mighty forms both of princes and empires, and consequently what idea we ourselves ought to entertain of them.

Powerful kings appointed to punish or protect Israel.

Not to mention Egypt, that served at first as the cradle (if we may be allowed the expression) of the holy nation; and which afterward was a severe prison, and a fiery furnace to* it; and, at last, the scene of the most astonishing miracles that God ever wrought in favour of Israel; not to mention, I say, Egypt, the mighty empires of Nineveh and Babylon furnish a thousand proofs of the truth here advanced.

Their most powerful monarchs, Tiglath-Pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and many more, were, in God's hand, as so many instruments, which he employed to punish the transgressions of his people. He lifted up an ensign to the nations from far, and hissed unto them from the end of the earth, to come and receive his orders. He himself put the sword into their hands, and appointed their marches daily. He breathed courage and ardour into their soldiers; made their armies indefatigable in labour, and invincible in battle; and spread terror and consternation wherever they directed their steps.

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The rapidity of their conquests ought to have enabled them to discern the invisible hand which conducted them. But, says one of these kings in the name of the rest, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.

But this monarch, so august and wise in his own eye, how did he appear in that of the Almighty? only as a subaltern agent, a servant sent by his master: The rod of his anger, and staff in his hand. God's design was to chastise, not to extirpate, his children. But Sennacherib & had it in his heart to destroy and cut off all nations. What then will be the issue of this kind of contest between the designs of God, and those of this prince? At the time that he fancied himself already possessed of Jerusalem, the Lord, with a single blast, disperses all his proud hopes; destroys, in one night, a hundred fourscore and five thousand of his forces: and putting a hook in his nose, and a bridle in his lips, (as though he had been a wild beast,) he leads him back to his own dominions, covered

d Isal. v. 26-30. x. 28-34. xiii. 4, 5.

e isai. x. 13, 14. f Isai. x. 5. g lbid. ver. 7.

h Ibid. ver. 12.

* "I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and will rid you out of their bondage." Exod. vi. 6. "Out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt." Deut. iv. 20.

+ Sennacherib.

+ " Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest." 2 Kings xix. 28.

with infamy, through the midst of those nations, who, but a little before, had beheld him in all his pride and haughtiness.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, appears still more visibly governed by a Providence to which he himself is an entire stranger, but which presides over all his deliberations, and determines all his actions.

¡ Being come at the head of his army to two highways, the one of which led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbath, the chief city of the Ammonites, this king, not knowing which of them it would be best for him to strike into, debates for some time with himself, and at last casts lots. God makes the lot fall on Jerusalem, to fulfil the menaces he had pronounced against that city, viz. to destroy it, to burn the temple, and lead its inhabitants into captivity.

* One would imagine, at first sight, that this king had been prompted to besiege Tyre merely from a political view, viz. that he might not leave behind him so powerful and well-fortified a city; nevertheless, a superior will had decreed the siege of Tyre. God designed, on one side, to humble the pride of Ithobal its king, who fancying himself wiser than Daniel, whose fame was spread over the whole east; and ascribing entirely to his rare and uncommon prudence the extent of his dominions, and the greatness of his riches, persuaded himself that he was a god, and sat in the seat of God. On the other side, he also designed to chastise the luxury, the voluptuousness, and the pride, of those haughty merchants, who thought themselves kings of the sea, and sovereigns over crowned heads; and especially that inhuman joy of the Tyrians, who looked upon the fall of Jerusalem (the rival of Tyre) as their own aggrandizement. These were the motives which prompted God himself to lead Nebuchadnezzar to Tyre; and to make him execute, though unknowingly, his commands. IDCIRCO ecce EGO ADDUCAM ad Tyrum Nabuchodonosor.

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*To recompense this monarch, whose army the Almighty ha? caused to serve a great service against Tyre (these are God's own words); and to compensate the Babylonish troops for the grievous toils they had sustained during a thirteen years' siege; I will give, saith the Lord God, the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey, and it shall be the wages for his army.

The same Nebuchadnezzar, eager to immortalize his name by the grandeur of his exploits, was determined to heighten the glory of his conquests by his splendour and magnificence, in embellishing the capital of his empire with pompous edifices, and the most sumptuous ornaments. But whilst a set of adulating courtiers, on whom he lavished the highest honours and immense riches, make all places resound with his name, an august senate of watchful spirits is formed, who weigh, in the balance of truth, the actions of

kings, and pronounce upon them a sentence from which there is no appeal. The king of Babylon is cited before this tribunal, in which there presides the Supreme Judge, who to a vigilance which nothing can elude, adds a holiness that will not allow of the least irregularity. Vigil et sanctus. In this tribunal all Nebuchadnezzar's actions, which were the admiration and wonder of the public, are examined with rigour; and a search is made into the inward recesses of his heart, to discover his most hidden thoughts. How will this formidable inquiry end? At the instant that Nebuchadnezzar, walking in his palace, and revolving, with a secret complacency, his exploits, his grandeur, and magnificence, is saying to himself, Is not this great Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? in this very instant, when, by vainly flattering himself that he held his power and kingdom from himself alone, he usurped the seat of the Almighty; a voice from heaven pronounces his sentence, and declares to him, that his kingdom was departed from him, that he should be driven from men, and his dwelling be with the beasts of the field, until he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdoms of men, and gave them to whomsoever he would.

This tribunal, which is for ever assembled, though invisible to mortal eyes, pronounced the like sentence on those famous conquerors, on those heroes of the pagan world, who, like Nebuchadnezzar, considered themselves as the sole authors of their exalted fortune; as independant on authority of every kind, and as not holding of a superior power.

As God appointed some princes to be the instruments of his vengeance, he made others the dispensers of his goodness. He ordained Cyrus to be the deliverer of his people; and, to enable him to support with dignity so glorious a function, he endued him with all the qualities which constitute the greatest captains and princes: and caused that excellent education to be given him, which the heathens so much admired, though they neither knew the Author nor true cause of it.

We see in profane history the extent and swiftness of his conquests, the intrepidity of his courage, the wisdom of his views and designs; his greatness of soul, his noble generosity; his truly paternal affection for his subjects; and, on their part, the grateful returns of love and tenderness, which made them consider him rather as their protector and father, than as their lord and sovereign. We find, I say, all these particulars in profane history; but we do not perceive the secret principle of so many exalted qualities, nor the hidden spring which set them in motion.

But Isaiah discloses them, and delivers himself in words suitable to the greatness and majesty of the God who inspired him. He* represents this all-powerful God of armies as leading Cyrus by the

P Dan. iv. 30.

9 Chap. iv. 31, 32. *Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall not be shut.

hand, marching before him, conducting him from city to city, and from province to province; subduing nations before him, loosening the loins of kings, breaking in pieces gates of brass, cutting in sunder the bars of iron, throwing down the walls and bulwarks of cities, and putting him in possession of the treasures of darkness, and the hidden riches of secret places.

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The prophet also tells us the cause and motive of all these wonderful events. It was in order to punish Babylon, and to deliver Judah, that the Almighty conducts Cyrus, step by step, and gives success to all his enterprises. I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways.- For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect. But this prince is so blind and ungrateful, that he does not know his master, nor remember his benefactor. I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.— I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.

A fine image of the regal office.

Men seldom form to themselves a right judgment of true glory, and the duties essential to regal power. The Scripture alone gives us a just idea of them, and this it does in a wonderful manner, " under the image of a very large and strong tree, whose top reaches to heaven, and whose branches extend to the extremities of the earth. As its foliage is very abundant, and it is bowed down with fruit, it constitutes the ornament and felicity of the plains around it. It supplies a grateful shade and a secure retreat to beasts of every kind animals, both wild and tame, are safely lodged beneath it, the birds of heaven dwell in its branches, and it supplies food to all living creatures.

Can there be a more just or more instructive idea of the kingly office, whose true grandeur and solid glory does not consist in that splendour, pomp, and magnificence which surround it; nor in that reverence and exterior homage which are paid to it by subjects, and which are justly due to it; but in the real services and solid advantages it procures to nations, whose support, defence, security, and asylum, it forms, (both from its nature and institution,) at the same time that it is the fruitful source of blessings of every kind; especially with regard to the poor and weak, who ought to find, beneath the shade and protection of royalty, a sweet peace and tranquillity not to be interrupted or disturbed; whilst the monarch himself sacrifices his ease, and experiences alone those storms and tempests from which he shelters all others?

I think that I observe this noble image, and the execution of this great plan, (religion only excepted,) realized in the government of Cyrus, of which Xenophon has given us a picture, in his beautiful preface to the history of that prince. He has there specified a great number of nations, which, though separated from each other by vast

r Isai. xlv. 13, 14. Chap. xlv. 13. 4.

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t Chap. xlv. 4, 5. u Dan. iv. 10, 11.

"I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know, that I the Lord which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isai. xlv. 1..3.

tracts of country, and still more widely by the diversity of their manners, customs, and language, were however all united by the same sentiments of esteem, reverence, and love for a prince, whose government they wished, if possible, to have continued for ever, so much happiness and tranquillity did they enjoy under it."

A just idea of the conquerors of antiquity.

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To this amiable and salutary government, let us oppose the idea which the sacred writings give us of those monarchs and conquerors so much boasted by antiquity, who, instead of making the happiness of mankind the sole object of their care, were prompted by no other motives than those of interest and ambition. The Holy Spirit represents them under the symbols of monsters generated from the agitation of the sea, from the tumult, confusion, and dashing of the waves one against the other; and under the image of cruel wild beasts, which spread terror and desolation universally, and are for ever gorging themselves with blood and slaughter; bears, lions, tigers, and leopards. How strong and expressive is this colouring!

Nevertheless, it is often from such destructive models that the rules and maxims of the education generally bestowed on the children of the great are borrowed; and it is these ravagers of nations, these scourges of mankind, they propose to make them resemble. By inspiring them with the sentiments of a boundless ambition, and the love of false glory, they become (to borrow an expression from Scripture) young lions; they learn to catch the prey, and devour men-to lay waste cities, to turn lands and their fulness into desolation by the noise of their roaring. And when this young lion is grown up, God tells us, that the noise of his exploits, and the renown of his victories, are nothing but a frightful roaring, which fills all places with terror and desolation.

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The examples I have hitherto mentioned, extracted from the history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians, prove sufficiently the supreme power exercised by God over all empires, and the relation he has thought fit to establish between the rest of the nations of the earth and his own peculiar people. The same truth appears as conspicuously under the kings of Syria and Egypt, successors of Alexander the Great; between whose history, and that of the Jews under the Maccabees, every body knows the close connection.

To these incidents I cannot forbear adding another, which, though universally known, is not therefore the less remarkable; I mean the taking of Jerusalem by Titus. When he had entered that city, and viewed all the fortifications of it, this prince, though a heathen, owned the all-powerful arm of the God of Israel; and, in a rapture of admiration, cried out, "It is manifest that the Almighty has fought for us, and has driven the Jews from those towers; since neither the utmost human force, nor that of all the engines in the world, could have effected it.”

x Dan. vii.

Ezek. xix. 3. 7.

z Joseph. 1. iii. c. 46.

* Εδυνήθη ἐπιθυμίαν ἐμβαλεῖν τοσαύτην τοῦ πάντας αὐτῳ χαρίζεσθαι, ὥστε ἀεὶ τῷ αὐτοῦ γνώμῃ ἀξιοῦν κυβερνᾶσθαι