forth the distressed widow to the same place, to take him under her roof; and, though upon the impulse of a different occasion, shall nevertheless be made to fulfil his promise and intention of their mutual preservation.

Thus much for the truth and illustration of this great and fundamental doctrine of a Providence; the belief of which is of such consequence to us, as to be the great support and comfort of our lives.

Justly, therefore, might the Psalmist upon this declaration, that the Lord is King,-conclude, That the earth may be glad therefore; yea, the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof.

May God grant the persuasion may make us as virtuous as it has reason to make us joyful! and that it may bring forth in us the fruits of good living, to his praise and glory!-to whom be all might, majesty and dominion, now and for evermore! Amen.

SERMON IX.

THE CHARACTER OF HEROD*.

MATT. II. 17, 18.

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,-In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they

are not.

THE words which St. Matthew cites here as fulfilled by the cruelty and ambition of Herod,-are in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah, the 15th verse. In the foregoing chapter, the prophet having declared God's intention of turning the mourning of his people into joy, by the restoration of the tribes which had been led away captive into Babylon,-he proceeds in the

* Preached on Innocents Day.

beginning of this chapter, which contains this prophecy, to give a more particular description of the great joy and festivity of that promised day, when they were to return once more to their own land, to enter upon their ancient possessions, and enjoy again all the privileges they had lost; and amongst others, and what was above them all, the favour and protection of God, and the continuation of his mercies to them and their posterity.

To make, therefore, the impression of this change the stronger upon their minds, he gives a very pathetic representation of the preceding sorrow on that day when they were first led away captive.

Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Rama: lamentation and bitter weeping: Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they were not.

To enter into the full sense and beauty of this description, it is to be remembered that the tomb of Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, as we read in the 35th of Genesis, was situated near Rama, and betwixt that place and Bethlehem. Upon which circumstance the prophet raises one of the most affecting scenes that could be conceived; for as the tribes in their sorrowful journey betwixt Rama and Bethlehem, in their way to Babylon, were supposed to pass by this monumental pillar of their ancestor Rachel, Jacob's wife, the prophet, by a common liberty in rhetoric, introduces her as rising up out of her sepulchre, and as the common mother of two of their tribes, weeping for her children, bewailing the sad catastrophe of her posterity led away into a strange land, refusing to be comforted, because they were not;-lost and cut off from their country, and, in all likelihood, never to be restored back to her again.

The Jewish interpreters say upon this, that the patriarch Jacob buried Rachel in this very place,

foreseeing by the spirit of prophecy, that his posterity should that way be led captive, that she might, as they passed her, intercede for them.

But this fanciful superstructure upon the passage seems to be little else than a mere dream of some of the Jewish doctors; and indeed had they not dreamt it when they did, 'tis great odds, but some of the Romish dreamers would have hit upon it before now. For as it favours the doctrine of intercessions,—if there had not been undeniable vouchers for the real inventors of the conceit, one should much sooner have sought for it among the oral traditions of this church, than in the Talmud,-where it is.

But this by the bye. There is still another interpretation of the words here cited by St. Matthew, which altogether excludes this scenical representation I have given of them.-By which 'tis thought that the lamentation of Rachel here described, has no immediate reference to Rachel, Jacob's wife, but that it simply alludes to the sorrows of her descendants, the distressed mothers of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim, who might accompany their children led into captivity as far as Rama, in their way to Babylon, who wept and wailed upon this sad occasion, and as the prophet describes them in the person of Rachel, refusing to be comforted for the loss of her children; looking upon their departure without hope or prospect of ever beholding a return.

Whichever of the two senses you give the words of the prophet, the application of them by the evangelist is equally just and faithful; for as the former scene he relates was transacted upon the very same stage,-in the same district of Bethlehem, near Rama,-where so many mothers of the same tribe now suffered this second most affecting blow, the words of Jeremiah, as the evangelist observes, were literally accomplished; and, no doubt,

I

in that horrid day, a voice was heard again in Rama; lamentation and bitter weeping:-Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted:every Bethlehemitish mother involved in this calamity, beholding it with hopeless sorrow,-gave vent to it, each one bewailing her children, and lamenting the hardness of their lot, with the anguish of a heart as incapable of consolation as they were of redress. Monster!-could no consideration of all this tender sorrow stay thy hands?-Could no reflection upon so much bitter lamentation, throughout the coasts of Bethlehem, interpose and plead in behalf of so many wretched objects as this tragedy would make?-Was there no way open to ambition, but that thou must trample upon the affections of nature? Could no pity for the innocence of childhood, no sympathy for the yearnings of parental love, incline thee to some other measures for thy security, but thou must thus pitilessly rush in,— take the victim by violence,-tear it from the embraces of the mother, offer it up before her eyes, -leave her disconsolate for ever,-broken-hearted with a loss, so affecting in itself, so circumstanced with horror, that no times, how friendly soever to the mournful,—should ever be able to wear out the impression.

There is nothing in which the mind of man is more divided than in accounts of this horrid nature. For when we consider man as fashioned by his Maker, innocent and upright,-full of the tenderest dispositions,-with a heart inclining him to kindness, and the love and protection of his species, -this idea of him would almost shake the credit of such accounts;-so that to clear them,—we are forced to take a second view of man,-very different from this favourable one, in which we insensibly represent him to our imaginations ;-that is, we are obliged to consider him,-not as he was made,——

but as he is;-a creature by the violence and irregularity of his passions, capable of being perverted from all these friendly and benevolent propensities, and sometimes hurried into excesses so opposite to them, as to render the most unnatural and horrid accounts of what he does but too probable.-The truth of this observation will be exemplified in the case before us. For next to the faith and character of the historian who reports such facts, the particular character of the person who committed them is to be considered as a voucher for their truth and credibility; and if, upon inquiry, it appears that the man acted but consistent with himself,-and just so as you would have expected from his principles, the credit of the historian is restored,-—and the fact related stands incontestable from so strong and concurring an evidence on its side.

With this view, it may not be an unacceptable application of the remaining part of a discourse upon this day, to give you a sketch of the character of Herod, not as drawn from Scripture, for in general it furnishes us with few materials for such descriptions;-the sacred Scripture cuts off in few words the history of the ungodly, how great soever they were in the eyes of the world; and, on the other hand, dwells largely upon the smallest actions of the righteous.-We find all the circumstances of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph recorded in the minutest manner.-The wicked seem only mentioned with regret; just brought upon the stage, on purpose to be condemned. The use and advantage of which conduct-is, I suppose the reason,- -as in general it enlarges on no character but what is worthy of imitation. 'Tis however undeniable, that the lives of bad men are not without use; -and whenever such a one is drawn, not with a corrupt view to be admired, but on purpose to be detested, it must excite such a horror against vice,