66

kind man, and a faithful observer of the law of Moses. He was, however, disappointed in his expectation;-to this second question of the Jewish doctor, CHRIST replied as follows: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among "thieves; which stripped him of his rai"ment, and wounded him, and departed, "leaving him half dead." This was a circumstance, as I said above, very likely to have happened in those parts, at that time. The distance between the two places was about twenty miles, and the country through which the road passes consists of rock and desert; and, according to the Jewish writer Josephus, who lived shortly after the time of our Saviour, was greatly infested with thieves.

While the poor traveller was lying in the situation above described, " by chance there "came down a certain priest that way; "and when he saw him, he passed by on "the other side. And likewise a Levite, "when he was at the place, came and "looked on him, and passed by on the other "side." Strange behaviour this, in sacred characters; one of whom was a minister of religion, and the other a servant of the temple: but, not to be wondered at by those who are acquainted with the character of

VOL. II.

L

66 un

these people in the time of our blessed LORD. Indeed, we shall not be surprised at the conduct of the priest, upon this occasion, to a common man, when we recollect the behaviour of the chief priests to the LORD of glory; when we remember, with what hellish malice they sought after the life of "the Lamb of GOD," who was "meek "and lowly of heart; and not only "offending in word and deed," but "going "about doing good," and spending his whole time in acts of compassion and mercy. Well may we believe, that the priest in the parable would come and look at the man who had fallen among the thieves, and pass by without affording him relief, when we read in the gospel, that his brethren of the priesthood "looked" on the Saviour "whom they had pierced," not with pity and sorrow, but with savage delight and satisfaction; that they "wagged their heads" at him in scorn, and poured out "blasphemy" upon him, even while he was hanging in torture upon the cross. But, blessed be GOD, the character of his priesthood is changed; and the ministers of CHRIST's religion, of every description, shew forth, in numberless instances, that they humbly endeavour to be merciful, even as their Father who is in heaven is merciful.,

Nor will it be a flattering tribute to the Clergy of the Church, of which you are members, to say of them in particular, that, for the most part, they are men who can be "touched with a feeling of the infirmities "and miseries of their brethren;" and are ever ready" to pour oil and wine" into the wounds, both of the bodies and minds, of those whom Providence has placed under their care. If we look around us, my brethren, how many instances do we see, of the good parish priest exercising himself in acts of kindness and compassion to his flock; dealing out relief to their worldly wants; giving them medicine to heal their sickness; affording them advice to free them from their difficulties; pouring balm into their wounded consciences; and speaking consolation to them under their distresses of soul and body. A consideration which should endear the Established Church more than ever to those 'who belong to it; bind them more strongly to it; and make them more steadily support and protect it: since, we may truly and boldly say, that, should its ministry once be displaced, one of the great fountains from which charity, and mercy, and spiritual knowledge, flow upon the poor and unenlightened, would be dried up, and lost for ever.

*

"But

The parable goes on as follows: "a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came "where he was; and when he saw him, he "had compassion on him."

To understand the full extent of the Samaritan's charity to the wounded Jew upon this occasion, it may be necessary to say a few words on the hatred that subsisted between these two nations; and the cause which made " the

Jews have no dealings with the Sama"ritans." You will find, then, my brethren, in the second book of Kings, and the eighteenth chapter, that Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, after three years siege of Samaria, took that city; carried away the Israelites into Assyria; and brought some of his own subjects from Babylon, and other cities, to dwell in Samaria. These were heathens, and "knew not the LORD;" and, at first, therefore, followed all the wicked superstitions of their own foolish religion. punish them for this, GOD "sent lions "among them:" upon which the king of Assyria ordered one of the Israelitish priests to return to Samaria, "to teach the people "there the manner of the GOD of the land;" that is, to instruct them in the worship of JEHOVAH, the only GOD of heaven and earth. For some time after this, their religion was a mixture of heathenism and true religion;

To

but before the days of CHRIST, they had purified it so much, that their creed was nearly the same as that of the Jews. There was, however, this difference between them, -the Samaritans believed and asserted, that the proper place of worship, where the sacrifices ought to be brought and offered, was Mount Geeizim, in their own country; whereas the Jews affirmed, it was Mount Sion, on which their own temple stood. It has always been observed, that religious disputes have been more terrible than any others; and that no hatred is so deep, as that which arises from a difference of opinion on this subject; a consideration, which should guard every good man from ever quarrelling with his neighbour about points of faith. The consequence of such difference of opinion, between the Jews and Samaritans, was, that they thoroughly hated each other; and that, in our Saviour's time, there were no dealings between them, though they lived not more than a day's journey from each other. But, notwithstanding this difference of opinion on matters of faith, and the national dislike which had arisen from it, the compassion of the Samaritan got the better of it all; when he saw the wounded traveller," he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring