observed by St. Mark in relating this miracle of 
 cleansing the Temple. When therefore we see St. 
 Luke, who is apt to concur with him, assigning it 
 to the preceding day, we have reason to believe that, 
 he had his eve on St. Matthew, and was led by his 
 example. 
 
 7. §. The restoring of the daughter of Jairus to 
 life is disposed later in St. Mark's Gospel than in St. 
 Matthew's 1 . Yet St. Matthew has so united the com- 
 ing of Jairus to Christ with the entertainment and 
 discourse at his own house, that they cannot be parted 
 without doing great violence to his text, as the at- 
 tempts of Toinard and Le Clerc evince. It is much 
 more natural to suppose that he here followed the 
 course of things, and that St. Mark preferred affinity 
 of subject to order of time. It was matter of offence 
 to the Pharisees, that Christ conversed with publicans 
 and sinners at Matthew's house, and did not bind 
 his disciples to the rigour of their fasts. St. Mark 
 having mentioned their objections, and our Lord's 
 answers to them, goes on with this subject, and sub- 
 joins other instances of a similar nature. But in pur- 
 suing this object he passed the time at which Jairus 
 presented himself to Christ. He stays therefore till 
 the course of events brought him back to the place 
 where Jairus lived, before he relates the miracles 
 wrought at his house, St. Luke 2 accords with St. 
 Mark ; and this miracle occupies precisely the same 
 place in both their Gospels. 
 
 8. Need I apologize for maintaining, that the 
 Evangelists have not adhered to the order of time 
 
 • Mark v. 22. Matth. ix. IS. See the Bishop of Waterford's 
 Harmony ; with respect to the cleansing of the Temple, notes on 
 § 112. and § 113. — to the withered rig-tree, ib. — and to the 
 raising of the daughter of Jairus, note on § 52. 
 
 3 Luke viii. 41. 
 
 minuteh 
 
76 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 minutely and scrupulously in all things- This is no 
 imperfection in their works. At least the great bio- 
 graphers of antiquity thought it sufficient to give a 
 regular series of the principal events; and introduced 
 others, not as annalists, but with a freer and what 
 they deemed an apter connection. 
 
 Some of the learned have been pleased to suppose, 
 that the facts in St. Matthew's Gospel, from Chap, 
 iv. '22. to Chap. xiv. ].'). are not now as he placed 
 them ; but have been thrown into confusion by some 
 accident. Without taking shelter under Sir Isaac 
 Newton's authority, who declares, that Matthew 
 tells all things in due order of time 1 ; I will be 
 bold to affirm, that the present order, whether ex- 
 actly chronological or not, hath an excellence which 
 would be much injured by changing it. 
 
 But when the disposition of facts in history is not 
 according to their real succession, but proceeds from 
 the ideas of a more convenient or striking arrange- 
 ment which the relater frames to himself; there is a 
 strong presumption, if two authors have the very same 
 disposition, that one of them took it from the other. 
 
 1 might add other instances of consent in the Gos- 
 pels ; of which it is hard to assign a cause otherwise 
 than by supposing, that the later Evangelists chose 
 to follow the foregoing. But, as I judge the question 
 sufficiently proved, I forbear. 
 
 9. §. Mr. Jones, who has ably shown, that St. 
 Mark was not an epitomizer of St. Matthew - ; in his 
 zeal to strengthen his argument, espouses the opinion 
 of Mr. Dodwell and Mons. Le Clerc, that neither of 
 
 1 Observations on Daniel's Prophecies, p. 152. 
 * Vindication of St. Matthew's Gospel, Ch. vi — ix. 
 
 these 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 77 
 
 Evangelists had seen the Gospel of the other 1 : 
 in proof of which he brings ten instances of such dif- 
 ference between them as he thinks could not other- 
 wise have happened 3 : One is, that St. Matthew, 
 viii. 2S. speaks of two demoniacs healed, where St. 
 Mark, v. 1. mentions only one ; the reason of which 
 will be shown in a subsequent part of these Dis- 
 courses 3 : Another, that they disagree in the name 
 of the place where this miracle was performed ; St. 
 .Matthew calling it the country of the Gcrgesenes, 
 St. Mark of the Gadarenes. This is a small diffi- 
 culty indeed. If Gergesa was subordinate to Gadara 
 the metropolis of Peram, as Cellarius and Reland 
 judge 4 , and St. Mark did not write in Judea ; what 
 wonder that he chose the more general name, which 
 was best known in the world ? But Cellarius from 
 Eusebius takes notice, that some esteemed Gergasi 
 (so Eusebius writes it) and Gadara two names of 
 the same city ; and this he. thinks was the sentiment 
 of the Syriac translator. To this Sir Richard Ellys 
 most inclines in his Eortuita Sacra, p. ( 29- 
 
 If this is granted, it may be admitted among the 
 evidences, that the Greek of St. Matthew's Gospel 
 is original. If Gergesa was Gadara, he himself might 
 like to retain an ancient name understood hy his 
 countrymen. But a translator would probably have 
 followed St. Mark, and rendered it Gadara : as Ar- 
 gentina of an Italian author in a Erench or English 
 version will be Strasburg. 
 
 Another of Mr. Jones's instances is, that St. Mat- 
 thew relates the words of Christ to St. Peter, Before 
 
 ' lb. p. 96. 
 ■ lb. p. 79. 
 
 3 See Disc. v. Sect. iii. § 2. 
 
 4 Cellarius Geogiaph. V. i. B. ii. C. xiii. p. 646. Reland Pa- 
 kestin. V. ii. p. 774. 
 
 the 
 
78 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. V. 
 
 the cock croiv, thou shalt deny vie thrice ; St. Mark, 
 Before the cock croiv twice, thou shalt deny me 
 thrice. A learned note of Grotius on Matth. xxvi. 
 34. sets this matter in a clear light. 
 
 The remaining differences are not harder to solve 
 than these ; and Mr. Jones allows them to have been 
 all happily reconciled ; they cannot therefore be op- 
 posed to such clear proof as hath been produced : 
 perhaps, if properly considered, they help to confirm it. 
 For if two authors writing on one subject discover 
 each a peculiarity of style and manner, and yet have 
 whole passages in the same words; the presumption 
 increases, that in the concurring paragraphs one of 
 them had his eye upon the other. 
 
 10. §. A learned Father, who had carefully exa- 
 mined and compared the Evangelists, and wrote a 
 Treatise to show their mutual agreement ; gives his 
 judgement, that in their order they were acquainted 
 with the former Gospels, and did not think it unbe- 
 coming them to adopt sometimes what had been writ- 
 ten by another under the influence of that Spirit who 
 guided them all. This was the sentiment of St. 
 Augustin 1 ; and I hope no religious person will be 
 offended at the pains w hich I have taken to evince 
 the justness of it, or think that it derogates from the 
 credit and honour of the Evangelists ; whose cause 
 can never be injured by the truth. 
 
 1 Quamvis singuli [Evangelistae] suum quondam narrandiordi- 
 nem tenuisse videantur, non tamen unusquisque eorum velnt al- 
 terius praicedentis ignanis voluisse scribere reperitur, vel ignorata 
 prstermisisse, qua; scripsisse alius invenitur : sed sicut cuique 
 inspiratum est, non supeifluam co-operationem sui laboris ad- 
 junxit. Augustin. De Consensu Evangelistarum, L. L 
 
 SECT. 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. VI. 
 
 79 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Principles of determining the order of the Evan- 
 gelists on the ground of tlie preceding conclusion. 
 
 IT being then morally certain, that each foregoing 
 Gosj)el ^as known to the following Evangelists, let 
 us on this ground enquire, Whether the Gospels, 
 compared with each other, hear any relative marks 
 of the order in which they were published ? And 
 they appear to have many such, especially if the fol- 
 lowing positions are just : 
 
 I. The Gospel, by which the expressions of another 
 
 Ciospel are explained and rendered either cleaxcr 
 in themselves or to the converted Gentiles, was 
 the later Gospel : 
 
 II. The Gospel, in which the doctrine taught in 
 
 another is adapted to a more enlarged state of 
 the church, was the later Gospel : 
 
 III. AGospcl published among the Gentiles was later 
 than that which was published among the Jews. 
 
 The two first of these positions may be admitted, I 
 think, without much difficulty : for it must be sup- 
 posed, that an Evangelist, writing with another Gos- 
 pel before him, and relating the same fact, would not 
 fall short of it in clearness ; but would rather explain 
 Avoids or things that were abstruse to a part of his 
 readers ; and when the faith had passed the limits of 
 the Jewish church, and was spread among the Gen- 
 tiles, would abstract the evangelical doctrine, where 
 the case admitted, from its reference to one people, 
 • and 
 
80 
 
 UISCOURSE III. SECT. VI. 
 
 and give it that, extent and comprehension, which the 
 divine author of it ultimately intended. 
 
 The third position is founded on the propriety and 
 expediency, that a Gospel should be first and early 
 published at Jerusalem. 
 
 I. It had been repeatedly promised to the house of 
 Israel, that out of Sion should go forth the law, and 
 the word of the Lord from Jerusalem 1 : which Di- 
 vine Promise received a more complete accomplish- 
 ment, and the bouse of Israel had the preeminence 
 in every thing relating to the kingdom of God ; if the 
 law or word, written as well as preached, first went 
 forth from Sion to all other churches, as from a mother 
 to the daughters. 
 
 II. At the onrihg of the law from mount Sinai 
 there was an oral promulgation of the command- 
 ments, and they were also written in two tables of 
 stone -. 
 
 III. The method of joining oral and written noti- 
 fications of the same thi'ngs appears to have been 
 judged by the Apostles the surest method: for thus 
 they acted, when they issued their decree concerning 
 rites to be observed by the converted Gentiles 3 . It 
 was sent to Antioch by message and in writing : and 
 if they were so careful, that their own decree should 
 be justly evidenced and published; we cannot suppose 
 them less solicitous, that the life and doctrine of their 
 blessed Lord should be proposed to believers in as 
 ample and satisfactory a manner. 
 
 IV. Myriads of Jews who had embraced the faith 
 were yet zealous of the law 4 . And it is well if ex- 
 
 1 Isai. ii.3. Micah iv. 2. 
 5 Exod. xx. 1. xxxi. 18. 
 3 Acts xv. 23 — 27- 
 * Acts xxi. 20. 
 
 pectations 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. VI. 
 
 S? 
 
 pectations of a temporal kingdom, and an inveterate 
 confidence in rites and ceremonies, did not still ope- 
 rate on the minds of the multitude ; and require line 
 on line, precept on precept, to teach them the spi- 
 ritual nature of Christ's kingdom, and that it de- 
 manded internal and universal obedience. These 
 truths were indeed inculcated by the preaching of the 
 Apostles ; but if their followers were to read Moses 
 and the prophets in their houses l , it was fit that they 
 should have opportunity of studying the law of Christ 
 in the same manner. 
 
 V. But a great number of them could seldom hear 
 the instructions of the Apostles ; who, according to 
 ancient and constant tradition, resided wholly in 
 Judea for several years after the Ascension. And 
 though the Gospel was at first preached only to the 
 Jews, it was not limited to Judea, but spread beyond 
 it. Many converts were made of those who came to 
 Jerusalem only on solemn occasions, and for the rest 
 of the year lived in other countries far distant from 
 it. These converts must naturally desire to carry 
 home with them a written Gospel, for their own 
 sake, and for the promotion of the faith. 
 
 A written Gospel would enable them to know the 
 certainty of those things wherein they had been in- 
 structed by the Apostles ; and to comprehend the 
 several parts of a new dispensation much better than 
 if they trusted to memory alone. It would fortify 
 their minds against errors and prejudices, early re- 
 ceived by themselves, and zealously espoused by their 
 countrymen. It would establish their faith, animate 
 their hopes, and yield them that comfort and delight, 
 which pious minds feel in meditating and reading 
 the life and doctrine of Christ. 
 
 1 Deut. vi. 6— 9. 
 
 G It 
 
82 
 
 DISCOURSE III. SECT. VI. 
 
 It would serve as a criterion, by which they could 
 prove and examine what was advanced by those who 
 appeared among them as preachers of the Gospel, 
 whether it were according to the analogy of the faith, 
 and the teaching of the Apostles. 
 
 It would add weight and power to their endeavours 
 for the conversion of others in their several places of 
 abode. For however perfectly they might be inform- 
 ed of facts, and instructed in doctrines ; they wanted 
 that authority to teach others, which the gift of inspi- 
 ration derived on the Apostles. But this would be in 
 great measure supplied to them by a Gospel composed 
 and approved at Jerusalem ; which in the very cir- 
 cumstances of its publication carried with it the testi- 
 mony of the Apostles, and bore, as it were, the seal 
 of the whole sacred college to its truth. 
 
 VI. If therefore we consider the great advantages 
 accruing to the believers in Judea, and the still greater 
 to those of the dispersion by a written Gospel ; we 
 cannot suppose, that the pastoral care of the Apostles 
 permitted their flock to remain long without one. 
 
 VII. It was for the honour of the Gospel, that it 
 should be quickly notified by every mode of publi- 
 cation to the Jews in general ; to convince them 
 that it did not withdraw itself from the inquiry of 
 its contemporaries, but proposed the facts, on which 
 it was founded, to be examined and scrutinized by 
 those among whom they were done. 
 
 VIII. It was a great act of charity to the Jewish 
 nation to warn them early of the peril of rejecting the 
 Gospel : and a written account of it might gain ac- 
 cess to many, w ho stopt their ears against the preach- 
 ing of the Apostles. 
 
 IX. When 
 
DISCOURSE III. SECT. VI. 
 
 83 
 
 IX. When the great persecution of the church in 
 Jerusalem began with the stoning of St. Stephen, all 
 the chief members of it were dispersed, except the 
 Apostles ; who kept indeed their station, but, the po- 
 pular tide turning against them, could not be heard 
 in public so attentively as before ; and then it became 
 especially requisite to obviate the various aspersions 
 and false reports of their adversaries, by publishing 
 a plain memorial of what Christ had done and taught, 
 and what the witnesses of his life and doctrine taught 
 in his name. 
 
 X. It would also prevent some cavils of the Jews, 
 encourage the conversion of the Gentiles, and when 
 they were converted assure their minds and confirm 
 their faith, if the predictions of Christ concerning 
 their admission into the church, and his command to 
 his Apostles to teach and baptize all nations, ap- 
 peared on record, before the word was preached 
 among them l . But to answer such ends it was ne- 
 cessary, that these things should be early written and 
 divulged, that the knowledge of them might anticipate 
 an even! which was hastening forward. 
 
 It may be added as a corollary to these observa- 
 tions, that a Gospel designed to be of the most exten- 
 sive benefit to the people of the Jews must have 
 been written in a language which was most generally 
 understood by them. If therefore it was published in 
 Hebrew, as the Fathers testify of St. Matthew's, for 
 the sake of the common people of Jerusalem and 
 Judea ; at the same time, or very soon after, it must 
 have been published also in Greek, which was more 
 familiar than Hebrew to a great body of the Dis- 
 persion. 
 
 ' See Disc. iv. Sect. v. § 17. 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FOURTH. 
 
 ON ST. MATTHEW. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 St. Matthew wrote before St. Mark. 
 
 FROM these positions it will follow, that St. Mat- 
 thew was the earliest writer of a Gospel. But 
 in deducing this consequence it must be assumed 
 just tor the present, that he wrote for the Jews, and 
 injudea; and this being granted, whatever proves 
 St. Mark and St. Luke to have written in other 
 countries is a proof of his priority to them : of which 
 sort is the first argument here alleged in comparing 
 hiin with St. Mark. 
 
 1. §. Matth. iii. 6. Mark i. 5. 
 
 And were baptized of him in And were baptized of him in 
 Jordan. the River of Jordan. 
 
 The addition of the word River in St. Mark may 
 seem a slight circumstance on which to found an ar- 
 gument ; and yet I think it affords a strong probabi- 
 lity, that St. Mark wrote at a distance from Judea, 
 and not so near it as Egypt : for I much question 
 
 whether 
 
86 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. T. 
 
 whether this is not the only place, either in the Bihle 
 or Apocrypha, where this river is called more than 
 simply Jordan. So famous 1 was it in Palestine, and 
 the countries round, and among these in Egypt 2 . But 
 at Rome it was a name li .tie known, except among 
 the learned, till after the wars of Titus Vespasian, and 
 the trophies erected on the conquest of Judea. And 
 since to be baptized in Jordan, like St. John's ex- 
 pression, John also ivas baptizing in Enon 3 , does not 
 of itself determine, whether a river or a place were 
 intended ; one would be apt to suspect, that a ques- 
 tion of this kind had been asked, and gave occasion 
 to the inserting of the word river. Else it was ex- 
 tremely natural for St. Mark to speak of Jordan, as 
 all the other sacred writers have done. 
 
 2. §. Matth. ix. 14. 
 
 Then came the disciples of John 
 saying, 
 
 Why do we and the Pharisees 
 fast oft, but thy 
 disciples fast not ? 
 
 Mark ii. IS; 
 
 And the disciples of John and 
 of the Pharisees used to fast : 
 and they come and say unto 
 him, 
 
 Why do the disciples of John 
 and of the Pharisees fast, but thy 
 disciples fast not ? 
 
 Here a little explanation is premised ; but the next 
 instance is more striking. 
 
 3. §. Matth. xv. 1, 2. 
 
 Then came to Jesus 
 Scribes and Pharisees, 
 
 which were of Jerusalem, 
 
 Markvii. 1 — 3. 
 
 Then came together unto him 
 the Pharisees and certain of the 
 Scribes, 
 
 which came from Jerusalem. 
 
 And when they saw some of 
 his disciples eat bread with 
 defied (that is to say, 
 
 1 Dr. Shaw, Travels, p. 373, says, " The Jordan, excepting 
 " the Nile, is by far the most considerable river that I have seen 
 " either in the Levant or Barbary." 
 
 * See Ecclus. xxiv. 26. a j 0 h n 03 
 
 with 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. I. 
 
 87 
 
 Matth. xv. 1, 2. Mark vii. 1—5. 
 
 with unwashen) hands, they 
 found fault. 
 
 For the Pharisees and all the 
 Jews, except they wash their 
 hands oft, eat not, holding the 
 tradition of the elders. 
 
 And when they come from 
 the market, except they wash, 
 they eat not. And many other 
 things there be, which they 
 have received to hold, as the 
 washing of cups and pots, bra- 
 zen, vessels, and of tables. 
 Then the Pharisees and Scribes 
 saying, asked him, 
 
 Why do thy disciples transgress Why walk not thy disciples 
 according to, 
 
 the tradition of the elders ? the tradition of the elders ? 
 
 St. Mark's narration goes band in hand with St. 
 Matthew's for a good way together, both in the pre- 
 ceding and subsequent parts ; except that he has in- 
 serted this note for the sake of those who were stran- 
 gers to Jewish customs ; of which there is no such 
 explication in all St. Matthew's Gospel, because they 
 for whom he composed it did not want any. 
 
 We meet with another little note concerning Judea, 
 in the eleventh chapter of St Mark, ver. 13. where 
 giving an account of the barren fig-tree he says, For 
 the lime of Jigs was not yet. St. Matthew does not 
 make this observation; as every one who lived in that 
 country must know, that the full season of ripe figs 
 was not till after the latest time on which the passover 
 could fall. Compare Matth. xxi. 19- 
 
 4. §. Matth. xv. 11. Mark vii. 16. 
 
 And behold, a Canaanitish The woman was a Greek, a 
 
 woman came out of the same Syro-phcemciari by nation, 
 coasts, and cried unto him. and she besought him. 
 
 Phoenicia 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. I. 
 
 Phoenicia was part of ancient Canaan ; but the lat- 
 ter name was grown into disuse. It is mentioned no 
 where in the New Testament, except here, and in 
 Acts vii. 11. xiii. ip. where St. Stephen and St. Paul 
 speak of remote antiquity, and speak of it to a Jewish 
 audience. Josephus uses it only with regard to the 
 same higher ages. St. Mark therefore explains Ca- 
 naanitish by Syro-phoenician which was more gene- 
 rally understood. By saying that the woman was a 
 Greek, he meansthatshe was not of the Jewish religion. 
 
 As the term Canaanite was become obsolete, may 
 we not conclude, that a translator of St. Matthew from 
 the Hebrew would have rendered it either Syro-phoe- 
 nician with St. Mark, or simply Phoenician, as is often 
 done in the Septuagint 2 ? This therefore is one of 
 the presumptive proofs, that the Greek of this Gos- 
 pel is from the hand of the author himself. And the 
 preference of an antique to a modern word in this 
 place makes the conjecture already mentioned 3 more 
 probable, that Gergesa and Gadara were names of 
 the same city, of which St. Matthew chose the more 
 ancient. 
 
 5. §. Matth. xviii. S, 9. Mark ix. 43—48. 
 
 8. Wlierefore if thy hand or 43. And if thy hand offend 
 thy foot offend thee, cut them off, thee, cut it off: it is better for 
 ajid cast them from thee ; it is thee 
 
 ' The Syro-phoenieians were so called to distinguish them from 
 the Phoenicians of Africa, who were Liby-phoenicians. Both 
 were of the same stock, and had borne the name of Canaanites : 
 which was still remaining in Africa, when St Augustin lived ; 
 for he tells us, that the country people about Hippo being asked, 
 Who they were, answered in the Punic tongue, that they were 
 Canaanites. Lib. Expositionum Epist. ad Romanos. See Grotius 
 on Matth. xv. 22. 
 
 2 Grotius, ib. This excellent annotator on the Gospels begins 
 » note on Matthew xxviii. 1 . with an observation which is ve- 
 rified in the instance before us : Marcus ita Matthsei legit vesti- 
 gia, ut saepe ei praestet interprets vicem. 
 
 i Disc. iii. Sect. t. § 9. 
 
 better 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 SECT, t 
 
 89 
 
 Matth. xviii. 8, 9. 
 
 better for thee to enter into life 
 halt or maimed, rather than ha- 
 ving two hands or two feet to be 
 cast into everlasting fire. 
 
 9. And if thine eye offend thee, 
 
 pluck it out, 
 
 and cast it from thee : 
 
 it is better for thee to enter into 
 
 life, 
 
 with one eye, than having two 
 eyes to be cast into hell-firc. 
 
 Mark ix. 43—48. 
 
 to enter into life maimed, than 
 having two hands to go into 
 hell, into the unquenchable fire : 
 
 44. Where their worm dieth not, 
 and the Jire is not quenched. 
 
 45. And if thy foot offend thee, 
 cut it off' : it is better for thee to 
 enter halt into life, than having 
 two feet to be cast into hell, into 
 the unquenchable fire : 
 
 40. Where their worm dieth 
 not, and the fire is not quenched. 
 
 47. And if thine eye offend thee, 
 pluck it out : 
 
 it is better for thee to enter into 
 the kingdom of God 
 with one eye, than having two 
 eyes to be cast into hell-fire : 
 
 48. Where (heir worm dieth not, 
 and the fire is not quenched, 
 
 Gehenna, the name for hell in the original of both 
 Evangelists, was a name purely Jewish, and unknown 
 to the Gentiles. St. Mark therefore has given the pas- 
 gage more at large ; the only one in which Gehenna 
 occurs in his Gospel : by which means he has shown, 
 as by a paraphrase, what ideas were annext to the 
 word, and in what sense our Lord used it. In verse 
 47, he says, It is better for thee to enter into the 
 Kingdom of God with one eye, &c. Where Entering 
 into the Kingdom of God being synonymous to En- 
 tering into Life in the preceding verses, the spiritual 
 acceptation of the word Life was explained to those 
 who were not much accustomed to this notion of it. 
 
 6. §. Matth. xix. 1. 
 
 When Jesus had finished 
 these sayings, he departed from 
 Gaiilee, and came into the 
 coasts ofjudca beyond Jordan, 
 
 Mark x. 1. 
 
 And he arose from thence, and 
 cometh into the coasts of Judea 
 by the farther side of Jordan. 
 
 The 
 
90 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. I. 
 
 The meaning of both Evangelists is the same ; that 
 our Lord in travelling from Galilee to Judea passed 
 through the country beyond Jordan ! , which was called 
 Peraea. But St. Mark by a little addition, still less in 
 the original, and nearer to St Matthew's text than it 
 appears in the version, has rendered the sense less du- 
 bious : St. Matthew says, Hipav rS'Jopodve, St. Mark, 
 £ua rS zrepav tb 'lop 3a'i/«, 
 
 With the same ease he has avoided another little 
 ambiguity of St. Matthew ; who in relating the sur- 
 mise at Herod's court, that Jesus was John the Bap- 
 tist revived, thus expresses it, Ch. xiv. 2. This is John 
 the Baptist [rtysfa ovk\ rmv vsxowv] he is risen from 
 the dead. Our translation gives the true, and indeed 
 obvious, sense of the words. But since they are ca- 
 pable of another, He is raised up by the dead, as if 
 they had caused him to rise again 2 ; St. Mark has 
 changed St. Matthew's preposition for one not so 
 liable to this misconstruction ['Ex vsxowv-^yi^.^i. 14.1 
 
 I shall here mention a third emendation, no greater 
 than these, and no less proper. St. Matthew, Ch. xxii. 
 30. says, But are as the Angels of God in heaven 3 ; 
 
 1 That n=£«v t« 'lo ( 'J«« means, not beside but beyond Jordan, 
 See Lightfoot on Johni. 28. V. i. p. 527- Fol. The construction 
 
 of the sentence is, *HA0f cr/pav, or, hd rH ws'fav, th IojjJava tl<; rd 
 
 c|iia! t«s 'IsJeuac. Our Saviour, who had preached in the several 
 tribes of Israel on this side Jordan, proceeded now to preach to 
 that part of them who dwelt beyond it, before he suffered. 
 
 ' See Wetstein on Matth. xiv. 2. whose observation this is . 
 and compare Matth. xi. 19. Mark viii. 31. 
 
 3 This instance shows, that Matth. i. 11. will bear the sense 
 in which Mr. Bowyer would understand it [Conjectures, p. 3.] 
 without any change of the text : " Josiah begat Jechoniah, and 
 " the brethren of Jechoniah that icere at the time of the Capti- 
 vity." To establish which sense he would read the passage thus : 
 Ka\ toi)? aJ(X(poo\ avrov Tovc IttI t»; fiiTcixta'ja?. The article Tovj, 
 which he supposes to have been lost, may have been, as o» in this 
 place, originally omitted. 
 
 The Jechoniah, who is mentioned in the next verse as begetting 
 
 Salathiel 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. I. 
 
 91 
 
 where it being doubtful, whether In heaven is to be 
 referred to God or the Angels, St. Mark has made it 
 clear by saying, xii. 25. But are as the Angels who 
 are in heaven. 
 
 I think we may conclude from these small improve- 
 ments on the text of St. Matthew, that he had pub- 
 lished his Gospel in Greek before St. Mark's appear- 
 ed. For if we put the contrary case, we must suppose 
 what is very improbable, that he or his translator has 
 followed St. Mark's language in many instances, and 
 yet deserted it in these, which are accuracies merely 
 grammatical, and would have made no alteration of 
 his sense. 
 
 7. §. We read in St. Matthew, that on the morning 
 of the Resurrection an Angel first, and then Christ 
 himself, appearing to the women who went early to 
 visit the sepulchre, sent a message by thein to the 
 disciples, "That they should go into Galilee, and as- 
 " semble together at a certain mountain ; and that 
 " there he would show himself to them :" the sequel of 
 which is thus told by the same Evangelist, xxviii. 16. 
 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, 
 into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 
 And when they saw him. they worshiped him. 
 
 St. Mark relates the message nearly in the word- 
 of St. Matthew : But go your way, tell his disciples, 
 and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee :- 
 there shall ye see him. xvi.7. But the success of this 
 
 Salathiel after the Captivity, was probably, as St. Jerom supposes., 
 the son of the former, and the same as is intitled Assir, 1 Chron. 
 iii. 17- which might be a name given him from his circumstances, 
 as The Prisoner, or, Captive j and lie might be emphatically so 
 styled on account of his preeminence over the rest of the Capti- 
 vity, and recorded by this name rather than that of Jechoniah to 
 distinguish him from his father. And thus each series of the three 
 has fourteen persons. 
 
 message 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. I. 
 
 message he does not mention. And yet, if brevity 
 confined an historian to relate only one of them, 
 would he not naturally prefer the fact as more im- 
 portant without the promise, than the promise without 
 the subsequent completion ? To what then shall we 
 ascribe the choice made by St. Mark ? 
 
 The manifestation of Christ on the mountain of 
 Galilee to the Apostles, and a numerous assembly of 
 other believers must have been of great fame and 
 notoriety, not only in the church, but throughout Pa- 
 lestine ; and had the advantage of being predicted 
 and promised before the death of Christ, as well as 
 after his Resurrection 2 . No wonder therefore that 
 the first Evangelist, the Evangelist of the Jews, fixed 
 his eye upon it ; and desiring to bring the prophecy 
 and accomplishment into one view, passed over the 
 intermediate visits of our Lord to his Apostles, and 
 hastened on to this. 
 
 But this rendered it proper for the next Evangelist, 
 limited by the conciseness of his plan, to omit what 
 was already described ; and, since the performance of 
 Christ's promise to the disciples, that they should see 
 him in Galilee, would be assured by the reality of 
 other appearances, to recite some of these, which, 
 though less celebrated, were equally convincing. This 
 track St. Mark has taken, as knowing that St. Mat- 
 thew had gone before in another. 
 
 I need not here dwell longer on this argument ; 
 because, first, The precedence of St. Matthew to St. 
 Mark is hardly a questionable point; and secondly. 
 If it might still be disputed, other evidences of it will 
 arise in the two following sections. 
 
 1 1 Cor. xv. 6. 5 Matth. x\vi. 32. 
 
 SECT. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 93 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 St. Matthew wrote before St. Luke. 
 
 If we next compare St. Matthew and St. Luke, I 
 think the following examples will evince the priority 
 of St. Matthew. 
 
 1. §. Matth. iii. 3. 
 
 For this is he that was spoken 
 of by the prophet Esaias, 
 saying, 
 
 The voice of one crying in the 
 wilderness, 
 
 Prepare ye the way of t)te 
 Lord, 
 
 make his paths straight. 
 
 Luke iii. 4 — 6. 
 
 As it is written in the book of 
 the words of Esaias the prophet, 
 saying, 
 
 The voice of one crying in the 
 wilderness, 
 
 Prepare ye the way of the 
 Lord, 
 
 make his paths straight. 
 
 Every valley shall be filled, and 
 every mountain and hill shall be 
 brought low ; and the crooked 
 shall be made straight, and the 
 rough ways shall be made smooth : 
 
 And all flesh shall see the sal- 
 vation of God. 
 
 St. Luke, who a little before had told us in the 
 words of Simeon, that Christ is a light to lighten the 
 Gentiles 1 ; here gives us the same assurance on the 
 authority of a greater prophet, that " All flesh shall 
 *f see the salvation of God." He seems therefore to 
 have lengthened out St. Matthew's quotation for two 
 reasons : first, Because he wrote for those who were 
 less acquainted with the prophecy 2 ; and secondly, 
 Because the part which he has added, contains a pro- 
 mise, that " The manifestation which God will make 
 
 1 Luke ii. 3<2. 
 
 * Judaeis Veteris Testamenti leges historiae et prophetia?, quan- 
 tum ad literalem sensum, notae erant, ita ut digito eas tantum 
 monstrasse satis erat, sed gentibus non item, Suienhusii Karea- 
 Xoryn, p 290. 
 
04 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 " of himself by the Gospel, will be such a blessing as 
 " all nations will have a share in K" 
 
 2. §. Matth. xi. 11. Luke vii. 28. 
 
 Among them that are born Among them that arc born 
 
 of women, there hath not risen of women, there is not a greater 
 
 a greater than John the Baptist, prophet than John the Baptist 
 
 The Gentiles being little acquainted with the cha- 
 racter and office of John, whose mission had been 
 confined to his own country ; St. Luke very usefully 
 inserted the word prophet, that it might appear more 
 evident, in what respect John was to be numbered 
 among the greatest of those that are born of women. 
 
 It follows immediately in both Evangelists : 
 3. §. Matth. Luke. 
 
 But he that U least in the But he that is least in the 
 
 kingdom of Heaven is greater kingdom of God is greater 
 than he. than he. 
 
 The kingdom of Heaven and the kingdom of God 
 are the same thing : for Heaven is, as it were, the 
 palace and throne of the Divine Majesty and is 
 therefore not unfrequently put for God himself 3 . 
 But though the terms were synonymous, there might 
 be an expediency in using the one or the other, ac- 
 cording to the apprehensions of the readers to whom 
 the Evangelists addressed themselves. 
 
 The Jews expected a kingdom to be set up in the 
 days of the Messiah, but were prepossessed with such 
 gross conceptions of it, as might render it less proper 
 to announce it to them under the title of kingdom of 
 
 1 Lowth on Isai. xl. 5. 
 
 1 lsai. lxvi. I. Matth. xxiii. 22. 
 
 a Grotius on Matth. iii. 2. Compare Dan. iv. 26. Matth. xxi. 
 •25. Luke xv. 21. 1 Mace. iii. 18. 
 
 God; 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 95 
 
 God ; since, according to an idiom of their scriptural 
 language, earthly things which are great and striking 
 in their kind are said to be of God ; as great moun- 
 tains are mountains of God 1 ; goodly cedars are ce- 
 dars of God 2 ; an exceeding great city is a city of 
 God z . And thus the kingdom of God might convey 
 no higher idea to their carnal minds, than that of a 
 mighty empire ; an empire to be raised indeed hy the 
 hand and providence of God, but to be founded on 
 temporal victories, and distinguished by extent of 
 earthly dominion and power. St. Matthew therefore 
 generally calls it The kingdom of Heaven ; which 
 title referred them to a prophecy of Daniel concerning 
 it 4 , and at the same time had an aptitude to raise 
 their thoughts from carnal to spiritual, from earthly 
 to heavenly things ; and to carry their view s from 
 the present transitory scene to future and permanent 
 glories. He docs indeed a few times speak of the 
 kingdom of God; but it is in places sufficiently 
 guarded by the context, and which clearly show the 
 spirituality of this kingdom 5 . 
 
 But St. Mark and St. Luke say constantly, The 
 kingdom of God ; and in no one instance call it the 
 kingdom of Heaven. St. Luke declines the use of 
 another expression frequently found in St. Matthew. 
 Once he has Heavenly Father [*0 tsvltt^j o \& «>av«| 
 as opposed to fathers on earth : If ye then, being evil, 
 know how to give good gifts unto your children ; 
 how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the 
 Holy Spirit to them that ash him ? xi. 13 But we 
 do not meet with. Father which is in heaven ^Ozsar^o 
 6 h toT»; Hqavn1<i\ throughout his Gospel ; not even in 
 the Lord's prayer as it still stands in the Vulgate 
 
 ' Psalm xxxvi. 6. ■ lxxx 10. 
 
 3 Jonah iii. 3. See the marginal translation in these places. 
 
 4 Dan. ii. 44 * vi. 33. xii. 28. xix. 24. xxi. 81. 43. 
 
 translation, 
 
96 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IJ. 
 
 translation, and as it was anciently read by Tertullian 
 and Origen 1 ; the latter of whom takes particular 
 notice, that St. Luke has omitted In heaven, and says 
 only, Father, or, Our Father. The words of Christ, 
 which according to St. Matthew are, Your Heavenly 
 Father knoweth that ye have need qfall these things' 2 ; 
 are in St. Luke, Four Father knotveth that ye have 
 need of these things 3 . In other passages he substi- 
 tutes the name of God for Father which is in Hea- 
 ven ; and with some little loss of grace and propriety 
 in the following and perhaps another or two instances : 
 
 4. §. Matth. xii. 50. Luke viii. 21. 
 
 For whosoever shall do the will My mother and my brethren 
 
 of my Father which is in hea- arc these which hear the word of 
 
 ven, the same is my brother, and God, and do it. 
 sister, and mother. 
 
 Now the probable reason of this variation of St. 
 Luke from St. Matthew is, that he wrote for readers 
 of another sort ; for those who were yet unacquainted 
 with the prophecy which foretold the kingdom of Hea- 
 ven, and therefore would not be edified by a reference 
 to this prophecy; and might on the other hand be 
 less edified by hearing of the kingdom of Heaven, than 
 of the kingdom of God. They had been bred up in 
 the belief of a multiplicity of gods ; some of whom 
 had their residence in heaven, some in the ocean, and 
 some in Hades. To such persons it was more instruct- 
 ive to say, Hie kingdom of God , which gave no coun- 
 tenance to this notion of local divinities, but rather 
 carried with it an idea of unity and omnipresence. 
 And, as a proof of St. Luke's care to avoid a language 
 that might in the least favour the low conceptions they 
 
 ■ See Wetstein's Greek Testament, note on Luke xi. 2. Origen 
 rifpl eu'^tk. Ed. KeatlUig, p. 94. 
 
 2 Matth. vi. 32. 
 
 3 Luke xii. 30. 
 
 had 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 91 
 
 had entertained of the Deity, let me subjoin a short 
 parallel between St. Matthew and him, where we see 
 him, in citing the same sentence, omit the part that 
 seems to ascribe a human form to the Almighty. 
 
 Matth.iv. 4. Lukeiv. 4. 
 
 It is written, Man shall not It is written, That man shall 
 live by bread alone, but by every not live by bread alone, but by 
 word that proceedeth out of the every word of God. 
 mouth of God. 
 
 We readily admit, that such circumspection was not 
 necessary with regard to all the Gentile converts : but 
 if some were slow to part with ancient error, and in 
 danger of mixing it with the truth, it was the spirit of 
 the Gospel to attend to their weakness. 
 
 5. §. Matth. xxii. 23—32. 
 
 23. The same day came to him 
 the Sadducees, which say that 
 there is no resurrection; and they 
 ashed him, 
 
 24. Saying, Master, Moses said, 
 If a man die, having no children, 
 his brother shall marry his wife, 
 and raise up seed to his brother. 
 
 25. Now there were with us 
 seven 
 
 brethren : and the first when he 
 had married a wife, deceased ; 
 and having no issue, left his wife 
 unto his brother. 
 
 26. Likewise the second also, and 
 the third, unto the seven. 
 
 '27- And last of all the woman 
 died also. 
 
 Luke xx. 27—38. 
 
 27. Then came to him certain 
 of the 
 
 Sadducees, which deny that there 
 is any resurrection ; and they 
 asked him, 
 
 18. Suying, Master, Moses wrote 
 unto us, If any man's brother 
 die having a wife, and he die 
 without children, that his brother 
 should take his wife, and raise 
 UP seed to his brother. 
 
 29. There were therefore seven 
 
 brethren : and the first took a 
 wife, and died without children. 
 
 30. And the second took her to 
 wife, and he died childless. 
 
 31. And the third took her; and 
 in like manner the seven also : 
 and they left no children, and died. 
 
 32. Last of all the woman died 
 also. 
 
 H Therefore 
 
9S 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 Matth. xxii. 23—32. 
 
 23. Therefore in theresurrection, 
 whose wife shall she be of the 
 seven ? for they all had her. 
 29. Jesus answered and said 
 unto them, Ye do err, not know- 
 ing the scriptures, nor the power 
 of God. 
 
 SO. For in the resurrection they 
 neither marry, nor are given in 
 marriage ; 
 
 but are as the angels of God 
 in heaven. 
 
 81 . But as touching the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead, hare ye not read 
 that which was spoken unto you 
 by God, saying, 
 
 32. / am the God of Abraham, 
 and the God of Isaac, ana the 
 God of Jacob f God is not the 
 God of the dead, but of the li- 
 ving. 
 
 Luke xx. 27—38. 
 
 33. Therefore in the resurrection, 
 whose wife of them is she'? for the 
 seven had her to wife. 
 
 34. And Jesus answering said 
 unto them, 
 
 The children of this world marry, 
 and are given in marriage : 
 
 35. But they which shall be ac- 
 counted worthy to obtain that 
 world, and the resurrection from 
 the dead, neither marry, nor are 
 given in marriage. 
 
 36. Neither can they die any 
 mere : 
 
 for they are equal unto tlie an- 
 gels ; and are the children of 
 God, being the children of the 
 resurrection. 
 
 37- $fav> that the dead are raised, 
 even Moses showed at the 
 bush, 
 
 when he calleth the Lord 
 the God of Abraham, and 
 the God of Isaac, and the God 
 of Jacob. 
 
 38. For he is not a God of the 
 dead, but of the living ; for all 
 live unto him. 
 
 This conference of Christ with the Sadducees be- 
 ing related by the three Evangelists, the variations of 
 St. Mark and St. Luke from St. Matthew offer some 
 observations to the present purpose. 
 
 1. They are careful to state the question of the 
 Sadducees in such a manner, that the law on which 
 it was grounded, and which St. Matthew mentions in 
 general terms, should be seen to be a national law 
 peculiar to the Jews : Moses wrote unto us. 
 
 2. They are as careful not to restrain the resur- 
 rection to this people, omitting one particular which 
 the Jews themselves would think requisite to form 
 
 the 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 II. 
 
 99 
 
 the case. Seven brethren w ho were Genti.les might all 
 marry the same woman without danger of a litigation 
 in the future age, as they would never rise again 
 to dispute about her, according to the general senti- 
 ments of the Jews who held a resurrection ; for they 
 confined it to the circumcision K The Sadducees 
 therefore, that their question might be circumstanced 
 as the Jews required it to be, said, There were seven 
 brethren with as, that is, of our nation. So their 
 words stand in St. Matthew. But St Mark and St. 
 Luke leave out this restriction, with us ; that, the 
 question being general, Gentiles as well as Jew s migh! 
 see, that they w ere interested in the decision of it. 
 
 3. St. Matthew leaving the immortality of the just 
 to be inferred from their future equality with angels, 
 and this inference not being so clear to the Gentiles, 
 to whom the doctrine of angels was new, St. Luke 
 explicitly declares, that they cannot die any more. 
 
 4. He adds another short sentence of our Lord's 
 argument, For all live unto him ; which not onlv op- 
 posed the error of the Sadducees concerning the sou, 
 but at the same time obviated a popular notion of 
 the pagans, that death dissolved men's relation to 
 heaven * and that after it they existed wholly undet 
 a distinct dominion of other powers. 
 
 5. The manner in which he and St. Mark quote 
 the Old Testament or refer to it, is different from 
 St. Matthew's : who, writing to a people well versed 
 in it, introduces the words of it as -spoken, often when 
 Christ alleges it, but always when he docs it himself. 
 Of which there are a dozen instances 3 . 
 
 1 Pococke, Not. Misedl. C. vi. V. I . p. 194. FqL Grot, in Mattli 
 \. 28. col. 2. Rabbi Hcchai — re=urrectionein propriam vult esse 
 (sraeUtarum. 
 
 ' Nos juvnnem exanimum ct n il jam Ca lcstibus ullis 
 
 Debcntcm vano muesli coinitainur honore. /Eneul, xi. 51. 
 3 Matth. i. 22. ii. 15. 17. 23. iii. iv. 14. viii. 17. xii. 17. xiii. 
 85, xxi. 4. \xvii. 9.35. 
 
 II 2 St, 
 
100 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 SECT. u. 
 
 St. Mark himself cites it but twice, i. 2. As it is 
 written in the prophets : and xv. 28 And the Scrip- 
 ture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was numbered 
 with the transgressors. St. Luke's citations are more 
 numerous ; and a few examples will show how they 
 are made. The first time he mentions the law of 
 Moses, it is thus : ii. 22, 23. According to the luw 
 of Moses — As it is written in the luw of the Lord. 
 When he first speaks of the prophets, he says, iii. 4. 
 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias 
 the prophet. He does not himself bring any tiling 
 from the Psalms ; but he thus expresses our Lord's 
 reference to them : xx. 42. And David himself saith 
 in the Book of Psalms. The last time he introduces 
 the mention of Scripture, it is as follows : 
 
 xxiv. 44, 45. And he said unto them, These are 
 the words rchich I spake unto you, w hile I was yet 
 with you, that all things must be fulfilled which 
 were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Pro- 
 phets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then 
 opened he their understanding, that they might un- 
 derstand the Scriptures. 
 
 Thus St. Luke signifies to the unlearned Gentile, 
 that the law of Moses is the written Law of God ; 
 that the words of the Prophets, and Psalms of David, 
 are also written ; and that the three titles of The 
 Latv, the Prophets, and the Psalms, comprehend 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament 1 . 
 
 An author of note observes, that St. Luke does 
 not quote Scripture according to the forms of doing 
 it which w ere used by the Rabbis and learned Jews ; 
 and from hence infers, that he was not conversant in 
 their books 2 . This may have been the case of St. 
 Luke ; but I conceive the argument, by which he 
 
 1 Whitby on Luke xxiv. 44. 
 
 1 Surenhusius, KaraXXayw. p. 315. 
 
 would 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT II. 
 
 101 
 
 would prove it, not to be well founded : for we hardly 
 meet with a form of citing Scripture in any other 
 book of the New Testament, which is not found in 
 the speeches of St. Peter, St. Stephen, or St. Paul, 
 to the Jews, in the Acts of the Apostles. And the 
 mode of citation, to which St. Luke adheres in his 
 Gospel, is retained by others, who certainly were well 
 read in Hebrew literature ; as by St. Mark, and, on 
 all proper occasions, by St. Paul. For St. Paul does 
 not mention or allege the Law and Prophets in one 
 and the same manner to Jews and Gentiles. To Fe- 
 lix the Roman governor he says of himself, Actsxxiv. 
 14. Believing all things which are written in the Law 
 and the Prophets. But to king Agrippa, ib. xxvi. 22. 
 Saying none other things than those which the Pro- 
 phets and Moses did say should come. And thus he 
 distinguishes in his Epistles. Jn that to the Hebrews 
 arc many passages from the Old Testament, but not 
 a single instance in which it is quoted as written. But 
 in his other Epistles he rarely uses any other form 
 than, It is written, or, The Scripture saith. Thus 
 he cites it to the Romans; the chief variations from 
 which mode to that of He saith are in the three chap- 
 ters, ix, x, xi. which principally relate to the Jews : 
 and even there he seldom fails to name the prophet 
 whose words are adduced. To the Galatians, and in 
 both Epistles to the Corinthians, with one or two ex- 
 ceptions, he urges the. w ords of the Old Testament as 
 ■written. To the Philippiana, Colossians, and Thes- 
 salonians, if I mistake not, he makes no direct quota- 
 tion from it. In the Epistle to the Ephesi ins he refers 
 to it twice, and there indeed in both places under the 
 form of He saith. But he himself had spent above 
 two years in teaching them with the utmost diligence 
 and attention 1 ; and wrote his Epistle to them some 
 years after; when he might have full assurance that 
 he spoke to those who knew the Law. A passage in 
 ' Actsxix. 8. and 10. 
 
 this 
 
10'J DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 this Epistle, compared with one similar in that to the 
 Colossians, seems to prove, that he made a difference 
 between them, and judged the Ephesians to be better 
 versed in the sacred books. To these he proposes the 
 precept of obedience to parents With a view to the 
 Mosaic promise : Eph. vi. 1 — 3. Children, obey i/our 
 parents hi the Lord ; for this is right. Honour 
 
 THY FATHER AND MOTHER; WHICH is THE FIRST 
 
 commandment wi'ni Promise; But he omits this 
 reference to the words of the Decalogue, in giving 
 the same precept to the Colossians ; with whose profi- 
 ciency in the Scriptures he was less acquainted, as 
 having never been among them. He says only, Col. 
 iii. 20. Children, obci/ your parents in all things: 
 for this is ivell pleasing unto the Lord. 
 
 Thus we sec that St. Paul has one mode of citing 
 the Old Testament to the Hebrews, and another to 
 the churches of Which the Gentiles were members ; 
 that in the former case he agrees with St. Matthew, 
 in the latter with St Mark and St. Luke. And in 
 this respect there is so much uniformity of the Apos- 
 tle and two Evangelists, that we may justly conclude, 
 it was not accidental, but designed by him and them, 
 for the same purpose of suiting their style to the small 
 measure of scriptural knowledge which they might 
 well suppose many of their readers to possess. By 
 which means the unlearned or new-converted Gen- 
 tiles were instructed, that what was offered to them 
 as the word of God ivhich came in old time, was to 
 be found in the books of Scripture ; and, if Judaizers 
 crept in and perplexed them v\ilh doctrines of an oral 
 or traditionary law, were furnished with this reply to 
 such teachers : " When the Apostles and Evangelists, 
 u who have been our more immediate guides, pro- 
 " pose to us any part of the Mosaic economy, thev 
 " allege only what is written, and what they carc- 
 " fully inform us to be so." 
 
 I have 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT II. 
 
 103 
 
 I have dwelt so long on this subject, not only as 
 it is of weight in the present inquiry, but as it yields 
 us one of those simple notes of authenticity with 
 which the Gospels abound, and which the genius of 
 forgery could never have devised. 
 
 6. §. Matth. xxiii. 27- Luke xi. 44. 
 
 Ye tire like unto whitcd graves, }'>■ are as sepulchres tyniCh 
 which indeed appear beautiful appear not, and the men that 
 outward, but within are full of walk over them are not aware 
 dead men's hones, and all un- of them. 
 clean ncs-i. 
 
 Grotius conceived these similitudes to be differ- 
 ent 1 , in which opinion he was not singular, and that, 
 our Lord having used both, St. Matthew took one, 
 and St. Luke the other. But Dr. Pococke, to whom 
 Hammond refers us, hath, I think, by his great skill 
 in Rabbinical learning, cleared up the passage in St. 
 Matthew ; and showed, that his vbhlttd graves are 
 the same things with St. Luke's irhklt appear not 
 
 The Jews esteemed, that a man contracted a legal 
 pollution by touching even the outside of a sepulchre 
 or grave : to guard against which inconvenience, the 
 Sanhedrim at stated times sent out persons to examine 
 the graves that were gone to ruin, and by time or 
 accident become scarce distinguishable, and to mark 
 them with lime tempered with water. They did not 
 mark those that were manifest, says Maimonides, 
 but those that were doubtful or concealed. These 
 marks were renewed from time to time ; for the wea- 
 ther, and growth of grass and herbs, would soon ef- 
 face them. 
 
 1 Grot, in Luke xi. 44. 
 
 ■ Pocock. Nota; Misccll. C. v. p. 134. Hammond on -Matth. 
 xxiii. 17. 
 
 J J r hi ted 
 
104 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 Wliited graves in St. Matthew therefore mran: 
 graves which have been whited, xexovioLfxevoi, that is, 
 graves which have had these cautionary marks, and 
 have lost them again. For when our Lord says, They 
 appear beautiful outward, he means not hy the hand 
 oi art, but of nature, which had again covered the 
 ground with verdure ; for this is the beauty to which 
 he has regard St. Luke therefore calls them"Aor,/.a, 
 which appear not. And this is certainly a plainer lan- 
 guage to readers in general ; otherwise so many could 
 not have mistaken St. Matthew's meaning, and sub- 
 stituting a quite different idea for it. 
 
 A story related in the Recognitions seems to allude 
 to this custom. St. Peter is introduced as speaking 
 of the sepulchres of two of the brethren. " Which 
 " were every year whited of their own accord : by 
 " ichich miracle the fury of many against us was 
 " repressed, when they thereby perceived, that our 
 " brethren were had in remembrance with God 2 ." 
 This agrees with the account of Maimonides, and 
 shows, that the whiting of the sepulchres was of no 
 long duration. 
 
 The notion of uticleanness annexed to dead bodies 
 adds force and spirit to the similitude, as it stands 
 in St. Matthew ; yet St. Luke thought fit to drop it, 
 lest the Gentiles should think themselves concerned 
 in it, and like the Jews, whom many of them were 
 too fond of following, should grow more afraid of 
 legal than moral defilement. 
 
 7- §• Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. 
 
 When ye therefore shall sec the 
 abomination of desolation, spn- 
 hen of by Daniel the prophet, 
 stand in the holy place, ftchuso 
 teadeih let him understand) 
 
 Luke xxi. 20, 21. 
 
 H'hen ye shall see Jerusalem 
 compassed with armies, then 
 know that the desolation thereof 
 is nigh. 
 
 • See Matth. \i. 29. 
 
 * Recognitions B. i. §. 71. in LardneTj V.ii p. 794. 
 
 Thv. 
 
DISCOURSE IV, 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 105 
 
 Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. 
 
 Luke xxi. 20, 21. 
 
 Then lei them which are in 
 Judea Jiee'into the mountains. 
 
 Then let them which are in 
 Judea Jlee to the mountains. 
 
 What St. Matthew had delivered in the figurative 
 style of the prophet Daniel, St. Luke, passing over 
 the reference to this prophecy, more openly declares ; 
 The holy place is Jerusalem, and the abomination of 
 desolation are the armies encompassing it, and en- 
 camping on this Holy ground with ensigns of idola- 
 trous worship l . When this happened, its desolation 
 was soon to be expected. 
 
 8. §. St. Matthew says in the same chapter, ver. 29- 
 Immediately after the tribulation of those days, 
 shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not 
 give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, 
 and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. 
 
 This is the symbolical language of prophecy, to 
 signify the ruin of great personages and kingdoms 2 ; 
 and denotes the same events, which are thus predicted 
 in St. Luke : 
 
 xxi. 23, 24. There shall be great distress in flu- 
 land, and ivrath upon this people. And they shall 
 fall by the edge of the sword, and, shall be led away 
 captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be 
 trodden down, of the Gentiles, until the times of the 
 Gentiles be fulfilled. 
 
 It is probable that our Lord, as was sometimes 
 done by the prophets 3 , having first delivered these 
 
 1 Grot, on M:itth. xxiv. 15. Alex. Morus on ver. 28. Haec. ilia 
 abominatio desolationis est, quam Ergaxos-fJov Lucas interpret atur, 
 plane dicere solitus qua; IVlattha.'us \vxpvw?y.viw%. See Mede's 
 Works, p. 753. 
 
 5 See Bishop Newton's Dissertations on Prophecy. Rev. vi. 
 12—17- V. iii. p. 69. 
 
 ' See Isai. v. 7. Ezek. xvii. 12. xx. 45 — 49. compared with xxi. 
 1 — 7- See Lou th's Comment. 
 
 things 
 
106 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. II. 
 
 things in figurative diction, did then open the mean- 
 ing of the prophecy to the four Apostles with whom 
 he was in private K St. Luke hath recorded the ex- 
 planatory part, St. Matthew only the figurative. And 
 if we enquire why he chose it in preference to the 
 other, it seems evidently to have been, because he 
 wrote in Judea, while there were reasons of prudence, 
 inspecting not only the Jews the subject of the pro- 
 phecy, but the safety 2 and even the prejudices 3 of the 
 first believers, not to speak more openly of such a 
 total and long subversion of the Jewish state. Hut 
 then it is as evident, that St. Luke had not written 
 in Judea before him. For had this been the case, 
 what should induce St. Matthew to couch the pro- 
 phecy under allegory and symbols, when the literal 
 sense had been already opened, and might be read 
 by every one in the clearest terms ? There cannot be 
 a plainer sign, 1 think, of the precedence of St. Mat- 
 thew. 
 
 0. §.Matth.xxvi. 64. Mark xiv. 62. Luke xxii. 69.. 
 
 Hereafter shall ye see the Son Hereafter shall the son of mm 
 of man sitting on the right hand sit. on the right handof the Power 
 of Power. of God. 
 
 Power among the Jews was one of the names of 
 God himself 4 : in which sense it was here used by 
 Christ, and taken by the council. St. Luke gives a 
 sort of paraphrase of it, that the high import of the 
 word might readilv be conceived by strangers to the 
 Jewish idiom. 
 
 1 See Mark xii;. 3. 
 
 - Acts yi. 14. 
 
 1 lb. i. 6. xxi. 20. &c. 
 
 4 See Wolfius on the place in St. Matthew ; and Selden, to 
 Whom he refers, De jure Xut. et Gentium, p. 264. who says, 
 Sexcenliesapud mngistros inter Dei cognomina us-urpatuf. 
 
 10. $. The 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 III. 
 
 107 
 
 10. §. The tenth chapter of St. Luke appears to 
 have heen written with reference to the tenth of St. 
 Matthew. For Christ in the course of his ministry 
 having appointed two missions of his disciples, and 
 having each time given them a charge at sending 
 them forth ; the first, which was to the twelve Apos- 
 tles, is recorded by St. Matthew, without notice 
 taken of the latter : hut St. Luke, touching lightly 
 on that to the Twelve, dwells on the second to the 
 Seventy Disciples. The instructions being similar in 
 both, he might very properly do this, if he wrote 
 after St. Matthew ; but if he had preceded him, or 
 not seen his Gospel, it is natural to believe, that he 
 would have been fullest on the charge which was first 
 given, and to the prime disciples. 
 
 SEC T. III. 
 St. Matthew wrote very early. 
 
 If we attend a little further to the diction and some 
 other circumstances of St. Matthew's Gospel, we may 
 see reason to conclude, that he was not only anterior 
 to St. Mark and St. Luke, but wrote several years 
 before either of them. And these things will merit, 
 our attention the more, if the notes of an early pub- 
 lication are at the same time notes of the authenticity 
 of his Gospel. 
 
 1. §. Me alone ascribes those titles of sanctity to 
 Jerusalem, by which it had been distinguished by the 
 prophets and sacred historians and was known 
 among the neighbouring nations 3 . In the history of 
 the Temptation St. Luke says, And he brought him 
 
 1 Nchcm. xi. 1. 18. Isai. xlviii. '2. lii. 1. Dan. ix. 24. 
 
 " See in Prideaux's Connect. Part i. under the yeav A.C. 610. 
 an account of the great city C'adyti:-, mentioned by Herodotus, 
 B. ii. Chap. lb'J. iii. 5. 
 
 to 
 
108 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. III. 
 
 to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the tem- 
 ple : but St. Matthew, Then the devil taheih him up 
 into the Holy City, and setteth him on a pinnacle of 
 the temple He relates in another place, that many 
 bodies of saints which slept arose, and came out of 
 the graves af ter his resurrection, and went into 
 the Holy City, and appeared unto mam/ 12 . Jerusalem 
 is called in his Gospel, as iu the Psalms, The City of 
 the great King 3 ; anil, as we have before observed, 
 The Holy Place. St. Mark, who had the same occa- 
 sion to speak of this holy ground, uses another ex- 
 pression : 
 
 Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. 
 
 When ye therefore shall see the 
 abomination of desolation, 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
 standing in the holy place, 
 (whoso readeth let him under- 
 stand) 
 
 Then let them which he in 
 Judea flee into the mountains. 
 
 Mark xiii. 14. 
 
 But when ye shall see the 
 abomination of desolation, 
 spoken of by Daniel the prophet, 
 standing where it ought not, 
 (whoso readeth let him under 
 stand) 
 
 then let them which be in 
 Judea flee to the mountains. 
 
 An exact agreement of the two passages in other 
 respects makes it look as if the alteration was made 
 on purpose to avoid the title of Holy Place. For 
 which and the like differences between St. Matthew 
 and the other Evangelists, may we not account in this 
 manner ? After some years the word of God, being 
 received by multitudes in various parts of the world, 
 did, as it were, sanctify other cities ; while Jerusalem, 
 by rancorous opposition to the truth and sanguinary 
 persecutions of it, more and more declined in the 
 esteem of the believers. They acknowledged the title 
 and character, which she claimed bv antient prescrip- 
 tion, when St. Matthew wrote ; but between the 
 publication of his Gospel and the next, were taught 
 
 1 Luke iv. 9. Matth. iv. 5. 
 
 2 Matth. xxsii. 52, 53. 
 
 3 Matth. v. 35. Psalm .vlviii. 2. 
 
 to 
 
DISCOURSE IV. S£CT. III. 
 
 109 
 
 to transfer the idea of the Holy City, the mother of 
 the true Israel, to a worthier object '. 
 
 G. §. He testifies also a higher veneration than they 
 for the Temple. In describing our Lord's public en- 
 try into Jerusalem, they say, "He went intj the Tem- 
 '• pie •" St. -Matthew, '* He went into the Temple of 
 " God 2 ." In relating the evidence of the false wit- 
 nesses at the Trial, St. Mark chooses one deposition : 
 " We heard him say I will destroy this Temple that 
 " is made with hands;' St. Matthew another: " / 
 " am able to destroy the Temple of God 3 .*' He 
 mentions a discourse of Christ in which the false 
 glosses of the Scribes and Pharisees are refuted by 
 arguments drawn from the holiness of the Altar, and 
 of the Temple, and from the residence of the Divine 
 Majesty in it 4 . The Temple had a peculiar sacred- 
 ness, till the Son of God came to tabernacle 5 among 
 men, and even till He our passover was sacrificed for 
 us. Yet only St. Matthew continues on the notion of 
 this sacredness to the death of Christ. No other 
 writer of the New Testament calls it the Temple of 
 God in treating of a time after the birth of our Lord. 
 St. Luke speaks of an action done before it, when he 
 says, that Zacharias went into the Temple [or sanc- 
 tuary] of the Lord, to burn incense. And it is with- 
 out success, that some learned men have attempted 
 to prove, that the Temple of God in c 2 Thess. ii. 4 
 means the Temple at Jerusalem 6 . 
 
 ' See Gal. iv. 25, 26. See also Ileb. xii. 22. 
 ■ Mark si. 15. Lvikexix. 45. Matth. xxi. l l J 
 J Markxiv. 58. Matth. xxvi. 61. 
 * Matth. xxiii. 10— '21. 
 
 5 John i. 14. 'Ea-y.yvt,:?-!! vj r'uVv. Sanetuaritim sanctuariormn est 
 ipse Messias, sanctificatus de filiis David. Rabbi Moses Gerun- 
 densls ap. Grot, in Joan. ii. 19. 
 
 e Set- Bp. Newton on Prophecy, Divert, xxiii. V. ii. p. 369. 
 
 3. §. St. 
 
110 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. III. 
 
 3. §. St* Matthew uses the word Gospel four times: 
 iv. 23. ix. 35. xxiv. 14. xxvi. 13. In the three former 
 he calls it the Gospel off lie Kingdom. In the fourth 
 he says, Wheresoever this Gospel [to tfafykkw tSto'i 
 shall be preached. From hence one would judge, 
 that it was then considered as a word of general 
 meaning that signified any good tidings, and was not 
 yet become an appropriate term of the church for 
 the good tidings declared by Christ and his Apostles. 
 When St. Mark wrote, this was grown to be the set- 
 tled and familiar sense of it : for he savs simply the 
 Gospel in several places. 
 
 4. §. The language of an early writer appears again 
 in St. Matthew, when he speaks of the Apostles. At 
 the first enumeration of them he calls them the 
 twelve Apostles 1 , and after that constantly thetirelve 
 Disciples ; till in the twenty-sixth chapter, ver. 14. and 
 47- where the perfidy of Judas is the subject, he styles 
 him One of the Twelve, perhaps with a certain lenity 
 of expression, that he might not seem to aggravate 
 the gui't of Judas by reminding the reader, that he 
 was not only a constant attendant, but a chosen dis- 
 ciple. M -lever the reason was, these two are the 
 only instai... s of Saying simply the Twelve throughout 
 his Gospel, I »rding to the Vulgate, and the more 
 approved copi - ol the Greek?. But if the reading 
 of our Transla r i) r . 20s of this chapter, He sat 
 down wltli I velve, is to be received ; still it is 
 certain, that St. Mattht vy had well prepared us, before 
 he supposed us to -nut and, who the Twelve were. 
 Whereas the other 'angclists begins early with this 
 appellation, and scarce use any other. Because by 
 the time when they wrote, the Twelve was become 
 
 1 Matth. x. "2. 
 
 ■ Among others tin Alexandrian MS. See Mill on Matth. 
 xxvi. 20. 
 
 the 
 
m: SCO t its E IV. SECT. 11 r. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the common designation of the twelve Apostles, and 
 the established language of the church K 
 
 §. There is a like difference between St. Mat- 
 thew and the two other Evangelists in speaking of 
 St. John. St. Mark at first calls him the brother of 
 James.; but as soon us he has related the death of the 
 Baptist, changes his style, and calls him only John K 
 When St. Luke first mentions him, he unities him 
 the son of Zebetiee 3 , but never afterwards. St. Mat- 
 thew, who often says singly Peter, has not named St. 
 John without adding, that he was the son of Zebedee. 
 or, the brother of James. The reason seems to be, 
 that in a course of years this Apostle was so eminent 
 in the church, that John, without epithet or distinction, 
 was understood to be John the Apostle ; but when 
 St. Matthew wrote, to be rather John the Baptist. 
 
 6. §. Another circumstance concerning St. John, 
 which we find in St. Luke, favours the early dale of 
 St. Matthew's Gospel, if we may argue from what he 
 has omitted. The first, step towards the enlargement 
 of the church beyond the people of the Jew s, was the 
 conversion' of the Samaritans by Philip the deacon : 
 for whose confirmation in the faith the college of 
 Apostles sent to them Peter and John 4 . The latter 
 had not long before expressed a strong enmity to 
 their nation, by w ishing to command lire from heaven 
 to consume one of their villages - r> . The know ledge 
 of which fact, w hile their faith w as in an infant and 
 feeble state, might have alienated their minds from 
 Him who was now their spiritual father, and giveu 
 
 1 1 Cor. xv. ;">. And that he was .seen of Cephas, then of tin 
 Twelve. 
 
 5 Compare Mark i. 19. iii. 17 v. 37, with i\, 
 
 3 Luke v. 10. 
 
 4 Acts 5 — 14. 
 s Luke ix. 54. 
 
 an 
 
112 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. III. 
 
 an opportunity of sowing dissensions and raising dis- 
 turbances among them, which the open enemies, or 
 false friends, of the Gospel, such as Simon Magus, 
 would gladly seize. Here then St. Matthew acted as 
 prudence required of one who wrote near the time of 
 their conversion : he left the offence of St. John, and 
 the heavenly rebuke which it received, to be recorded 
 by a future Evangelist. The silence of St. Matthew, 
 and the narrative of St. Luke, are the more remarka- 
 ble in this case, as departures from the rule to which 
 they severally adhere, St. Matthew of divulging the 
 failings of the Apostles, and St. Luke of concealing 
 them 
 
 7. Though St. Matthew has been careful to do 
 all justice to the zeal and fortitude shown by John 
 the Baptist in reprov ing die vices of Herod the te- 
 ti arch ; he is less severe than St. Mark 2 or St. Luke J 
 in speaking of this prince ; and in particular, he takes 
 no notice of the insults offered by him to our Lord oa 
 the morning of the crucifixion : which were more 
 likely to make an impression on the minds of the Ga- 
 lilean believers, than the beheading of the Baptist. 
 The most obvious account of this conduct in St. Mat- 
 thew is, that Herod was still reigning in Galilee; and 
 he was unwilling to display more than was absolutely 
 necessary of the bad part of his character, that he 
 might excite neither jealousy in Herod of his believing 
 subjects, nor disaffection in them to their sovereign. 
 But if he was influenced by these motives, he must 
 have written before the year of our Lord xxxix ; 
 for in that year Herod was deposed, and banished to 
 Lyons by Caligula. 
 
 ' See Disc. v. Sect. ii. §. 4. 
 
 * Compare Mark. \ hi. IS. and Mattb. xvi. 6. 
 
 Beware of the leaven of Beware of the leaven of 
 
 the Pharisees, and of the the Pharisees, and of the 
 
 leaven of Herod. Sadducees. 
 3 Sec Luke hi. 19. xiii. 31. 32. xxiii. 11. 
 
 8. §. The 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. III. 
 
 113 
 
 8. §. The Herodian family may help to carry the 
 date a little higher. Herod Antipas, who beheaded 
 John the Baptist, was son of Herod the Great. Herod 
 Agrippa, who beheaded St. James, was son of Aris- 
 tobulus, and grandson of Herod the Great. St. Luke 
 calls the grandfather Herod King of Judea 1 , and the 
 grandson Herod The King 3 . The latter was advanced 
 to royalty, as king of Philip's tetrarchy, by Caligula. 
 Claudius invested him afterwards with regal power 
 over Judea. Yet it may be questioned, whether he 
 ever bore his grandfather's title of king of Judea. 
 St. Luke seems to express himself, as usually, w ith 
 accuracy in styling him only Herod The King 3 . St. 
 Matthew intitles Herod the Great simply Herod The 
 King 4 . It may therefore well be supposed, that he 
 wrote before he knew that there was another Herod 
 The King, whose territory was Jewish. But Herod 
 Agrippa was thus dignified in the year of our Lord 
 xxxvil After which St. Matthew would probably 
 have added a mark of distinction to the grandfather's 
 name, as St. Luke has done ; and as he himself dis- 
 tinguishes between Herod the King, and Herod the 
 Tetrarch. 
 
 .9- §. But a circumstance in his Gospel respecting 
 Pilate may dispose us to fix the date of it still a little 
 nearer to the Ascension. As soon as he begins to 
 relate, chap, xxvii. that our Lord was led prisoner 
 from the Jewish council to the prcetoriuin, he begins 
 to speak of Pilate as Governor. The Governor asked, 
 the Governor answered ; and so on. Why this fre- 
 
 1 Ch. i. ver. 5. 
 1 Acts xii. 1. 
 
 3 Archelao Viennam relegato Judaea in fonmilam provlnciae est 
 redacta; quod quam vim habeat peritis rerum Iiomanarum satis 
 est compertum. Ab eo tempore nullus unquam postea Judasae 
 neque Rex fuit nequc Ethuarca. Isaac. Casaubon. Exercitat i, 
 n. 2. p. 22. Fol. 
 
 4 Ch, ii. ver. I. 
 
 I quent 
 
114 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. III. 
 
 quent mention of Governor, for it occurs nine times, 
 but because it belonged to Pilate as still Governor 
 of Judea, while St. Matthew was writing ? St. Mark, 
 St. Luke, and St. John, say only P'tlute on the same 
 occasion, and never once call him Governor. 
 
 Upon a complaint of the Samaritans, Vitelline 
 president of Syria ordered Pilate to Rome, to answer 
 to it before the Emperor. Josephus says, that in 
 obedience to this order he made haste to Rome, but 
 before he got thither the Emperor was dead The 
 death of Tiberius was in the spring, A. D. xxxvii. 
 By which time probably St. Matthew's Gospel was 
 written. 
 
 10. §. St. Matthew in a certain masterly way gives 
 the essential circumstances of our Lord's miracles ; 
 but he is the least distinct and particular in reciting 
 them. He was in haste, as was before observed, to 
 introduce Christ speaking, and judged perhaps, that 
 the notoriety of these recent miracles did not then re- 
 quireaminuterdescription. AstheEvangelists receded 
 from the time and place in which the works were done, 
 they became more explicit in their narrations ; to sa- 
 tisfy the pious inquiries of the faithful, and to guard 
 them against falsity by an exacter detail of facts. 
 This is very visible in whatever St. John undertook to 
 relate. And it may be observed in several instances 
 of St. Luke. He mentions the appearances of Christ 
 to the disciples after his resurrection, and his confe- 
 rences with them, more at large than the preceding 
 Evangelists. And though he reserved the circum- 
 stances of the Ascension for the Acts of the Apostles, 
 yet we find a fuller account of it in his Gospel than 
 in St. Mark's. St. Matthew makes no direct mention 
 of it. He had deduced his history to the time, when 
 Christ, who died for our sins, was risen again for our 
 
 ' Josephus, Antiq. B. xviii. C. iv. § 2. 
 
 justi- 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IV. 
 
 115 
 
 justification, and, being invested with all power in 
 heaven and in earth, commanded his disciples to 
 teach all nations, and assured them of his presence 
 with them to the end of the world. Here he thought 
 proper to close his Gospel. But if he had not written 
 while the Ascension was fresh in memory, and the 
 spectators of it continued together at Jerusalem, he 
 could scarce have failed to take notice of it. 
 
 SEC T. IV. 
 
 Some object ions considered and answered. 
 
 Yet learned men think they discover marks 
 of a lower date in St. Matthew's writings They 
 argue from the knowledge which he shows of the 
 spirituality of the Gospel, and of the excellence of 
 the moral above the ceremonial law, of the extent 
 of Christ's kingdom on earth, of the calling of the 
 Gentiles and rejection of the Jews. Of which things 
 they suppose him not to have treated, till a course of 
 years had unfolded their meaning, and given him a 
 clearer discernment of their nature. 
 
 2. But it may be answered, first with regard to 
 the doctrinal part of his Gospel, that if he exhibits 
 a noble idea of pure religion and morality, he teaches 
 no more than he had heard often taught, often oppos- 
 ed to the maxims of the Jews, by his Divine Instruc- 
 tor. And when the Holy Spirit, the guide to all the 
 truth, had descended upon him, it seems strange to 
 imagine, that he still wanted twenty or thirty years to 
 enlighten his mind. If he was not then furnished with 
 knowledge to relate these doctrines as an Evangelist, 
 how was he qualified to preach them to the Jews as 
 an Apostle? 
 
 Sec Lardner's Supplement, V. i. p. 110 — 116. 
 
 I 2 3. §. In 
 
116 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 3. §. In the next place, it is true that the prophe- 
 tic parts of his Gospel declare the extent of Christ's 
 kingdom, and the calling and acceptance of the Gen- 
 tiles. But these events had heen plainly foretold by 
 the ancient prophets, and were expected by devout 
 Israelites to happen in the days of the Messiah. 
 Zacharias, the father of the Baptist, speaks of Christ 
 as coming to give light to them that sit in darkness 
 and in the shadow of death; which description denotes 
 or includes the Gentiles : and Simeon calls him in 
 direct terms, A light to lighten the Gentiles l . And 
 what more does St. Matthew say, than that the Gos- 
 pel would be successfully preached among the Gen- 
 tiles in all parts of the earth ? lie no where teaches, 
 that they should be received into the church without 
 circumcision and submission to the Levitical law. 
 Freedom from this yoke was rather intimated than 
 proclaimed by our blessed Lord, perhaps as one of 
 those things which then the Apostles could not 
 bear 2 ; and it remained a mystery to them, till it 
 was signified to St. Peter by vision, and explained by 
 the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and 
 his friends 3 . It will be shown elsewhere, that the 
 proper inference from these parts of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel is of another kind 4 . 
 
 4. §. But, it is added, he mentions prophecies and 
 prophetic parables, which speak of the rejection and 
 overthrow of the Jews. If this argument means, that, 
 being at first prejudiced in favour of a kingdom to 
 be restored to Israel, he could not understand these 
 prophecies, and therefore would not think of relating 
 them if he wrote early ; though we should admit the 
 premises, we may justly deny the conclusion. He 
 might not clearly discern in what manner the prc- 
 
 1 Luke i. 79. and ii. 32. ' John xvi. 18. 
 
 * See Acts x. 4 See Sect. v. § 17. of this Discourse 
 
 dictions 
 
 V 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IV. 
 
 117 
 
 vlictions uere to be accomplished, yet he must see, 
 what they all denounced, that those who rejected the 
 Gospel God would reject ; and hence he had always 
 an inducement to notify them to his countrymen ; 
 and the sooner he apprized them of their danger, the 
 greater charity he showed them. 
 
 .5. §. An objection drawn from his Gospel is still 
 behind. He says of the Potters field purchased with 
 the price of Judas's perfidy, as Dr. Scott translates 
 the words, 
 
 Ch. xxvii. 8. Wlierefore that field hath been 
 called, The field of blood until this day 
 
 He says again of the report, which the soldiers 
 who guarded the sepulchre spread at the instigation 
 of the Jewish rulers, That the disciples came by 
 night, and stole away the body of Christ while they 
 slept : 
 
 xxviii. 15. And this report has been spread among 
 the Jews until this day. 
 
 It is urged, they must have been events of a con- 
 siderable standing, of which he could speak in this 
 manner. 
 
 St. Matthew shows plainly, that he speaks of two 
 things which were still subsisting when he wrote ; 
 but I see not, that his expression, especially if we 
 consider the subject to which he applies it, requires 
 us to suppose that they had subsisted a long while : 
 for what things is he speaking of? Palpable lies, and 
 new names of places, which have had others from 
 
 1 Scott's New Version of St. Matthew's Gospel. 
 
 ancient. 
 
118 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IV. 
 
 ancient usage and apparent reason, are beings of such 
 a perishable nature and casual existence, that a single 
 year was sufficient to give propriety to the observa- 
 tion, that they then continued. It -was memorable 
 that the name had fastened on the field, and strange 
 that the lie had lasted so long. 
 
 6. §. Historic evidence is brought in aid of these 
 arguments : and to the testimonies produced in the 
 second of these Discourses, the higher authority of 
 Irenaeus is opposed, in a passage of which I will give 
 a literal version ' : 
 
 " Now Matthew among the Hebrews published 
 " also a written Gospel ; Peter and Paul evangeliz- 
 " ing at Rome, and founding the church there ; but 
 " after their departure, Mark the disciple and inter- 
 " preter of Peter, he also delivered to us in writing 
 " what was preached by Peter; and Luke the fol- 
 " lower of Paul recorded in a book the Gospel 
 " preached by him. Afterwards John the disciple of 
 " the Lord, the same who leaned on his breast, he 
 " also set forth a Gospel, residing at Ephesus in 
 •' Asia.'' 
 
 It is taken for granted, that Peter and Paid evan- 
 gelizing at Rome must mean, While Peter and Paid 
 were evangelizing at Rome. Put what becomes of 
 the argument, if evangelizing has here the nature of 
 a substantive (for which such participles are used in 
 Greek '), and the words are to be thus understood, 
 
 ' Lardncr's Supplement, Y. i. p. H)2. Iremeus, I?, iii. C. i. 
 
 - Thus Luke ii. %. 'Hy^ovfJovro,- i* the same thing as if St. 
 Luke had said Hy^ucW, according to Dr. Lardner, who renders 
 (he passage, This was the Jirst assessment of Cijreiuus governor of 
 Syria. ( redib. V. i. p. 420. Where sec more instances of a si- 
 milar kind. In the words of Irenaeus, to TTrrpa xa) t« riattXs lv 
 'Pipri ivafyiXt^piiUw), xsu S-.utXuirrvv rn» auAnoietr, it hath been 
 doubted, whether fvWy<Wr«i>*> mav be considered as a noun, 
 
 w hile 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IV. 
 
 119 
 
 Peter and Paid being the evangelizers, or preachers, 
 at Rome ? Which I apprehend may be done without 
 any violence to the language or design of Irenaeus. 
 
 It is evident, that his main design was to declare, 
 From whom and how the churches had received the 
 doctrine which the// held. And therefore after a ge- 
 neral account of the qualifications of the Apostles by 
 the power of the Holy Spirit, and that they went 
 forth, and evangelized the nations ; he descends to 
 particulars, and says, Matthew published also a writ- 
 ten Gospel ; that is, he was both a preacher and wri- 
 ter of the word. He then informs us, that Peter and 
 Paul were the preachers of it at Rome, but that 
 what they preached was written by Mark and Luke. 
 So that the sentence concerning Peter and Paul relates 
 to what follows it, and was designed to show, not 
 that Matthew was writing among the Hebrews and 
 they preaching to the Romans at the same time, but 
 that the doctrine was the same, which was preached 
 by Peter and Paul, and written by Mark and Luke : 
 for this is the point on which he is intent. And 
 this, which I believe to be the true construction of 
 
 while §t{i&.uimn in the same sentence remains a participle. Per- 
 haps it might be sufficient to answer, that Irenaeus professes him- 
 self no studier of elegance of language, and seems conscious that 
 he did not write the more accurate Greek from the necessity lie 
 was under of conversing chiefly in Celtic. [See Introduct. to B. i.] 
 But is not the following sentence of Xenophon an instance, that 
 of two participles one may become a sort of noun, the other 
 not? K«i si' W ■C75i0'ai{ breetyEiiTc ui •sjoXXac, oVi>; Jo|«v XaSSis, xai xa- 
 Tacrxft/a? xaAa v s 1<P' Exa'rw avruv xtuVc-io, a^riTE If »7rar>!xci>,- tiVij ay, xai 
 oXlyu iVfjoy, oVb ay •Em^ay ioln;, (^■XriXiy^.'.to; r ay HV-, xal ■STfOcriT* 
 aXa^ay ^ai'voic It is so according to his learned Annotator, who 
 thus translates it : Et si quidem turn multis te ut laudent per- 
 suaseris, quo hanc de te opinionem excites, turn pra;claros ad 
 horum quselibet apparatus acquisiveris, jam sic demum eris de- 
 ceptor, et paulo post, ubi periculum tui fcceiis, in fiaude depre- 
 hensus etiam eris, et praeterea vanus videberis. ( yropaed. L. i. 
 P. S4. Ed. Hutchinson. 4to. 
 
 the 
 
120 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. IV. 
 
 the passage, has appeared so to others. Dr. Wall 
 says, " Irenaeus is there speaking in a general way, 
 " not minding at that place any chronological mat- 
 et ter or synchronism , ." And on this side of the ques- 
 tion the passage is explained hy Dr. Wells 2 . But 
 if our opponents insist on the common interpreta- 
 tion as just, we may in this instance as lawfully re- 
 fuse the authority of Irenaeus though very respectable, 
 as they, who will have it to be decisive in one part 
 of this passage, may disregard it in another. Irenaeus 
 says, that Matthew published a written Gospel 
 amo?ig the Hebrews, or in Judea. But in this point 
 no attention is paid to his testimony i . And yet if 
 there was any mistake in the history which he had 
 received of this Gospel, it was more likely to be a 
 mistake of the precise time than of the country in 
 which it came forth. 
 
 7. §• As the objections then by no means balance 
 the weight of evidence in the other scale, we may 
 still rest secure, that St. Matthew's Gospel was pub- 
 lished, when the situation of the church, with re- 
 spect to its own members and the Jews without, 
 seems to have required one ; by the beginning of the 
 year xxxvir. 
 
 And thus we have a proof independent of the 
 preceding comparisons, that St. Mark and St. Luke, 
 who probably came often to Jerusalem and conversed 
 familiarly with the Apostles, must have seen St. 
 Matthew's Gospel before they composed their own. 
 St. Mark, who I conceive will appear to be the first 
 writer of the two, concludes with an intimation, 
 that he did not write, till after the Apostles had 
 
 1 Critical Notes on the New Testament, p. 1, 2. 
 
 - Ppraphrase on (he New Testament, Preface to St. Matthew. 
 
 ? JLajrdner's Supplement, V. i. p. 125, 126. 
 
 quitted 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 121 
 
 quitted their residence in Judea, and had preached 
 the faith with success in various parts of the earth : 
 And they went forth, and preached every where, 
 the Lord working with them, and confirming the 
 word with signs following, xvi. 20. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Sr. Matthew wrote for the Jews, and in Judea. 
 
 The voice of antiquity accords with Irenasus in 
 testifying, that St. Matthew wrote for the instruction 
 of the Jewish nation. And if we will allow, that he 
 lias given us not a mere collection of evangelical facts 
 and doctrines, but a collection made with choice and 
 design, we must admit this testimony as true. What- 
 ever is characteristic in his Gospel has a plain re- 
 ference to the condition, manners, and principles, 
 of this people. 
 
 I. §. He begins with intitling Jesus Christ the son 
 of Abraham, and the son of David ; and divides his 
 genealogy into three parts, answering to so many re- 
 markable periods in their history; every one of which 
 was early distinguished by predictions concerning the 
 Messiah, peculiarly interesting to them : the first, By 
 the promise to Abraham, that in His Seed all the 
 nations of the earth should be blessed 1 ; in the re- 
 newal of which promise Isaac was chosen before Ish- 
 inael 2 , and in the bequest of which as an inheritance 
 Jacob was preferred to Esau 3 : the second, by assu- 
 rances to David, that the promised Seed should 
 spring from his loins 4 ; to whom the greatness of his 
 
 1 Gen. xxii. 18. 
 
 ? xxvii. 27 — 'Z9. xxviii. 4. 
 
 3 xx vi. 4. 
 
 4 2 Sam. vii. 16. 
 
 character, 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 character, offices, and acts was revealed, and by 
 whom, as a prophet, it was represented to Israel 1 : 
 the third, By marking an aera of seventy weeks 2 , or 
 four hundred and ninety years, before the end of 
 which the Messiah should come ; and foreshowing a 
 sign of his advent in the appearance of his mes- 
 
 In this genealogy, when he mentions Jacob the 
 last of their common ancestors, he keeps up the idea 
 of relation between this promised Seed and them, by 
 noting, that Judas from whom our Lord sprang, 
 and the other heads of their twelve tribes were 
 brethren : Jacob begat Judas and his brethren 4 . 
 
 2. In speaking next of the birth of Jesus, he 
 could have told them what the Angel announced to 
 the blessed Virgin: The Lord God shall give unto him 
 the throne of his father David ; and he shall reign 
 over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom 
 there shall be no end 5 . But since they had such a 
 propensity to mistake the Messiah's character, and 
 to turn a spiritual into a temporal kingdom ; he 
 makes but little mention of the royalty of Christ, 
 till the time of viewing him on a throne of judgment, 
 when he shall gather all nations before him 6 , not to 
 heap honours on the wicked or worthless Israelite, 
 but " to render to every man according to his deeds." 
 He now exhibits another office of C hrist, an office 
 which few of them considered as belonging to him, 
 but on which their real and permanent felicity de- 
 
 : Psalm ex. &c. 3 Dan. ix. 24—2*. 
 
 3 Malachi iii. 1 . 
 
 4 Obiter Matthaeus Christum ut cognatum omnibus Israe&tis 
 commendat. GrotiuSj in locum. 
 
 < Luke i. 32, 33. 6 xxv. 31—46. 
 
 pended 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 123 
 
 pended : He shall save his people from their 
 ains l . 
 
 3. He then begins to show, that the prophecies 
 relating to the Messiah were fulfilled in the person of 
 Jesus ; and makes considerable use of this argument, 
 which the two next Evangelists scarce touch upon, 
 unless when they recite our Saviours own words. 
 This he did for the sake of those who insisted much 
 on this evidence 2 ; and in doing it plainly considers 
 his readers as conversant in the prophecies which he 
 lays before them. The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah 
 is a description of Christ throughout, and the sacred 
 writers frequently appeal to it. But St. Matthew 
 having shown, that Christ is the person of whom it 
 treats 3 , refers to it no more, but leaves it with his 
 reader to carry on the parallel between the prediction, 
 and the verification of it in Jesus. 
 
 4. §. The second chapter relates the arrival of the 
 Eastern Sages at Jerusalem, their inquiry after the 
 new-born King of the Jews, whose star they had seen 
 in their own country ; the question concerning the 
 destined place of his nativity insidiously proposed to 
 the Sanhedrim by Herod, and his cruelty at Beth- 
 lehem in consequence of their answer. These were 
 events well known to many then living in Judea; 
 and were too singular and extraordinary not to merit 
 a serious consideration. 
 
 5. §. In the third chapter, St. Matthew seems 
 again to speak to the knowledge of his contempo- 
 
 ■ i. 21. 
 
 2 Trypho the Jew says to Justin Martyr, I would not have 
 heard you, if you had not referred every thing to Scripture. DiaL 
 cum Tryphone, p. 254. Ed. Thirlby. 
 
 3 viii. 17. On the propriety of the application see the excellent 
 note of Grotius. 
 
 raries, 
 
124 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 raries, in relating the first interview between Jesus 
 and John the Baptist, and that John humbly de- 
 clined baptizing him. At that time John knew him 
 not ). Whence then that awe and reverence of a pri- 
 vate stranger ? This seems a difficulty to us ; but 
 probably was none to those who had seen and heard 
 Christ in the flesh. They readily conceived from their 
 own observation and experience, that his heavenly 
 countenance and discourse made such impression on 
 the man of God, (an impression which his sanctified 
 mind had a peculiar aptness to receive J that he 
 quickly felt his own inferiority, and with free ac- 
 knowledgement of it said, / have need to be baptized 
 of ' thee, and earnest thou to me ? 
 
 6. The fifth and two following chapters con- 
 tain the Sermon on the mount ; which St. Luke also 
 recites, but more concisely, and with omissions of 
 two sorts. First, He reserves several instructions 
 for future occasions, on which they were again deli- 
 vered : for it may be remarked of him, that in few 
 instances he repeats the same doctrine, or a similar 
 miracle or event ~. Secondly, He passes over those 
 
 1 Johni. .31.33. 
 
 ■ For example, he mentions onh one teaching on shipboard, 
 v. 3. the stilling out of one storm on the Lake of Galilee, -v iii. 
 22 — 25. one miraculous feeding of a multitude with loaves and 
 fishes, ix. 12 — 17. one healing of a parahtic, v. 18. for he does 
 not say that the centurion's servant, vii. 2. had the palsy, but 
 only that he was sick and ready to die ; he exhibits only one woman 
 anointing our Lord, vii. 38. of all which works St. Matthew and 
 .St. Mark relate either more or different instances : and his silence 
 in some of them is remarkable. He observes in general the same, 
 rule with regard to our lord's precepts and instructions. We 
 may therefore safely admit the discourse in Chap. vi. to be the 
 Sermon on the Mount ; in which the beginning, order of in- 
 structions, and conclusion, are the same as in St. Matthew ; 
 from whom he does not vary more in this Sermon, than in the 
 prophecy on Mount Olivet, chap. x\i. compared with Matth, 
 xxiv. For the little difficulty about the mountain or the plain, 
 and the sitting or standing posture of Christ, Sec Clarke's Para- 
 phrase on Luke \i. 17 — 20. 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 125 
 
 things which were spoken more immediately to the 
 Jews, to correct their false conceptions concerning 
 the kingdom of the Messiah, and the nature and mea- 
 sures of obedience due to the laws of God. 
 
 For this Sermon was delivered to an auditory, 
 many of whom had little idea of the demands of uni- 
 versal justice, or that they were to be called to fe- 
 licity by the practice of it 1 ; but imagined that their 
 happy state under Messiah their leader and king 
 would consist in worldly prosperity, in the abun- 
 dance of wealth, pleasures, power, and honour, ob- 
 tained by conquest and dominion over the rest of 
 mankind ; and that during the course of their arms 
 the moral law would be silent, and leave them to 
 the free gratification of their revenge, ambition, and 
 lusts. To these persons our Lord, having briefly de- 
 scribed the tempers and characters of which true 
 beatitude will be the recompence, declares, that 
 they who enlisted under him as their leader must be- 
 come useful and eminent, in a world lying in cor- 
 ruption and darkness, by purity of manners and the 
 lustre of good example 2 ; by which the nations 
 might be won, not to pay homage to them, but to 
 give glory to God by a like obedience to his holy 
 will : that he came not to abrogate but complete 
 what is spiritual and holy in the law and prophets 3 ; 
 and they were greatly deceived, if thev flattered 
 themselves with a releasement from any part of 
 God's moral law, which is of sacred and perpetual 
 obligation, and renders all guilty before him, who 
 wilfully break the least of its commandments, and 
 who teach others to break them ; and that therefore 
 even those professors of the Mosaic law, to whom 
 the rest looked up as models of perfection in life and 
 
 1 See Blair's Paraphrase on the Sermon on the Mount. 
 ' v. 13—16. > v. 17—19. 
 
 doctrine, 
 
J 26 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 doctrine, fell far short of the righteousness which 
 was necessary to gain admittance into the kingdom 
 of heaven l . lie then lays down some important 
 principles of forgiveness, chastity, simplicity, meek- 
 ness, and extensive charity 2 ; which must centre in 
 the heart, and animate the whole conduct of his fol- 
 lowers, through the assistance which is offered them 
 from above, if they hoped to be blessed by adhering 
 to him 3 . And he still levels his doctrine against the 
 false glosses of their expositors, and the imperfect 
 rules of their moralists. 
 
 In another part, with a like opposition to certain 
 semblances of piety then proper to the Jews, he 
 speaks of alms, and prayer, and fasti n g ; and assures 
 them, that they who published their charities by 
 sound of trumpet, who prayed standing in the streets, 
 and fasted with disfigured faces to be seen of men, 
 must expect no further reward of their work-, than 
 the vain applause of the multitude, which was the 
 chief incentive to perform them 4 . 
 
 And though these will be lessons instructive to the 
 church of Christ, as long as he shall have a church 
 militant on earth, yet St. Matthew might record 
 them with a view to his own nation in the first in- 
 stance ; and that he did so, may be judged by the 
 marked contrariety of these precepts to the maxims 
 or practice of the Jews, and by the total omission of 
 them in St. Luke. 
 
 One method of institution was suited to such as 
 renounced the whole of their religion as vain ; and 
 another needful for those who cherished the errors 
 they had grafted on a true religion, as the fairest 
 
 '20. 0 21— 48. 3 vii ? — 12. 4 vi. 1 — IS. 
 
 [fart 
 
DISCOURSE IV, SECT. V. 
 
 part of it. And this being the case of the Jews, St. 
 Matthew, that he might extirpate what was false, 
 and cultivate the truth in their minds, gave a fuller 
 account of this divine Sermon. 
 
 7. §• The first miracle specified by him is the 
 healing of a leper 1 ; and he seems to give it the pre- 
 cedence, though it was not the first in order of time 2 , 
 that he might begin with a work which proved to 
 them, on Scripture authority and their own princi- 
 ples, the divine mission and power of Jesus. For by 
 such a sign did Moses convince the house of Israel, 
 that God had sent him to be their deliverer 3 : ''And 
 " the Jews themselves confess, that leprosy is the 
 " finger of God, a disease peculiarly of his sending 
 " and removing; and that it is not lawful for the 
 " physician (or any but the priest directed and ap- 
 " pointed in his course) so much as to attempt the 
 " cure of it. Thus saith Rabbi Menachem on Lev. 
 " xiii. 4 " 
 
 In St. Luke's Gospel, designed for other readers, 
 the miraculous cure which stands foremost to view 
 is that of a person possessed 5 : which displayed the 
 power of Christ over those demons, to whom the 
 Gentiles sacrificed. 
 
 8. §. St. Matthew, who had before warned the 
 Jews by the words of John the Baptist G , that their 
 descent from Abraham, in which they placed such 
 confidence, would not avail them without sincere re- 
 pentance; shows them afterwards, that it would as 
 
 ■ viii.2 — 4. • See John ii. 11. 
 
 3 Exod. iv. 7, 8. 31. * Hammond on the place. 
 
 * Luke iv. 33— 36. 6 Matth. iii. 9, 
 
 little 
 
128 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 little profit them without true faith. To provoke 
 them to a jealousy of their birth-right, thev are in* 
 titled The children of the kingdom, as they, to whom 
 the adoption and the covenants appertained, and 
 whose were the fathers ; but at the same time are 
 told, that unbelief would be the forfeiture of all 
 these privileges : 
 
 viii. 11, 12. / say unto yon, that wavy shall 
 come from the east and west, and shall sit down 
 with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- 
 dom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom 
 shall be cast out into outer darkness : there shall 
 be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 
 
 In a similar monition related by St. Luke 1 there 
 is no mention of the children of the kingdom. 
 
 9- §• He endeavours to excite a sense of gratitude 
 by reminding them, that the kingdom of God was 
 first offered to them : 
 
 x. 5, 6. Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and 
 into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not : But 
 go ?*ather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 
 
 The other Evangelists are silent about this part of 
 the charge to the Apostles 2 . Again : 
 
 xv. 24. / am not sent but unto the lost sheep of 
 the house of Israel. 
 
 These words of Christ are not in the parallel place 
 of St. Mark, vii. 24—50. 
 
 ' Luke xiii. 28, 29. 
 
 1 See Mark >L 7 — 1 1. Luke ix. 3 — 5. 
 
 10. He 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 10. §. He is studious to satisfy them, that John 
 the Baptist was the Elias foretold by Malachi, iv. 5. 
 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before 
 the coming of the great and dreadful day of the 
 Lord. On which prophecy they laid such stress, that 
 they would hear of no Messiah, whose coming was 
 not preceded by Elias, or a prophet resembling him 1 : 
 and Trypho the Jew, in his conference with Justin 
 Martyr, contends, " That Christ could neither know 
 " himself, nor be endued with any power, till Elias 
 " came and anointed him 2 ." That therefore they 
 might conceive a just idea of the character and office 
 of John, St. Matthew informs them, that the insti- 
 tutions of the law, and the writings of the prophets, 
 were all significant of things to come till John ap- 
 peared, with whom the completion of them began ; 
 and if they would open their eyes to the truth, in a 
 matter of great importance to them, they would per- 
 ceive, that he was the predicted Elias : 
 
 xi. 13 — 15. For all the ptophets and the law 
 prophesied until John. And if ye will receive it, 
 this is Elias which was for to come. He that hath 
 ears to hear, let him hear. 
 
 St. Luke, who has the foregoing part of our Lord's 
 discourse concerning John, almost in the same 
 Avoi ds with St. Matthew 3 , stops short of this passage. 
 Again : 
 
 xvii. 12, 13. I say unto you, that Elias is comt 
 already, and they knew him not, but have done unto 
 him whatsoever they listed-^-Then the disciples un- 
 derstood, that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. 
 
 1 See Bp. Chandler's Defence of Christianity, p, 233. 
 
 2 Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, p. 153. See also p. 
 235. Ed. Thirlby. 
 
 3 Luke vii. 24—28, 
 
 K The 
 
130 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 The observation, which is wanting in St. Mark, 
 ix. 13. That lie spake to them of John the Baptist, 
 is an instance of St. Matthew's great care to ascertain, 
 who this Elias was. 
 
 11. §. And that they who were disposed to em- 
 brace the faith, might not be startled by the popular 
 argument of their unbelieving countrymen, Have 
 any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on 
 him ? he shows them, that the incredulity of their 
 nation was an event foreseen and foretold : 
 
 xiii. 14, \5. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of 
 Esaias, which saifh, By hearing ye shall 'tear, and 
 shall not understand : and seeing ye shall sec, and 
 shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed 
 gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their 
 eyes they have closed ; lest at any time they should 
 see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and 
 should understand with their heart, and should be 
 converted, and I should heal them. 
 
 There is an allusion to this prophecy in St. Mark 
 and St. Luke 1 ; but it is not expressly cited, nor so 
 fully stated. 
 
 12. §. His twenty-third chapter contains a conti- 
 nued discourse of our Lord concerning the Scribes and 
 Pharisees; in which he animadverts upon some things 
 that were singularly Judaical, and which St. Mark and 
 St. Luke do not mention, particularly that for a show 
 of sanctity, They made broad their phylacteries, and 
 enlarged the borders of their garments. Our Lord 
 begins this discourse with a command to his disciples 
 to obey the Jewish rulers, and submit to their in- 
 junctions, though sometimes grievous to be borne : 
 The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 
 
 Mark iv. 12. Luke viii. 10. 
 
 All 
 
DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 S£CT. V. 
 
 131 
 
 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that 
 observe and do. This was a precept to the circum- 
 cision ; and the Gentiles had no direct concern in it, 
 whom St. Paid exhorts, w stand Just in the liberty 
 wherewith Christ has made vsj'ree. Gal. v. 1 . 
 
 13. §. So also, chap. xxiv. 20. the direction to 
 pray, That their flight might not be on the sabbath 
 day, was inserted for the benefit of the believers, who 
 lived in Judea, and particularly at Jerusalem, and 
 would be considered as bound by the law of Moses. 
 The rigour of the Jews being such, that they them- 
 selves would very seldom attack, and sometimes not 
 resist, an enemy on the Sabbath, they certainly would 
 not suffer any of their own nation to set out or travel 
 with their families on that day. 
 
 Let us pause a moment to contemplate the success 
 of this petition, which certainly the faithful preferred 
 as they had been directed. Cestius Gallus, the pre- 
 sident of Syria, advancing to Jerusalem with his army, 
 took possession of the lower city, and assaulted the 
 upper l . But when a little perseverance would have 
 made him master of it and of the Temple, he decamp- 
 ed unexpectedly in the night. The ensigns of idolatry 
 or abomination had then been standing in the holy 
 place 2 ,• which to those who believed in Christ was 
 the signal of escape ; and doubtless from that instant 
 they held themselves in readiness to retreat from Je- 
 rusalem, as soon as the way was open for flight. But 
 Providence so ordered, that their flight should be 
 neither in winter, nor on the Sabbath. In Judea the 
 cold and rainy season does not begin before the 
 twelfth of December 3 : and the army of Cestius re- 
 tired to Antipatris, and was pursued by the Jews on 
 
 1 Josephus, Jewish War, B. ii. C. 19. 
 5 Matth. xxiv. 15, 16. 
 
 3 Mr. Harmer's Observations on divers Passages yf Scripture, 
 
 V.i. p. 26 
 
 K 2 the 
 
132 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 the eighth of the month Dius, that is, the eighth of 
 November 1 . The eighth of November, in the year 
 of our Lord lxvi. when this happened, was Saturday, 
 or the Jewish Sabbath 2 ; by the end of which it would 
 be known at Jerusalem, that the Romans were cer- 
 tainly fled to a distance with disgrace and loss : so 
 that the Christians had the whole week before them, 
 and a moderate season of the year for their retreat, 
 without fear of annoyance from the armies. And 
 this was the critical instant of safety. For the controul 
 of regular government ceasing, the bold and crafty 
 at the head of a turbulent and frantic populace began 
 immediately to tyrannize over the sober citizens : and 
 the Christians especially would have felt the rage of 
 their mad zeal, rapine, and cruelty ; which, with 
 their intestine discords and tumults, exhibited the 
 scene of a ruining city, before the Romans attacked 
 it 3 . The defeat of Cestius appeared in such a light 
 to the considerate, that upon it many of the noble Jens 
 sicam away from the city, says Josephus, as from a 
 ship that ivas sinking 4 . This too was in favour of 
 the Christians, who would be less noted and more se- 
 cure, for the number and power of those who with- 
 drew at the same time. The mountains of Pcraea 
 were within fifty miles of Jerusalem, and Pella about 
 an hundred from it. This city, which is said to have 
 been their chief rendezvous 5 , was under the juris- 
 diction of king Agrippa, a friend and ally of the Ro- 
 mans ; who was providentially disposed to counte- 
 
 1 Usher, Dissertat. de Maced. et Asian. Anno Solari, C. i. says, 
 that Josephus, in the History of the Jewish War, reckons by Ju- 
 lian or Roman months, only with Syro-maeedonian names. Ac- 
 cordingly the Archbishop in his Annals, under the year of the 
 world 4070, calls this 8th of Dins the Sth of November. 
 
 a The Dominical Letter for the year of our Lord lxvi. was E. 
 
 ' ""To x.aTxrrifjia ruf Ta'Skrjc CT£t» Pif/.a.'ou ; " >iv o»as a.nro'/.'kUfjLiin;. 
 
 Josephus, Jewish War, B. ii. C. xxii. § L. 
 
 4 Ibid. C. xx. § 1. 
 
 5 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. B. iii. C. 5. Epiphanius in Lib. de Pon- 
 deribus et Mensuj-is, p. 171. See Reland's Fttkestiiia, p. 9%4. 
 
 ' nance 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 133 
 
 nance the Christians l . Here therefore they were 
 exempt from the wars and miseries which wasted 
 Judea for near four years, and caused the entire de- 
 struction of city and state. 
 
 14. §. St. Matthew, who testifies a great esteem 
 for St. Peter, and places him at the head of the Apos- 
 tles more plainly than the other Evangelists, yet 
 dwells on the history of his fall as fully as St. Mark, 
 and mentions one circumstance more, that the second 
 denial was with an oath. All ages may improve by 
 this history ; and it is therefore recited by all the 
 Evangelists, as a lesson against self-confidence, a bright 
 example of the mercy of Heaven to those who grieve 
 for their offences, and a manifestation that St. Peter's 
 fortitude soon after was not his own, but from above. 
 13ut for some years from the Ascension, St. Peter was 
 the person who stood foremost in the cause of the 
 faith ; whom they who received it considered as the 
 chief champion of truth, and they who rejected it, as 
 the great abettor and ringleader of heresy. His re- 
 putation was of consequence on both sides, but must, 
 be lessened in the eyes of many by the knowledge of 
 this fact. When therefore we reflect, in how early 
 and critical a season St. Matthew published it, we 
 may reasonably conclude, that he divulged the guilt 
 of his frjend for the immediate benefit of his country- 
 men ; St- Peter, no doubt, entering into his views, 
 and with great humility forwarding the design, That 
 in himjirst Jesus Christ might show forth all long- 
 suffering 2 . Many might have been intimidated as 
 well as he to disown all acquaintance with Christ, 
 when they saw him seized, arraigned, and condemned; 
 some had joined in the cry for his crucifixion; others 
 had opposed, blasphemed, or insulted him in the 
 
 See Acts xxvi. 28. 
 
 * 1 Tim i. 16. 
 
 course 
 
134 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 course of his ministry on earth. In some or other of 
 these instances of guilt multitudes of Jews were in- 
 volved ; who yet soon afterwards might he ■pricked at 
 their hearts, and say, What shall ' ice do ? To this 
 question of distress and anguish the case of St. 
 Peter gave a most consoling answer, That their tears 
 of repentance would be mercifully accepted, as his 
 had been. 
 
 15. §. St. Matthew records the answer of the Jews 
 to Pilate, Then answered all the people, and said, 
 His Blood be on us, and on our children, xxvii. L 25. 
 They themselves felt the force of this dread impre- 
 cation ; and St. Matthew, in transmitting it to after- 
 ages, bequeathed their children a legacy of admoni- 
 tion, which may now be paraphrased in this manner: 
 
 " W hat brought against you from far a nation of 
 fierce countenance 1 ; laid in ashes your city, the 
 nobiest &i the eastern world 2 , and your temple, the 
 crown and glory of this citv • depopulated your coun- 
 try, and made a fruitful land barren 3 ? What drew 
 down vengeance by the sword, pestilence, and famine, 
 on that generation, and scattered the sad remains of 
 them over the face of the earth ? What hath with- 
 holden honour and esteem from you in all succeeding 
 times ; hath caused you to be oppressed in many na- 
 tiuns, and contemned in all ; and hath given you a 
 trembling heart, and Jailing of eyes, and sorrow of 
 mind, in a long unsettled dis ersion ? The Provi- 
 dence of God punished the idolatry of your ancestors 
 with a captivity of seventy years ; but your visitation 
 still continues after seventeen hundred. When they 
 
 1 See Deut. xxviii. 49, 50. 
 
 2 Orinen, in qua fuere Hierosolycna, longe clarissima urbium 
 Orientis, non Judseae modo. Piiii. Nat. Hist. L. v. C. 14. V. i. 
 p. 261. Ed. Hardouin. 
 
 3 Uher solum. Tac. Hist. v. 6. Shaw's Trawls, p. 365. 
 
 forsook 
 
DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 135 
 
 forsook their idols and returned to Him, he returned 
 to them, and brought them into their own land. You 
 have all along hated idols, and are nevertheless with- 
 out a country. Yet all the ways of the Almighty 
 are equal. What then hath made Israel so abhorred, 
 what sin of a blacker die than idolatry? Your fathers 
 denied the Holy One and the Just in the presence of 
 Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. They 
 called aloud with one voice for his crucifixion, and 
 said, His Blood be on us, and on our children ; and 
 as yet " their posterity praise their saying." But be 
 not ye " as your fathers, a stubborn and rebellious 
 generation ;" mourn for their sins and your own ; 
 " look on him whom you have pierced," and say, 
 "Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord :" 
 that " in Him all the seed of Israel may be justified." 
 
 16\ §. St. Matthew mentions the report propa- 
 gated among the Jews by the guard stationed at the 
 sepulchre : His disciples came by night, and stole 
 him away while we slept 1 ; and suggests to them, 
 that the impunity of the guard was a sure mark of the 
 untruth and absurdity of the report. The soldiers, 
 against whom there was no other evidence, accuse 
 themselves of a capital offence; and the rulers, enraged 
 at their negligence, let it pass unnoticed, when the 
 punishment of it was the only method to make a story 
 credible, the success of which they had so much at 
 heart. Herod Agrippa believing, or desirous to make 
 the people believe, that St. Peier had escaped from 
 prison by the fault of the keepers, commanded them 
 to be put to death ' 2 . And undoubtedly the like zeal 
 or policy would have prompted these rulers to prose- 
 cute the guard, if they had dared to do it. Con- 
 nivance in such a case was confession of a compact 
 
 1 xxviii. H — 15. - Acts xii. 19. 
 
 between 
 
136 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 between them and the soldiers, and that one party 
 had stipulated to affirm, what each knew to be false. 
 
 The question maintained in this section, that St. 
 Matthew wrote for the instruction of the Jews, might 
 be enforced by other instances : but because the same 
 things occur in St. Mark, I have purposely omitted 
 them, that I might confine the argument, except in 
 the case of St. Peter, to what is peculiar to St. Mat- 
 thew. In so clear a point what has been already of- 
 fered were too much, if the doubts of learned mo- 
 derns had not made it necessary. 
 
 17. Yet I shall beg leave to add one remark 
 more. The enlargement of the church by the acces- 
 sion of the Gentiles is announced, as was before ob- 
 served, in many passages of St. Matthew's Gospel. 
 But what shall we infer from this circumstance r That 
 he did not write for the Jews in the first instance ; or 
 that he did not write early ? View the matter in a just 
 light, and you will see a different conclusion deduci- 
 ble from it. To testify to mankind, that the calling 
 of the Gentiles was not an afterthought of the Apos- 
 tles themselves, because the Jews rejected them, but 
 an original part of the Gospel ceconomy, it was fit 
 and expedient, if not absolutely necessary, that what 
 Christ had declared on this head, and the command 
 which he had given his Apostles, to disciple all na- 
 tions \ should be registered in a book published to 
 the world while the church was yet confined to the 
 circumcision : and I doubt not, the providence of 
 Heaven caused a Gospel to be soon set forth for this 
 among other wise and weighty reasons. 
 
 18. §. The presumption is strong, that a work 
 compiled for the use of the Jews was published in the 
 
 1 yiA-eva-ale Trx;rv. tbJ edtn, Matth. xxviii. 19 
 
 country 
 
PISCOUUSE IV. SECT. V. 
 
 137 
 
 country which the great body of them inhabited, and 
 to which they resorted from all quarters of the earth. 
 But a certain proof is the date of this Gospel ; which, 
 within a few years of the Ascension, could be written 
 only in Judea, where the twelve Apostles then con- 
 stantly resided \ 
 
 1 Cave's Hist Litcraria, V. i. p. 5. Col. 1. under St. Peter. 
 Lardner's Supplement, V. i. Ch. vi. where this point is considered 
 at large. 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE FIFTH. 
 
 ON ST. MARK. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 St. Mark wrote before St. Luke. 
 
 OUR next attempt shall be to settle the order of 
 St. Mark and St. Luke, and to consider some 
 other circumstances relating to their Gospels. 
 
 1. §. And first, Of the order in which they wrote. 
 
 " I cannot be induced," says Grotius, " to assent 
 " to the opinion entertained by some, that Luke was 
 " prior in writing to Matthew and Mark. It is con- 
 " tradicted by the order in which the Gospels have 
 ,£ been disposed from the earliest ages among all na- 
 " tions ; it is contradicted by ancient testimony sup- 
 " ported by the authority of Irenaeus and Tertullian ; 
 " it is contradicted by Luke himself, who has made 
 " additions to the history of Matthew and Mark, and 
 " when he relates the same thing, often uses their very 
 " words l ." 
 
 1 Grotius on Luke i. 1. 
 
 To 
 
140 
 
 DISCOURSE .V. SECT. I. 
 
 To the same purpose Dr. Mill affirms, " That on 
 " comparing the three Gospels together, it appears 
 " clearer than light, that Luke's was published after 
 " those of Matthew and Mark." — " That in the parts 
 " of the evangelical history in which St. Matthew 
 
 and St. Mark agree, he seems to use the words 
 " sometimes of the one, and sometimes of the other ; 
 " but where they differ a little in any minute circum- 
 " stances, he suits his own narration to that of 
 " Mark ; that he inserts many things into their rela- 
 " tions ; and often makes additions from the testimony 
 " of eye-witnesses V 
 
 But we are not arguing from authorities, but from 
 such evidence as the Gospels themselves afford. And 
 if it appear by a comparison of parallel passages, that 
 St. Luke's narration is either plainer in itself, or to a 
 great body of believers, I shall think I am intitled 
 to conclude, that he wrote after St. Mark. For 
 though elegance of style might not be the aim of 
 either, perspicuity and explication were undoubtedly 
 the study of both. And since one of them has mani- 
 festly adopted many things from the other, the later 
 w l iter might consistently follow, if he saw no oppor- 
 tunity of improving, the language of the preceding, 
 but he certainly would not alter it for the worse. 
 
 2. §. St. Matthew having related his own calling, 
 
 then adds : 
 
 ix. 10. And it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat, 
 in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners, 
 came and sat down with him and his disciples. 
 
 St. Mark having given the same account of the 
 calling of Matthew, or Levi, says : 
 
 1 Mill's Prolegomena. Sect. cxvi. cxvii. p. 14. 
 
 ii. 15. 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. I. 
 
 141 
 
 ii. 15. And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at 
 meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat 
 also together with Jesus and his disciples. 
 
 Here Jesus being the guest, His house must mean 
 the house of Matthew or Levi; which he himself out 
 of modesty and humility had left undetermined. 
 
 St. Luke however, as well to remove all possibility 
 of doubt, as that what St. Matthew had done might 
 be told for a memorial of him, relates the matter in 
 the following words : 
 
 v. 29- And Levi made him a great feast in his 
 own house 1 : and there was a great company of 
 publicans, and of others that sat doiun with them. 
 
 There is therefore a gradation of clearness in the 
 three accounts, corresponding to the order in which 
 we suppose the Gospels to have been written. 
 
 3. §. The two Evangelists relate our Lord's reply 
 to a cavil of the Pharisees, in these words : 
 
 Mark ii. 25, <ZG. 
 
 25. And he said unto them, 
 
 Have ye never read 
 
 what David did, 
 
 when he had need 
 
 and was an hungered, he 
 
 and they that were with him ? 
 
 26. How he went into the 
 house of God, 
 
 in the days of Abiathar the high 
 
 priest, 
 
 and did eat 
 
 Luke vi. 3, 4. 
 
 3. And Jesus ansivering them, 
 said, 
 
 Have ye not read so much as this, 
 what David did, 
 
 when he uas an hungered, he 
 and they that were with him ? 
 
 4, How he went into the 
 house of God, 
 
 and did take and eat, 
 
 1 'Ev rf oixi'a avrS. In domo sua. Vulgate. And though no stress 
 should he laid on the asperate in avri, still the reference of this 
 word would be more clear and certain than in St. Mark. 
 
 and 
 
142 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. I. 
 
 Mark ii. 25, 2G. 
 
 Luke vi. 3, 4. 
 
 the shew-bread, 
 which is nut lawful to cat, 
 but for the priests, 
 and gave also to them that 
 
 and gare also to them that 
 
 were with him, 
 
 the shew-bread, 
 
 which is not lawful to eat, 
 
 but for the priests alone ? 
 
 were with him ? 
 
 In St. Luke's account part of a sentence being 
 brought higher up [and gave also to them that were 
 ivith him] which St. Mark has placed at the end of 
 the question, the whole of David's action is collected 
 together. And this arrangement of the parts of it is 
 so natural, that St. Mark, I think, would not have 
 divided them, if he had written after St. Luke. 
 
 4. The miracle done at the house of Jairus is 
 told by St. Mark and St. Luke with a detail of cir- 
 cumstances and similitude ot expressions, which show 
 that one of them followed the other rather than St. 
 Matthew. But in St. Mark's narration there is a 
 little difficulty, which St. Luke clears up by a slight 
 transposition and change of a word or two. 
 
 St. Mark bavins mentioned the message which 
 Jairus received in our Lord's presence, proceeds 
 thus : 
 
 Ch. v. 36 — 38. As soon as Jesus heard the word 
 that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the syn- 
 agogue, Fear not : only believe. And he suffered 
 no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and 
 John the brother of James. And he cometh to the 
 house of the ruler of the synagogue. 
 
 From these words it might be imagined, that our 
 Lord stopt the people from following him, while they 
 were on their way to Jairus' house ; and we are at a 
 loss to conceive, how, without a miracle, a curious 
 
 unruly 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. I. 
 
 143 
 
 unruly multitude, that had thronged him just before, 
 was so manageable in the open road. But this little 
 difficulty vanishes on reading St. Luke's account, by 
 which it appears, that it was not on the way to the 
 house, but at the entrance into it, that our Lord suf- 
 fered no one to follow him, but whom he saw proper. 
 
 Ch. vih. 50, 51. But token Jesus heard it, he an- 
 swered him, saying, Fear not , only believe, and 
 she sfiall be made whole. And when he came into 
 the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, 
 and James, and John, and the father and the mo- 
 
 The learned reader, by consulting the original, will 
 find also in St. Luke a little explanation of the office 
 of Jairus. St. Matthew calls him "Ag^mv, a ruler or 
 magistrate, ix. 18. which is not a very definite term; 
 St. Mark with more precision ' Ao-^ityuvdycoyog. Yet 
 "A^os in composition may denote either one who 
 presides in an assembly or occasional meeting, as 
 'Ao;£iTo*x?uvos, ruler of a feast, John ii. Q. or one 
 who is the chief of any profession, as 'A^ispe^g, a 
 chief priest ; 'A^irsXaivrig, a chief' publican : and a 
 person totally unacquainted with Jewish manners 
 might have doubted which meaning it bore in 'Ao^nruv- 
 dymy^g. St. Luke therefore first calls Jairus ' A^tov 
 t% (ruvaywyrlg, vih. 41. to determine the sense of 
 " Ao^Kruvdytoyos, which he soon after uses with St, 
 Mark, ver. 49- 
 
 Here then again the explication improves, as the 
 Gospels succeeded each other. 
 
 5. Though Jairus was a person of some emi' 
 nence, the place of his abode cannot be collected 
 from St. Luke. And as it is justly observed of him, 
 That he is not apt to name places l , it may be of 
 use in the present argument to take notice of some 
 exceptions to this remark. 
 
 ther of the maiden. 
 
 1 Wall's Critical Notes, Luke ix. 18. 
 
 When 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. I: 
 
 When he is going to relate the calling of St. Peter, 
 he says, that Jesus stood by the lake of Gennesareth 1 ; 
 which explained to foreigners what the other Evan- 
 gelists meant by the sea of Galilee. 
 
 Again : he informs us, that the miracle of feeding 
 the five thousand was done in a desert place belong ing 
 to the city called Bethsaida- , where St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark speak only of a desert place. 
 
 In the following instances of naming places he is 
 the sole relater of the things done in them. He 
 mentions, that the annunciation was at Nazareth, a 
 city of Galilee 3 ; the enrolment of Joseph and Mary 
 at Bethlehem, the city of David, in Judea 4 ; the 
 escape of our Lord from the fury of the multitude by 
 a divine power upon the hill on which Nazareth 
 stood 5 ; the raising of a widow's son to life at a city 
 called Art?/?, not far from Capernaum 6 ,• that ten 
 lepers were healed in a village on the confines of 
 Galilee and Samaria 7 ; and that Zaccheus, the chief 
 of the publicans, entertained our Lord at or near 
 Jericho 8 . 
 
 Now if the specification of places is not usual with 
 him, how comes it to be found more particularly in 
 those passages, where St. Matthew and St. Mark are 
 explained by it, or things are related which they do 
 not mention ? In either case it was useful to deviate 
 from his general practice ; but he could not be sen- 
 sible of this utility, unless he had seen their Gospels. 
 
 6. A part of the opinions entertained at the 
 court of Herod concerning our Lord is thus repre- 
 sented by St. Mark and St. Luke : 
 
 Mark vi. 15. Luke ix. 8. 
 
 And others said, That it is a And [it was said] of others, 
 jirophet, or as one of the pro- that one of the old prophets 
 phets. was risen again. 
 
 • v. 1. ■ ix. 10. Compare Matth. xiv. 13. Mark vi. 32. 
 3 i. 26. 4 ii. 4. 5 iv. 29,30. 6 viL 11. Compare ver. L 
 7 xvii H. 8 xix. 1—10. 
 
 One 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT f. 
 
 145 
 
 One of the prophets in St. Mark, and one of the 
 old prophets who was risen again in St. Luke, mean 
 the same thing. For all authoritative prophecy had 
 ceased for an interval of fouriiundred years between 
 Malachi and John the Baptist. One of the prophets 
 therefore must be a prophet revived who had lived 
 in former ages. But since this was not understood 
 by the world in general, St. Luke explains the matter 
 by a periphrasis ; and he uses the same description 
 again, when the disciples replied to a question of 
 our Lord, IVhom say the people that I am ? 
 
 Mark viii. 28. 
 
 And they answered, John the 
 Baptist •• but some say, Elias ; 
 and others, one of the prophets. 
 
 7. §. Mark vi. 41, 42. 
 
 41. And when he had taken the 
 Jive loaves and the two Jishes, 
 
 he looked up to heaven, and 
 blessed, and brake the loaves, 
 and gave [them] to his 
 disciples to set before them ; 
 and the two Jishes divided he 
 among them all. 
 
 42. And they did all eat, 
 and they were Jilled. 
 
 Luke ix. 19. 
 
 TTiey answering said, John the 
 Baptist : but some say, Elias ; 
 and others, that one of the old 
 prophets is risen again. 
 
 Luke ix. 16, 17. 
 
 16. JVhen he had taken the 
 Jive loaves and the two Jishes, 
 he looked up to heaven, and 
 blessed them, and brake, 
 and gave to the disciples 
 
 to set before the multitude. 
 
 17. And they did eat, 
 and they were all Jilled, 
 
 St. Luke has so disposed his words as to show more 
 plainly, that Christ blessed the fishes as well as the 
 loaves ; and that all were Jilled : and this disposi- 
 tion is so good, that he who followed would have 
 found no reason to change it. 
 
 8. §. Mark xi. 5. Luke xix. 33. 
 
 And certain of them that stood And as they were loosing the 
 there said unto them, What colt, the owners thereof 
 
 do ye, loosing the colt ? said unto them, Why 
 
 loose ye the colt ? 
 
 L St. 
 
146 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. I. 
 
 St. Mark says presently after, And they let them 
 go. Which words imply indeed, that they who ques- 
 tioned the disciples about the colt, and suffered them 
 to lead it away, had a right to dispose of it. Yet 
 what succeeding author would have preferred this 
 intimation to the plain proposition of St. Luke, that 
 they were the owners of the colt ? 
 
 9. §. Mark xii. 41—44. 
 
 41. And Jesus sat over against 
 the treasury, and beheld how 
 the people cast money into 
 
 the treasury : and many that were 
 rich cast in much. 
 
 42. And there came a certain 
 poor widow, and she cast in two 
 mites, 
 
 which make a farthing. 
 
 43. And lie called unto him, his 
 disciples, and faith unto them, 
 Verily I say unto you, that 
 this poor widow hath cast in 
 more than they all 
 
 which have cast into the treasury. 
 14. For all they have cast in 
 of their abundance : 
 
 hut she of her want hath cast iyi 
 all that she had. her whole living. 
 
 Luke xxi. 1—4. 
 
 1 . And lie looked up, and saw 
 the rich men casting their gifts 
 into the treasury. 
 
 And he saw also a certain 
 
 poor widow casting in thither two 
 
 mites. 
 
 3. And he said, 
 
 Of a truth I say unto you, that 
 this poor widow liath cast in 
 more than they all. 
 
 4. For all these have cast in 
 of their abundance unto 
 the offerings of God ; 
 
 but she of her want hath cast in 
 all the living that she had. 
 
 As this incident is not related by St. Matthew, it 
 must be numbered in the list of passages, which either 
 St. Mark or St. Luke had adopted from the other. 
 The intent of casting money into the treasury may be 
 collected from St. Mark ; but certainly St. Luke hath 
 made it plainer to strangers, by calling the money 
 which they cast in their gifts, and by indicating, 
 that this treasury was a bank which received the of- 
 ferings of God. 
 
 The reason why St. Mark explains the value of a 
 mite will be given in another place '. 
 
 1 See Sect. iv. of this Di eo irse. 
 
 1 0 §. In 
 
DISCOURSE V. SF.CT. 1. 14? 
 
 10. §. Ill Ch. xiii. 24, 25. of St. Mark the destruc- 
 tion of the Jewish nation and polity is foretold, as in 
 St. Matthew : 
 
 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun 
 shall he darkened, and the moon shall not give her 
 light. And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the 
 powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 
 
 And the argument from the terms of the prophecy 
 will in great measure apply to St. Mark as well as St. 
 Matthew, and infer the same conclusion, That this 
 figurative and symbolical style of prediction must 
 have preceded the plain interpretation of it given by 
 St. Luke. Sec Disc. iv. Sect. ii. §. S. 
 
 11. 4. Mark xiv. 54.66, 6*. 
 
 54. And Peter followed him 
 afar off, 
 
 even into the palace of the high 
 priest ; and he sat with the ser- 
 vants, and warmed himself at 
 the blaze of fire. 
 ******** * 
 
 66. And as Peter was beneath 
 in the palace, there cometh one of 
 the maids of the high priest : 
 67- And when she saw Peter 
 warming himself, she looked upon 
 him, 
 
 and said, And thou also wast 
 with Jesus of Nazareth. 
 
 Luke xxii. 54 — 56. 
 
 54. And Peter followed 
 afar off'. 
 
 55. And when they had kindled 
 a fire in the midst of the hall, 
 and ivere set down together, 
 Peter sat down among them. 
 
 56. But a certain maid beheld 
 him as he sat by the blaze of 
 fire, 
 
 and earnestly looked upon 
 him, 
 
 and said, This man was a'so 
 with him. 
 
 I have translated the word Qwg, a blaze ofjire, to 
 distinguish it from the common word vsvo used by St. 
 Luke in verse 55, where he speaks of the jive kindled 
 in the midst of the hall. Me introduces <ptog in the 
 following verse, where it is more significant : for 
 this blaze ofjire, by which Peter sat, enabled the 
 >naid to discern, that he was a disciple of Jesus. 
 
 1 2 This 
 
148 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 This meaning of <pw$, though not without classical 
 authority l , is not very common ; which makes it 
 more likely, that St. Luke took the word from St. 
 Mark, and placed it to advantage. 
 
 12. §. He has another word, for which he pretty 
 plainly appears indebted to St. Mark ; and that is, 
 dvcoyeov by which name they both call the upper 
 room, where our Lord was to keep his last passover 2 . 
 The word is not common, and in all other places he 
 calls such a room oVegojov 3 . 
 
 13. In the following passages St. Luke seems to 
 have had an eye to both St. Matthew and St. Mark : 
 
 Matth. xiv. 14. Mark vi. 34. 
 
 And when Jesus went forth And when Jesus went forth 
 
 he saw a great multitude, he saw a great multitude, 
 
 and was moved with compassion and was moved with compassion 
 toward them, toward them, 
 
 because they were as sheep not 
 having a shepherd : 
 and he began to teach to them 
 many things. 
 
 and he healed their rick. 
 
 Luke ix. 11. 
 
 And the multitudes, when they knew it, followed 
 him : and he received them, and spake unto them of 
 the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need 
 of healing. 
 
 Here St. Luke unites the two instances of Christ's 
 goodness to the people : of which St. Matthew had 
 given only one, and St. Mark the other. Again : 
 
 ' Raphelius on Mark xiv. 54. Hutchinson's Cyropaed. p. 528. 
 4to, 
 
 - Mark xiv. 15. Luke xxii. 1<2 
 3 Acts i. 13 ix. 37. 39. xx. 8. 
 
 14. §. Matth. 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. I. 
 
 149 
 
 14. §. Matth. xxvi. 67, 68. 
 Then did they spit in his face, 
 
 and buffeted him, 
 and others sinote him 
 with the palms of their hands, 
 Saying, Prophesy unto us, 
 thou Christ, who is he that 
 smote thee ? 
 
 Mark xiv. 65. 
 
 And some began to spit on him, 
 
 and to cover his face, 
 
 and to buffet him, 
 
 and to say unto him. Prophesy . 
 
 and the servants did strike him 
 
 viith the palms of their hands. 
 
 St. Matthew leaves his readers to suppose, that the 
 officers or servants covered our Lord's face : and St. 
 Mark omits to tell, what it was that they bid him 
 prophesy. But St. Luke, by mention of both cir- 
 cumstances, sets the matter in a clearer light, and 
 completes the narration of the two other Evangelists : 
 
 Luke xxii. 63, 64. 
 
 And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and 
 smote him. And when they had covered him, they 
 struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, 
 Prophesy, who is he that smote thee ? 
 
 In all these parallels there is still some advantage 
 of explication or clearness on the side of St. Luke ; 
 nor can any thing, as far as I perceive, be cast as a 
 counterpoise into the opposite scale. Yet St. Mark, 
 by improving on St. Matthew's expressions, shows 
 that he would have availed himself of St. Luke's, had 
 the Gospel of the latter been already published. 
 
 Two observations remain, conspiring to the same 
 end : the first of which being merely grammatical re- 
 quires the originals to be quoted ; the other bears 
 reference to the reasoning in Discourse iii. Sect. v. 
 
 8. on an order of history in the Gospels which is 
 not the order of time : 
 
 15. §. Mark 
 
150 
 
 DISCOTSftSE V. SLCT. T. 
 
 15. §. Mark xii. 38—40. 
 
 3S. BX:TfTf nrrn Twv 
 it ccytjccc'i';. 
 
 39. Kal urgwnxmtoglcts h 
 rxTc c-xiia.yxyy.~u,, xai 
 'nr^ToxXcn'a,- w ToiV ^f.Trvci.-' 
 
 40. Oi KotrirrVivm: ?k; ol/.lu.; 
 
 Luke xx. 46, 47 
 
 yeajijiartm, TZi ©iXoVrio* 
 ■TO-?siT«Ti7y i» coXkT.;, 
 
 X«l *lXfc'»TJJV d.<jTfX7fl)Si 
 
 ev 7 cue ctyegal':, 
 
 Ta7; orvosyayaVf, xai 
 
 4~. Oi KaT;5-4(Wt ra; oix'/a.; 
 T»* xxi ergofofffl /*axj% 
 
 wjoewvwrW" Jtoi Xr'vJ.ojTat 
 
 In strict propriety Tcof 9teAovra>v in the beginning of 
 St. Mark's sentence, ver. 38. required twv xaT=T^iov- 
 tcov and 7^f,o(T£u^o!xsvu)v in ver. 40. And though the 
 best Greek authors have sometimes deviated from 
 common rules in the very same manner; vet who can 
 think that St. Mark wrote thus after St. Luke, and, 
 agreeing so much with him in other respects, changed 
 a regular into an irregular syntax r If we suppose St. 
 Luke to have follow ed, may we not observe in him a 
 certain delicacy w ith regard to St. Mark ? Oi xar- 
 s<rbl»(ri and TOxoTjvp/oj/rtti are not so visiblv opposed 
 to oi xar sirhlavTsg and z3orirrz-jyJ><x-voi, as twv xo.ts<t- 
 Qiwtcov and ■urcoo-evj/o'j.ivwv would have been, but 
 avoid the irregularity of that construction without 
 pointing it out, or seeming to rectify it. 
 
 1G. §. Critics and Harmonists have observed, that 
 where there is any difference between St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark, St. Luke usually accords with the latter. 
 And this is true of him not only in particular rela- 
 tions, but in the 1 general disposition of facts. And I 
 suppose, they who have fancied that some parts of 
 the evangelical history me misplaced in the present 
 copies of St. Matthew, founded their conceit on the 
 concurrence of St. Mark and St. Luke in those parts. 
 
 But 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. If. 
 
 151 
 
 But what has been shown in one instance 1 is probably 
 true in more; that they sometimes agree in placing 
 things, not in a chronological sequence, but in ano- 
 ther order, which they there esteemed more apt and 
 convenient. Their agreement therefore can determine 
 nothing concerning St. Matthew ; but with regard to 
 themselves implies, that one of them was the exemplar 
 or pattern to the other. To which of them then does 
 probability of reason assign this character ? Let one 
 thing be assumed, which has been proved in part, and 
 will be proved more fully in the next section, that St. 
 Peter directed, and in great measure dictated, the 
 Gospel of St. Mark ; and then we may answer this 
 question, by asking, Whether it is likely that an 
 Apostle and eye-witness of all that he dictated, was 
 guided by the clue of St. Luke's Gospel, rather than 
 his own knowledge, through a train of facts w hich he 
 was perpetually reviewing, and long habituated to 
 explain ? This is hardly credible ; nor can w e well 
 hesitate to pronounce, that St. Peter traced the way 
 in St. Mark's Gospel, which St. Luke followed. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 St. Mark wrote his Gospel under the direction of 
 St. Peter. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to confirm one part of 
 the ancient testimonies concerning St. Mark, that he 
 was the next Evangelist to St. Matthew ; I go on 
 to consider another, that his Gospel was written 
 under the direction of St. Peter, and in great mea- 
 sure dictated by him. 
 
 1. §. And first, It appears to have been dictated 
 by an eye-witness, The pillow in the hinder part 
 
 ' Discourse iii. Sect v. § 7. 
 
1-52 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. II. 
 
 of the ship, on which Jesus was asleep 1 ; the green 
 grass on which the multitude sat down" 2 to be mira- 
 culously fed ; the rising of' blind Bartimceus, and 
 the casting away of his garment 3 , when our Lord 
 called him ; the colt tied, by the door without, in a 
 place where two ways met 4 ; these and many other 
 minute matters indicate, that the historian had been 
 a spectator, who described them, because they were 
 imprinted on his mind in seeing the action which he 
 relates. And the distinct and particular manner in 
 which the principal facts are generally told is a further 
 evidence of this point. 
 
 2. §. Secondly, It appears to have been dictated by 
 a Galilean. Herod the Tetrarch is here styled a 
 king 5 ; the lake of Galilee, the sea of Galilee ; and 
 St. Mark, as well as St. Matthew, when he speaks 
 of crossing this lake, talks the language of the bor- 
 derers on it : Let us pass over unto the other side 6 . 
 Instead of which St. Luke says, Let us go unto the 
 other side of the lake. 
 
 3. §. Thirdly, It was dictated by an Apostle. 
 When the Apostles sent Epistles to the church, it was 
 often requisite to declare their character as well as 
 name, and to show, with what commission they 
 wrote : and on these occasions they intitle themselves 
 slpostles. But in the Gospel the case was different; 
 where Christ is the teacher, not they ; and his au- 
 thority only, not theirs, the object. Here therefore 
 they call themselves Disciples, and .choose a name 
 which set them more on a level with the other fol- 
 lowers of their Lord. Thus St. Matthew speaks con- 
 stantly of them ; the place excepted, where he is to 
 relate their appointment and names 7 . The name of 
 sipostle is found but once in St. John 8 , and then not 
 
 ' Mark. iv. 38. 2 vi. 39. . 3 x. 46. . < xi. 4.. . ; 
 
 5 Mark vi. 14. &c. See Sermon, p. 11. 
 
 6 Compare Mark iv. 35. with Luke viii. 22. . 
 
 . I Matth. x. 2. * See the original cf John xiii. 16. 
 
 in. 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. IX. 
 
 155 
 
 in its appropriate sense, in the judgment of our 
 Translators, but as a general term. Now as St. 
 Mark is equally reserved in giving them this title of 
 dignity, which he uses only once *, we esteem it a 
 sign, that the director of his Gospel was of the same 
 order with the Apostolical Evangelists. St. Luke, in 
 whom it had been no act of humility to suppress 
 the title which belonged to them, calls them frequently 
 Apostles. 
 
 4. §. Again : St. Matthew, as we might expect 
 from him, is free and ingenuous in revealing the 
 many imperfections of the Apostles, and the reproofs 
 which they received from Christ during their attend- 
 ance upon him. He mentions their slowness in ap- 
 prehending our Lord's doctrine 2 ; the weakness of 
 their faith after experience of his mighty power 3 ; 
 the jealousies which they harboured of each other 4 ; 
 the want of courage shown by them in the hour of 
 trial, when they alljforsook him and Jled, after strong 
 protestations of adherence to him *. Which several 
 instances of their frailty are as plainly related by St. 
 Mark : he has even added a few not mentioned by 
 St. Matthew 6 . But these things, which it better 
 became themselves to confess than another to pro- 
 claim, are either passed over or sparingly mentioned 
 by St. Luke. And from hence we may conclude, 
 that the account given of the Apostles in St. Mark's 
 Gospel came immediately from one of themselves, 
 and was written by his injunction. 
 
 But to bring the matter nearer to St. Peter : though 
 this Gospel was compiled by his son in Christ, it con- 
 
 1 Mark vi. 30. 
 
 5 Matth. xv. 16. xvi. 9. Compare Mark vii. 18. viii. 18. 
 3 Matth. xv. 33. Compare Mark viii. 4. 
 . * Matth. xx. 24. Compare Mark x. 41. 
 
 5 Matth. xxvi. 35. Compare Mark xiv. 31. 
 
 6 Mark vi. 52. ix. 10. x. 32. 
 
 suits 
 
154 
 
 DISCOL'HSE V. SECT. If. 
 
 suits his credit and reputation less in every view, than 
 any, one of the others. The fact is evident, and I 
 think the reason of it as plain. 
 
 5. §. Soon after the calling of St. Peter, Christ 
 was received at his house. St. Matthew and St. 
 Luke mention it as the house of Simon or Peter l . 
 But St. Mark, that he may not seem to arrogate the 
 slightest matter to him, calls it the house of Simon 
 and Andrew. 
 
 6. §. When the twelve Apostles were to be enu 
 merated, it was necessary to place St- Peter at the 
 head of the sacred list, as is done by the other Evan- 
 gelists ; but it is managed in such a manner, that you 
 scarce perceive the preference given him : 
 
 Ch. iii. 14 — 17. And he ordained twelve, that 
 they should he, with him, and that he /night send 
 them forth to pleach; And to have power to heal 
 sicknesses, and to cast out devils : And Simon he 
 surnamed Peter ; And James the son of Zebedee, 
 and John the brother of James ; 8$c. 
 
 The words of St. Matthew on this occasion are, 
 
 Ch. x. 2. Now the names of the twelve Apostles 
 are these ; the hi st Simon, who is called Peter, and 
 Andrew his brother, ike 
 
 All the Evangelists relate, that St. Peter, before 
 called Simon, had the honour of receiving a new 
 name from Christ ; but St. Mark only qualifies this 
 honour by showing, that it was not conferred singly 
 on him : 
 
 iii. 17. And James the son of Zebedee, and John 
 
 1 Compare Matthew vjii. 14. Luke iv. 38. with Mark i. 29. 
 
 the 
 
DISCOURSE V. * SECT] IT. 
 
 155 
 
 the brother of James : and he surnamed them Boa- 
 nerges, which is, The sons of Thunder. 
 
 7. §. Me leaves out the benediction and promises, 
 to which St. Peter had intitled himself by the profes- 
 sion of his faith ; but relates at large the sharp rebuke 
 w hich he presently after incurved for not bearing to 
 hear, that Christ must suffer 1 . 
 
 But with regard to St. Peter's infirmities one ge- 
 neral reflection may suffice : that whatever appears 
 of that kind in the other Gospels, is faithfully recorded 
 in St. Mark's ; in which, as many have taken notice, 
 less is said of his speedy repentance and bitter tears, 
 after his great fall, than by St. Matthew and St. 
 Luke. 
 
 8. §. The name of Peter, as part of the Angel's 
 message by the women to the disciples on the resur- 
 rection of Christ, is found only in this Gospel : 
 
 xvi. 7- But go your toay\ tell his disciples, and 
 Peter, that he govt k before you into Galilee: there 
 shall ye see him. 
 
 And this at first view may look like a distinction of 
 honour. But I think the comment of St. Gregory 
 sets the matter in a just light : " If the Angel had 
 " not named Peter, he had not dared to come ivith 
 ft the Disciples. His name therefore is expressly 
 " mentioned, lest his fall should make him despond".''' 
 Thus what was consolatory and kind, was at the 
 same time humiliating, as bearing reference to his 
 late offence. 
 
 1 Compare Mark via. 28—33. with Matth. xvi. 14 — 23. 
 
 ' Si angelus Petruni non noi^innsset, venire inter discipulcs 
 non auderet ; voeatur ergo ex nomine, ne desperet ex negatione. 
 See Whitby on this verse. 
 
 9. §. On 
 
156 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. IT. 
 
 9- §. On some occasions St. Peter, with James and 
 John, was chosen to accompany our Lord, in pre- 
 ference to the other Apostles. When he restored the 
 daughter of Jairus to life ; when he was transfigured 
 on the mount ; when he uttered his prophecy con- 
 cerning the ruin of the Jewish state ; and when he 
 endured his agony in the garden ; his only attendants 
 ter and James and John ; except that An- 
 i «. iv was once with them. Of these circumstances 
 St. Mark makes mention, and he could not avoid it : 
 for il his Gospel contains the testimony of St. Peter, 
 it was especially requisite to show, where few were 
 •witnesses of the facts related, that he was one of them. 
 They were indeed tokens of high favour and prefer- 
 ence, but shared by St. Peter with some others. There 
 were many things which tended solely to his honour ; 
 of which St. Mark never exhibits any view. 
 
 10. §. Mr. Jones has reckoned up eight particu- 
 lars of this sort, which here follow in his words 1 : 
 
 I. " The account of Christ's pronouncing Peter 
 " blessed, when he had confessed him ; his declaring 
 " that he had his faith and knowledge from God ; his 
 " promise of the keys and of that large power which 
 " is made to him, &c. are omitted by St. Mark, 
 " though the former and succeeding parts of this 
 " Discourse are both told by him. See Matth. xvi. 
 " 16 — 20. compared with Mark viii. 29, 30. 
 
 11. " The relation of St. Peters being commis- 
 " sioned by Christ to work the miracle, by getting 
 " money out of the fish's mouth to pay the tribute- 
 " money, is told by St. Matthew, chap. xvii. 24 — 28. 
 
 1 New and full Method of settling the Canon of the New Tes- 
 tament, V. iii. p. 80. See aL-f "Vindication of St. Matthew's 
 Gospel, p. 45). 
 
 "but 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. II. 
 
 157 
 
 " but omitted by St. Mark, though the preceding 
 " and subsequent stories are the same as in St. Mat- 
 " thew. See Mark ix. SO — 33. 
 
 III. " Christ's particular expressions of love and 
 " favour to St. Peter, by telling him of his danger, 
 " and that he prayed particularly for him, that his 
 " faith might not fail, is omitted by St. Mark, but 
 " related, Luke xxii. 31, 32. 
 
 IV. " St. Peter s remarkable humility above the 
 " rest of the Apostles, expressed in an unwillingness 
 " that Christ should wash his feet, which none of the 
 " rest did express, with Christ's particular discourse 
 " to him, &c. John xiii. 6. is omitted by Mark. 
 
 V. " The instance of St. Peter's very great zeal 
 " for Christ when he was taken, in cutting oif the High 
 " Priest's servant's ear, John xviii. 10. is not men- 
 " tioned by St. Mark in particular, but only told in 
 " general of a certain person that stood by : Mark 
 "<xiv. 47. 
 
 VI. " St. Peter's faith in leaping into the sea to go 
 " to Christ, John xxi. 7- is not mentioned bv zt. 
 " Mark. 
 
 VII. " Christ's discourse with Peter concerning his 
 " love to him, and his particular repeated charge to 
 "him to feed his sheep, John xxi. 15. is omitted by 
 " St. Mark. 
 
 VIII. " Our Saviour's predicting to Peter his mar- 
 " tyrdom, and the manner of it, John xxi. 18, 19. is 
 " not related by St. Mark." 
 
 Thus far Mr. Jones ; who justly numbers this pre- 
 diction among St. Peter's honours : for nothing cer- 
 tainly 
 
138 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. 11. 
 
 tainly could so much ennoble his active zeal and 
 steady perseverance in the cause of Christ, as a fore- 
 know ledge of suffering and dying for it 
 
 The list of instances given by Mr. Jones may be 
 enlarged with a few more of the same nature ; that is, 
 where something that tended to exalt the character of 
 St. Peter is suppressed by St. Mark. 
 
 IX. The calling of St. Peter was made memorable 
 by a w onder, which was repeated in his presence after 
 our Lord's resurrection ; who, by a draught of fishes 
 which was symbolical as well as miraculous, thus as- 
 sured him of great success in catching men w ith the 
 net of the Gospel. See Luke v. 2 — £). John xxi. 
 6 — 11. 
 
 X. The servants of God had sometimes walked 
 through the parted waters ; but no mere man do we 
 read of in holy writ who was enabled to walk upon 
 them, but St. Peter. See Matth. xiv. C9- 
 
 XI. St. Peter made another profession of his faifft, 
 besides that w hich St. Matthew mentions 2 ; a profes- 
 sion as declarative of his faith, and more demonstra- 
 tive of unshaken fidelity and attachment to Christ : 
 
 John vi. 66—69. From that time main/ of his dis- 
 ciples went back, and walked no more with him. 
 Then said Jesus unto the Twelve, Will ye also go 
 away ? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, 
 to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal 
 life. And we believe, and are. sure, that thou art 
 that Christ, the Son of the living God. 
 
 1 Sciebat qua; sibi barbarus 
 
 Tortor pararet. Hor. 04 L. iii. Orle v. 5a 
 3 Matth. xvi. 16—20. 
 
 XII. Our 
 
discourse v. sect. ir. 
 
 159 
 
 XII. Our Lord, on the day before his Passion, sent 
 two of his disciples to Jerusalem to prepare the pass- 
 over. On which occasion it was the office of the 
 master of the family, or owner of the lamb, to receive 
 it from the hands of the priests after it had been slain 
 in the temple Here therefore these disciples ap- 
 peared and acted in their master's stead. And since 
 it would be judged, that Christ deputed such to re- 
 present him at his father's house as were worthiest to 
 do it, the choice which he made of them was an ho- 
 nourable preference ; and at the same time a token 
 of his confidence in their faith, obedience, and care. 
 One of the two disciples being St. Peter, St. Mark, 
 conceals their names. 
 
 XIII. St. Peter was the first of the Apostles, to 
 whom our Lord showed himself after his resurrec- 
 tion 2 . The omission of which circumstance is the 
 more observable in St. Mark, as he makes particular 
 mention, in what manner Mary Magdalene was dis- 
 tinguished among the women : 
 
 Mark xvi. Q. Now when Jesus teas risen early, 
 the first day of the week, he appeared hist to Mary 
 Magdalene. 
 
 Thus every page of this Gospel exhibits such strong 
 and clear characters of St. Peter's modesty and great 
 humility, without a token appearing of St. Mark's af- 
 fection and reverence for him, and, as far as could 
 possibly be, without mention of the honours he re- 
 ceived from Christ, that there can scarce be a ques- 
 tion or doubt, who was the chief director of the work. 
 
 1 1. §. The most specious objection to this conclu- 
 sion arises from the difference between St. Peter in 
 
 1 Mainionidcs in Ainsworth on Exod. xii. 7. 
 3 Luke xxiv. 34. \ Cor. xv. 5. 
 
 his 
 
160 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. If. 
 
 his second Epistle and St. Mark in his Gospel, con- 
 cerning the heavenly voice heard at the Transfigura- 
 tion : for it may be argued, that there could not have 
 been any difference, if the author of the Epistle had 
 dictated the Gospel ; whereas the account of this 
 heavenly voice in the Epistle is, 
 
 i. 17. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased : 
 
 in the Gospel, 
 
 ix. 7. This is my beloved Son : hear him. 
 
 The whole was, 
 
 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am icell 
 pleased : hear him. Matth. xvii. 5. 
 
 Now if St. Peter in his Epistle related only so much 
 of this sentence as his argument required, may he not 
 have done the same thing in a concise Gospel, in 
 which the clause, which is here left out, In whom I 
 am well pleased, had been already mentioned ? for 
 it stands in the history of Christ's baptism. 
 
 We may sec a reason, why the words, Hear him, 
 omitted in the Epistle, were carefully recorded in the 
 Gospel. They were spoken to the Apostles, just as 
 Moses the giver and Elias the restorer of the law dis- 
 appeared ; and signified, that Christ was now the le- 
 gislator, who only was to be heard. If it is not so 
 easy to discern \\ hy the other member of the sentence, 
 In whom I am well pleased, was not also recited, 
 this one difficulty cannot subvert a conclusion drawn 
 from such evident premises; and which is confirmed by 
 another consideration, That St. Mark's Gospel is so- 
 licitously restricted to those parts of the life of Christ, 
 which St. Peter had heard or seen. 
 
 12. I 
 
niSCOURSE V. SECT. II. 
 
 161 
 
 1C. §. I have mentioned above, that St. Mark 
 touches on the Temptation very slightly, at which St. 
 Peter was not present ; and does not relate the dis- 
 course which passed at the Transfiguration while he 
 w as asleep \ There is the same silence concerning the 
 appearance of an Angel to strengthen our Lord dur- 
 ing his agony in the garden ; for then again St. Peter, 
 with his companions John and James, was sleeping, 
 for sorrow, as St. Luke expresses it 
 
 13. §. St. Mark takes no notice of the miracle 
 performed at Nam, where the son of a widow was 
 raised to lite, as he was carried on a bier to his 
 burial. This miracle was done in the absence of the 
 Apostles; as, I think, St. Luke plainly intimates. 
 He says, on this occasion, that there went with 
 Christ many of his disciples, o\ ^.ahr^oLi <x.urS Ixavo), 
 vii. 1 1 3 . But he never speaks of the Apostles in 
 this manner ; and must therefore mean those other 
 attendants ot Christ, whom in another place he dis- 
 tinguishes from the Apostles, by calling them, The 
 compuny or crowd of Ids disciples, ch. vi. 17. 
 
 As soon as he has told the miracle, he relates, that 
 John the Baptist sent two of his disciples with a mes- 
 sage to Christ, which, as I shall endeavour to prove 
 presently, was brought in the absence of the Apos- 
 tles ; next, that our Lord was invited to dine with 
 Simon, a Pharisee ; of which the other Evangelists 
 say nothing. He then proceeds as follows : 
 
 Luke viii. 1 . And it came to pass afterward, thai 
 he went throughout every city and village, preaching 
 
 1 Sermon, p. 9. 
 
 ■ xxii. 45. Primo cura, dein, ut acgrum animum solet, somnus 
 cepit. Saliust. Bell. Jugurth. C. Ixxi. See Horn. Odyss.xvi.45o. 
 
 3 Non Apostolus, sed quosvis assiciuos seclatores signitical. 
 Grot, in loc. 
 
 M and 
 
162 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. II. 
 
 and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God : 
 and the twelve were with him. 
 
 Why is this mentioned of Christ's stated attend- 
 ants, but because they had been away, and were 
 then returned to him? Their absence, when the 
 young man of Nain was restored to life, "was cer- 
 tainly possible, and is the more likely to have been 
 really the case, because St. Matthew, as well as St. 
 Mark, passes over this great miracle, though done 
 in Galilee. 
 
 14. §. St. Mark seems to have acted on the same 
 principle, in not relating the message of John the 
 Baptist to Christ, and the high testimony borne by 
 Christ to the character of John : of which both St. 
 Matthew and St. Luke make particular mention \ 
 Our Lord, according to St. Matthew's connection 
 of facts, had given his charge to the Apostles, and 
 sent them from him to preach the Gospel, before the 
 messengers of John presented themselves to him 2 : 
 and the Apostles had not vet rejoined him, when 
 John was beheaded in prison 3 . This interval is filled 
 up by St. Mark with an account of John's admoni- 
 tions to Herod, of the reason of his imprisonment, 
 and the occasion and manner of his death. In which 
 account he is more diffuse than usual, and more cir- 
 cumstantial than the other Evangelists. But the his- 
 tory of Christ was at a stand, and left room for a 
 digression, till the return of St. Peter enabled him to 
 proceed in pursuance of his plan. 
 
 15. §. It seems, by these examples, that he ad- 
 heres, as closely as historical connection would ad- 
 mit to what St Peter himself had seen and heard of 
 
 1 Matth. xi. 2—19. Luke vii. 19—35. 
 
 1 Compare Matth. x. 5. with xi. 1, 2. 3 Mark vi. 29, 30. 
 
 the 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SECT. nr. 
 
 163 
 
 the ivord of life ; which consideration may serve to 
 strengthen the evidence, that he wrote under the in- 
 spection of that Apostle : and at the same time to 
 solve the question, Why he hath taken no notice of 
 the facts contained in the first and second chapters of 
 St. Matthew. It did not come within the limits, nor 
 consist with the nature, of his work to relate them. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 For whom St. Mark composed his Gospel. 
 
 St. Mark wrote his Gospel for a mixt society of 
 Jewish and Gentile converts, with attention to the 
 circumstances of both, and did not publish it in 
 Judea. 
 
 1 . §. He follows St. Matthew in several things 
 which more nearly interested the Jews. The censures 
 past by our Lord on their superstitious usages, on 
 the vanity of their mere external duties, and the re- 
 pugnancy of their traditions to the word of God, are 
 related at large In another place the abuse of the 
 indulgence granted by the Mosaic law, in the matter 
 of divorces, is reproved, and the nature of the mar- 
 riage union declared -. And because it was a ques- 
 tion much agitated among them, Which was the first 
 and great commandment 3 ? some contending for 
 the law of sacrifices, others for tiiat of circumcision, 
 or the Sabbath, a clear decision of this question is 
 given 4 . He records the incident of the barren fig- 
 tree, which was an emblem of their morals, and a 
 type of the destruc tion of their city and state, and the 
 rejection of their nation 5 . lie dwells on the caution 
 
 • Mark vii. 3— ,13. 1 x. 8— 18. 
 
 » See Grotius ;md Whitby on Mattb. xxii. 36. 
 « Mark xii. gti— 31. s xi. V2— 14. 
 
 M 2 against 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. III. 
 
 against false Christs and their deceivable miracles 1 ; 
 to whicli illusion none were so much exposed as the 
 Jens, who wight be tempted by specious appear- 
 ances to relapse into the expectation of a conquering 
 Messias. He sets before them the great guilt of 
 their rulers in suborning false witnesses against our 
 Lord in their council ' 2 , and in being the inciters of 
 the people to prefer Barabbas to him 3 . 
 
 These articles, either slightly or not at all men- 
 tioned by St. Luke, St. Mark insists on, as well as 
 St. Matthew, for the admonition of the Jews. 
 
 2. §. But then again it appears by many instance-, 
 a few of which have been mentioned in Discourse iv. 
 Section i. § 1 — § 5. that he considered the state of 
 the newly converted Gentiles. 
 
 He and St. Luke, in the story of the man possessed 
 with a legion of demons, mention his address to 
 Christ in these words : " What have I to do with 
 thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God 4 ?" Id 
 no other part of the Gospels do we find The most high 
 as an epithet to God : they are used separately as 
 equivalent terms ; and St Matthew in the parallel 
 place has only, Thou Son of God. "Why then are 
 they united by St. Mark and St. Luke ? The man and 
 his friends were pagans ; and he was constrained by 
 an over-ruling power to confess the true God in this 
 explicit manner : just a^> the Pythonissa did after- 
 wards at Philippi, by saving, " These men are the 
 servants of the most high Odd," Acts xvi. 17 5 . And 
 
 1 x':ii. 6. <21 — 1?,. 4 xiv. 35—59. 5 xv. 11. 
 
 4 Mark v. 7. Luke viii. '28. Compare Matth. viii. 29. 
 
 5 The must high dad occurs but once more in the New Testa- 
 ment, Heb. vii. I. and is there taken from Gen. xiv. IS. where 
 Melchizedec is called "The priest of the must high God," to show, 
 that the God whom he served was the true God, and not one of 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 nr. 
 
 165 
 
 they retain the very form of words used by the demo- 
 niac, for the sake of those who had believed in gods 
 many and lords many ; and to whom the bare name 
 of God did not so surely present the proper and sub*- 
 lime notion of the word. 
 
 5. §. It seems evident, that the man and his friends 
 were pagans \ both from his own words and our Sa- 
 viour's, who often exacted a concealment of his mi- 
 racles from those whom he had healed of his own 
 nation, but commanded this man to return to Ms 
 house, and show what great things God had done for 
 him; that the true God, the God of Israel, might be 
 glorified among those who were strangers to him. 
 
 It was to the purpose of St. Mark and St. Luke to 
 relate an instance of Christ's mercy to a pagan : and 
 the character of this man as such was more clearly 
 shown by speaking of him only. For this reason 
 they take no notice of another demoniac, probably a 
 Jew, who was healed at the same time. 
 
 the gods of the nations. For the same reason Abraham, ib. ver. 
 v 2'2. speaking of an oath which he had taken, " said to the king 
 of Sodom, 1 have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high 
 God." And I believe, throughout the Old Testament, The most 
 high is conjoined with the name of God only in the lik^ cases ; 
 unless perhaps in a place or two of the Psalms it may be rather a 
 poetical than discriminative epithet. 
 
 1 The Gadarenes, at least the ruling part of (hem, seem toinve 
 been Gentiles : for the Jews, however Ihey might dislike Herod, 
 would hardly have desired to be separated from a prince of their 
 own religion, and put under a pagan jurisdiction ; as the Gada- 
 renes requested of Augustus, asking to be made part of the pro- 
 vince of Syria. One of the charges, which on this occasion they 
 brought against Herod, was y.«Ta<rx U^ut' where U^a. seems to 
 denote pagan temples, and not Jewish synagogues, which Herod 
 probably would not have destroyed. Josephus, Ant. B. xv. c. x. 
 §3. 
 
 I think 
 
166 DISCOURSE V. SECT. III. 
 
 I think too, that the history being restricted to one 
 case proves more distinctly, that the disorder healed 
 was not a natural phrenzy, but a real possession by 
 evil spirits. While the man was .standing single before 
 Christ, All the demons besought him. So says the 
 Evangelist ; for they are his words relating a fact, 
 not the man's uttering his own fancies. Who then 
 are all these demons ? We must suppose St. Mark 
 to talk a strange language indeed, and beyond all 
 bounds of sober metaphor, if he spoke of a poor so- 
 litary lunatic as a number of demons. 
 
 4. §. He sometimes frees the spirit of a doctrine 
 from the restrictions of the letter. For in the economy 
 of our redemption Christ on earth was to confine his 
 ministry to the people of Israel. To them he deli- 
 vered his instructions, and through them to the rest 
 of mankind. The doctrine was designed for all nations, 
 but in some cases was clothed with a language that 
 in the first instance bore reference to this particular 
 people: on which occasions it now and then happens, 
 that St. Matthew gives the immediate words, the 
 other two Evangelists, as writing on a more general 
 plan, the ultimate sense of them. And hence a little 
 difference of expression between him and them ; as 
 in the following example 1 : 
 
 Matth. xxii. 36—40. Mark xii. 28—31. 
 
 36. Which is the «reat command- 28. Which is the fast command- 
 ment in the law ? mcnt of all ? 
 
 37. Jesus said unto him, 29. And Jesus answered him, 
 
 The first of all the command- 
 ments is, 
 Hear, O Israel, 
 
 the Lord our God is one Lord j 
 30. And 
 
 Thou shall love the Lord thy thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 
 • St-c two instances from Luke vi. 31. and xi. 42. Disc. vi. 
 Sect. i. § 2. 
 
 God 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. HI. 
 
 167 
 
 Matth. xxii. 36—40. 
 
 God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind. 
 
 38. This is the first and great 
 commandment. 
 
 39. And the second is like unto it, 
 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself. 
 
 40. On these two command- 
 ments hang all the law and 
 the prophets. 
 
 Mark xii. 28—31. 
 
 God with all thy heart, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind, and with all thy strength : 
 this is thefirst commandment. 
 
 31. And the second is like, 
 namely this, 
 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself. 
 
 There is none other command- 
 ment greater than these. 
 
 In St. Matthew, the question is concerning the 
 great commandment of a particular law ; and the an- 
 swer corresponds to such a state of the question : but 
 in St. Mark, they are abstracted from a consideration 
 of this law, and made general. The Scribe inquires, 
 Which is the first commandment of all ? and our 
 Lord in return tells him the two leading and insepa- 
 rable principles of the universal law of God. 
 
 St. Mark reminded those who had been educated 
 in polytheism of the oneness of the Godhead, by a 
 larger quotation of the Divine Oracle ; and, by show- 
 ing among whom it originated, hinted to the haughty 
 Romans, (for he published his Gospel in Italy, as 
 will soon appear) that the instruments of conveying 
 this first of truths to them were a people whom they 
 were apt to despise, but to whom Hear, O Israel, 
 was addressed long before Rome existed. 
 
 By insinuating this lesson of humility, he co-ope- 
 rated with St. Paul, who found it requisite to recom- 
 mend specially to the Roman church, Not to be high- 
 minded. See Rom. xi. 20. 
 
 5. §. The Scribe, whose question was thus an- 
 swered, made a reply, of which St. Mark only tah.es 
 notice : 
 
 32. And 
 
163 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. III. 
 
 32. And the Scribe said unto him, Well, master, 
 thou hast said the truth, for there is one God, and 
 there is none other but he. 
 
 33. And to love him, with all the heart, and with 
 all the understanding, and with all the soul, and 
 with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as 
 himself', is more than all whole burnt-offerings and 
 sacrifices. 
 
 34. And when Jesus saw tlmt he ansivered dis- 
 creetly, he said tinto him, Thou art not jar from 
 the kingdom of God. 
 
 This speech of the Scribe, which Christ approved, 
 brought the unity of the Godhead again in sight. At 
 the same time it was a lecture to the Jew, not to de- 
 pend on the efficacy of his animal sacrifices ; and an 
 intimation to the Gentile, that pure and spiritual 
 religion, such as the Gospel taught, superseded the 
 use of them. 
 
 6. But in the conclusion of St. Mark's Gospel it 
 is more openly signified, that the observance of legal 
 ordinances was no longer required. 
 
 St. Matthew thus reports the words of our Lord to 
 his Apostles : 
 
 Go ye and make disciples of all nations, bapthing 
 them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost \, 
 
 Here indeed is a silence about circumcision, as a 
 rite of admission into the Christian church, but no 
 clear releasement from it: for baptism might not ab- 
 rogate circumcision, but be joined with it, according 
 to the practice of the Jews, who administered both to 
 a proselyte from paganism 2 . But St. Mark having 
 
 1 xxviii. 19. 
 
 3 Grotiiib on Matth. iii. 6. Wetstein on the same. 
 
 related 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. III. 1 69 
 
 related the injunction of Christ to the Apostles, of 
 preaching the Gospel to every creature, adds, lie 
 that believetk and is baptized shall be saved 1 ; which 
 in just construction is a promise of salvation without 
 circumcision, and the ceremonies of the law. 
 
 7. §. St. Mark appeals only twice in the whole, and 
 only once concerning Christ, to the prophets of the 
 Old Testament. 
 
 First, in speaking of John the Baptist, whose mis- 
 sion, not heing warranted by miracles, rested on the 
 authority of prophecy, he cites two short passages 
 lrom Isaiah and Malachi 2 . 
 
 Secondly, In the history of the crucifixion he refers 
 to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah : And the Scripture 
 teas fulfilled which saith,And he teas numbered with 
 the transgressors 3 . Here again it was highly expe- 
 dient to call in the aid of prophecy, as it furnished an 
 answer, which the first Christians never failed to return 
 to the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, when they made 
 objections to the ignominy of the Cross, That so God 
 had ordained and foretold by his prophets 4 . 
 
 1 xvi. 16". 5 Mark i. 2, 3. 3 xv.28. 
 
 4 See Acts ii. 23. xvii. 3. x.vvi. 23. &c, Tin yy.p at Xoyv olv- 
 Gjistv s-aivji>&;vTi £7r=(9op.;9o., oti ot^ut'/toxo-: a/ysttfixx Ssm es~*j x«» otv- 
 
 ■nr^lv eXQsTf cci/toh a.'v'ViiTov y!vof*=vov K'.Kr>^jyjj.'.iy. ■s>^\ aura iv^ojj.ss, x.x] 
 ktw? yn&pim bgsijbuv ; Justin Martyr, Apol. i. p. 78. Ed. Thirlby. 
 p. 88. Ed. Paris. .See also his Dial, with Trvpho, p. 334. p. 317. 
 Ed. Pal is. 
 
 Origen Contra Celsum, L. i. p, 41. Ed. Cantab. 1658. 4to. 
 
 Tertull. Apoll. Ch. xxi. p. 20. Ed. Rigaltii, Par is, 1675. Prae- 
 dixerat et ipse, ita facturos. Parum hoc, nisi et prophets retro. 
 
 Ruinart. Acta Martyrum, p. 495. fol. De Phiiea Martyre, 
 Alexandria? Antistite : 
 
 Culcianus dixit, Est Deus crucifi\us? Phjleas respondit : Prop- 
 ter nostram sahilem crncilixus est ; et quiiiem sciebat, quiacruci- 
 pgendus erat, ct contumelias passuras, et dedit semetipsum omnia 
 pati propter B09. Etonim sacra; Scriptura; luec de eo pra;dixerant. 
 
 St. 
 
170 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. III. 
 
 St. Luke has taken care to give us the same words 
 of Isaiah, And he was numbered with the transgres- 
 sors but as mentioned by our Lord himself, and as 
 a proof not only of God's decree, but of Christ's fore- 
 knowledge. In his own person, I believe, he alleges 
 no prophecy but that of Isaiah relating to the Baptist. 
 
 The completion of prophecy is undoubtedly an ar- 
 gument to mankind in general. But the force of the 
 argument, as it respects the Messiah, is the gradual 
 and still clearer designation of him in different ages ; 
 the bearing of various shadows and figures to him as 
 the substance ; the correspondence of many types to 
 him as the antitype ; the consent of dissimilar and 
 even opposite characters fas of humiliation and glory, 
 servitude and royalty, death and perpetuity, man- 
 hood and divinity) in his person, as concentering, har- 
 monizing, and illuminating the w hole. And though 
 proofs might be adduced from detached passages of 
 this system, yet they were most fitly urged to those, 
 who either were read in the Law, and Prophets, and 
 history of the Old Testament, or were apprized, that 
 the passages alleged did, by constant tradition of the 
 elders, and in the judgment of the most learned in- 
 terpreters, relate to the Messiah. 
 
 Wherefore St. Mark and St. Luke, when they speak 
 in their own persons, wave the use of this great argu- 
 ment. They differ in this point from St. Matthew, 
 who spoke to them that knew the Law ; I add, from 
 St. John also, who wrote when the Gentiles were fur- 
 ther instructed unto the kingdom of heaven : and rest 
 the cause on the life and doctrine, the miracles and 
 resurrection, of our Lord, as yielding a convincing 
 evidence that he was the Son of God ; an evidence by 
 itself satisfactory to the minds of the well-disposed, 
 
 1 xxii. 37. 
 
 whether 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 171 
 
 whether learned or unlearned, and best suited to the 
 noviciate of the Gentile churches. 
 
 8. Two classes of examples have now been pro- 
 duced, and illustrated by comparing them with St. 
 Matthew on one hand, and St. Luke on the other. 
 But we must bring to the account of the latter class 
 the explications of Jewish matters before noted 1 ; and 
 then I think we may conclude, that St. Mark com- 
 posed his Gospel with the comprehension with which 
 his father in Christ, St. Peter, did his first Epistle. 
 The instructions of this Epistle, as was observed 
 above 2 , are directed partly to the believing Jews, and 
 partly to those, who, in time past, were not a peo- 
 ple, but were then the people of God, that is, the 
 G entiles. Ch. ii. 10. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 St. Mark published his Gospel at Rome or in Italy. 
 
 His Gospel was not published in Judea, as may be 
 interred from the same explications, which had been 
 needless in a church consisting wholly of the circum- 
 cision. There are many internal signs, confirming 
 the testimony of the ancients, that it made its first 
 appearance in Italy or at Rome. 
 
 1. Among these we may reckon several Latin 
 words. And though Latinity had by that time made 
 inroads into the conquered provinces, even of the 
 Greeks 3 , yet ^TrsxeAa'rtof for an executioner, vi. 37. 
 
 1 Discourse iv. Sect. i. 
 
 " Discourse ii. Setet. ii. § 6. See also 1 Pet. iv. 3. and Wolfius 
 and Doddridge on the place. 
 
 3 Grot ins on Luke xii. 58. 1 Cor. xvi. 17. Raphelii Annotat. 
 in Nov. Test. V. i. p. 420. on Mark xv. 29. 
 
 and 
 
172 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 and KevTvplwv for a centurion, xv. 59. 1 seem not, 
 either then or long after, to have obtained among 
 them. St. Matthew, who is not averse to Latin 
 words, and no less than three times calls a watch or 
 guard Kou£-aj<$i'a 2 , yet in the place answering to this 
 of St. Mark has 'ExaToVrap^os for a centurion 3 ; 
 and the same word is retained bv later writers, as 
 Josephus and Plutarch : so that it is not easy to give 
 a good account, why St. Mark made choice of these 
 words, but by supposing, that he thought it best to 
 address himself to the Romans in their own terms, 
 According to Grotius, Ova, Ah ! thou that destroy est 
 the temple, xv. 29. is no other than the Latin inter- 
 jection Vah ! and an instance of it in a work of Ar- 
 rian, composed perhaps a century after, will not 
 prove, that it was commonly received among the 
 Greeks in the days of the Evangelist 4 . But a written 
 interjection being of very ambiguous import, except 
 among those who are accustomed to it, this looks 
 again, as if he made use of Vuh '. where it was most 
 familiar, and the force of it best understood. He 
 explains Lepton, a mite, by Quadrans, a farthing, 
 xii. 42. Lepton was the name of the lowest coin in 
 Greek, and Quadrans in Latin. As very small brass 
 coins are seldom current in foreign countries, and the 
 Quadrans might pass only among the Romans them- 
 selves, he could not properly say, that the poor wi- 
 dow put a Quadrans into the Treasury ; he says 
 therefore, that she threw in two Lepta, that is, a 
 Quadrans. And though this lowest of Roman coins 
 was worth much more than two Lepta, the valuation 
 was accurate enough for the design of giving some 
 idea of the smallness of her gift. But for whom could 
 this valuation be intended ? The Greeks did not 
 
 1 Polybius has the word Kcmpm, but with an explication of its 
 meaning. Raphael, ib. 
 
 4 Matth. xxvii. 65, 66. xxviii. 1 1 . 
 
 3 xxvii. 54. 
 
 4 Raphelius, V. i. p. 425. on Mark xv. 29,. 
 
 want 
 
DISCOURSE V. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 173 
 
 want to be told the value of a Lepton ; nor docs St. 
 Luke, xxi. 2. explain it to them ; and the rating of its 
 worth by a Quadrans could make it clearer to none 
 but the Romans. Professor Ward, in his lxii. Dis- 
 sertation on the Sacred Scriptures, quotes a passage 
 from the Life of Cicero by Plutarch, where it is said, 
 That the Romans called their very least brass coin 
 a Quadrans 1 : which observation had been needless, 
 if the Greeks had generally understood what a Quad- 
 rans was. 
 
 2. But how then came St. Matthew to make use 
 of it, v. 2o\ Till thou hast paid the uttermost Quad- 
 rans ? As a publican he was a servant of the Roman 
 empire 2 . His office therefore had required him to 
 account with the general receivers in Roman coin ; 
 and both Lepton and Quadrans being names foreign 
 to his own language, he retained that to which he had 
 been most accustomed. From hence again we infer, 
 that the Greek of his Gospel was his own. Another, 
 translating it from the Hebrew, would have taken the 
 word tjiat was best known to the Greeks, and have 
 said with St. Luke, Till thou, hast paid the uttermost 
 Lepton 3 . Once more : in the history of the Passion, 
 
 1 Life of Cicero, V. iv. p. 47 1. Ed. Bryan. 
 
 2 The cities of Decapolis belonged to the province of Syria, 
 [Josephus, Life, Ch. lxv.] and were much intermixed with the 
 tetrarcbies of the Herodian family. [Plin. Nat. Hist. B. v. Ch. 
 xvi.] Some of these cities had territories on both sides of the lake 
 of Gennesareth, as Gadara and Hippos ; which stood on the 
 eastern side, but, as Josephus informs us, [Life, Ch. ix.] had vil- 
 lages on the confines of Tiberias and Scythopolis ; which two 
 cities were on the western side. The farmers therefore of the 
 Roman customs, attentive to their own interests, and favoured 
 by the empire, probably claimed the duties arising from the traffic 
 of the whole lake, and had their custom houses dispersed around 
 it. St. Matthew belonged to one of them near Capernaum. And 
 it is not unlikely, that the Centurion mentioned, Matth. viii. 5. 
 and Luke vii. <2. was stationed in that city (though the city was in 
 Hie tetrarehv of Philip. Grot, on Matth. iv. l l 2.) for the pro- 
 tection of the publicans and thtir officers. 
 
 3 xii. 59. 
 
 to 
 
174 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 to scourge is called <p^aycX?.ai/ l . Now if St. Matthew 
 composed his Gospel first in Hebrew, he would not 
 affect to Latinize his own tongue, but would declare 
 the indignity suffered by Christ as he had predicted 
 it, which was certainly by a Hebrew word, when he 
 said, They shall deliver him to the Gentiles to 
 mock, and to scourge, and to crucify Mm, xx. 19- 
 And who else would think of recurring to the Latin, 
 •when his business was to turn it into Greek, if it af- 
 forded him a proper term? But jxag-iySv is employed 
 for scourging, as a Roman punishment, both by se- 
 cular authors and by the Evangelists 2 , as St. John 
 in the corresponding history ; and by St. Mark, St. 
 Luke, and even St. Matthew 3 , in reciting the pre- 
 diction here mentioned. It seems then evident, that 
 <PpaycXA«>Va£ is not from the hand of a translator, 
 but immediately of St. Matthew himself 4 ; whose 
 
 * Matth. xxvii. 26. 
 
 • See Raphelius on Luke xviii. 33. 
 
 ' John xix. 1. Mark x. 34. Luke xviii. 33. Matth. xx. 19. 
 
 4 The observations, which I have incidentally made on the 
 Greek of St. Matthew's Gospel as an original text, lying dis- 
 persed in this work, I will now in the end of them mention, to 
 what the}- relate, and where they may be found. The first is a 
 remark of Origcn on 'ETritVo?, as a word made by the Evangelist 
 himself. Disc. ii. Sect. ii. § 3. The second, an observation of 
 Eusebius, ib. on a version from the Hebrew of the Old Testa- 
 ment. The third is on Ccrgesa, as an antique name of Gadara, 
 which it is more likely St. Matthew should have used, than a 
 translator. Disc. iii. Sect. v. § 9. The fourth is on another an- 
 tique word, t anaanite, which a translator would have explained, 
 as St. Mark has done, by Syro-phcenician. Disc. iv. Sect. i. § 4. 
 The three next are on little grammatical ambiguities, which, if 
 the Greek of this Gospel had been written after the publishing of 
 St. Mark's, would have been rectified by it. Disc. iv. Sect. i. 
 § 6. The last are the two which have been just made. To these 
 particular observations I must add, that the expediency of an 
 early Gospel was argued in Disc. iii. Sect. vi. And if on a view 
 of this expediency St. Matthew did in fact compose a Gospel early, 
 the same expediency must induce him to publish it, if not in 
 Greek only, yet in Greek as well as Hebrew. 
 
 inter- 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 175 
 
 intercourse with the Romans had made a word, which 
 the Greeks did not acknowledge, familiar to him ; 
 and who being less curious in a foreign language, 
 was disposed to employ it here, rather than [j.a^iy5v 
 which he had used before, that he might relate what 
 Pilate decreed as Pilate had expressed it. 
 
 3. §. I return to St. Mark, who, having followed 
 St. Matthew in saying <Ppays7\7\wo-ag l , then speaks of 
 the Prcetorium in a manner which is much to the 
 purpose of the present question : And the soldiers led 
 him away into the hall, that is, the Prastorium. 
 Ao'A^ and Prstorium, as here used, M ere synonymous 
 terms in Greek and Latin, and denoted the palace of 
 a governor or great man 2 . Now as it is beyond a 
 doubt when he says, vii. 1 1. Corban^ that is, a gif t. 
 vii. 34. Ephphatha, that is, be opened, that he meant 
 to interpret Corban and Ephphatha ; it seems as lit- 
 tle doubtful, when lie connects AvXr) and Prcetorium 
 together in the same form, (a form often used by 
 him for explanation 3 ) that he meant to determine 
 
 1 Mark xv. 15. 
 
 * NiJv £t raj (Suo-b.Hx Xn'yys-iv aJx«,'. Athenreus ap. Grot, in Matth. 
 xxvi. 3. Id. in Act. xxiii. 35. Pnetorium a pr;ctore Romano, id 
 est imperatore, nomen habet : sed, ut fieri solet, coepit proferri 
 latius ejus vocls usus ad omnes domos viiorum illustrium. Vid. 
 eundem in Phiiipp. i. 13. Poii Synops. in Mare. xv. 10. 
 
 3 UI. 17- Boan'jytf o ifM vtot ^o>th{. 
 
 vii. 1 1 . Ko^av o If t Jw^ov. 
 
 34. 'EtptpaGci o Efi J;avo»^S>iT(. 
 
 xii. 42. A'TTa v avo o In KoSgoLrrns. 
 
 XV. 16. Rax tr,i; avXnq o Ift CT^aiTw'^iov. 
 
 42. Ilafas-xEurf o fr» •nrfoo-a'oMov. Parasceve, or The pre- 
 paration was a common name for Friday among the Jews. Yet St. 
 Mark explains it ; and so does St. Luke in his usual manner. 
 And that day mas the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. xxiii. 
 54. St. Matthew calls it simply The preparation, xxvii. 62. And 
 his words, The next day that followed the preparation, note the 
 day of the week on which Christ was crucified, which he had not 
 mentioned before, with greater propriety, than if, omitting the 
 name of this day,he had toid us, that the next day was the Sabbath. 
 
 the 
 
176 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 the sense of AuXij. The explication therefore M as in- 
 tended for the Latins ; otherwise he would have re- 
 versed it, and instead of, They led him away into the 
 Ao?o), that is, the Prcetorium, would have said, They 
 led him away into the Prcetorium, that is, the Afar t . 
 Thus surely the explication would have heen disposed, 
 wherever Greek was the predominant language : 
 which was the case in all the eastern parts of the em- 
 pire, and in Egypt. 
 
 These certainly are hetter proofs, that he com- 
 posed his Gospel at Rome, than that he composed 
 it in Latin, as a few authors have maintained and 
 that our present Greek is only a translation from his 
 Latin text. " For what translator," as Dr. Mill 
 justly asks 2 , " would have rendered the Latin word 
 " speculator" [or speculator 3 J " by ^-exHxdrwp, 
 " which could so easily have been expressed in pro- 
 sper Greek?" A like question might be put on 
 the calling of a centurion, for which there was an 
 authorised name, Keimtpieov. And we might further 
 ask, Would any translator place A=-1ov and Quadraxs. 
 AuAi} and Prcetorium, as thev now stand ? that is, 
 would he interpret his own version by the language 
 from which he made it, and not rather, as his un- 
 dertaking required, explain the terms of that lan- 
 guage by his version ? 
 
 The first authority alleged for this opinion is that 
 of Pope Damasus, from the Life of St. Peter in the 
 Liber Pontilicalis. He probably never wrote the ob- 
 scure passage which they refer to, nor indeed any part 
 of that book, but agreed with his friend St. Jerom, 
 
 1 Baronius, Eellarmine, Pagninus, Gaudentin*. &c. See Glassii 
 Philol. Sacra, p. 148. Pere Simon's Critical Hitt. of the fSew 
 Test. Pait i. p. 93. English. Cornel, a Lapide in Marc. p. 574. 
 
 2 Prolegora. p. 13. § cxi. 
 
 3 Grouus and Wolfhis on Mark vi 27. 
 
 who 
 
DISCOURSE V. SECT. IV. 
 
 177 
 
 who says in an Epistle to him, " That without any 
 " question the New Testament was composed in 
 " Greek, the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew ex- 
 " cepted '." 
 
 St. Mark attends to the Roman division of the day, 
 in relating our Lord's prophecy to St. Peter : 
 
 xiv. 50. Verily I say unto thee, that this day, 
 even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou 
 shalt deny me thrice. 
 
 The prediction was delivered before midnight, 
 but fulfilled by St. Peter some time after it, pro- 
 bably between two and three in the morning. These 
 were parts of one and the same day in Judea, but not 
 at Rome, where a new day commenced at midnight, 
 as with us. St. Mark therefore, to explain the mean- 
 ing of this day, adds, even in this night. 
 
 I shall mention but one argument more from a 
 note of Grotius on the following passage : 
 
 Mark xv. 21. And they compel one Simon, a Cy- 
 renian, who passed hy, coming out of the country, 
 the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross. 
 
 " Alexander and Rufus were living when Mark 
 " wrote this account, and, if I am not deceived, at 
 " Rome where he wrote it : so that he justly appeals 
 " to their testimony, who could assure others of a 
 " fact which they had heard their father relate. 
 " Rufus is saluted by Paul among the Christians who 
 " dwelt at Rome when he wrote his Epistle to the 
 " Romans." Ch. xvi. 1 3. 
 
 In Evangelistas ad Damasum Pnefatio. 
 
 N To 
 
178 DISCOURSE V. SECT. V. 
 
 To this note of Grotius we may add, that though 
 St. Matthew and St. Luke mention Simon the Cyre- 
 nian, they say nothing of his sons. It was not there- 
 fore merely because they were persons of note in the 
 church, that St. Mark was so peculiar about them ; 
 for this had been a reason with St. Luke at least as 
 well as him ; but because they resided in the city 
 where he published his Gospel. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 When St. Mark published his Gospel. 
 
 As St. Mark's Gospel was dictated by St. Peter, 
 and published in Italy, might we not suppose him to 
 have been there by himself, long enough to undei> 
 stand the state of the Roman church ; and, return- 
 ing into Asia, to have drawn up a Gospel in con- 
 junction with St. Peter, which he carried to Rome, 
 and there made public for the use of the church? If 
 the learned will not hear of such an hypothesis, as 
 not so consonant to primitive tradition ; what is the 
 earliest date that we can assign to this Gospel ? in 
 other words, When may we reasonably imagine St. 
 Peter to have beenjirst at Rome ? This is a ques- 
 tion which would soon be answered, if it was pro- 
 posed to the modern church of Rome ; for they main- 
 tain, that he came thither about the year of our Lord 
 xlii, and in the first or second year of the reign of 
 Claudius. But this is strenuously denied by learned 
 Protestants ; who think it evident, he had never been 
 there, when St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, 
 twelve years later, according to some ; but sixteen, 
 according to others. They further contend, That 
 during the two years of this Apostle's confinement 
 
 at 
 
DISCOURSE V- SECT. V. 
 
 179 
 
 at Rome, St. Peter was not there. However, there 
 is an interval of three years or more, in the former 
 part of Nero's reign, hetween the date of the Epistle 
 to the Romans and the time of St. Paul's first ap- 
 pearance at Rome, which this reasoning does not 
 account for. We may therefore ask the question, 
 with which bishop Pearson argues against Salmasius : 
 " What hinders but that Peter may have been at 
 " Rome within the first Jive years of Nero 1 ?" And 
 we may be induced to think, that he really did go 
 thither, if we consider the state of the Roman church, 
 and the juncture of affairs, about that time. For St. 
 Paul writing to the Romans, says, Ch. i. 11. I long 
 to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual 
 gift : which is interpreted of such a gift as an Apos- 
 tle only could confer ; and from thence it is con- 
 cluded, that no Apostle had then been among them. 
 But if the conclusion is just, we may subjoin as a pro- 
 per corollary to it, that therefore the presence of an 
 Apostle was much wanted by this growing church in 
 the metropolis of the world. And since St. Paul him- 
 self, soon after he had declared so great desire of 
 seeing them, was apprehended and imprisoned, with- 
 out prospect of a speedy releasement ; in these cir- 
 cumstances St. Peter might think himself powerfully 
 called upon to supply the place of his brother Apostle, 
 and to answer the design he had of visiting and estab- 
 lishing the church at Rome : which he might effect ; 
 continue there a year or two ; superintend die writing 
 of St. Mark's Gospel ; and yet be departed before 
 St. Paul's arrival. This first arrival of St. Paul at 
 Rome, when he was brought | risoner thither, is 
 placed by Dr. Cave in the year of our Lord lvii 2 ; 
 
 1 Opera Posthuma, Dissertat. de serie et sucecssione primor. 
 Roma? Episcopor. p. G3. 4to, Lond. 16S8. 
 
 2 Histoiia Literaria, under the article of St. Peter, 
 
 N 3 
 
 but 
 
180 
 
 DISCOURSE V. SECT. V. 
 
 but by bishop Pearson and others in the year lxi 1 . 
 If we fciiow the former, we may suppose St. Mark's 
 Gospel to have been published about the end of the 
 year lvi ; but if the latter, about the conclusion of 
 the year lx. 
 
 The first five years of Nero, the celebrated Quin« 
 quennium Neronis, of which bishop Pearson speaks 
 above, ended in October, A. D. lix. 
 
 1 Annales Paulini. 
 
( 181 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SIXTH. 
 
 ON ST. LUKE. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 St. Luke wrote for the Gentile converts. 
 
 THE third Evangelist was St. Luke ; the inter- 
 nal proofs of which have been given in com- 
 paring him with St. Matthew and St. Mark. 
 
 The comparison between him and St. Matthew, 
 in Discourse iv. Sect. ii. gave occasion to show by 
 several instances, that he wrote with an especial view 
 to the converted Gentiles. I shall now more directly 
 consider the same point. 
 
 1. §. And first, Let us attend to the explications 
 of scriptural or Jewish matters, new to the Gen- 
 tiles, which he has curiously wrought into the nar- 
 ration of his Gospel. 
 
 Ch. i. 8 — 10. An account of what happened 
 to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is, in 
 some degree, a description of the daily service of the 
 Temple. The dignity and office of angels may be 
 
 collected 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 collected from the lyth verse ; and in ver. 55th we 
 have a hrief account of the Holy Spirit : The Holy 
 Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the 
 Highest shall overshadow thee. The act of the Holy 
 Spirit here marks him as a person ; and the title 
 ascribed to him, The power of the Highest l , is a 
 character of divinity. Further on, ver. 59. we learn, 
 that among the Jews circumcision was administered, 
 and a name given, on the eighth day after birth. 
 
 Ch. ii. 23. We are told the reason of presenting 
 their first-born male children in the Temple ; and 
 ver. 4 1 . that the Passover was an annual feast held 
 at Jerusalem. 
 
 Ch. iii. commences with an account of the go- 
 vernors of the several Jewish territories, at the time 
 ■when John began his ministry : and concludes with 
 the genealogy of Christ ; which, though a mere ca- 
 talogue of names, opened light to the new-converted 
 pagans, where their greatest sages were in darkness. 
 For it suggested, 
 
 First, That God was the immediate creator of 
 man ; of whose origination various sects of philoso- 
 phers had formed the absurdest theories 2 : 
 
 Secondly, as St. Paul taught at Athens, That God- 
 had made of one blood all nations of the earth. Acts 
 xvii. 26 : 
 
 Thirdly, It showed for how many generations 
 mankind had existed : which two last points were as 
 obscure in the history of the Greeks, as the first, the 
 
 « See Luke xxii. 69. Acts viii. 10. and Grotius on the latter. 
 - Campbell's Necessity of Revelation, p. 320. 33S. 
 
 original 
 
DISCOURSE VI.- SECT. t. 
 
 183 
 
 Original production of man, was in their theology 
 Further, it invited them to Christ by a view of the 
 fraternal connection between him and them, as having 
 not only the same nature, but one common proge- 
 nitor : 
 
 Lastly, It pointed out to them the order of birth 
 of some illustrious persons mentioned in the subse- 
 quent parts of this Gospel, as Noah, Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob, and David. 
 
 The mode of tracing out this genealogy, as a 
 learned man has observed 2 , is that which was most 
 used among the Gentiles, by ascending from the per- 
 son whose lineage was given to the founder of his 
 race. 
 
 We may remark in passing on, that it is probably 
 the lineage of the blessed Virgin. It is indeed ob- 
 jected, " that it was never known nor customary 
 " among the Jews to deduce the descent of families 
 " through the female line." But this is a mistake. In 
 the second chapter of the first of Chronicles, Jair is 
 reckoned among the posterity of Judah : ver. 22. 
 But because the grandfather of Jair, ver. 21. had 
 married the daughter of Maehir, of a noble house in 
 the tribe of Manasses, ib. vii. 14. therefore the same 
 Jair is called, Numb, xxxii. 4 1 . the son of Manasses 3 . 
 
 1 Censorinus do die natali, C. xx. Si origo mundi in hominutn 
 notitiam venisset, hide exordium sumeremus. And ;igain, Ch. 
 xxi. PrimuBQ tempus [ah hominum principio ad Cataclysruum 
 priorem] sivfi habuit initium sive semper fuit, certe quot annorum 
 sit, non potest comprehendi. 
 
 1 Gene;dogium ducendi modus a Luca adhibitus gentibus magis 
 notus erat. Surenhusii KaraWayn, p 115. Tue pedigree of 
 Lconidas, king of Sparta, is thus traced up to Hercules : Hero- 
 dotus, B. vii. C. 204. See also /Eneici, B. vii. 47 — 49. 
 
 3 See likewise Judges xvii. J. and Patrick on the place ; Jer. 
 xl. S. and Lovvth on the place. 
 
 So 
 
184 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 So also, Ezra ii. 61. we find a family intitled The 
 children of Barzillai, because one of their ancestors 
 took a wife of the daughters of Barzillai the Gi- 
 leadite. And Josephus the historian mentions, in his 
 own Life, his descent from the royal blood of the As- 
 monean family by a female, whom Matthias, one of 
 his ancestors, married But if he designed this Life 
 not for the Jews, but the Gentiles, so did St. Luke his 
 Gospel. The objection therefore, if true, would be of 
 no weight ; since neither Greeks nor Romans had 
 any such settled rule. ./Eneas in the iEneid speaks 
 of himself and Evander as the progeny of the same 
 ancestor, and lays a stress on the consanguinity which 
 he deduces through females on both sides 2 . And 
 though this is fable, yet certainly it is fable founded 
 on acknowledged principles ; according to which, 
 Alexander the Great was considered as an iEacides, 
 or descendant of Achilles by his mother Olympias 3 . 
 
 In Ch. iv. is the history of the Temptation ; and 
 here the author of evil is exhibited as one, w ho nei- 
 ther is nor pretends to be independent : ver. 6. And 
 the devil said unto him, All this power will I give 
 thee, and the glory of them ; for that is delivered 
 unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. This 
 lying boast of his great authority is still an acknow- 
 ledgement of a Superior from whom he held it. And 
 
 ! Life of Josephus, § 1. 
 
 3 Dardanus, lliacae primus pater urbis et auctor, 
 
 Electra, ut Graii perhibent, Atlantide cretus, 
 
 Advehitur Teucros : Electram maximus Atlas 
 
 Edidit, aethereos humero qui sustinet orbes. 
 
 Vobis Mercurius pater est, quern Candida Maia 
 
 Cyllenes gelido conceptual vertice fudit. 
 
 At Maiam, auditis si quicquam credimus, Atlas, 
 
 Idem Atlas generat, cceli qui sidera tollit. 
 
 Sic genus amborum scindit se sanguine ab uno. 
 
 His fretus, &c. JEa. L. viii. 134. 
 
 n Sec Plutarch, life of Alexander, at the beginning. 
 
 a? 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 135 
 
 as St. Luke has afterwards frequent occasion to speak 
 of Satan, by mentioning him in verse 8, he enables 
 his readers to understand, who is meant by this name. 
 
 In verse 15. of this chapter the word Synagogue first 
 occurs ; and the context shows, that it was a place of 
 religious assembly on the Sabbath day, in which the 
 Scriptures were read and explained to the people. 
 
 Here our blessed Lord is first introduced as a pub- 
 lic preacher ; and the nature of his office, and of his 
 gracious errand to mankind, is immediately set before 
 us in the words of Isaiah : The spirit of the Lord is 
 upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the 
 Gospel to the poor ; lie hath sent me to heal tfte 
 broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the cap- 
 tires, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at 
 liberty them that are bruised. To preach the accept- 
 able year of the Lord. The Greek of which passage 
 hints the reason, why he is called Christ, and his 
 doctrine the Gospel l . 
 
 Ver. 33. the healing of a demoniac is related. I 
 have before noted 3 , on whose account it stands fore- 
 most of the miraculous cures wrought by our Saviour. 
 For the sake of the same persons the word Demon, 
 which was equivocal among them, signifying a good 
 as well as evil spirit, is limited to the scriptural no- 
 tion by the epithet unclean. As it was understood in 
 no other sense by the Jews, St. Matthew never uses 
 this epithet to it. The malady is also marked with 
 the most express characters of a real possession : to 
 set which fact in a variety of lights, and satisfy the 
 pagan world of the power of Christ over demons, St. 
 Luke gives more instances of this than of any other 
 species of his miracles. 
 
 1 Ver. 18. Oj evsx* 'EXPISE fu 'ETAITEAIZEEGAI s7T4>x°~?> & c - 
 s See Disc. iv. Sect. v. § 7. 
 
 Ch. v. 
 
185 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. T. 
 
 Ch. v. 1 7 — 2 1 . Scribes and Pharisees are men- 
 tioned for the first time ; and to show what the Jews 
 meant by Scribes, they are previously intitled Doctors 
 of the Law Some notices concerning the general 
 character of the Pharisees are given soon after. Ver. 
 50. we have a specimen of their spiritual pride, in 
 keeping men at a great distance whom they conceited 
 to be less perfect than themselves ; and another, ver. 
 33. in a display of their frequent fasts. Ch. vi. ver. 2. 
 and 7. we have .instances of their superstitions with 
 regard to the Sabbath. Other instances of their usages 
 and tenets are occasionally introduced, which pre- 
 pare the reader for the severe censure passed on them 
 by Christ in Ch. xi. 
 
 St. Luke may seem long, for his design, in speak- 
 ing of the Pharisees : but other nations had their 
 Pharisees such as he describes ; in whom love of 
 wealth and honours, superstitious zeal for a ritual law 
 with neglect of the moral, vice under a garb of seve- 
 rity, conceit of w isdom or virtue, and contempt of 
 others, were predominant. It was fit therefore, that 
 the fatal tendency of these tempers should be known 
 to all ; and that the Gentile converts, observing how 
 Christ himself had been treated in Judea, should be 
 taught not to wonder, if his disciples and heavenly 
 doctrine met with no better reception from men of si- 
 milar characters among themselves. 
 
 The Saclducees are named only once ; Ch. xx. 27. 
 and then what was requisite is said of their opinions. 
 
 Though the sects of Pharisees and Sadducees were 
 famous among the Jews, other nations knew little of 
 them. St. Luke therefore was purposely silent about 
 them, till he had an opportunity of throwing some 
 light on their characters ; as we may infer from an 
 omission of their names in a text which otherwise 
 closely follows St. Matthew's : 
 
 * Compare ver. 17. with ver. 21. 
 
 Matth, 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 187 
 
 Matth. iii. 7- 
 
 But when he saw many of the 
 Pharisees and Sadducees cometo 
 hil baptism, he said unto them ', 
 
 O generation of vipers, who hath 
 warned you to fee from the wrath 
 to come ? &c. 
 
 Luke iii. 7 . 
 Then said he to the multitude 
 
 that came forth to be baptized of 
 him, 
 
 O generation of vipers, who hath 
 warned you to fee from the wrath 
 to come ? &c. 
 
 In Ch. ix. at the Transfiguration we find Moses 
 and Elias appearing in glory, and conversing with 
 Christ. But we were before apprized, that Moses 
 was the legislator of the Jews, v. 14. and Elias their 
 great reformer, i. 17- and a, prophet, iv. 24, 25. 
 
 In ver. 52, 53. of the same chapter we have an 
 example of the strong antipathy of the Jews and Sa- 
 maritans. This document concerning the people of 
 Palestine happily prepared strangers for the parable, 
 in the next chapter, of the merciful Samaritan ; who 
 would not otherwise have felt the whole force and 
 beauty of it. 
 
 I think it evident from these instances, without re- 
 peating others before observed 2 , that St. Luke has 
 with equal care and address given an exposition of 
 things new or doubtful to the Gentiles, while he 
 seems only to be carrying on the course of his nar- 
 ration. 
 
 2. §. He appears to have omitted several things 
 with an eye to the same class of readers : as, 
 
 1 He said unto them'] That is, not only to the Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, but also to the multitude described, ver. 5. as flocking 
 to his baptism. St. Luke authorizes this interpretation of St. 
 Matthew. See Raphelius on Matth. iii. 7- p. 188. 
 
 a See Disc. iv. Sect. ii. on Luke vii. 28, xi- 44. on ch. xxi. 20. 
 xxii. 69. xxiv. 44, 45. &c. 
 
 1st. An 
 
188 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 1st. An appeal to the Mosaic law. 
 
 This will be best seen by opposing his text to St 
 Matthew's : 
 
 Matth. vii. 12. 
 
 Therefore all things whatso- 
 ever ye would that men should 
 do unto you, do ye even so to 
 them 
 
 for this is the law and the pro- 
 phets. 
 
 Matth. xxiii. 23. 
 
 Ye pay tithe of mint and anise 
 and cumin, and have omitted 
 the weightier matters of the 
 law, 
 
 judgement, mercy, and faith. 
 
 Luke vi. 31. 
 
 And as ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye also to 
 them likeicise. 
 
 Luke xi. 42. 
 
 Ye tithe mint und rue and all 
 manner of herbs, and pass over 
 
 judgement and the- love of God. 
 
 As these passages stand in St. Matthew, we find 
 the Jew instructed or judged from the Law ; but in 
 St. Luke the matter rests on the sole authority of 
 Christ. None greater could be urged, and none so 
 fitly urged to the Gentiles, till they had learned to 
 separate between the parts of the Law from which 
 they were free, and to which they owed obedience. 
 
 2dlv. A typical allusion to the History of the 
 Old Testament. 
 
 Our Lord had mentioned the sign of the prophet 
 Jonas ; first, As prefiguring his ow n death and re- 
 surrection on the third dav ; and secondly, As a 
 warning to the Jews, who stood condemned by the 
 conversion of the Ninevites. The sign of Jonas seems 
 most important in the first view; but to understand it 
 required a knowledge of his history. St. Luke there- 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SFXT. I. 
 
 189 
 
 fore mentions it only in the second, which his con- 
 text explains : Luke xi. 30. 32. Compare Matth. 
 xii. 39, 40. 
 
 3dly. A circumstance not so Interesting to them. 
 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark inform us, that our 
 Lord spake the prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem 
 and the Jewish state on the Mount of Olives. And 
 it is no wonder, that St. Matthew points out the place 
 where he sat to open this scene of things to come ; 
 or that St. Mark, the amanuensis of St. Peter who 
 was present, is yet more circumstantial, and adds, that 
 He sat over against the Temple. The early Jewish 
 believers, whom devotion led to the places which 
 Christ had frequented, arriving at this spot, would 
 meet the thought of his awful prediction in the pro- 
 spect of the city, and splendor and magnificence of 
 the temple ; for Olivet commanded both J . But to 
 strangers of the Gentiles, who did not know how the 
 mount and city stood, and were not likely to visit 
 either, this circumstance was not of such moment; 
 and accordingly St. Luke makes no mention of it. 
 See Ch. xxi. 7, 8. and compare Matth. xxiv. 3, 4. 
 Mark xiii. 3, 4. 
 
 4thly. The prophecies of the Old Testament which 
 apply to Christ. 
 
 This has been shown in the preceding Discourse, 
 Sect. iii. on St. Mark. 
 
 1 Ex hoc loco Hierosolyma tola oculis objicitur, ut situs, for- 
 ma, aedificia, ambitus totus, et quaeque ejusdem partes, distinct^ 
 ac partieulariter internosci queant : praesertim rnoiis Moriah, et 
 Solomonis templum, ejusque area spotiosa. C'otovici Itineranuni, 
 p. '265. 
 
 3. §. He 
 
190 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 3. §. He introduces many things unnoted by the 
 other Evangelists, which encouraged the Gentiles to 
 hearken to the Gospel, and, -when their consciences 
 were awakened by it, to turn to God in newness of 
 life with a pleasing prospect of pardon and ac- 
 ceptance. 
 
 The parable of the publican praying in the tem- 
 ple 1 ; the parable of the lost piece of silver 2 (sub- 
 joined to that of the lost sheep, which he tells more 
 at large than St. Matthew ;) the parable in the same 
 chapter of the prodigal son returning ; the visit of 
 Christ to Zaccheus the publican 3 ; and the pardon 
 of the penitent thief on the cross 4 ; are lively illus- 
 trations or examples of the benignity and goodness 
 of God to repenting sinners. 
 
 And lest doubts should arise, whether any but the 
 lost sheep of the house of Israel were interested in 
 these things, others are intermixed with them which 
 cannot be so limited. He recites a parable in praise 
 of a merciful Samaritan 5 ; he relates, that another 
 Samaritan was healed of his leprosy, and commend- 
 ed for his faith and gratitude 6 : and when a village 
 of this people proved rude and inhospitable, that the 
 zeal of the two Apostles, who wished to consume 
 them by rire from heaven, was reproved ; and they 
 were told, that The Son of man came not to destroy 
 men's lives, but to save them ". 
 
 He has examples also of kindness and mercy 
 shown to the Gentiles. Our Lord himself, in the 
 first public discourse mentioned in this Gospel, takes 
 notice, that such favours were vouchsafed to the 
 
 } xwi. 10. 2 xv. 8 — 10 3 xix. 5. 
 
 4 xxiii. 40—4.5. 5 x. 33. 6 xvii. 19. 
 
 7 ix. 52— 5G. 
 
 widow 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 191 
 
 widow of Sarepta and Naaman the Syrian, both 
 Gentiles, as were not done for any in like circum- 
 stances of the people of Israel l . And the prayer 
 upon the Cross, Father, forgive them, far they know 
 not what they do 2 , is placed between the act of cru- 
 cifying our Lord, and that of parting his raiment, 
 which were both acts of the Roman soldiers ; whom 
 therefore this prayer must respect as much as any of 
 his persecutors. 
 
 4. §. Let it be observed, how carefully and fre- 
 quently St. Luke inculcates the duty of prayer and 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 The admonition to pray always, xviii. 1. is re- 
 peated xxi. 36*. Two parables which show the suc-» 
 cess of frequent and fervent prayer, xi. 5. xviii. 2. 
 occur only in his Gospel ; and so likewise several in- 
 stances of the practice of Christ : as at his baptism, 
 iii. 21. before he made choice of his Apostles, vi. 12. 
 before he publicly declared to them, that he should 
 be put to death, and rise again the third day, ix. 
 IB — 22. and at his Transfiguration, ix. 29- On 
 which occasions St. Matthew and St. Mark leave us 
 to conclude, as a thing of course, that our Lord was 
 employed in prayer ; but St. Luke is explicit con-r 
 cerning his devotions. 
 
 There are also a dozen instances of praising, bless- 
 ing, or glorifying God, mentioned only by him. With 
 these he begins early, and with an example of this 
 kind he finishes , 
 
 Now certainly the adopted alien wanted to be 
 taught these things, and reminded of them, much 
 more than the native Israelite trained up in the dis- 
 
 ' iv. 25—27. 
 
 - xxiii. 34. 
 
 cipline 
 
192 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 cipline of the temple. When therefore we find St 
 Luke acting as St. Paul did to the churches of the 
 Gentiles, it is not unreasonable to believe, that he 
 had the same sort of converts more immediately in 
 view. St. Paul, in writing to the Hebrews, docs not 
 so much exhort Them to prayer and thanksgiving, 
 as to the offering up of these spiritual sacrifices by a 
 new and living way, through the Mediator of the 
 new covenant 1 : but he earnestly recommends these 
 duties to the Romans, the Ephesians, the Philip- 
 pians, the Colossians, and the Thessalonians 2 . 
 
 5. §. For a like reason St. Luke seems more soli- 
 citous than the other Evangelists, to instil just no- 
 tions concerning the soul, and its state after death. 
 
 When he relates, ch. viii. that Christ restored the 
 daughter of Jairus to life, he adds, ver. 55. that Her 
 spirit came again. Upon which Grotius remarks, 
 " That this was providently added by St. Luke to 
 " the account of the other Evangelists, as an inti- 
 " mation, that the human soul is not a temperament 
 " of the body, or any thing that dies with it, but 
 " somewhat subsisting by itself ; which, after the 
 " conclusion of this mortal life, is not in the same 
 " place with the body : for this is taught in saying, 
 " It came again." 
 
 Ch. xvi. 9' ^ e have these words of Christ : 
 
 / say unto you, make to yourselves friends of the 
 Mammon of unrighteousness ; that u hen ye fail, 
 they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 
 
 Our Lord, in this and the following verses, was 
 cautioning his hearers against the love and abuse of 
 
 ' Heb. x. 19—22. xiii. 10—15. 
 
 * See Rom. xii. 12. Eph. vi. 18. Philipp. iv. 6. Col. iv I 
 
 1 Thess. v. 17. 
 
 riches : 
 
mscoiTRSE vr. sect. r. 
 
 193 
 
 riches ; in which being interrupted by the scorn of 
 the Pharisees, he turned his discourse to them for a 
 while, and having reproved them for hypocrisy and 
 false pretences to sanctity, for disregard of the new 
 and gracious dispensation of Heaven to returning 
 sinners (which began with the preaching of John, 
 and being witnessed by the law and prophets must 
 have a full accomplishment), and for taking unjust 
 advantages of the Mosaic institution, for which they 
 made show of such zeal, to the gratifying of the lusts; 
 he then resumed the former subject, and enforced it 
 by an example, which shows the sad consequence of 
 riches misapplied, and, with a reference to this verse 
 in particular, points out, who are the friends that 
 receive the faithful into everlasting habitations, and 
 at what time they are thus befriended : it is, when 
 they jail, that is, as soon as they die ; for this is the 
 natural and obvious meaning of the expression ; the 
 meaning that is illustrated by the case of Lazarus. 
 
 The story of the rich man and Lazarus is indeed . 
 a parable. But there is a wide difference between 
 YEsopic fables, or such apologues as that of Jotham, 
 and the parables of Christ. We find in these no ima- 
 ginary beings introduced for the sake of a moral, 
 but a perfect analogy throughout to nature and life. 
 On such a principle all his other, parables proceed. 
 And till it is shown, why this singly should be com- 
 posed on a plan of less dignity and gravity, we must 
 believe it to be of a piece with the rest; that, with 
 only so much embellishment as was necessary in 
 building it up, it is grounded on the real constitu- 
 tion of tilings. But both superstructure and founda- 
 tion are as ideai as the conference of the trees about 
 choosing a king, unless it is true, that departed souls 
 in their several mansions are sensible of happiness 
 or misery. 
 
 O 
 
 Which 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 V. hich doctrine is made still clearer by the history 
 of the penitent thief on the cross 1 . His request to 
 Christ was, Lord, remember me when thou comest 
 into thy kingdom : and all that he asked had been 
 liberally granted, if our Lord had answered, Verily 
 I say unto thee, Thou shalt be with me in paradise. 
 But his answ er is, Verily I say unto thee, to-day 
 thou shalt be with me in puradise. What then is the 
 import of to-day, but to croun the grant with an as- 
 surance of immediate bliss? 
 
 Some would join to-day with the preceding words, 
 and read, Verily I say unto thee to-day, Thou shalt 
 be with me in paradise. This Grotius notes as a very 
 bad interpretation 3 : and there is a difficulty attending 
 it, which as yet I have not seen surmounted, of giving 
 the word any tolerable force, and making the sense 
 better with it, than if it was away. Besides which, 
 St. Luke is made to express himself in a matter of 
 moment with an ambiguity, which he could so easily 
 have avoided by inserting the particle "Otj, which is 
 no more improper alter Azyw in Greek 4 , than That 
 is after / say in English. The sentence thus qualified 
 would have been perfectly clear : Verily I say unto 
 thee to-day, that thou shalt be with me in paradise. 
 As St. Luke has not done this, I conclude he meant 
 the words to be connected as the form of the sentence 
 leads us to connect them. 
 
 1 xxiii. 40—43. 
 
 - Latroni mpx oranti, ut in regno coelesti non gravaretur sni 
 vel inerninisse, paradisum eo die ge praestitnrum, quain non fuerat 
 roe;atus, pollicetur. Tatian. See Lardner's Credib. Vol. iii. 
 
 p 1 !<J. 
 
 3 Pessime feoerunt qui hanc vocem aut cum x'-yu conjunxerunt, 
 quod apcrte improbat Syrus, aut interpretati sunt £n/*ff>i po;t 
 resurreetionem. Grot, in loe. 
 
 4 See the Greek of Matth. vi. 5. Where the best copies read. 
 
 \*i ».r]> Xi'y« W*7y Oti jIt'^sw tov f/»:"9ov kiitw. 
 
 To-day 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. I. 
 
 195 
 
 To-daij then being left to its proper and natural co- 
 herence, the speech of Christ is resolvable into two 
 propositions: To-day 1 shall be in paradise ; and, To- 
 day thou shall be there. But if the gates of para- 
 dise were to be opened to the blessed Soul of Christ, 
 as soon as it was released from the body, but shut 
 against this penitent, lying insensible till the last 
 trumpet shall sound ; To-day is plainly used with a 
 surprising latitude, and in two senses ; one of which 
 is so figurative and disproportioned to the other, that 
 it is hard to believe it was designed; 
 
 Nor would it mend the matter to suppose, that To- 
 day is extended beyond its strict meaning with regard 
 even to Christ : for that he himself did not enter 
 paradise, if paradise is heaven, till after his ft surrec- 
 tion This will bring the two acceptations of the 
 word very little nearer together. There is still such 
 an immense disparity and distance between them, as 
 the man could not possibly conceive in hearing, nor 
 therefore the gracious speaker intend in sayings To- 
 day. For, as one hath. observed on another occasion, 
 * There is no sophistry in the divine promises '." 
 
 Thus a plain convert of the Gentiles might reason 
 on the case, without knowing the distinction, which 
 the ancients of the Jewish first, and then of the 
 Christian, church made between paradiseixud heaven' 2 ; 
 and to which distinction St. Paul gives countenance, 
 2 Cor. xii. il. 4. where he tells, that He was caught up 
 to the third heaven ; and a>>ain, that He was caught up 
 to paradise 3 , lie was caught up to the third heaven 
 that he might contemplate tiiac scene of supreme 
 felicity, winch aw aits the just after the resurrection ; 
 
 * Ltean Young's Sermons, V. i. p. 438. 
 
 * See the learned and excellent note of Grotius on this verse 
 of St Luke. 
 
 Methodius apud Pholium. See Lardncr s Credib. \ . v. p. 269. 
 
 o 8 and 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 and he was caught up to paradise, that his mind 
 might be contented with a view of their nearer con- 
 solations. 
 
 This is the exposition of Grotius ; and it seems 
 well founded : for St. Paid plainly speaks of two ex- 
 tatic visions, and of two places to which he was 
 transported. Now heaven being the seatof the blessed 
 after the resurrection, according to the doctrine of 
 the New Testament; when can the)' repose in para- 
 dise, as by this place of St. Luke we find they do. 
 but in the intermediate state ? 
 
 But by whatever name we call the place of their 
 rest, St. Luke elsewhere shows, that They live to God 
 xx. 38. which necessarily includes the notion of real 
 and immediate life, as appears by the same expression 
 in St. Paul, Rom. vi. 10. and that they enjov a de- 
 gree of glory : for at the Transfiguration, both Moses 
 and Elias appeared in glory, Luke ix. 31. Moses 
 who died and was buried, Deut. xxxiv. 5, 6. Jos. i. 2. 
 as well as Elias who was translated. 
 
 Such then is the doctrine which St. Luke is care- 
 ful to inculcate concerning the state of the soul after 
 death ; a doctrine greatly wanted by those, whose 
 minds had been possessed with the fables of their 
 poets, or perplexed with the doubts of their philo- 
 sophers. 
 
 S E C T. II. 
 
 Where St. Luke published his Gospel. 
 
 It appears, that St. Luke designed his Gospel 
 for the Gentiles : and the authors character, as well 
 as the nature of the work, will not suffer us to think, 
 that he published it in Judea, where an Apostle had 
 written one before him. There are several signs of the 
 
 contrary, 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 197 
 
 contrary, besides the explications of Jewish matters 
 already noted. 
 
 St. Matthew, speaking of the Passover, says, Ye 
 know that after two days is the Passover, xxvi. L 2. 
 This vvas the proper style for Judea. Vet St. Luke 
 says, Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, 
 which is called the Passover, xxii. 1 . 
 
 He relates, xxi. 37- that Christ went out and abode 
 in the mount which is called the Mount of Olives. Both 
 he and Josephus 1 might express themselves in that 
 manner among the Greeks or Romans, but to have 
 done it in Judea, where Olivet had been long famous, 
 would have sounded almost as strange, as to have 
 talked of the city which is called Jerusalem. Again : 
 xxiii. 51. he calls Arimathea, where Joseph dwelt 
 who begged the body of Jesus, a city of the Jews. 
 And this I esteem another manifest sign, that he did 
 not write in Jewish territories ; in which he would 
 have used a more distinguishing title, that might mark 
 the province to which Arimathea belonged, or no 
 title at all. 
 
 2. §. Some few of the ancients supposed him to have 
 written at Alexandria in Egypt. But this opinion does 
 not suit perfectly with the form in which he puts our 
 Saviour's words to St Peter, xxii. 34. The cock shall 
 not crow this day, before that thou shall thrice deny 
 that thou knowest me. As midnight intervened between 
 the prediction and the completion, the words were spo- 
 ken in one day and fulfilled in another, according to 
 the Egyptian division of days, which was the same with 
 the Roman-. Had he therefore written in Egypt, 
 
 1 Jewish War, B. v. C. fi. § 3. 
 
 Q Sacerdotes Romani, ct qui diem diffinifere civilem, item 
 .flDgyptii et Hipparchus, a media hbcte in medium. Plin- Hist. 
 J^at. L. ii. C. lxxix. lid. Haxdouin. 
 
 probably 
 
198 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 probably he would have determined the sense of this 
 day, as St. Mark has in writing at Rome : Mark xiv. 
 30. This day, even in this night, before the cock 
 crow twice, thou shult deny me thrice. 
 
 Again he says, xxiii. 54. And that day was the 
 preparation, " and the Sabbath drew on.'* Where a 
 new day began at sunset, which was the case in Greece 
 as well as Judea, these words accurately described 
 the intended time of the evening ; hut where it com- 
 menced at midnight, as in Egypt, the description did 
 not clearly convey its meaning to an unlearned rea- 
 der. In such a place there had been the same reason 
 as before, to follow St. Mark, who says in direct 
 trems, xv. 42. IVhen the even was come. 
 
 3. §. The more considerable authorities are in fa- 
 vour of Achaia. Whether the following observations 
 are of any weight on the side of this opinion, the rea- 
 der must judge. St. Matthew, xiv. 25. and St. Mark, 
 vi. 48. xiii. 35. divide the night, as the Romans and 
 at that time the Jews did. into four watches. St. 
 Luke mentions only three ; which was the division of 
 the Greeks 1 . This accommodation to their custom, 
 when, as appears by comparing Luke xii. &S; with 
 Mark xiii. 35. he had an inducement to speak rather 
 of four watches, may be reckoned among the pre- 
 sumptive arguments that he composed his Gospel 
 among them. 
 
 St. Luke does not intermix foreign words, proper 
 names excepted, like the other Evangelists. St. Mat- 
 thew and St. Mark call the tax paid to the Romans 
 Krjvcro£, which was indeed the precise name of it; yet 
 he substitutes a Greek word [$tfgo$] for it 2 . In relating 
 
 1 See Hutchinson's note 4. p. 262. on Book iv. of Xenophon's 
 Anabasis, ed. 4to. 
 3 Compare Matth. xxii. 17. Mark xii. 14. with Luke xx. 22. 
 
 that 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 J. 9.9 
 
 1 hat the soldiers compelled Si man t/te Cyretiian to hear 
 the cross, they say with great propriety, 'AyyajEtW;. 
 He had the same occasion to say so too, but docs 
 not 1 ; the word being formed from the Persic by the 
 Asiatic Greeks, and, though it might be understood", 
 not perhaps received in Achaia. Rabbi, so common 
 in the other Gospels, is never found in his. The ac- 
 clamation of Hosanna to Christ 3 , and his address on 
 the Cross to his heavenly Father, Eli, Eli, lama sa- 
 bac/ithani 4 are omitted. We read in St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark, H ' lien they were come to a place called 
 Golgotha, that is to say, a place of ' a Scull. But he 
 leaves out Golgotha, and turns the meaning of it into 
 a proper name, Kgav/ov, which we translate, following 
 the Latin, When they were come to a place which is 
 called Calvary. His reserve in which instances may 
 with probability be attributed to a desire of not giving 
 offence, where it was not necessary, to the delicacy 
 of the Greeks, who accounted the words barbarous. 
 
 4. He gives the Greek the precedence of the 
 Hebrew and Latin, when he has occasion to mention 
 them together : xxiii. 3S. And a superscription also 
 teas written over him, in letters of Greek, and La- 
 tin, and Hebrew. This seems a precedence by the 
 courtesy of the Evangelist : lor St John names the 
 Hebreiv first, xix. %Q. 
 
 The Evangelist- all mention this superscription ; 
 but every one of them with some difference, except 
 in the last w ords, The King of the Jews : which 
 a late learned author urged as " a want of accuracy 
 and exactness of truth 5 ." The criticism were Of little 
 
 1 Compare Matth. xxvii. 32. Mark xv. 21. with Luke xxiii. 26. 
 
 2 See Herodotus, B. viii. C. 98. 
 
 3 Compare Matth. xxi. 9. Mark \i. 9. with Luke xix. 38. 
 
 4 Compare Matth. xxvii. 46. Mark xv. 34. 
 
 5 Pr. Middleton, 
 
 moment, 
 
200 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 moment, if the ground on which he raises it were sure; 
 that there was one form of inscription in the three 
 languages. But what if it varied in each? The sup- 
 position being as admissible as the contrary, let ire 
 be indulged tn a digression on the probability of it. 
 
 We may reasonably suppose St. Matthew to have 
 recited the Hebrew ; 
 
 Tins is 
 
 Jesus the king of the Jews. 
 And St. John the Greek : 
 
 Jesus the Nazarene the king of the Jem s. 
 
 If it should be asked, Why The Nazarene was 
 omiited in the Hebrew, and w e must assign a reason 
 for Pilate's humour; perhaps we may thus account 
 for it. He might be informed, that Jesus in Hebrew 
 denoted A Saviour 12 , and as it carried more appear- 
 ance of such an appellative or general term by stand- 
 ing alone, he might choose, by dropping the epithet, 
 The Nazarene, to leave the sense so ambiguous, that 
 it might be thus understood : 
 
 This is 
 
 A Saviour the king of the Jews. 
 
 Pilate, as little satirised with the Jews as with him- 
 self on that day, meant the inscription, which was his 
 own, as a dishonour to the nation ; and thus seta mo- 
 mentous verity before them, with as much design of 
 declaring it, as Caiaphas had of prophesying, That 
 Jesus should die for the people 9 . The ambiguity not 
 holding in Greek, The Nazarene might be there in- 
 
 ' Pearson on the Creed.. Art. ii. at ths be<rinning. 
 s John xi 49—51. 
 
 serted 
 
DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 SECT. 
 
 II. 
 
 SOI 
 
 serted in scorn again of the Jews, by denominating 
 their king from a city which they held in the utmost 
 contempt l . 
 
 Let us now view the Latin. It is not assuming 
 much to suppose, that Pilate would not concern him- 
 self with Hebrew names, nor risk an impropriety in 
 speaking or writing them. It was thought essential 
 to the dignity of a Roman magistrate in the times of 
 the republic not to speak but in Latin on public oc- 
 casions 2 . Of which spirit Tiberius the emperor re- 
 tained so much, that in an oration to the senate he 
 apologized for using a Greek word ; and once, when 
 they were drawing up a decree, advised them to erase 
 another that iiad been inserted in it 3 . And though 
 the magistrates in general were then become more 
 condescending to the Greeks, they retained this point 
 ot state with regard to other nations, whose languages 
 they esteemed barbarous, and would give themselves 
 no touble of acquiring. Pilate indeed, according 
 to St. Matthew, asked at our Lord's trial, Whom 
 will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas, or Jesus 
 which is called Christ ? And again, W hat shall I 
 do then with Jesus which is called Christ ? But I 
 judge tins to be related as the interpreter by whom 
 he spake delivered it in Hebrew 4 . For if the other 
 Evangelists have given his exact words, he never 
 pronounced the name of Jesus, but spake of him all 
 along by a periphrasis : ill ye that I release unto 
 you The king ol the Jews? IVhut will ye then, that 
 I shall do unto him whom ye call The king of the 
 Jews ? Tiius he acted in conference with the rulers, 
 and then ordered a Latin inscription without mixture 
 of foreign words, just as St. Mark repeats it : 
 
 1 John i. 46. 3 Valerius Maxhnus, B. ii. C. ii. § ?. 
 
 3 Sueton. in Tjbcrio, C 71. The two words were Monopoly ami 
 Emblem. 4 See Wolfius on Mutth. xxvii. c 2. 
 
 The 
 
202 
 
 DISCOURSE vr. SECT. II. 
 
 The king of the Jews. 
 
 Which is followed by St. Luke ; only that he has 
 brought down This is from above, as having a com- 
 mon reference to what stood under it : 
 
 This is 
 The king of the Jews. 
 
 It is very possible, that a better account may be 
 given of the three forms of the inscription ; but I 
 think I am well founded in asserting, that there were 
 variations in it, and that the shortest was the Latin. 
 
 5. §. To return to St. Luke. The remark, that 
 he does not intermix foreign words, is not without 
 exceptions. He has Amen, Mammon, and Gehenna. 
 But it was necessary to retain them. 
 
 Amen is a word with which our Lord prefaced his 
 solemn declarations, in a style proper to the Son ot 
 God. " The saints use it in supplication, or in as- 
 " senling to the word of God : but no Prophet or 
 " Apostle ever said, Amen, I say unto you. Thi 
 " use of Amen is left to God and Christ ; for it is the 
 " language of Him who avers by Himself X T It was 
 
 1 To 'Apr?! passim quidem a Sanctis usurpatur quura optant, sed 
 non quum asseverant. Nemo unquam prcphetarum aut Aposto- 
 lorum dixit, Amen, Jico vobis. -Soli Deo Christoque hoc relin- 
 quitur, qui ejus est qui per seipsum assevcrat. Ludovicus De 
 Dieu in Poole's Synopsis, on Matth. v. 18. Among those of the 
 learned who dispute this doctrine of De Dieu is Nicolas Fuller, 
 Miscell. Thcol. B. i. ch. 2. who maintains that Amen signifies no 
 more than Mai, or AXr.iwc. Let us however observe what he him- 
 self says of it, in obviating an objection from St. Jerom's au- 
 thority : " Caeterum hie nobis opponantur Hieronymi verba, 
 quibus ait, In Veteri Testamcnto Da juramcntum esse, l ico Ego, 
 
 dicit 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 1203 
 
 therefore to be kept in those places, where the Greek 
 had no term to express the peculiar solemnity of it.. 
 
 Mammon, or Mamdna, as he writes it, is found in 
 ch. xvi. and three times in the compass of five verses: 
 which reiteration of a word that was harsh to the 
 cars of a Grecian would induce one to think, that 
 he wished to make the sound excite an aversion for 
 the thin". But whether he repeated it with this 
 view or not, he had a good reason for employing it. 
 For if Mammon meant only riches, yet in tiie sen- 
 tence, J'e cannot serve God and Mammon, it is by 
 a fig;:n; made a person and opposed to God : in which 
 case ir was preferable to the Greek word P'lutus; 
 because Pint its signified not only riches, but the god 
 of riches, and might h< re seem to countenance a 
 notion of the people, that such a being existed. 
 
 Gehenna is another Hebrew word found once in 
 his Gospel, xii. 5. But Tartarus, the Greek term 
 for Hell, had so many fabulous ideas associated with 
 it, as to render it improper in speaking to converts 
 from paganism. 
 
 6. I think we see an instance of his caution on 
 this head in the history of the Transfiguration. St. 
 Matthew and St. Mark say, that our Lord was trans- 
 Jigured, [xsTsy-opQajbrj- St. Luke, that The fashion 
 
 dicit Dominiis ; in Novo (intern, Amen, Amcu , dico r.obk. Sed sen- 
 sus eat, recentem banc Novi Tcstamenti fbrmulani pes hide va- 
 lore ac antiquum illud Veteris jurametitwnfc ejusoue instar esse, 
 ct parem ad veritatem contirnr.muam vim locumcnie obtinere." 
 Whether Amen hath the nature of an oath or not, enough surely 
 is here granted to show, that it hath, sometimes at lease, a sig- 
 nificaney, which Norland 'AAn9«s cannot reach; and that St. Luke 
 had just reason tor the substituting of this Hebrew instead ot a 
 Greek word on certain solemn occasions, as xxiii. 43. 
 
204 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. II. 
 
 of his countenance was altered^. Did he not ex- 
 press himself thus differently from them, that he 
 might avoid the literal use of a term which entered 
 into so many fictions of the Greeks ? It is well 
 known how much they abounded with stories of 
 transmutations of form ; which they not only re- 
 ported but believed, if the censure is just which 
 Pliny passes on them, " That the credulity of the 
 " Greeks is surprising 2 ." He is speaking more par- 
 ticularly of the Arcadians, who inhabited a part of 
 Achaia. If this observation will hold, the first object 
 of St. Luke's caution were the Achaians. 
 
 7. And on the foot of his reserve in using He- 
 brew words, the question, Whom he studied not to 
 offend, whether the Greeks of Achaia or Alexandria, 
 is easy to decide. Alexandria was planted by Alex- 
 ander the Great with a colony of Macedonians, mixt 
 with native and Persic Egyptians, and Hebrews. 
 His countrymen talked the language neither of Attica 
 nor Achaia. They brought with them a different 
 idiom, which was probably the ground of that which 
 is now called Hellenistic 3 : and their posterity be- 
 came Egyptians in features, complexion, and tone of 
 voice 4 . No such management therefore was required 
 With regard to a people of this character, as might 
 be expedient in indifferent matters towards the inha- 
 bitants of Greece ; who " had a childish antipathy to 
 
 1 Compare Matth. xvii. 2. Mark is. 2. Luke ix. 29. 
 5 Mirum est quo procedat Graeca credulitas. Nat. HLst. B. viii. 
 C. xxxiv. 
 
 3 C>uint. Curlius, B. vi. C. ix. and n. 53. of the notes of Pitis- 
 cus. See some instances of the Hellenistic language inChislvull's 
 Remarks on the Monumentum Adulitanum, p. S6. note 16. See 
 also Mr. Bowyer'fi Preface to his Conjectures on the New Testa- 
 ment, p. 2G. 
 
 4 See Lucian's UXoXov n EJx*'< P- 931. Ed. Paris, fol. 1615, 
 cited by Mr. Bryant, Observations and Enquiries, &c. p. 19. 
 
 " every 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SFXT II. 
 
 205 
 
 " every foreign language; and were equally p eju- 
 " diced in favour of their own. — They were misled 
 *' by the too great delicacy of their ear ; and could 
 M not bear any term which appeared to them barba- 
 " rous and uncouth 
 
 8. §. It was said of St. Luke by the ancients, 
 *' That he taught the Gospel which Paul preached ;" 
 and Critics remark, that there is often a great affinity 
 in their phrases : of which the account given by them 
 of the institution of the Lord's Supper has been fre- 
 quently brought as an example. A sentence is quoted 
 as Scripture, 1 Tim. v. 18. The labourer is worthy 
 of his reward, which we no where meet with pre- 
 cisely in these words, except Luke x. 7- The lan- 
 guage of the precept in the next verse, Eat suck 
 things as are set before you, is the same with that 
 in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, x. 27. What- 
 soever is set before you, eat. Another instance of 
 agreement in language is produced by Grotius on 
 Luke xxi. 34. compared with 1 Thess. v. 3. And 
 some words which are common to St. Paul and St. 
 Luke, either do not occur in other writers of the 
 New Testament, or not in the same sense. Two 
 such at least, araoaxoAB&leo, in the notion of under- 
 standing perfectly ~, and xtSrj^Uo in that of instruct- 
 ing by u ord of mouth A , appear in the very outset of 
 St. Luke's Gospel. 
 
 But the ancients, I presume, said this of him in 
 a higher sense, than that he followed ■ his master's 
 diction ; and meant, that he drew the knowledge he 
 
 1 Bryant's Analysis of Ancient Mythology, V. i. p. 167. 
 
 * Compare Luke i. 3. with 1 Tim. iv. 6. 2 Tim. iii. 10. 
 
 3 Luke i. 4. Act. xviii. 35. xxi. "21. Compare Rom. ii. 18. 
 1 Cor. xiv. 19. Gal. vi. 6. Tlxn^o^n^ai, another word of St. 
 Luke and St. Paul, has probably the same meaning, Luke i. I. 
 and 2 Tim. iv. \ J. 
 
 had 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. III. 
 
 had of evangelical facts as well as doctrines, in the 
 first instance, from the sources of St. Paul's illumi- 
 nation ; which opinion receives some countenance 
 from the manner in w hich he speaks of himself in his 
 Preface : of which notice will be presently taken. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Review of the argument concerning the order of 
 the Gospeh. 
 
 1 . The argument concerning the order of three 
 of the Gospels being now finished, let us take a sum- 
 mary review of it. 
 
 It was concluded in Discourse iii. Sect. v. from 
 the comparisons and reasonings ot the three former 
 sections, that the Er/itrjelists in .succession had 
 seen each antecedent Gospel. And though the con- 
 clusion, from instances of their great agreement, 
 rested on solid grounds, as it then stood ; yet the 
 course of future comparisons yielded fresh examples 
 of this agreement : and when the peculiar design of 
 each (jospel was seen, we were furnished with prin- 
 ciples of accounting for little varia lions ; which are 
 generally such, as an Evangelist would be led to 
 make by the very nature of his plan, though he wrote 
 with another Gospel before him, and meant to fol- 
 low it. Thus the premises were strengthened by a 
 supply of similar examples, and the inference guarded 
 against exception from the differences found in some 
 of them. And as a peculiarity of style and manner, 
 as well as of design, is visible in the general tenor of 
 the several Gospels, the argument horn their entire 
 concurrence in particular places is the more conclusive. 
 
 For the purpose of determining their order, three 
 positions were established in Discourse iii. Sect. vi. 
 and it was inferred, chiefly though not solely, from 
 
 them. 
 
DISCOURSE VI- SECT. III. 
 
 207 
 
 them, in Discourse iv. Sect. i. and ii. That St. Mat- 
 tkffw published a Gospel before St. Mark and St. 
 Luke. 
 
 This M as further evinced by showing, 
 
 First, In Discourse iv. Sect. hi. from considera- 
 tions which stand by themselves, without leaning on 
 any previous hypothesis, That he wrote very early : 
 
 Secondly, In the same Discourse, Sect. v. by more 
 direct evidence than had hitherto been given, That 
 he wrote for the Hebrews, and in Judea. 
 
 The order of St. Mark and St. Luke came next 
 under examination. And though it appears, that St. 
 .Mark did not publish his Gospel very soon l , yet his 
 priority to St. Luke was determined in Discourse v. 
 Sect. i. chiefly by comparing them with regard to 
 perspicuity and explanation ; to which both being 
 attentive, we might reasonably conclude, that He, 
 in whom these virtues of narration are most perfect, 
 was the later writer. 
 
 And ive may consider this matter as confirmed in 
 the first part of Discourse vi by other examples of 
 St. Luke's great attention to the article of explaining. 
 
 Some of the facts to which the three positions of 
 Discourse iii. Sect. vi. apply, are farther ascertained 
 in places subsequent to Discourse iv. and add weight 
 to the preceding arguments, That St. Matthew was 
 the first of the Evangelists. For it is confirmed in 
 Discourse v. Sect. iii. That St. Mark did not write 
 simply for the Hebrews ; in Discourse vi. Sect. i. 
 That St. Luke wrote especially for the Gentiles ; 
 and in the two same Discourses, That both pub- 
 lished their Gospels at a distance from Judea. It 
 hath been shown also in repeated instances, That 
 
 ! See Mark xvi. 20. and the conclusion of Disc. iv. Sect. iv. 
 
 they 
 
208 
 
 DISCOURSE Vi. SECT. IV. 
 
 then so express themselves, as to enlarge the sense 
 of precepts or doctrines, which the letter of St. 
 Matthew seems to confine to the house of Israel. 
 
 In treating the several questions of these Dis- 
 courses, it* some arguments are set down which ap- 
 pear of small value singly, vet the collective sum of 
 them, with the aids which different parts reciprocally 
 lend to each other, amounts, I conceive, to a proof 
 w hich mav he deemed a moral certainty, that the 
 order of .the Gospels, and the main of the articles 
 here asserted, are true. 
 
 2. The progress in planting the Christian faith 
 was from a church purely of the circumcision, Sama- 
 ritans included, to a mix* community ; and from 
 thence to distinct churches of the Gentiles. And 
 there is a strong presumption, that the Gospels were 
 published successive iv, as they were wanted by the 
 churches to whose use they were immediately adapted. 
 Bvt St. Matthew wrote for the first St. Mark for the 
 second, and St. Luke for the third settlement of the 
 faith. This view of tilings therefore' presents us with 
 the order in which the Gospels have ail along been 
 disposed, and which 1 have endeavoured to establish. 
 
 Some objections which nearly affect a great part 
 of the reasoning on this subject shall next be consi- 
 dered. 
 
 SEC T. IV. 
 
 Observations on Sr. Luke's Preface. 
 
 1. The learned moderns who contend, that the 
 Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark were either not 
 extant or not known to St. Luke when he wrote, lay 
 great stress on the Preface to his Gospel, w hich they 
 esteem decisive in their favour. Thev argue from it, 
 
 That 
 
DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 209 
 
 That St. Luke takes no notice of St. Matthew and 
 St. Murk ; since he cannot be supposed either to speak 
 of only two Evangelists, as many ; or to include 
 the m in the number of these many, of whom he 
 speaks with little approbation, it" not with some cen- 
 sure. But, say they, had he read the Gospels in 
 question, he. would not onlv have taken notice, but 
 made particular and honourable mention of them. 
 
 It is further asserted by r;ome, That he would have 
 written no Gospel himself, had those of St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark been already published and in his 
 hands * 
 
 It is easily seen, that in this reasoning, what St. 
 Luke would have said, or how he would have acted 
 under certain circumstances, is mere matter of opi- 
 nion, and taken for granted. 
 
 2. §. But let us hear and consider his own words. 
 
 Luke, Chap. i. 
 
 1. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set 
 forth in order a declaration of those things which 
 are most surely believed among us, 
 
 2. Even as they delivered them unto us, which 
 from the beginning were eye-witnesses, and ministers 
 of the word ; 
 
 3. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect 
 understanding of all things from the very first, to 
 write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, 
 
 4. That thou mightest know the certainty of 
 those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. 
 
 1 See Lardnei's Supplement, V. i. p. 85. 
 
 P 
 
 Here 
 
210 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 Here are a few terms of the meaning of which, 
 though not very difficult, it may be proper to give a 
 short explication. 
 
 Yer. 1. " Have taken in hand to set forth? 'E^s- 
 yjl^irav avaraf aa^ai. This phrase hath been shown 
 by able critics, to mean much the same as if it had 
 been simply said, Hare composed, and to be as ap- 
 plicable to works deserving praise as censure \ Ori- 
 gen indeed suspected, that it here implied a censure; 
 but the manner in which he speaks, is a proof, that 
 he thought it dubious 2 . <4L 
 
 Yer. <2. " Even as they delivered them unto us? 
 Kabiog 7^ap£^o(rctv, Sicut Tradiderunt : Vulgate. This 
 may signify, what the Apostles had delivered in 
 writing as well as by word of mouth ; for Hapd- 
 ?>o(rig comprehends both. It is so used by St. Paul, 
 '2 Thcss. ii. 15 ; and by Greek ecclesiastical authors 3 . 
 The same latitude has Traditio in Latin writers 4 . 
 Accordingly Grotius in a short note on the words thus 
 paraphrases them: " By word of mouth as the other 
 " ^/jjostles, or by writing as Matthew."" 1 
 
 Ib. "Who from the beginning icere eye-iritnessesT 
 From the beginning has the same sense here, as 
 
 1 Grotius, Casaubon, Alex. Moms. See Wolfias on the place ; 
 Raphelius on the same ; and Fabricii Bibliutheca Graiea, Lib. iv. 
 
 C. v. § iv. 
 
 " TAXA J; y.ai to 'jEITEXEIPHrAN te\ifiv7av xaT«yo ? .'a» t*v 
 
 ^i;jic ^ariVjuaTo; IxSevmiv It! Tr'v «y?,y»ilr'> tx-i waryyOiMh. Proem on 
 Luke from a MS. published by Mr. Simon, in L.u doer s Credib. 
 V. Hi. p. 318. 
 
 3 See several instances collected by Suicer under the word ITaja- 
 uoc-i,-. V. ii. p. 577. 
 
 4 Scias nos ab Evangelicis et Apostolicis tradiiiorubus non rece- 
 dere. C _\ priaa. J*3pist. iv. Ed. Fell, lllorum autem [scil. sacro- 
 rum script of u m] traditk), tpiia vera est, quadrat undiquc, ac sibi 
 tota consentit, et ideo persuadet, quia constant! ratione suffulta 
 est. Lactantii lnstiiut. L. v. C. iii. 
 
 John 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 211 
 
 John xv. 27. "ITe Jiave been ivith me from the be- 
 gi tilling;" and means, From the beginning of Christ's 
 public ministry and preaching. 
 
 Ver. 3. " From the very Jlrst" " Avw^sv. This de- 
 notes an earlier time, commencing before the Incar- 
 nation. 
 
 Ib. " Most excellent," Kpdrifog. This was a title 
 then given to persons of dignity or in high office. 
 From whence it hath been probably inferred, that 
 Theophilus was then, or had been, a public magis- 
 trate ; and was therefore a converted Gentile. 
 
 Ver. 4. " Wherein thou hast been instructed." 
 The Greek word Karr^r/jr^ means to be instructed 
 by word of mouth l . 
 
 • 3. §. This being premised, I observe, 
 
 That St. Luke in this introduction speaks of two 
 orders of men, who gave an account of the life and 
 doctrine of Christ. The Jirst in dignity are the Eye- 
 witnesses and 'ministers (if the word; that is, the 
 twelve Apostles, who delivered to others what they 
 themselves had seen and heard. But this delivery, 
 according to the extent of the word Yla^otiocrig, might 
 be written as well as oral. It may therefore com- 
 prehend the Gospel of St. Matthew, and I add, that 
 of St. Mark, as a work of Apostolical authority, and 
 dictated by St. Peter. 
 
 The second and inferior order here noted are they 
 who had preceded St. Luke in committing to writing 
 what they had learned i'roni the Apostles. And if 
 those interpreters were in the right, who suppose 
 
 1 Fabrieius in the place lately referred to ; Suieer under the 
 word KaT^'fo. No. I, 2. 
 
 p 2 him 
 
212 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 him to intimate, that these many writers were unsuc- 
 cessful in their attempts, no consequence would follow 
 with regard to St. Matthew and St. Mark, but that 
 the first verse of his Preface has no reference to them; 
 which, on this or any other interpretation, is readily 
 allowed. They come under another predicament, as 
 authors of the higher order. However, St. Luke does 
 not seem to censure but commend these many writers 
 w hom he distinguishes from the Apostles. He men- 
 tions them as having treated of those things which are 
 most surely believed among us, Even as they deli- 
 vered them unto us, who from the beginning were 
 eye- witnesses, and ministers of the word. And what 
 could he say more in praise of their fidelity ? He like- 
 wise in some sort classes himself with them, and jus- 
 tifies his own undertaking by their example, in saying, 
 It seemed good to me Also 1 . Had he judged them to 
 have miscarried, he would rather have said, It seemed 
 good to me Therefore to treat of this subject. 
 
 4. §. Yet, no doubt, there was one material dif- 
 ference between Him and them : that they wrote not 
 by any special call, but from ordinary motives of 
 piety and zeal for the cause of Christ. Another differ- 
 ence between them seems to be marked by St. Luke : 
 for he speaks of them as relating what they had learned 
 from the eye-witnesses. But he does not say this of 
 himself, but " That he had perfect understanding of 
 " all things from the very first." And perhaps we 
 may not be very far wide of his intention, if we sup- 
 pose this change of style to suggest, that though he 
 had conversed familiarly with the eye-witnesses, and 
 in composing his Gospel did not refuse the assistance 
 of St. Matthew's and St. Mark's ; yet he was principally 
 indebted for this perfect understanding to St. Paul, 
 
 1 Quorum laudatissimo exemplo incitatus ipse quoque voluerit 
 hoc aggredi. Fabricius ubi supra. So also Ltghtfoot in his Har- 
 mony. 
 
 who 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 213 
 
 who received his knowledge of the evangelical history 
 and doctrines by immediate revelation from Heaven. 
 
 5. §. Thus circumstanced, with what view or in 
 Avhat light could St. Luke make separate and special 
 mention of St. Matthew and St. Mark ? 
 
 He could not name them in particular, as vouchers 
 for the truth of his Gospel : for besides that he re- 
 lates in it many things for which ne has no warranty 
 from them, this had been to narrow, not widen and 
 strengthen, the foundations of its authority ; Avhich 
 was built on the inspired knowledge of St. Paul, 
 added to the testimony of the eye-witnesses in general. 
 
 He could not allege their example as a justification 
 of his undertaking. For put the name of Peter for 
 Mark, and consider how the argument Avould pro- 
 ceed : " Whereas Matthew and Peter, eye-witnesses 
 " and ministers of the word, have composed histories 
 " of Christ, it seemed good to me also, who was no 
 " eye-witness or immediate minister of the word, to 
 " do the same." These things we see do not cohere. 
 The justification of himself by example, which his 
 modesty inclined him to make, rests on another foot- 
 ing. 
 
 This was not a place to make an encomium on 
 their Gospels. For the question naturally connected 
 with this encomium, Why then he wrote after them, 
 must have engaged him in so full and distinct an ac- 
 count of his design, as was not suited to the studied 
 brevity of his introduction, perhaps not to the cha- 
 racter of an inspired writer. And it was so delicate 
 a task to point out the want of another Gospel, and 
 to show in what manner he had supplied this want ; 
 that it was better the reader should discover, than 
 the Evangelist declare, more than he hath Laid. 
 
 There 
 
214 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 There was therefore no need, nor any proper op- 
 portunity, of making mention of St. Matthew and St. 
 Mark in this Preface. 
 
 But setting these considerations aside, will it follow 
 from not naming them, that he knew nothing of their 
 Gospels ? We cannot doubt but that he had seen 
 some of St. Paul's Epistles which were sent to dif- 
 ferent churches before his arrival at Rome. Yet al- 
 though these Epistles were inspired writings, and the 
 author of them is the chief and almost only subject of 
 the latter half of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke 
 takes no notice of them, nor gives the least hint that 
 they were written. Why then is his silence an argu- 
 ment more in one case than the other ? or than the 
 silence of St. John concerning the three former Gos- 
 pels, which he is allowed to have seen ? St. John no 
 where declares, he only signifies, that he had seen 
 them ; and this St. Luke hath as clearly done with 
 regard to St. Matthew and St Mark, by the manner 
 in which his Gospel is composed. And if we require 
 of him a testimony to their truth ; what greater could 
 lie give, than by always agreeing with their narra- 
 tions, and often copying their words ? 
 
 6. Let us now consider, what reply this same 
 Preface will enable us to make to the objection, That 
 St. Luke would have written no Gospel himself, if he 
 had seen the other two. 
 
 He distinctly notes two points of time from which 
 an evangelical history might commence. One is, Front 
 the beginning of the word, or of our Lord's public 
 ministry: the other, From the very first, that is, from 
 the events preparatory and relating to the Incarnation. 
 The muni/ writers, as is evident from the second 
 verse, had deduced their accounts only from the lower 
 period; And therefore the silence of others, and the 
 
 perfect 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 perfect understanding which lie had of the things 
 belonging to this higher point of time, are assigned 
 as one reason, why it seemed good to him also to 
 compose a Gospel. 
 
 A second reason may be deduced from the manner 
 in which Theophilus and others had received a part 
 of their evangelical knowledge; it had been delivered 
 to them only by the preaching of the word. But this 
 part was of too much importance to be trusted to me- 
 mory and oral tradition ; which might lose or alter 
 some things, and confound the order of others. St. 
 Luke therefore thought proper to commit them to 
 writing, in a regular and continued history ; that 
 Theophilus, and they who were in the same situation, 
 might have a permanent and connected view of facts 
 and doctrines, which they had heard by parts and on 
 different occasions. 
 
 Another reason is implied in the Dedication of his 
 work to one of the Gentile converts, that he wrote 
 for Their instruction. 
 
 7- On the ground of these reasons the propriety 
 of a third Gospel seems to stand secure. 
 
 The first reason shows, since St. Mark, in common 
 with the many writers, had opened his history at the 
 lower asra, that another, who had the requisite qua- 
 lifications, might fitly and wisely resume the subject 
 on a more extensive plan. 
 
 The second justifies the writing after St. Matthew; 
 who had not recorded all that was worthy to be 
 known. And it being impossible lie should do it in so 
 short a work, it was extremely useful to the church, 
 without detracting from the excellence of his labours, 
 that there should be a review of the subject, contain- 
 ing 
 
216 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 ing many interesting particulars that he had omitted; 
 and of which some concerned that earlier period, 
 where his Gospel began. 
 
 But in this justification the third reason, implied in 
 the Dedication to Theophilus, must be taken into the 
 account. St. Matthew had composed his Gospel with 
 an immediate view to those who first wanted one. 
 But when the Gentiles flowed into the church, it was 
 highly expedient that another should be written with 
 sucn reference to 'I hem as his bore to the Jews. Such 
 a work Theophilus would naturally desire, and might 
 desire it consistently with the greatest regard and ho- 
 nour for St. Matthew With equal respect for him 
 might St. Luke comply with the request of his noble 
 Pupil, and publish a work, for which not only he 
 would give him thanks, but all the churches of the 
 Gentiles : to whom the other Gospels did not become 
 less edifying by a new testimony to their truth. 
 
 And now I think it may be safelv affirmed, that 
 nothing said or intimated in St. Luke's Preface mili- 
 tates against the proofs, that he was subsequent to 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark, and was acquainted with 
 
 their Gospels. 
 
 S. The histories of Christ which he alludes to, 
 however piously intended or faithfully executed, were 
 obscured by the brightness of the tour Gospels, and 
 quickly vanished before than. But in the loss of 
 them, as Dr. Lightfoot observes, there perished none 
 of the canonical Scriptures, but only the works of 
 men l . What titles they bore, it seems impossible 
 jrtow to determine. But if I have rightly intei prated 
 what St. Luke says of them, it is certain they cannot 
 have been any of the supposititious Gospels, that were 
 
 1 Harmony of the Four Gospels, Part i. V. i. p. 39?. fol. 
 
 imputed 
 
DISCOURSE VI. SECT. IV. 
 
 217 
 
 imputed to Apostles or Apostolical men ; of which 
 sort there were many. The memory and traces of 
 these, which still subsist, are monuments of the care 
 and vigilance of the Christian church, in rejecting 
 from the code of holy Scripture what did not belong 
 to it. And the titles which they assumed may serve 
 to discriminate the measures that are pursued by Ve- 
 rity and Forgery. St. Mark and St. Luke published 
 Gospels in their own names : for they knew that the 
 truth would speak for their works, and recommend 
 them to the faithful. But these men sought to sanctify 
 their fables by ascribing them to St. Peter, St. Tho- 
 mas, St. Andrew, or other venerable names of the 
 highest dignity in the church. 
 
( 219 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE SEVENTH. 
 
 ON S T. J O H N. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 The design of St. John's Gospel. 
 
 THE last Evangelist was St. John ; who had seen 
 the former Gospels, and bore testimony to the 
 truth of them by composing his own with a manifest 
 reference to them. For he does not write a professed 
 history of our Lord's public ministry, but a supple- 
 ment to the authentic histories of it already pub- 
 lished : the notoriety of which histories is supposed 
 in his Gospel ; as it would otherwise be imperfect, 
 and obscure in many places. 
 
 This may be exemplified from the following pas- 
 sage : 
 
 iv. 43, 44. IVotv after two days he departed 
 fherice, and went into Galilee. For Jesus himself 
 testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own 
 country. 
 
 He had said, ver. 3. that our Lord left Judea,and 
 departed again into Galilee; and having told what 
 happened m passing thither through Samaria, sub- 
 joins the words that have been cited. Without other 
 helps than we have from the passage itself we should 
 
 naturally 
 
220 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. SECT. I. 
 
 naturally conclude, that he considered no part of 
 Galilee as our Lord's country ; but rather Judea, in 
 which he had been born. But this is not his meaning. 
 He had shown in the beginning of the chapter what 
 was Christ's motive for quitting Judea, and is here 
 assigning the reason why in returning to Galilee he 
 preferred one part of it to another. He passed by 
 his own country, and proceeded on to Cana : for 
 Jesus himself testified tha t a prophet hath no ho- 
 nour in his own country. Nazareth, where his rela- 
 tions lived, and in which he himself had been brought 
 up, was reputed his own country But this fact, 
 the knowledge of which is requisite to a clear under- 
 standing of the place before us, St. John has nowhere 
 directly told. He supposes his reader to have learnt 
 it from the preceding Evangelists 2 , who acquaint us 
 with it, and apply this observation of our Lord to 
 that city. To them therefore he tacitly refers. 
 
 The other Evangelists begin their histories of our 
 Lord s public ministry at this aera of his return into 
 Galilee; of which return St. John takes notice no less 
 than three times in the course of this fourth chapter ; 
 
 ' Matth. xiii. 54. Mark vi. 1. Luke iv. 23, 24. 
 
 5 Two instances to this purpose are noted by Erasmus Schmi- 
 dius on John xviii. 32, 33. That the saying of Jesus might be ful- 
 filled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. This 
 saying is recorded Matth. xx. 19. They shall deliver him to the Gen- 
 tiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him : but it has not 
 been mentioned by St. John. Ib. 33. Pilate said unto him, Art 
 thou the king of the Jews ? The question respects an accusation 
 brought against our Lord by the Jewish rulers, of which St. John 
 has not taken notice : they accused him of saying, That he him- 
 self is Christ a king. Luke xxiii. 2. Again: John xx. 1. And 
 seeth the stone taken cu-ay from the sepulchre. St. John has no 
 where made mention, that a stone h id been placed at the en- 
 trance of the sepulchre ; as neither St. Luke. But it is men- 
 tioned by St. Matthew, xxvii. 60. and by St Mark, xv. 46. On 
 these passages Schmidius observes, that the Evangelists, and St. 
 John in particular, have respect to the Evangelists who had writ- 
 ten before them. 
 
 and 
 
DISCOURSE VII. SECT. I. 
 
 2521 
 
 and thus he signifies a coincidence of his Gospel with 
 theirs, at a memorable point of time ; but having 
 clone this, he goes on again with a different train of 
 events. 
 
 He gives no account of the circumstances of 
 Christ's nativity, of the place of his birth, of his bap- 
 tism, temptation in the wilderness, and transfigura- 
 tion on the mount. He mentions no precepts, pa- 
 rables, or prophecies, which the other Evangelists 
 have related. The recording of one miracle in com- 
 mon with them, that of feeding five thousand in the 
 desert of Bethsaida, [vi. 1 — 14.] is, strictly speaking, 
 the single concurrence of his narration with theirs till 
 within six days of the last passover. 
 
 He says little of the life and fate of John the Bap- 
 tist. He does not mention the calling or mission of 
 the Apostles, nor give a list of their names, nor relate 
 the institution of the Lord's Supper. It was necessary 
 to his readers to know some of these things, and edi- 
 fying to know them all. Why then has he omitted 
 them and other interesting facts, or only alluded to 
 them ? The reason is plain. Just accounts of them 
 had been published, and were in the hands of the 
 faithful when he wrote. And his conduct in this case 
 is an incontestible proof, that he had not only seen 
 but approved the foregoing Gospels as faithful and 
 true histories, and partly composed his own as sup- 
 plemental to them. 
 
 2. §. But this, as I have said, was but a secondary 
 part of his design, and he had a higher point in view. 
 It was become needful to contend for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints 1 : and he alone, probably, was 
 
 1 Is cum esset in Asia, et jam turn haerelicorum semina pullu- 
 larent, C'erinthi, Ebionis, et cseteroruni qui negant Christum in 
 came venisse ; quos et ipse in Epistola sua Antichiistos vocat, et 
 
 Apostolus 
 
DISCOURSE VII. SECT, fi 
 
 remaining of the sacred college of Apostles, to un- 
 dertake the work with the authority of an inspired 
 writer. He therefore asserted the Godhead of the 
 Word, the Almighty and Eternal Word, by whom 
 all things were made, and without whom not any 
 thing was made that was made ; the Word that was 
 made flesh and dwelt among us 1 ; whom God sent 
 into the world, that the world through hiin might be 
 saved 2 . And St. John teaches throughout his w hole 
 Gospel not only the beneficent extent, but the neces- 
 sity to our happiness, of the offices sustained by the 
 Son of God ; as the Author of salvation, by feeding 
 us with the bread of life in his heavenly instructions 3 , 
 and by giving his flesh, upon the cross, for the life of 
 the world 4 ; as the Way, and the Truth, and the 
 Life, without whom no man cometh to the Father 5 ; 
 as the Sender of the Holy Spirit, to teach and illumi- 
 nate the Apostles 6 , to sanctify the faithful 7 , to dwell 
 in them 8 , and abide with them for ever 9 ; as the vi- 
 vifying Cause of their resurrection ,0 , whose voice all 
 that are in their graves shall hear and come forth 11 ; 
 and as the Giver of eternal life to as many as hear 
 and obey him 12 . 
 
 St. John has marked out a direct line of truth, by 
 which the humble and devout Christian mav walk 
 securely, without attending to the by-ways of error, 
 which are endless. But since a doctrine, when the 
 sense of it is controverted, may often be ascertained 
 by a view of the tenets to which it is opposed, it may 
 be useful to some to inquire, what were the imagi- 
 
 Apostolus Paulus frequenter percutit ; coactus est ab omnibus 
 piene tunc Asiee episcopis et multarurn ccelesiarum legationibus, 
 tie dhinitate Salvatoris altius scribere. Hieron. Piooem. in Com- 
 ment, super Mattheeum. 
 
 1 C. i. 1—14. 3 iii. 17- 3 vi. 26—33. 
 
 4 ib. 51. s xiv. 6. 6 xiv. 16, 17. 
 
 1 vii. 38, 39. » xiv. 17. 9 ib. 16. 
 
 w xi. 25. " v. 2S, 29. 15 x. 27, 2S. 
 
 nations 
 
DISCOURSE VIT. SECT. II. 
 
 223 
 
 nations of the Eastern theology, against which this 
 Gospel did more immediately militate. Such per- 
 sons may consult Irenceus, B. iii. Chap. xi. and the 
 learned moderns who have given some account of 
 that theology l , or have considered it as refuted by 
 the Apostle 2 . 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 When St. John published his Gospel. 
 
 The moderns are much divided in opinion con- 
 cerning the time in which St. John published his Gos- 
 pel. Many think he did it late in life ; others, 
 before the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 1. §. As far as I can perceive, the following pas- 
 sage is the only internal evidence for the earlier date, 
 that merits any regard : 
 
 John v. 2. Now there is at Jerusalem by the 
 sheep-market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew 
 tongue Bethesda, having Jive porches. 
 
 It is argued from these words, that Jerusalem was 
 standing when they were written. But it may be an- 
 swered, that at whatever time St. John said this, the 
 expression was proper, if Bethesda was remaining ; 
 and there is great likelihood that it escaped the ge- 
 neral devastation. For when Titus Vespasian ordered 
 
 1 Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. B. i. Part ii. Chap. i. de rebus Chris- 
 tianorum ante Conbtantinum, Saec. i. Sect be. &c. — Dissertat. ad 
 Historiam Ecclesiasticam pcrtinentes, V. i. Dissert, iii. p. 221. 
 
 3 See Bull's Judicium Ecclesiae Catholics, C. ii. Waterland's 
 Importance of the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and the authors 
 to whom he refers, p. 250. &c. Michaelis' Introductory Lectures, 
 p. 240. Dr. Owen's Observations, p. 87. &c. 
 
 the 
 
224 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. SECT. II. 
 
 the city to be demolished, he let some things con- 
 tinue for the benefit of the garrison that was to abide 
 there 1 ; and he would naturally leave this bathing 
 ace, fitted up with recesses or porticos for shade 
 and shelter, that lie might not deprive the soldiers of 
 a healthful refreshment very grateful to them ; and 
 to which he paid such attention, that he soon after 
 erected magnificent baths at Rome for public conve- 
 nience s . Now since St. John s proposition may sim- 
 ply regard Bethesda 3 , we cannot be sure that it looks 
 further, or has any view to the state of Jerusalem. 
 
 The argument therefore from this passage seems 
 inconclusive ; and so do some proofs which are al- 
 leged for the later date. 
 
 2. §. It is urged, that St. John wrote after the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, because he does not mention 
 the prophecies relating to it. But this will appear a 
 very ambiguous argument to those who consider, 
 how rarely he treads in the steps of the other Evan- 
 gelists. He may indeed omit these predictions, lest 
 he should seem to prophesy after the event. But he 
 may also have done it pursuant to the method which 
 he observes in most cases, of passing over what was 
 already recorded. 
 
 It is said again, that he does not follow the Jewish 
 computation of the hours of the day, as the other 
 Evangelists have done, but adopts that which was in 
 use among the Romans ; because, when he wrote, 
 
 1 Josephus, Jewish War, B. vii. C. 1. § 1. 
 
 * Amphitheatro dedicate, Thermisque juxta celeriter extructi3. 
 Sueton. in Vita Titi Vespasiani, C. vii. 
 
 3 Hasseiquist calls what is now shown for Bethesda, An old 
 square and formerly magnificent pool and cistern, p. 134. Maun- 
 drell speaks doubtfully of these ruins, p. lor. 
 
 the 
 
discourse vrr. sect. ii. 
 
 225 
 
 the polity of the Jews was at an end, and the whole 
 nation dispersed. 
 
 On whatever side we view this reasoning we shall 
 find it deficient. St. Mark and St. Luke did indeed 
 count the hours after the Jewish manner ; but if they 
 wrote in countries which used the same manner, we 
 have no proof that they followed it, because it was 
 Jewish. On the other hand, if St. John differ from 
 them in this article, he cannot agree with the Ro- 
 mans ; for the Roman and Jewish hours were pre- 
 cisely the same. 
 
 3. §. However I think we may collect from several 
 circumstances, that he wrote a good while later than 
 any other Evangelist, and after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 His Gospel, as was observed, supposes the exis- 
 tence of the others, and must suppose, not only that 
 they were in being, but that they were spread abroad, 
 and well known throughout the church : which could 
 not then be effected so expeditiously as it may at 
 present. 
 
 4. §. He is not so reserved as St. Mark and St. 
 Luke in appealing to the Law and the Prophets, but 
 makes his own references to them. In chap. xii. he 
 cites Zechariah once, and Isaiah twice. And in the 
 history of the Passion, ch. xix. he applies the Law, 
 the Psalms, and the Prophets to Christ. This differ- 
 ence between Evangelists, who wrote in great mea- 
 sure for readers of the same kind, is a strong pre- 
 sumption, that St. John's Gospel followed St. Mark'* 
 and St. Luke's at such a distance of time, that the 
 Gentile converts were become more acquainted with 
 the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and better able 
 to understand the force of reasonings from them. 
 
 Q 5. §. He 
 
226 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 SECT. 11. 
 
 5. He takes notice of three Passovers ; and 
 speaks of each, on the first mention of it, as the 
 Passover of the Jews ! . 
 
 This seems to have been said to distinguish it from 
 the Christian Passover. But if so, it must have been 
 said, w hen the one was become of consequence enough 
 to be opposed to the other ; which probably was late 
 in St. John's days. The earliest believers were per- 
 petually celebrating the death and resurrection of our 
 Lord. An anniversary commemoration of them grew 
 into repute and note by degrees, and as a feast of 
 Christian devotion, not of Apostolical precept 2 . 
 Else, it is most likely, there had been an uniformity 
 in the time of keeping it. 
 
 6. When St. Matthew speaks of crossing the 
 lake of Galilee, he terms it, Going to the other side, 
 Ei^ to zstpav 3 . and so does St. Mark, with one ex- 
 ception only 4 : but St. John says, To the other side 
 of the sea 5 . Whence this change of style from that 
 of his Galilean brethren ? Was it, that length of 
 years and length of absence from his native country 
 had corrected a phrase, which was habitual to St. 
 Matthew, and still familiar to St. Peter, when St. 
 Mark's Gospel was composed ? 
 
 They call this lake the sea of Galilee; He, the sea 
 of Tiberias 6 . He wrote therefore w hen the new 
 name had prevailed over the ancient ; and when the 
 latter was growing or even grown into disuse 7 : for 
 
 ' Ch. ii. 13. vi. 4. xi. 55. 
 
 1 Suicer in the word Jleurxa, ii. 2, 3. p. 623. 
 
 3 Matth. viii. IS. 28. xiv. 22. xvi. 5. Mark iv. 35. v. 21. 
 \i. 45. xni. 13. 4 v. i. 
 
 4 Johnvi. 1.17. 6 Johnvi. 1. xxi. 1. 
 
 7 Josephus calls it, The lake of Tiberias : Jew ish War, iv. 8. 
 § 2. iii. 3. § 5. but commonly, The lake of Gcnnesar or Genne- 
 £areth. See Sermon, p. 11. note 5. 
 
 he 
 
DISCOURSE VII. SECT. II. 
 
 227 
 
 he explains what is meant, Ch. vi. 1 . After these 
 things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which 
 is the sea o/'Tiberias. 
 
 7. In his last chapter, vef. 18. he mentions a 
 prediction of oar Lord concerning St. Peter: Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee, when thou wast young, thou 
 girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: 
 hut when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth 
 thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry 
 thee whither thou wouldest not. Which words fore- 
 showed plainly, that St. Peter should suffer death as 
 a follower of Christ, but did not declare certainly 
 what death it should be. Yet St. John in the next 
 verse seems to speak of the death of St. Peter, and 
 the nature of his death, as well known to those, to 
 whom he relates the prediction : This spake he, sig- 
 nifying by what death he should glorify God. 
 
 This is generally admitted as evidence, that St. 
 John's Gospel was published after the death of St. 
 Peter. I think we may infer from the next para- 
 graph, that it was published after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 For St. John proceeds immediately to recite a short 
 conversation concerning himself, between St. Peter 
 and our Lord, and in what sense it was understood 
 by the brethren : 
 
 Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, and what 
 shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him, If I will 
 that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? 
 Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad 
 among the brethren, that that disciple should not die. 
 
 L T pon which he observes : Yet Jesus said not unto 
 him, He shall not die ; bat, If I will that he tarry 
 till I come, what is that to thee ? And by denying 
 q 2 only, 
 
228 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. SECT. II. 
 
 only, that Jesus said, He should not die. he ad- 
 mits, that a promise was made him of living till 
 Christ came. 
 
 What then is this Coming of Christ ? And why 
 did not St. John, who was to die like other men, 
 explain what it meant, that he might effectually put 
 a stop to the false surmises of the brethren ? I can 
 see but one reason, why he is no more explicit ; and 
 it is this : he wrote his Gospel at a time, when it was 
 generally understood among the brethren, that he 
 had lived to see the advent of Christ, to which the 
 promise related. He who hereafter will come to 
 consume the wicked with the brightness of his ap- 
 pearing, was already come in the clouds of heaven. 
 The glory of his person was unseen, but the power 
 of his presence was felt in his judgments. And the 
 destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity was 
 such a comment on the promise, that St. John should 
 survive till Christ came, that there needed no other. 
 
 8. §. On this ground, which appears to be firm 
 and good, let us consider an account givea by him, 
 Ch. xi. 47 — -50. of the proceedings of the Jewish 
 rulers. In a conference among themselves concern- 
 ing Christ, they said, What do we? for this man 
 doeth mam/ miracles. If ice let him thus alone, all 
 men will believe on him : and the Romans shall come, 
 and take aicay both our place and nation. The re- 
 sult of the consultation was, That it was expedient 
 he should die. And what they judged so expedient, 
 they soon accomplished. However the Romans 
 came, and took away both their place and nation : 
 and great and dreadful was the fall of them. After- 
 wards St. John published this account of their coun- 
 sels and proceedings; first, As a manifestation to 
 mankind of the visible hand and just vengeance of 
 Heaven on a people who had concurred with the un- 
 righteous policy of their rulers, and had been the 
 betrayers and murtherers of the Just One : secondly, 
 
DISCOURSE Vir. SECT. III. 
 
 229 
 
 As a call to the sad survivors of these calamities; 
 that the remnant being affrighted might give glory 
 to God by their conversion. 
 
 St. Matthew had shown early, that they had made 
 themselves and their children responsible for the blood 
 of Christ ; and now St. John reminds them, that it 
 had been required at their hands. 
 
 These several circumstances are strongly on the 
 side of those, avIio maintain the late publication of' 
 St. John's Gospel. 
 
 9- §. As to the place in which it was published ; 
 If it can be proved, that St. John counted the hours 
 as we do ; that some of his seven churches did the 
 same ; and that, as far as appears, the use of such 
 hours was peculiar to that small district of the 
 Roman empire ; we shall then have an internal, and 
 probably an intended, mark, that he composed his 
 Gospel somewhere within the circle of these churches, 
 and may reasonably abide by the authority of the 
 ancients, that he composed it at Ephesus. 
 
 His hours will be considered afterwards. I shall 
 close the present Discourse with a few reflections on 
 a material article of this work. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Each succeeding Evangelist confirms the authenti- 
 city of the preceding Gospels. The credit and tes- 
 timony of St. Mark and St. Luke not iveakencd, 
 because they had seen Sr. Matthew's Gospel. 
 
 1. §. The Evangelists in succession pursued a wise 
 and sure method of warranting the truth and genuine- 
 ness of each former Gospel with ail the authority of 
 the latter l . Let us for instance suppose St. Peter to 
 
 1 See the conclusion of Dr. Owen's Observations on the Four 
 Gospels. 
 
 have 
 
230 DISCOURSE VII. SECT. III. 
 
 have been requested, or to have desired, to leave his 
 testimony with the church, in St. Mark's Gospel, of 
 the authenticity of St. Matthew's. How was this to 
 be effected ? He might have mentioned it, as he 
 does St. Paul's Epistles in ierms of respect, and 
 called it, The Gospel of our beloved brother Mat- 
 thew : by which or the like words he would doubtless 
 have borne witness to the truth of it. But if a ques- 
 tion should arise, not whether St. Matthew had com- 
 posed a true Gospel, but which was the true Gospel 
 of St. Matthew ; such a testimony could no more 
 decide it, than the ranking of St. Paul's Epistles with 
 the other Scriptures can determine, whether the 
 Epistle to the Hebrews be St. Paul's. If then a Gos- 
 pel was afterwards to appear under the title ot The 
 Gospel according to the Hebrews ~, which might be 
 mistaken, and actually was mistaken by some, for the 
 authentic Gospel of St. Matthew ; how could St. Peter 
 deposite with the church a better touchstone by which 
 to detect the adulterate, than by incorporating so 
 much of the genuine into his own Gospel ? 
 
 Again : if St. Luke transcribed several passages 
 from St. Mark, we have the attestation not only of 
 St. Luke, but of his friend and principal St. Paul, to 
 the verity of this Gospel. 
 
 Lastly, St. John authenticated the three foregoing 
 Gospels by an opposite method, that is, by omitting 
 
 1 2 Pet. iii. 15. 
 
 • The Gospel of the Ebionites, which was in the main the 
 same with that of the Nazarenes, was intitled bv themselves, 
 The Gospel according to the Hebrews. It was partly a compilation 
 from St. Matthew and St. Luke ; and what was taken from the 
 former was plainly translated from the Greek. Yet about the 
 middle of the fourth century a notion began to prevail, that this 
 was the authentic Hebrew of St. Matthew's Gospel. 
 
 See TweUs's Critical Examination. Reply, p. 110 — 1'27. Se- 
 cond Vindication, p. 19. 68. Jone^ s New .Method, V. i. Part ii. 
 C- xxv. p. 33 1 . 
 
 not 
 
DISCOURSE VII. SECT. III. 
 
 £31 
 
 notrepea ting what they had related. Of which enough 
 has been said. 
 
 As to St. John's Gospel, if it was written late, as 
 many suppose, and I think with probability, the 
 church of Christ had then acquired some strength 
 and consistence, and a more easy and settled corre- 
 spondence of its distant members with each other. 
 And perhaps no city was better situated than Ephe- 
 sus to spread intelligence to the generality of places 
 where any Christian resided. A city so much fre- 
 quented formed a connection between the two great 
 divisions of Europe and Asia. Here it is generally 
 allowed, that St. John composed his Gospel ; and 
 the notoriety of the fact superseded the want of 
 another Apostle to attest it. 
 
 2. I shall beg leave to add only a few words 
 more, in answer to the objections ot those, who 
 think, that we weaken the evidence of tiie evange- 
 lical history, and lessen the credit of St. Mark and 
 St. Luke, by supposing them to have written with a 
 knowledge of St. Matthew's Gospel. Let the matter 
 be examined without prejudice. 
 
 The Gospel must be true, if St. Matthew's is a 
 true history of it : to satisfy us of which, the proof 
 of two things is requisite; first, That he was a faith- 
 ful relater of what he had seen and heard ; secondly, 
 That the relation which bears his name is his relation. 
 
 The first thing, That St. Matthew could not be 
 deceived himself and would not deceive us, but re- 
 lated faithfully what he knew to be fact, is proved 
 by the arguments which establish the credit and au- 
 thority of the other Apostles, and which certainly are 
 not the worse for admitting, that St. Mark and St. 
 Luke had seen his Gospel and approved of it. 
 
 The 
 
252 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. SECT. III. 
 
 The second point, That the Gospel which bears 
 his name is his Gospel, hath been shown just above 
 to be strongly confirmed by the works of these 
 Evangelists. For if we rightly esteem a few sen- 
 tences of it found in Clemens llomanus and other 
 Apostolical Fathers an argument for its authenticity ; 
 in all reason the many passages of it which occur in 
 the writings of St. Mark and St. Luke must be an 
 argument of greater weight. 
 
 And their own credit is not diminished, but in one 
 view seen to advantage by the use which they make 
 of St. Matthew. 
 
 The credit of their knowledge is not diminished : 
 because, by enlarging on his account, as they fre- 
 quently do, in relating the same thing, they show 
 that they were not indebted to him for the knowledge 
 even of those things which they partly relate in his 
 words ; but were masters of the subject, and wrote 
 with an antecedent and full idea of it. 
 
 But the credit of their veracity appears in a fairer 
 light. In some places they seem to differ from him ; 
 and though the difference is only in appearance, they 
 must be sensible, that this appearance might give, 
 and it hath often given, a handle to cavil and excep- 
 tion against the Gospel history ; which common pru- 
 dence would have taught them to avoid in writing 
 after an Apostle, if they had not been conscious of 
 the certainty of the facts recited by them. It is truth 
 only that hath this fearless simplicity, and gives its 
 testimony without art or circumspection. 
 
( 253 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE EIGHJH. 
 
 IN TWO PARTS. 
 
 Part the First. 
 
 CXn the Method in which St. John 
 reckons the hours. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 Three instances of St. John's hours considered. 
 
 IT was the way of the ancients to divide the day in- 
 to twelve hours, and the night into as many. The 
 first hour of the day was an hour after the sun rose, 
 and the twelfth was when it set. This was the way 
 in Judea, and to this the other Evangelists adhere. 
 But St. John appears to have reckoned the hours as 
 we do, from midnight to noon, and again from noon 
 to midnight. And it may be observed, that he men- 
 tions the hour of the day oitener than any other Evan- 
 gelist; as if with design to give his readers an oppor- 
 tunity of discerning his method by comparing one 
 passage with another. The several instances shall be 
 produced and considered, as they stand in his Gospel. 
 
234 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. I. 
 
 1. §. Chap. i. 38—40. 
 
 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and 
 saith unto them, Wliat seek ye ? TJiey say unto 
 him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being intei preted, 
 Master) where dwellest thou ? He saith unto them, 
 Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, 
 and abode with him that day. For [rather, Now ! ] 
 it was about the tenth hour, One of the two which 
 heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew^ 
 Simon Peter s brother. 
 
 If the time here intended was that which we may 
 call Jewish, (to distinguish it, not from the Greek and 
 Roman which were the same with the Jewish, but 
 from the modern) the tenth hour was about four in 
 the afternoon, or two hours before the day ended in 
 Judea: with which time neither the words nor cir- 
 cumstances of the narration seem to agree. For the 
 words, They abode with him that day, rather imply, 
 that they spent a good part of the day with him. And 
 St. John, as if he would intimate as much, and that 
 he did not reckon after the Jewish manner, relates 
 several particulars which followed on that day. For 
 Andrew, being invited by our Lord to his dwelling, 
 came and conversed with him long enough to be sa- 
 tisfied, that he was the Messiah. He then went out 
 to seek for his brother Peter ; and having found him, 
 returned to our Lords abode with him. After which, 
 delighted With the happy discovery he had made, he 
 seems to have gone in search of others of his ac- 
 quaintance, and to have introduced them also : as we 
 may collect from verse 41. w here it is said, He first 
 Jindeth his own brother Simon 2 ; for this implies, 
 
 • i' ? sc Ti >iv u; J.'xaTn. Hora autem prat quasi decima. Vulgate. 
 Or il etoit environs Li dixieme heure. Beausobre. 
 
 5 According to the reading of the Alexandrian MS. which has 
 ■s-fUTci, and of the Vulgate which has primum : the concurrence 
 
 of 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. I. 235 
 
 that he found and brought others after him. Now to 
 show, that what is here mentioned was all done in 
 one and the same day, St. John says a little beneath, 
 ver. 43. The day following Jesus would go forth 
 into Galilee, Sec. And since these things appear to 
 be the transactions of some hours, the most reasonable 
 account of this tenth hour is, that it was ten in the 
 morning. 
 
 2. §. Chap. iv. 6, 7- 
 Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey sat 
 thus on the well. (And it was about the sixth hour.) 
 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. 
 
 The sixth hour in the Jewish computation was 
 mid-day. But it is not very probable, that this was 
 the time intended. Among the people of the East, 
 exact and tenacious observers of their customs, the 
 women had their stated times of going to draw 
 water : which they did, not in the heat of the day, 
 but in the cool of the morning or evening 1 , That 
 one of their times was the morning may be inferred 
 from 1 Sam. ix. 11, 12. 
 
 And as they went up the hill to the city, they 
 found young maidens going out to draw water, and 
 said unto them, Is the Seer here ? And they an- 
 swered them, and said, He is ; behold, he is before 
 you : make haste now, for he came to day to the 
 city ; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in 
 the high place. 
 
 It was certainly in the morning that Saul and his 
 servant, entering the city of Samuel, met these 
 maidens : for Samuel was arrived but just before 
 
 of which Bengelius e-teems of great weight. It is the reading- 
 also of several other ancient copies, of the Syriac Version, and 
 of Origen. See Wetstein On the place. 
 
 ' See Manner's Obsen utions on divers Passages of Scripture : 
 Vol. j. p. 370, 371. 
 
 them, 
 
236 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. I. 
 
 them, and the sacrifice was not begun, which with 
 the following festivity would take up great part of 
 the day. And Samuel, partly on this account, and 
 partly through hospitality, and not because his guests 
 came late into the town, would transact no particular 
 business with Saul that day, but deferred it to the 
 next morning 
 
 That another of their times was the evening, is 
 evident from Gen. xxiv. 1 1. 
 
 And he made his camels to kneel down without the 
 city, by a well of water, at the time of the evening, 
 even the time that women go out to draw water 2 . 
 
 It was most likely in the evening that this woman 
 of Samaria came to draw water ; it being said, that 
 Jesus was wearied with his journey. After some little 
 discourse with him, the woman, leaving her water- 
 pot, returned hastily into the city : where the men 
 of Sychar were probably come forth into the street to 
 enjoy the cool of the air, and assembled for their 
 evening conversation. Their curiosity is excited to 
 behold the wonderful stranger of whom she informed 
 them. Ihey attend her to the well ; discourse with 
 
 ' Et lux cum primum tcrris se crastina reddet, 
 Auxilio laetos dimittam, opibusque juvabo. 
 Interea sacra hsec, quando hue venistis amici, 
 Annua, qua? difi'erre nefas, celebrate faventes 
 Nobiscum. JEw. L. viii. I/O. 
 
 Virgil describes this festival as beginning in the forenoon, and 
 continuing till evening. 
 
 2 In the Odys3ey, B. vii. 19. Ulysses is met by Minerva, as the 
 sun was going down, under the form of a Phaiacian virgin. She 
 is described as cariying a water-pitcher : because, 1 presume, 
 the maidens at that time went out to draw water. So that the 
 same custom prevailed in ancient Greece. It prevailed likewise 
 in Armenia, as appears from Xenoplion's Anabasis, B. iv. p. 307. 
 Ed. Hutchinson, 4to. where see also the Editor's note. 
 
 him, 
 
DISCOURSE VIH. PART I. SECT. I. 
 
 237 
 
 him, and entreat him that he would tarry with them ; 
 that is, that he would lodge that night in their city ; 
 which he did, and abode there two days ; I suppose, 
 till the second morning after his arrival, when he set 
 off for Galilee. 
 
 3. §. Chap. iv. 52, 53. 
 Then inquired he of them the hour when he began 
 to amend : and they said unto him, Yesterday at the 
 seventh hour the fever left him. So the father 
 knew that it was at the same hour, in the which 
 Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth. 
 
 The situation both of Cana, where our Lord was, 
 and of Capernaum, from whence a nobleman came 
 to him as soon as he heard of his arrival in Galilee, 
 is a little uncertain. Geographers place them about 
 a day's journey asunder ; but they seem to have been 
 nearer. Capernaum is laid down in the maps as 
 nearly north of Tiberias, and so less distant from 
 Cana, which was north-west of both. Yet Josephus 
 marched from Cana to Tiberias, in one night as I 
 apprehend, with two hundred armed men l . And the 
 nobleman, whose errand was to beseech our Lord to 
 come down and heal his son, whom he said he had 
 left at the point of death, still hoped there would be 
 time enough for Christ to return with him to Caper- 
 naum before he expired. Christ answered his re- 
 quest with saying, Go thy way, thy son liveth. Now 
 tliis conference happened at the seventh hour. The 
 question is, whether it was at one in the afternoon, 
 according to Jewish time, or at seven in the evening, 
 according to ours. If it was at one in the afternoon, 
 there were so many hours of day-light remaining, that 
 paternal affection, animated with the hope of finding 
 a dying son restored to health, would naturally have 
 prompted a tender father to return home immediately. 
 1 Life of Josephus, C. xvii. 
 
 But 
 
2 38 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 But if age or infirmities rendered him unable to make 
 such haste, surely his family, when they saw so sud- 
 den and wonderful a change in his son, would, in- 
 stead of staying till the next day, have sent off a mes- 
 senger immediately, who wiih good speed might have 
 brought the joyful news to Cana that night. But 
 neither of these things was done. The nobleman 
 set out from Cana, and his servants from Capernaum, 
 the next morning, and met on the road : where he 
 first learned the success of our Lord's promise to him. 
 It is theretore most probable, that when Christ dis- 
 missed him with this promise, it was now seven in 
 the evening. In this case indeed, St. John must 
 have given the meaning rather than the precise words 
 of the servants, w hen he makes thein say, Yesterday 
 at the seventh hour the fever left him. But such 
 things are done by the most faithful historians, and 
 are not without precedent in the Gospels 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 The fourth instance considered. 
 
 Chap. xix. 13, 14. When Pilate therefore heard 
 that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down 
 in the judgment -seat, in a place that is called the 
 Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it 
 was the preparatio?i of the passover, and about the 
 sixth hour. 
 
 Some have contended, that the proper reading in 
 this place is the third hour. But all good manu- 
 scripts have thesixth^. And it is scarce conceivable, 
 that a reading so contrary to the ideas of most tran- 
 scribers should have found its w ay into the copies so 
 early, and been propagated so w idely, if it had not 
 
 1 Compare Mark xiv. 30. with Matth. xxvi. 34. And see 
 Grotius' Notes on Luke ii. 12. and Matth. xxvi. IS. 
 
 2 See Mill and Wetstein on the place, 
 
 been 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 239 
 
 been in the original. Nor need we be embarrassed 
 by it. Allow it, in consistence with the foregoing 
 examples, to mean six in the morning, and it will 
 suit the place in which it stands admirably well ; 
 which the third hour would not. We have only to 
 make a proper distribution of the events of this 
 morning according to the notes of time with which 
 the Evangelists furnish us. 
 
 The night was divided either into twelve hours, or 
 four equal watches. Of the latter division we have 
 several traces in the Gospels l . And here St. Mat- 
 thew, St. .Mark, and St. John note the third watch by 
 the Cock-crowing, and call the fourth the Proi 3 ; 
 as St. Mark does also in another place, where he 
 speaks of all the four watches : At even, or at mid- 
 night, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning, 
 the Proi. xiii. 35. The terms of the Cock-crowing 
 and the Proi it will be convenient to retain. 
 
 Were the learned agreed about the year of our Sa- 
 viour's Passion, we might compute with a little more 
 accuracy. But it is sufficient for our purpose, that 
 the Jewish Passover was not before the vernal equi- 
 nox ; and that the sun therefore must have risen by 
 six on the day of the Crucifixion ; which will make 
 the third watch, or Cock-crowing, reckoned from 
 midnight, consist of three hours, and the fourth 
 watch, or Proi, ending at sun-rising, of three more. 
 
 Let us then examine what events the evangelical 
 accounts restrain within the Cock-crowing, and what 
 they limit to the beginning of the Proi ; that we may 
 
 1 Matth. xiv. "25. xxiv. 43. Mark vi. 48. Luke xii. 38. 
 
 a When the time is indefinite, Tl^ul may signify early in a lax or 
 sense ; but when it signifies a part of the day, its meaning is 
 precise in the Evangelists ; and nearly the same, as far as I can 
 find, in other ancient Greek authors. It notes a time that ends 
 at sun-rising. 
 
 see 
 
240 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 see how much time remained, and how it was dis- 
 posed, till we arrive at the point which St. John calls 
 about the sixth hour. 
 
 It is probable our blessed Lord was brought before 
 one in the morning to the palace of C'aiaphas, where 
 the rulers and elders were met 1 ; except that part of 
 them who attended the apprehending of him, and re- 
 turned in triumph with their prisoner 2 . The assembly 
 or consistory was then complete. He was first ex- 
 amined before them concerning his doctrine ; and 
 when he referred them to his hearers for an account 
 of it, the witnesses were called in, ready at hand, and 
 prepared for their business : for the search of the 
 rulers was not for the persons, but the testimony of 
 these men. Their testimony not amounting to the 
 purpose of condemning him to death ; the consistory 
 consulted among themselves how to proceed ; and 
 resolved, that the question should be solemnly pro- 
 posed to him by the high priest, "Whether he were 
 the Christ. While this was in debate, he was in the 
 outer or lower hall 3 , where the servants attended ; 
 having been ordered out of the council-room. And 
 while he was under guard in one part of this hall or 
 court he heard Peter, standing with the servants in 
 
 1 St. John only mentions, that our Lord was " led away to 
 Annas first." Annas might be desirous of seeing him, but seems 
 to have sent him without delay to Caiaphas and the elders assem- 
 bled with him. It is not unlikely, that Annas and his son in law 
 lived in the same palace : it being a thing not unfrequent in some 
 countries for different branches of a family to have their distinct 
 dwellings in the same spacious edifice. Dr. Shaw, Travels, p. 275. 
 tells us, that it is the case in Barbarvand the Levant, The palace 
 to w hich St. Peter followed our Lord, and in which he disowned 
 him, was the palace of the high priest, John xviii. 15, 16. and 
 the palace of the high priest M as certainly that of Caiaphas, Matth. 
 xxv i. 
 
 See Luke xxii. 52. 
 
 5 "Efw h i*i Bu'Xy, Matth. xxvi. 69. E> tj avXr, **r«. Mark 
 xiv. 6G, 
 
 another 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 241 
 
 part, disown him the third time. He was then led 
 again into the council-room ; where bein? solemnly 
 interrogated, Whether he were the Christ, and as 
 .solemnly declaring, That he was, he was found guilty 
 of death by the unanimous verdict of the court ; and 
 being once more sent out of their presence, was 
 given up to the insolence of their officers and servants. 
 A conference ensued among themselves, in which it 
 was quickly determined, to lead him bound to the 
 Praetorium without loss of time, that Pilate might ra- 
 tifyand execute the sentence they had passed uponhim. 
 
 In this summary it is supposed, first, That our 
 Lord was in the outer hall when Peter disowned him 
 the third time; and secondly, That the question, Whe- 
 ther he were the Christ, was not proposed to him at 
 different times or places. The former article will 
 follow the confirmation of the latter ; which seems 
 very evident, notwithstanding the dissension of har- 
 monists about it. 
 
 St. Matthew and St. Mark relate, that as soon as 
 the high priest had asked him, Art thou the Christ ? 
 and had received his answer, he rent his clothes, and 
 addressing himself to the council, said, What need 
 ice ant/ further witnesses? Ye have heard the blas- 
 phemy ; what think ye ? Upon w hich they all 
 condemned him to be guilty of death.. Now it is 
 extremely improbable, as they saw him little disposed 
 to make answers, that they put the success of their 
 cause to the hazard of procuring the same reply from 
 him at a second meeting of the same judges : for 
 what r for the sake of coming to the same conclusion, 
 What need ice any further witness ? 
 
 The question therefore, Art thou the Christ ? 
 was proposed but at one time: and the council, in 
 which it was proposed, continued without adjourn- 
 R ment 
 
242 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 ment where they first assembled, that is, in the palace 
 of the high priest. For St. John, very exact in de- 
 scribing what he docs describe of the occurrences of 
 this morning, says expressly, Then led they Jesus 
 from Cuiaphas to the Prcvtorium, xviii. 28. where 
 from Cuiaphas means from the house of Cuiaphas ; 
 as, From the ruler of the synagogue, Mark v. 35. 
 is justly rendered, From the ruler of the synagogue's 
 house. We may also infer, from St. Matthew and 
 St. Mark, that the procession to the Prastorium was 
 directly from the house of Caiaphas. But how then 
 are we to reconcile them with St. Luke ? who in the 
 following passage seems to speak, 1. Of a later time; 
 2. As some think, of a change of place in which the 
 council was held ; 3. Of a different mode of interro- 
 gating our Lord : 
 
 xxii. 66 — 71. And as soon as it was day, the 
 ciders of the people, and the chief priests, and the 
 scribes came together, and led him into their coun* 
 cil, Suying, Art thou the Christ ? tell us. And he 
 said unto them, If I tell you, ye mill not believe. 
 And if I also ash you, ye will not answer me, nor let 
 me go. Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the 
 right hand of the power of God. Then said they all, 
 Art thou then the Son of God ? And he said unto 
 them, Ye say that I am. And they said, What 
 need we any further witness ? for we ourselves 
 have heard of his own mouth. 
 
 A literal version of the first part of this paragraph 
 will help to remove a great part of the difficulty : 
 And as day was coming, the elders of the people, 
 and the chief priests, and the scribes were assembled, 
 and led him into their council. 
 
 1 think there is no doubt but, cog tfixspx eysvsro, 
 may be properly rendered, As day was coming l . 
 
 1 * Cum dies ademtaret : nam et ita sumi solet 5 a'Jftra?." Gro- 
 l ius in Luke xxii. o'o'. 
 
 The 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 243 
 
 The material question is, how far back St. Luke ex- 
 tends the notion of day coming. And this may be 
 determined by the sense of a similar expression, 
 ytvopivris <k as used in another place, which 
 
 I give in our version : Luke iv. 42. And ivhen it was 
 day, he departed, and went into a desert place. St. 
 Mark on the same occasion says, i. 35. And in the 
 morning, rising up a great while before day, he 
 ivent out, and departed into a desert place. The 
 two passages compared show plainly, with what la- 
 titude St. Luke speaks of day coming. And with the 
 same latitude, I conceive, he uses these words again, 
 Acts xii. 18. Now as soon as it was day [ysvo[xsvrig 
 os rj[j.spa$] there was no small stir among the soldiers, 
 ivhat was become of Peter. St. Peter was in cus- 
 tody of sixteen soldiers, constantly chained between 
 two of them; and these relieving each other in course, 
 every two would have a turn of three hours in the 
 four and twenty l . The delivery of St. Peter could 
 not well be earlier or later than in some part of the 
 third military watch. It was probably soon after 
 midnight : when the angel who released him laid or 
 kept the soldiers asleep by a miraculous power. But 
 this power operating no longer than the case required, 
 they would be awakened by the next change of the 
 guard, and perceive that their prisoner was gone : 
 which occasioned the no small stir among them. The 
 change of the guard was at three in the morning, 
 when the fourth military watch began. This there- 
 fore is the time which St. Luke denotes by ysw\t.kvr\g 
 os r}u.spci;, as soon as it was day; and when he says in 
 the text before us, tog f^xepnsysvsTo, the words, which 
 are in a form ottener used to express what is incom- 
 
 ' If four soldiers were employed at the same time in guarding 
 St. Peter, which is perhaps more probable, two chained to him, 
 and two keeping watch ; in that case each quaternion would be 
 twice upon duty for three hours at a time in the course of a day 
 and night. 
 
 R 2 plete, 
 
244 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 plete, may doubtless be understood of the commence- 
 ment, as well as of any other part of the fourth watch. 
 When the sun is up, he says, the day is fully come 
 (for this seems the meaning of 2ypr?.r (i so0<r4ai tt\v 
 ■f^xzpav, Acts ii. 1.) ; but from the point of equal 
 distance between midnight and sun-rising he considers 
 it as coming. 
 
 Again : he does not say, that the elders and chief 
 priests did then asse?nble, he tells us, that they were 
 assembled. As he passed over the depositions of the 
 false witnesses, and the previous inquiries, he had no 
 occasion before to mention their meeting. But when 
 he came to that part of the trial which he purposed 
 to relate, it was then proper he should inform his 
 readers, how the fact stood ; that what our Lord 
 professed before the council, and what they resolved 
 in consequence of his profession, was done in a full 
 convention of the Jewish elders and magistrates. 
 For this reason he takes notice here, that they were 
 assembled. But neither in this place nor any other 
 does he give the least hint of their removal from the 
 house of Caiaphas, to which he had before told us, 
 our Lord was brought prisoner. 
 
 The remaining difficulty is not very formidable ; 
 that what St. Matthew makes the question of the 
 bisih pi'icst only, / adjvre thee by the living God 
 that than tell as, whether thou be the Christ the 
 Son of God ; St. Luke represents as the question of 
 the assembly at large, Then said they all, Art thou 
 then the Son of God ? If the high priest put the 
 (juestion w ith consent and by advice of his assessors, 
 it was in truth the question of the whole court, and 
 St. Luke might justly mention it as such. However, 
 it may be admitted, that their eagerness to convict 
 him might prompt them to second the question of 
 the high priest ; and that our Lord, having distinctly 
 answered the one, did then vouchsafe to make the 
 
 same 
 
DISCOURSE VIII, PART I. SECT. II. £.4 5 
 
 same avowal separately to the others. This may be 
 admitted as extremely probable. I only maintain, 
 that St. Luke means not to intimate an adjournment 
 of the council, or a different time of proposing this 
 solemn and decisive question. But if Christ was led 
 into their council on this occasion, it is plain he must 
 have been in the outer hall or court for a while before ; 
 in which situation it is easy to conceive, that he 
 heard himself disowned the third time, and turned 
 and looked upon Peter. 
 
 I observed just above, that St. Luke's words, As 
 day was coming, will allow this leading of our Lord 
 into their council to have been as soon as the Proi 
 began. And thus early it seems to have been ac- 
 cording to St. Matthew and St. Mark ; who connect 
 it immediately with the conclusion of St. Peters fall, 
 and that again with the second crowing of the cock, 
 which was emphatically the cock-trowing, and the 
 boundary between the third and fourth watches. It 
 is true, they speak of the natural, not (if I may so 
 call it) the civil cock-crowing. But what reason is 
 there to imagine, that they did not nearly concur ? 
 Pliny speaking of these fowls observes, That at the 
 fourth military watch they recall men to their cares 
 and labour Others of the ancients, who enumerate 
 the parts into which the space from midnight to full 
 day is divided, and name the rest from the changes of 
 darkness and light, define two of these parts by the 
 Crowing and silence of the cocks They were there- 
 
 1 Cum sole cunt cubitum, quartaque castrensi vigilia ad curas 
 laboremque revocant. Nec solis ortum incautis patiuntur obre- 
 pere, diemquc venientem nunciant cantu. L. x. C. x:viv. 
 
 * Pi'imum tempus diei dicitur media; noctis inclination deinde 
 gallicinium, inde conticuum, cum et galli conticescunt, et ho- 
 mines ctiam turn quiescunt ; deinde diluculuni, id est, cum in- 
 cipit dies dignosci, inde mane, cum dies clarus est. Macrobii 
 Saturnal. B. i. C. iii. Ed. Var. towards the end. 
 
 Nox intempesta, id est, media ; gallicinium quo galli cantant; 
 conticinium, post cantum gallorum silcntium ; aurora vcl cre- 
 
 PUSCUlUQ) 
 
246* DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 fore a regular index of a certain time, at least in those 
 southern climates ; and the presumption is, that in 
 the instance under consideration the natural and civil 
 cock-crowing were concomitant. But, if it was then 
 about the vernal equinox, the civil cock-crowing 
 was at three in the morning. 
 
 At three then in the morning our Lord was led into 
 their council ; and soon alter pronounced guilty of 
 death. Then followed what is thus related : And 
 straightway in the Proi, the chief priests, having 
 held a consultation with the elders and scribes and 
 the whole council, and having hound Jesus, led him 
 away, and delivered him to Pilate. These words of 
 St. Mark imply speed in resolving and acting ; and 
 so do St. Luke's : And they said, W 'hot need we any 
 further witness ? for we ourselves have heard of his 
 own mouth. And the whole multitude oj them 
 arose, and led him unto Pilate. Probably there- 
 fore they were at the Prastcriuin before four in the 
 morning; when, if the dawn was not begun, there 
 was however the light of a full moon. 
 
 Here our Lord was accused of assuming the dig- 
 nity of a king, in prejudice of Ca^ar's authority 
 To which accusation he did not vouchsafe to reply ; 
 except when Pilate asked him in the Praetorium, 
 Whether he were the king of the Jews 2 . He then 
 declared, that he was a king, but that his kingdom 
 was not of this world. Upon which Pilate went out 
 and professed, that he found nojault in him. Pre- 
 
 pusculum matutinum, tenipus quod ante solem est. Sen ilis in 
 yEneid. iii. 587- 
 
 To the same purpose Censorinus, C. xxiv. Jn all which au- 
 thors it is supposed, that the cock-crowing was very regular, 
 and that it ended sometime before ti. ; - ' beginning of the 
 morning dawn. 
 
 1 Luke xxiii. 2. 3 John xviii. 33. 
 
 sently 
 
DISCOURSE VHI. PART 1. SECT. IT. 247 
 
 sently after, having learnt that the man was a Ga- 
 lilean l , he remitted the hearing of his cause to the 
 tetrarch of Galilee. But by Herod he was quickly 
 sent back with a contemptuous testimony of his inno- 
 cence. His prosecutors returned with him ; to whom 
 Pilate observed, that even Herod had expressed no 
 fear or jealousy of him ; and that he himself found 
 no fault in him. And now knowing, perhaps from 
 some inquiries made while they Mere absent with 
 Herod, that the chief priests and elders had delivered 
 him for envy 2 , he applied himself to the populace, 
 who were expecting the annual indulgence of having 
 a prisoner released to them whom they desired. To 
 them he offered the releasement of Jesus ; but the 
 offer not meeting with acceptance, he then conlined 
 them to the choice of Jesus or Barabbas, that their 
 suffrages mi<iht still fall as he wished. At the insti- 
 gation of their superiors they chose Barabbas, no- 
 torious for sedition, of which they were accusing our 
 Lord. Yet he seems still to have left them the li- 
 berty of saving Jesus, by asking, What will ye 
 then that I should do unto him whom ye call the 
 ^ m g °f the Jews 3 P But instead of requesting his 
 life, they called out for his crucifixion with such ve- 
 hement and loud voices, that Pilate, to appease their 
 fury, ordered him to be scourged by his soldiers in 
 the Praetorium ; and then to be brought forth and 
 exhibited to them ; prefacing his appearance with 
 another attestation of his innocence, and expecting, 
 that such a spectacle as was set before them must 
 excite commiseration in their breasts : Behold the 
 man. But this taste of blood served only to sharpen 
 their appetites for it. The cry of, Crucify him, Cru- 
 cify him, was reiterated, and a new charge brought 
 against him, that lie made himself the Son of God. 
 
 ' Luke xxiii. 6". 2 Matth. xxvii. IS. 3 Mark xv. VI. 
 
 Pilate 
 
248 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 Pilate startled at this went again into the Praetorium, 
 and asked him, W hence he teas. Our Lord, not 
 choosing to influence a judge, who was concerned 
 only with his innocence, by revealing his dignity, gave 
 no answer to this question ; but spoke a few words 
 to another point with such divine composure, that 
 Pilate sought the more to release him. Enraged at 
 which conduct of the governor, the Jewish rulers 
 threw out hints of accusing him to a jealous and sus- 
 picious master, as no triend of Caesar, if he let this 
 man go. He therefore sat down on the tribunal to 
 pass the sentence they desired ; yet still hesitated to 
 pronounce it. And it was abend the sixth hour l . 
 
 I think I have mentioned the heads of all the par- 
 ticulars that the evangelical history requires us to in- 
 clude in this period, beginning at the first appear- 
 ance of Christ before Pilate, and containing, as we 
 compute, two hours and a half. The time seems 
 sufficient, if it be considered, that some things fa- 
 voured and others demanded expedition. 
 
 If Caiaphas did not send to Herod and Pilate, when 
 our Lord was first brought prisoner to his house, cer- 
 tainly he would dispatch messengers to them, as soon 
 as he was condemned in the council ; to Herod, that 
 he might be on his guard and watch ov er his Galilean 
 subjects, who came in great numbers to the feast, 
 lest they should make any disturbance in favour of 
 Christ 2 ; and to Pilate, w ho seems to have lent them 
 some soldiers to assist in apprehending hina 3 , that 
 they were bringing their prisoner before him. 
 
 As our Lord kept the Passover in the citv, his 
 late departure from it shows, that the gates were left 
 
 ' John xix. 1 — 14. 
 
 * Magis enim mctuebant Galilaeos ta&quam ipsfais Je»u popu- 
 lares. Grot, in Matth. xxvi. 5\ 
 3 Wolfius in Matth. .\xvi. 47- 
 
 open 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 249 
 
 open that night '. Now when there was an amazing 
 concourse of a mutinous nation in Jerusalem and the 
 villages about it, there was great need of vigilance in 
 the governors without ttriy singular occurrence. It 
 cannot therefore seem strange, that on such an occa- 
 sion as this, Pilate, and quickly after him Herod, 
 was early up, and ready to receive the Jewish ru'ers 
 at their first appearance. The first time they conti- 
 nued but a little while with Pilate : for as soon as he 
 knew that Jesus belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, 
 he sent him to Herod, who was himself also at Je- 
 rusalem at that time. It is most likely that both of 
 them (and the high priest also) lodged near the tem- 
 ple. The tetrarch of Galilee resided in his own ter- 
 ritories, and the procurator of Judea at Cacsarea. 
 They came but occasionally to Jerusalem. And at 
 such times they and the whole train of each might be 
 received, without interfering, in the superb editice 
 erected by Herod the Great 2 : for it consisted of two 
 distinct spacious buiidings ; one of which he named 
 Cassareum and the other Agripjn'mn : and Josephus 
 in one place calls it not a palace but palaces 3 . This 
 edifice, as well as the tower Antonia, which was a 
 palace and fortress together, stood near the temple, 
 and communicated with it. Little time therefore 
 being lost in moving from place to place, the first exa- 
 
 * Compare Mark xiv. vcr. 13. with ver. 
 
 2 Jo-ephus, Jewish War, B. i. C. xxi. § 1. It seems evident 
 from Philo Judaius, that the governor had some right in the 
 Herodian palace : for he informs us, that Pilate there dedicated 
 and fixed up some golden shields ; in a conspicuous part of it, 
 I presume : at which the Jews took great umbrage. The He- 
 rodian family (Philo says, the four sons of the king, and tin; 
 other royal descendants,) were called in to join in a request that 
 Pilate would remove them. The remonstrance of those princes 
 was purely on the ground of that of the other Jews, that his act 
 was a violation of their religion : they made no complaint, as 
 far as appears, that it was an invasion of their private property. 
 Philo, Leg. ad Caium, vol. ii. p. 599, 590. Ed. Mangey. 
 
 3 Ibid. B. v. C. iv. § 4. rot, fizcrikttx. 
 
 munition 
 
2oO DISCOURSE VIM. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 mination before Pilate, and the interv iew with Herod, 
 might come within such compass, as that our Lord 
 might be remanded to Pilate by five in the morning : 
 at which time it was broad day-light. 
 
 There was great eagerness for a speedy determi- 
 nation on one side, and a necessity for it on the other. 
 The Jewish rulers, who had hitherto surrounded the 
 tribunal with their followers and dependants, were 
 jealous of delay and of a variable multitude, and 
 pressed on with ardor and violence, while circum- 
 stances favoured. The proof of the crime alleged 
 rested on the sole authority of the accusers : If he 
 were not a malefactor, ice ivould not have deli- 
 vered him tip unto thee l . And though Pilate twice 
 interrogated Jesus in the Prastorium, he did it hastily, 
 and as it were with the sound of their outcry in his 
 ears. He well knew the seditious spirit of the nation, 
 uneasy under a foreign yoke, and confiding in their 
 numbers at the Passovers 2 . A tumult was beginning 3 , 
 and might increase with an accession of people. It 
 ivas requisite therefore to resolve speedily, whether 
 he would appease them by compliance, or repel them 
 by force ; which then especially he would avoid. 
 
 If the hour in question is not six in the morning, 
 it is noon-day. But will this construction of it suit, 
 I say not with the other Evangelists, but upon the 
 whole with St. John himself? He tells us, that Pi- 
 late came forth and gave audience to the Jews in the 
 Proi 4 . Now if the matter began ere the sun was up, 
 and when it had reached the meridian was still not 
 finished ; how will the tract of time and train of cir- 
 
 1 John xviii. 30. 
 
 MaXira yap tv r«7; fi/'u^isti; avrw ?a7i: JosephllS, 
 
 Jewish War, B. i. C. iv. § 3. 
 3 Matth. xxvii. 24. 
 * John xviii. 28. 
 
 cuunstances 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 25 J 
 
 cumstances go hand in hand ? Must not the latter 
 unavoidably stop short of the former r Of the four 
 Evangelists St. John is the fullest and most particu- 
 lar, except that he takes no notice of Herod, in re- 
 lating what concerned our Saviour in this period. 
 But the detail of his relation conveys no idea of so 
 much time ; which indeed is repugnant to credibility 
 for other reasons. We have the same persons assem- 
 bled and acting together, the same cause going on 
 all along, a cause not puzzled nor retarded by wit- 
 nesses, but maintained by mere dint of assertion, and 
 urged with such vehemence on the part of the pro- 
 secutors, that what delay there was of the sentence 
 was occasioned purely by the judge's reluctance to 
 deliver it. But since it is evident, that this judge 
 rather evaded their attacks upon him, than withstood 
 them with the firmness of a' man of conscience, is it 
 to be imagined, that he demurred till noon, in so 
 critical a season, and assaulted on every side by their 
 fierce and turbulent importunities ? Probability de- 
 mands, that we fix the boundary of his resistance 
 much nearer to the Proi 
 
 Now the time which we allow, for the main of his 
 endeavours to save our Lord, is adequate to the 
 events comprised in it, and best suited to the spirit 
 of the day, and the conduct of the parties contending 
 on this occasion. The time, reckoned from their re- 
 turn at five from Herod, may be supposed an hour 
 and half: for the words, About the sixth hour, do 
 not su straighten us, but that we may add twenty or 
 thirty minutes. It suffices, that Pilate sat down on 
 the tribunal, if not precisely at six, not later than 
 half an hour after it. 
 
 We have followed the plain road before us from 
 the beginning of the Proi, and are brought to this 
 conclusion. We shall come to it again by another 
 
 way, 
 
252 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. II. 
 
 way, that is, by returning from a settled term be- 
 yond, towards that which we are desirous to find, 
 and making a probable estimate of the requisite dis- 
 tance between them. The settled term is the hour 
 of the Crucifixion given us by St. Mark 1 ; whose 
 exactness with regard to the times when the super- 
 natural darkness began and ended, being confirmed 
 by the testimonies of St. Matthew and St. Luke, 
 leaves no room to question his accuracy in the time 
 of the Crucifixion, though he alone mentions it. It 
 was therefore the third hour, or nine in the morning : 
 and we are to consider, first, What time the proces- 
 sion from the Pratorium to mount Calvary, and the 
 act of crucifying our Lord took up ; secondly, Be- 
 fore this procession began, what time he was detained 
 in the Prcetorium, when Pilate had delivered him to 
 be crucified ; thirdly, How long the sentence of death 
 was delayed after Pilate sat down on the tribunal. 
 
 1 . Mount Calvary was near to the city ; but the 
 procession to it must have been slow. At the Paschal 
 Supper of the foregoing night, Christ seems to have 
 denied himself the refreshment of the cup which he 
 gave to his disciples 2 ; and his body was enfeebled 
 by his agony in the garden, and what it had since 
 endured, particularly by pain and loss of blood when 
 he was scourged. He himself carried his cross to the 
 gate of the city ; and though it was there laid on 
 Symon the Cvrenian, he had further to go, and a 
 small eminence to ascend 3 . To this procession, and 
 
 1 xv. 25. 
 
 2 Luke xxii. 16 — 18. Of the Passover he says, I wtU not any 
 more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in ihe kingdom of God : but 
 of the cup; Take this, and divide it among yourselves : For I say 
 ttnto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom 
 of God shall come. 
 
 3 Mount Calvary, a rocky hill, neither high nor ample. San- 
 dys' Travels, p 1'24. Mount Calvary, which is a sn;al! cminency 
 or hill upon the greater mountain of Moriah. Mauodidfr 
 Journey to Jerusalem, p. 68. 
 
 to 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. FART I. SECT. II. £53 
 
 to the preparations and act of crucifixion, we may 
 well allot i\ full hour. 
 
 c l. Before he was led forth, that the executions 
 might be finished together, the two robbers, if no 
 more prisoners, were to be tried. For in cases where 
 no appeal lay to the emperor or Roman senate, the 
 sentence of the judge was followed by the immediate 
 pun shment of the offender l . They had not there- 
 fore been examined by Pilate on any preceding day ; 
 nor in this morning, in which the trial of our Lord 
 came on so early. Probably, while his cause was 
 depending, they were brought from the prison to the 
 hall where the soldiers kept guard, that they might 
 be in readiness. In this place the penitent thief at- 
 tending to the deportment of Jesus, while he was 
 scourged and insulted bv the Roman sol Hers, might 
 conceive that sense of his innocence, meekness, and 
 majesty, which prepared him for the grace of perfect 
 faith on the cross. When these men were condemned, 
 they were to be scourged at the Pra j torium according 
 to the Roman manner, before they were taken to be 
 crucified. To the time employed in trying, condemn- 
 ing, and scourging them, if we add a short previous 
 pause, which Pilate might require to compose his 
 mind not slightly agitated and disturbed, may we 
 not reckon the whole another full hour ? In the 
 mean while Christ was guarded by the soldiers ; into 
 whose hands therefore he was delivered at seven, or 
 rather earlier. 
 
 3. When Pilate had taken his seat on the tribunal, 
 in order to pronounce sentence of death on Christ, 
 
 1 Modestinus in L. Constitut. xvi. de appellationibus. Consti- 
 tutiones quae de recipiendis nec non appellationibus loquuntur, 
 nt nihil novi fiat, locum non habent in eorum persona, quos 
 damnatos statim puniri interest ; ut sunt insignes latrones, vel 
 saditionum concitatores, vel duces factionum. Apud Creniuui 
 in Fascic. Tom. hi. p. 610. 
 
 he 
 
254 DISCOURSE VIII. PAItT I. SECT. II. 
 
 he received a message from his wife 1 ; and, still, fluc- 
 tuating, expostulated once more with the Jews about 
 him 2 ; declared his innocence again, and his own 
 averseness to condemn him : When he saw that he 
 could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was 
 made, he took water, and washed his hands before 
 the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of 
 
 ' 3Iatth. xxvii. 19. When he was set down on the judgment- 
 scat, his wife sent unto him, saying-, Have thou nothing to do 
 with that just man, &c. 
 
 4 Ibid. ver. 23. Grdtiiis on Matth. xxvii. 45. proposes, as 
 others had done before, another method of reconciling St. Mark 
 and St. John with respect to their hours. The Jews, he tells us, 
 divided the day, as they did (he night, into four quarters, each 
 containing three common hour- : and whatever was done within 
 the space of one of these quarters might be reckoned to the hour 
 at which the quarter began, or at which it ended : [Factum au- 
 tem tertia aut sexta bora dicitur, quicquid inter stata ilia precandi 
 tempore evenerat ; ut solent quae in medio sunt posita nunc ad 
 mine, nunc ad ilium, terminum referri.] The second of these 
 quarters of the day began at the third hour, about which time it 
 is here supposed that our Lord v\a- condemned : and it ended at 
 the sixth hour, about which time it is supposed he was crucified. 
 St. John mentions the lime of his condemnation, St. Mark of his 
 crucifixion. Each Evangelist certainly knew the time of what he 
 relates : ami describing it by the hour of the day, intended, we 
 may presume, to describe it with some, exactness. But here St. 
 John is made to distinguish the beginning of the second quarter 
 or division of the day by its latest term, the sixth hour ; and St. 
 Mark the coiicbisUm of it by its earliest term, the third hour. This 
 seems strange. Yet this hypothesis has been espoused by a late 
 eminent and respectable author ; who has raised many objections 
 against the method of explaining St. John's hours that is offered 
 in these Discourses. See Dr. Randolph's View of our Saviour's 
 Mini-try, ixe. Vol- i- p 363. note (*). The diwsion of the Jewish 
 day into four quarters, each containing three hours, is not dis- 
 puted : but it may be much doubted, whether the whole space of 
 every quarter was denominated from the hour at which it began ; 
 so that what was done in the middle or towards the conclusion 
 of the first quarter might therefore be said to be done at the iirst 
 hour. For this there seems no good authority ; nor for main- 
 taining, that hvra tertia, or hora sexta, was ever used in the lati- 
 tude here supposed*. Rut the arguments on both sides are before 
 the learned j and to them it is submitted to determine, on which 
 side lies the greater probability. 
 
 this 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. 
 
 255 
 
 this just person, see ye to it. Then answered all the 
 people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our 
 children. Upon which he decreed, that it should be 
 as they required. A small allowance of time for each 
 of these particulars will bring us within half an hour 
 of six. Here then the computations meet, whether 
 wc reckon on from the Proi, or back from the third 
 hour: by either account Pilate sat down in the judg- 
 ment-seat between six and seven in the morning. 
 
 The immediate object of this inquiry may not have 
 needed the length of disquisition into which I have 
 been led. But if it can help to throw light on any 
 part of the history of our blessed Saviours Passion, 
 it will want no apology to a Christian reader ; who 
 will regard this question of hours chiefly because of 
 its connection with that most interesting and impor- 
 tant history. 
 
 The result of the inquiry is, I trust, that no time 
 agrees so well with St. John's sixth hour, and the 
 transactions that happened about this hour, as six in 
 the morning. And then in all the instances in which 
 he names the hour, it hath been made most probable, 
 that he reckoned as we do. 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 St. John begins the day as the Romans did ; but 
 his method of counting the hours is not Roman, 
 but Asiatic. 
 
 Dr. Clarke, and since him our authors in general, 
 who maintain that St. John reckoned the hours after 
 this method, consider it as the Roman method 
 Such it is admitted to be by their learned opponent 
 
 1 Clarke's Paraphrase, note on Mark .v. l 25. 
 
 Dr. 
 
256 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. 
 
 Dr. Lardner 1 ; and so it had been called before by 
 Mons. Toinurd and Mons. Le Gere. The probable 
 source of this mistake I shall point out elsewhere. 
 But a mistake it undoubtedly is. We find the very 
 same mode oi counting the lrours that the Jews used, 
 in the works of all the Romans, in prose and verse, 
 in historical and philosophical compositions, as well 
 as in popular orations and familiar epistles. 
 
 However, St. John so far agrees with them, that 
 he parts one day from another at midnight : in 
 ■which he differs from the usage of the Jews who di- 
 vided them at sunset. And this circumstance ren- 
 ders it more credible, that he has receded from their 
 computation in his hours. 
 
 The commencement of his day was observed and 
 argued by the late Dr. Benson 2 , from the following 
 passage : 
 
 John xx. 19- Then the same day at evening, being 
 the first day of the a-eek, when the doors were shut 
 where the disciples were assembled for fear of the 
 Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith. 
 unto them, Peace be unto you. 
 
 This appearance of Christ, which St. John says, 
 ?vas on the first day of the week, that is, on the even- 
 ing of the Resurre ction, happened presently after the 
 return of the two disciples from Emmaus, as we learn 
 from Luke xxiv. 13 — 36. At what time of the even- 
 ing did they then return ? For on this the argument 
 depends. Dr. Lardner thinks it was before sun-set; 
 in which case here is no proof that St. John's civil 
 
 1 Remark* on Dr. Ward's Dissertation's, p. 30—40. 
 
 2 History of the first planting of the Christian Religion. Ap- 
 pendix. No. iv. p. 52. 
 
 day 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. <257 
 
 day ended later than that of the Jews : for till the 
 sun was gone down, there is no dispute that it was 
 the first day of the M eek, whether he began the se- 
 cond in the evening or at midnight. But Dr. Benson 
 judged it so clear a point, that the two disciples did 
 not come back to the Apostles from Emmaus, till 
 the sun was set, that he has taken it for granted. And 
 certainly the much greater probability is on this side 
 of the question. For before they had reached Em- 
 maus they began to press our Lord traveling with 
 them under the appearance of a stranger to abide with 
 them; because, as they said, It was towards evenings 
 and the day was fur spent. I know that the Sacred 
 Writers under the notion of evening sometimes in- 
 clude great part of the afternoon 1 ; but if that had 
 been St. Luke's intention here, he would have put 
 the word into another form : for when afternoon is 
 begun, who that would speak with propriety says, 
 It is towards afternoon, and not rather, is of 
 noon ? To determine and limit the sense of the word 
 evening it is added, And tlte dan is Jar spent, or, 
 the day is declined : not, the day is beginning to de- 
 cline, as he says in another place, when yet, The day 
 was Jar spent, as St. Mark tells us in the parallel 
 passage 2 . It was therefore hastening towards sun- 
 set when they entered the village, And he went in to 
 tarry with them. There a repast was prepared, to 
 
 1 The WOrd, under which the Evangelists comprehend a consi- 
 derable space before, as well as after, sunset, is Oil?.. Ant! this 
 indeed is St. John's word xx. I'J. but St. Luke's xxiv. 29. is 
 Ttf«, a word of stricter signification, and by which, if he apply 
 it here, as in the two other places where lie uses it again, Actsiv. 
 3. xxviii. 23. he must mean the time which begins at sunset : and 
 this is the proper notion of the word. Sec Macrpb. Saturnal. B. i. 
 C. iii. towards the end. "Eo->rf?% pa eriv n p.;Ta tk» sVo-tv tZ r,x'.u 
 Zita. Himerius in Wetstein on Matth. xxviii. 1. V. i p. 544. 
 See Judges xix. IG. compared; with ver. 14. in the Septuagint. 
 
 a Compare the expression here with chap. ix. ver. 12. and that 
 with Mark vi. 33. in the original. 
 
 S which 
 
258 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. 
 
 which they sat down. And when he had made him- 
 self known to them, and disappeared, they had seven 
 miles and a half of a mountainous country to walk 
 back to Jerusalem. Let any indifferent person then 
 judge, whether it is likely they had done all this, met 
 with the Apostles, and related the particulars of their 
 story to them, before the sun was gone down. On 
 the other hand there is a great probability that the 
 Apostles themselves, whom they found gathered to- 
 gether, did not assemble, till the dusk of the evening 
 rendered their meeting less observable, as they were 
 in fear of danger or insult from the Jews 1 . But if 
 they assembled, or the two disciples returned after 
 sunset, then the appearance of Christ to them wa- 
 on the second day of the week according to Jewish 
 time, and St. John, who reckons it to the Jirst, must 
 have followed a different method of computing. 
 
 But what led him to differ thus from them ? If 
 the question related only to a different beginning of 
 the day, we might reply that he followed the Roman 
 division of it. But how are we to account for his 
 hours, which are as little Roman as Jewish ? I will 
 answer this difficult question as well as I am able. 
 
 I conceive then that he met with them in the district 
 of Asia Minor that contained the Seven Churches : 
 in which country the learned in succession might have 
 received a notion of them from the astronomers who 
 had flourished at Miletus 2 . And in the time of Alex- 
 ander the Great, when the Asiatic Greeks regulated 
 their year by the Macedonian, this reformation of 
 the hours might take place in some of their cities. 
 And whether Ephesus was one of them or not, St. 
 John might encourage the Christians there to receive 
 
 1 For frar of the Jeers.] Causa r (lditur, cur coetus habuerint 
 vocturnos, ct cur clausis januis. Grot, in loc. 
 5 Thales, Anaxiinaiuler, AuasimeneSj were of Miletus. 
 
 it; 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PAUT I. SECT. lit. 259 
 
 it; as a different beginning of the day would in some 
 observances a little distinguish between them and the 
 Jews, and lead the Jewish converts by a very gentle 
 transition from old things to new. It would also 
 avoid a little incongruity in the celebration of Easter. 
 If they began their day at sunset, like the Jews, their 
 Paschal fast, corresponding to the time during which 
 our Saviour lay in the grave, would end too soon ; 
 and the festival of Easter must anticipate the hour in 
 which he arose. But if they made midnight the 
 boundary between the two days, the festival of course 
 would commence the next morning ; and the Resur-* 
 rection would be aptly and properly commemorated 
 after the hour in which it took place. 
 
 These Asian churches, till the council of Nice, ad- 
 hered to the rule of keeping Easter at the full of the 
 vernal moon, in whatever part of the week it fell. 
 In which point they differed from the general prac- 
 tice of the Christian world. Their plea was, that 
 they followed the institution of St. John. And as the 
 tact is well attested, it is an argument, that he was 
 not inattentive to regulations of this nature 
 
 That such a method of counting the hours, as we 
 have proved St. John's to be, obtained in one part of 
 Asia Minor, I think evident from the celebrated 
 Epistle of the church of Smyrna, concerning the mar- 
 tyrdom of their bishop St. Polycarp, written about 
 the middle of the second century, and addressed to 
 the church of Philadelphia 3 . In this Epistle they re- 
 late, that he suffered on the second day of the month 
 Xanthicus (March the 2bth, as Usher and Pearson 
 
 1 Eusebius, B. v. C. x\iv. Irensci Fragmcnta at the end of 
 hi* works, j). 464. Ed. Grabe. 
 
 * See an account of it in Archbishop Wake's Preliminary Dis- 
 course to (he Translation of the Apostolical Fathers,' p. 59. abd 
 in Ruinart's Acta M utvrum, p. l 28. fol. 
 
 s 2 deter- 
 
2G0 DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. 
 
 determine ! ) about the eighth hour. Now the circum- 
 stances of the narrative show, that this eighth hour 
 could be no other than eight in the morning. He 
 had retired from the city, first to one village, and 
 then to another ; \\ hither a party of horse w as sent 
 to apprehend him. They left Smyrna between three 
 and four in the afternoon, and arrived about the 
 close of the evening 2 ; as it was at the vernal equi- 
 nox, I suppose about seven. They had therefore 
 been three hours and a half on the road. Their stay 
 in the village might be as long ; as thev had a search 
 to make after him, were entertained in the house 
 w here they found him, and allowed him two hours 
 for his devotions. They then set him on an ass, and 
 began their journey back. And if we suppose them 
 to have traveled twice as slow with a very old man 
 thus mounted, they would yet arrive soon after it 
 was day-light, between five and six in the morning. 
 When they reached Smyrna the chief officer met 
 them, and conducted him immediately before the 
 proconsul into the public place, where a large multi- 
 tude was got together, in expectation of his coming, 
 and eager for his destruction. The conversation be- 
 tween the proconsul and him was not long. He de- 
 clared his name, professed his faith and a resolution 
 of never forsaking it. And then it was quickly de- 
 termined, that he should be burnt alive : " which 
 " was done, says the Letter, with greater speed than 
 u it teas spoke7i." The eighth hour, therefore, when 
 he suffered, could not be two in the afternoon, but 
 must have been eight in the morning. 
 
 We need not be surprised at finding the people as- 
 sembled in the public place so early. It was an usual 
 
 1 Usher de Anno Macedon. C. iii. Pearson De Frira. Roma 
 Episcopis, Dissert, ii. C. xviii. 
 
 3 Hora ipsius eoenae egressi sunt. Ruinart, p. 32. 
 
 time 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART I. SECT. III. 26} 
 
 time of beginning the shows and spectacles in these 
 hot climates. Herod Agrippa was in the theatre at 
 C\esarca as soon as it was day, and was making an 
 oration when the sun rose 1 ; the reflection of which 
 from his " royal apparel,'"' all covered with silver, 
 was so splendid as to dazzle and astonish the beholders, 
 and excite the prophane acclamations, of which both 
 St. Luke 2 , and Josephus take notice. Philo Judaeus 
 has another instance of the early concourse of the peo- 
 ple in the theatre : for in relating the persecution of 
 the Jews by the Alexandrians, he says, That the 
 spectacles first exhibited, from early in the morning 
 even to the third or fourth hour, were the Jews, 
 scourged, suspended, tormented, condemned, and 
 led to death through the middle of the orchestra 3 . 
 The words of Philo intimate, that the fourth was a 
 late hour for the continuance of such cruel enter- 
 tainments, and that commonly they gave place before 
 that time to more festive amusements. 
 
 About eighty-four years after the martyrdom of 
 Polycarp, Pionius suffered the same death at Smyr- 
 na 4 . He suffered, as the acts of his martyrdom men- 
 tion, on thew before the ides of March according to 
 the Roman calendar, but on the xi of the seventh 
 month according to the Asiatic, at the tenth hour. 
 As the Roman magistrates sat in judgement in the 
 morning, often very early, and the sentence on Pionius 
 was executed without delay, it is not credible that 
 his death was deferred to four in the afternoon : it 
 was therefore at ten in the morning ; and yields 
 another proof that the people of Smyrna reckoned as 
 
 1 JosephuSj Antiq. B. xix. C. viii. § 2. 
 a Acts xii. 22. 
 
 3 Philo in Flaccuni, V. ii. p. 529. Ed. Mangey. 
 
 4 Ruinart, Acta Martyruni, p. 137. Pionius suffered at the 
 same hour in which Fructuosus bishop of Tarragon was executed. 
 Ibid. p. 219. 
 
 we 
 
26*2 discourse vnr. part r. sect. hi. 
 
 we do. And if they and a few other Asiatic cities 
 varied from the rest of Asia, it was a peculiarity for 
 the better ; and not so extraordinary, as that the 
 citizens of Nurenberg should disagree with the Ger- 
 ms ns round them for the worse : for their clocks 
 strike the hours after the method of the ancients l . 
 
 It is no wonder, if they who had scarce an idea of 
 other hours than such as were used in Italy and 
 Greece, and used also in the country where St. John 
 was bred, took it for granted, that he all along re- 
 tained them, and therefore overlooked the marks he 
 has given of another method of counting them. 
 
 * Keysler's Travels, Letter 92. near the beginning. 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
( 263 ) 
 
 DISCOURSE THE EIGHTH. 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 
 Hie Hours of the Romans and of some other ancient 
 Nations considered. 
 
 IT will probably appear questionable, whether so 
 many learned men could be mistaken, as have 
 supposed the method in which we reckon the hours 
 to have been a Roman method. 1 will here there- 
 fore show, how the fact is : and if any should think 
 I over-prove it, my excuse must be, that it seemed 
 necessary to oppose full evidence to great authorities ; 
 and that I do it, not for such as are versed in the 
 subject, but for those who have not attended to it. 
 
 The Romans called the time between the rising 
 and setting sun the natural day, and the time of the 
 w hole four and twenty hours the civil clay l . The 
 civil day they began and ended at midnight ; and 
 
 1 Naturalis dies est tempus ab oriente sole ad solis occasum ; 
 cujus contrarium tempus est nox, ab occasu solis usque ad ex- 
 ortum. Chilis auteni dies vocatur tempus quod fit uno cadi 
 circumactu, quo dies verus et nox continetur. Censorinus de 
 Die natali, C. xxiii. See also Plin. Nat. Hist. li. ii. C. lxxix. 
 Hardouin. 
 
 Aldus and others of the moderns reverse the application of 
 these terms, and cull the whole four and twenty hours the natural 
 day. Aldus on Palladium : Libri de Re Kustica, Paris. 1533, 
 p. 504. 
 
 derived 
 
264 
 
 discourse virr. part ex. 
 
 derived this practice from their ancient jurisprudence 
 and rites of religion established long before they had 
 any idea of hours According to Varro, the first 
 sun-dial seen at Rome Avas brought from Cataua in 
 Sicily, as part of the spoils of this city, in the first 
 Punic war 2 . It was set up unskilfully in the Forum, 
 and did not answer exactly to the latitude of the 
 place ; yet was the only measure of hours which they 
 had for ninety-nine years, when matters began to be 
 better ordered. Thus therefore they learnt the di- 
 vision of hours, which ever afterwards they followed, 
 from a dial of Greek construction. But the Greeks 
 divided the natural day into twelve hours; which, 
 as Herodotus informs us, they were taught by the 
 Babylonians 3 . Accordingly the dials on the tower 
 of Andronicus Cyrrhestes were so constructed, That 
 the longest as well as shortest days are divided alike 
 into twelve hours 4 : and these, it is evident, were 
 numbered from sunrising. 
 
 Such were the hours of Polybius, in the time of 
 the Roman republic 5 ; of Plutarch and other Greek- 
 authors, under the emperors 6 ; and such they con- 
 tinued at Constantinople, when the Western empire 
 was no more. In the seventh century one of the 
 Greek emperors, Cpnstantinus Pogonatus, as is com- 
 monly reputed, compiled a book on agriculture, in 
 which, describing the course of the moon, he plainly 
 divides the day and night into twelve hours each 
 
 1 Censorinus, C. xxiii. Macrob. Saturnal. B. i. C. iii. 
 
 * Censovin. ib. Piin. Nat. Hist. B. vii. C. Ix. 
 
 3 Herod. B. ii. C. cix. 
 
 4 Antiquities of Athens, by Stuart and Revett, C. iii. plate 
 X, xi. 
 
 5 See Book i. about the middle, where he describes the en- 
 trance of Hannibal the Rhodian into Lilybeeum Hi ', n-a^m 
 
 * See particularly, Life of Sylla, p. 87. 97. Ed. Bryan. 
 
 7 Geoponic. L. i. C. vii. p. 10. Ed. Needh.i n. Cantab. 
 1704. • 
 
 By 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PAUT II. 
 
 265 
 
 By these hours is the ancient Epigram to be explain- 
 ed, w hich tells us, That six hours will suffice for 
 labour, but the next following, pointed out by the 
 letters, say to men, Live, ZII0I. For the letters 
 of ZH0I, as signs of number, are the seventh, eighth, 
 ninth, and tenth ; that is, the four hours following 
 noon, which was the sixth : 
 
 'JE£ (Spai fxo%doif IxavioToZlai' al o= \xit a'Wag, 
 Tpoi[Ay.a.(rt Gzixvvp.sva.i, ZH0I rceyaari 
 
 The Romans therefore, as imitators of the Greeks, 
 divided the natural day into twelve hours, and reck- 
 oned them after the same manner. The hours of one 
 day were equal to each other, but unequal to the 
 hours of another day at any distance; and the diurnal 
 hours were much longer in summer than winter 2 . 
 We may therefore stvle them unequal hours to dis- 
 tinguish them from the modem, which are always of 
 the same length. 
 
 A variety of examples is here collected, from au- 
 thors who lived in different ages of the Roman em- 
 pire, and treated of very different subjects, to prove, 
 not so much that this was a method, as that it was 
 the only method, of marking the time of day received 
 among them. 
 
 Si te grata quies et primam somnus in horam 
 Delectat. Hor. L. i. Epist. xvii. 6. 
 
 Ante secundum 
 
 Roscius orabat sibi adesses ad Puteal eras. 
 
 Id. L. ii. Sat. vi. 34. 
 
 * Epigram. Graec. L. i. p. 169. Basil. 1549. fol 
 
 * Hora nec aestivacst, nec tibitota perk, Martial. L. xii. Ep. i. 
 Hsec enim ad infinitam aetatcm non sunt bnmialis unius instar 
 horse. Censorinus, C. x\ i. 
 
 In 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART II. 
 
 In like manner Cicero : 
 
 Ut ad tubulam Sextiam sibi adsint hora sccundn. 
 
 Orat. pro P. Quintio, § 6. 
 
 llordsecunda calccos poscit. Plin. Epist. L. iii. Ep.i. 
 
 In oppido Pistoricnsi prope horam diei tertiam 
 spectantibus multis asinus tribunali adscenso audie- 
 batur destinatiiis rugiens. 
 
 Annnian. Marcellin. L. xxvii. C. iii. 
 
 Excrcet raucos tertia causidicos. 
 
 Martial. L. iv. Ep. viii. 
 
 See this whole Epigram for an account of the Ro- 
 man day and hours. 
 
 Ipse [Ca?sar] hora circiter diei quarta cum primis 
 navibus Britanniam attigit. De Bell. Gall. L. iv. C. 
 sxiii. 
 
 Inde ubi quarta sitiin coeli collegerit hora. 
 
 Virg. Georg. iii. 5'27. 
 
 Stertimus indomitum quod despumare Falernum 
 Sufficiat, quhita duin linea tangitur umbra. 
 
 Pers. Sat. iii. 4. 
 
 Tunc horas requircnti pro quintet, quam metuebat, 
 sexta ex industria nunciata est. 
 
 Sucton. in Domitiano, C. xvi. 
 
 Cum in Berenice, quam primam posuimus, ipso 
 die solstitii sexta hora umbrae in totum absumantur. 
 
 Plin. Nat. Hist. L. vi. C. xxxiv. 
 
 Pliny is here speaking of a place under the tropic 
 of Cancer, where on the day of the summer solstice 
 the sun being vertical at the sixth hour, or noon, 
 there was no shadow. 
 
 Hora 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 267 
 
 Ilora quasi septima cunctatus est an ad prandium 
 surgeret. Sueton. in C. Caligula, C.lviii. 
 
 The prandium was a repast commonly taken at 
 noon, which the same author in the Lite of Augustus, 
 C. lxxviii. calls cibuni meridianum. 
 
 Ante horam octavam in publico neminem nisi 
 aegrum lavari passus est. 
 
 yElius Spartian. in Adriano Caesare, Hist. 
 Aug. Script. V. i. p. )96- 
 
 Nona submissum rotat hora solem, 
 Partibus vixdum tribus evolutis, 
 Quarta devexo superest in axe 
 
 Portio lucis. 
 Aurel. Prudentii Cathemerinon Lib. 
 
 Hymn. viii. p. 34. Ed. Elzevir. 
 
 The ancients distributed the night into four parts, 
 and the day into as many. [Censorin. C.xxiii.] With 
 reference to this division Prudentius says, that at the 
 ninth hour three portions of the day were past, and 
 a fourth remained. The time of the ninth hour is so 
 defined by Prudentius, and that of the sixth by Pliny, 
 that they might determine the others, if any of them 
 could be doubted. 
 
 Cum horadiei decima fere ad Saxa Rubra vcnisset, 
 delimit in quadam cauponula, &c. 
 
 Cic. Philippic, ii. § 31. 
 
 Id oriebatur circa nndecimam horam diei. 
 Augustus Caesar, apud Phn. Nat. Hist. L.ii. C. xxiii. 
 
 Augustus is here speaking of the Comet, that was 
 6een after the death of Julius Caesar. Suetonius and 
 
 Seneca 
 
2()'S DISCOURSE VIII. PART II. 
 
 Seneca give the same account of the time of its ap- 
 pearance : 
 
 Exoriens circa undcchnam horam. 
 
 Suet, in Julio, C. lxxxviii. 
 
 Qui post necem Divi Julii ludis Veneris genetricis 
 circa undecimam horam diei emersit. 
 
 Sen. Nat. Quaest. L. vii.C. 17. 
 
 O Rex, duodecimo hora adifieare incipis. 
 
 Plutarch. Vit. Mi Crassi, V. hi. p. '270. Ed. Bryan. 
 
 They are the words of Marcus Crassus to king 
 Deiotarus, who in a very advanced age was building 
 a city. 
 
 The twelfth hour rarely occurs, because the time 
 of it generally retained its ancient and natural name 
 of sunset. For the coincidence of Roman with mo- 
 dern hours was, at the equinoxes when it was com- 
 plete, as in this scheme ; in which the ancient hours 
 stand above : 
 
 Sunrising. 1. 2. 3.4.5. 6. 7.8.9. 10.11.12. or sunset. 
 
 vi. vii. ix. x. xi. xii. i. ii. ill. iv. v. vi. modern hours. 
 
 The sixth hour being always noon, the truth of 
 this scheme seems evident on inspection, but may be 
 thus proved : 
 
 Palladius, De re rustica, gives the countryman a 
 calendar of hours, and teaches him to distinguish 
 them, in every month of the year, by the length of 
 shadow projected by a certain perpendicular pole. 
 This shadow decreases from the lirst to the ^ixth, 
 when it is shortest, and then increases again. At the 
 
DISCOURSE VIII, PART II. 
 
 269 
 
 Jirst hour in the morning and eleventh in the afternoon 
 tie makes it always equal. But the eleventh was an 
 hour before sunset, as the parable of the labourers in 
 St. .Matthew shows, Ch. xx. 9 — f2< The jirst there- 
 fore was an hour after the sun rose. And when Pliny 
 directs, that apples in autumn should not be gathered 
 Ante horam prhnam, Nat. Hist. B. xv. C. xviii. he 
 means, till they have had an hours sun upon them. 
 Perhaps all this proof was not very necessary. How- 
 ever it has helped us to an authority which may be 
 of further use. 
 
 Such was the distribution of the day into hours, 
 which prevailed universally and from first to last 
 among the Romans. And the authors who imagine 
 them to have agreed with the moderns in this point, 
 seem to have been led into the mistake by concluding 
 too hastily, that they began to count their hours 
 from the commencement of their civil day, which 
 was midnight. Midnight with them was not the 
 twelfth but sixth hour of the night : as is certain by 
 the testimonies of Aldus Gellius, Noctes Attica?, 
 B. iii. C. ii. and Macrobius, Saturnal. B. i. C. iii. Diem 
 quern Rotnani civilem appellaverint a scxta noctis 
 hora oriri. And these words at the same time show, 
 how the nocturnal hours were reckoned ; which else 
 it were easy to prove by another set of examples. 
 
 We find indeed equal hours mentioned, and in 
 particular cases employed by their authors : but the 
 use of them was no more Roman than Greek or 
 Egyptian, and obtained only where unequal hours 
 could not answer the purpose, as in astronomical cal- 
 culations, and in comparing the length of days in 
 different seasons and climates. On this occasion, and 
 on this only, we meet with them in some passages of 
 Pliny, who there distinguishes them, as the Greeks 
 did also, by the name of equinoctial hours. On the 
 
 -amc 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART II. 
 
 same occasion we find them again in the Kalendarium 
 rusticum Romanum 1 . But in marking the time of 
 day the Roman writers of agriculture agree with their 
 countrymen, as we have seen by Palladius. 
 
 The Romans were not singular in beginning the 
 day and hours at different times. In Egypt the day 
 commenced at midnight, but the hours in the morn- 
 ing. The clock invented by Ctesibius was so con- 
 trived as to lengthen or shorten the hours 2 . They 
 were therefore cnpnti xaipixu), hours that varied with 
 the season. Ptolemy the astronomer marks the time 
 of the same phamomenon by these as well as equal 
 hours, that he may accommodate himself to the usage 
 of his country 3 . And because the people had a diffi- 
 culty of conceiving, that any day could have more or 
 less than twelve hours, Achilles Tatius takes some 
 pains to explain the matter to them, and to show how 
 the same day might have twelve hours of one sort 
 and Jijteen of another 4 . Ctesibius, Ptolemy, Achillea 
 
 1 This Calendar is published in the works of Goltzius, Vol. i. 
 Thesaur. Hei Antiquar. p. 205. It is published also in Vol. viii. 
 of GriEvins' Roman Antiquities. It was calculated for the me- 
 ridian of Rome, and places the wheat harvest about the middle 
 of August, which now ends much earlier. This favours the 
 hypothesis of a learned and ingenious Author, who supposes that 
 t^e seasons there are milder than they were in the time of the 
 Romans. See An Investigation of the Difference between the 
 present Temperature of the Air in Italy and some other Coun- 
 tries, and w hat it was seventeen Centuries ago : By the Hon. 
 Daines Banington, F. R. S. Philos. Transactions, Vol. IviiL 
 p. 5S. 
 
 Palladius indeed sav- under July, B. viii. Tit. i. Nunc /oris tent- 
 peratis tritici messis e.vplelur. Still I apprehend, that the wheat 
 harvest was later in ancient Italy, whatever the cause may be, 
 than it is in the modern ; and that two degree- at least north of 
 Rome, the wheat harvest is now over, locis tempcratis, by the cud 
 of June. 
 
 a It is described by Vitrmius, B. ix. towards "the end. 
 3 Ptol. MsyoXa Swrafif) L. vii. C. iii. 
 
 * Isagoge ad Arati Phaenom. L _w in the Uranologiinn off 
 Dionjs.. Petavius, p. 149. 
 
 Tatius, 
 
DISCOURSE VIII. PART II. 
 
 271 
 
 Tatius, and other authors who compute in the same 
 manner, were of Alexandria. And the proper Egyp- 
 tians, as well as Greeks of this city, must have been 
 strangers to the common use of equal hours : else the 
 inhabitants in general would have understood the 
 nature of them, and not wanted the illustration which 
 Tatius has given. 
 
 The hours were the same as at Rome in the Ro- 
 man provinces of Afric and Spain. Tertullian, an 
 inhabitant of Carthage, mentions the third, sixth, 
 and ninth hours, ut insigniqres in rebus hmnanis, 
 ijucc diem distinguunt, qua? pubtice resonant 1 !, For 
 explication of which words Rigaltius on the place 
 quotes a passage from Varro, l)e ling. Latin. L. v. 
 which tells us, that an officer called Aecensus used 
 by order of the Proctor to proclaim the third hour, 
 mid-day, and the ninth hour. 
 
 Tn Spain, when Fructuosns bishop of Tarragon, 
 and his two deacons Eulogius and Augurius, were 
 led to be burnt in the Amphitheatre, their friends in 
 kindness offered them a cup of spiced wine, which 
 Fructuosns refused, saying, // was not yet time to 
 break his fast : for, says the relater of his martyrdom, 
 ft was about the fourth hour of the day, or ten in 
 the morning 2 . This was A. 1). ccmx. 
 
 Wandelbertus, a Benedictine monk of Prumia, a 
 monastery in the country of Triers, about the middle 
 of the ninth century published a poem on the method 
 of constructing a dial 3 ; in which, agreeing exactly 
 
 1 De Jejuniis, C. x. p. 849. Ed. Rigaltii. See also Cyprian 
 De Oratione Dominica, p. 1">4. Ed. Fell. 
 ' Ruinart, Acta Maitymm, p. 220. fol. 
 
 3 Printed by Pitlicpus at Geneva, A. D. 159G. in a book in- 
 tituled, EpigTainiiiata et Poematia vetera. 
 
 with 
 
272 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. PAItT If. 
 
 with Palladium, he tells us at what hours of the fore- 1 
 noon and afternoon the shadows correspond, and that 
 the shadow of the sixth hoar only has none to answer 
 it: 
 
 Mense omni prima undeeimce conjungitur horae; 
 Hinc umbris decimam nectit cursuque secinula ; 
 Tertia mox nonam pnnctis complectitur isdem. 
 Octavos pariter praecedens qaarta coha?ret. 
 Quintam subsequitur nuniero post septhna juste. 
 Sola suas tantinn mensuras Sexta retentat. 
 
 It is very evident that he here lays down the Ro- 
 man or unequal hours ; and we may conclude he de- 
 scribed such as were used by the nations round the 
 place of his residence, Francs, Germans, and Flemish. 
 The people of our Island probably agreed w ith those 
 of the continent. Our countryman Bede was for- 
 merly reputed the author of the poem. 
 
 I believe indeed, that for some ages these hours 
 prevailed universally in the Western empire. They 
 still maintain their station in the rubrics of the Latin 
 church, which order the mass to be said on some oc- 
 casions, post primatn diei ; on others, bora tertia, or 
 hora sexta, or post nonam \. 
 
 But otherwise the people of Rome and of Italy in 
 general have changed the form of their hours : of 
 which we have an instance in a passage which I find 
 citeu from a brief of Pope Alexander the fifth, A. D. 
 140.Q. " Annis singulis in vigilia festivitatis resur- 
 " rcctionis Dominica^ hora diei vigessima tertia vel 
 " circa, una missa solcnniter decantari consueverit 2 ." 
 
 1 Missalc Romaaum, De hora cekbrandi Missam, Rubric, w. 
 " Sec under Miisa ve-pertina in Carpentier's Appendix to Du 
 Fresdes Glossary. 
 
 The 
 
DISCOURSE VIII, PART II. 
 
 273 
 
 The method in which the hours are here reckoned, 
 was introduced among them, as we are told, in the 
 thirteenth century 1 ; and to this they still adhere. 
 They do not' stop at twelve, but count the hours on 
 to four and twenty ; and make the day end about 
 half an hour after the sun is gone down. This scheme 
 avoids the inequality of Roman hours, but has un- 
 settled the hour of noon, which is in perpetual fluc- 
 tuation. At Rome in the depth of winter it is the 
 nineteenth hour, but at midsummer the sixteenth : 
 and between the solstices every minute of the 16th, 
 17th, and 1 8th hours lights in its turn upon the point 
 of mid-day. We may therefore justly prefer the re- 
 gulation received in our own and other nations, as 
 uniting the benefits of the Roman and Italian methods 
 without the disadvantages of either. We have equal 
 hours with the Italians, and noon always at a certain 
 hour as the Romans had. 
 
 But whether this more philosophic method was 
 brought from any part of Asia into the Western and 
 Northern regions of Europe ; or whether, because 
 increase of latitude increases the disparity between 
 summer and winter hours upon the old plan, the in- 
 convenience of it to northerly nations put them on 
 contriving a better ; and when and where this new 
 style of hours was first introduced ; these are inqui- 
 ries which I leave to the learned and curious. 
 
 1 Thesaurus sacrorurn rituum, Romae, 1738. Toru. ii. pare i, 
 C. iv. n. 1. p. 215 
 
 THE END. 
 
A 
 
 SERMON 
 
 PREACHED AT THE 
 
 PRIMARY VISITATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RIGHT REVEREND 
 BEILBY, LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER. 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CATHEDRAL CHURCH, 
 
 ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 1778. 
 THE THIRD EDITION. 
 
 t2 
 
( 277 ) 
 
 TO THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 BEILBY, LORD BISHOP OF CHESTER, 
 
 ASI> TO TUB 
 
 CLERGY 
 
 ASSEMBLED AT 
 
 HIS LORDSHIPS PRIMARY VISITATION 
 
 IN CHESTER, AUGUST 13, ir7S, 
 
 THIS SERMON 
 
 PUBLISHED 
 IN OBEDIENCE TO HIS LORDSHlp's COMMAND, 
 AND AT THEIR REQUEST, 
 
 IS MOST HUMBLY INSCRIBED. 
 
 ( 
 
C 279 ) 
 
 L U K E iv. 82. 
 
 AND THEY WERE AST0X1SHED AT HIS DOCTRINE : 
 FOR HIS WORD WAS WITH POAVER. 
 
 TTE of whom the text is spoken, our Saviour 
 JL X Christ, once said to his disciples, Blessed are 
 your eyes ;for they see : and your ears ; for they hear 1 . 
 And certainly in this respect they were blessed above 
 all who follow as well as all who preceded them, that 
 only they, who beheld his countenance, heard his 
 voice, and were witnesses of his life and works, can 
 have fully conceived the power of his word. His 
 inspired historians, the Evangelists, speaking with 
 the tongues of men, could not convey to us an ade- 
 quate idea of it. Yet doubtless they have expressed, 
 what is sufficient to edify us as hearers, and direct 
 us as teachers of this word : and I shall endeavour 
 to glean up a few observations from them, on a sub- 
 ject that seems not unsuitable to the occasion : be- 
 ginning with the manner in which he taught ; for 
 this also contributed to the power of his word. 
 
 As every speaker of a superior mind will have 
 something distinguishing in the mode of his dis- 
 coursing, we may justly expect to find a peculiarity 
 of this sort in the most exalted Person that ever 
 dwelt among men. And what was characteristic in 
 his manner is so clearly marked, and so uniformly 
 sustained throughout the Gospels, that if we wanted 
 evidence of their fidelity, this Averc a strong pre- 
 emption, that what he spake is faithfully recorded. 
 
 1 Ktattfi, xiii. 16. 
 
 One 
 
280 
 
 THE MANNER OF 
 
 One thing remarkable in the manner of his teach- 
 ing is frequent allusion to things that were before 
 the eyes of his audience, to occurrences of the time, 
 to the season of the year, to the offices of common 
 life, or the usual employment of those to whom he 
 spake. As sensible and present objects most power- 
 fully affect us, he who knew what was in man, con- 
 descended to instruct us from those things that are 
 most easily conceived by us, and most naturally 
 command our attention. High and heavenly truths 
 were presented to his hearers in a familiar dress ; as 
 Angels of old came to Abraham and the Patriarchs 
 with the shape and countenance of men. Truths 
 thus qualified struck the imagination without alarm- 
 ing it ; and would recur to the memory, on sight of 
 the objects with which they were associated in his 
 doctrine. The birds which were flying in ■ the air 
 around him, the lilies which were flowering on the 
 plain where he stood, were turned into lessons on the 
 providence and fatherly care of the Almighty The 
 sowers who were sowing their grain in different soils 
 and situations, near the borders of the lake where he 
 preached from a ship, served to illustrate the various 
 successes of the word of God, according to the tem- 
 per and disposition of the heart that received it -. 
 The sight of a vine spreading forth its branches gave 
 occasion, as seems probable, to a discourse of the vital 
 union between himself and the faithful 3 . When he 
 called fishermen to forsake their nets and follow him, 
 lie promised to make them fishers of men 4 . He lik- 
 ened the perverseness of the Jews, who found equal 
 fault with the retired austerity of the Baptist and his 
 own freer converse with mankind, to the froward 
 and sullen humour of those children, whom no en- 
 deavours of their companions could please and invite 
 
 ' Matth. vi. 26. 30. ' Matth. xiii. 
 
 5 John xv. 1.6. 4 Matth. iv. 19. 
 
 to 
 
our saviour's teaching. 
 
 281 
 
 to join with them : We have piped unto you, and 
 ye have not danced ; we have mourned unto you, 
 and ye have not lamented He resembled the so- 
 licitude of Heaven tor the conversion of sinners, and 
 the joy of Angels on their repentance, to a x\ oman 
 lighting a candle and sweeping her house, in search 
 after her lost piece of silver, and when she had found 
 it, calling her neighbours about her to rejoice with 
 her 2 . 
 
 If some of these images are borrowed from things 
 low and trivial in themselves, yet he stoops with >ut 
 meanness in using them. Like the ground of which 
 he formed us, and the dust from which he shall raise 
 us, they acquire life and beauty in his hands. 
 
 Others of his allusions are of a higher strain : as 
 when from the sun just risen, and shining with splen- 
 dor on the gilded turrets and ornaments of the tem- 
 ple where he was discoursing, he referred to the 
 prophecies which speak of him as the light, the 
 east, or sun-rising 3 ; and said, / am the light of the 
 world : he that Jolloiveth me shall not walk in dark- 
 ness; but shall have the light of life 4 . When he 
 was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, looking 
 forward to the hour in which all that are in the 
 graves shall hear his voice and come forth, he said, 
 / am the resurrection, and the life 5 . 
 
 Such passages may strike us as sublime. But we 
 shall still find, that it is the thing itself, not any 
 parade or pomp of words, that strikes us. A differ- 
 ence of nature between our Immanuel and the an- 
 
 1 Matth. xi. 16, 17. a Luke xv. S. 10. 3 Isai. ix. 2. com- 
 pare Matth. iv. 16. Isui. xli. 2. See Lowth on the place. Zech. 
 iii. 8. See Lowth again, and compare Luke i. 78. Malachi, iv. *2. 
 
 * John \%. * Jolm xi. 25. 
 
 cient 
 
282 
 
 THE MANNER OF 
 
 cient Prophets produced a corresponding difference 
 in discoursing of the same subjects. They, when 
 heavenly objects were presented to their minds, were 
 struck w ith awe, and as it were bowed themselves 
 down before the majesty of the idea ; and then, in 
 representing it to others, endeavoured to clothe it in 
 a gorgeous robe, and to deck it out with all ihe 
 riches and splendor of language. But it is not so 
 that Christ speaks of these high arguments. For as 
 the brightness of countenance and raiment which 
 dazzled and overcame the sight of his Apostles, when 
 he was transfigured on the Mount, was to Him but 
 a ray of that glory in which he dwelt before the 
 worlds were made ; so the perceptions, that asto- 
 nished the imagination of man, were to his heavenly 
 mind common and familiar objects, and he spake of 
 them accordingly, w ith a certain unconcern and sim- 
 plicity of phrase. 
 
 Another thing observable in his method is the use 
 of parables ; in w hich he often seems to accommo- 
 date his instructions to the relish of an eastern people, 
 who delighted in figurative and allegorical compo- 
 sitions. By this method of teaching he excited their 
 attention, and interested their taste and affections in 
 the cause of the truth he w as inculcating. He com- 
 posed his parables with a clear and natural analogy 
 of the representation to the thing represented ; and 
 frequently concluded them with a short sentence de- 
 claring their main scope and design. Yet still there 
 was something meant in them that was not literally 
 expressed ; which met the understanding of the hearer, 
 though so clearly that he could not mistake, yet so 
 gently, that he considered himself as a discoverer and 
 interpreter of it ; and thus w as led to embrace and 
 cherish the holy moral, as seemingly the child of his 
 own ingenuity. 
 
 But 
 
OUR SAVIOURS TEACHING. 
 
 283 
 
 But though our Lord followed their sages in the 
 use of parables, he did it with a moderati m and dig- 
 nity becoming his character. No beasts of the field 
 or fowls of the air, no trees of the wood, debate and 
 confer together with the reason and speech of man- 
 kind. No emblematical persons, as the different 
 families of virtue and vice, are introduced opposing 
 each other and influencing the counsels and actions 
 of men. All is built upon nature and life, and the 
 reality of things ; and composed of circumstances 
 which every one perceived might probably happen. 
 Once only, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, 
 the scene is laid beyond this visible world. 
 
 Yet it is to be observed, that though our Lord's 
 moral parables were thus plain, all were not equally 
 perspicuous to the first hearers. He veiled the mys- 
 teries of the kingdom of heaven with a certain degree 
 of present obscurity, for the punishment of the ob- 
 durate and unbelieving 1 , but in condescension also to 
 the weak and infirm 2 ; and with such a temperament, 
 that they who had ears to hear might still be edified : 
 as for instance, by the parable of the father receiving 
 back his prodigal son 3 . For this son was not only the 
 repenting individual, but the gentile world converted 
 and reconciled to God. They had long strayed 
 from their Heavenly Father, and wasted what he had 
 distributed to them, reason, conscience, and the pri- 
 mitive religion of mankind, by spiritual fornication 
 and sensual impurities : but at length Mould come 
 to themselves, be humbled before him, pardoned by 
 him, and restored to the same degree of favour as 
 the elder brother, the Israelite. This was an event, 
 the notion of which that elder brother was then too 
 much blinded with prejudice to endure. It was 
 
 1 Matth.xiii. 13—15. 5 Mark iv. 33. 
 
 3 Luke xv. 11—32. 
 
 there- 
 
284 
 
 THE MANNER OF 
 
 therefore veiled in a parable, but in a parable of 
 immediate use and edification. Though in the book 
 of Grace, as in the book of Nature, are treasures of 
 wisdom imperfectly known till the appointed time 
 of disclosing them : yet enough of both is plain and 
 legible at sight to declare the glory of the great Au- 
 thor : as in this parable bis goodness and mercy to 
 sinful man are openly proclaimed, as well as mysti- 
 cally predicted. 
 
 Our Lord sometimes made his parables a vehicle 
 of reproof ; but with divine gentleness, where cha- 
 rity could hope that offenders might be so reclaimed. 
 The Jews had a strong antipathy to strangers, and 
 narrow notions of the duty of loving our neighbour ' 
 for this they are reproved by the parable of the mer- 
 ciful Samaritan 1 ; not by direct censure and public 
 accusation of their behaviour towards aliens, but by 
 opposing to it an example of humanity and mercy, 
 which by gaining their admiration might excite them 
 to imitate ; an example the more noble and affecting, 
 As the Jews had no dealings with the Samari- 
 tans ~. 
 
 And we may observe, that where the case did not 
 demand severity, there is a great lenity of supposition 
 in the state of his parables. The wise virgins are as 
 many as the foolish 3 . In the parable of the ten ta- 
 lents we find two good and faithful and only one 
 unprofitable servant 4 . At the maraiage feast only 
 one of a large assembly is represented as wanting a 
 wedding garment 5 . 
 
 If some things, which have here been remarked 
 concerning our Lord's manner, are not imitable by 
 
 1 Luke x. 30—37. ' Johniv. p. 3 Matth. xxv.2. 
 
 * Matth. xxv. 14—30. * Matth. xxii. 11. 
 
 US 
 
our saviour's teaching. 
 
 285 
 
 us in the letter, yet from the spirit of them we may 
 learn, That he, who really wishes to instruct, will 
 endeavour to suit the style and illustrations of his 
 subject to the apprehension of his hearers ; will con- 
 sult their genius ; and study, as did our Lord in the 
 use of parables, to turn their pleasure to their profit : 
 that images taken from very common and familiar 
 things may be so used, as to explain and enliven an 
 argument without debasing the dignity of the doc- 
 trine, or the character of the speaker : that, if his 
 single aim is to transplant the sense, which he himself 
 has of the truth, into the breasts of his hearers, a 
 graceful unaffected simplicity will often be more 
 commanding and effectual than the most studied and 
 pompous eloquence : that reproofs may come home 
 to the conscience, which are delivered without any 
 pointed severity and in the spirit of meekness : and 
 that charity is as favourable in its suppositions as the 
 case will admit; and so tempers its zeal to alarm and 
 rouse the wicked, that it may not terrify and dis- 
 hearten the well-disposed. 
 
 From the manner of Christ's discoursing, let us 
 turn our eyes for a while on the subject matter ; and 
 we shall find ourselves instructed and edified by ob- 
 serving, what he forbore to speak of, and what he 
 largely insisted on. 
 
 He who came from above, who could have spoken 
 what he knew, and testified what he had seen, con- 
 cerning heaven and paradise, the nature of angels 
 good and evil, and the state and condition of sepa- 
 rate spirits, contents himself with very general re- 
 presentations of all these things. He declares that 
 the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, 
 and the righteous into life eternal ; and marks out 
 the sure way of obtaining heaven and escaping hell, 
 but enters into no particular description of either. 
 
 Most 
 
286 
 
 THE MANNER OF 
 
 Most likely it is, that the secrets of the world above 
 cannot be other than secrets to us, for want of powers 
 at present to conceive and apprehend them. In order 
 to have a just notion of them, a man must be caught 
 up as high as was St. Paul, and admitted to behold 
 what is there transacted. And even then he would 
 hear unspeakable words, which it is not possible for 
 a man to explain to others h But whether our Lord 
 was no more explicit concerning these high matters, 
 because they are not clearly comprehensible, or be- 
 cause they are unnecessary, so the fact is. And since 
 he came to reveal to us the sure means of rectifying 
 and purifying our fallen nature ; the certain conse- 
 quence of his conduct in this case is, that the pre- 
 paration for a state of heavenly felicity is not science 
 but sanctification : the principles of which he clearly 
 lays down ; and the practice flowing from these prin- 
 ciples he every where inculcates. 
 
 As he has promised greater assistances and higher 
 rewards to his followers, than were distinctly pro- 
 mised under any former dispensation ; he requires of 
 them a purer and more spiritual course of life, than 
 was ever taught or required before. To this end the 
 labours of his life were directed, and to the same 
 end he gave himself for us, That he might redeem US 
 from all Iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
 people, zealous of good works 2 . In giving lessons 
 of piety, righteousness, and good works, his word was 
 with power : For he taught as one having authority, 
 and not as the Scribes 3 . 
 
 How and what the Scribes taught, we are not 
 positively informed : but this we find, that in His 
 doctrine no subtle questions, no nice and curious 
 speculations, were handled ; but all was directed 
 
 • 2 Cor. xii. 2. 4. 1 Titus ii. 14. 3 Matth. vii. 29. 
 
 simply 
 
our saviour's teaching, 
 
 287 
 
 simply to the glory of God, by pressing upon the 
 hearts of his hearers the real terms of acceptance 
 with him, faith and obedience. 
 
 Faith is that essential principle of a religious life, 
 without which no obedience, no good works, that 
 the Gospel accounts such, can be performed. For 
 God says, The just shall live by faith 1 . But since 
 he subjoins, If he draw bach, my soul shall have no 
 pleasure in him ; it is certain, that saving faith can- 
 not subsist without sincere obedience. He, and he 
 only, builds his house upon a rock, whose faith 
 works by charity ; by the keeping of the command- 
 ments of God in that pure and spiritual sense, in 
 which they are explained and enforced by our blessed 
 Saviour in his divine Sermon on the Mount, and 
 throughout the Gospels. Let no one therefore who 
 professes the high calling of a Christian ever think, 
 in preaching or practice, of separating things so 
 jointly necessary to salvation. For as without faith 
 it is impossible to please God 2 so without holiness 
 no man shall see the Lord 3 . And to call men to 
 sincere and universal obedience of the evangelical 
 law cannot be legal preaching, as the very terms of 
 the proposition show. 
 
 My hearers will have anticipated all that I could 
 say of the power which the word of Christ derived 
 from his own example : the strictness of whose holy 
 and unspotted life went beyond his precepts : since 
 he himself was contented to forego many things 
 which he has not forbidden his followers, that he 
 might the more benefit mankind by his meritorious 
 obedience, and set before us the noblest pattern of 
 abstinence and fortitude. It was therefore with pe- 
 culiar power and authority, that He taught the doc- 
 
 * Heb. x. 58. * xi. 6, 3 xii. 14. 
 
 trine 
 
288 
 
 THE MAXXER Of 
 
 trine of the Cross, and of not loving the world. And 
 if every Christian, and he especially who is to be an 
 ensample to the flock, would show an humble and 
 unaffected moderation in those desires and gratifica- 
 tions, which are in themselves not unlawful, the sen- 
 timents of his heart and the language of his mouth 
 would more uniformly harmonize with a spiritual 
 and heavenly religion ; and his life be more con- 
 vincing and edifying. In moral concerns there is 
 not a more successful argument of persuasion, than 
 a visible correspondence of profession and practice. 
 
 Christ confirmed his word by another power, the 
 power of miracles : which he exercised himself, and 
 consigned to his Apostles, when he sent them forth 
 to subdue a world lying in wickedness to the obedi- 
 ence of faith ; to overcome the vices, ignorance, and 
 rooted prejudices of mankind ; to contend with the 
 power of kings and magistrates, the pride of philo- 
 sophers, and the worldly interests of those who had 
 their gain and wealth from the prevailing super- 
 stitions. 
 
 These tokens we see not any more ; yet may justly 
 argue from what is still visible to the realitv of the 
 miracles, wrought by the first Preachers of the Gos- 
 pel. A few simple and unlearned men could not 
 have surmounted the innumerable difficulties and im- 
 pediments which the Apostles overcame, and have 
 spread the knowledge and practice of pure religion 
 from the rising of the sun unto the going down 
 thereof, unless the Lord had confirmed the word 
 with signs following. The strength and extent of 
 the Christian Church, raised by their hands in the 
 weakness and corruptions of nature, and amidst the 
 assaults of so much enmity on every side, prove that 
 they founded it upon miraculous powers : and though 
 these foundations are out of sight, their existence is 
 
 sufficiently 
 
our saviour's teaching. 
 
 289 
 
 sufficiently attested by the building that rests upon 
 them. 
 
 But if the word was enforced by miracles in the 
 times only of its early publication, it has the standing 
 support and evidence of another power, which is still 
 as operative, where we will allow it, as ever. This 
 is declared and promised in the following passage : 
 Jesus answered them and said, My doctrine is not 
 mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do 
 his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it 
 be of God, or whether I speak of myself 1 . 
 
 The person who enters on the study of a science, 
 of which he has only a general idea, must receive 
 many things at first on the authority of his instruc- 
 tors. And surely there is no one, who by'his life and 
 works has such claim to trust and confidence in his 
 word, as the Author and Finisher of our faith. If 
 then we really desire to know the certainty of his 
 doctrine; if we have courage to sacrifice meaner pur- 
 suits to the wisdom that is from above and the feli- 
 city of attaining it ; we shall study the truth of his 
 religion, as he directs, by the practice of its laws. 
 And this method, he assures us, will yield us the 
 repose and comfort of firm persuasion. Continuing 
 steadfast in such a course of discipline, we shall not 
 seek after signs from heaven, nor ask to behold the 
 blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, 
 or the dead raised up. The healing efficacy and 
 blessed influence of the Gospel will sufficiently vouch 
 for its truth and excellence. 
 
 The evidence which thus possesses the soul is not 
 liable to be impaired by time, as might an impression 
 once made on the senses ; but will shine more and 
 more unto a perfect day. For the practice of reli- 
 
 1 John vii. \6, 1 ". 
 
 U gfon, 
 
THE MANNER OF 
 
 gion, by purifying the heart, will raise and improve 
 the understanding to conceive more clearly and judge 
 more rightly of heavenly things and divine truths : 
 the view and contemplation of which will return 
 upon the heart the warmth of livelier hopes and 
 more vigorous incitements to obedience ; and effec- 
 tual obedience will feel and testify, that it is the 
 finger of God. 
 
 For is nature able by its own efficiency to clear 
 the eyes of the mind ; to rectify the \ ill ; to regu- 
 late the affections ; to raise the soul to its noblest 
 object in love and adoration of God ; to employ it 
 steadily in its best and happiest exercise, justice and 
 charity to man ; to detach its desires from the plea- 
 sures, profits, and honours of the world ; to exalt its 
 views to heavenly things ; and to render the whole 
 life godly, just, and soher ? He, who impartially ex- 
 amines his own moral abilities bylhe ;>ure and search- 
 ing light of the Gospel, must discern their defects 
 and weakness in every part ; and when he well con- 
 siders the tenor and spii it of this Gospel, must ac- 
 knowledge, that he is not of himself sufficient for 
 the attainments, to which it calls and conducts its 
 faithful votary. 
 
 What then is it, that hath taken him by the hand, 
 and leads him on in this rising path of. virtue and 
 holiness ; that prevents his steps from sliding ; or, 
 if his foot hath slipped, raises him again ; that 
 keeps him steady in the right way ; or, if at any- 
 time he hath wandered out of it, recalls him to 
 it ; that strengthens him to resist temptations, to 
 endure trials, and to continue patientlv in well-doing; 
 that, as he advances, opens to his faith a still bright- 
 ening view of the heavenly Jerusalem,, through the 
 "loom which our earthly state hangs upon death and 
 futurity ; and animates him to live and walk by this 
 faith ? 
 
 If 
 
our saviour's teaching. 291 
 
 If these are exertions beyond the sphere of mere 
 human activity, the question, whence such improve- 
 ment of soul and spirit and life proceeds, will admit 
 of an easy and clear answer. It is God who blesses 
 our earnest petitions that we may do his will, and 
 our sincere endeavours to do it, with the grace of 
 his Holy Spirit ; who worketh in us both to will and 
 to do of his good pleasure ; and thus verifies and 
 fulfils the promises, made by Christ to those who 
 ask in his name, of succour and strength from on 
 high. Christ therefore is his beloved Son, by whom 
 we are redeemed, and in whom we are accepted. 
 The religion which he hath taught us, so worthy of 
 God in the theory, and so favoured by him in the 
 practice of its laws, proves its heavenly origin by 
 the fruit which it produces ; and brings its divinity 
 home to the breast of the devout professor by expe- 
 rience of its power unto salvation. 
 
 It is natural to conclude, that he who has this 
 conviction of its certainty, will be desirous of per- 
 suading others to the belief and practice of it, and 
 will be of an apt and fit disposition to instruct them 
 in it. 
 
 THE K\D. 
 
 V 2 
 
( 253 ) 
 
 INDEX of TEXTS 
 Referred to, and occasionally illustrated. 
 
 Chap. Genesis. Page 
 xiv. 18. 22 164, 165 
 
 xxii. 18 121 
 
 xxiv. H 236 
 
 xxvi. 4 121 
 
 xxvii. 27—29 21 
 
 xxviii. 4 121 
 
 Exodus. 
 
 iv. 7, 8. 31 127 
 
 xii. 7 159 
 xx. 1 80 
 
 xxxi. 18 80 
 xxxiv. 29, 30 10 
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 xiii. 127 
 
 Numbers. 
 
 xxxii. 41 183 
 xxxiv. 11 11 
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 vi. 5 58 
 — 6—9 81 
 xxviii; 49, 50 134 
 xxxiv. 5, 6. 196 
 
 Joshua; 
 
 i. 2 196 
 
 vii. I 73 
 
 Judges. 
 
 xvii. 7 183 
 
 xix. 14. 16. 257 
 
 1 Samuel. 
 
 ix. 11, 12 235, 236 
 
 2 Samuel. 
 
 vii. 16. 121 
 
 1 Chronicles. 
 
 ii. 21, 22 183 
 
 iii. 17 91 
 vii. 14 183 
 
 Ezra. 
 
 ii. 61 184 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 xi. 1. 18. 107 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 xxxvi. 6 95 
 
 xLviii. 2. 108 
 
 lxxx. 10 95 
 
 lxxxLx. 14 12 
 
 ex. 122 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 ii. 3 80 
 v. 7 105 
 ix. 2 281 
 xl. 5 93 
 XLi. 2. 281 
 XLviii. 2 107 
 
 iii. 1 107 
 Liii. 123, 169 
 Lxvi. 1 94 
 
 Jeremiah, 
 
 xl. 8 183 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 xvii. 12 105 
 
 xx. 45—49 105 
 
 xxi. 1—7 105 
 
 Daniel. 
 
 ii. 44 95 
 
 iv. 26 91 
 ix. 24 107 
 —24—27 122 
 
^y* 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 
 iv. 19 
 
 280 
 
 iii. 3 
 
 
 95 
 
 — 23 
 
 110 
 
 
 MlCAH. 
 
 
 v — vii. 
 
 124—127 
 
 
 
 v. 8 
 
 19 
 
 iv. 2 
 
 
 80 
 
 — 13—16 
 
 125 
 
 
 Zechariah. 
 
 
 — 17—19 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 — 18 
 
 202 
 
 iii. 8 
 
 
 281 
 
 — 20 — 48 
 
 126 
 
 
 
 
 -iO 
 
 1/3 
 
 
 Mala chi. 
 
 
 — 35 
 
 108 
 
 iii. 1 
 
 
 122 
 
 vi. 1 — IS 
 
 126 
 
 iv. 2 
 
 
 281 
 
 — 5 
 
 194 
 
 — 5 
 
 
 129 
 
 — 26 
 
 280 
 
 ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 
 — 29 
 
 104 
 
 xxiv. 26 
 
 
 S6 
 
 — 30 
 
 280 
 
 
 
 — 32 
 
 96 
 
 1 Maccabees. 
 
 
 — 33 
 
 95 
 
 iii. 18 
 
 
 96 
 
 vii. 7—12 
 
 126 
 
 xi. 67 
 
 
 11 
 
 — 12 
 
 188 
 
 
 
 — 29 
 
 286 
 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 
 viii. 2 — 4 
 
 127 
 
 
 
 163 
 
 — 5 
 
 173 
 
 i. 1 
 
 
 121 
 
 — 11, 12 
 
 128 
 
 — 2 
 
 
 122 
 
 — 14 
 
 154 
 
 — 11 
 
 
 90 
 
 — 17 
 
 99. 123 
 
 — 21 
 
 
 123 
 
 — 18. 28 
 
 226 
 
 — 22 
 
 
 99 
 
 — 28 
 
 77 
 
 ii. 
 
 
 123 
 
 — 29 
 
 164 
 
 — 1 
 
 
 113 
 
 — 32 
 
 11 
 
 — 2 
 
 
 50 
 
 be. 9 
 
 IS 
 
 — 15. 17 
 
 
 99 
 
 — 10 
 
 140 
 
 — 20 
 
 
 73 
 
 — 11 
 
 18 
 
 — 23 
 
 
 99 
 
 — 14 
 
 86 
 
 iii. 
 
 123, 
 
 124 
 
 — 18 
 
 75. 143 
 
 — 2 
 
 
 94 
 
 — 35 
 
 110 
 
 — 3 
 
 93. 99 
 
 X. 
 
 107 
 
 — 5 
 
 
 187 
 
 o 
 
 110. 152. 154 
 
 — 6 
 
 85 
 
 168 
 
 — 3 
 
 IS 
 
 — 7 
 
 
 187 
 
 — 5 
 
 162 
 
 — 7—12 
 
 
 51 
 
 — 5, 6 
 
 128 
 
 — 9 
 
 
 127 
 
 xi. 1, 2 
 
 162 
 
 iv — xiv. 
 
 
 76 
 
 — 2 — 11 
 
 52, 53 
 
 iv. 1—11 
 
 
 65 
 
 2 19 
 
 162 
 
 — 4 
 
 
 97 
 
 — 11 
 
 94 
 
 — 5 
 
 
 108 
 
 — 13—15 
 
 129 
 
 — 14 
 
 
 99 
 
 — 16, 17 
 
 281 
 
 — 16 
 
 
 2S1 
 
 — 19 
 
 IS. 90 
 
 — 17— -22 
 
 40 
 
 41 
 
 — 21—23 
 
 54 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 £95 
 
 Xll. 17 
 
 99 
 
 — Zi> 
 
 95 
 
 ■ oq An 
 
 ioy 
 
 •— DU 
 
 96 
 
 Xlll. 
 
 280 
 
 
 44, 45 
 
 
 283 
 
 — 14, 15 
 
 130 
 
 — 16 
 
 279 
 
 — 19 — 23 
 
 45 
 
 — 35 
 
 99 
 
 ■ — 54 
 
 220 
 
 xiv. 2 
 
 90 
 
 — y 
 
 1 1 
 
 10 
 
 144 
 
 ■ 14 
 
 148 
 
 1 0 
 
 1 y 
 
 10 
 
 22 
 
 
 * >53 
 
 
 7 a 
 
 158 
 
 XV. 1 , 4 
 
 86, 87 
 
 1 ft 
 
 153 
 
 — 22 
 
 87, 88 
 
 OA 
 
 128 
 
 OO 
 
 loo 
 
 xvi. 5 
 
 226 
 
 — 6 
 
 112 
 
 — 9 
 
 loo 
 
 — 14 — 23 
 
 loo 
 
 1 on 
 
 10O, lOo 
 
 xvii. 2 
 
 204 
 
 ■ 4: 
 
 1 n 
 1U 
 
 p: 
 
 ' 0 
 
 160 
 
 in 1 <* 
 
 1 - . ' 
 
 _ 24 '28 
 
 156 
 
 xviu. 8, 9 
 
 CO QQ 
 
 oo ; oy 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 XIX. 1 
 
 oy 
 
 OA 
 
 y-j 
 
 xx. 9 — 12 
 
 ^69 
 
 — 19 
 
 1 J. QOn 
 j * - .-ii 
 
 OA 
 
 153 
 
 24 28 
 
 46 
 
 xxi. 4 
 
 99 
 
 — 9 
 
 199 
 
 — 12 
 
 74. 109 
 
 — IS— 22 
 
 74 
 
 — 19 
 
 87 
 
 — 23—27 
 
 46, 47 
 
 xxi. 25 
 
 9o 
 
 — 31 
 
 95 
 
 — 31, 32 
 
 18 
 
 — 43 
 
 95 
 
 xxii. 11 
 
 284 
 
 17 
 
 198 
 
 23 — 32 
 
 97, 98 
 
 30 
 
 90, 91 
 
 36 
 
 163 
 
 36 — 40 
 
 166, 167 
 
 37 
 
 58 
 
 xxiii. 
 
 59. 130 
 
 6, 7 
 
 oi) 
 
 1 6 — 21 
 
 109 
 
 22 
 
 94 
 
 23 
 
 188 
 
 27 
 
 103, 104 
 
 XX IV. 
 
 124 
 
 3, 4 
 
 189 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 — — 15, 16 
 
 104. 108. lol 
 
 20 
 
 131 
 
 ■ 29 
 
 105 
 
 32 — 35 
 
 48 
 
 At 
 
 — oy 
 
 ■ 45 — 51 
 
 54, 55 
 
 xxv. 2 
 
 284 
 
 14 — 30 
 
 284 
 
 31 — 46 
 
 122 
 
 xxvi. 1 — 14 
 
 70 
 
 
 197 
 
 Q 
 
 l/o. 240 
 
 
 248 
 
 
 73 
 
 13, 14 
 
 110 
 
 10 
 
 238 
 
 Oft 
 
 1 10 
 
 OG 
 
 Zt> 
 
 7 ■ 63 
 
 32 
 
 92 
 
 34 
 
 »fl OQO 
 
 yo. isoo 
 
 00 
 
 153 
 
 47 
 
 lift O A O 
 
 1 10. 248 
 
 Ql 
 
 109 
 
 63 
 
 244 
 
 64 
 
 106 
 
 67, 68 
 
 149 
 
 69 
 
 240 
 
 xxvii 
 
 113, 114 
 
 
 117 
 
Q96 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 xxvii. 9 
 
 99 
 
 iv. 10 
 
 46 
 
 11 
 
 50 
 
 — 12 
 
 130 
 
 17 
 
 201 
 
 — 14—20 
 
 45 
 
 18 
 
 247 
 
 — 33 
 
 283 
 
 19 
 
 254 
 
 — 35 
 
 152. 226 
 
 22 
 
 201 
 
 — 38 
 
 152 
 
 23 
 
 254 
 
 v. 1 
 
 77. 226 
 
 24 
 
 250 
 
 — 7 
 
 164 
 
 25 
 
 134 
 
 — 13 
 
 11 
 
 26 
 
 174 
 
 — 21 
 
 226 
 
 29 
 
 50 
 
 — 22 
 
 75 
 
 32 
 
 199 
 
 — 35 
 
 242 
 
 35 
 
 99 
 
 — 36—38 
 
 142 
 
 37 
 
 50 
 
 — 37 
 
 111 
 
 39 — 44 
 
 48, 49 
 
 vi. 1 
 
 220 
 
 42 
 
 50 
 
 — 7—11 
 
 128 
 
 44 
 
 73 
 
 — 14 
 
 90 
 
 — =— 46 
 
 199 
 
 — 14, &c. 
 
 152 
 
 52, 53 
 
 108 
 
 — 14—27 
 
 11 
 
 54 
 
 172 
 
 — 15 
 
 144 
 
 60 
 
 220 
 
 — 27 
 
 17C 
 
 62 
 
 175 
 
 — 29, 30 
 
 162 
 
 65, 66 
 
 172 
 
 — 30 
 
 153 
 
 xxviii. 1 
 
 88. 257 
 
 — 32 
 
 144 
 
 11 
 
 172 
 
 — 34 
 
 148 
 
 11—15 
 
 135 
 
 — 35 
 
 257 
 
 15 
 
 117 
 
 — 37 
 
 171 
 
 16 
 
 91 
 
 — 39 
 
 10. 152 
 
 19 
 
 136. 168 
 
 — 41, 42 
 
 145 
 
 
 
 — 45 
 
 226 
 
 Mark. 
 
 
 — 48 
 
 19S.239 
 
 i. 2 
 
 100 
 
 — 52 
 
 153 
 
 — 2, 3 
 
 169 
 
 vii. 1 — 5 
 
 86, 87 
 
 — 5 
 
 85 
 
 — 3—13 
 
 163 
 
 — 7, S 
 
 52 
 
 — 11 
 
 175 
 
 — 14—20 
 
 40 
 
 — IS 
 
 153 
 
 — 16, &c. 
 
 11 
 
 — 24 — 30 
 
 128 
 
 — 19 
 
 111 
 
 — 26 
 
 87 
 
 — 21—28 
 
 56 
 
 — 34 
 
 175 
 
 — 29 
 
 154 
 
 viii. 4 
 
 153 
 
 — 35 
 
 243 
 
 — 13 
 
 226 
 
 ii. 14 
 
 18 
 
 — 15 
 
 • 112 
 
 — 15 
 
 141 
 
 — 18 
 
 153 
 
 — 18 
 
 86 
 
 — 28 
 
 145 
 
 — 25, 26 
 
 141, 142 
 
 — 28—33 
 
 155 
 
 iii. 14—17 
 
 154 
 
 — 29, 30 
 
 156 
 
 — 17 HI. 154, 
 
 155. 175 
 
 — 31 
 
 90 
 
 — 18 
 
 IS 
 
 ix. 2 
 
 111. 204 
 
 iv. 1—9 
 
 44, 45 
 
 — 7 
 
 160 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 297 
 
 ix. 10 
 
 — 13 
 
 — 15 
 
 — 30—33 
 
 — 43—48 
 
 x. 1 
 
 — 3— 12 
 
 — 17— 20 
 
 — 32 
 
 — 34 
 
 — 41 
 
 — 41—45 
 
 — -46 
 
 xi. 4 
 
 — 5 
 
 — 9 
 
 — 11 
 
 — 12— 14 
 
 — 13 
 
 — 15 
 
 — 27—33 
 
 xii. 14 
 
 — 25 
 
 — 2S— 31 
 
 — 30 
 
 — 32—34 
 
 — 38, 39 
 
 — 38 — 40 
 
 — 41—44 
 
 — 42 
 
 xiii. 1 — 9 
 
 — 3 
 
 — 3, 4 
 
 — 6 
 
 — 14 
 
 — 21—23 
 
 — 24, 25 
 
 — 28—31 
 
 — 35 
 
 xiv. 1 — 10 
 
 — 13 
 
 — 13—16 
 
 — 15 
 
 — 24 
 
 — 26 
 
 — 30 
 
 — 31 
 
 — 47 
 
 — 54 
 
 177 
 
 153 
 
 xiv. o5- 
 
 
 164 
 
 130 
 
 — .)o 
 
 
 109 
 
 9 
 
 QO 
 
 
 106 
 
 157 
 
 g5 
 
 
 149 
 
 SS, 89 
 
 fid 
 
 
 240 
 
 89 
 
 60, 
 
 vi 
 
 147 
 
 1C3 
 
 XV. 1 
 
 
 246 
 
 57, 58 
 
 Z. if 
 
 
 50 
 
 153 
 
 1 1 
 
 — 1 1 
 
 
 164 
 
 174 
 
 1 - 
 
 
 50. 247 
 
 1 53 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 175 
 
 46 
 
 lg 
 
 
 50 
 
 152 
 
 21 
 
 
 177. 199 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 252 
 
 145 
 
 26 
 
 
 50 
 
 1 99 
 
 28 
 
 
 100. 169 
 
 74 
 
 . an 
 
 
 171, 172 
 
 74. 163 
 
 29— 
 
 -32 
 
 4g — 50 
 
 S7 
 
 32 
 
 
 50 
 
 74. 109 
 
 34 
 
 
 199 
 
 46 
 
 39 
 
 
 172 
 
 198 
 
 42 
 
 
 175. 198 
 
 91 
 
 4g 
 
 
 220 
 
 166, 167 
 
 xvi. 7 
 
 
 91. 155 
 
 58 
 
 — 9 
 
 
 159 
 
 168 
 
 
 
 
 169 
 
 62 
 
 20 
 
 
 121. 207 
 
 59. 150 
 
 
 
 
 146 
 
 
 
 Luke 
 
 172. 175 
 
 
 
 67. 144. 205 
 
 44 
 
 | 
 
 4 
 
 209 211 
 
 106 
 
 3 
 
 
 205 
 
 189 
 
 4 
 
 
 205 
 
 164 
 
 5 
 
 
 113 
 
 108 
 
 g 
 
 •10 
 
 181, 1S2 
 
 1 
 
 J o-± 
 
 9 
 
 
 109 
 
 14/ 
 
 lj 
 
 
 187 
 
 48 
 
 19 
 
 
 182 
 
 
 26 
 
 
 144 
 
 7U, 1 1 
 
 32, 
 
 33 
 
 122 
 
 O 1G 
 
 44y 
 
 
 
 182 
 
 59, 60 
 
 59 
 
 
 182 
 
 148 
 
 — 7S 
 
 
 281 
 
 63 
 
 — 79 
 
 
 116 
 
 249 
 
 ii. 2 
 
 
 118 
 
 198. 238 
 
 — 4 
 
 
 144 
 
 153 
 
 — 12 
 
 
 238 
 
 157 
 
 — 22 
 
 23 
 
 100 
 
 147 
 
 — 23 
 
 
 182 
 
298 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 ii. 32 
 
 93. 116 
 
 vii. 2 
 
 124. 173 
 
 — 41 
 
 182 
 
 — 11 
 
 144. 161 
 
 in. 
 
 182 
 
 — 19 — 28 
 
 52 
 
 — 4 
 
 100 
 
 — 19 — 35 
 
 162 
 
 — 4 — 6 
 
 93 
 
 — 24 — 28 
 
 129 
 
 — 7 
 
 187 
 
 — 28 
 
 94. 187 
 
 — 7 — 9- 16, 17 
 
 51 
 
 — 38 
 
 124 
 
 — 19 
 
 112 
 
 viii. 1 
 
 161, 162 
 
 — 21 
 
 191 
 
 — 1 — 8 
 
 45 
 
 iv. 1 — 12 
 
 65 
 
 — 10 
 
 130 
 
 — 4 
 
 97 
 
 — 21 
 
 96 
 
 — 6. 8 
 
 184, 185 
 
 — 22 
 
 152 
 
 — 9 
 
 107, 108 
 
 — 22 — 25 
 
 124 
 
 — 14 
 
 57 
 
 — 28 
 
 164 
 
 — 15 
 
 185 
 
 — 33 
 
 11 
 
 — 18 
 
 185 
 
 — 41 
 
 75. 143 
 
 — 23 
 
 57. 65 
 
 — 49 
 
 143 
 
 — 23, 24 
 
 220 
 
 ■ — 50, 51 
 
 143 
 
 — 24, 25 
 
 187 
 
 — 55 
 
 192 
 
 — 25 — 27 
 
 191 
 
 ix. 
 
 187 
 
 — 29, 30 
 
 144 
 
 — 3 — 5 
 
 128 
 
 — 31 — 37 
 
 56 
 
 — 8. 10 
 
 144 
 
 — 32 
 
 279 
 
 — 11 
 
 148 
 
 — 33 
 
 185 
 
 — 12 
 
 257 
 
 — 33 — 36 
 
 127 
 
 — 12 — 17 
 
 124 
 
 — 38 
 
 154 
 
 — 15 
 
 10 
 
 — 42 
 
 243 
 
 — 16, 17 
 
 145 
 
 v. 1 
 
 144 
 
 — 18 
 
 143 
 
 — 1 — 11 
 
 42 
 
 — 18 — 22 
 
 191 
 
 — 2 — 9 
 
 158 
 
 — 19 
 
 145 
 
 — 3 
 
 124 
 
 — 29 
 
 191. 204 
 
 — 10 
 
 111 
 
 — 31 
 
 10. 196 
 
 — 14 
 
 187 
 
 — 52, 53 
 
 187 
 
 — 17 — 21 
 
 186 
 
 — 52 — 56 
 
 190 
 
 — 18 
 
 124 
 
 — 54 
 
 111 
 
 — 27 — 29 
 
 18 
 
 X. 
 
 107- 187 
 
 — 29 
 
 141 
 
 — 7, 8 
 
 205 
 
 — 30 
 
 186 
 
 — 13 — 15 
 
 54 
 
 — 33 
 
 186 
 
 — 27 
 
 58 
 
 n 
 
 124 
 
 — 30 — 37 
 
 284 
 
 ' 2 
 
 186 
 
 — 33 
 
 190 
 
 — 3, 4 
 
 141, 142 
 
 xi. 
 
 186 
 
 
 1S6 
 
 2 
 
 96 
 
 J 
 
 — 12 
 
 191 
 
 — 5 
 
 191 
 
 — 14 
 
 43 
 
 — 13 
 
 95 
 
 — 15 
 
 18 
 
 — 30. 32 
 
 189 
 
 — 17 
 
 161 
 
 — 42 
 
 166. 188 
 
 — 31 
 
 166. 188 
 
 — 44 
 
 103, 104. 187 
 
 vii. 1 
 
 144 1 
 
 xii. 5 
 
 203 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 299 
 
 xii. 30 
 
 — 38 
 
 — 42—46 
 
 — 58 
 
 — 59 
 
 xiii. 28, 29 
 
 31, 32 
 
 34 
 
 xv. 8—10 
 
 — 11—32 
 
 21 
 
 xvi. 
 
 — — 11 
 
 xvii. 19 
 
 xviii. 1, 2 
 
 10 
 
 18—21 
 
 33 
 
 xix. 1 — 10 
 2—10 
 
 33 
 
 38 
 
 45 
 
 xx. 6 
 
 ■ 22 
 27 
 
 27—38 
 
 38 
 
 96 
 
 19S. 239 
 54, 55 
 171 
 173 
 128 
 112 
 15 
 
 190. 231 
 190. 283, 284 
 96 
 203 
 192, 193 
 144 
 190 
 191 
 190 
 57, 58 
 174 
 144 
 18 
 190 
 145 
 199 
 74. 109 
 47 
 198 
 186 
 97, 98 
 196 
 
 xxii. 31, 32 
 
 
 157 
 
 34 
 
 
 197 
 
 37 
 
 
 170 
 
 45 
 
 
 161 
 
 52 
 
 
 240 
 
 54 — 56 
 
 
 14S 
 
 63, 64 
 
 
 149 
 
 66—71 
 
 
 242 
 
 69 
 
 1 /It' 1 Qf) 
 
 lOo. mz. 
 
 187 
 
 7 1 
 
 
 246 
 
 xxiii. 1, 2 
 
 
 246 
 
 f 
 
 
 220 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 
 50 
 247 
 
 11 
 
 
 112 
 
 ~6 
 
 
 199 
 
 34 
 
 
 191 
 
 35 — 40 
 
 49 
 
 , 50 
 
 37, 38 
 
 
 50 
 
 38 
 
 
 199 
 
 40 — 43 
 
 l'JU. iy4, 
 
 195 
 
 43 
 
 
 203 
 
 51 
 
 
 
 54 
 
 175. 
 
 198 
 
 xxiv. 13—36 
 
 
 256 
 
 29 
 
 
 257 
 
 34 
 
 
 159 
 
 44, 45 
 
 100. 
 
 1S7 
 
 John. 
 
 42 
 
 
 100 
 
 i. 1—14 
 
 222 
 
 45—47 
 
 
 59 
 
 — 14 
 
 109 
 
 46 
 
 
 62 
 
 — 28 
 
 90 
 
 46, 47 
 
 
 150 
 
 — 31. 33 
 
 124 
 
 xxi. 
 
 
 124 
 
 — 38 — 41 
 
 234, 235 
 
 1—4 
 
 
 146 
 
 — 43 
 
 235 
 
 2 
 
 
 173 
 
 — 46 
 
 201 
 
 7, 8 
 
 
 189 
 
 — 49 
 
 50 
 
 20, 21 
 
 104, 105. 
 
 187 
 
 if; 9 
 
 143 
 
 23, 24 
 
 105. 
 
 147 
 
 — 11 
 
 127 
 
 29—31 
 
 
 48 
 
 — 13 
 
 226 
 
 34 
 
 
 205 
 
 — 17 
 
 222 
 
 36 
 
 
 191 
 
 ui. 23 
 
 86 
 
 37 
 
 
 197 
 
 iv. 3 
 
 219 
 
 xxii. 1 
 
 
 197 
 
 — 6, 7 
 
 235—237 
 
 8—13 
 
 59 
 
 60 
 
 — 9 
 
 284 
 
 12 
 
 
 148 
 
 -43, 44 
 
 219 
 
 16—18 
 
 
 252 
 
 — 52, 53 
 
 237, 238 
 
 -20 
 
 
 63 
 
 v. 2 
 
 223 
 
300 
 
 INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 v. 17—47 
 
 
 16 
 
 xxi. 7 
 
 — 23, 29 
 
 
 222 
 
 j ~ 
 
 vi. 1 
 
 226 
 
 , 227 
 
 17 
 
 — 1—14 
 
 
 221 
 
 18 
 
 — 4 
 
 
 226 
 
 19 
 
 — 10 
 
 
 10 
 
 21—23 
 
 — 17 
 
 
 226 
 
 
 — 26—33 
 
 
 222 
 
 J 
 
 — 51 
 
 
 222 
 
 i. 6 
 
 — 66—69 
 
 
 158 
 
 — 13 
 
 vii. 16, 17 
 
 
 289 
 
 ii. 1 
 
 — 38, 39 
 
 
 222 
 
 — 23 
 
 viii. 12 
 
 
 281 
 
 iv. 3 
 
 x. 6 
 
 
 65 
 
 vi. 14 
 
 — 27, 28 
 
 
 222 
 
 vii. 11 
 
 xi. 2 
 
 
 72 
 
 viii. 5 — 14 
 
 — 25 
 
 222 
 
 281 
 
 10 
 
 — 47—50 
 
 
 228 
 
 ix. 37. 39 
 
 — 49—51 
 
 
 200 
 
 X. 
 
 — 55 
 
 
 226 
 
 — 1 
 
 xii. 
 
 
 225 
 
 xii. 1 
 
 — 1—8 
 
 7 
 
 , 72 
 
 — 6—10 
 
 — 13 
 
 
 50 
 
 — IS 
 
 xiii. 6 
 
 
 157 
 
 — 19 
 
 — 16 
 
 
 152 
 
 — 22 
 
 xiv. 6 
 
 
 222 
 
 xiii. 7 — 12 
 
 — 16, 17 
 
 
 222 
 
 19 
 
 xv. 1. 6 
 
 
 280 
 
 25 
 
 — 27 
 
 210, 
 
 211 
 
 XV. 23—27 
 
 xvi. 12 
 
 
 116 
 
 xvi. 17 
 
 xviii. 10 
 
 
 157 
 
 xvii. 3 
 
 15, 16 
 
 28 
 
 
 240 
 250 
 
 
 242. 
 
 26 
 
 xviii. 25 
 
 30 
 
 
 250 
 
 xix. 8. 10 
 
 32, 33 
 
 
 220 
 
 xx. 8 
 
 33 
 
 50. 
 
 246 
 
 xxi. 20 
 
 39 
 
 
 50 
 
 20, &c. 
 
 xix 
 
 
 225 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 174 
 
 xxiii. 35 
 
 1—14 
 
 
 248 
 
 xxiv. 14 
 
 3 
 
 
 50 
 
 xxvi. 22 
 
 13, 14 
 
 238- 
 
 -255 
 
 23, &c. 
 
 19 
 
 
 50 
 199 
 
 28 
 
 20 
 
 
 xx viii. 23 
 
 XX. 1 
 
 
 220 
 
 
 19 
 
 256, 
 
 257 
 
 R 
 
 30, 31 
 
 
 1 
 
 i. 11 
 
 xxi. 1 
 
 
 226 
 
 ii. 18 
 
 6—11 
 
 
 15S 
 
 iii. 25 
 
 Acts. 
 
 Romans. 
 
 157 
 157 
 20 
 
 157. 227 
 157 
 227 
 
 106 
 148 
 244 
 169 
 257 
 106 
 88 
 111 
 182 
 148 
 116 
 12 
 113 
 64 
 243 
 135 
 261 
 12 
 88 
 52 
 SO 
 164 
 169 
 182 
 205 
 101 
 148 
 80 
 106 
 205 
 175 
 101 
 101 
 169 
 133 
 257 
 
 179 
 
 205 
 26 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS. 
 
 301 
 
 vi. 10 
 
 ix. x. xi. 
 
 xi. 20 
 
 xii. 12 
 xvi. 13 
 
 — 21 
 
 1 Corinthians. 
 
 x. 27 
 
 xi. 25 
 
 xiv. 19 
 
 xv. 5 111. 
 
 — 6 
 
 xvi. 17 
 
 2 Corinthians. 
 
 xii. 2. 4 195, 196. 
 
 Galatians. 
 
 iv. 25, 26 
 
 v. 1 
 
 vi. 6 
 
 Ephesians. 
 
 vi. 1—3 
 — 18 
 
 iv. 6 
 
 iii. 20 
 
 iv. 2 
 
 PllILlPPIANS. 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 1 Thessalonians. 
 
 v. 3 
 
 196 
 101 
 167 
 192 
 177 
 36 
 
 205 
 63 
 
 205 
 
 159 
 92 
 
 171 
 
 286 
 
 109 
 131 
 
 205 
 
 102 
 192 
 
 192 
 
 102 
 192 
 
 205 
 192 
 
 2 Thessalonians. 
 
 15 
 
 i. 16 
 
 iv. 6 
 
 v. 18 
 
 iii. 10 
 
 iv. 17 
 
 ii. 14 
 
 1 Timothy. 
 
 2 Timothy. 
 
 Titus. 
 
 Heerevs. 
 
 vii. 1 
 
 x. 19—22 
 
 — 38 
 
 xi. 6 
 
 xii. 14 
 
 — 22 
 
 xiii. 10 — 15 
 
 ii. 10 
 
 iv. 3 
 
 v. 13 
 
 i. 17 
 iii. 15 
 
 1 Peter. 
 
 2 Peter. 
 
 109 
 
 210 
 
 133 
 
 205 
 205 
 
 205 
 205 
 
 286 
 
 164 
 192 
 287 
 287 
 287 
 109 
 192 
 
 33. 171 
 171 
 
 20 
 
 160- 
 230 
 
( 302 ) 
 
 INDEX 
 
 OF 
 
 PERSONS and THINGS. 
 
 Abraham, 121. 127, 128. 165. 183 
 Accensus, an officer so called, 
 271 
 
 Achilles Tatius, 270 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, book of, 
 24. 101. 214 
 
 Advent of Christ, 122. 228 
 
 /Eneas, 184 
 
 Afric. See Hours. 
 
 AyyogEUWi, 199 
 
 Ainsworth, CI. 159 
 
 Aldus, 263 
 
 'Airfwi, 202, 203' 
 
 Alexander the Great, 184. 253 
 
 V. Pope, 272 
 
 Alexandria, by whom inha- 
 bited, 204 
 
 writers there, 270, 
 
 271 
 
 Alexandrian MS. 110.234, 235 
 Amen, meaning of the word, 
 
 202, 203 
 Ammianus Marcellinus, 2C6 
 Anaximander, 25b 
 Anaximenes, 258 
 Andronicus Cyrrhestes, 264 
 Angels, their dignity and office, 
 
 181, 182 
 Antonia, the tower, 249 
 
 'Avioyrov, 60. 148 
 
 Apo=fles and Disciples, the titles 
 how used, 110. 152, 153. 161 
 Apostles, the twelve, 18. 154 
 
 calling of, 191 
 
 few of them writers, 
 
 why, 67, 68 
 
 • divulge their own fail- 
 
 ings, 9. IS. 24. 112. 133. 153 
 
 method of publishing 
 
 their decree, 80 
 resided in Judca se- 
 
 veral vcars after the Ascen- 
 sion, 81. 121. 137 
 See the Twelve. 
 
 "Afx°5 in composition, 143 
 Arrian, 172 
 
 Ascension of Christ, 68. 114. 
 115 
 
 Asia Minor, the Seven Churches 
 
 of, 258 
 Assir. See Jcchoniah. 
 Athanasiua, 33—35.38 
 Athenaeus, 175 
 Atonemeniforsin,26. 122, 123 
 Atterbury, 65 
 
 Augustiri, 13. 22. 23. 31, 32. 
 34. 38. 78. 88 
 
 At'Xr?, 175, 176 
 
 Babylon, Rome styled so, 33 
 
 Babylonians. See Greeks. 
 
 Baptism, customary in admit- 
 ting proselytes, 168 
 
 Baronius, 176 
 
 Bavrington, 270 
 
 Baths. See Rome. 
 
 Beausobre, 43. 65. 234 
 
 Bechai, Rabbi, 99 
 
 Bedc, 272 
 
 Bcllarniine, 176 
 
 Bcngelius, 235 
 
 Benson, 256, 257 
 
 Bethesda, 223, 224 
 
 Bethsaida, Christ's visits there 
 not mentioned, 54 
 
 Beza, ?3 
 
 Blair, 125 
 
 Bowyer, 90. 204 
 
 Bryant, 204, 205 
 
 Bull, 2, 5. 223 
 
 Caesar, 266, 267 
 
 Ca-sarea, the usual residence of 
 the Procurator of Judca, 249. 
 See also p. 261. 
 
 Calendar, an ancient Roman 
 one, 26S. 270 
 
 Calvary, mount, 199. 252 
 
 Campbell, 1S2 
 
 Cana, situation of, 237, 238 
 
INDEX OF PERSONS 
 
 AND THINGS. 
 
 303 
 
 Canaan and Canaanite, the 
 words disused in the time of 
 our Saviour, 88. 174 
 
 Canon of Scripture, care of the 
 primitive fathers respecting, 
 216, 217 
 
 Capernaum, situation of, 237, 
 238 
 
 Cary.entier, 272 
 
 C; jbon, 113. 210 
 
 Km* X t», 205. 211 
 
 Cave, 20. 37, 38. 137. 179 
 
 Cellarius, 77 
 
 Censorinus, 183. 246. 263— 
 
 265. 267 
 KfvTUf'wv, 171, 172. 176 
 Kims, 198 
 Cerinthus, 221 
 
 Cestius Gallus, his defeat, &c. 
 
 131, 132 
 Chandler, 129 
 Chemnitius, 41 
 Chishull, 204 
 
 Chorazin, Christ's visits there 
 
 not mentioned, 54 
 Christ, why so called, 185 
 
 his Agony, 156. 161 
 
 his Appearance on a 
 
 mountain in Galilee, 92 
 his Baptism, 9. 124. 160. 
 
 191 
 
 Crucifixion, 169. 247. 
 
 252 
 
 Divinity of, 16, 17. 170. 
 
 221, 222. 291 
 Duration of his Ministry, 
 
 15. 226 
 
 his Infancy, &c. why so 
 
 little recorded of, 25, 26 
 
 his Nativity, 21. 122, 
 
 123 
 
 his Prayer upon the 
 
 Cross, 191. 199 
 his presentation in the 
 
 Temple, 21 
 
 his public preaching, 1S5 
 
 his Trial, 109. 239, &c. 
 
 detached pieces of history 
 
 of, not copied by the Evan- 
 
 gelists, 66—70. 211, 212. 
 
 216, 217 
 
 his miracles, 288, 289 
 
 why some of his miracles 
 
 commanded to be concealed, 
 
 and others to be published, 
 
 165 
 
 several instances of his 
 
 practice, 191 
 his manner of teaching, 
 
 279—285 
 his subject matter, 285 
 
 —287 
 
 his example, 287, 288 
 
 See Advent. Miracle. 
 
 Ascension. Pagans. 
 
 Genealogy. Parable. 
 
 Gospels. Passover. 
 
 Jerusalem. Temptation. 
 
 Kingdom. Transfiguration. 
 Christianity, the progress of, 
 208 
 
 Christians. See Jerusalem. 
 Chrysostom, 10. 13. 18. 34, 
 
 35. 38 
 Cicero, 266, 267 
 Ciicumcision, 116. 163. 168. 
 
 182 
 
 Clarke, 124. 255. 
 Clemens, Alex. 32. 34. 38 
 
 Rom. 232 
 
 Clock, an ancient one, 2/0 
 Cockburn?, 30 
 
 Cock-crowing, the third watch 
 called so, 239. 245, 246 
 
 Colossians, Epistle to, 101, 
 102. 192 
 
 Commandment, which the 
 great one, much debated 
 among the Jews, 163, 167 
 
 Commandments, prom (ligation 
 • of, from m '.ifil >>inai, 80 
 
 Constantinus Pogonatus, 264 
 
 Corinthians, Epistles to, 101 
 
 Cosmas, 29, 30. 32. 34. 36—38 
 
 Cotovicus, 189 
 
 Covenant, nature of the new, 6 
 Karui<«, 172 
 Cradock, 41 
 
304 INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 K^am'oy, 1 99 
 
 Crenius, 253 
 
 Cross, answer to the objection 
 from the ignominy of, 169. 
 See Superscription. 
 
 Crucifixion. See Christ. 
 
 Ctesibius, 270 
 
 Curtius, Cjuintus, 204 
 
 Cyprian, 210. 271 
 
 Damasus, 176 
 
 Darkness, the supernatural, 252 
 
 David, 121. 183 
 
 Day, ancient division of, 233. 
 
 255. 263— 273 
 
 •> St. John's division of, 255 
 
 civil and natural, 2G3 
 
 Egyptian, 197, 198. 2/0 
 
 Greek, 264 
 
 Roman, 177- 197-263. 
 
 See Hours. Night. 
 Deeapolis, the cities of, 173 
 De Dieu, 202 
 Demon, meaning of, 185 
 Demoniacs, 57. 77- 1~7- 164 
 
 —166. 185 
 Dials, ancient, 264. 271, 272 
 Disciples. See Apostles. 
 
 two missions of, 107 
 
 Doddridge, 9. 16.41.73.171 
 Dodwell, 76 
 Dupin, 31. 35 
 Eas, 57 
 Eachard, 1 G 
 
 Easter, celebration of, 226. 259 
 Ebedjesu, 34. 38 
 Ebion, 221 
 Ebionites., 36 
 
 ■ their Gospel, what, 
 
 230 
 
 E;:aTcv~«^of, 172 
 
 Egyptians. See Day. Hours. 
 
 Elias, 9. 129, 130.' 160. IS/. 
 
 196 
 Ellys. 77 
 
 Emmaus, journey of the Dis- 
 ciples to, 256, 257 
 England. Sec Hours. 
 Ephesians, Epistle to, 101, 
 02. 192 
 
 Ephesus, St. John's Gospel pub- 
 lished there, 229. 231. 258 
 
 Epigram, explanation of an 
 ancient, 265 
 
 Ettikcto;, 32. 174 
 
 Epiphanius, 21 . 34. 37, 88. 132 
 
 Epistles, a circumstance of dif- 
 ference between them and 
 the Gospels, 152 
 
 Ec-Tr^a, 257 
 
 Eucharist, institution of, 63. 
 205 
 
 Evangelists, inspiration of, 17. 
 22. 64 — 66 
 
 ■ diction and me- 
 thod of, in great measure 
 their own, 66 
 
 the later the more 
 
 explicit. 114 
 
 incidental peculi- 
 arities of, 25. 206 
 
 concuiTence of, 
 
 25, 26. 42, 43. 61—78. 
 206. 221 
 
 each in succession 
 
 had seen the former Gospels, 
 39 — 78. 120. 206. 229—232 
 See Gospels. 
 
 have not adhered 
 
 minutely to the ci der of time, 
 75, 76. 151 
 
 'Evv.yyiXlot, 110 
 
 Even, the first watch called so, 
 239 
 
 Evening, latitude of the word 
 
 in the sacred writers, 257 
 Evil, the author of, 184 
 Eulogius, 271 
 
 Eusebhis, 18. 29. 32—34. 36. 
 
 3S. 67. 77. 132. 174. 259 
 Euthymius, 29. 38 
 Eutvchius, 34. 38 
 Fabricius, 34, 35. 210 — 212 
 Faith, 128. 287 
 Females, genealogies sometimes 
 
 traced through, 183 184 
 Figs.seasonof ripe, in Judea,87 
 Fig-tree. See Parable. 
 Forgery, method pursued bv, 
 
 217" 
 
 \ 
 
INDEX OF persons and things. 305 
 
 Fuller, 202, 203 
 Fructuosus. See Martyrdom. 
 Gadara, 77. 88. 173, 174 
 Galatians, Epistle to, 101 
 Galilee, diifereat names for the 
 
 Sea of, 11. 43. 143, 144. 
 
 152. 226, 227. See Christ. 
 G-mdentius, 176 
 Gehenna, 89. 203 
 GeUius, A. 269 
 Genealogies, mode of tracing, 
 
 183 
 
 Genealogy of Christ, 13. 90, 91. 
 
 121, 122. 182—184 
 ■ in St. Luke, that of 
 
 the Virgin, 183 
 Gentiles, calling of, 7. 12. 83. 
 
 93. 111. 115, 11G. 136 
 Gergesa an antique name of 
 
 Gadara, 77- 88. 174 
 Ghost. Holy. See Holy. 
 Glassius, 176 
 
 God. See Heayen. Kingdom. 
 Power. 
 
 m. untains of, cedars of, 
 
 &c. meaning of the phrases, 
 95 
 
 Godhead, Unity of, 167, 168 
 Golgotha, 199 
 Goltzius, 270 
 
 Gospel, its general and appro- 
 priate meaning, 110. 185 
 
 commencement of the, 
 
 193. 214 
 
 expediency of an early 
 
 written one, 68. 80 — 83. 
 136. 174. See Jerusalem. 
 
 Gospels, a circumstance of dif- 
 ference between them and the 
 Epistles, 152. See Evangelists. 
 
 — published in cities of 
 
 great resort, why, 69 
 
 genuineness of, 216, 
 
 217- 229—232 
 
 internal marksof their 
 
 genuineness, 22, 23. 25. 103. 
 107 
 
 i order of, principles for 
 
 determining, 79 — S3 
 
 Gospels, order of, review of 
 the argument for, 206—208 
 
 the suppositious, 217. 
 
 230 
 
 Grtewus, 270 
 
 Graves, to touch them a legal 
 pollution, 103 
 
 custom of whiting them, 
 
 103, 104 
 
 Greek, meaning of the term in 
 Scripture, 88 
 
 Greeks, learnt the division of 
 the day from the Babylo- 
 nians, 264 
 
 their credulity, 204 
 
 their delicacy", 199. 204, 
 
 205. See Day. Hours. 
 
 Gregory, the Great, 13 
 
 Nazianzen, 34,35,38 
 
 St. 155 
 
 Grotius, 11. 13. 19. 34. 41. 
 55. 57. 73. 78. 88. 94. 99. 
 103. 105. 109. 122, 123. 
 139. 161. 163. 168. 171— 
 173. 175—178. 1S2. 192. 
 194—196. 205. 210. 238. 
 242. 248. 254. 25S 
 
 Hammond, 41. 73. 103. 127 
 
 Harmer, 131. 235 
 
 Harvest, wheat, later in ancient 
 than in modern Italy, 270 
 
 Hasselquist, 224 
 
 Heaven, the word, often put 
 for God, 94 
 
 men's relation to, ac- 
 cording to the Pagans, dis- 
 sohed by death, 99 
 
 ■ ■ distinction between, 
 
 and paradise, 195, 196. See- 
 Kingdom. 
 
 Hebrews, Epistle to, 101. 192. 
 230 
 
 Gospel according to, 
 
 230 
 
 Hellenistic language, 204 
 Herod Antipas, why called 
 
 King, and why Tetrarch, 10, 
 
 11. 152 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 Herotlian family, 112, 113. 1/3 
 
 palace, 249 
 
 Herodotus, 107. 1B3. 199.264 
 High, the most, epithet of, 161, 
 165 
 
 Himerius, 257 
 
 Holv Ghost, Divinity of, 64. 
 
 182. 222. 291 
 Homer, 161. 236 
 
 Horace, '!('>'> 
 Horbery, 65 
 Hosanna, 1 99 
 Hours, African, 271 
 
 r Egyptian, 269, 270 
 
 ■ English, &c. 273 
 
 Greek, 2:54. 264. 269 
 
 Jewish, 224, 225. 233. 
 
 234. 237. 256 
 
 ■ Italian, 272, 273 
 
 Roman, 224, 225. 234. 
 
 255, 256. 26*3—273 
 
 Spanish, 271 
 
 equal and unequal, 265. 
 
 269. 272 
 
 equinoctial, 269 
 
 the method in which 
 
 St. John reckons them, 22), 
 
 225. 229. 233—262. See 
 
 Uav. 
 
 Hutchinson, 119. 14S. 198.236 
 Jacob, 121, 122. 183 
 Jairus's daughter restored to 
 
 life, 75. 142, 143. 156. 192 
 Jcchoniah the same as Assir, 
 
 90, 91 
 
 Jerom, 13. 20. 31, 32. 34— 
 36. 3S. 91. 176, 177. 202, 
 203. 221, 222 
 
 Jemsalem, destruction of, 
 104, 105. 131, 132. 134. 
 147. 156. 163. 189. 223, 
 224. 227—229 
 
 the Gospel was to 
 
 go forth from, 80. 166 
 
 our Lord's public 
 
 entry into, 109 
 
 retreat of the Christ- 
 ians from, before the siege, 
 131—133 
 
 Jerusalem, titles of sanctity as- 
 cribed to, 107 — 109 
 
 our Lord's dis- 
 course-! and miracles at, 15, 
 16. See Jews. Temple. 
 
 Jesus, meaning of the word, 
 200. See Christ. Lord. 
 
 Jews, character of, in our Sa- 
 viour's time, 5. 80. 94, 95. 
 99. 121—137. 163. 187. 
 228, 229. 280, 281. 284 
 
 . their ancient and present 
 
 state, 134, 135 
 
 their incredulity foretold, 
 
 130 
 
 rejection of, 116, 117 
 
 See Genealogies. The Law. 
 Hours. Messiah. 
 Jerusalem. Sabbath. 
 Inspiration. See Evangelists. 
 Intermediate state. See Soul. 
 JolmtheBaptist, 11. 18, 19. 21. 
 
 90. 94. 111—113. 116. 124. 
 
 127. .129, 130. 145. 162. 
 
 169, 170. 181, 182. 221 
 his message to 
 
 Christ, 161, 162 
 his preaehin<r. 
 
 6. 9. 52. 112. 127. 193 
 John, St. his Gospel, thedesisn 
 
 of. 1—3. 15 — 17- 72. 170. 
 
 219—223 
 when pub- 
 lished, 36, 37. 223 — 229. 
 
 231 
 
 — — — — where pub- 
 lished, 36, 37- 229. 231 
 
 John, St. character of, as au 
 Evangelist, 19, 20. 24, 25. 
 72, 73. 114 
 
 i had seen the former 
 
 Gospels, 36. 214. 219 
 
 how styled by the 
 
 other Evangelists, 111 
 
 eminence of, in the 
 
 church, 111. See Day. 
 Ephesus. Hours. Passover. 
 
 Jonas, the sign of, 188, 189 
 
INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 307 
 
 Jones, S. 22. 28. 30. 33. 76 
 — 78. 156—158. 230 
 
 .Ionian, famous in Palestine, 
 and the countries round, 85, 
 86 
 
 Joscphus, 11. 31. 62. SS. 114. 
 
 131, 132. 165. 172, 173. 
 
 184. 197. 224. 226. 237. 
 
 249, 250. 261 
 Irenams, 13. 16. 23. 29, 30. 
 
 32. 31—38. 11S— 121. 139. 
 
 223. 259 
 Isidore, 29. 37, 38 
 Italy. See Harvest. Hours. 
 Judaism, proselytes to, how 
 
 admitted, 168* 
 Judas one of the heads of the 
 
 12 tribes, 122 
 Judas Iscariot, 73. 110. 117 
 Judea. See Apostles. Caesarea. 
 beginning of rainy season 
 
 thrre,' 131 
 Justin Martyr, 5. 32, 33. 38. 
 
 123. 129. 169 
 Keysler, 262 
 
 Kingdom of Christ, spiritual, 
 
 7. 81. 94, 95. 122. 125 
 
 of God, 89. 94 
 
 of Hea\en, 94, 95 
 
 Knight, 16 
 
 Lactantius, 210 
 
 Language. See Hellenistic. 
 
 Macedonian. 
 Lapidc, Cornelius a, 13. 17 6 
 Lardncr, 18.20.28, 29. 31 — 
 
 38. 67. 104. 115. 118. 120. 
 
 137. 194, 195.209,210. 256 
 Latin always usedhythe Romans 
 
 on public occasions, 201 
 Words used in the. Gospels, 
 
 171—173 
 
 church. See Rubrics. 
 
 Law, the, 116. 168, 169. Sec 
 
 Moses. 
 Lazarus. See Parable. 
 Le Clerc, 28. 41. 75, 76. 256 
 L'Enfant, 43. 65 
 Leprosy, observation respecting 
 
 the cure of, 127 
 
 Lcpton, 172. 176 
 Liber Pontificaiis. 176 
 Liby-phoenicians, SS 
 Lighttbot, 16. 41. 90. 212. 216 
 Lord, commonly substituted by 
 St. Luke for Jesus, why, 21 
 Lowth, 65. 94. 105. 183.' 2S1 
 Lucas Brugensis, 73 
 Lucian, 204 
 
 Luke, St. an attendant of St. 
 
 Paul, 10, 21. 35. 118, 119. 
 
 205, 206. 212, 213. 230 
 his character as an 
 
 Evangelist, 21. 24, 25. 75. 
 
 114 
 
 a rule of his, 112 
 
 seldom mentions 
 
 places, 143, 144 
 
 ■ seldom repeats the 
 
 same doctrine or miracles, 
 57. 124 
 
 his Gospel the third 
 
 in order of time, 31. 34. 37. 
 139—151. 206, 207. 216 
 
 the design of, 12—14 
 
 for whom written, 34. 
 
 93.96—103. 181—196.207. 
 215, 216 
 
 where published, 35, 
 
 196—207 
 
 why more frequent ad- 
 monitions to prayer in his 
 Gospel than the others, 191 
 
 few foreign words in, 
 
 198. 202 
 
 Preface to it, consi- 
 dered, 208—217. 
 See Lord. Miracle. 
 St. Mark. Testament. 
 St. Matthew. 
 
 Macedonian language, 204 
 
 Year, li}2. 258 
 
 Macedonians, a colony of, in 
 Egypt, 201 
 
 Maerobius, 2-15. 257. 264. 269 
 
 Maiinonides, 103, 104. 159 
 
 Mammon, 203 
 
 Mark, St. his character as an 
 Evangelist, 20. 24 
 
 2 
 
308 INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 Mark, St. appeals only twice to 
 
 the Old Testament," 100. 169 
 wrote before St. 
 
 Luke, 31, 32. 120. 139— 
 
 151. 207 
 » relates the failings 
 
 of the Apostles, 153, 154 
 ■ — design of his Gospel, 
 
 7—12 
 
 ■ not written in Latin, 
 
 176 
 
 for whom written, 
 
 33. 163—171- 207 
 
 ■ where published, 33, 
 
 34. 37. 167- 171— 17S. 193. 
 207 
 
 when, 120, 121. 
 
 178—180 
 
 ■ parallel passages in 
 
 his Gospel and St. Luke's, 
 49, 50. 56—61. 140—151 
 See Si. Matthew. St. Peter. 
 Miracle. Tesla;uent. 
 
 Martial, 265, 2*>6 
 
 Martyrdom of Fruetuosus Ill- 
 shop of Tarragon, 261. 271 
 
 . of Pionius, 26 L 
 
 of Polycarp, 259, 
 
 260 
 
 Mary, the anointing made by, 
 72, 73 
 
 ManyoCn, 174, 175 
 
 Matthew, St. his character as 
 an Evangelist, 17—19. 23 
 — 25. 114 
 
 the first writer of 
 
 a Gospel, 29—31. 37. 69. 
 85. 92. 207 
 
 ■ ol der of his Gos- 
 pel not changed, 76. 150 
 
 . divulges the fail- 
 ings of the Apostles, 112. 
 133. 153 
 
 least distinct in 
 
 reciting our Lord's miracles, 
 114 
 
 . design ofhisGos- 
 
 pel, 4—7 
 ■ some peculiarities 
 
 in the diction and circum- 
 stances of, 54. 73, 74. 107 
 —115. 121—137- 173—175 
 
 Matthew, St. his Gospel writ- 
 ten before St. Mark's, 85 — 
 92. 107. 207 
 
 before St. Luke's, 
 
 93—107. 207 
 
 when written, 
 
 29. 69. 107. 113, 114. 120. 
 137. 207 
 
 for whom, 30, 
 
 31. 35. 106. 121—137. 170. 
 207. 216 
 
 written in He- 
 brew. 30 — 32. 83. 174. 230 
 
 and in Greek, 
 
 31, 32. 44. 77. 83. 88. 91. 
 173, 174 
 
 where published, 
 
 30. 37, 207 
 parallel passages 
 
 in his Gospel and St. Mark's, 
 40—50. 70, 7 I • 85 — 92 1 12. 
 
 128. 140, 141. 166, 167 
 
 ■ in his and St. 
 
 Luke's, 51 — 55. 93 — 107. 
 
 129, 130. 1S7— 189. See 
 Miracle. Testament. 
 
 Maundrell, 224. 252 
 Mcde, 105 
 
 Menachem, Kabbi, 127 
 Messiah, how styled by the 
 
 Jews, 13. SO 
 how by the Gentiles, 
 
 50. 201 
 
 predictions of, 1 2 1 , 122 
 
 dissimilar characters 
 
 united in, 170. See Prophe- 
 
 chies. 
 Mmpo$$£6?j 203 
 Methodius, 195 
 Michaelis, 223 
 Mid-day. See Noon. 
 Middleton, 199 
 Midnight, the second watch 
 
 called so, 239. Sec also p. 
 
 269. 
 Miletus, 258 
 
INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 309 
 
 Mill, 16. 2S— 31. 35. 37. 67. 
 110. 140. 176. 238 
 
 Miracle, what the first men- 
 tioned by St. Matthew, and 
 why, 127 
 
 what by St. Mark, 57 
 
 ■ what by St. Luke, 
 
 and why, 5?. 127. 185 
 
 of feeding five thou- 
 sand, 10. 66. 144 
 
 of cleansing the 
 
 Temple, 74, 75 
 
 of healinga leper, 127 
 
 of healing a demo- 
 niac, 127- 185 
 
 of raising the dead, 
 
 134. 161, 162 
 See Christ. Jairus. St. Mat- 
 thew. 
 
 Modestinus, 253 
 
 More, 105. 21() 
 
 Morning or Proi, the fourth 
 watch, 239 
 
 Moses, 9. 160. 187. 196 
 
 Law of, 100. 130, 131. 
 
 188. See Law. 
 
 Moses Gerundensis, Rabbi, 109 
 Mosheim, 223 
 Nal, 202, 203 
 Nazarenc, 200, 201 
 Nazarenes, their Gospel, what, 
 
 230 
 Nazareth, 220 
 New come, 42. 75 
 Newton, Sir J. 76 
 Newton, Bp. 105. 109 
 Nice, council of, 259 
 Nicolaitans, 36 
 Night, ancient division of, 198. 
 
 233. 239. 245, 246. 264. 
 
 267. See Day. 
 Noon, hour of, '26S. 273 
 Niircnberg, peculiarity there, 
 
 262 
 
 Olivet, mount, situation of, 
 
 189. 197 
 
 Origen, 15, 16. 30 — 35. 38. 
 
 96. 169. 174. 210. 235 
 Osiander, 42 
 
 Ova\ 172 
 
 Owen, 40. 223. 229 
 oVtx, 257 
 
 Pagans, a popular notion of 
 their s, 99 
 
 instances of our Sa- 
 viour's mercy to, 165 
 
 Pagnimis, 176 
 
 Palladius, 263. 26S. 270, 271 
 Papias, 32. 38 
 
 P.irables, the word how used, 65 
 our Saviour's, of what 
 
 sort, 193. 282 — 284 
 of the prodigal son, 
 
 13. 190. 2S3, 284 
 of the Sower, 44 — 46. 
 
 280 
 
 of the fig-tree, 48 
 
 of the Publican in the 
 
 temple, 190 
 
 of the lost sheep, 190 
 
 of the lost piece of 
 
 silver, 190. 281 
 
 relative to the Sama- 
 ritans, 187. 190. 284 
 
 relative to prayer, 191 
 
 of the rich man and 
 
 Lazarus, 193. 2S3 
 
 of the ten Virgins, 284 
 
 of the ten Talents, 284 
 
 Paradise, 194 — 196 
 
 Ilaja&w?, 210, 211 
 
 n*§ax<*«Qstt>, 205 
 
 Participle s, Greek, used as sub- 
 stantives, 118, 119 
 
 Passover, the Jewish, 182 197. 
 239 
 
 preparation for, 60. 
 
 159 
 
 our Lord's last, 159. 
 
 248. 252 
 
 three passovers men- 
 tioned by St. John, 226 
 
 the Christian, 226 
 
 Patrick, 73. 1S3 
 
 Paul, St. 68. 101. 118, 119. 
 192 
 
 his imprisonment at 
 
 Rome, 179 
 
310 
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 Paul, St. " his extatic visions, 
 
 195, 196 
 < liis Epis'.les, 101. 
 
 176, 179. 192. '214. 230. 
 
 See St. Luke. Testament. 
 Pearce, 50 
 
 Pearson, 179, 180. 200. '259, 
 200 
 
 Pclla, distance of, from Jeru- 
 salem, 132. See also p. 30. 
 
 Penitent Thief, 190. 194. £68 
 
 Teraaa, distance of, from Jerusa- 
 lem, 132. See also p. 77 - 90. 
 
 Persecution, the great one tiiat 
 began with St. Stephen, S3 
 
 Persius, 266 
 
 Petavius, 270 
 
 Peter, St. the calling of, 41. 43, 
 44. 143 
 
 his denial of Christ, 
 
 133. 147. 177. 240, 241. 245 
 
 ■ his deliverance from 
 
 prison, 64. 135. 243 
 
 ■ Life of, in Liber 
 
 Pontificalis, 176 
 
 prediction of his 
 
 death, 227, 22S 
 
 other particulars re- 
 specting, 43. 101. 104. 111. 
 116. 118, 119. 133. 135, 136. 
 153—163. 17S, 179. 234 
 
 St. Mark's Gospel writ- 
 ten under his inspection, 9 — 
 12. 20. 25. 32, 33. 35. 61. 
 66. 151—163. 171- 178, 179. 
 189. 211. 226. 229, 230 
 
 his first Epistle, 
 
 where written, 33 
 
 i and for whose use, 
 
 33. 171 
 
 Pharisees, 130. ISO, 187. 193 
 Philadelphia., church of, 259 
 Philippians, Epistle to, 101.192 
 PhiloJiukeus, 249. 261 
 Phoenicia, part of Canaan, SS. 
 See also p. 174. 
 198 
 
 *«f, 147, 148 
 Photius, 195 
 
 <J>;«y=X?,«i>, 174, 175 
 Pilate, 113, 114 
 
 his behaviour, 200.201. 
 
 2 36 — 255 
 Pionius. See Martyrdom. 
 Pithoeus, 271 
 Pitiscus, 204 
 
 Pliny, 134. 173. 197. 204.245. 
 
 263, 264. 260, 267- 269 
 junior, 266 
 
 n^oPo^nt^at, 205 
 
 Plural number sometimes used 
 w hen only one person is in- 
 tended, 73 
 
 Plutarch, 172, 173. 184. 264. 
 268 
 
 Plutus, 203 
 
 Poeocke, 99. 103 
 
 Polybius, 172. 264 
 
 Polvcarp. See Martyrdom. 
 
 Poole, 175 202 
 
 Possession, a real one, 166. 185 
 
 Power, one of the names of God 
 among the Jews, 106 
 
 of the Highest, a cha- 
 racter of divinity, 182 
 
 Prffitorium, 175, 176 
 
 Prandium, 207 
 
 Prayer. Sec St. Luke. Parable. 
 
 Prideaux, 107 
 
 Prodigal son. See Parable. 
 
 tlfu\, 239 
 
 Proi or morning, the fourth 
 watch called so, 239 
 
 Prophecy had ceased four hun- 
 dred years before Christ, 145 
 
 Prophecies of the Messiah, ar- 
 gument from, 123. 169j 170 
 
 Prophets, the, 100 
 
 sometimes express 
 
 the same thing figuratively 
 and literally, 105,^106 
 
 difference between 
 
 Christ and them in discour- 
 sing of the same subjects, 
 2S2 
 
 Proselytes. See Judaism. 
 Providence, scriptural history 
 of, 64 
 
INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 311 
 
 Proverbs, the word, how used, 
 65 
 
 Prudcntius, 267 
 Psalms, book of, 100. 165 
 Ptolemy tlie astronomer, 2/0 
 Publican. See Parable. 
 Publicans, 17 
 
 — their office, 173 
 
 Ouadrans, 17*2- 176 
 Quotation, diiterent modes of, 
 
 used in the New Testament, 
 
 99—102. 225 
 Rabbi, 199 
 Randolph, 254 
 
 Raphelius, 57. 148. 171, 172. 
 
 174. 187- 210 
 Recognitions, the, 104 
 Reland, 77- 132 
 Repentance, 127- 134 
 Resurrection, the, 98, 99. 226 
 Revett, 264 
 Rigaltius, 271 
 
 Rome, the lirst dial there, 
 
 when, 264 
 Baths erected there by 
 
 Titus Vespasian, 224. See 
 • Babylon. 
 
 Romans, Epistle to, 101. 167- 
 178, 179. 192. See D;ry. 
 Hours. Sentence. 
 
 Rubrics of the Latin church, 
 272 
 
 Ruinart, 169. 259—261. 271 
 
 Sabbath, rigour of the Jews 
 respecting, 131. 163. 1&6 
 
 Sacrifices, 163. 16S 
 
 Sadducees, 1S6, J 87 
 
 their question re- 
 specting the soul, 98, 99 
 
 Sallust, 161 
 
 Salmasius, 179 
 
 Samaritans, the, 111. IS*, 190. 
 
 See Parable. 
 Sandys, 252 
 Satan, 185 
 bchmidius, 73. 220 
 Scott, 117 
 
 Scribes, 130. 186. 286 
 Seeker, 65 
 
 Selden, 106 
 
 Sereca, 267, 268 
 
 Sentence among the Romans 
 followed by immediate exe- 
 cution, 253 
 
 Septuagint, 58. 88. 257 
 
 Sepulchre. See Grave. Soldiers. 
 
 Sermon on the Mount, 124 — 
 127- 2S7 
 
 Servius, 246 
 
 Seventy, mission of, 107 
 
 Shaw, 86. 134. 240 
 
 Simon the Cyrenian, 177, 179- 
 252 
 
 Simon Magus, 112 
 
 Simon, Pere, 176. 210 
 
 Smyrna, church of, 259 — 261 
 
 Soldiers, that guarded the se- 
 pulchre, their report, 117. 
 135, 136 
 
 Sophronius, 36. 3S 
 
 Soul, nature of, 192 
 
 intermediate slate of, 192 
 
 1 — 196. See Sadducees. 
 
 Sower. Sec Parable. 
 
 Spain. See Hours. 
 
 Spanheim, 41, 42 
 
 Spartian, 267 
 
 Spectator, incidents that cha- 
 racterize the narration oft 10. 
 24. 58. 66. 152 
 
 EmiurXttnig, 171. 176 
 
 Spirit, Holy. See Holy. 
 
 Stephen, St. See Persecution. 
 
 Stuart, 264 
 
 Suetonius, 201. 224. 266— 2G8 
 Suiecr, 210, 211. 226 
 Sun-dial. See Rome. 
 Superscription on the cross, ac- 
 count of, 199—202 
 Surenhusius, 93. 100. 183 
 Synagogue, what, 185 
 Syriac Version, 235 
 Syro-phoenieian, meaningof, 83 
 Tacitus, 134 
 Talents. See Parable. 
 Tartarus, 203 
 Tatian, 194 
 Tatius. See Achilles. 
 
312 
 
 INDEX OF PERSONS AND THINGS. 
 
 Temple at Jerusalem, 249 
 
 daily service &c. of, 
 
 181, 182 
 titles of sanctity as- 
 cribed to, 109. See Miracle. 
 Temptation in the wilderness, 
 9. 65. 107, 10S. 161. 184 
 Tertullian, 33—35. 38. 96. 
 
 139. 169. 271 
 Testament, the Old, titles of, 
 
 100. See Quotation. 
 Thales, 258 
 Theodoras, 36 — 38 
 Theology, eastern, 223 
 Theophi'his, 211. 215, 216 
 Theophylact, 19, 20. 29. 38 
 Thessulonians, Epistles to, 101. 
 192 
 
 Thief. See Penitent. 
 Thieves, trial of the two, 253 
 Tiberias, situation of, 237 
 Tiberius apologized for using- a 
 
 Greek word, 201 
 Titus Vespasian. See Rome. 
 Toinard, 40. 73. 75. 256 
 Traditio, 210 
 
 Transfiguration, 9. 156. J60, 
 161. 187. 191- 196. 203,204 
 
 Translations by different per- 
 son-; bcldum alike, 62 
 
 Treasury, casting of money 
 into, 146. 172 
 
 Trvpho, 123. 129 
 
 Twells, 65 230 
 
 Twehe, the word used for the 
 Apostles, 110, 111 
 
 • mie ion of, 107- 162. 
 
 See Apostles. 
 
 Van ! 172 
 
 Valerius Maximus, 201 
 
 Varro, 264. 271 
 Victor, 34. 38 
 
 Virgil, 99. 183, 184. 236. 266 
 
 Virgin, the blessed, annuncia- 
 tion of, 21 
 
 lineage of, 183 
 
 Virgins. See Parable. 
 
 Vitruvius, 270 
 
 Usher, 132. 259, 260 
 
 Vulgate, 95. 110. 141. 210. 
 234 
 
 Wake, 259 
 
 Wall, 65. 120. 143 
 
 Wandelbertus, 271 
 
 Maid, 173. 256 
 
 Watches of the night, four, 198. 
 239 
 
 military, 243. 245 
 
 Greek,' three, 193 
 
 Water, stated times of drawing, 
 
 235, 236 
 Walerland, 223 
 Wells, 120 
 
 VVetsteiu, 90. 96. 168, 235. 
 
 238. 257 
 Whitby, 5. 9. 100. 155. 163 
 Wise men, visit of, to Christ, 
 
 50. 123 
 Witsius, 65 
 
 Wolfiua, 36. 106. 171. 176. 201. 
 
 210. 248 
 Word or Logos, Divinity of, 
 
 17- 222 
 Xanthkus, the month, 259 
 Xenophon, 119. 14S. 198. 
 
 236 
 
 Year. See Macedonian. 
 Young, 195 
 TTf ? iov, 148 
 Zaccheus, 18. 190. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 John Nichols and Son, Printers, 
 Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London. 
 
\ 
 
\ 
 
1 1012 01196 5482 
 
 Date Due 
 
 ; V 'JULTV