[thee; and through the rivers, they fhall not overflow thee': when thou walkeft through the fire, thou fhalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Are "a thousand years in his fight but as yefterday, when it is paft, and as a watch in the night ?" And do we spend our years as a tale that is told ?" "See then that ye walk circumfpèftly, not as fools but as wife: redeeming the time, because the days are evil." There is no commodity which men trifle with fo fadly, when they have it at command, as time; and no one the loss of which they fo bitterly deplore, when it is in their power ro longer. Account every inftant critical and decifive, for undoubtedly many are fo. Remember that you are the disciples of him who faith of himself ; I muft work the work of him that fent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

LECTURE

LECTURE XXII.

MATTHEW, VIII. 5-12, and LUKE, VII. 1—10.

And when Jefus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto. him a Centurion, befeeching him, and faying, Lord, my fervant leth at home fick of the pally, grievously tormented, and Jefus faith unto him, I will come and heal him. The Centurion an/wered and Jaid, Lord, I am not worthy that thou fhoulaeft come under my roof: But fpeak the word only, and my fervant fhall be healed. For I am a man under authority. having foldiers under me, and I fay to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh; and to my fervant, do this, and he doeth it. When Jefus heard it he marvelled, and faid to them that followed, verily I fay unto you, I have not found fo great faith, no not in irael. And I fay unto you, that many fhall come from the east and west, and fhall fit down with Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the children of the kingdom fhall be caft out into outer darkness: there fhall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jejus Jaid unto the Centurion, go thy way, and as thou haft believed, fo be it done unto thee. And his fervant was healed in the felf-fame hour.-Now when he had ended all his fayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain Centurion's fervant, who was dear unto him, was fick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jejus, he jent unto him the elders of the Jews, befeeching him that he would come and heal his fervant. And when. they came to Jefus, they befought him inftantly, faying, that he was worthy for whom he should do this: for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a fynagogue. Then Jefus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the Centurion fent friends to him, Jaying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyjelf; for I am not worthy that thou shouldeft enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I my eff worthy to come unto thee: but jay in a word, and my fervant fhall be healed. For I alfo am a man jet under authority, having under me joldiers; and Ijay unto one go, and he goet and to another, come, and he cometh; and to my fervant, do this, and

be

he doeth it. When Jefus heard, these things he marvelled at, him, and turned him about, and jaid unto the people that fol lowed him, Ijay unto you, I have not found fo great faith, no not in Ifrael. And they that were fent returning to the houje found the fervant whole that had been fick.

THE various orders of men which exift in fociety are a de-monftration that fociety is in a, very. imperfect and corupt ftate. Reftore everlasting and univerfal peace to a troub led world, and the profeffion of a foldier is at an end. There were then no “battle of the warrior, with confused noife, and garments rolled in blood." While injuftice, violence and cruelty are in the world, there must be tribunals, and prifons and fcaffolds. The ravages of difeafe, and the thoufand accidents to which human lite is expofed, render neceffary, the interpofition of the healing art. When the time of the reftitution of all things fhall come the office of public inftructor hall ceafe. "They fhall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, laying, know the Lord: for all fhall know me, from the leaft to the greateft." To this bleffed confummation we are encouraged to look forward, when the fpirit of love fhall abforb the flame of difcord, and make the fword drop from the hand of the man of war; when the courts fhall be fhut and the prifon-doors thrown open, because fraud and vio lence are no more; when, in the beautifully figurative language of the. prophet, "The wolf alfo fhall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard fhall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child fhall lead them. And the cow and the bear fhall feed ; their young ones fhall lie down together and the lion fhall, eat fraw like the ox. And the fucking child fhall play on the hole of the afp, and the weaned child fhall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They fhall not hurt nor deftroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth fhall be full of the knowledge, of, the Lord, as the waters cover the fea.".

Certain profeffions, it has been alleged, have in their very nature a corruptive quality. That of the military man is fuppofed to be of this number. The vulgar affociate with it the ideas of infolence, ferocity, licentioufness, and of other hateful qualities. Like every other general cenfure, this too muft be taken with many grains of allowance, and candour must admit that there are excellent men of every profeffion; and, in the cafe of illuftrious exceptions from the generality of the flig matized orders, higher praife is undoubtedly due to thofe who have the courage to refift, and frength to overcome the tempta

tions to which their manner of life, and the very means of earning their fubfiftence expofe them, than to perfons who had no fuch difficulties to encounter. Of this defcription are the no bleman, and the Roman centurion of Capernaum. The hifto ry of the former, as far as connected with that of our blessed Lord, was the fubject of the laft Lecture, that of the latter is now to be the ground of our meditation. The two perfonages present a ftriking refemblance to each other, in their perfonal character, in their condition of life, in the circumstances which brought them acquainted with the Saviour of the world. They dwelt in the fame city, perhaps in habits of intimacy, for the good naturally attract and allociate with the good; the one a courtier, the other an officer of very confiderable rank; both, men of humanity, of gentle manners, of amiable, of noble deportment; the one a fuppliant in behalf of a darling child, labouring under an attack of the fever, the other in behalf of a favourite fervant, attacked by a violent paralytic affection; both fuccefsful in their application, and both deeply impreffed with the character of their great Benefactor. With fo many marks of refemblance, the two little hiftories difplay a lovely, affecting and inftructive variety, tending to unfold the various fhades of the human mind, in the changing fcenes of human life, and. equally tending to illuftrate the grace and power of Christ, ever ready to meet every cafe, adapted alike to the relief of the bodies and of the fouls of men.

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The perfon who applied to Jefus Chrift on this occafion was a centurion, that is, as the word iinports, an officer in the Ro man army who had a hundred men under his command. It correfponded nearly to the rank of captain in our military ef tablishment. Judea was at this time a conquered province, in fubjection to the authority of a Roman governor, and keot in awe by Roman foldiery. The Jews vainly boasted that they were Abraham's feed, and were never in bondage to any man:" whereas it was notorious to the whole world that from the days of Egyptian bondage, down to the defpotifm of Tiberius Celar, their intervals of liberty had been few, tranfient and interrupted; and at that very moment they were murmuring under the preffure of a galling yoke, imposed on their neck, and kept there, by the ftrong hand of power; and Jefus Christ convicts them of being in fubjection to a yoke flill more galling and difgraceful: "whoíoever committeth fin is the Iervant of fin." But fuch are the felf-delufions which men practile. Every Roman foldier who was feen, every Roman coin that circulated through the land demonftrated that they were not a free people. Indeed they were not worthy to be

fo, for they never enjoyed liberty without abufing it. on Hap by was it for the diítrict of Capernaum to be under a government to mild and moderate as that of this good centurion.

The two Evangelists who have recorded this fact, differ in fome circumstances of their narration. In reading St. Matthew's account we are led to fuppofe that the centurion made perfonal application to Chrift, for the cure of his fervant, whereas in the more circumftantial account of the tranfaction, tranfmitted to us by St. Luke, we find that the application was made in the firft inftance, through the medium of "the elders pi the Jews." But there is no real difference between the two hiftorians. It was a maxim among the Jews, a man's proxy is the man himself," and it is fill a rale among Civilians, "What we do by another we are adjudged to have, done ourfelves." In a procefs of law, a party is faid to come into court, and to have made fuch areprefentation, though he appeared only by his counfel or folicitor. Thus Jeturo caine to Mofes first by a meffenger, with thefe words in his mouta; "I thy father-in-law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two children." On receiving this meflage, Moles went out to enjoy a perfonal interview with his family. Thus, Solomon fent ambaffadors to Hiram, who were to addrefs him not in the plural number, but in the first person fingular, as it Solomon himfelf had fpoken the words face to face; "behold, I purpofe to build an houfe unto the name of the Lord my God' and Hiram fairly confiders himfelt as "hearing the words of Solomon." Thus the two fons of Zebedee came to Chrift, with a petition, through the medium of their mother; and thus John Baptift, now fhut up in a prifon, addreffed himfelt to Jelus by two of his difciples, faying, "Art thou he that thould come, or do we look for another." Matthew, in conformity to this mode of fpeech and thought, reprefents the centurion as coming in perfon to Chrift, though at first, through modefty and humility, he thought proper to employ the interceffion of others.

We have here a fingularly pleafant opening, into a good mind. This man was accustomed to command, not to fupplicate, to dictate not to bend. But fuch is his veneration for the perfon and character of Chrift, that he is awed at the thought of appearing in his prefence; inftead of reforting to the exereife of authority, he has recourfe to entreaty, and hopes from the interpofition of men better than himself what he dared not to afk on his own account. Does this bring his courage under fufpicion? Is it likely that fuch a man would turn his back in the day of battle? No, furely. It is the coward that ftruts,

and