they ever had, of celebrating the death of that Saviour who bled on the Cross for their sins. To them-to each and every one of them, I speak. I speak to all of you, my hearers, and I hope and pray that God may give you no peace, day nor night, till you have found out some adequate excuse for neglecting your duty, or till you come forward while you may, and perform it. There are some of you, however, who will not forget the dying command of Christ, nor absent yourselves from the solemnities of his table. You, my Christian friends, we hail with joy, among the little band of communicants. To what denomination you belong is of no importance-we give to all of you, without exception, the hand of a brotherly welcome. The Lord's Supper, like that Heaven which it typifies, merges every distinction of sect in the one great and honorable name of Christian. All we ask, is, that your whole hearts be enlisted in the transaction, that they be not free from sin, but penitent for it—not perfect in holiness, but panting to be so-not good enough to come, but ready enough not to stay away-not absolutely confident of pardon, but trusting in the mercy of Christ alone to dispense it, and cherishing the humble hope, that He has done it already.

May God add His blessing. Amen.

SERMON XXI.

"Herod the Tetrarch."

Matthew, xiv., 1.

In looking over the biographical sketches of the New Testament, we cannot but mark the honest and impartial accuracy with which they are drawn. Having for their object to keep up a broad line of distinction between virtue and vice, it appears natural that the sacred writers should have regarded themselves as an interested party, and be. trayed their sentiments accordingly. But such is not the fact. No matter how fair the field for eulogy—no matter how just the subject for reproach-we find them, in every instance, repressing their personal feelings, and adhering to the fidelity of simple and unvarnished narration. For an example of the remark, take the case of Herod, whose name I have read. Perhaps few men in any age have been more licentious or abandoned; few, certainly, can be cited, who have wrung so many tears of blood from the Church. Yet knowing all this, having it confirmed by profane history, the pen of Inspiration has merely detailed a statement of facts, without indulging a single epithet, without drawing a single inference. Something like a feeling of pity, it is true, appears in the account, but nothing of indignation or censure; not a remark, indeed, is dropped, from which we can gather the views of the evangelist. He leaves it to his readers to form their own conclusions, and hence it is, that we, my hearers, may profit by taking the materials which the Bible affords, and collecting from them the character of a man who figured with almost unparalleled enormity in the early periods of the Church.

The name of Herod, on the pages of the New Testament, carries along with it a most terrific association. The father, commonly called Herod the Great, was he who massacred the children at Bethlehem, and sought the life of the infant Saviour. The son it was who inhumanly murdered John the Baptist, and he is intended by our text. The nephew, Herod Agrippa, slew St. James, and afterwards imprisoned the venerable Peter with the same design, which, however, was happily prevented. Through the whole family, therefore, we discover a cruelty and savageism, which even in those days of terror mocked at a parallel. The proconsular, or rather the official name of the individual about whom we are now speaking, was Herod Antipas. At the death of his father, he came into power, and was appointed vicegerent of the Roman emperor, with the title of King of Galilee. The first we hear of him in sacred Scripture is as the seducer, and afterwards the husband, of his brother's wife. While living in this incestuous connexion, John the Baptist commenced his career, and Herod from curiosity sent for him to court. The preacher went; but he went not to soothe nor to flatter. He dared to speak the truth; and while the royal sinner was surrounded by the imposing magnificence of empire, he reminded him of his guilt, and called upon him to break off from his destructive course of licentiousness and outrage. To this was returned the laconic answer, which office and rank generally, if they have the power, give to truth. John was ordered to prison. The step is not at all to be wondered at. How many are there, possessed of exalted stations, who do not spurn away from them every restraint, which an inferior, and especially a preacher, may wish to impose? Let a class of men be elevated above the common walks of life, by no matter what,— wealth, office, family; and they all at once become enshrouded with a sort of repulsive dignity, which no remonstrance can

unbend, and no argument approach. John was imprisoned; and if a woman had had her way, he would have been led to the scaffold. When the feebler sex settles down into such a debasement, as to dismiss the sympathies and chari. ties which belong to it, it goes to ten times greater lengths than the other. So in the present case. The degraded wretch, who called herself the wife of Herod, insisted that their prisoner should be put to death. To this, however, her husband, with all his cruelty, would not consent, for one of the strangest reasons in the world," because he feared John, knowing that he was a just man and a holy." Strange, did I say? No, it is not strange; there is a something in the lofty purity of real religion which is always feared, even by the most abandoned. It is precisely the principle which made Felix tremble before Paul, when he heard him reason of righteousness, of temperance, and of a judgment to come. The image of God, see it where we will, is awfully grand and impressive; and often, very often, when the worldling is pointing the finger of scorn at the disciples of Christ, a secret awe is moving in his heart, which compels him to do them reverence. But Herod went beyond the emotion of fear. He visited John in his confinement; and, says the evangelist, "heard him gladly." Indeed, he seems to have commended the honesty of his preaching, and if one particular subject had been avoided, the violation of the marriage covenant, he would probably have felt towards him no resentment. But you may inquire how it happens, that men of Herod's character can listen to the alarming truths of the Gospel with composure? And yet it is so. The ability, the address, the elevation of the preacher, may awaken ap. plause, even where his exhortations are disregarded, and his principles denied. Or there may be in the doctrine itself a something of sublimity which overawes, while the entire groundwork of the plan of salvation by Christ is to the Jew

a stumbling-block, and to the Greek foolishness. And thus we find, that hundreds will sit under the announcements of Inspiration with the decency of external respect, but the moment the word of God is pressed home upon their own con. sciences-the moment they find the declaration of the prophet thundering in their ears, "Thou art the man," then it is, that they seize upon some gilded apology, and bid the subject of religion farewell. But in Herod's case, it was not all, that he admired the preacher. He commenced the for. malities of a visible reformation, and, as we are told, did many things which were required of him. Promising, in. deed, was the prospect that such a man should relinquish any of his habits; but Herodias was still retained, and thus every hope of radical amendment was extinguished. Not all the obligations of this world, nor all the solemnities of another, could persuade him to renounce the infamous woman who shared his throne. It was easy for him, as it is for us, to surrender one sin, or another sin for which no very craving propensity called; but to crush at a blow the mighty principle of sin in the heart, is another and a very different work. This is accomplished only by that entire devotedness to God which spontaneously abandons every thing, however trivial, which He has forbidden, and performs every thing, however mortifying, which He has enjoined.

But to return to Herod. If any palliation could be of. fered for his guilt-any semblance of excuse for retaining his degraded queen, it must be found in the strength of that passion which hurried him on in his career. Well, indeed, has Inspiration said of an unprincipled woman-that “Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." What is the sacrifice which deluded man will not offer at this polluted shrine? Interest, health, character, the most endearing ties, and the most solemn engagements; all that binds society together; all that makes

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