me." In other words-And now, blessed, thrice blessed are all they, who shall so consider the wonderful works done by me, as not to be offended at my poor and lowly appearance, during the time of my humiliation and suffering here on earth; or at the seeming harshness of my salutary doctrines to flesh and blood. For I well know, that many, though they have beheld me giving sight to the blind and vigour to the impotent, cleansing lepers, making the deaf to hear, and raising the dead to life again; yet, because the truths which I deliver are contrary to their interests, their pleasures, their pride, their prejudices, which they are determined not to quit, even for the kingdom of heaven; many, I say, will reject what they cannot but acknowledge to be the counsel of God, and put away the word of salvation from them. Let a man only suppress his inordinate desires of things temporal, and he will be disposed to hear what I shall tell him of things eternal. Let him cease to love the world, and he will cease to have any objection to the Gospel. Let but his heart be open to conviction, and when the evidence hath been once fairly laid before him, he will never again ask the question, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another ?" SECTION VIII. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ST. JOHN'S DEATH. We have now accompanied St. John through the several stages of his life. We have rejoiced with his parents and kinsfolk at his birth, and spent some time in contemplation with him in the deserts; we have stood by him, as a preacher and a Baptist, at the river Jordan, and have been made acquainted with the repeated testimonies borne by him, at different times, to the Messiahship of Jesus; we have heard him, like another Elijah, reproving another Ahab, and have visited him in prison, where the glory of his great Master, and the salvation of those committed to his care, still continued to be the objects of his attention. It remains only, that we behold him paying that debt to na ture, from which the greatest of them that are born of women are not exempted. And here our acquaintance with him must end, till we meet him in the kingdom of God. Thus do scenes of real life pass swiftly away, and, when looked back upon, appear like those which are described within the compass of a small volume like this. In the course of a few years, the child, at whose birth we made merry, is become a man; he sickens, and dies, and we mourn at his funeral. Some gleams of success and prosperity, perhaps, brighten and adorn certain parts of his life, as the sun gilds the edges of a dark cloud, or imprints upon it the still more beautiful colours of the rainbow. But while we gaze, the sun sets, the colours fade, the bow vanishes, and "the place thereof knoweth it no more." Of prophets, as well as of kings, it may be observed, that there is generally but a short interval between their imprisonment and their death; the enmity which occasioned one, seldom leaving them till it have accomplished the other. And "more bitter even than death itself is the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands bands *." Herod had thrown John into prison; but this would not satisfy Herodias. Even there she heard him still preaching upon the old text, and reproaching her with her crimes. "She had a quarrel against him; EvεLXev auTW, she fastened upon him, and would have killed him, but," for some time, she "could not." For though Herod had not religion enough to produce in him the fear of God, he had policy enough to produce the fear of the Jews, among whom John's reputation as a prophet ran very high.— Herodias, however, in her heart, had determined to effect her purpose by procuring, sooner or later, the execution of him whom she falsely deemed her enemy: as if sin could not be committed with impunity, while John was living to hear of it; as if his blood would not cry louder than his voice had done; or the head of the prophet could enter the palace, without reproving the adultery of the tetrarch. But an imperious lust, in the height of its career, can brook no obstruction; and were it possible, as well as necessary, the world itself would be blown up to make way for it. Eccles. vii. 26. + Mark vi. 19, &c. Y Sin being once resolved on in the heart, an opportunity of committing it is seldom long wanting; and the mind is upon the watch, to embrace the very first that offers. "When a convenient day was come, that Herod's birthday should be kept, he made a great supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee." It is certainly no sin in a prince to keep his birth-day, or to make a great supper upon it. But how much it behoveth a man, at such times of rejoicing, to be upon his guard, lest unawares he be induced to sacrifice truth and conscience to mirth and gaiety, the melancholy catastrophe of this banquet may serve to show us; since neither Herod, nor any of his guests imagined, when they sat down to table on that fatal evening, how horribly their great supper would conclude. But so it happened, that, before the night was out, a deed was done, which displayed to all succeeding generations the malice and cruelty of Herodias, with the weakness and wickedness of Herod; teaching us, at the same time, that the greatest of prophets and the best of men are not more secure from violence than from natural death, but rather more exposed to it than the rest of mankind, if with fidelity and fortitude they execute the trust committed to them. 66 Herodias, by her lawful husband Philip, had a daughter named Salome, who condescended to grace the festivity by dancing before the company, in a manner which pleased Herod, and them that sat with him." A pious prelate of our church, in his contemplations on this occurrence, observes, that " dancing, in itself, as it is a set, regular, harmonious, graceful motion of the body, cannot be unlawful, any more than walking or running.' We may add, that it hath in all ages and nations been one way, and that a natural one, of expressing an uncommon degree of joy and gladness; on which account it was adopted into the number of religious ceremonies formerly enjoined to be observed by the people of God. But for a young lady to appear, as a dancer, before Herod and his "lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee," probably, when they were well warmed with wine, became only the daughter of an Herodias, educated by her own mother. Herod, quite overcome and thrown off his guard by Salome's performance, makes her a foolish promise; and, as if that was not enough, confirms it with a rash oath : "Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, to the half of my kingdom." A very handsome recompense, one would think, for a dance! But it will appear presently, that the king had not offered enough. Half his kingdom would not do. Something was required more valuable than the whole of it, had it extended from Judea quite round the globe. Nothing would satisfy, but his honour, his conscience, his soul; the price which sin never fails to ask! The glorious golden opportunity of revenge was not to be lost. Herodias is consulted by her daughter, and lo, the soft, tender, delicate Salome re-enters, all athirst for blood-" Give me in a charger the head of John the Baptist;" of a prophet; of a person whom thou knowest to be innocent, holy, upright. Make me this sacrifice, and I am content. With such eagerness and sagacity does" the adultress hunt for the precious life!" Bad as Herod was, the petition of Salome at first shocked him. "The king was sorry." He thought of John's character, the atrociousness of the murder, and the opinion which the world would entertain of the murderer. But the tide which had ebbed soon flowed again, and obliterated, in a moment, what had been written on the sand during its recess. The love of Herodias, the address of Salome, the festivity of the season, and the presence of the "lords and high captains," who had been witnesses of the promise, and might approve the proposal; all these circumstances on the side of the temptation prevailed. And perhaps Herod, upon recollection, might think that the supposed obligation of his oath would afford him a better excuse than he should ever be master of again, for complying with the importunity of Herodias, and taking off a monitor troublesome to them both. "For his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her." Thus, if any extraordinary wickedness is to be transacted, religion must be made a cover for it. As if wrong became right, when acted in the name of God; and it were more acceptable in his sight, to massacre a prophet, than to repent of a rash oath, made to a foolish girl, at a drunken entertainment. The Baptist's fate being thus determined, "immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in prison." This deed of darkness must have been done in the season proper for it, the middle of the night; and St. John was probably awakened, to receive his sentence, out of that sleep, which truth and innocence can secure to their possessor in any situation. The generality of mankind have reason enough to deprecate a sudden death, lest it should surprise them in one of their many unguarded hours. But to St. John no hour could be such. He had kept the faith, and preserved a conscience void of offence. He had done his duty, and waited daily and hourly, we may be sure, for his departure. He was now, therefore, called off from his station with honour, to quit the wellfought field for the palace of the Great King; to refresh himself, after the dust, and toil, and heat of the day, by bathing in the fountain of life and immortality; to exchange his blood-stained armour for a robe of glory, and to have his temporary labours rewarded with eternal rest; to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God; and as the friend of the Bridegroom, to enter into the joy of his Lord. From the darkness and confinement of a prison, he passed to the liberty and light of heaven; and while malice was gratified with a sight of his head, and his body was carried by a few friends in silence to the grave, his immortal spirit repaired to a court, where no Herod desires to have his brother's wife; where no Herodias thirsts after the blood of a prophet; where he who hath laboured, with sincerity and diligence, in the work of reformation, is sure to be well received; where holiness, zeal, and constancy "are crowned, and receive palms from the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world *." So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, And yet anon uprears his drooping head, And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore, * 2 Esdr. ii. 45-47. MILTON. |