Q. Did not our Saviour rebuke the intemperate zeal of these Apostles?

A. Our Saviour rebuked the intemperate zeal of these. Apostles, as being contrary to the meek spirit of the Gospel, and his design of coming into the world; which was to save men's lives, by establishing a religion that not only consults their eternal salvation, but their temporal peace and security.

Q. Did not the Apostles St. James and St. John manifest also an ambitious temper ?

A. The Apostles, during the life of the Saviour, seemed to entertain the erroneous idea, that their Master would soon declare himself, what they supposed their Messiah must certainly be, a temporal prince. Under the influence of this erroneous expectation, St. James and St. John prompted their mother to request of Christ, that her two sons might be the most considerable persons in his kingdom, and have the nearest places to his person.

Q. Did not our Saviour correct this ambitious disposition? A. Christ soon made them sensible of the rashness of their demand, by telling them, that in his kingdom the highest place would be for those who underwent the greatest troubles and sufferings; and that the dignities of his kingdom would be dispensed to them for whom they were prepared by the Father.

Q. How did our Saviour calm the passions of the rest of the disciples, who were offended at this request?

A. Our Saviour silenced the rising resentment of the other disciples by instructing them in the humble and self-denying nature of his kingdom; and by exciting them to imitate his example, who came "not to be ministered unto, but to minister."

Q. What became of St. James after our Saviour's ascension?

A. St. James preached the Gospel in Judea and Samaria; and, by the command of Herod, being seized at Jerusalem, he there suffered martyrdom; being the first Apostle who laid down his life for the testimony of Jesus.

Q. What instruction does this festival afford us?

A. The humble calling which St. James and his family followed, at the time he was chosen by Christ to be his dis ciple, should teach us, that the blessing of God attends

all those who depend upon his providence, in the diligent and faithful discharge of the duties of their station. The readiness with which St. James forsook his father to follow Christ should teach us, that no worldly considerations, not even the ties of nature, should come in competition with the express commands of God. The rebuke which the intemperate zeal of the Apostles received from our Saviour should teach us, that no difference of religion, nor pretence of zeal for God and Christ, can warrant and justify a fierce, vindictive, and exterminating spirit; but that we ought, on the contrary, to treat all who differ from us with mildness and affability, and while we steadfastly adhere to our principles, to cherish a spirit of mutual kindness and charity; and, finally, from the example of St. James and the other Apostles and saints who laid down their life for Christ, we should learn to estimate the distinguished privilege and blessedness of those who, in the service of the Saviour, suffered martyr

dom.

Q. What do you mean by a martyr?

A. A martyr is one who bears witness to the truth with the sacrifice of his own life. Those who suffered imprisonment, the spoil of their goods, banishment, and severe tortures, if they escaped without dying, were called Confessors. But it was necessary to "resist unto blood" to acquire the glorious privilege of a martyr; though those who died in prison, or during their sufferings by want, or in their banishment were killed by thieves or wild beasts, and even those who, administering to their fellow Christians, in the time of a plague, lost their life, were esteemed martyrs, and entitled to the privileges which were thought to belong to that state. Q. What privileges were assigned to martyrs by the primitive Christians?

A. Among various other privileges which the primitive Christians assigned to martyrs, they supposed that martyrs, upon their death, were admitted immediately to the beatific vision, while other souls waited for the day of judgment before their happiness was completed; and the primitive Christians supposed that martyrdom supplied the grace conveyed both by baptism and the holy eucharist, and entitled men to the benefit of those sacraments, the remission of their sins.

Q. Is it not a duty, and should it not be considered as a privilege, to sacrifice life sooner than renounce the service of God 2

A. We should consider it as a duty and a privilege to embrace martyrdom sooner than renounce our allegiance to God. In so doing, we prefer eternal happiness before the short-lived pleasures of the world; we evidence the highest love to our God and Saviour, and the most unbounded submission to his will; and becoming thus conformed to our Master's sufferings, we acquire a title to a higher degree of glory than will be the portion of other Christians.?

Q. How did the primitive Christians generally embrace martyrdom?

A. The primitive Christians generally embraced martyrdom with great readiness and cheerfulness, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. And not only the clergy, but the laity, women as well as men, young and old, encountered death with great fortitude; though it was armed with all the variety of torments that the malice and cruelty of their enemies could invent.

Q. To what causes may we attribute this great courage and resolution of the primitive Christians?

A. Next to the plentiful effusion of supernatural grace, their great piety was a proper foundation for this Christian confidence. They mortified their sensual passions; they inured their bodies to severe hardships; they never softened themselves with the pleasures and diversions of the age. They cherished a lively sense of the rewards of the next life, with which the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared. Their minds were inflamed with great love to their Lord and Master Jesus Christ, whose sufferings for them were fresh in their memories. And the inspiring grace of God gave them such a lively sense of the glories and blessings of heaven, that they endured, with triumph, the most exquisite tortures, which they considered as passports to eternal bliss.

Rev. vii. 13, 14, &c. Matt, v. 10.

CHAPTER XLI.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW, August 24.

A FESTIVAL.

WHAT account does the sacred history give of St.

Bartholomew?

A. The evangelical history takes very little notice of this Apostle, more than the bare mention of his name; though it is thought that he is the person called Nathanael, principally from the circumstance that St. John never mentions Bartholomew, while he often speaks of Nathanael; and the other evangelists, though they mention Bartholomew, never take notice of Nathanael. It is supposed, therefore, that the same person is designated by these two names.

Q. What character did our Saviour give of him?

A. When Philip brought him to Christ, our Saviour characterized him, as a man of true simplicity and integrity, an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile."

Q. Wherein appears the honest simplicity of this Apostle? A. He did not object against the Saviour, the meanness of his original, the low condition and poverty of his parents; but only against the supposed place of his birth, which, according to the prophets, was to be Bethlehem, and not Nazareth, where he erroneously supposed Christ was born. But popular prejudice did not so far blind him as to prevent him from inquiring concerning Christ, and from acknowledging him to be the Messiah.

Q. What further account is there of this Apostle?

4. Upon the dispersion, it is thought that this Apostle preached the Gospel in Arabia Felix and the hither India, where, it is said by Eusebius, that St. Matthew's Gospel was found, left, as tradition reported, by St. Bartholomew. He afterwards travelled through the northern and western parts of Asia, through Lycaonia, and, at length, settled in Albanople, a city of the greater Armenia, where, endeavouring to reclaim the people from idolatry, he was seized by the Governor; and after being fleed alive," was crucified with his bead downwards. This lingering and dreadful death he

cheerfully sustained, comforting and encouraging his Christian converts to the last moment of his life.

Q. What instruction does this festival convey to us?

A. From this festival we should learn the value of that simplicity and sincerity of character which this Apostle displayed, and without which all professions of religion, and every external appearance of it, are empty and vain.

Q. Explain the virtue of sincerity as it respects our duty to God.

A. As it respects our duty to God, sincerity requires that the outward acts of uniform piety and obedience be the result of our internal veneration for him, and of lively and genuine affection for him. It implies that our faith in his word be entire, our hope in his promises firm, and that it be our supreme desire to recommend ourselves to his favour.

Q. Explain the virtue of sincerity, as it respects our intercourse with others.

A. As it respects our intercourse with others, this virtue implies a simplicity of mind and manners in our conversation and conduct. It leads us to speak as we think, to act as we profess, to perform what we promise, and really to be what we would appear to be.

Q. What are the best means of attaining this virtue of sincerity?

A. A constant intercourse with God in the exercises of devotion is the most effectual means of exciting and preserving this virtue of sincerity. We should also cherish a constant sense of the presence and inspection of that Almighty Being, who will bring to light every secret thing; who requires the service of the heart; and who will detect, and expose to everlasting scorn and punishment, the vain pretences of the hypocrite.