Isaiah had a portion, without doubt, but a portion only, of the Divine Spirit. In any sense in which the Spirit of Jehovah was upon the prophet, it was more eminently upon him who received it not by measure. The prophet Isaiah restored not, that we know of, any blind man to his sight; he delivered no captive from his chains. He predicted indeed the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, their final restoration from their present dispersion, and the restoration of man from the worse captivity of sin; but he never took upon him to proclaim the actual commencement of the season of liberation: which is the thing properly implied in the phrase of "preaching deliverance to the captives." To the broken-hearted he administered no other balm than the distant hope of one who in future times should bear their sorrows; nor were the poor in his own time particularly interested in his preaching. The characters therefore which the speaker seems to assume in this prophetic text are of two kinds; such as are in no sense answered by any known circumstance in the life and cha. racter of Isaiah, or of other any of the ancient personage Jewish history; but in every sense, literal and figurative, of which the terms are capable, apply to Christ: and such as might in some degree be answered in the prophet's character, but not otherwise than as his office bore a subordinate relation to Christ's office, and his predictions to Christ's preaching. It is a thing well known to all who have been conversant in Isaiah's writings, that many of his prophecies are conceived in the form of dramatic dialogues, in which the usual persons of the sacred piece are God the Father, the Messiah, the prophet himself, and a chorus of the faithful; but it is left to the reader to discover, by the matter spoken, how many of these speakers are introduced, and to which speaker each part of the discourse belongs. It had been therefore reasonable to suppose that this, like many other passages, is delivered in the person of the Messiah, had our Lord's authority been wanting for the appli

cation of the prophecy to himself. Following the express authority of our Lord, in the application of this prophecy, we might have spared the use of any other argument, were it not that a new form of infidelity has of late reared its hideous head; which, carrying on an impious opposition to the genuine faith, under the pretence of reformation, in its affected zeal to purge the Christian doctrines of I know not what corruptions, and to restore our creed to what it holds forth as the primitive standard,-under that infatuation which by the just judgments of God ever clings to self-sufficiency and folly, pretending to have discovered inaccuracies in our Lord's own doctrines; and scruples not to pronounce him not merely a man, but a man peccable and fallible in that degree as to have misquoted and misapplied the prophecies of the Old Testament. In this instance our great Lord and Master defies the profane censures of the doctors of that impious school. The text, referred to its original place in Isaiah, is evidently the opening of a prophetic dialogue; and, in the particulars of the character described in it, it carries its own internal evidence of its necessary reference to our Lord, and justifies his application of it to himself."

Now, though this quotation cannot conceal the bishop's learning and talent, yet there is nothing in it essentially above common sense.

The following is an example of common sense triumphant over the opinion of many very learned men in the reign of Elizabeth, which has been received and defended for three hundred years, viz., that the forty-fifth Psalm celebrates the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter.

Read the forty-fifth Psalm with care, and tell me if you can any where find king Solomon? We find, indeed, passages which may be applicable to Solomon, but not more applicable to him than to many other earthly kings; such as comeliness of person and urbanity of manners, as ver. 2. These might be qualities, for any thing we know to the

contrary, belonging to Solomon; I say for any thing we know to the contrary, for in these particulars sacred history gives us no information. We read of Solomon's learning, and of his wisdom, and of the admirable sagacity and integrity of his judicial decisions; but we read not at all, as far as I can recollect, of the extraordinary comeliness of his person, or the affability of his speech; and, if he possessed these qualities, they are no more than other monarchs have possessed in a degree not to be surpassed by Solomon. Splendour and stateliness of dress, twice mentioned in this Psalm, were not peculiar to Solomon, but belonged to every great and opulent monarch. Other circumstances might be mentioned, applicable indeed to Solomon, but no otherwise than as generally applicable to every king. But the circumstances which are characteristic of the king who is the hero of this poem, are every one of them utterly inapplicable to Solomon, inasmuch as not one of them can be ascribed to him without contradicting the history of his reign. The hero of this poem is a warrior, who girds his sword upon his thigh, rides in pursuit of flying foes, makes havoc among them with his sharp arrows, and reigns at last by conquest over his vanquished enemies. Now Solomon was no warrior; he enjoyed a long reign of forty years of uninterrupted peace. He retained indeed the sovereignty of the countries which his father had conquered, but he made no new conquests of his own. "He had dominion over all the region west of the Euphrates, over all the kings on this side of the river (they were his vassals); and had peace on all sides round about him." "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his figtree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon." If Solomon ever girded his sword upon his thigh, it must have been merely for state; if he had a quiver of sharp arrows, he could have no use for them but in hunting. We read, indeed, that Jehovah, offended at the idolatries of Solomon in his old age, stirred up an adversary unto Solo

ciples, in order that he may be able to apply them with propriety and advantage in the elucidation of truth, and will be prepared to devote no small portion of time and attention to this object. We have seen that the Topic is well adapted to occasional remarks by way of exposition or comment; and from the examples which have been quoted, you can be at no loss of applying the Topic to the more extended service of division, or of a whole discourse. What has been said as to the principles of interpretation may indeed be considered as of a somewhat oblique use of the Topic. Similar liberties I have before taken, and I feel myself justified in so doing, so far as it may tend to your improvement. The quotations in the latter part of the subject require no apology. Their value will sufficiently justify their introduction.

LECTURE XVII.

TOPIC XIII.

CONSIDER CONSEQUENCES.

THUS you may explain the doctrine of God's mercy. It is expedient (at least sometimes) to remark the good and lawful uses which we ought to make of it. These uses are, to renounce ourselves; to be sensible of our infinite obligations to God, who pardons so many sins with so much bounty; to consecrate ourselves entirely to his service, as persons over whom he has acquired a new right; and to labour incessantly for his glory, in gratitude for what he has done for our salvation.

You may also observe the false and pernicious consequences which ungrateful and wicked men, who sin that grace may abound, pretend to derive from this doctrine. They say we are no longer to consider justice now we are under grace; the more we sin, the more God will be glorified in pardoning us; this mercy will endure all the time of our lives, and therefore it will be enough to apply to it at the hour of death; with many more such false consequences, which must be both clearly stated, and fully refuted.

It is much the same with the doctrine of the efficacious grace of the Holy Ghost in our conversion; for the just and lawful consequences which are drawn from it are, 1. That such is the greatness of our depravity, it can be rectified only by Almighty aid. 2. That we should be humble,