it. As, however, there are many who had rather peruse the thoughts of others than think for themselves, and as every one has a right to expect that the person who calls public attention to a particular subject, should give his own opinion, the reasons on which it is formed, and the considerations by which he recommends it, I shall offer some remarks upon the subject; and for the sake of order, shall examine the authority with which religious fasting is enjoined-explain its natureconsider its design and recommend its observ

ance.

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The inattention of professors of religion, in the present day, to this subject of fasting, inclines one to think that they suppose it has ceased to become a duty. Indeed there are some who avow themselves to be of that opinion, and who, at least in conversation, contend, that though it was obligatory to those who lived under former dispensations, it is not so to us who enjoy gospel liberty. To meet the case of such persons, and, if possible, correct their opinions, I shall, as above proposed, on the subject of religious fasting,

First, EXAMINE ITS AUTHORITY.

It is very natural to refer, on a subject of this description, to the word of revelation, as it is there only we can discover, whether or not it becomes a duty to us. But, in searching the Scriptures, we must be careful not to expect more than God deems necessary to afford. The Almighty has not enjoined every duty by a positive command; that is, the command does not appear on the face of revelation. In many instances, the probability is, the Lord orally gave directions to his servants the prophets, which they in like manner conveyed to the people, but which were never recorded in

writing. Subsequent revelations would of course assume such previous knowledge, and either give instruction relative to the particular parts of the subject, or only glance at it as an established duty. Thus, for instance, we find the Bible mentioning the observance of the Sabbath by the Jews in the wilderness, when the manna was first given, (Exodus xvi.) before there is any recorded command to make the observance of that day obligatory! Yet who can doubt but there had been such a command, though not entered in the written word? In like manner, the Scriptures inform us of the particular observance of the first day of the week, instead of the seventh, by the primitive Christians; (Acts xx. 7; 1 Cor. xvi. 2.) yet we find no command recorded, by which this change was appointed. We must not, therefore, always expect to find a particular duty enjoined in so many express words, it is enough for us to discover that it has been regularly observed by the wise and good, and that such observance has never been censured or forbidden. That such is the case with the subject before us, we shall attempt to shew.

When fasting, as a religious duty, was first practised, the dimness of distant ages will not allow us to discover. Some indeed have imagined that they have found its origin in the garden of Eden, when God prohibited the use of the tree of knowledge; but this is a fancy too ridiculous to be seriously noticed. The abstinence of the antediluvians from animal food cannot be considered as fasting; inasmuch as it was merely forbearing to eat what had not, at that time, been granted them, The first authentic account on this subject is in the book of Exodus, where Moses is said to have been on Mount Horeb forty days and forty nights, "he did neither eat bread, nor drink water."

(Ex. xxxiv. 28.) It was not long after this that the solemn day of expiation was appointed to be observed in the strictest manner: then, it was made obligatory on all Israel to "afflict their souls;" (Lev. xxiii. 27.) by which phrase, both Jewish and Christian commentators have understood to have been meant, among other things, abstinence from "meat and drink, from the bath, and from anointing themselves."*

Although fasting is not expressly mentioned in Scripture before the times above referred to, yet we are not warranted to conclude that it was not practised much earlier. Many instances recorded in the Bible shew us, that it was frequently considered a natural expression of intense sorrow: thus, while David bewailed the sickness of his child, the fruit of his adulterous amour, "he fasted, and lay all night upon the earth." (2 Sam. xii. 16.) David also, when lamenting the desolations of the beloved city, Jerusalem, as an expression of his deep sorrow, had recourse fasting with sackcloth and ashes." (Dan. ix. 3.) Nature is in all ages the same; it is but reasonable therefore to conclude, that before the days of Moses, grief would express itself in the same manner it afterwards did, and that the mourning of Abraham for his beloved Sarah, (Gen. xxiii. 2.) and of Jacob for his favourite Joseph, (Gen. xxxvii. 34.) would be associated with fasting.

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Though the law of Moses enjoined the observance of but one day of fasting in the year,† yet the voluntary fasts of the Jews were numerous. these, we observe, some were commanded on the authority of the rulers of the people, while others were of private appointment; but all of them arose out of some peculiarity in the circumstances of either the nation at large, a particular family, or + See Note II.

* See Note I.

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an individual. Sometimes, when the fortune of war was against them, a fast was observed: thus when the Israelites were defeated by the men of Ai, Joshua and the Elders of Israel remained prostrate before the ark from morning till evening, and put dust upon their heads. (Josh. vii. 6.) Sometimes, the dread of a powerful foe led to the same observance ; thus when the news of an invading army reached the ears of Jehoshaphat, he immediately proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah." (2 Chron. xx. 3.) At other times, the calamitous result of a defeat caused the people to fast; thus when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard how the Philistines had abused the dead body of Saul, they fasted seven days. (1 Sam. xxxi. 13.) And again, when any mark of degradation rested upon the holy land or city, a fast was deemed proper; thus when Nehemiah heard the melancholy story, that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, and that the inhabitants were in great affliction, "he mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven." (Neh. i. 4.) Fasts of this voluntary character, suggested by particular circumstances and events, appear to have been very frequent. Among others. mentioned in scripture, and in addition to those already noticed, we find them observed by Ahab, (1 Kings xxi. 27.); the army near Gibeah, (Judges xx. 23.); Samuel, (1 Sam. vii. 6.); Joel, (Joel i. 14.); Jehoiakim, (Jerem. xxxix. 6.); and Ezra, (Ezra viii. 21.)

From the time that the great Jewish legislator wrote the book of the law, until the close of the sacred canon, by the last of the prophetical books, the practice appears to have been commonly attended to; it is only thus that we can account for the numerous historical notices of such observances scattered throughout the Old Testament; and

when we find so many actually noticed in scripture, and these principally on public occasions, we may readily conclude that fasting on public and private occasions must have been very common.

When the canonical scriptures of the Old Testament closed, the practice of fasting was not discontinued among the Jews. Though they had no prophets personally to direct them, and though their condition was often extremely unfavourable to religious exercises, yet they did not omit the practice of fasting. However doubtful the inspiration of the Apocryphal books may be, yet, as historical evidence, they are indisputably admissible; and these books, thus employed, will convince us that the practice of fasting was not forgotten or neglected by the Jews, in the interval between the time when the Old Testament closed, and the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Among many other passages, we particularly notice one in the book of Maccabees, as beautiful as it is important: "Now Jerusalem lay void as a wilderness. There was none of her children that went in or out: the sanctuary also was trodden down, and aliens kept the strong hold: the heathen had their habitation in that place: and joy was taken from Jacob, and the pipe with the harp ceased. Wherefore the Israelites assembled themselves together, and came to Maspha, over against Jerusalem. For in Maspha was the place where they prayed aforetime in Israel. Then they fasted that day, and put on sackcloth, and cast ashes upon their heads, and rent their clothes, and laid open the book of the law wherein the heathen had sought to paint the likeness of their images." (1 Maccab. iii. 45— 48.) Indeed, so prevailing was the custom, that it appears no pretension to piety could be maintained without it; hence the Pharisees, (which sect sprang up at the very time to which we now