declares at the 13th verse of the 3d chapter of St. John. Thus, as God, our Saviour might know all things; whilst, at the same time, he might be ignorant of some things as man and thus," of that day and of that hour," he might be ignorant, because it was no part of his office or commission to reveal them. It might be proper for the disciples and for the Jews to know the signs and circumstances of the destruction of Jerusalem; but upon many accounts, it might be unfit for them to know the precise time. Hence, in the following verses, we find our Saviour making use of this ignorance as the ground of his exhortations. "Watch

therefore, saith he, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh. Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing." "As it was in the days of Noah, continues our Saviour, so shall it be now." As then they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, till they were surprised by the flood, notwithstanding the frequent warnings and admonitions of that preacher

of righteousness: so now they shall be engaged in the business and pleasures of the world, little expecting, little thinking of this universal ruin, till it come upon them unawares, notwithstanding the express predictions and the declarations of Christ and his apostles. "Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding in a mill, the one shall be taken, and the other left." Doctor Shaw in his travels, making some observations upon the kingdoms of Algiers and Tunis, observes, that " women alone are employed to grind their corn, and that when the uppermost mill-stone is large, or expedition is required, then only a second woman is called in to assist." This passage, indeed, scarcely requires an illustration in India, the practice of thus grinding corn being so common among us. I cannot, however, refrain from quoting a passage from the travels of Doctor Clarke, who beheld the illustration at the very city where our Saviour dwelt. Having arrived at Nazareth, "scarcely, observes Doctor Clarke, had we reached the apartment prepared for our reception, when looking from the window into

In

the court-yard belonging to the house, we beheld two women, grinding at the mill,' in a manner most forcibly illustrating a saying of our Saviour. They were preparing flour to make our bread, as it is always customary in the country when strangers arrive. The two women, seated upon the ground opposite to each other, held between them two round flat stones. the centre of the upper stone was a cavity for pouring in the corn, and by the side of this, an upright wooden handle for moving the stone. As the operation began, one of the women with her right hand pushed this handle to the woman opposite, who again sent it to her companion, thus communicating a rotatory and very rapid motion to the upper stone, their left hands being all the while employed in supplying fresh corn, as fast as the bran and flour escaped from the sides of the machine." What our Lord most probably meant to declare by the passage thus illustrated was, that some should be rescued from the destruction of Jerusalem, like Lot out of Sodom; whilst others, in no respect different in outward circumstances should be left to perish. The remain

ing part of the chapter is so plain and clear as to require no further comment or explanation.

Our

In concluding our subject, 1 would recal to your recollection, what in former discourses hath already been advanced. We cannot, my brethren, but have observed in the former part of this chapter, à series of the most striking and solemn predictions fulfilled in the most literal, awful, and most dreadful manner. Saviour foretold the ruin of the Jewish people and the destruction of their economy, in a manner such as none else could have done; but He, under whose eye are all events, and in whose hands are the government and direction of all things and the fulfilment hath been as circumstantial as the prediction. The wisdom and goodness of God hath appeared in preserving such a record of the prediction, and such undeniable evidence of its accomplishment as we have seen. The New Testament, given by the inspiration of God, and handed down uncorrupted from father to son, both by friends and by enemies; perfect in its credibi

lity, unshaken in its evidence, astonishingly circumstantial in details of future occurrences which the wisdom of God alone could have foreknown; that New Testament is the record of these predictions. The ancient history of the Romans, written by so many different persons; the history of the Jews written by one of themselves; triumphal arches, coins, medals, and public monuments of different kinds are the evidence by which the predictions thus recorded have been so amply illustrated and so minutely fulfilled. Add to this the present state of the Jewish people, a people scattered throughout all nations, yet subsisting as a distinct body, without temple, without sacrifices, or political government; and who, while they attempt to suppress the truth, yet reluctantly stand forth as an unimpeachable collateral evidence, that the sacred record already alluded to is most strictly and most literally true. Who that has ever consulted the Roman historians of the reigns of Vespasian and Titus; the history of Josephus, and the 24th chapter of St. Matthew; and who that knows any