as to avoid the intercourse, or to reject the courtesies, of this life present. We see him going about doing good, the companion of publicans and sinners; in his relaxations chaste, in his abstinence cheerful and unostentatious. Though his feelings never, for a moment, betray him into a forgetfulness of his one great purpose, yet he can feel, with poignant sensibility. Though the ever-present object of his high meditation be the happiness of a whole universe, yet, the boundless expanse of his benevolence never absorbs the susceptibility of his private attachments: there is a family, which Jesus loves; there is a disciple, who reclines on his bosom.

Had he, indeed, shown himself insensible to pain, the obstinacy of our weakness might still find some pretext, for doubting his sympathy, and undervaluing his love. But he was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He feels our wants, and natural appetites; he is as keenly sensitive as any of us, to the privations of poverty, to the exhaustion of fatigue; and the winds and the storms, of whose slightest blasts we are apt to be sensible, beat, with unmitigated violence, upon his sacred head.* His imagination shudders, as ours would, on the near approach of his final struggle: his soul becomes exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; and his body is bathed in a bloody sweat. And when the thorn, the nail, and the spear, are brought to conclude the mortal agony, his parched lip, his

Ill wast thou shrouded then,

O patient Son of God.

Par. Reg.-ED.

convulsed frame, and the piercing cry of his departing spirit, bear witness to the minute and unsparing fidelity, with which he had borne our weakness and our woe.

How irresistible, then, the apostle's conclusion, that, "we have not a high Priest, who cannot be touched by a feeling of our infirmities!" How happy they, who profit by the Apostle's application : "Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy in time of need!"

Thus, we are impressed with the animating conviction, that, all perverse and unworthy as we are, the Eternal deigns to regard us with benignity. We feel how precious man is, in the sight of his Creator. We are encouraged to draw near with faith; to have confidence in Him, as our Father which is in heaven; and to offer him that free homage, of love, adoration, and filial obedience, which results as a blessing, no less than as a duty, from a relation so endearing.

It is impossible to conclude, without noticing one unconscious tribute, which the philosophy of all ages has paid, to the nature and functions of incarnate Godhead. Those who have maintained a generous system of ethics, have been assiduous in urging, as a prominent topic, that all the intelligent beings of the universe constitute but one vast society. Of this society, the origin was ascribed to a community of nature; and the continuance, to the interchange of mutual benefits and attentions. Now, a more accurate philosophy

renders it indisputable, that this account is practically inapplicable to strict Godhead. There is no community of nature; his ways are not as our ways, either in thought, or action, or subsistence. There is no conceivable reciprocity of happiness. He, who is all imperturbable blessedness, cannot, as it would seem, be susceptible of any impression from without. But if, instead of pure Deity, we introduce the God-man as the head of the association; if we consider, that, in him, God is gathering all things together*, both things in heaven, and things in earth, then, indeed, the theory is cleared of every difficulty. He partakes of our nature, and is interested in our welfare; our iniquity grieves, our righteousness rejoices him. Thus, even the romances of philosophy assume the glorious garb of gospel truth; and the society' of Plato, of Tully, and of Cumberland, is realized in the Church of the new testament.

These reflections, conduct us to one important reason, why the Son of God took not on him the nature of angels. It is, that the whole of the rational creation may be included within the expanse of that ineffable love, which has connected the Deity with the lowest of his intelligences. Had the Eternal Word united himself to some one of the higher natures, the beings of that, and of superior orders, might, indeed, rejoice in the animating information, that they possessed a new and living way to the enjoyment of all good, in the converse

* Ανακεφαλαιώσασθαι τα πάντα. Eph. i. 10. — ED.

of its Author. But man, forlorn and rejected man, would feel himself excluded from the circle of grace. Such an interposition would seem to set limits to the divine benevolence; and the revelation of that interposition to man, instead of being tidings of great joy, would canker the blossom of his instinctive hopes, with endless regret, or with reckless despondency. But now, the whole of that fearful interval, which separates the Creator from the work of his own hands, disappears before the energy of his gracious condescension. The countless myriads of orders of intelligences, from the throned archangel who ministers before God, to the degenerate son of fallen Adam, are embosomed in the eternal and all-embracing mercies, of the universal Father. The whole assembly of the rational and just, of the glorified in heaven, and the regenerate on earth, becomes one Church of Christ, one happy family; and the Hosannah to the Son of David, mingles its echoes with the jubilant Hallelujah, through the remotest recesses of unnumbered worlds. Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, let us laud and magnify that glorious name; evermore praising Him, and saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory: GLORY BE TO THEE,

O LORD MOST HIGH!'

96

SERMON V.

LUKE, XXIV. 26.

Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?

WE are told of a distinguished general, that, being present at a sermon, in which the passion of our Lord was feelingly described, he started from his seat, and, with a vehement gesture exclaimed aloud

Oh Turenne, why were not you there!' Of such emotions, we may venture to say, that, if habitually and meekly cherished, they would not be far from the kingdom of heaven. Yet, it would be rash to conclude, that they indicate the renewal of a right spirit; and, in the instance now before us, there was, perhaps, no more, than the natural ebullition of a brave and generous temper. But it is this very circumstance, which gives importance to the example. For we thence perceive, how divine grace may employ the original susceptibilities of our nature, for our first reception of the gospel of Christ. It is not by one principle or affection alone, that we are thus drawn to the source of our happiness. Every elevating or generou's instinct, all by which we are raised above the beasts that perish, finds in Christ an endearing