self with less difficulty than the other, who dies surrounded by inviting objects.

If I consider death, with regard to the pains which precede and attend its approach, I confess it requires courage more than human, to be unmoved at the terrific apparatus exposed to the eyes of a martyr. But, if we except some peculiar cases, in which the tyrants have had the barbarity to prolong the lives of the sufferers, in order to extend their torments, there are few sudden deaths, which are not attended with less pain than natural death. There are few death-beds, which do not exhibit scenes more tragic than the scaffold. Pain is not more supportable, because it has symptoms less striking: nor are afflictions the less severe, because they are interior.

If I consider death, with regard to the just fear of fainting in the conflicts, in which I am about to be vanquished by the king of terrors, there are superabundant aids reserved for those who sacrifice their lives for religion. The greatest miracles have been achieved in favour of confessors and martyrs. St. Peter received some instances of the kind; but I will venture to affirm, that we have had more than he. It was on the verge of martyrdom, than an angel opened the doors of his prison. It was on the eve of martyrdom, that Paul and Silas felt the prison shake, and saw their chains broken asunder. It was in the midst of martyrdom, that Stephen saw the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. It was also in the midst of martyrdom, that Barlaam sung this psalm, Blessed be the Lord, my

strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

If I consider death, with regard to the awful tribunal before which it cites me to appear, and with regard to the eternal books about to be opened, in which are registered so many vain thoughts, so many idle words, so many criminal courses, the weight of which is heavy on my conscience; I see nothing still in the death of a martyr, that is not to he preferred to a natural death. It is allowed, that the exercise of repentance in dying circumstances, the prayers, the repeated vows, the submission to the will of God, who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, are tests of our reconciliation to him. But these tests are often deceitful! Experience but too frequently realizes what we have often said, that the dying take that for willing obedience, which is but constraint. A martyr has purer tests of his sincerity. A martyr might preserve his life, by the commission of a crime; but rather than sin he devotes it in sacrifice.

Lastly, if I consider death, with regard to the futurity into which it will cause us to enter, I see nothing but what should excite in the martyr transports of joy. He has not only the promise of celestial happiness, but celestial happiness of the highest degree. It is to the martyr, that Jesus Christ calls from the highest abodes of heaven; To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Rev. iii. 21.

But the fall of St. Peter, though deplorable in itself, becomes still more so, by its concomitant circumstances. Let us review them.

It was, first, the simple charge of a servant maid, and of a few spectators standing by, which shook his courage. Had the apostle been cited before the san hedrim; had he been legally called upon to give an account of his faith;-had the cross, to which he promised to follow his Master, been prepared before his eyes you would have said, that the magnitude of the danger striking his senses, had confounded his reason. But none of these objects were, in reality, presented. The judges, solely engaged in gratifying their fury against the Master, did not so much as think upon the servant. A maid spake, and her voice recalled the idea of the council, the death, and the cross, and filled his soul with horror at the thought.

Secondly, St. Peter was warned; Jesus Christ had declared to him, in general, that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat; and, in particular, that he would three times deny him that very night. A caution so salutary, ought to have induced him to redouble his vigilance; to fortify the place he had discovered so weak; and to avoid a danger, of the magnitude of which he had been apprised. When a man is surprised by an unforeseen temptation; when he falls into a precipice, of which he was not aware, he is worthy of more compassion than blame. But here is a crime, known, revealed, and predicted.

The third circumstance is derived from the abundant knowledge, communicated to our apostle. Against the offence of our Saviour's humiliation, he 44

VOL. VII.

had been peculiarly fortified; he had heard a voiće from the excellent glory on the holy mountain; he had been apprised more than any other disciple, that the sufferings of Christ were connected with the scheme of redemption.

The fourth circumstance is derived from the high office with which St. Peter was invested; from the commission he had received from his Master, in common with the other members of the apostolic college to go and preach the kingdom of heaven; and from this declaration, Thou art Peter, upon this rock will I build my church. This man, called to build up the church, gave it one of the severest injuries it could possibly have received. This man, called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, declared he knew him not. This man, constituted an established minister of his religion, became an apostate, and risked the drawing with him into the same gulf, the souls with whose salvation he had been entrusted. Some faults affect none but the offenders, but others have a general influence on all the church. And such, ministers of the living God, are our faults! Our example is contagious, it diffuses a baneful poison on all those, over whom Providence has appoint ed us to watch.

The oaths he used to confirm his denial are a fifth circumstance. Not content with dissimulation, he denied. Not content with a threefold denial, he denied with an oath.

My brethren, do you understand in these provinces, all that is execrable in the crime of perjury? I doubt it. A perjured man is one who takes the God

who bears the motto of Faithful and true Witness, to attest an assertion, of the falsehood of which he cannot be ignorant. A perjured person is one who defies the power of Almighty God; who says, in order to deceive, "Great God! thou holdest thunderbolts in thy hand, launch them this moment at my head, if I do not speak as I think. Great God! thou decidest the destiny of my immortal soul, plunge it in hell, if the sentiments of my heart are not conformable to the words of my tongue." Hence, when St. Peter disavowed his knowledge of Jesus Christ, it was saying in fact, "Yes, Great God! if I know this man, of having connexion with whom I am now questioned, to be my Master; if I have heard celestial voices, saying, This is my beloved Son; if I have seen him transfigured on the holy mountain; if I have heard his sermons; if I have attested his miracles; if that indeed be true, may I be the object of thy everlasting abhorrence and

revenge.

The sixth circumstance is the period at which St. Peter disowned Jesus Christ. At the instant Jesus Christ displayed the tenderest marks of his love, St. Peter discovered the most cruel ingratitude. At the moment Jesus Christ was about to redeem St. Peter, this apostle disowned his Master. At the moment Jesus Christ was about to lay down his life for St. Peter, at the moment he was going to endure for him the death of the cross, this apostle refused to acknowledge him.

Ah! human virtue! how feeble thou art, whenever the breath of the Almighty, by which thou