that of Judea, which was last named before. And when St. Mark says Christ was with wild beasts, he does not, therefore, enforce that the wilderness was without either men or dwellings; but that Christ, for that time, avoided both the one and the other, and kept himself in places most retired from human society; and that the evangelist seemed to regard rather the state of Christ, than the state of the place; and to shew Christ to be the second Adam, as in the temptation he was undergoing, so in his safety and security among the wild beasts, as Adam in his innocency had been.

St. Mark and St. Luke tell us, that all the time of our Lord's retirement he was tempted of the devil; but only the three last assaults which he made at the end of the forty days are recorded; perhaps, because they were more for the instruction of mankind.

There is a striking similarity between the matter of his temptations, and those of our first parents in Paradise. Eve fell by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, which are the heads of all sins; and the same tempter set upon our Saviour with the same stratagems.

Our Lord's long fast must be considered a preternatural one-he must have been supported by a miracle; for he felt no sensation of hunger until the forty days were expired. Moses, also, a type of Christ, and Elijah, a type of Christ's forerunner, made themselves remarkable by fasts of the same duration. (See Deut. ix. 9, 25, x. 10.) Indeed, the number forty seems remarkable in the history of the Old Testament. Forty days were the waters of the

deluge decreasing (Gen. vii. 11). Forty days the spies were in their journey (Num. xiii. 26). Forty days Goliah challenged the Israelites (1 Sam. xvii. 16). Forty days were given Ninevah for repentance (Jonah iii. 4). Forty days Ezekiel bore the iniquities of Judah in a vision (Ezek. iv. 6).

From the words, "If thou be the Son of God," Ignatius, Hilary, and others suppose that Satan knew not yet the mystery of the incarnation; and as the first of the three temptations was grafted on the sensation of hunger, with which Jesus was pressed after his forty days' fast, and no such thing had happened to Moses or Elias after their fasts, the devil might think it argued weakness in Jesus; and on that account might suspect him to be no more than an ordinary man. He, therefore, solicits him to distrust divine power; a sin which would have been the much more heinous, since the voice uttered at his baptism precluded every doubt of its being from heaven. But mark the answer: "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." An answer perfectly conformable to the principle on which our Lord acted throughout the whole of his ministry; not one of his miracles being wrought for his own gratification.

He now takes him along with him-whether through the air or not is difficult to determine-to Jerusalem, or the Holy City, as it was commonly called; for on their coin, the shekel, was inscribed "Jerusalem the Holy," by which name heathen nations also were wont to designate it. We are not to suppose, however,

that the devil disposed of Jesus as he would; but only that our blessed Lord, who yielded to the temptation, was pleased to do what the devil required of him.

The evangelist tells us that he set him on a pinnacle of the temple; but what part he means is not precisely known. The common opinion is, that it was the battlement of the outer court, to the east and south of the temple, which, according to Josephus, was of such a height that no one could look down from the top of it without making himself giddy; and the roof of the temple was filled with golden spikes to prevent the birds from settling on it.

In the first temptation the devil had endeavoured to make our Lord distrust God's promise and providence ; but now, doubtless, knowing what a creature of extremes was man, he bids him presume too much upon them: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." Of the three acts, this would have been the most sinful and presumptuous: to tempt Almighty God, and, as it were, challenge him to his face. But if the "liar from the beginning," could wrest the written word to his unholy purpose, the silencing reply was also ready, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

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Two efforts foiled, Satan's masterpiece of craftthat never-failing bait with idolatrous man-was reserved for the crowning trial. "He taketh him an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him, All these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."

It is not easy to determine what mountain is here

meant, any more than what part of the temple he set him upon; and it is just as immaterial. It seems not improbable that it was beyond Jordan eastward, because Christ's first appearance after this among men, was at Bethabara on that side (John i. 28): but whether it were Pisgah, Nebo, Horeb, or what else, is useless to enquire, for we have no means of discovering. We may, however, compare together the being of Moses in the mount with God, and the being of Christ in a mount with Satan; and the Lord's shewing to Moses from a high mountain (Deut. xxxiv. 1, 8) all the kingdoms of Canaan, and saying, all these will I give to the children of Israel; and the devil's shewing to Christ all the kingdoms of the earth and saying, "All these will I give thee," &c.; and it is not unworthy observation.

That this temptation was founded on a real, not an imaginary vision of all the kingdoms of the world, is evident, from the devil's carrying up our Lord into an exceeding high mountain to view them. Had it been either a delineation of the kingdoms on a map, or a visible representation of them in the air, or a sight of them in a dream, or a view of them by being carried round the globe in a moment of time that is meant, it might have been done anywhere as well as on a high mountain. The whole is a plain recital of a matter of fact, miraculous, indeed, but bearing no traces of its having been only a vision.

Some have supposed that the devil assumed the appearance of an angel of light, in order to deceive Jesus. For agreeably to the opinion of the Jews, Satan might imagine he would be taken for

the guardian angel of the promised land, who could easily raise him to the throne of all the kingdoms contained in it, the peculiar management of their affairs being committed to him. If this were so, the prompt command, “Get thee hence, Satan," or adversary," as it literally signifies, must have soon undeceived him; and again, the "it is written," put an end to the deceiver's wiles, and ministering angels supply his place.

In this transaction the evangelist designates the evil spirit by three distinct appellations, Zaravas, enemy; ¿ Aiáßoλos, accuser; and & reipaswv, tempter; which, unitedly, characterise him as the complete destroyer of mankind, by being first their enemy, then their tempter, and lastly their accuser.

THE REDEMPTION OF TIME.

THERE is not a man so devoid of sense, but he knows that he must die. There are few so abandoned, but the thought of death and a future state will now and then, an unbidden and unwelcome guest, for a time take possession of their mind. The time and the manner of the last messenger's approach are equally uncertain; and yet how few even of those whose feet are heaven-ward tending, sufficiently think of the rigid scrutiny into the account of a talent so important as time! How many, alas! banish such thoughts altogether, until death unceremoniously urges them, conscience-smitten and condemned, into the presence of a severe and impartial Judge! gate of mankind, how few learn

Taking the aggrewisdom from the