grudge against Latimer, came shortly after and preached against him at Barnwell Abbey, and then forbad him to preach in any of the churches of the university. But when Christ sets an open door before his people, 66 no man can shut it ;" and so Dr. Barnes (afterwards a martyr), being then prior of the Austin friars, and exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, licensed Latimer to preach in his church. His persecutors, however, were not idle. They now accused him to Cardinal Wolsey, as one that preached seditiously, and infected the youth of Cambridge with Luther's opinions. The cardinal cited him to York Place; and when he appeared, You seem," said he, "of good years, nor no babe... and yet it is reported to me of you that you are much infected with this new fantastical doctrine of Luther... that you do very much harm among the youth..." "Your grace," replied Latimer, "is misinformed; for I ought to have some more knowledge than to be so simply reported of, by reason that I have studied, in my time, both of the ancient doctors of the Church, and also of the school doctors." The cardinal, on this, desired those who stood by to propound some question, as from a school author; and finding that Latimer answered very well, said "What mean you, my masters, to bring such a man before me into accusation? I had thought that he had been some lightheaded fellow, that never studied such kind of doctrine as the school authors are. I pray thee, Latimer, tell me the cause why the bishop of Ely, and others, do mislike thy preachings. Tell me the truth, and I will bear with thee upon amendment." "Your grace," replied Latimer, "must understand, that the bishop of Ely cannot favour me, for that not long ago preached before him in Cambridge a sermon. wherein I described the office of a bishop so uprightly as I might, according to the text, that never after he could abide me; but hath not only forbidden me to preach in his diocese, but also found the means to inhibit me from preaching in the university." "I pray you tell me," said Wolsey, "what thou didst preach before him."... Latimer then lifting up his soul to God, who has the hearts of all men at his disposal, repeated to the cardinal simply and plainly the effect of his sermon. "Did you not preach any other doctrine than you have rehearsed?" asked Wolsey. "No, surely." Then, after somewhat further inquiry, "if the bishop of Ely," said he, "cannot abide such doctrine as you have here repeated, you shall have my license, and shall preach it unto his beard, let him say what he will." And so, after a gentle admonition, the cardinal discharged him with a full license to preach any where throughout England. Great admiration was caused in Cambridge by Latimer's return with this unexpected license; the power of which was not, it seems, extinguished by Wolsey's fall soon after. Latimer appears to have gained the notice of some attached to the court by his conduct in the matter of the king's divorce. He was one of those who believed that the pope had no power to dispense with any law of God, and therefore he used his influence in Cambridge to procure that university's judgment, that the marriage of Henry with his brother's widow was unlawful. He had hence opportunities, which he seems to have conscientiously employed, of approaching the royal presence. About the end of the year 1530, we find this faithful man addressing the king in behalf of a translation of the Scriptures into English. A proclamation had some time before been issued, declaring that it was not necessary to publish the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. Latimer, dissatisfied with this determination, wrote a letter to the sovereign, urging him to allow free liberty of reading the Bible. He dwelt on the value of the Gospel; shewed that those who possessed it not were least likely to live as good subjects; re minded Henry of his promise to permit its publication, and warned him against those evil counsellors who dissuaded him from keeping his word; and concluded, "wherefore, gracious king, remember yourself, have pity upon your soul, and think that the day is even at hand when you shall give an account of your office, and of the blood that hath been shed with your sword. In the which day, that your grace may stand stedfastly, and not be ashamed, but be clear and ready in your reckoning, and to have (as they say) your pardon sealed with the blood of our Saviour Christ, which only serveth at that day, is my daily prayer to Him that suffered death for our sins, which also prayeth to his Father for grace for us continually. To whom be all honour and praise for ever. Amen. The Spirit of God preserve your grace." By the friendship of Dr. Butts, the king's physician, Latimer had the fairest prospect of preferment; but he had no taste for the manners of the court, and being now advanced in years, he wished rather for some distant sphere of labour, where, in comparative retirement, he might zealously prosecute his work. Accordingly, he thankfully received the living of West Kington, in Wiltshire, and as soon as he could he repaired thither, resolving to keep a constant residence. His dili But here he could not live unmolested. gence was so great, and his preaching so striking, that he quickly became obnoxious to several neighbouring priests. By their procurement he was cited to appear, early in 1531, before Warham archbishop of Canterbury, Stokesley bishop of London, and certain other prelates. Of the treatment he met with from them he has himself given an account. "I was in examination (said he) before five or six bishops.... every week thrice I came to examinations, and many snares and traps were laid to get something. Now, God knoweth, I was ignorant of the law, but that God gave me answer and wisdom what I should speak. It was God indeed, for else I had never escaped them. At the last I was brought forth to be examined into a chamber hanged with arras, where I was before wont to be examined, but now at this time the chamber was somewhat altered. For whereas before there was wont ever to be a fire in the chimney, now the fire was taken away, and an arras hanging hanged over the chimney, and the table stood near the chimney's end. . . . There was among these bishops that examined me, one with whom I had been very familiar, and took him for my great friend, an aged man, and he sat next the table's end. Then, amongst all other questions, he put forth one, a very subtle and crafty one, and such a one, indeed, as I could not think so great a danger in. And when I should make answer "I pray you, Master Latimer," said he, speak out; I am very thick of hearing; and here be many that sit far off." I marvelled at this, that I was bidden to speak out, and began to misdeem, and give an ear to the chimney; and, sir, there I heard a pen walking [scratching] in the chimney behind the cloth. They had appointed one there to write all mine answers; for they made sure work that I should not start from them. . . . God was my good Lord, and gave me answer; I could never else have escaped it." The question to which he alludes was this, whether he in his conscience thought that he had been suspected of heresy? Whatever answer he gave to it was full of danger. In the end, it would seem, that he was required to sign articles respecting purgatory, the power of the keys, the merit of fastings, &c., the mediation of the saints, the lawfulness of images, and others of the same kind. It is not quite clear that Latimer yielded to all that was required of him. The probability is, that his assent was given in general ternis, asking forgiveness, and that thus, in some measure owing to the king's favour, he was allowed to escape. It must be remembered, that at this time few, if any, of the English reformers - were altogether emancipated from the heresies of Rome. The light which they at length attained to, broke gradually upon their minds. They felt, as it were, their way; they renounced first one error, then another; and hence we are assured, that the doctrines which they came to teach were not crude and hastily adopted fancies, but the cautious and well-weighed convictions of their maturest judgment. Still, in Latimer's abjuration, it must be admitted, we have another example that, in the hour of trial, though the spirit be willing, the flesh is weak. But in this venerable man's succeeding history we have abundant testimony to the power of that grace of Christ which is perfected in his people's weakness. In the year 1533 he was again in trouble, in consequence of his preaching at Bristol. The opposition now raised against him degenerated into the lowest scurrility. Ballads were made upon him to render him ridiculous. The burden of one of these, which has been preserved, is, "Wherefore it is pity thou shouldst die for cold;" implying that he deserved to be burned for a heretic. One scarcely knows which most to admire in this, the miserable shifts to which the papists were driven, or the cold-blooded cruelty with which they were actuated. Latimer was also disparaged to the king as an unlearned man. On this, he expressed a wish that his sovereign would command him to preach every Sunday before him for a year, that he might discover whether it was true that he had neither learning nor utterance. La It does not appear that this false accusation injured him in the king's estimation; for soon after, about the year 1534, he was made, by the interest of Lord Cromwell and Dr. Butts, the king's chaplain. He was now often called on to preach at court, and discharged this difficult duty with equal address and boldness. One instance may be given. He had spoken his mind in the pulpit very plainly, and some of his enemies resolved to take advantage of this for his ruin. So, when, shortly after, the king had sent for him, and several other persons, to discuss certain matters, one, kneeling down before his majesty, accused Latimer of having preached seditious doctrine. The king turned round, and said "What say you to that, sir?" timer kneeled down, and first asking the accuser, "What form of preaching would you appoint me to preach before a king? would you have me to preach nothing concerning a king in the king's sermon? have you any commission to appoint me what I shall preach?" then turned to the monarch, and said "I never thought myself worthy, nor ever sued to be a preacher before your grace. But I was called to it, and would be willing, if you mislike me, to give place to my betters. But, if your grace allow me for a preacher, I would desire your grace, to discharge my conscience, give me leave to frame my discourse according to mine audience. I had been a very dolt to have preached so at the borders of your realm as I preach before your grace." The king was not displeased with this sincerity, and Latimer heard no more of the charge. - In his The same interest of Cromwell and Butts which had hitherto befriended him, together with the favour of the queen, advanced him still higher. He was made bishop of Worcester on a vacancy of that see. diocese he was a most vigilant and zealous pastor. He was indefatigable in "teaching, preaching, exhorting, visiting, correcting, and reforming, either as his ability would serve, or else the time would bear.” But so unsettled were those times, that he could not then do all he would: still, where he was unable to extinguish old superstitions, he wisely endeavoured to render them as little dangerous as possible. He was more anxious to discharge his duty in his diocese than to intermeddle in public affairs. However, in parliament and convocation, he was always ready to support the pious measures of archbishop Cranmer. In 1536 he preached the sermon before the convocation. And it may also be observed, that when friar Forrest was to be burned for denying the king's supremacy, the bishop of Worcester was selected to preach at his execution. He performed this melancholy task with his usual zeal to do good, and laboured earnestly to reclaim the unhappy sufferer from his errors. His arguments were in vain; and Forrest died, as we are told, in great desperation. Whatever may be thought of this man's death, Latimer was guiltless of his blood. His elevation and natural gratitude to the master who had raised him, did not diminish the faithful boldness of the bishop of Worcester to his sovereign. It was then the custom for the prelates every newyear's day to wait upon the king with some rich present. On one of these occasions, Latimer, appearing with the rest, produced for his new-year's gift a New Testament, with a napkin, having this verse about it, "Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." He was, as might be expected, equally bold and resolute in his own diocese. One fact may be related by way of example. A certain justice of peace had, in purchasing some land, wronged a poor man, who complained of the injustice to Latimer. The bishop wrote to the offending party, exhorting him to recollect himself, and repair the injury. He was enraged at this interference, and replied, with many threats, that he would not bear such treatment from the best bishop in England. But Latimer was not the man to be so intimidated. He wrote again to the offender, vindicated his own conduct in the matter, and assured his correspondent, that if he did not speedily make restitution, the whole affair should be laid before the king. His honest endeavours to protect the oppressed were, it seems, successful; and the justice, ere he died, became a truly religious man. On the passing of that persecuting act, commonly called the act of the Six Articles, in the year 1539, Latimer resigned his bishopric. He could not conscientiously maintain the popish doctrines, even to speak against which was, by the statute, made a capital offence; and therefore he chose to return to a private life. It was no grief to him to lose the dangerous dignity which he had held. Indeed he rejoiced at it; and when, after his resignation, he returned to his lodgings, and had thrown off his rochet, he suddenly, with the vivacity which always characterised him, gave a jump for joy, and told his friends that he could not help it; for he felt his shoulders so light, being discharged of such a heavy burden. But he was not left to enjoy his retirement. For, being soon after bruised by the fall of a tree, he was obliged to repair to London for advice. The bishops then began to molest him. He has himself related a conversation he had with one of them, probably Gardiner of Winchester. "He sent for me, and marvelled that I would not consent to such traditions as were then set And I answered him, that I would be ruled by God's book; and rather than I would dissent one jot from it, I would be torn with wild horses. And I chanced in our communication to name the Lord's supper. Tush,' saith the bishop, what do ye call the Lord's supper? What new term is that?' There stood by him one Dr. Dubber... and said, that this term was seldom read in the doctors. And I made answer, that I would rather follow Paul in using his terms, than them, though they had all the doctors on their side. Why,' said the bishop, cannot we without Scriptures order the people? How did they before the Scripture was first written and copied out? But God knoweth full ill yet would they have ordered them. For seeing that having it, they have deceived us, in what case should we have been now without it! But thanks be to God," adds Latimer, "that by so wonderful a miracle he hath preserved the book still." He was after this committed to the Tower, and re out. mained there a prisoner the rest of Henry the Eighth's reign. On the accession of Edward VI., in January 1547, this excellent man was released from his confinement; and might, had he chosen, have been reinstated in his see; but being now seventy-six years of age, and still feeling the effects of the accident before mentioned, he declined the offer. He was, however, far from intending to lead an idle life. He was generally resident with the archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth, and assisted him in setting forth the homilies. He was also indefatigable in the pulpit, both in London and in the country, preaching usually every Sunday twice. Besides he was always ready to redress, as far as possible, the grievances of the poor, and faithful in counselling those in authority, and admonishing them of their duty. Nor did he neglect his private studies. For, notwithstanding his years, he ordinarily, we are told, rose, winter and summer, at two o'clock to be at his books. The preaching and other labours of Latimer were, there can be little doubt, most instrumental in promoting, at this time, the settlement of true religion. He spoke with the energy and zeal of an apostle: there was a vigour in his style which commanded attention; and his illustrations, always familiar, sometimes homely, fixed indelibly upon the memory the truths he was conveying. Those which have come down to us are among the most valuable of the rich treasures bequeathed us by that age. Latimer was well aware that should popery regain its sway, he would be marked as one of its first victims. He had publicly declared, that he believed the preaching of the Gospel would cost him his life. Accordingly, soon after the accession of Queen Mary, in 1553, an officer was sent to him in the country, where he then was, to cite him before the council. A few hours before, he had received warning of this visit; but instead of offering to escape, he used the time in equipping himself to accompany the officer. And on his arrival, he addressed him thus: " My friend, you be a welcome messenger to me. And be it known unto you, and all the world, that I go as willingly to London at this present, being called by my prince to render a reckoning of my doctrine, as ever I was at any place in the world. I doubt not but that God, as he hath made me worthy to preach his Gospel before two excellent princes, so will he enable me to witness the same unto the third, either to her comfort or discomfort eternally." But the officer, having merely delivered the summons, departed, saying, that he had no orders to take him into custody. By which it would seem that the papists, knowing the reverence in which Latimer was generally held, at first intended to frighten him out of the kingdom. But the venerable saint was determined to seal, if God so permitted, his testimony with his blood. He therefore immediately went up to London; and, as he passed through Smithfield, said, cheerfully, that that place had long groaned for him; and then, having appeared before the council, he suffered their taunts with a patient mind, and so was committed to the Tower, Sept. 14. His confinement here seems to have been severe; but he bore it nobly. Once, for instance, when in the winter he was kept without fire, he told the lieutenant's man to inform his master, that if he did not look the better to him, he should perhaps deceive him. The lieutenant immediately came, in some alarm, to inquire what his prisoner meant; and if he had really said so. "Yea, master lieutenant," replied Latimer, "so I said; for you look, I think, that I should burn; but except you let me have some fire, I am like to deceive your expectations; for I am like here to starve for cold." Many such-like answers and reasons," remarks Fox on this, "merry, but savoury, coming not from a vain mind, but from a constant and quiet reason, proceeded from that man, declaring a firm and stable heart, little passing for all this great bluster ing of their terrible threats, but rather deriding the same. While in prison, Latimer was observed to be peculiarly earnest in prayer, at which he frequently continued so long kneeling, that he was not able at last to rise without assistance. There were three things, which he was accustomed, with greatest fervency, to supplicate. First, "that as God had appointed him to be a preacher of his word, so also he would give him grace to stand to his doctrine until his death, that he might give his heart-blood for the same." Secondly, "that God of his mercy would restore his Gospel to England once again" and these words once again, once again, he so perseveringly and passionately, we are told, repeated, "as though he had seen God before him, and spoken to him face to face." Iis third petition was the preservation of the princess (afterwards queen) Elizabeth, “whom, in his prayer, he was wont accustomably to name; and even with tears desired God to make her a comfort to this comfortless realm of England.” After passing some months in the Tower, during part of which time Latimer was confined in the same room with Archbishop Cranmer, Bishop Ridley, and the excellent John Bradford,--a mode of treatment, which, intended by their persecutors as a slight, was to the martyrs a source of consolation,-the three prelates were, in the spring of 1554, carried to Oxford to hold a public disputation there. The cruelty of compelling a man like Latimer, between eighty and ninety years old, to dispute, requires no comment. At Oxford the prisoners were brought before the commissioners, and three articles, affirming the popish doctrine of the sacrament, were propounded to them. Latimer appeared last; and when he had denied the articles, the next Wednesday, April 18th, was appointed for his disputation. He urged his age, sickness, disuse, and lack of books, adding that he was as fit to be captain of Calais as to dispute: still he would, he said, declare his mind by writing, or by word of mouth. He complained further, that he had been refused pen and ink, and that no books were allowed him but his New Testament, which he had been reading over seven times deliberately; and yet, he declared, he could not find the mass in it, neither the marrow-bones nor sinews. The commissioners were very angry at this expression; and one of them, Dr. Weston, said, that he would make him grant that it had both marrow-bones and sinews in the New Testament. 66 That," said Latimer, "you will never do, master doctor." And then he was hurried away. He On the day appointed, Latimer appeared. begged that he might not be kept long, for he was very faint and ill. He had, he said, painfully written his protestation against the articles, part of which was read. It is an excellent piece, wherein, besides his divinity and constancy, one may perceive notable footsteps, in this his old age, of his former acuteness. The venerable martyr speaks in simple and affecting language in it of the treatment he had met with, and closes, "Thus have I answered your conclusions, as I will stand unto, with God's help, to the fire. And after this, I am able to declare to the majesty of God, by his invaluable word, that I die for the truth; for I assure you, if I could grant to the queen's proceedings, and endure by the word of God, I would rather live than die; but seeing they be directly against God's word, I will obey God more than man, and so embrace the stake." Then the disputation, as it was called, began. Latimer begged that he might speak in English; for he had almost forgotten his Latin, and his memory was never the better for his imprisonment. But his plain good sense did not forsake him. When his opponents pressed him with authorities from the old doctors, the doctors might be deceived," said he, "in some points, though not in all things. I believe them when they say well." "Is it not a shame," one of the papists coarsely reproached him, "for an CHURCH OF ENGLAND MAGAZINE. old man to lie? You say you are of the old fathers' faith, where they say well; and yet ye are not." "I am of their faith when they say well; I refer myself to my Lord of Canterbury's book wholly herein." "Then are you not of Chrysostom's faith, nor of St. Augustine's faith?" "I have said, when they say well, and bring Scripture for them, I am of their faith; and further, Augustine requireth not to be believed." Of course, he was pronounced overcome in the argument; and two days after, he, with Cranmer and Ridley, were brought up again; and having declared that they would stand to what they had said, they were all three condemned. On which Latimer replied, “I thank God most heartily that he hath prolonged my life to this end, that I may in this case glorify God by that kind of death." "If you go to heaven," said Dr. Weston, "in this faith, then I will never come thither, as I am thus persuaded." The next day there was a solemn maɛs and grand procession. The prisoners were sent for to see it. Latimer thought that he was called to execution, and desired that there might be a quick fire. But when he came to Carfax, and saw what the matter was, he ran away as fast as his infirmities would let him into a shop, and would not even look at the abominable thing. He was then taken back to prison, where he lay till the next year. On September 30th and October 1st, 1555, Latimer underwent two examinations before certain delegates. He was dressed, we are told, in an old threadbare Bristol frieze gown, girded with a penny leather girdle, at which hung, by a leather strap, his Testament. He had a handkerchief on his head, and upon that a nightcap or two, and over them a large townsman's cap, with two broad flaps made to button under the chin; and about his neck hung his spectacles without case. There was the same gross unfairness in these examinations as in the former discussion. Sometimes the unfeeling audience jeered and laughed at their victim. "Why, my masters," said he, indignantly, "this is no laughing matter: I answer upon life and death." In vain was he pressed to recant; he neither could, he told them, nor would deny his Master Christ, and his verity. Then he was delivered over to the secular power, and committed to the custody of the mayor. At last, October 16, 1555, a day to be much remembered by the people of England, Latimer and Ridley were brought to the fire. The place of execution was over against Baliol College. Ridley walked first, and after him came Latimer, in his Bristol frieze and buttoned cap and handkerchief, and a new long shroud over his hose. As they passed toward Bocardo, where Cranmer was confined, they looked up to the window, hoping to have seen the archbishop, but he was then engaged in disputing with some friars. Then Ridley, turning back to Latimer, said, "O, be ye there?" "Yea," replied Latimer, "have after as fast as I can follow." At the stake the martyrs encouraged and embraced each other, and, kneeling down, made their prayer to God. Dr. Smith preached the sermon, which both Latimer and Ridley declared themselves ready to answer, if they might be suffered; but this was denied them: so Latimer made his usual observation, "Well, there is nothing hid, but it shall be opened." Then they were commanded to get ready. When Latimer was stripped to his shroud, though in his clothes he had seemed a withered and crooked old man, "he now stood bolt upright, as comely a father as one might lightly behold." In that awful moment, lifting up his eyes to heaven with a cheerful countenance, "God is faithful," said he, "which doth not suffer us to be tempted above our strength." An iron chain was fastened round the two martyrs as they stood at the stake, and afterwards some gunpowder was hung about their necks. Then they brought a burning faggot, and laid it at Ridley's feet; and then Latimer addressed him in those ever-memorable words: "BE OF GOOD COMFORT, As soon as the fire burned up, Latimer, crying vehemently, "O Father of heaven, receive my soul," received the flame, as if embracing it; and "after that he had stroked his face with his hands, and, as it were, bathed them a little in the fire, he soon died (as it appeareth) with very little pain, or none." It had been, as before related, his prayer, that he might shed his heart's blood in the defence of the Gospel. And truly that prayer was answered. For when his body was opened by the force of the fire, the blood gushed violently from his heart in such abundance as to amaze the bystanders. Thus died gloriously, as Bishop Ridley called him, the true apostle of England. Happy saint! There was with him in the flame One whose form was as the Son of God, and he had no hurt. "Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy." Ir forms, my beloved friends, one among the many strong links which bind our hearts to our apostolic Church, that whilst our pious forefathers renounced the errors of papal Rome, they provided special services to commemorate those events which are peculiarly calculated to instruct, or console, or edify her members. One of these events is brought before us on this day the slaughter of the by the early Christians "Innocents' Day." infants in Bethlehem by king Herod, called It is considered that a third part of the human race are taken from this vale of tears before they have attained two years of age. How many Christian parents, then, may, from their own privations, sympathise with the bereaved mothers of Bethlehem! How grateful also to the heart must be the consolation provided on this day in our beautiful services! May the Holy Spirit grant us his especial aid! May the word comfort the mourner, edify parents, instruct the rising generation, and solemnise the minds and soften the hearts of all who are present! The passage of Scripture which I have read as my text is referred to by St. Matthew, in the 2d chapter of his gospel, in his narrative of the slaughter of the young children at Bethlehem; a history which must be so fresh in your memories, that it is needless to occupy the time in stating it at length. It is sufficient to remind you, that the inspired evangelist mentions, that when Herod sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, of two years old and under, 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." : may, indeed, have grieved their parents, but their bad conduct has never wounded them. They have only seen their innocent smiles; for the seeds of sin, which are in the heart, cannot yet fully unfold themselves. At that age also, if at any time, a parent indulges in anticipating the comfort or pleasure he may hereafter derive from his child. Nothing has then occurred to raise a doubt, or excite a fear; hope is in full blossom. When, therefore, death darts its arrow at an infant child, there may well be lamentation and bitter weeping; for it is, viewed in itself, an irremediable sorrow. Had sickness come, there might be hope of recovery; had loss of property happened, exertion, or the up-kindness of friends, might have retrieved the loss: but the cold hand of death affords no place for hope. Rachel refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not. The slaughter of these young children affords a melancholy proof of the depravity of the human heart; that there is no cruelty, however atrocious, that man, if left to himself, will not commit. Herod was now wards of seventy years of age, and could have nothing to fear from the ambition of an infant but such is the terror that broods in a heart habitually wicked, that the deaths of all the infant children in all the coasts of Bethlehem can alone allay it. Their dying cries, and the bitter lamentations of their parents, enter into a deaf ear. The love of self predominates, and thousands of lives are at once sacrificed. Let those who speak of the dignity of human nature go to Bethlehem; let them ask who issued this dreadful decree, and who executed it? Were they beasts of prey, or men with good hearts? They were neither; they were that race of which the word of God has said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." This, however, is not the subject we now wish to consider. Our object is to contemplate those parts of the history which are immediately connected with our textRACHEL'S SORROW, and RACHEL'S CONSOLA TION. I. RACHEL'S SORROW. "Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not." It requires no long reasoning to shew, that when her infants were put to death, this must be the case. For at once many bitter pangs enter the soul. God, in his goodness, has placed, even in the brute creation, such tender affection for their offspring, that the most ferocious animals are melted when deprived of their young; but this natural instinct, we need not say, rises far higher in man. So that at any age the loss of a child may be considered amongst our greatest calamities; but the death of infants comes peculiarly near to the heart. Their very helplessness endears them; their entire dependence upon their parents has excited their warmest interest; they have never offended; their cries To a considerate mind also there is this aggravation in the suffering, that the death of infants is among the strongest proofs of the fallen nature of the parent. For were there not in man's transgression that which, in some ineffable way, pollutes our offspring, an infant would never suffer. The God of all goodness would never permit a tender babe, incapable of actual transgression, to endure the penalty of the law. But they are all bound up in their common parent: so that, receiving a sinful nature, they become obnoxious to the curse. We are well aware, my friends, that this is a truth not pleasing to human nature, which would rather impute the death of an infant to sickness, or disease, or infirmity of constitution; but this is the reason God assigns, as may be seen by referring to Rom. v. 12-14: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." You observe this expression, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and DEATH BY SIN;" not by sickness, or other casualty; these are only the instruments, sin is the hand that strikes the blow; " and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: for until the law," that is, until the proclamation of the law at Sinai, "sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them which had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Adam broke the plain command, but death reigned even over them who had not sinned in this |