Now, before the eyes of these apostles, the Saviour of mankind is entering into a dark cloud of anguish-" He began to be forrowful, and very heavy." Many anxious thoughts for thofe whom he came to redeem had on former occafions been fubdued by his divine fortitude— at laft, his grief is too great to be concealed "My foul is exceeding forrow"ful, even unto death." Bleffed LORD, what must thou have felt, at the moment of thy complaining? Feeble minds are apt to bemoan themfelves on flight occafions-but that grief must needs be violent, which caufes a ftrong heart to break forth into paffionate lamentation. Alas, what a word is this for thee, the Son of GOD, to utter! Where is that COMFORTER, whom thou didst promise to fend to others? Where is thine Eternal FATHER, the Father of all mercies and GOD of all comfort, in whofe prefence is the fulness of joy, and at whofe right hand hand there is pleafure for evermore? Where is thine undaunted refolution, that thou wouldst walk through the valley of the shadow of death without fear? O LORD, thou couldst not thus have fuffered, had not the face of thy God been for a while withdrawn from thee, that thou mightft tread the wine prefs alone. It was night, as in the material world, fo in thy foul. It was the hardest portion of thy mifery, that thou wert difconfolate. BUT to whom doft thou reveal thy forrows, O Saviour of mankind? Wretched is he who muft unbofom himfelf to his inferiors. Had Peter, or James, or John uttered fuch a lamentation to thee, they would at once have found reft to their fouls-thou wouldst have been both ready to fhew compaffion and able to afford relief. But now, while thou makeft thy lamentation to them, what iffue doft thou expect? They They might be aftonifhed and filled with horrour at thy grief, but they had no power to give thee affiftance, or even to mitigate, while they fhared, thy woe. Indeed, what could all the angels of heaven, as of themselves, do to fuccour thee? What ftrength could they have, but from thee? What creature can help, when thou complaineft? THE venerable Simeon prophefied to thy bleffed mother, that a sword fhould pierce through her foul. How many fwords in one moment pierced through thine, when thou criedft out, My foul is exceeding forrowful even " unto death?" It was not thy body that fuffered now-yet thou who wert beft acquainted with the nature of thy forrows, declareft thyself not only af faulted, but poffeffed, by grief-grief fo vehement as to be without relaxation, and as it were without remedy-exceeding forrowful unto death. O BLESSED O BLESSED Saviour, what was it, what could it be, which thus lay heavy on thy divine foul? Was it that thou didft fear to die? Was it that thou didst fhrink with horrour from the pain, and fhame and torment of thine approaching crucifixion? O poor and base thoughts of weak and impotent mortality! How many thousands of thy bleffed martyrs have welcomed no lefs exquifite tortures with fmiles and congratulations? how many have triumphed in the midst of thofe fufferings which their very perfecutors thought were intolerable! If their weakness was thus undaunted, and could thus prevail, how could thy power fail of the victory? No-it was the grievous weight of the fins of a guilty world-it was the burden of thy Father's wrath in confequence of that fin, which thus preffed down upon thy foul; and wrung from thee these affecting lamentations. WHAT WHAT can it avail thee, O Saviour, to tell thy grief to man? Who can afford thee fuccour, but HE of whom, (fpeaking in thy human character) thou faidft, "My Father is greater than I?" Lo, to Him thou haft recourse. "O my Father, if it be poffible, remove "this cup from me!" WAS not this the prayer, bleffed LORD, which in the days of thy flesh thou offeredit up, with ftrong crying and tears, unto Him that was able to fave thee from death? Never was any voice fo ftrong-never was GOD fo folicited. O thou who faidft, "I and my Father are “ONE," doft thou fuffer ought from thy Father, but what thou hadft consented, hadft determined to fuffer? Was this cup placed in thy hands by accident, or by compulfion? Away with these miftaken fuppofitions of ignorance and frailty. Thou cameft to fuffer, and thou wouldst do what thou camest for. But |