either openly or in heart, they are scoffers! Men are slow and backward to inform themselves of any thing on the side of truth, (in matters of religion,) but slight and superficial objections, weak but plausible theories against the Bible, they learn speedily, they understand instantly, and they remember always. It is supposed, on good evidence, that no son of Adam ever was known to forget an ingenious, and seemingly correct argument against Christianity, (once heard,) so long as he retained his mind.

The conclusion is, that men love darkness rather than light.

CHAPTER XII.

WE might here cease to point at Bible facts, hoping that even the few we have noticed might serve as samples from the mass; but we feel inclined to give another instance, to show that these facts abound all through the New Testament, as well as the Old.

The Saviour's Prediction." And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it, depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto; for these be the days of vengeance. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled."

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Observe, first-The time the Redeemer fixed and left on record for his followers and children to depart from that devoted city, was the time when it must seem to

them they could not get out of her. How were they to escape after the invaders had surrounded them? The church in Jerusalem had increased some times as fast as several thousand in a day. How were these families to depart when Jerusalem was compassed with armies? The sign named by the Saviour as the token for their flight was of itself an impassable barrier in the way of their travel. The incident which dictated their hasty journey must necessarily hedge up their way. If the reader wishes a particular recital of many striking incidents let him turn to the cotemporary historian, (Josephus,) who was himself an actor in the military occurrences of the time. This much admired and much respected writer does not seem to have known or to have remembered that the Saviour had said any thing of the Roman Eagle standing where it ought not, or of Jerusalem being compassed with armies. When this besetment did occur he relates the circumstances very truthfully, although it is evident he did not know they were appointed of Heaven. The banner which the soldiers worshipped, and which the prophet called the abomination which maketh desolate, fluttered before the temple gates. Josephus relates accurately the movements of the Roman general (Cestius) on that occasion. He informs us, that when he might have taken the city speedily and with comparative ease, thus terminating the war at once, he led his army away. He retired "without any just occasion in the world." Josephus seems to want words to express his surprise at the conduct of this commander. Perhaps Cestius scarcely knew himself why he thus acted so much to the astonishment of beholders; but had we been there, knowing what we now know, we could have told all spectators and historians the reason why he withdrew, God's people were in that city. His little flock

(little in comparison with the multitude of the ungodly,) never noticed by the haughty of this world, unless to deride or to calumniate, are never forgotten by him. They were to seek safety in the mountains; they were to have an opportunity to retire. To afford this, the Roman legions must be taken to a proper distance. They were thus conducted, and the followers of the Saviour with their families did retire. The young reader is here again reminded that we are not giving merely the Christian account of these things. He may gather these facts from the pens of ancient and modern unbelievers, if he prefers their testimony. When those who had vociferated " Crucify him, crucify him, his blood be upon us and our children," were crucified themselves, with their children, around the walls of their blazing city, nailed many on the same cross, until there was no more space on which to plant a cross, and no more wood of which to make one; when famine, gnawing, unparalleled famine, was doing a work along those crowded streets, the bare recital of which would cause the stupid, the callous, or the cruel, to faint with sickening horror; there were no Christians there! They were gone to Pella. They had watched for the Redeemer's token, and obeyed the signal. Those words spoken by the Man of Calvary, unheeded by the world then, unnoticed by after generations, such as scoffers of the present age scarcely know are in the Bible, were the means of their salvation. Let the reader bear these incidents in mind, until we come to the application.

Observation second." And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled."

An inspired apostle, (Paul,) at the command of the Holy Ghost, had given the church to understand (shall we say fortunately or unfortunately) that this fulness of

the Gentiles was to synchronize with the conversion of the Jews at a glorious period in the latter days. The prophet Daniel, in the prediction quoted by our Lord, lets us know that the desolations of Jerusalem were to continue until the end of the struggle between Christ and antichrist. The Saviour himself, in other discourses, lets us know that these long desolations would not terminate until the latter days. What an opportunity to defeat the declarations of the Messiah, and to show that Jerusalem should not be trodden down of the Gentiles through after ages. The Israelites have been rich enough to build a score of temples, during any period of their widest dispersion, or of their deepest, heaviest oppression. Notwithstanding the reiterated massacres, the constant apostacies or lapses into heathenism, the uninterrupted commingling with their oppressors, &c. &c., there has been no portion from any one of the eighteen centuries now gone by, during which there might not have been counted two millions or three, (a number sufficient to populate the hills and vales of Canaan,) and zealous enough to venture almost any thing, or to endure almost every thing, for the Zion of their songs. If some king of the earth, some sceptred potentate, would only sanction or countenance their return, what would they not perform? The Lord allowed them just such a man; nay, a more powerful leader. One who sat on Cesar's throne, who nodded and the nations trembled. The emperor Julian was an accomplished warrior. He ruled over the land shown to Abraham, and ten times as much. He hated the Saviour as bitterly as those who crucified him. He had been educated under the sound of the gospel, and knew the words of Christ. He was familiar with the writings of the evangelists. He resolved that Jerusalem should be trodden under foot of

the Israelites, instead of the Gentiles. The reader is invited to examine the account of this as given by one whose hatred of the gospel equalled that of Julian himself. The author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire was under the necessity of stating some facts concerning this effort to defeat the words of Christ made by the mighty and the wise. At the invitation of the emperor, the children of Judah assembled to rebuild their temple and to claim the inheritance of their fathers. Their enthusiasm was wonderful. Even their delicate females were seen carrying off rubbish in their silver veils. Their joyful companies laboured, cheered on by the sound of instruments of music and animating voices. But the emperor did not trust this undertaking to the Israelites alone. Wealthy as they were, devoted as they were, he resolved to make this matter more certain still. He could aid by his proclamations, his royal decrees, or his treasures, but it was not a trifle he had at heart; to show the gazing earth that the Jewish worship should be restored, where the Lord had said the Gentiles should continue to tread, was no ordinary achievement. He went himself to their aid with those cohorts and those legions that had crossed rivers, hills, and deserts, that had elevated or dethroned monarchs, and before whom it was hard indeed to stand. Here then was to be a trial of the strength of heaven, and the strength of earth, in determined contest and fairly balanced opposition. Jews and Romans, Christians and heathens, gazed to see whether the emperor could or could not go contrary to the declaration uttered by the Man of sorrows, who had not where to lay his head. The earthly potentate was defeated. He abandoned the undertaking. This fact, recorded by Christians and by infidels, would be enough for our present purpose, were we to say nothing con