binations opposite to the analogies of nature, applied to similar subjects, and by both writers in the way of prediction, must not have ultimately originated in a common source. Instead of a son, the wife of Pollio was delivered of a daughter; but what was ignorantly! applied by the poet, was, in less than forty years after, verified in the true Messiah.

Again, in his Eneid, Virgil refers to the expectation of this great king, when endeavouring to reconcile the Roman people to the late subversion of their republic, by insinuating, that the establishment of the house of Cæsar in the person of Augustus, and the consequent extension of their empire, were irrefragable proofs of his being the universal Sovereign so long promised, and the divine offspring of Jupiter himself.

“Turn, turn thine eyes! see here thy race divine ;
Behold thy own imperial Roman line:

Cæsars with all the Julian name survey;

See where the glorious ranks ascend to day!
This this is he! the chief so long foretold,
To bless the land where Saturn rul'd of old,
And give the Latian realms a second age of gold!
The promised prince, Augustus the divine,
Of Cæsar's race, and Jove's immortal line!
This mighty chief his empire shall extend
O'er Indian realms, to earth's remotest end.”

Besides the foregoing indubitable testimonies to the existence of a general expectation of a king who was to obtain universal empire, the reality of the fact is also established by the most unexceptionable historical evidence. The flatterers of Vespasian professed to find the fulfilment of the prophecy in that emperor. Josephus expressly assigns it as the principal cause of the revolt of the Jews against the Roman government,

and of the provocation of that war which terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Tacitus, speaking of the time when Vespasian waged war with the Jews, asserts, that "a firm persuasion prevailed among a great many that it was contained in the ancient sacerdotal writings, that about this time it should come to pass that the East should prevail, and that those who should come out of Judea should obtain the empire of the world."

Suetonius, in reference to the same period, declares, that "there had prevailed, all over the East, an ancient and constant opinion, that it was in the fates that at that time there should come out of Judea those who should obtain the empire of the world.”

Thus the fact, that at the time of the appearance of Jesus Christ, there existed a general expectation of the coming of a great king, that it was uniform, that it was ancient, that it was founded on what was believed to be the decree of heaven, and contained in the sacerdotal writings, that he who should appear was to come out of Judea, and that he was to obtain the empire of the world, is established beyond all doubt. This is a point of much importance among the testimonies to the Messiah. It explains the cause of Herod's alarm when he slew the children at Bethlehem, and places in a conspicuous aspect the strong motive which incited him to that violent and atrocious massacre. It furnishes, moreover, the reason of the Emperor Domitian's summoning before him the relations of Jesus Christ, as we shall afterwards see, to enquire if they laid claim to empire. It invincibly proves, that the recorded predictions concerning the Messiah were sufficiently clear and precise to attain their object. And it for ever confutes the opinion entertained by many, who, entirely

unacquainted with the subject, and hearing, it may be, of some hasty and ill-founded applications of the prophecies, have rashly concluded, that the predictions in the Scriptures are so obscure and unintelligible as to be nothing better than a labyrinth of mysteries.

CHAPTER II.

· APPEARANCE OF THE MESSIAH.

THE coming of the Messiah was in exact accordance with the predictions of the ancient prophets. At the precise time foretold, before the sceptre departed from Judah, Gen. xlix. 10, and at the expiry of the seventy weeks from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, Dan. ix. 25, Jesus Christ appeared in the world. He was born at Bethlehem, of the tribe of Judah, and of the family of David, which, though not extinct, was then reduced to very low circumstances. He was called Jesus, the Greek of the Hebrew name Joshua, which last is compounded of two words, and signifies "Jehovah that saveth." The title Christ, that is Messiah, or Anointed, being so often added in designation of his office, at length came into use as a part of his name. His birth was first announced to shepherds, keeping watch over their flocks by night, by the angel of the Lord, who, accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host, proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will toward men." The shepherds hastened to Bethlehem, where they found "the babe lying in a manger. Thus he who had been foretold by prophets, and whose actual advent was proclaimed by the inhabitants of heaven, experienced a far different

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reception than might have been expected. But although no pomp attended his coming, other signs also appeared in the heavens, and proclaimed the glorious event. Conducted by a star which they saw in the east, wise men arrived at Jerusalem, enquiring, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" Their enquiries alarmed the jealousy of Herod, who immediately assembled the chief priests and scribes, and demanded of them where the Messiah should be born. The Jewish counsellors quoted the prophecy, Micah, v. 2, which distinctly declared that Bethlehem was the place. The strangers were, therefore, directed by Herod to repair to Bethlehem, to search diligently for the young child, and when they had found him, to return and let him know, pretending that he also wished to do him homage. The men directed by God found the young child. They fell down and worshipped him, and presented to him their gifts; but being warned in a dream, they returned by another way to their own country, and saw Herod no more. The mother of Jesus and her husband, admonished by the angel of the Lord, fled with the child to Egypt; while Herod, disappointed that the strangers from the East did not return as he expected, sent and slew all the children at Bethlehem and its vicinity, who were under the age of two years.

Except his appearance in the Temple at twelve years old, and his residing with his parents, and being subject to them, little more is recorded concerning the early history of Jesus Christ. At length his forerunner, as had been predicted, publicly announced him to the Jews when he was about thirty years of age.

The canon of the Old Testament Scriptures had been completed about 420 years before the Christian era, which is dated four years after the birth of the