taught up into the third heavens, and seen the visions of God, determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified." At the grandest assembly that ever was convened on earth, this furnished the principal, if not the only topic of conversation: and in that world where the voice of joy and thanksgiving is perpetually heard, this constitutes the burden of the song, 'thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to Ged by thy blood.'t

DIALOGUE IV.

Park and romantic mount-Christ's death farther considered, as the very Punishment which our Sins deserved-Objections ancient and modern, answered-The whole summed up and improved.

Theron. I MUST now desire my Aspasio to inform me, what that grand assembly was, which he mentioned in the close of our last discourse, and where convened?

Asp. Can't you guess, Theron? Was it in the plains of Thessaly, when Xerxes drew together the forces of more than half the known world, and appeared at the head of all the potentates of the East? Was it in the Roman forum, when the senators were assembled in their robes, and the barbarians took them for a synod of gods? No; it was on the Mount of Transfiguration; where the Son of the true God, the Lord of eternal glory, shone forth in some of his celestial and native splendour; with garments white as the snow, and a countenance bright as the sun; where he conversed with two of his most distinguished saints, just come down from the regions of bliss and immortality,-with Moses the great deliverer of the law, and with Elijah the resolute restorer of its honours; where he was attended + Rev. v. 9.

1 Cor. ii. 2.

Mark ix. 3. The evangelist's description is, like the scene, remarkably bright; and the gradation of his images, is almost as worthy of observation, as the memorable fact. The garments were white-exceeding white-white as the snow-whiter than any faller on earth could make them-surpassing all the works of art, equalling the first and finest productions of nature. Nay, so great was the lustre, that it glistered (eyevero orλBorra) like the lightning, and even dazzled the sight.

by three of his principal ambassadors, who were to be the reformers of mankind, and the lights of the world.. This, I think, is the most venerable and august as-. sembly that the annals of history have recorded. And what was the topic of conversation among these illus. trious personages? Not the affairs of state, nor the revolutions of empire; not the curious refinements of literature, nor the wonderful discoveries of philosophy; but the ignominious and bloody exit which the divine Jesus was soon to make at Jerusalem. This circumstance, methinks, should recommend the subject to our frequent discourse, even though it was less eminent for intrinsic dignity and comfortable import.

Talking in this manner, they arrive at the park; which, the moment you enter, fills the view with its bold, enlarged, and magnificent sweep. It was diver. sified with level and rising ground. Here scooped into mimic amphitheatres, with the deer pendent on the little summit, or shooting down the easy precipice.: there raised into gentle hillocks, some of which were. canopied with a large spreading solitary oak; others were tufted with a cluster of tapering and verdant elms. Two or three cascades, gleaming from afar, as they poured along the slanting rock, or the grassy slope, gave a pleasing variation to the prospect; while they startled the timorous unxeperienced fawns with their foaming current and watery roar. Grandeur and simplicity seemed to be the genius of the place. Every thing breathed an air of noble negligence and artless majesty.

In the centre of all, rose a curious romantic mount. Its form was exactly round, somewhat like a sugarloaf lopt off a little below the point; not coeval with nature, but the work of human industry; thrown up, it is supposed, in those perilous times, when Britain, was alarmed by foreign invasions, or bled with intestine wounds. It was covered all around with elder

Does not this very delicately, yet very strongly intimate, that the sufferings and death of Christ were the principal end of the Mosaic institutions, and the principal subject of the prophetic teachings! for, is it not natural to suppose, that Moses and Elijah intended, when ministering on earth, that very thing. which their conversation dwelt upon, when they descended from heaven!

shrubs; whose ranks, gradually arising, and spreading shade above shade, composed a kind of woody theatre; through which were struck two or three spiral walks, leading, by a gentle ascent, and under embowering verdure, to the summit. At proper intervals, and on every side of the hill, were formed little arborets, with apertures cut through the boughs to admit a prospect of the country. In one or other of these leafy boxes. you command, at every hour of the day, either the enlivening sun or the refreshing shade. All along the circling avenues, and all around the beauteous rests, sprung daffodils, primroses, and violets; which, mingling with hyacinths and cowslips, composed many a charming piece of natural mosaic..

How agreeable, as they climb and wind themselves round the hill, to reflect on the happy change which has now taken place! Where steely helmets gleamed, or brazen shields clashed, the goldfinches twitter their loves and display their painted plumes. The dens of rapine, or the horrid haunts of bloodshed, are become the retreats of calm contemplation and friendly con-verse. In yonder lower spaces, where the armed troops were wont to patrol, from whence they made excursions to ravage the villages or terrify the swains, the fallow deer trip lightly, or the full-headed stags stand at bay.

From a small eminence, but at a considerable distance, gushed a couple of springs; which, rambling through a grove, lost one another in the shady laby.. rinth. Emerging, at length, from the gloom, they ap proached nearer and nearer, and fell into embraces at the foot of this hill. They rolled, in amicable conjunction, along the pebbly channel which encircles its basis, and added their sober melody to the sprightly warbling of the birds. Flowing off in one common stream, they formed the fine pieces of water which beautified the park from thence they stole into the meadow, and widened into a river. There, enamoured as it were with each other, they glide by wealthy towns, and sweep through flowery vales; regardless of the bloom ing toys which deck the one, and of the noisy crowds which throng the other.

So, said, Aspasio, may Theron and his Selina, pleas

ing and pleased with each other, pass through the busy and the amusing scenes of life; neither captivated by the one, nor anxious for the other. With such harmonious agreement, and indissoluble union, may they pursue the course marked out by Providence; their happiness increasing and their usefulness enlarging as they draw nearer the ocean of all good: then, parted by a gentle stroke of fate, like the waters of some ample stream severed by the piers of an intervening bridge, may they speedily reunite-reunite in consummate bliss, and never be separated more!

Ther. I thank you, Aspasio, for your affectionate compliment. Nor can I wish you, by way of return, a greater recompense than the continual exercise of such 8 benevolent temper. For, to exercise benevolence, is to enjoy the most refined and exalted pleasure, such as makes the nearest approaches to the felicity of the eternal Mind; who, as the Scripture most beautifully speaks, has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants.'

But while we are seated on this mount, our situation reminds us of what you just now mentioned, the grand conference relating to the death of Christ: a business, for which you have indeed accounted; but in a manner that may be thought not the most honourable to the divine attributes.

Asp. I have represented it as a ransom for our souls, and a sacrifice for our sins. If you disapprove my account, be pleased to favour me with your own. what purpose, according to your opinion, did that ever

blessed Person die?

For

Ther. To confirm the truth of his doctrine, and leave us a pattern of the most perfect resignation.

Asp. And is this all! Shall we thus impoverish the riches of grace? Was this notion defensible, it could never be desirable. But it has as little to support it, as it has to recommend it. For, upon such a supposition, where is the difference between the death of Christ, and the death of the martyrs? They confirmed the truth of the gospel; in their sufferings was obe dience and resignation, the same in quality, though not in degree. Upon such a supposition, what benefit could the ancient patriarchs receive from the Redeemer ?

Since none could be improved by the example of his patience, or the pattern of his obedience, till they were actually exhibited. Or how could Christ be styled, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world? the advantages of whose death commenced from the very beginning, as they will be prolonged even to the end of time.

Not to depend on consequential arguments, let us hear the express declaration of our divine Master himself: This is my blood which is shed-for what? To give credibility to my gospel, or yield an example of entire resignation? Rather-for the remission of sins.t Will any one attempt to make the remission of sins, and the proposal of a pattern or the ratification of a doctrine, synonimous terms? They, who can torture and transmute the genuine sense of words at this extraordinary rate, may metamorphose any expression into any meaning.

If then we would consider our Lord's death in its due amplitude, we must consider it both as a pattern of piety, and as a ransom for sinners. We must neither separate nor confound these very distinct, vet very consistent effects.

Ther. Is it not inconsistent with the acknowledged principles of justice, that the innocent should be pu nished, instead of the offender?

Asp. If the innocent person has an absolute power over his own life, willingly substitutes himself in the place of the guilty, and, by his vicarious sufferings, fully answers all the purposes of a righteous government; in this case, which was the case with our Lord, I see not the least repugnancy to the rules of justice.

The Bible, that authentic transcript of the counsels of heaven, avows; and, by avowing, vindicates the practice. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all when all we like sheep had gone astray, and

Rev. xiii. 3.

+ Matt. xxvi. 28.

Isa. iii. 6. made to meet, or fall upon, in an hostile vindictive manner, with a design to take vengeance, or inflict death, as an armed man falls upon his enemy, or a fierce lion on the helpless amb. This is by far the most usual signification of the phrase.

I could not observe without surprise and sorrow, the late atVOL. I. F