fled. Peter returns, indeed, from curiosity, or from personal attachment; but he returns only to deny his master. In this state of confusion and disappointment, when the few disciples are all dispersed, Jesus is tried; and the unwillingness of Pilate, the last hope of his friends, avails nothing to his release; but the new founder of the christian faith, without resistance, surrenders himself to crucifixion, and breathes his last breath upon the cross. Now, I ask, where was

the religion, which he preached? His history has come to a close; his life has gone out, after a short and dazzling lustre ; his religion is dissipated with his disciples; and, in this solemn hour, what remained, I ask, of christianity? Why was it not, at that moment, obliterated? Why was it not then added to the funeral pile of the thousand and ten thousand systems and chimeras of the human mind? The triumph of the Jews was, at that moment, complete. Jesus had expired; and the gospel appeared to have sunk, never again to rise.

Wait but a few days, and a man arises, in the midst of an assembly of thousands of hostile Jews, with confidence in his features, intrepidity in all his motions, with the utmost fluency, sincerity, gravity and energy of speech. He begins by saying, Ye men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know-him being delivered by the determinate council of God, ye have tak

en, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain ; this Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ; and he hath shed forth this spirit, which ye now see and hear. This speech is delivered in the presence of eleven other men, who corroborate every fact by their own testimony of the same. And who is this man? Who are these men, so assuming, so presumptuous? Do you know, that this man is Peter, who, but a few days since, denied his dying master, and hid himself to conceal his shame? Do you know, that these are the same men, who fled in all directions upon the arrest of Jesus, and of whom we hear no more, till we find them in this assembly of the murderers of their leader? I have a right to ask the skeptick, whence this sudden transformation? Jesus, you say, is dead; his body moulders in the dust; his resurrection is a mere fable. Will you say, that they, who followed a master principally for the rewards, they expected, when he was alive, were thus completely and suddenly changed in their views, their hopes, their intrepidity, their whole character, when they knew, that he was dead, and was still lying lifeless in the grave? From a dead man what had they to expect? From his murderers what could they anticipate, but a fate similar to their master? I have a right to call upon the skeptick for a solution of this difficulty. I have a right to demand of him, to inform

me, why the religion of Jesus was not utterly extinct, when he was dead upon the cross, and his disciples had fled in consternation. I have a right to be informed-if Jesus did not rise, and the story of the apostles is a fable-whence is it, that a religion, which contains these facts, has existed through eighteen centuries, humble in its origin, persecuted in its progress, and gaining strength by opposition? How was it, that twelve cowardly and feeble men established a relig ion in the centre of Jerusalem, the founder of which had but just expired in the shame of an accursed crucifixion ?

You may say, if you please, that it was enthusiasm and fanaticism in the apostles, so that they really imagined, that they saw and conversed with Jesus after his death; and were not guilty of falsehood, but were only insane, when they maintained the fact of the resurrection. But what enthusiasm is this, which could bring together twelve men, who had fled in consternation, and induce them to agree in a consistent and intelligible story? If they were enthusiasts, whence the change of their ideas respecting the nature of our Saviour's character; whence this new direction of their views? If they were enthusiasts merely, it is to be supposed, they would be enthusiasts according to their old notions, and that a little of that suffering and persecution, to which they were soon exposed, would cure them of their madness. But the most pusillanimous of men are converted into the most bold and intrepid; the most ambitious and worldly, into

the most spiritual, disinterested and faithful. They maintain, through the greatest sufferings-sufferings, such as they once could not think of with patiencea faith, which has stood to the present hour, and will stand, I trust, till the heavens be no more.

This change, then, in the character of Peter and the disciples, let the infidel account for, if he can, without admitting that fact, which is the basis of our religion. If the fall of Peter lends any confirmation to the truly miraculous nature and propagation of our religion, he did not fall in vain.

We have learned something, then, from Peter's history, in aid of our faith. It also affords instructions of a practical nature. It gives us all a lesson of resolution and vigilance, lest we, too, fall from our steadfastness. Let no christian say, that he can never be precisely in Peter's situation, and, therefore, that he can never deny a master, who is no longer present with his followers. We deny him, christians, when we suppress our secret convictions of the truth of his gospel, and would make the world believe, that we know not the man. We deny him, when we attempt to shake off the restraints of his laws, or bend them to a more convenient standard; or when we take pains to hide the few peculiarities, which our christian education, or profession of the gospel yet oblige us to retain. We deny him, when, like Peter, we mingle with the vicious and the base, endure the jests of the scorner, and the licentiousness of the man of pleasure, and, lest we should be suspected of rigour,

or of superstition, choose not to be distinguished from the promiscuous multitude of worldly men, who know not their God and their Redeemer. No, it is not impossible to deny our master, nor is it easy to be always true to his cause.

It seems, indeed, to be no difficult task, to be a christian, when the religion is creditable, when respect attends upon its institutions, and men throng to the temples, and the profession of christianity leads to publick honours. But, my hearers, to say nothing of the struggles, which every disciple of Jesus has to maintain with the corruptions of his own heart, a man must not expect to be a christian, even in the best of times, without suffering some reproach from being true to his christian principles. The standard of the world is low and variable; but the everlasting laws of christian purity, piety and benevolence are not affected by any changes of manners, or fluctuations of opinion. The gospel stands, in the midst of the tide of fashions and fancies, the measure of all opinions, but regulated by none. He, who would be faithful to this religion, cannot pass through the world, without being tempted by the example of others, tried by many severe duties, reproached by some, whom he wishes to love, and neglected by others, whom a little sacrifice of his principles might retain in his favour. Let him, then, be vigilant and resolute.

Again, the fall of Peter teaches a lesson of humility. If there are any presumptuous and enthusiastick christians among us, they may learn from this