1 d?? t??t?—referring to the good effect of this way of teaching on the disciples, whom it had enabled, as they confessed, to understand the things, which Jesus had taught them.

2 Tit. ii. 7.

3 Rom. xv. 2.

4 They did this with design, and on principle; as appears from St. Austin’s discourse de Doctrin ChristianÂ, in which he instructs the Christian preacher to employ, on some occasions, inelegant and even barbarous terms and expressions, the better to suit himself to the apprehensions of his less informed hearers—non curante illo, qui docet, quant eloquenti doceat, sed quant evidentiÂ. Cujus evidentiÆ diligens appetitus aliquando negligit verba cultiora, nec curat quid benÈ sonet, sed quid benÈ indicet atque intimet quod ostendere intendit—and what follows. L. iv. p. 74. Ed. Erasm. t. iii.

5 1 Cor. ii. 2.

6 Archbishop Tillotson.

7 Heb. iii. 2.

8 2 Cor. iv. 5.

9 Matt. xi. 15.

10 1 Pet. iii. 3.

11 1 Pet iii. 15.

12 Alphonsus the Wise—I go on the common supposition, that this Prince intended a reflexion on the system of nature itself; but, perhaps, his purpose was no more than, in a strong way of expression, (though it must be owned, no very decent one) to reprobate the hypothesis [the Ptolemaic], which set that system in so bad a light.

13 —eta?? ??????? t?? ????s?? ?at???????t?? ? ?a? ?p??????????. See the Paraphrase and Comment on this text by Mr. Taylor of Norwich, to whom I acknowledge myself indebted for the idea which governs the general method of this discourse.

14 Nat. Deor. l. ii. c. 66.

15 Sallust.

16 Plato’s Republic.

17 Xenophon’s Inst. of Cyrus.

18 Rom. ch. i. ver. 28-32.—p??e?? t? ? ?a?????ta—s??e?d????s? t??? p??ss??s??.

19 Cicero, passim.

20 Felix, Acts xxiv. 25.

21 Ch. ii. 26.

22 Ch. iii. 1.

23 Chap. iii.

24 Rom. vi. 23.

25 2 Cor. v. 15.

26 2 Cor. v. 19.

27 1 John ii. 2.

28 Rom. iii. 24.

29 1 Tim. iv. 10.

30 Rom. i. 9.

31 Rom. xv. 13.

32 Col. ii. 10.

33 Ephes. iii. 2.

34 John xii. 48.

35 Luke xix. 14.

36 2 Peter ii. 21.

37 St. John, xiii. 1.

38 Ch. xiv. 1.

39 St. John, xiv. 2.

40 Ch. xiv. 6.

41 Ch. xiv. 7.

42 1 Cor. ii. 5.

43 Matt. xxi. 27.—xxii. 46.—xxvii. 14.

44 Matt. xii. 38.—xvi. 1.

45 Mark iv. 34.

46 Mark iv. 34.

47 Mark iv. 11.

48 Matt. xiii. 58. Mark ix. 23.

49 Matt. vii. 6.

50 Mark iv. 25.

51 John xx. 29.

52 Isaiah lv. 8.

53 Wisdom, ix. 13.

54 1 Cor. ii. 11.

55 Rom. xiii. 3.

56 F?? ?p??s?t??. 1 Tim. vi. 16.

57 John xiv. 22.

58 ??? ??????? ?at?e?a?. Rom. xii. 1.

59 The dispute about Easter, in the second century.

60 The dispute about Images, in the eighth century.

61 Matt. xi. 29.

62 Matt. x. 34.

63 Job xxxii. 21.

64 Plutarch, or whoever was the author of a fragment, printed among his moral discourses, and entitled, p?te??? t? t?? ????? ? t? t?? s?at?? p??? ?e????a. Par. Ed. vol. ii. p. 500.

65 Called Æones. See Grotius in loc.

66 ?pe???t???.

67 Dat nobis et Paulus brevem ?e?ea????a?, sed perutilem. Grotius.

68 Rom. xii. 15.

69 Rom. i. 32.

70 1 Peter iii. 16.

71 Les petites morales; as the French moralists call them.

72 F??a????p?a.

73 F??ade?f?a.

74 ?? f??. e?? a??. F???S???G??.

75 The integrity of the upright shall guide them. Prov. xi. 3.

76 ?e?p??? ?e??????—

77 See more on this subject in the Discourse on Christ’s driving the merchants out of the temple, at the end of the next volume.

78 Ver. 14.

79 If it be asked, why their feet? the answer is, that it was customary in the east for one to wash the feet of another. And this practice gave an easy introduction to the present enigmatical washing; which was equally expressive of the information designed, when performed on this part of the body, as on any other.

80 Grotius saw the necessity of looking beyond the literal meaning of those words—If I wash thee not. “Mos Christi, says he, est a rebus, quÆ adspiciuntur, ad sensum sublimiorem ascendere.” His comment then follows. “Nisi te lavero, id est, nisi et sermone et spiritu eluero quod in te restat minus puri,” &c. Considering how near Jesus was to his crucifixion, when he said this, one a little wonders how the great commentator, when he was to assign the mystical sense of these words, should overlook that which lay before him. Surely his gloss should have been, Nisi sanguine meo te eluero, &c.—Let me just add, that the force of these words, as addressed to Peter, will be perfectly understood, if we reflect that he, who said to Jesus—Thou shalt never wash my feet—said on a former occasion to him, when he spoke, without a figure, of his death (though not, then, under the idea of a propitiatory sacrifice, or ablution)—Be it far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee. Matt. xvi. 22. So little did Peter see the necessity of being washed by the blood of Christ! And so important was the information now given him in this mystical washing—If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

81 A remarkable instance will be given, in the Discourse referred to above, at the close of the next volume.

82 Mark iv. 33. John xvi. 12.

83 John xiv. 26.

84 1 John i. 7.

85 Rev. i. 5.

86 Eph. i. 7. Coloss. i. 14.

87 1 Cor. v. 7.

88 1 Pet. i. 12. 1 Cor. vi. 11. and elsewhere, passim.

89 Rom. iii. 25.

90 Luke xii. 46.

91 Rev. vii. 14.

92 1 John. vi. 7.

93 Matt. xviii. 7.

94 Matt. vi.

95 Ver. 12.

96 Phil. iv. 18.

97 See Whitby in loc.

98 See passages cited by Dr. Hammond.

99 1 Cor. iii. 13.

100 1 Pet. i. 7.

101 1 Pet. iv. 12.

102 Eccles. ii. 5.

103 Heb. xii. 1.

104 Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6.

105 The difficulty in the two concluding verses of this chapter, arises from a vivacity of imagination in the pursuit and application of metaphors; a faculty, in which the Orientals excelled, and delighted. They pass suddenly from one idea to another, nearly, and sometimes, remotely, allied to it. They relinquish the primary sense, for another suggested by it; and without giving any notice, as we should do, of their intention. These numerous reflected lights, as we may call them, eagerly catched at by the mind in its train of thinking, perplex the attention of a modern reader, and must be carefully separated by him, if he would see the whole scope and purpose of many passages in the sacred writings.

106 1 Cor. iv. 7.

107 1 Cor. xiii.

108 As in the case of the real presence in the sacrament of the altar.

109 As in the case of good works.

110 An ingenious writer, who appears not to have been hackneyed in the ways of controversy, and is, therefore, the more likely to see the truth, in any plain question of religion, as well as to declare it, expresses himself, fully, to the same effect—“It is very weakly urged, that religion should keep pace with science in improvement; and that a subscription to articles must always impede its progress: for nothing can be more absurd than the idea of a progressive religion; which, being founded upon the declared, not the imagined, will of God, must, if it attempt to proceed, relinquish that Revelation which is its basis, and so cease to be a religion founded upon God’s word. God has revealed himself; and all that he has spoken, and consequently all that is demanded of us to accede to, is declared in one book, from which nothing is to be retrenched, and to which nothing can be added. All that it contains, was as perspicuous to those who first perused it, after the rejection of the papal yoke, as it can be to us NOW, or as it can be to our posterity in the FIFTIETH GENERATION.” See A Scriptural Confutation of Mr. Lindsey’s Apology. Lond. 1774. p. 220.

111 Rom. xi. 33.

112 Rom. x. 17.

113 1 Cor. ix. 16.

114 Heb. iv. 12.

115 1 Cor. xii. 7.

116

117 John xii. 48.

118 2 Cor. iv. 7.

119 Matth. x. 16.

120 Cic. Off. L. i. c. 31.

121 See the Story of Musonius Rufus in Tacitus, Hist. L. iii. c. 81.

122 Cic. de Or. L. ii. c. 18.

123 Bene prÆcipiunt, qui vetant quidquam agere, quod dubites, Æquum sit an iniquum: Æquitas enim lucet ipsa per se; dubitatio cogitationem significat injuriÆ. Cic. de Off. L. I. ix.

124 Matth. v. 8.

125 To the same purpose, Seneca, of the old heathen philosophers: “Antiqua sapientia,” says he, “nihil aliud, quÀm FACIENDA et VITANDA, prÆcepit: et tunc longÈ meliores erant viri: postquam docti prodierunt, boni desunt. Simplex enim illa et aperta virtus in obscuram et solertem scientiam versa est, docemurque disputare, non vivere.” Senec. Ep. xcv.

126 Corrumpere et corrumpi, sÆculum vocatur. Tacitus.

127 Frequens imitatio transit in mores. Quinctil. L. I. c. XI.

128 Vitam impendere vero. His motto.

129 Mes ennemies auront beau faire avec leurs injures; ils ne m’Ôteront point l’honneur d’Être un homme vÉridique en touts chose, d’Être le seul auteur de mon siecle, & de beaucoup d’autres, qui ait Écrit de bonne foi. Rousseau, Lettre À M. de Beaumont.

130 “Une preuve de sa bonne foi, c’est qu’il [M. Newton] a commentÉ l’Apocalypse. Il y trouve clairement que le Pape est l’Antichrist, et il explique d’ailleurs ce livre comme tous ceux qui s’en sont mÊlÉs. Apparemment qu’il a voulu par ce commentaire CONSOLER LA RACE HUMAINE de la supÉrioritÉ qu’il avoit sur elle.” Œuvres de Voltaire, T. v. c. 29. 1757.

“If he [K. James I.] has composed a commentary on the Revelations, and proved the Pope to be Antichrist; may not a similar reproach be extended to the famous Napier; and even to Newton, at a time when learning was much more advanced than during the reign of James? From the grossness of its superstitions, we may infer the ignorance of an age; but never should pronounce concerning the FOLLY OF AN INDIVIDUAL, from his admitting popular errors, consecrated with the appearance of religion.” Hume’s Hist. of Great Britain, Vol. VI. p. 136. Lond. 1763. 8vo.

131 Nil actum credens, dum quid superesset agendum. Lucan.

132 Hippias, the Elean. Cic. de Oratore, c. 32.

133 Socrates.

134 2 Cor. xii. 2.

135 1 Cor. xiii. 2.

136 Philip. iii. 6.

137 Matt. v. 17.

138 Bayle, Comm. Phil. Part II. Ch. IV. Locke on Toleration, Letter I. Warburton, D. L. B. v. S. 11.

139 1 Tim. i. 15.

140 1 Cor. xv. 9.

141 De se tromper en croyant vraie la religion ChrÉtienne, il n’y a pas grand’ chose À perdre: mais quel malheur de se tromper en la croyant fausse! M. Pascal, p. 225.

142 Plutarch. Brutus.

143 Of opening private letters, and employing spies of state. Clarendon.

144 John x. 32.

145 “Illa in illo homine mirabilia fuerunt, comprehendere multos amicitiÂ, tueri obsequio, cum omnibus communicare quod habebat, servire temporibus suorum omnium, pecuniÂ, gratiÂ, labore corporis, scelere etiam, si opus esset, et audaciÂ: versare suam naturam, et regere ad tempus, atque huc et illuc torquere et flectere; cum tristibus severÈ, cum remissis jucunde; cum senibus graviter, cum juventute comiter; cum facinorosis audacter, cum libidinosis luxuriosÈ vivero. HÂc ille tam vari multiplicique naturÂ, &c.” Cicero pro M. CÆlio, c. iii.

146 Juventus pleraque, sed maximÈ nobilium, CatilinÆ incoeptis favebat. Sallust. c. 17. And again: omnino cuncta plebes, CatilinÆ incoepta probabat. c. 37.

147 1 John iii. 21.

148 St. Ambrose. Apud Whitby.

149 John xviii. 31.

150 Rom. iii. 4.

151 The words tape????, and humilis, are observed to be generally, if not always, used in a bad sense by the Greek and Latin writers.

152 Philipp. ii. 5. 8.

153 Matthew xvi. 24.

154 Matth. xxiii. 33.

155 Mark x. 21.

156 For it is with propositions, as with characters, in relation to which the language of the true moralist is: “Explica, atque excute intelligentiam tuam, ut videas quÆ sit in e species, forma, et notio viri boni.” Cic. de Off. l. III. c. 20.

157 Prov. ii. 4.

158 1 Tim. v. 6.

159 Prov. ix. 8.

160 Queis humana sibi doleat natura negatis. Hor. I. S. i. 75.

161 Eccles. v. 11.

162 Prov. xvi. 25.

163 Prov. xxiii. 5.

164 Si hoc est explere, quod statim profundas. Cic. Phil. ii. 8.

165 Quid sumus, et quidnam victuri gignimur. Persius.

166 1 Tim. vi. 9.

167

168 Matth. xix. 23.

169 Ps. lxii. 10.

170 Luke xvi. 9.

171 2 Cor. xiii. 14.

172 1 Thess. iv. 8.

173 Acts xi. 16.

174 Eph. i. 13.

175 It was the easier to do this, as the Heathens had their Minerva and Diana, as well as grosser deities; and their vestal virgins too; though, I doubt, in less numbers than the shameless votaries of the Corinthian Venus. See Strabo, L. viii. p. 378. Par. 1620.

176 Ps. xlvi. 4.—lxxx. 1.—xxvi. 8.

177 Nullis POLLUITUR casta domus stupris. Hor.

Cum castum amisit POLLUTO CORPORE florem. Catul.

178 Dr. Whitby on the place.

179 Rom. vi. 21.

180 Job xx. 11.

181 Prov. xxi. 17.

182 The poet says well of such stains, as these;

183 Suet. J. CÆsar, c. 45.

184 Ps. xxxvii. 38.

185 Eccles. c. xi. 9.

186 Pompey, who burnt the papers of Sertorius.

187 James iii. 2.