NOTE (13), page 118.

Let this fact be duly weighed, and seriously considered, by those, who, in a fastidious age, and in the midst of a captious and gainsaying generation, complain of the English ritual and liturgy, for adopting, so often, the words of a prayer which our Lord himself has taught us: a prayer, which can never be used, by such as are spiritually minded, without either suggesting some new idea, or giving a fresh impulse to their devotion. It is, indeed, the beauty of the Lord's Prayer, that its several petitions always admit of an application to the present exigences, and the immediate disposition, of the supplicant.

At one time, the several clauses may be considered in a literal, and at another, in a figurative sense. Sometimes, both senses may be combined. In the first, or penitential part, of our morning service, we may so apply its petitions, as to pray, that God's name may be hallowed by our contrition, and his kingdom promoted by our bringing forth the fruits of repentance; while we implore the daily assistance of Him, who is the Bread that came down from heaven. When this prayer is repeated, at the conclusion, or the supplicatory part, of the service, we may apply it to the subject of the succeeding collects: and pray, that the Divine Name may be hallowed, by the godly conduct of all those, who profess and call themselves Christians; that the Kingdom of Heaven may be promoted, by the obedience of the King, and all who are in authority under him, . . of bishops, and of curates, and of all congregations committed to their charge; while we pray, that, day by day,

they may receive all that is needful, for their souls, as well as their bodies. In like manner, we may invariably apply it to the subject immediately in hand, whenever, and wherever, it occurs.

"What prayer can any one think more spiritual, than a prayer which is given us by Christ himself, who also sent the Holy Spirit unto us? What prayer can any one imagine to have more truth in it, than that which came out of His mouth who is Truth itself? Wherefore, my beloved, let us pray as God himself has been pleased to teach us: those petitions are most likely to be well received of Him, which are drawn in this form, and by His order, and conceived in the very words of His own dear Son."- St. Cyprian, on the Lord's Prayer. sect. ii.

NOTE (14), page 119.

"Christ shows,

Sleep on now, and take your rest. that their watching could no longer be of service to him; since the time had now arrived, when he was to be torn away from them."-Rosenmüller, in loc. St. Chrysostom (Hom. in S. Matt. lxxxiii.) makes the same remark.

NOTE (15), page 120.

"He used these words, Lo! he that betrayeth me is at hand, to let the disciples see that the event was brought about, not by necessity, or from any incapacity on his part to avoid the danger, but only, for the fulfilment of that ineffable dispensation, which related to himself."- St. Chrysost. Hom. in S. Matt. lxxxiii.

"Nothing can appear more absurd, than to exclude from the satisfactory sufferings of Christ, by way of eminence, that sorrow of his soul, that great trouble and heaviness, that horror and amazement, that exceeding great sorrow even unto death, those clots of bloody sweat, those prayers and supplications, with tears and strong cries;.. the result of those agonies, all which the Holy Ghost so circumstantially describes.

"He certainly thinks too meanly of them, who affirms, that those horrors and this anguish, were, in comparison of the more grievous tortures which Christ endured on the cross itself, to be deemed only an antepassion, or kind of foretaste." Witsius. Economia Fœderum, lib. ii. cap. vi. sect. 16, 17. See also Bp. Pearson on the Creed, art. iv.

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146

LECTURE IV.

MARK, XIV. 43.

And immediately, while he yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the twelve; and with him, a great multitude, with swords and staves.

Ir was the object of our Lord's enemies to apprehend him by night, in order to avoid all popular commotion and tumult. From the manner in which the lowly Jesus had been hailed by the populace, when making his public entry into Jerusalem,..and from the impression created, by the grandeur of his sentiments, the profoundness of his remarks, and the sanctity of his character, when afterwards conversing in the temple, and putting the Pharisees to silence,..they might naturally imagine, that a strong, if not an influential party, existed, favourable to his pretensions, and zealous in his cause as their Messiah. They ventured not, as yet, to reckon on the proverbial

fickleness of the multitude; and, perhaps, they understood not the difference, between a momentary conviction, and an habitual persuasion. This will account for the readiness, with which they closed with the proposal of Iscariot, when that son of perdition offered to betray his Master's

retreat.

And now, under the conduct of Judas, they were on their road to Bethany. But the apostate knew, that the Lord Jesus oft-times took Gethsemane in his way; for there, he, as one of the twelve, had attended his master, when his doctrine dropped as the rain, and his speech distilled as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as dew upon the grass. He determined, therefore, before proceeding further, to search the garden. It is apparent, from the narrative, that these ministers of vengeance fell in with their Divine Victim, sooner than they had anticipated, and in a manner different from what they had been led to expect.

The traitor was escorted by a detachment of Roman troops*; and these were accompanied by a mixed multitude of the retainers of the Sanhedrim, who, armed with swords, and staves, and

* John, xviii. 3.