These were tidings that rendered the dismal abode of John more cheerful than the palace of his persecutors. John was calm, tranquil, and happy in his dungeon, while the wretched Herod and his abandoned partner were a prey to the worst of passions.

Herod's intention, perhaps, was to keep John in close confinement; but Herodias entertained a deadly hatred against the holy man, and "having a quarrel against him, she fastened upon him, as a ferocious beast does upon its prey." Mark vi. 19.

An opportunity soon presented itself to the merciless Herodias, and she was not backward in seizing it for her sanguinary purpose. Herod kept his birth-day in much state, and "made a great supper for his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee." On that occasion, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, by her lawful husband Philip, was sent by her mother to dance before the company.

The king was so delighted with the performance of Salome, that he bound himself by an oath to give her "whatever she should ask, even to the half of his kingdom." Herod little thought what a dreadful price he was to pay for the entertainment which he had received. The whole of his kingdom was of infinitely less value than his soul; and yet this was the recompence demanded. Salome hastened to inform her mother of the promise which had been made her by Herod; and having received her instructions, she entered the royal presence, and required "the head of John the Baptist in a charger."

Herod was astonished and troubled at the shocking request. "He was very sorry; yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her."

Thus, rather than break a rash promise, made in a fit of intemperance, Herod yielded to the commission of a crime at which his nature revolted. But he was entangled in the snares of guilt, and like Ahab had "sold himself to another Jezebel, to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord." The deed

was done in the darkness of the night, and perhaps the Baptist was awakened from the sweet sleep of innocence to submit his neck to the executioner. The head was conveyed to the palace, and in the presence of the assembly delivered to the damsel, who, without being shocked at the dreadful object, accepted the reward of her performance, and took it to her mother. It would seem hardly credible that so much insensibility could possess a female heart, and that at so early a period of life; but Salome was the daughter of Herodias, whose instruction and example united to deprave her mind with every vicious propensity, and an abhorrence of all that was good.

The death of John was sharp, but momentary; and though sudden, it did not find him unprepared. From the darkness and confinement of a prison, he passed to the liberty and light of heaven: and while malice was gratified with a sight of his head, and his body was carried by a few friends in silence to the grave, his immortal spirit repaired to a court, where no Herod desires to have his brother's wife; where no Herodias thirsts after the blood of a prophet; where he who hath laboured with sincerity and diligence in the work of reformation is sure to be well received; where holiness, zeal, and constancy, "are crowned and receive palms from the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world."

371

JESUS CHRIST.

Born, according to the vulgar computation, Anno Mundi 4004; crucified Anno Domini 33.

WHEN man fell from that righteousness in which he was created, and broke the covenant by which he held life and paradise, all nature sunk beneath a curse, and the human race became obnoxious to the Divine justice. "Death passed upon all men," or seized upon them all as its victims, "because all had sinned." Romans v. 12. A state of darkness and corruption succeeded to that of light and purity, and the whole world was found guilty before God. The dreadful gulf thus opened between heaven and earth, and which reached down to the regions of misery, could never have been closed by the wisdom and virtue of men or angels. To obey in every point, and to the utmost extent, the law of GOD, was out of the power of man, whose faculties were weakened, perverted, and defiled; and to expiate the sin of the world, infinitely exceeded the capacity of the most exalted among the hierarchies of heaven.

In this wretched state stood Adam and all his posterity; cut off from the Divine favour, and doomed to perdition by the justice of the Almighty. Thus separated from the fountain of life, the human soul is said to be in a state of death, having no knowledge of God, nor any desire of that "holiness without which no man shall see his face and live." It is necessary that this important fact should be felt; otherwise the volume of inspiration will be a sealed book, and the scheme of redemption must be perplexed and unintelligible. The promise of the Redeemer was

made as soon as the offence came; it was kept as an inestimable treasure by the patriarchs, and transmitted by them as a sacred trust to their descendants; it was reiterated from heaven on various occasions, and to different persons; it formed the essence of the Mosaic ritual, and was the great theme of the Psalmist, and all the prophets. But the expectation of the saints of old, was never directed to the birth of a man, or to the descent of a being less than GOD. It was well understood by them all, that salvation was the work of JEHOVAH alone, and that no created intelligence could rescue human nature from the power of hell.

St. John gives to the Messiah the appellation of the Logos, or the WORD, which was in exact conformity to the sentiment of the ancient Jewish church, in which the WORD, the Son of God, and JEHOVAH, were always regarded as the same.

This is, indeed, as the apostle of the Gentiles expresses it, a great mystery," that God should manifest himself in the flesh;" 1 Tim. iii. 16; and weli does it call for our admiration and gratitude, that "He in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead," should lay aside his majesty, descend from his throne of glory, and "be made in the likeness of sinful flesh." Romans viii. 3.

Yet nothing short of this would satisfy the demands of infinite justice; nothing less than this sacrifice could save a guilty race from destruction, and open to them the gates of eternal life. For this great event, the minds of men were prepared, by a variety of prophecies; and it is certain, that about the time when the Redeemer came, there was a general expectation of some extraordinary person about to appear in the world. They whose minds were under the influence of carnal prejudices, looked for a mighty potentate; but the quiet and simplehearted, who were dead to worldly glory, "waited for the consolation of Israel."

It was now a time of general peace throughout the

world, Augustus swayed the sceptre of almost universal dominion, and Judea, though it had a nominal monarch of its own, was, in reality, no more than a Roman province.

The "fulness of time," as determined by ancient prophecy, being come, a heavenly messenger was sent to an obscure Virgin of Nazareth, named MARY, to announce the honourable tidings that she was the person chosen to bear the promised Messiah. "Behold," says the angel Gabriel, "thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the highest; and 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." Luke i. 31-33. The pious virgin modestly replied, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" The angel then assured her that this should be accomplished by the Holy Ghost; and to confirm his declaration, he informed her, that her cousin Elizabeth had conceived a son in her old age, and that it was the sixth month with her that was called barren." This overcame the doubts of Mary, and she acquiesced in the Divine word, with a degree of faith which showed she was the true daughter of Abraham, "who believed even against hope."

Shortly after this she hastened to visit her cousin, and on entering the house, the "babe in the womb of Elizabeth leaped for joy." The mother, being at the same time divinely inspired, returned the virgin's salutation in the same words which the angel had uttered:-- "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."

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The holy effusion was caught by the blessed virgin, who expressed her joy in that sublime hymn which the Christian church has, from the earliest times, made use of in her sacred offices.

After abiding with Elizabeth three months, Mary returned to Nazareth, where Joseph, to whom she