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involved in perplexities, and frequently overwhelmed with despair. The loss of his once loved and injured queen oppressed his spirits with a species of melancholy. which admitted of no diversion; a grievous pestilence, which swept off great numbers of his subjects, soured his temper still more; and the frequent rumor of plots and conspiracies rendered him so outrageous, that he frequently sacrificed his dearest friends to his ungovernable fury.

B. C.

*

Having amassed a prodigious treasure, by 23. his cruel extortions and confiscations, he proposed to rebuild the temple; and actually performed that important work with prodigious cost and splendor. But though the dedication of this elegant structure was performed with all imaginable magnificence, and universal rejoicings were made on the occasion, yet the populace regarded Herod as the author of all their calamities; and the admiration of his public magnificence was lost in the contemplation of their private wrongs.

During the building of the temple, and several other public works, Herod was embroiled in perpetual quarrels with his two sons, Aristobulus and Alexander, whom Salome, the king's sister, had accused of treasonable designs; and who, after several public trials and acquitments, were doomed to perish by the hands of an executioner. And the tyrant was so violently alarmed by fresh accounts of plots and purposed insurrections, that his heart was wrung with unutterable

Our readers must observe that this edifice is not called the third but the second temple; for, though it was built anew from the foundation, it was only by way of reparation, that of Nehemiah not having been demolished with a ruinous design.

distress, and his paroxysms of rage were expected to

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About this time the temple of Janus was shut, to intimate that all the nations of the earth were at peace, and a decree was issued out for taking a general register of the Roman Empire; upon which account, Mary, a virgin, of the lineage of David, went to Bethlehem ; and there brought forth the adorable infant, of whom the angel Gabriel had previously asserted that he should save his people from their sins, and to whom the prophet Isaiah alluded, when he exclaimed in prophetic rapture, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELLOR, The MIGHTY GOD, The EVERLASTING FATHER, and The PRINCE OF PEACE."

* In order to avoid an interruption of the history of the New Testament, we briefly observe, that Herod died by a dreadful complication of diseases, in the seventieth year of his age; and left behind bim four sons, viz. Archelaus, who succeeded him in the kingdom of Judea; Herod Antipas, who obtained the tetrarchy of Galilee; Philip, who was invested with the government of Iturca, and Trachonitis; and Herod Philip, who married the princess Herodias, on whose account John the Baptist suffered decapi-tation. It is also proper to remark that Archelaus was deposed,. for his tyrannical conduct; and that Judea was reduced to the form of a Roman province, being governed by procurators, who were appointed and recalled at the pleasure of the reigning emperor. The power of life and death was likewise taken out of the hands of the Jews, and their taxes were regularly gathered by the publicans.

246

CHAP. XI.

From the Birth to the Ascension of Jesus Christ.

WE are now arrived at an epoch the most interesting and important that ever marked the page of history, or excited the attention of mankind. A period at which the Sun of Righteousness arose, with healing in his wings, upon a benighted world, and brought life and inmortality to light by the gospel; while the true worshippers of Jehovah rejoiced in the accomplishment of the ancient prophecies, and looked forward, with inexpressible delight, to that great day of atonement, in which the seed of the woman, should bruise the serpent's head.

A.D.

The blessed virgin had no sooner brought

1. forth her Divine Son, and laid him in a manger at Bethlehem, than the happy circumstance was announced, to some shepherds, by a host of angels, who exclaimed, in holy rapture," Glory to God in the highest, Peace on Earth, and good-will toward men:" and the Oriental mag, were conducted by a miraculous star to the new born king of Israel, whom they worshipped with becoming reverence, presenting unto him gold, frankincence, and myrrh.

The holy child, having been thus announced by his Father's angels, and adored by the wise men of the East, was carried, on the fortieth day, to the temple of Jerusalem, to receive the rite of circumcision, and to

On

be redeemed according to the Mosaic institution. this occasion a venerable Hebrew, named Simeon, took him in his arms, and in a transport of holy gratitude exclaimed, "Now, Lord, let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." The prophetess Anna, a woman of exemplary piety, also began to speak of this Divine Babe, to all them who looked for the consolation of Israel; and devout many persons rejoiced in the accomplishment of Micah's prediction." Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou bet little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."

The jealousy of Herod was roused by the first intelligence of our Redeemer's birth, and he earnestly conjured the Eastern magi to give him a particular information respecting the illustrious object of their search; but they were warned by a celestial vision to shun his presence, and accordingly returned home without obeying his injunction. Hereupon the tyrant laid aside his dissimulation, and issued out an order for the destruction of all the male children, not only in Bethlehem, but in all the adjacent coasts, from two years old and under. However, his diabolical design was frustrated by an angel, who commanded Joseph (the reputed father of Christ), to retire with his family into Egypt. Upon the demise of Herod, the highly-favored exiles were recalled; but as they dreaded the resentment of Archelaus, they turned aside into Galilee, and took up their abode at Nazareth

A. D.

12.

When the Messiah had attained the age of twelve years, he went up to Jerusalem, at the

feast of the passover, and surprised the doctors of the Jaw, by asking such questions and making such remarks as clearly demonstrated his superior knowledge and wisdom, though his tender years and indigent condition precluded the possibility of his having profited so considerably by education. Whilst the Redeemer was thus employed, his mother and Joseph missed him from among their company, and sought him for three days, with restless. anxiety, till at length they found him in the temple. He then told them that they might have supposed he was "about his father's business, and went home with them to Nazareth, where he spent the remainder of his childhood in obedience and subjection. The ancients assert that he was brought up, during this interval, to the trade of his reputed father; and this opinion seems to be founded on fact, as Jesus himself, in the New Testament is expressly called a carpenter.

2

In the fifteenth year of the emperor Tiberius, and during the pontificate of Caiaphas, John the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, left the wilderness, where he had spent the greatest part of his youth, and began to preach the necessity of repentance and the kingdom of the Messiah. The novelty of this doctrine, and the remarkable austerity of John's life drew great multitudes of Jews to hear, and to be baptized by him in the Jor-dan; and a considerable reformation began to appear among his adherents, whom he earnestly exhorted to lay aside all vain confidence, to conduct themselves with piety and decorum, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance. The Pharisees, being apprised of these particulars, sent some of their priests to investigate the nature of his preaching and pretensions, upon which he replied that he was neither the Christ, nor the

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