tion to banish from his mind whatever pain he suffered from an apprehension, that he might not worthily discharge the office which he had been called to undertake.

It is in feelings such as these, in such an apprehension, that we may suppose the Temptation or the Trials in the wilderness consisted. That the mind of Jesus was of a character to feel the apprehensions to which we have alluded, seems to be probable, from all else that we know concerning him. In the humility of his heart, he refused to allow himself to be called "good." He was not exempt, apparently, from some degree of dread, as he looked forward to the death which he was to meet. He truly suffered as it approached, and earnestly desired that the baptism, which once he hoped would be hastened on, that it might be passed,-should, now that it had arrived, be suffered to pass away. The narratives of the Evangelists clearly revealing the humility of Jesus, and the pain with which he viewed approaching trials, it seems not unreasonable to suppose, that he may have felt apprehensions concerning the success, with which he should be able to finish the work committed to him; that he may have feared, lest his strength would not sustain him under inevitable trials, lest, in circumstances of peculiar danger, he should act unworthily of the Son of God, the appointed messenger of Heaven.

The three "temptations," which Jesus is related to have met, present no circumstances widely at variance with the suppositions which we have made. The ministry of Jesus was to be passed in much hardship. "For our sakes he became poor," and had not "where to lay his head." If Jesus saw beforehand how houseless he was to roam, and how destitute of the means of life he might often be, what would more naturally occur to his mind, than to question whether he should never be tempted to use miraculous means to supply his daily wants. The question may seem at first sight unimportant; but it seems highly important, when we consider with what different feelings we should have regarded him, if he had in times of hunger commanded stones to be made bread, or used at any time for his own ends the miraculous power, with which he was intrusted. That power was a sacred trust. It was devoted to one great end; and throughout life we see it used for one great purpose, the establishment of truth, and in one sacred way, beneficence toward man. It may have been a trial to Jesus, before his ministry commenced, to reflect upon

the charge which was entrusted to him, and to fear lest he should turn it from its sacred design, at times when he could see no other way in which to supply the pressing necessities of daily existence.

If such a fear were the trial, which is related first to have beset him, it was banished from his mind, apparently, by an appropriate reflection;-simply, by a feeling, that in the midst of his hunger in the wilderness he could trust in God, that in his present want he felt no temptation, or no difficulty in resisting the temptation to supply his wants by making bread from stones. Man doth not live by bread alone, but by the commandments of God. A knowledge of the will of God, which Jesus found sufficient in one instance to enable him to forbear from an improper use of divine power, he felt would be sufficient afterward to restrain him. In the trial in the wilderness he had experience of his strength, and was able consequently to banish from his mind a painful apprehension.

The second trial may have been similar. Besides the hardships of want, he was to be exposed to violence from men. It was not to be supposed that in so corrupt a land, the faithful witness of the truth of God would be endured. A Messiah, who should offer none but spiritual honors to his followers, and refuse to lead them on to earthly conquests, could by no means expect to be received in peace by the proud and haughty Jews. But the dangers, which the Messiah must expect, Jesus could easily escape by the exertion of miraculous power. We can easily imagine, that he was tried by the apprehension, lest he should be tempted in danger to use, for his own purposes, a power which was committed to him for the salvation of others.

This apprehension we may suppose he met, also, simply by his consciousness of trust in God. The word of God had been published in olden times concerning the Messiah, that the angels should have charge of him, and bear him in their hands, lest at any time he should dash his foot against a stone. They would bear him up if he were to descend from the pinnacle of the temple. But he felt no wish to make trial of their protection; and by never tempting Divine Providence by throwing himself into unnecessary danger, by withdrawing from danger, as we find that he often did, he disappointed the wrath of men, and saved himself against them. Many martyrdoms, as they have been named, would have been avoided, had the

faithful preachers of truth been equally faithful to the command, "thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

The last trial, which, from the account in the Gospel, we have supposed that he endured, arose from an apprehension, that he should at some time be tempted to desert his ministry altogether, or to attempt to fulfil the wishes of the Jews and accept an earthly instead of a spiritual throne. If in the wilderness his imagination may have surveyed the wealth, the honors, and kingdoms of the world, and his mind have seen that they were altogether in his possession if he chose to grasp at them, yet it is not to be supposed, that he felt in the least degree a desire to reach out his hand to seize them. Aside from any revelation of heavenly things, which at his baptism may have been made to him, his own purity of character, his spirituality of mind, we suppose sufficient to have elevated him above the low impulses of earthly ambition. Who can suppose, that Jesus in the desert felt that earthly possessions, and the slavish homage rendered to an earthly king could present attractions to his mind? But it is not equally clear, that in surveying, on the one side, the dangers to which his ministry of the truth was exposed, and considering, on the other, the hope of the Jews, that a glorious prince of earthly power was to appear, he may not have, at the time when he had just been anointed for his office, entertained a fear lest his choice of right and obedience to God might fail in the midst of the temptations by which he was to be tried. But if his trial in the wilderness consisted in any such apprehension, we are to suppose that reflection gave him reason to believe, that the world could not tempt him from the work, and that an assurance of his power became complete and fixed, before he left the wilderness to undertake his public labors.

Briefly, then; we have supposed that not temptation in the wilderness, but the apprehension of temptation in the untried scenes of his ministry, constituted the trial which Jesus endured. The form in which the narrative appears, we have supposed, arose either from an allegorical manner of speaking common among Jewish writers, or, which seems more probable, from an understanding common among the Jews, that the evils suffered by men proceeded from the hostility of a fallen angel, Satan. If Jesus related to his disciples that he was tried, they, as Jews, would understand that he was tried by Satan, and would be likely so to represent the trial in narrating it to others. The VOL. XXXII. -3D S. VOL. XIV. NO. I.

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feelings, with which Jesus was oppressed, they would understand to be the suggestions of Satan; and by a way of speaking common in all times, they would represent the supposed suggestions of Satan as being uttered in actual words.

It was a strange idea to build upon the slight foundation of the narrative of the Evangelist, that God gave permission to Satan to try his powers of Temptation upon the appointed Messiah. It involves a vast variety of suppositions and theories, which poetry may handle well, and which Milton has at some length drawn out. We need not remark upon it further. We have remarked sufficiently for the illustration of our own idea upon the other views of the Temptation of the Saviour, most commonly entertained at the present day. To view our Saviour tried by apprehension, brings him nearer to us. It gives a reality to his life and character. It helps to give individuality to his character; it enables us to see more clearly the sublimity and force of his virtues, and to understand that perfection, which had been previously too much a shadow or a word. It is probable that we understand little as yet, we feel little as yet, the personal character of Jesus. We may make many failures in studying to understand it; yet it is a source of satisfaction to feel, that the more one pursues the study, the character continually engages more the affection and reverence of the heart. In coming years, we trust, that the veil of mystery, which has enveloped it, will gradually be removed. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, will not appear a dim abstraction, his words will not be read as the utterances of an oracle. They will be read as words of life, uttered by lips of purity, from a heart that felt, and they will find nearer access to the hearts of those, who would see Jesus.

E. B.

ART. IV. 1. A Minister's Account of his Stewardship. A Sermon preached in Northborough, October 31, 1841. By JOSEPH ALLEN, on the completion of the twenty-fifth year of his Ministry in that place. Printed by request. 8vo. pp. 36.

2. Christ and him Crucified. Two Sermons preached in the Bulfinch Street Church [Boston] on Sunday, November 29, 1841. Being the close of the second year of the Ministry of the Pastor. By FREDRICK T. GRAY. With an Appendix. 8vo. pp. 56.

3. Farewell Address to the Unitarian Society in Nashua. By SAMUEL OSGOOD. [Printed for the use of the Society.] 12mo. pp. 36.

WE take up these pamphlets together, because they are of the same class, and because they offer occasion to some observations, which we are glad to have a fair opportunity to make. In one point of view they are hardly the fit subjects of public remark, as each may be considered the confidential talk of a pastor to his spiritual family, in which others have no concern. But as we are permitted to overhear it, and much of it is of general interest, we suppose that within proper limits we may indulge ourselves in speaking out the train of thoughts which it has suggested to our minds.

Mr. Allen, as his title page shows us, has been for twentyfive years minister of the same Congregational Church in Northborough; a period of time longer than falls to the lot of many in these days of frequent change, and not far below the average length of the ministry in New England; a period of time among the most interesting which have been known to the churches of Massachusetts, and during which his official life, like that of all his brethren, has received an important coloring from the general state of the religious community. Twentyfive years ago was near the beginning of that action into which the previous movements of opinion burst forth. There had been a preparation of many years; and the tendencies of thought and the occasional murmurings of the pulpit and the press had given signal of an approaching eruption. A few individuals had taken their distinctive ground, and separated from the heretical favorers of Unitarian opinions. But for the most part the state of affairs remained as it had been in the