country was divided into three parts, Judea in the south, Samaria in the middle, Galilee in the north.

ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE GOSPEL.

1. While Judea was a Roman province, the Jews suffered some terrible oppressions from the Roman government. One of these oppressions was the exactions of the Publicans, or tax gatherers. The Romans farmed out the revenues, that is permitted the tax gatherers of the provinces to take a certain portion of all the taxes which might be collected. The consequence was, that the tax gatherers demanded more of the people than was right, and all over Judea, made themselves feared and hated.

2. Nor can it be doubted but the soldiers and other Romans in the provinces, exercised a very cruel control over the provincials, or original inhabitants of the provinces. In Christ's sermon on the mount, is this passage,

"Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. If any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, give him thy cloak also, and whosoever shail compel thee to go with him a mile, go with him twain."

3. This passage is, doubtless, meant only to be strictly applied to persons under the political circumstances of the Jews. The Jews were a comparatively weak people, subjected to those who were strong. To give blows, to take garments, to force labourers from their work, were commor

insults inflicted by their military tyrants, upor e helpless Jews. If a Jew resisted, the injustice was repeated; it was therefore wise in a Jew not to resist, but to make the easiest submission, possible, to the Roman magistrates and soldiers.

4. Some other parts of this admirable sermon, apply particularly to those who heard it; thus:"whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, (a reproachful name,) shall be in danger of the council." This judgment and council, were tribunals of the Jews, that judged petty offences.

5. The sense of this passage to us, determined by other passages of the New Testament, and by the example of Christ. "Be courteous," "In honour preferring one another," are injunctions of the apostle, which show that unbrotherly and contemptuous language, is unworthy of Chris

tians.

6. The example of our Saviour shows that we should not resist bad treatment, when it would be useless to do so, but that when we have sufficient power, we may do what is lawful to defend our lives, to secure our property, and to follow our own pursuits.

The greater part of the sermon on the mount, is of universal application-meant for all people, at all times.

1. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem upon an ass, attended by the multitude, as he came near it, he

beheld the city and wept over it, "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come

upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another."

2. Little more than forty years after, this prophecy was most awfully accomplished. The Romans never altered their mode of governing the Jews, and that unhappy people never deviated from their opposition, and hostility to their tyrants. The most remarkable feature in the Jewish character, at that time, was their attachment to the ceremonies of their religion, their veneration for the Temple, and their horror at all idolatry. Nothing could surpass the indignation with which they received an order from the emperor Caligula, to place his statue in the temple of Jehovah; and though they were afterwards excused from this violation of their feelings, their reluctance to obey the emperor, increased the ill-will subsisting be tween them and the Roman government.

3. Various provocations determined the Romans to punish the Jews, and the obstinacy of the Jews prompted them to resist the attack. Titus, the son of Vespasian, was at length sent with an immense army against Jerusalem, and after a siege of several months, the city was taken and burnt by Titus; 1,000,000 persons are supposed to have perished, the beautiful structure of the temple was destroyed, and 97,000 prisoners were taken. over the province of Judea, thousands perished

All

by famine and the sword. 2,500,000 lambs were offered in sacrifice, one for each person who attended the passover, not long before, so that Judea contained a numerous population, exposed to the ravages of war.

4. The Christians had been warned by their master that when they should see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, they should flee to the mountains; and when the enemy approached they removed to Pella, one hundred miles from Jerusalem, beyond the Jordan, and there united themselves to the Gentiles.

5. The Jews, in other parts of the Roman dominions, were massacred in great numbers. From that time to the present, they have been a scattered and divided people in different countries of Europe, Asia, and America, suffering great injuries and contempt, in all countries, except the United States, where they are protected by the laws, and well treated. They still reject the Gospel of Christ, still look for the Messiah, and hope to be restored to their ancient city, Jerusalem, and to return to the worship of the temple.

6. Jerusalem still stands, an object of attention to the curious traveller. It is subject to the Turks, contains many monuments of christianity, and some monasteries.

THE TEMPLE.

1. The first temple was built by Solomon, and estroyed by the army of Nebuchadnezzar; it was

rebuilt at the restoration, under Nehemiah and Ezra, and repaired by Herod, king of Judea, B. C. 23.

2. The following description of the temple concerning whose destruction Christ prophecied, and which was burned by the army of Titus, is extracted from Miss Adams' History of the Jews.

3. "After Herod had amassed a prodigious treasure by his cruel extortions and confiscations, he proposed to regain the favour of the Jewish nation by rebuilding the temple; and for eight or nine years, employed upon it eighteen thousand workmen, who at last completed the stupendous design. The magnificent structure, which he erected, is said, in some respects, to have even exceed. ed the first temple, which was built by Solomon.

4. "Rising in all its grandeur from the summit of a mountain, it commanded an extensive prospect; its appearance, says Josephus, exhibited every thing, that could strike the mind and astonish the sight. It was on every side covered with solid plates of gold, and, when the sun arose upon it, reflected such a dazzling effulgence, that the eye was unable to sustain its radiance.

5. "The temple was encompassed with august porticos, on which immense riches were profuse. ly expended; and every ornament bestowed, that human art and genius could devise. This superb structure was continually receiving additions to the time of the ministry of our Saviour. Herod set up a golden eagle of exquisite workmanship, the arms of the Roman empire, over the gates of the temple."