place where men ought to worship.' Jesus knew the schism was great enough already, and was not willing to make the rent wider. And though he gave testimony to the truth, by saying, 'Salvation is of the Jews;' and 'We know what we worship, ye do not;' yet because the subject of this question was shortly to be taken away, Jesus takes occasion to preach the gospel, to hasten an expedient, and by way of anticipation to reconcile the disagreeing interests, and settle a revelation to be verified for ever; neither here nor there by way of confinement, not in one country more than another, but wherever any man shall call upon God in spirit and truth, there he shall be heard.

5. But all this while the holy Jesus was a-thirst, and therefore hastens at least to discourse of water, though as yet he got none. He tells her of living water, of eternal satisfactions, of never thirsting again, of her own personal condition, of matrimonial relation, and professes himself to be the Messias and then was interrupted by the coming of his disciples, who wondered to see him alone talking with a woman, beside his custom and usual reservation. But the woman, full of joy and wonder, left her water-pot, and ran to the city, to publish the Messias; and immediately all the city came out to see; and many believed on him upon the testimony of the woman, and more when they heard his own discourses. They invited him to the town, and received him with hospitable civilities for two days, after which he departed to his own Galilee.

6. Jesus therefore came into the country, where he was received with respect and fair entertainment, because of the miracles which the Galileans

saw done by him at the feast. And being at Cana, where he wrought the first miracle, a noble personage, a little king say some, a palatinate says St. Jerome, a kingly person certainly, came to Jesus with much reverence and desire that he would be pleased to come to his house, and cure his son, now ready to die; which he seconds with much importunity, fearing lest his son be dead before he get thither. Jesus, who did not do his miracles by natural operations, cured the child at distance, and dismissed the prince, telling him his son lived; which by narration of his servants he found to be true, and that he recovered at the same time when Jesus spake these salutary and healing words. Upon which accident he and all his house became disciples.

7. And now Jesus left Nazareth, and came to Capernaum, a maritime town, and of great resort, choosing that for his scene of preaching, and his place of dwelling: for now the time was fulfilled, the office of the Baptist was expired, and the kingdom of God was at hand. He therefore preached the sum of the gospel, faith and repentance: Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' And what that gospel was, the sum and series of all his sermons afterwards did declare.

8. The work was now grown high and pregnant, and Jesus saw it convenient to choose disciples to his ministry and service in the work of preaching, and to be witnesses of all that he should say, do, or teach, for ends which were afterwards made public and excellent. Jesus, therefore, as he walked by the sea of Galilee,' called Simon and Andrew; who knew him before by the preaching of John, and now left all, their ship and their net,

and followed him. And when he was gone a little further, he calls the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, and they went after him. And with this family he goes up and down the whole Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing all manner of diseases, curing demoniacs, cleansing lepers, and giving strength to paralytics and lame people.

9. But when the people pressed on him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,' and presently entered into Simon's ship,' commanded him to launch into the deep;' and from thence he taught the people, and there wrought a miracle: for, being Lord of the creatures, he commanded the fishes of the sea, and they obeyed. For when Simon, who had fished all night in vain, let down his net at the command of Jesus, he inclosed so great a multitude of fishes that the net brake, and the fishermen were amazed, and fearful at so prodigious a draught. But beyond the miracle, it was intended that a representation should be made of the plenitude of the catholic church, and multitudes of believers who should be taken by Simon and the rest of the disciples, whom by that miracle he consigned to become fishers of men, who by their artifices of prudence and holy doctrine might gain souls to God; that when the net should be drawn to shore, and separation made by the angels, they and their disciples might be differenced from the reprobate portion.

10. But the light of the sun uses not to be confined to a province or a kingdom; so great a prophet, and so divine a physician, and so great miracles, created a fame loud as thunder, but not so

G

full of sadness and presage. Immediately the fame of Jesus went into all Syria, and there came to him multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judæa. And all that had any sick with divers diseases brought them to him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And when he cured the lunatics and persons possessed with evil spirits, the devils cried out, and confessed him to be Christ, the Son of God. But he suffered them not; choosing rather to work faith in the persuasions of his disciples by moral arguments and the placid demonstrations of the Spirit, that there might in faith be an excellency in proportion to the choice, and that it might not be made violent by the conviction and forced testimonies of accursed and unwilling spirits.

11. But when Jesus saw his assembly was grown full, and his audience numerous, he went up into a mountain; and when his disciples came unto him, he made that admirable sermon, called 'the sermon upon the mount;' (which is a divine repository of most excellent truths and mysterious dictates of secret theology, and contains a breviary of all those precepts which integrate the morality of Christian religion ;) pressing the moral precepts given by Moses, and enlarging their obligation by a stricter sense and more severe exposition, that their righteousness might exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. "He preaches perfection, and the doctrines of meekness, poverty of spirit, Christian mourning, desire of holy things, mercy and purity, peace and toleration of injuries; affixing a special promise of blessing to be the guerdon and inheritance of those graces and spiritual excellencies. He explicates some parts of

the decalogue, and adds appendices and precepts of his own. He teaches his disciples to pray, how to fast, how to give alms, contempt of the world, not to judge others, forgiving injuries, an indifferency and incuriousness of temporal provisions, and a seeking of the kingdom of God and its appendant righteousness."

12. When Jesus had finished his sermon, and descended from the mountain, a poor leprous person came and worshipped, and begged to be cleansed which Jesus soon granted, engaging him not to publish it where he should go abroad, but sending him to the priest, to offer an oblation according to the rites of Moses's law; and then came directly to Capernaum, and taught in the synagogues upon the sabbath-days; where in his sermons he expressed the dignity of a prophet, and the authority of a person sent from God; not inviting the people by the soft arguments and insinuations of Scribes and Pharisees, but by demonstrations and issues of divinity. There he cures a demoniac in one of their synagogues, and by and by, after going abroad, he heals Peter's wife's mother of a fever; insomuch that he grew the talk of all men and their wonder, till they flocked so to him to see him, to hear him, to satisfy their curiosity and their needs, that after he had healed those multitudes which beset the house of Simon, where he cured his mother of the fever, he retired himself into a desert place very early in the morning, that he might have an opportunity to pray, free from the oppressions and noises of the multitude.

13. But neither so could he be hid; but, like a light shining by the fringes of a curtain, he was soon discovered in his solitude: for the multitude