different from that of all other men whatsoever; for whereas they have selfish passions deeply rooted in their breasts, and are influenced by them in almost everything they do, Jesus was so entirely free from them, that the most severe scrutiny can not furnish one single action in the whole course of his life, wherein he consulted his own interest only. No; he was influ enced by very different motives: the present happiness, and eternal welfare of sinners, regulated his conduct; and while others followed their respective occupations, Jesus had no other business than that of doing the will of his Father, and promoting the happiness of the sons of men. Nor did he wait till he was solicited to extend his benevolent hand to the distressed; "he went about doing good," and always accounted it "more blessed to give than to receive; " resembling God rather than man. Benevolence was the very life of his soul; he not only did good to objects presented to him for relief, but he industriously sought them out, in order to extend his compassionate assistance.

It is common for persons of the most exalted faculties to be elated with success, and applause, or dejected by censure and disappointments; but the blessed Jesus was never elated by the one, or depressed by the other. He was never more courageous than when he met with the greatest opposition and cruel treatment; nor more humble, than when the sons of men worshiped at his feet.

He came into the world inspired with the grandest purpose that ever was formed: that of saving from eternal perdition, not a single nation, but the whole world; and in the execution of it went through the longest and heaviest train of labors that ever was

sustained, with a constancy and resolution, on which no disadvantageous impression could be made by any accident whatever. Calumny, threatenings, bad suscess, with many other evils constantly attending him, served only to quicken his endeavors in this glorious enterprise, which he unceasingly pursued, even till he had finished it by his death.

The generality of mankind are prone to retaliate injuries received, and all seem to take a satisfaction in complaining of the cruelties of those who oppress them, whereas the whole of Christ's labors breathed nothing but meekness, patience, and forgiveness, even to his bitterest enemies, and in the midst of the most excruciating torments. The words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," uttered by him when his enemies were nailing him to the cross, fitly express the temper which he maintained through the whole course of his life, even when assaulted by the heaviest provocation. He was destined to sufferings here below, in order that he might raise his people to honor, glory, and immortality, in the realms of bliss above; and therefore patiently, yea joyfully, submitted to all that the malice of earth and hell could inflict.

He was vilified that we might be honored; he died that we might live forever and ever.

To conclude: the greatest and best men have discovered the degeneracy and corruption of human nature, and shown them to have been nothing more than men; but it was otherwise with Jesus. He was superior to all the men that ever lived, both with regard to the purity of his manners, and the perfection of his holiness. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.

Whether we consider him as a teacher, or as a man, "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." His whole life was perfectly free from spot or weakness; at the same time, it was remarkable for the greatest and most extensive exercises of purity and goodness. But never to have committed the least sin in word or deed: never to have uttered any sentiment that could be censured, upon the various topics of religion and morality, which were the daily subjects of his discourses; and that through the course of a life filled with action, and led under the observation of many enemies, who had always access to converse with him, and who often came to find fault, is a pitch of perfection evidently above the reach of human nature; and consequently he who possessed it must have been divine.

Such was the person who is the subject of the evangelical history. If the reader, by reviewing his life, doctrine, and miracles, as they are here represented to him, united in one series, has a clearer idea of these things than before; or observes a beauty in his actions thus linked together, which, taken separately, do not appear so fully; if he feels himself touched by the character of Jesus in general, or with any of his ser mons or actions in particular, thus simply delineated in writing, whose principal charms are the beauties of truth; above all, if his dying so generously for men strikes him with admiration, or fills him with hope, in the prospect of that pardon which is thereby purchased for the world, let him seriously consider with himself what improvements he ought to make of the divine goodness.

Jesus, by his death, hath set open the gate of immortality to the sons of men; and by his word, spirit,

and example, graciously offers to make them meet for the glorious rewards in the kingdom of the heavenly Canaan, and to conduct them into the inheritance of the saints in light. Let us therefore, remember, that being born under the dispensations of his gospel, we have, from our earliest years, enjoyed the best means of securing to ourselves an interest in that favor of God which is life, and that loving kindness which is better than life.

We have been called to aspire after an exaltation to the nature and felicity of the Almighty, exhibited to mortal eyes in the man Christ Jesus, to fire us with the noblest ambition. His gospel teaches us that we are made for eternity; and that our present life is, to our future existence, as infancy to manhood. But, as in the former many things are to be learned, many hardships to be endured, many habits to be acquired, and that by a course of exercises, which, in themselves, though painful, and possibly useless to the child, yet are necessary to fit him for the business and enjoyments of manhood; so, while we remain in this infancy of human life, things are to be learned, hardships to be endured, and habits to be acquired by a laborious disipline, which, however painful, must be undergone, because necessary to fit us for the employments and pleasures of our riper existence in the realms above; always remembering, that whatever our trials may be in this world, if we ask for God's assistance, he has promised to give it. Inflamed, therefore, with the love. of immortality and its joys, let us submit ourselves to our heavenly teacher, and learn of him those lessons. which alone can render life pleasant, death desirable, and fill our hearts with ecstatic joy.

CHAPTER XXXV.

REMARKS ON THE PECULIAR NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, THE PRINCIPLES IT INCULCATES, AND ITS FITNESS TO RENDER MEN HOLY AND HUMBLE HERE, AND HAPPILY GLORIFIED HEREAFTER.

WE

E can not close this delightful scene of the life of our dear Lord and Saviour more comfortably, than by considering the benefits resulting from a due attendance to his doctrines by all who shall, by faith, receive and embrace the same. Probably none have been greater enemies to the progress of religion, than those who delineate it in a gloomy and terrifying form; nor any guilty of a more injurious calumny against the gospel, than those who represent its precepts as rigorous impositions and unnecessary restraints.

True religion is the perfection of human nature, and the foundation of uniform exalted pleasure, of public order, and private happiness. Christianity is the most excellent, and the most useful institution, having the "promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." It is the voice of reason; it is also the language of Scripture, "The ways of wisdom are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace; " and our blessed Saviour himself assures us, that his precepts. are easy, and the burden of his religion light.