for all; it presents the cup of life to a dying world; it says, "Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye and drink.”.

Fellow-churchmen, you have heard the message, and you have, I hope, embraced it; you have bowed down, and you have drank; you have felt the life-giving influence of the stream that you have imbibed. Then do your utmost to give others an opportunity of hearing; and from hearing, of thirsting; and from thirsting, of coming to drink. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come:". say you also to your poor benighted countrymen, "Let him that heareth come, let him that is athirst come." Tell them they are welcome, in the darkest corner of our busy land; and "let whosoever will, take of the water of life freely;" come, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price." T. E.

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EXTRACTS FROM FOUR LECTURES ON ADVENT.*

LECT. II.-The Suddenness of Christ's Second Coming. THE Scriptures employ many illustrations to instruct us in this doctrine. Our Lord himself, in a passage quoted in the former discourse, expressly tells us, "of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." And he uses parables to convey the same fact. For instance, in the parable of the ten virgins, the bridegroom is represented as coming at midnight, a time when the bridal company, wearied with waiting, had fallen into slumber. In another parable, he speaks of himself as the master of a family, who had left for a while his house. His servants, he proceeds, in consequence, abuse his absence to their own dissipation and licentiousness. But, continues our Saviour, when "that evil servant shall say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming,

the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of." (Matt. xxiv. 48-50.) He further likens his approach to the secret attack of a thief: "this know, that if the good man of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through." (Luke, xii. 39.) This last comparison is very frequently repeated. St. Paul employs and amplifies it, in writing to the Thessalonian Church: "yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child." (1 Thess. v. 2, 3.) St. Peter reiterates it: "the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night." (2 Pet. iii. 10). St. John, in the Revelation, introduces One as saying, "behold, I come as a thief: blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev. xvi. 15.) And he closes the volume of inspiration with the solemn assurance: "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Rev. xxii. 20.)

Sometimes the history of former ages is appealed to, as in my text, to shew that God's terrible judgments have generally been executed when they were little expected. At the flood, men despised the warning, which Noah, a preacher of righteousness, was By the Rev. John Ayre. Published by Seeley and Burnside, 1835.

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commanded to give them; they mocked the preparations which he was making for the safety of his household. They consequently ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." The destruction of

Sodom was equally unexpected. When Lot, by direction of the angels, entreated his sons-in-law to escape the danger which impended over them, he seemed, we are told," as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law." And so "they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all." The last judgment on the Egyptians was similar. In spite of former plagues, Pharaoh persisted in refusing to let the children of Israel go; he threatened Moses and Aaron that, if they saw his face again, they should be

:

put to death; supposing possibly that now the Lord had done his worst. But it came to pass that at midnight," in the hour of security," the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the first-born of cattle and Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians : and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." (Exod. xii. 29, 30.) And such was the desolation of Babylon. Though the city was beleaguered, yet she laughed her enemies to scorn; she sat like a queen upon her waters; she trusted in her lofty walls and brazen gates, and said, "I shall see no sorrow." And then there was revelry in the palace: "the king made a great feast," and he and "his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." In that hour of their security and merriment, came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote upon the palace-wall the sentence of destruction. And in the same night was execution done: "In that night was Belshazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain," and his kingdom was given to the Medes and Persians. (Dan. v.)

I might adduce many other awful examples; but those to which I have referred are sufficient to shew you that it is God's ordinary plan to bring sudden ruin on his enemies. . . . . I believe that it will be so at Christ's second coming. . . . .

Inferences. We must suffer no frivolous objections to weaken in our minds the force of this truth. It has been said, for instance, that many generations of men have passed away since that to whom, especially, the warnings of my text, about our Lord's coming, were addressed; and yet the judgment is not come.

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How,

I

it is urged, is this fact to be reconciled with the repeated assurances of the nearness of his approach? and does it not prove to us that we need be in no such immediate expectation? I reply, that the Scripture expression" the coming of the Lord," intends, not one or two events merely, but, more generally, any remarkable interference of God's power, most fre quently for the infliction of judgment. This may, think, without difficulty be proved, as I will endeavour to shew by a few quotations. In "the burden of Egypt," we read, Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it" (Is. xix. 1); which prediction was accomplished in the anarchy which prevailed in Egypt after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, in the conquest of that country by Nebuchadnezzar, and in the cruel sway which he and his successors, and afterwards the Persian kings, held over the wretched inhabitants. Again, our Lord says, "Verily, I say unto you, there be some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of

Man coming in his kingdom." (Matt. xvi. 28.) I cannot believe the interpretation proposed, that this prophecy was fulfilled in our Lord's transfiguration, which certain of the disciples beheld, would ever have been seriously thought of, had it not been to prop up a system. The common-sense explanation is, as appears to me, that Christ referred to the destruction of Jerusalem. Further, when St. Paul writes, "Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand," (Phil. iv. 4,) it is not likely that he meant, either the final consummation of all things, for he could not be ignorant that that was many ages distant; or even the destruction of Jerusalem, for it is not easy to see what peculiar visitation of the Philippian Church would result from that event. He doubtless intended "that hour of temptation," which was coming " upon all the world, to try them that dwelt upon the earth;" that sharp persecution, which would sift them, and prove their faith, wherein many should attain the crown of martyrdom, and should thus have the strongest proof, that the present life was vanishing, and its distinctions not worth craving. Neither can a personal coming be predicted in the passage, "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." (James, v. 8.) And once more, in the epistles to the Asiatic Churches, we read, "I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev. ii. 5). "Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth" (Rev. ii. 16). "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come on thee" (Rev. iii. 3). That these predictions have been certainly accomplished, is clear from the testimony of all modern travellers, who assure us that the Churches are in precisely the miserable condition to which our Lord threatened that he would bring them. But how have they been accomplished? by what kind of coming? by a personal appearance? no: but by the flood of desolation which rolled over the eastern world, when the disciples of the Arabian false prophet propagated with the sword their master's tenets, and reduced what had once been " the garden of the Lord" to a waste and blighted, parched and howling wilderness. There has been therefore no lack of fulfilment of the prophetic denunciations of the Lord's coming. But there is one grand coming, when he shall be literally revealed in flaming fire. From the solemnities of this, circumstances have been borrowed to describe the former figurative advents; and so far from invalidating the evidence of his literal appearance, the lapse of ages, during which there have been the accomplishments of all other judgments, strengthens the assurance that this shall be accomplished also. stead of admitting, therefore, that we need be in no immediate expectation, we ought to recollect that every hour is hurrying us towards the consummation of all things, and adding to the probabilities of its near approach. As I have said, quoting our Saviour's words, "of that day knoweth no man," with any degree of precision: but I profess to you, if I look with common attention around me, I see many signs of "the last days." The great drama of the world seems winding to its close. Events, prophetically announced, appear hastening to completion; and for aught that you or I can tell, our living eyes may look on that which our fathers have not seen. anticipating the subject of the next discourse. I would only here add, that what has been said of the suddenness of judgment, applies with momentous interest to the uncertain ravages of death. Death, to the individual, is the same in its consequence as judgment. And I stand on no conjectural ground when I say, that there are those before me who soon-ay, very soon-shall be hurried, by the unexpected summons of death, into the awful presence of God. O, are ye ready to meet him?

In

But I am

I have one more observation. If judgment be so sudden and destructive, we are bound to resort to a safe retreat. When a wide-spread desolation overwhelms the land, it is not every place of refuge that will afford security. When the flood came upon the world, multitudes, no doubt, scaled the mountains, and imagined that there they should be beyond the reach of the tempestuous billows. But the waters prevailed above the highest mountain-top, and the ark only, into which the Lord had shut his people, was a place of deliverance. When Lot was warned to go forth from Sodom, he was assured that he must not tarry any where in the plain, for there, too, destruction would overtake him he must flee unto the mountain, the appointed refuge, if he would not be consumed. And so against the coming judgment, beware that you have a stable hope. Your moral conduct will not save you; your fear of punishment will not save you; your resolutions of amendment will not save you. These, like the mountain-tops, would disappear, one after another, surmounted by the flood. Nothing will save you but the ark of mercy, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ embraced by faith. Men will mock you when you speak of danger; they will tell you that you need not be too earnest about religion but the Scriptures tell you that it is the one thing needful," the pervading principle which ought to rule your thoughts, and words, and actions. Men will tell you that God is merciful, and will excuse your imperfections: but the Scriptures tell you that he will by no means clear the guilty." Continuing in sin, you must be ruined. You cannot escape, except, urged as it were by angel-hands, you seek the Rock of Ages, and lay hold on Christ, not in a mere cold, formal way, but with heart, and soul, and warm affections, taking him for your Lord and your God.

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PLAGUES OF EGYPT.*

THE manner in which the divine Head of the Jewish Church appealed to the common sense of the Israelites against the idolatry of Egypt, is wonderfully exemplified in the history of the plagues of Egypt. The miracles of Moses had now arrested their attention, and their hopes of an early deliverance from their bondage must have been proportionably excited. Yet many of the Israelites were still followers of the surrounding idolatry; and the mercy of Providence displayed itself in proving to them the utter worthlessness of all the idols and false gods, on whom the proud, the learned, and the scientific Egyptians so vainly depended.

The first plague demonstrated the superiority of Jehovah over their imaginary river-gods; the Nile was turned into blood, the object of peculiar abhorrence to the Egyptians. The second effort of power on the part of Moses filled the river with frogs, and its streams by this means became a second time polluted, to the utter confusion both of their gods and priests. The land also was equally defiled, and they had no way to cleanse themselves, for every stream and every lake was in a state of pollution. The frog was held sacred by the Egyptians, and was regarded as an emblem of preservation in floods and inundations. The plague of lice reproved the absurd superstition which demanded external purity alone. The Egyptians considered it a great profanation of the temple, if they entered it with any animalculæ upon them of this sort. The people in general wore a linen garment over another of linen; but they laid aside the former when they approached their deities, for fear it should harbour vermin; and although their rites were most filthy and contemptible, they were carried on with a most scrupulous shew of purity and cleanliness. The fourth plague must have

* From Rev. George Townsend's "Arrangement of the Old Testament."

Ghost had made him overseer" for several years longer. We have no details of his proceedings preserved to our times; but early writers testify to his meekness, constancy, and unflinching adherence to the Christian cause in his public official capacity, as well as to the excellence of his conversation in the world, having been, in all respects, such as became the Gospel of Christ." The persecution, which Trajan had put a stop to, was renewed by Adrian; and in the reign of M. Antoninus, that persecution waxing hot at Smyrna, it lighted, with all its rage, upon this great and good man, who, at a very advanced age, was called to swell the "noble army of martyrs," the ranks of those whose names are irradiated with so bright a lustre for having "hazarded" and yielded up "their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

In the writings of Eusebius is an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, contained in an epistle, written just after his death, from the Church of Smyrna to that of Philadelphia, or Philomelium, in Lycaonia. For a long time after Polycarp's death, there was a yearly commemoration of his martyrdom by the Asiatic Churches, when the epistle in question was publicly read. It is a document of undoubted genuineness and deep interest. The original of this epistle is in Cotelerius's Patres Apostolici, and in Ruinart's Acts of the Martyrs. Archbishop Wake's version of it I now proceed to give at full length.

"The most admirable Polycarp, when he first heard that he was called for, was not at all concerned at it, but resolved to tarry in the city: nevertheless he was at the last persuaded, and departed into a little village, not far distant from the city, and there tarried, with a few about him, night and day praying for all men, and for the Churches, which were in all the world, according to his usual custom. And, as he was praying, he saw a vision three days before he was taken; and behold the pillow under his head seemed to him on fire: whereupon, turning to those that were with him, he said, prophetically, that he should be burnt alive. Now when those who were to take him drew near, he departed into another village; and immediately they who sought him came thither. And when they found him not, they seized upon two young men that were there, one of which, being tormented, confessed. For it was impossible he should be concealed, forasmuch as they who betrayed him were his own domestics. So the officer, who is also called xλŋpovóμos (justice of the peace), Herod by name, hastened to bring him into the lists; that so Polycarp might receive his proper portion, being made partaker of Christ, and they that betrayed him undergo the punishment of Judas. The sergeant, therefore, and horsemen, taking the young lad along with them, departed about suppertime (being Friday), with their usual arms, as it were against a thief or a robber. And being come to the place where he was, about the close of the evening, they found him lying down in a little upper-room, from whence he could easily have escaped into another place, but he would not, saying, The will of the Lord be done.' Wherefore, when he heard that they were come to the house, he went down, and spake to them. And, as they that were present wondered at his age and constancy, some of them began to say, 'Was there need of all this care to take such an old man?' Then, presently, he ordered that the same hour there should be somewhat got ready for them, that they might eat and drink their fill; desiring them withal that they would give him one hour's liberty the while to pray without disturbance. And when they had permitted him, he stood praying, being full of the grace of God, so that he ceased not for two whole hours, to the admiration of all that heard him; insomuch that many of the soldiers began to repent that they were come out against so godly an old man. As soon as he had done his prayer, the guards set him upon an ass, and so brought him into the city, being the day of the great

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Sabbath. And Herod, the chief officer, with his father Nicetas, met him in a chariot: and having taken him up to them, and set him in the chariot, they began to persuade him, saying, What harm is there in it to say Lord Cæsar, and sacrifice, and so be safe?' But Polycarp at first answered them not: whereupon, they continuing to urge him, he said, 'I shall not do what you persuade me to.' So, being out of all hope of prevailing with him, they began first to rail at him, and then, with violence, threw him out of the chariot, insomuch that he hurt his thigh with the fall. But he, not turning back, went on readily with all diligence, as if he had received no harm at all, and so was brought to the lists, where there was so great a tumult that nobody could be heard. As he was going into the lists, there came a voice from heaven to him, Be strong, Polycarp, and quit thyself like a man.' Now no one saw who it was that spake to him; but for the voice, many of our brethren, who were present, heard it. And as he was brought in there was a great disturbance, when they heard how that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him, whether he was Polycarp; who, confessing that he was, he persuaded him to deny the faith, saying, Reverence thy old age;' with many other things of the like nature, as their custom is; concluding thus, Swear by Cæsar's fortune; repent, and say, Take away the wicked.' Then Polycarp, looking with a stern countenance upon the whole multitude of wicked Gentiles that was gathered together in the lists, and shaking his hand at them, looked up to heaven, and, groaning, said, Take away the wicked.' But the proconsul, insisting, and saying, 'Swear, and I will set thee at liberty; reproach Christ;' Polycarp replied, Eighty and six years have I now served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong; how, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?' And when the proconsul nevertheless still insisted, saying, Swear by the genius of Cæsar;' he answered, Seeing thou art so vainly urgent with me that I should swear, as thou callest it, by the genius of Cæsar, seeming as if thou didst not know what I am, hear me freely professing it to thee, that I am a Christian. But if thou farther desirest an account of what Christianity is, appoint a day, and thou shalt hear it.' The proconsul replied, 'Persuade the people.' Polycarp answered, 'To thee have I offered to give a reason of my faith; for so are we taught to pay all due honour (such only excepted as would be hurtful to ourselves) to the powers and authorities, which are ordained of God. But for the people, I esteem them not worthy, that I should give any account of my faith to them. The proconsul continued, and said unto him, I have wild beasts ready; to those I will cast thee, except thou repent.' He answered, Call for them, then; for we Christians are fixed in our minds not to change from good to evil. But for me it will be good to be changed from evil to good.' The proconsul added, Seeing thou despisest the wild beasts, I will cause thee to be devoured by fire, unless thou shalt repent.' Polycarp answered, Thou threatenest me with fire, which burns for an hour, and so is extinguished; but knowest not the fire of the future judgment, and of that eternal punishment which is reserved for the ungodly. But why tarriest thou? Bring forth what thou wilt!' Having said this, and many other things of the like nature, he was filled with confidence and joy, insomuch that his very countenance was full of grace; so that the proconsul was struck with astonishment, and sent his crier into the middle of the lists to proclaim three several times, Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian;' which being done by the crier, the whole multitude, both of the Gentiles and of the Jews which dwelt at Smyrna, being full of fury, cried out with a loud voice, 'This is the doctor of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of

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our gods; he that has taught so many not to sacrifice nor to pay any worship to the gods.' And, saying this, they cried out, and desired Philip the Asiarch, that he would let loose a lion against Polycarp. But Philip replied that it was not lawful for him to do so, because that kind of spectacle was already over. Then it pleased them to cry out, with one consent, that Polycarp should be burnt alive. For so it was necessary that the vision should be fulfilled which was made manifest unto him by his pillow, when, seeing it on fire as he was praying, he turned about and said prophetically to the faithful that were with him, I must be burnt alive!' This, therefore, was done with greater speed than it was spoke; the whole multitude instantly gathering together wood and faggots, out of the shops and baths: the Jews especially, according to their custom, with all readiness assisting them in it. When the fuel was ready, Polycarp, laying aside all his upper garments, and undoing his girdle, tried also to pull off his clothes underneath, which aforetime he was not wont to do; forasmuch as, always, every one of the Christians that was about him contended who should

soonest touch his flesh. For he was truly adorned by his good conversation with all kind of piety even before his martyrdom. This being done, when they would have also nailed him to the stake, he said, 'Let me alone as I am for He who has given me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to stand without moving in the pile.' Wherefore they did not nail him, but only tied him to it. But he having put his hands behind him, looked up to heaven and said, 'O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy well-beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of thee; the God of angels and powers, and of every creature, and especially of the whole race of just men who live in thy presence; I give thee hearty thanks that thou hast vouchsafed to bring me to this day and to this hour; that I should have a part in the number of thy martyrs, in the cup of thy Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, in the incorruption of the Holy Ghost. Among which may I be accepted this day before thee, as a fat and acceptable sacrifice; as thou the true God, with whom is no falsehood, hast both before ordained, and manifested unto me, and also hast now fulfilled it. For this, and for all things else, I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee, by the eternal and heavenly High-Priest, Jesus Christ, thy beloved Son; with whom, to thee and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all succeeding ages, Amen.' He had no sooner pronounced aloud Amen, and finished his prayer, but they who were appointed to be his executioners lighted the fire. And when the flame began to blaze to a very great height, behold, a wonderful miracle appeared to us who had the happiness to see it, and who were reserved by Heaven to report to others what had happened. For the flame, making a kind of arch, like the sail of a ship filled with the wind, encompassed, as in a circle, the body of the holy martyr, who stood in the midst of it, not as if his flesh were burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold or silver glowing in the furnace. Moreover, so sweet a smell came from it, as if frankincense or some rich spices had been smoking there. At length, when those wicked men saw that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded the executioner, (or one of the javelin-men who were stationed in readiness to kill the beasts at these spectacles, if they became unmanageable), to go near to him and stick his dagger in him; which being accordingly done, there came forth so great a quantity of blood as even extinguished the fire, and raised an admiration in all the people. But the wicked adversary of the race of the just took all possible care that not the least remainder of his body should be taken away by us, although many desired to do it, and to be made partakers of his holy flesh. And to that end, be suggested it to Nicetas, the

father of Herod and the brother of Alcé, to go to the governor, and hinder him from giving us his body to be burned. Lest (says he) forsaking him that was crucified, they should begin to worship this Polycarp.' And this he said at the suggestion and instance of the Jews, who also watched us that we should not take him out of the fire; not considering that neither is it possible for us ever to forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of all such who shall be saved throughout the whole world, the righteous for the ungodly;' nor worship any other besides him. For him, indeed, as being the Son of God, we do adore: but for the martyrs, we worthily love them, as the disciples and followers of our Lord; and upon the account of their exceeding great affection towards their Master and their King. Of whom may we also be made companions and fellowdisciples! The centurion, therefore, seeing the contention of the Jews, put his body into the midst of the fire, and so consumed it. After which, we taking up his bones, more precious than the richest jewels, and tried above gold, deposited them where it was fitting: where, being gathered together as we have opportunity, with joy and gladness, the Lord shall grant unto us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have suffered, and for the exercise and preparation of those that may hereafter suffer."

Eleven other Christians, of inferior fame, suffered with Polycarp. Doubts have been entertained as to the precise year when he suffered; but, if we follow the evidence arising out of Eusebius's account, we shall assign it to the year 167; and this is the date generally held to be the correct one. The greater part of the amphitheatre on which he suffered was said to be remaining not many years ago; and his tomb, which is in a little chapel in the side of a mountain, on the south-east side of the city, was religiously visited by the Greeks on the anniversary of the martyrdom; and it was usual for travellers to throw into a vessel, which stood there for the purpose, a few aspers (the asper is a Turkish coin, worth about three farthings) for the repairs of the tomb.

Polycarp is said to have written several homilies and letters to the Churches near Smyrna; but none have come down to us. His epistle to the Philippians, however, is in existence, nearly entire, in the original Greek. Apart from the external evidence of the genuineness of this epistle, from its having been quoted by Eusebius, the contents strongly support its claims. The advice and exhortations given in it accord closely with those of the apostles, and with the known apostolical spirit of Polycarp himself: it appears to have been read, in St. Jerome's time, in the public assemblies of the Asiatic Churches. It is very important, as corroborating the authenticity of the books of the New Testament; for it has several passages and expressions from Matthew, Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul's epistles to the Philippians, Ephesians, Galatians, Corinthians, Romans, Thessalonians, Colossians, first epistle to Timothy; from the first epistle of St. John, and first of St. Peter: it contains also an express reference to St. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians. D.

CONTINUANCE IN THE FAITH:
A Sermon,

BY THE VENERABLE C. J. HOARE, A.M.
Archdeacon of Winchester.

Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."-Acts, xiv. 22.

CHRISTIANITY has no reason to be ashamed of its trials more than of its triumphs: indeed,