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NAZARETH, 


£}'    THE    SAME    AUTHOR, 

THE    DIVINE    KINGDOM    ON 
EARTH    AS    IT    IS     IN    HEAVEN. 

Demy  8vo.  cloth,  \os.  6d. 


'Our    Commonwealth    is    in    Heaven. 


'  No  one  can  rise  from  the  study  of  this  book  without 
riper  and  larger  ideas  of  the  designs  and  purposes  of  the 
Divine  mind  in  the  constitution  of  His  Church. — English 
Chtirchinan. 


NAZARETH : 


ITS      LIFE     AND     LESSONS 


BY 

G.     S.      DREW,      M.A. 

VICAR     OF     HOLY     TRIKITV,      LAMBETH; 
VL'THOR     OF     'scripture      LANDS,'       'REASONS     OF     FAITH,'      &C. 


■  In     Ilim    was     Life,    and    the     Life    was    the     Lij^ht     of    men. 


SECOND  '  EDITION. 


Henry  S.  King  &  Co. 

65    CoRNHiLL    &    12    Paternoster    Row,    London. 
1873. 


(All    rig /its    resettled) 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  contain  an  expansion, 
in  some  detail,  of  the  introductory  paragraphs 
of  Chapter  V.  of  the  '  Divine  Kingdom  on 
Earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven.'  In  that  part  of 
the  book  the  writer  dwelt  upon  Christ's 
Human  Life  as  the  typal  embodiment  of  the 
Divine  Order  of  Existence,  and  here  he  has 
endeavoured  to  enlarge  his  observations  on 
its  earlier  years,  in  that  view  of  them.  In 
carrying  out  this  purpose,  he  has  made  care- 
ful use  of  the  chief  authorities  which  have- 
informed  us  respecting  the  period  under  con- 
sideration, as  well  as  of  his  own  recollections 
of  Nazareth  and  its  neighbourhood,  where  the 
work  which  he  has  now  attempted  to  execute, 


vi  PREFACE. 

was  meditated,  many  years  ago,  while  he 
was  passing  amidst  the  scenes  which  he 
describes. 

With  these  helps  in  endeavouring  to  trans- 
fer himself  to  the  place  and  period  in  which 
the  earlier  years  of  Christ's  course  were 
passed,  and  using  them  under  the  con- 
viction that  a  true  Human,  as  well  as  Divine 
Life,  was  then  lived  by  Him,  the  writer 
believes  that  he  has  brought  out  some  results 
of  an  importance  which  is  sufficient  to  claim 
for  them  the  attention  of  thouQfhtful  and 
devout  readers.  He  might  have  produced  a 
much  larger,  and  perhaps  a  more  popularly 
attractive  work,  if  he  had  permitted  himself  to 
indulge  any  exercise  of  mere  imagination  in 
connection  with  his  subject ;  but  he  felt  that 
he  was  warned  off  from  every  indulgence 
of  this  kind,  by  the  very  significant  reserve 
of  the  Evangelists,  as  well  as  by  the  excesses, 
in  that  direction,  of  those  '  despicable  monu- 
ments of  religious  fiction  '  which  are  known 
as  the  Apocryphal  Gospels.     He  has,  in  fact. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

simply  confined  himself  to  setting  forth  the 
outlines  of  our  Lord's  Life  throughout  those 
thirty  years,  such  as  lue  know  it  miLst  have  been 
when  we  bear  in  mind  the  Design  of  His 
Incarnation,  and  the  results  of  the  earlier 
which  are  witnessed  in  the  later  stages  of 
His  ministry  amongst  mankind.  And  of  set 
purpose,  he  has  left  these  outlines  to  be  filled 
up  by  the  careful  meditations  of  his  readers. 

It  is  with  unfeigned  diffidence  that  he 
refers  to  these  words,  '  such  as  we  know  the 
Life  must  have  been,'  when  he  remembers 
how  invariably  commentators  on  the  Gospel 
History  speak  of  this  portion  of  the  Re- 
deemer's course  as  marked  by  '  absolute  ob- 
scurity,' and  as  having  been  '  studiously 
withdrawn  from  human  knowledge.'  Long- 
continued  thought  upon  the  subject,  however, 
emboldens  him  to  ask.  Is  this  often  repeated, 
and  generally  accepted,  dictum  indeed  well- 
founded  ?  Why  should  the  reserve  of  the 
Evangelists  be  regarded  as  tantamount  to 
the  prohibition  of   enquiry  in  this  instance. 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


when  it  is  not  so  regarded  with  respect  to 
many  occasions  in  the  later  period  of  Christ's 
ministry,  where  interpreters  do  not  hesitate 
to  fill  up  and  illuminate,  from  extraneous 
sources,  that  which  has  been  only  briefly  set 
forth  in  the  Inspired  Record  ?  Facts  which 
illustrate  the  period  in  question  are  within 
our  reach,  and  we  have  not  been  forbidden 
to  ascertain  and  examine  them.  Now  this 
being  the  case,  ought  not  those  facts  to  re- 
ceive due  consideration,  and  indeed  is  not 
attention  to  them  necessary  in  order  to  com- 
plete our  view  of  Christ's  fulfilment  of  the 
mission  for  which  He  came  into  the  world  ? 

He  came  to  live  a  Life  which  should  be 
the  '  Light  of  men.'  In  other  words,  the 
Design  of  His  Incarnation  was  to  embody, 
and  by  embodying  to  reflect,  and  so  openly 
reveal,  the  Divine  form  and  order  of  man's 
existence.  Surely  this  is  the  true  view  and 
statement  of  the  Purpose  of  the  Eternal 
Word,  rather  than  that  which  speaks  of 
'  plans '  formed  by  Him  at  the  outset  of  His 


PREFACE.  IX 

course,  and  of  far-sighted  methods  which  He 
then  devised  for  their  after  execution.  The 
object  of  His  earthly  ministry  was  the  fulfil- 
ment— not  of  any  freshly  formed  scheme,  but 
— of  the  Eternal  Purpose  and  Design  of  God, 
that  fulfilment  being  carried  forward  amidst 
the  circumstances,  the  duties  and  relationships, 
of  an  ordinary  life.  And  this  being  so,  is 
not  the  distinct  recognition  of  that  larger 
portion  of  His  course,  wherein  indeed  we  see 
the  greater  part  of  the  majority  of  human 
lives  reflected,  absolutely  necessary  ?  One 
can  hardly  imagine  any  other  than  a  simply 
assenting  answer  to  this  question.  But  such 
an  assent  gives  an  ample  justification  to  the 
apparently  presumptuous  attempt  on  which 
the  writer  has  ventured  in  these  pages. 

Their  simple  purpose  is  to  remove,  with 
fitting  care  and  reverence,  that  veil  of  reserve 
which  has  been  so  wisely  ^  drawn  over  this  as 
over  many  later  portions  of  the  Life  {where  a 
similar  removal  is   attempted  by  eveiy  com- 

^  See  Introduction,  iii/ra,  p.  5. 


X  PREFACE. 

mentator  on  the  Gospel  History),  so  that,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  we  too  may  see  our  Lord 
as  He  was  actually  seen  by  those  who  '  com- 
panied  with  Him  '  in  the  earlier  days  of  His 
mortality.  He  was  not  hidden  from  them 
ditring  that  period,  in  any  mysterious  7^etire- 
7nent.  And  zuhy,  then,  is  it  necessary  that  He 
should  be  so  hidden  from  ourselves  f  This 
question  deserves  to  be  well  pondered.  And 
here,  too,  we  may  remark,  as  a  further  incite- 
ment to  careful  dilip-ence  in  makine  the 
attempt  which  it  has  suggested,  that  far  more 
than  the  complete  vision  of  a  true  human  life 
will  be  obtained  if  the  work  is,  in  any  measure, 
successfully  effected.  For  in  that  vision  we 
shall  see  manifested  the  unity  of  the  Divine 
Order  of  the  universe  :  its  '  continuity  and  its 
correlations  '  will  be  unfolded.  In  the  book 
above  referred  to,  the  present  writer  has  en- 
deavoured to  bring  some  tokens  of  that  unity 
of  our  existence  into  view.  For  many  years 
he  has  striven  to  do  this,  under  the  ever- 
strengthening  conviction  that   the   vision    of 


PREFACE.  XI 

this  unity,  of  the  harmoniously  blended 
connections  of  our  earthly  with  our  heavenly 
existence,  will  be  more  helpful  than  any  other 
means  can  prove,  in  clearing  up  perplexities 
by  which  Christian  men  are  sorely  troubled 
at  this  time,  as  well  as  in  removing  some  of 
the  causes  of  their  too  well  founded  appre- 
hensions as  to  the  '  thino-s  which  are  coming- 
upon  the  earth.' 

Moreover,  there  are  many  practical  uses,  in 
life  as  well  as  thought,  that  may  be  made  of 
the  enquiries  and  contemplations  which  are 
here  brought  forward.  Some  of  them  are 
hinted  at  in  the  closing  chapter,  as  well  as  in 
the  Appendix,  where  the  writer  has  ventured 
to  reproduce  some  reflections,  published  by 
him  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago,  which 
bear  upon  the  subject.  They  are  commended 
to  the  livers  of  '  dreary  lives,'  to  toilers  and 
workers  in  hidden  places,  in  the  strong  belief 
that  such  persons  may  be  greatly  helped,  in 
their  '  times  of  need,'  by  seeing  in  the  '  Life 


Xll  PREFACE. 

at  Nazareth '  a  frequent  reflection  of  their 
own,  in  its  saddened  weariness,  and  its  con- 
sequent temptations  to  restlessness  and  dis- 
content. 

January  1872. 


Note. — Some  of  the  practical  lessons  above  referred  to, 
are  urged  with  much  wisdom  and  tende?-ness  in  the  {Just 
published)  '  Home  Life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth^  by  the  Rev.  A. 
Gurney.  The  book  in  the  reader's  hands  was  printed,  and 
almost  ready  for  publication,  before  Mr.  Gtirnefs  work 
appeared,  or  the  writer  would  gladly  have  referred  to  it  in 
Chap.  If.,  on  the  '  Home  and  Family  Life  in  Nazareth^  atid 
in  the  '  Concluding  Application.' 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction 

I.  Infancy  and  Early  Childhood  in  Nazareth 

II.  Home  and  Family  Life  in  Nazareth 

III.  Life  in  the  Nazareth  Community 

IV.  Nazareth  Life  in  the  Nation     . 

V.  Church  Life  in  Nazareth   .... 

VI.  Nazareth  Life  in  its  After  Developments 

VII.  Concluding  Application       .... 


PAGE 

I 

17 

35 
53 
72 
88 

105 
119 


APPENDIX. 

Note  A.     Reasons  for  the  Silence  of  the  Evangelists  respecting 

the  Events  of  the  Thirty  Years    .  .  .  -131 

Note  B.     Nazareth  and  its  Neighbourhood    .  .  .  -133 

Note  C.      On  yesus  increasittg  in  Wisdom     .  .  .  -137 

Note  D.      On  the  Synagogue  and  its  Worship  .  .  -139 

Note  E.     Practical  Lessons          .         .         .  .  .  .141 


They  returned  into  Galilee,  to  their  owii  city  Nazareth, 
And  the  child  grew,  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled  with 
wisdom,  and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  Him. — St.  Luke. 

In  all  things  it  behoved  Him  to  be  made  like  unto  his 
brethren,  that  He  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest. 
— Ep.  to  Heb. 

The  Life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear  wit- 
ness, and  shew  unto  you  that  eternal  Life  which  was  with  the 
Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us.  — St.  John. 


NAZARETH : 

ITS      LIFE      AND      LESSONS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Our  knowledge   of  God,  and    of  our   place  and     intro- 
duction 
relations  in  His  kingdom,  has  been  mainly  derived  ^"^ — ■ ' 

from  Revelation.  Those  facts  of  our  position 
which  man  could  not  ascertain  by  his  unaided 
powers,  have  been  made  known  by  means  of  special 
agencies  divinely  appointed  for  this  end.  For  the 
purpose,  however,  of  guarding  against  an  unseemly 
exposure  of  heavenly  verities,  and  in  order  to 
quicken  devout  and  thoughtful  minds  in  their  re- 
searches, the  Revealer  has  always  observed  what 
may  well  be  called  a  wise  frugality  in  His  com- 
munications. And  man's  own  researches  and 
meditations  have  been  required  to  fill  out,  and 
illuminate,  many  of  the  disclosures  which  have 
been  thus  authentically  conveyed  to  him. 

B 


INTRODUCTION. 


INTRO- 
DUCTION. 


Luke  ii. 
19.  51- 


Butler's 
Analogy, 
pt.  ii.  ch. 


While,  accordingly,  he  has  thoughtfully  dwelt  on 
these  disclosures,  and  trustfully  '  pondered  them  in 
his  heart,'  the  meaning  of  revealed  facts  and  princi- 
ples has  been  enlarged  within  his  view :  the  divine 
communications  have  grown  more  living  and  sig- 
nificant. It  was  thus  with  the  oral  revelation 
which  God  made  in  the  earliest  ages  to  His  ser- 
vants, and  with  the  truths  that  have  been  conveyed 
by  the  ordinances  which  He  instituted.  While, 
in  all  essential  respects,  the  meaning  of  those 
communications  was  apprehended  by  seers  and 
prophets  from  the  first,  it  was  ever  enlarging  and 
deepening  in  their  consciousness.  They  gradually 
perceived  verities  which  were  involved  in  the  con- 
nections of  the  inspired  statements,  and  in  the 
inferences  which  flowed  from  them.  This  has 
also  been  the  case  with  respect  to  the  knowledge 
which  is  conveyed  by  Holy  Scripture.  Minds 
well  informed  by  history  and  science,  and 
quickened  also  by  newly  arisen  needs,  have 
'  compared  and  pursued  intimations,'  scattered 
up  and  down  the  inspired  pages,  which  had  been 
'  overlooked  by  the  generality  of  the  world ' ;  they 
have  '  traced  out  obscure  hints  dropped,  as  if 
accidentally,  or  which  seemed  to  come  into 
their   minds   by  chance,'   and    have   thus    caused 


INTRODUCTION. 


fresh  aspects  of  the  heavenly  disclosures,  and  of  intro- 

the  Divine  Lite,  to  be  brought  out  continually  with  ■ ' 

an  impressiveness  which  has  been  altogether  un- 
expected.    Then  again,  the  special  needs  of  each  i  Cor.  xi. 
age,  and  its  thought-movements  growing  so  often 


19- 

Divine 


into  the  vagaries  of  heresy  and  the  negations  of  ^'"^''f'^'"^ 

^  -'  ^  ch.  VI. 

unbelief,  have  further  quickened  this  activity  in  the 
minds  of  saints  and  theologians  who  have  thus 
been  moved  to  look  and  enquire  in  directions  that 
would  otherwise  have  been  neglected.  The  errors 
of  men,  as  well  as  their  most  genuine  efforts  of 
thought  and  their  sincerest  aspirations,  have  thus, 
and  often  very  remarkably,  subserved  and  furthered 
an  effective  elucidation  of  the  truth. 

In  this  manner,  and  by  all  these  agencies,  en- 
larged views  of  the  Divine  Life  and  Kingdom 
have  opened  out  in  every  direction.  The  Church's  ni^-ine 
consciousness  has  widened  and  deepened,  and  it  ubTfu'T' 
has  been  continually  enriched.  And  everywhere 
the  process  is  still  being  carried  forward  by  means 
of  learned  research  and  of  prayerful  meditation  ; 
but  in  no  instance  has  it  proceeded  with  more 
successful  earnestness  than  in  the  enquiries  which 
are  continually  bringing  out  fresh  aspects  of 
Christ's  Life  and  Character,  and  larger  knowledge 
of  the  relations  which    He  is  sustaining  towards 


INTRODUCTION. 


INTRO-     mankind.     Very   naturally   men's   thoughts    have 

DUCTION. 

' ■ — "'    ever  turned  hitherward  with  most  interest,  and  it  is 

to  an  important  but  comparatively  neglected  view 
of  this  subject  that  our  attention  is  here  directed. 

We  are  referring  to  that  large  portion  of  His 
earthly  course   which  was   passed,    almost   unob- 
served, and  in  comparative  seclusion  and  secrecy, 
at  Nazareth.     Through  those  many  years  he  lived 
on  continuously,  day  after  day,  an  actual  human 
lAike  ii.       life ;   gradually  '  waxing  strong  in  spirit,  and   in- 
''■°'  ^^'        creasing  in  wisdom,'  while  He  discharged  the  duties 
and  filled  out  the  relationships  that  belonged  to 
the   position   which    He    had    chosen.     Now    the 
course  which  He  pursued  through  all  those  years, 
John  i.  4.     formed  part  of  that  Life  which  has  been  declared 
to  be  the  '  Light  of  men.'     Then,  too,  as  well  as 
afterwards,  we  must  recognise  Him  as  the  Eternal 
Word,  through  Whom  the  mind  and  will  of  God 
have  been  communicated  to  His  creatures — unless 
Neander's    indeed  we  are,  however  unconsciously,  entertaining 
//Z'orv       ^^^^   heresies   which   affirm   that    His   Divine  and 
Human  natures  were  first  united   at  His  Baptism. 
Part  of  His  Revealing  Work  must  have  then  been 
going  forward  ;  and  surely  from  that  part  also  in- 
formation and  instruction  maybe  derived.     Indeed 
we  should  reverse  conclusions  that  have  ever  been 


INTRODUCTION. 


accepted  by  the  Church,  and  nesjative  the  first  iniro. 
principles  of  Catholic  Belief,  if  we  questioned  the  '  ■  ' 
assertion  that  His  conduct  and  His  words,  His 
abstinences  and  His  activities,  were  as  significant 
then  as  they  were  afterwards.  Nor  can  it  be 
doubted  that  the  meaning  which  was  conveyed 
by  them  was  intended  for  man's  use,  and  for  the 
promotion  of  His  welfare  and  advancement. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  very  little  has  been  Appendix, 
related  respecting  that  part  of  His  human  course. 
Nay,  it  may  even  be  acknowledged  that,  in  some 
measure,  it  was  intentionally  veiled ;  and  that,  for 
this  end,  special  influences  were  exerted  upon  the 
minds  of  the  Evangelists.  We  can  hardly  doubt 
that,  had  they  been  left  to  themselves,  they  would 
have  dilated,  after  the  fashion  of  other  biographers, 
on  the  circumstances  of  His  childhood  and  youth, 
and  on  the  general  habits  of  His  life  before  His 
public  ministry  began.  Evidently  they  were  led 
by  an  external  and  higher  influence — the  nature  of 
which  every  Christian  reader  will  devoutly  recog- 
nise— to  fence  off,  from  the  observation  of  hasty 
superficial  gazers,  this  part  of  His  course  as  man 
amongst  mankind.  Still,  fully  admitting  the  fact 
that,  for  these  reasons,  little  has  been  said  about 
those  thirty  years,  we  do  not  by  any  means  regard 


INTRODUCTION. 


INTRO- 
DUCTION. 


Matthew 
xiii.  II. 


Luke  ii. 

19,  Sl- 


it as  equivalent  to  an  admonition  that  we  should 
abstain  from  all  enquiry  and  thought  respecting 
the  manner  of  His  life  as  they  went  forward. 
The  reserve  of  the  Evangelists  is  indeed  remark- 
able, and  it  is  of  a  nature  which  is  well  fitted 
to  deter  the  enquiries  of  men  who  would  not 
have  been  profited  by  what  they  looked  upon,  if 
this  part  of  the  Divine  Life  had  been  made  fully 
known.  Yet,  as  we  shall  see,  their  silence  is  not 
absolute.  The  veil  which  they  have  cast  over 
Christ's  abode  in  Nazareth  is  not  impenetrable,  or 
of  such  a  nature  that  enquirers  of  earnest  and  de- 
vout temper  need  be  hindered  from  an  attempt  to 
pierce  through  its  obscurity.  On  the  contrary,  this 
part  of  the  narrative  invites  the  attention  of  those 
who  are  accustomed  to  *  ponder  in  their  hearts '  ; 
in  other  words,  to  weigh,  lovingly  and  trustfully  as 
well  as  thoughtfully,  every  Divine  communication. 
Men  who  look  in  such  a  spirit  towards  that  Gali- 
lean town  and  its  surroundings,  and  who  have  duly 
qualified  themselves  to  estimate  the  import  of  the 
few  but  most  significant  words  that  have  been 
written  respecting  the  Life  that  was  passed  in  it, 
who  observe  the  subject  under  all  the  lights  that 
converge  upon  that  place  and  time — will  find  it 
marvellously  illumined  in  their  view.     The  Divine 


INTRODUCTION. 


Life   which   was  hved  and   witnessed   there,    will     intro- 
duction. 
come  out  with  a  clearness  and  definiteness  which,    ■ ' 

until  they  thus  applied  themselves  to  look  for  it, 

could  not  have  been  imagined. 

This  is  the  effect,  if  the  period  of  which  we  are 

speaking,  is  surveyed  in  the  spirit   and  from  the 

point  of  view,  as  well  as  with  the  helps,  which  have 

just  been  indicated.     Then  the  same  results  will 

follow  which,  in  so  many  other  similar  instances,   Hosea  vi. 

3- 
have  rewarded  diligent  enquiry,  and  devout   and  Divine 

steadfast  meditation.    And  here,  in  a  few  pages,  we  ubi  sup.  ' 
will  point  out  three  of  the   principal   sources  of 
information  which,  in  this  temper  and  spirit,  should 
be  used  ;  naming  as  the  first  of  them  a  heedful 
regard  to  the  main  Purposes  of  the  Incarnation. 

I.  These  Purposes  may  be  securely  learned  when 
we  carefully  observe  the  scope  of  the  Divine  Com- 
munications, and  investigate  their  substance.  And 
being  perceived,  they  cast  invaluable  light  on  the 
entire  Gospel  History,  and,  indeed,  on  all  the  su- 
pernatural dispensations.  Nor  is  any  part  of  those 
dispensations  more  effectively  illuminated  by  these 
means  than  that  to  which  we  are  now  looking. — 
What,  then,  were  these  purposes,  except  to  embody  John  i.  4, 
man's  aboriginal  nature  in  his  view,  and  in  that  i,  2. 
nature  to  reveal  afresh  the  Divine  Plan  and  Order 


INTRODUCTION, 


INTRO-     of  his  life  ?     Humanity,   in   its   originally  perfect 

DUCTION,  ,  o  J     i. 

" ' '  reflection  of  God's    Image,  was,   as   in    a  second 

I  Cor.  XV.    Adam,  to  be  manifested  again  in  Christ.     More- 
45,  47-  .       , 

over,  m  this  perfect  form.  He  came  to  live  through 

man's  appointed  course,  thereby  perfectly  disclos- 
.    ing   all   the  laws   by  which  it  is  controlled.     In 
His  individual  life,  in  His  purely  personal  relations 
towards  God  and  all  His  creatures,  as  well  as  in 
the  discharge  of  every  social  obligation.  He  under- 
took to  make  known  the  rules  of  our  true  exist- 
ence, and  the  manner  in  which  we  should  fulfil  our 
part  of  the   Economy  into  which  we  have  been 
brought.     In  other  words.  He  came  to  show,  both 
in  His  Person  and  His  Life,  what  God  had  con- 
stituted man  to  be,  and  what,  amidst  all  his  duties 
and  relationships,  He  meant  him  to  become. 
Micah  vi.         Now  what  is  in  fact  the  true  form  of  human 
life,  and  what  are  the  order  and  laws  which  should 
be  observed  in  it,  may  be  gathered  from  the  in- 
junctions of  Holy  Scripture,  and  from  the  examples 
and    aspirations,  nay,   even   from  the  condemned 
failures,  of  the  men  whose  habits  and  proceedings, 
interpreted  by  heavenly  wisdom,  have  been  therein 
recorded.     In  the   inspired   pages,  and  especially 
in    Christ's    own   teaching,    interpreted   and  com- 
pleted by  that  of  His  Apostles,  we  may  see,  with 


INTRODUCTION. 


hardly   any    possibility    of  misapprehension,    the     intro- 
duction. 
perfect  ideal  of  a  human  course ;  and  any  error • ' 

or  defect  in  our  conception  of  it,  may  be  corrected 

by  the  fuller  details  of  His  after  life,  when  these   i  John  i. 

2. 

are  illustrated  by  the  precepts  and  instructions  of 
His  disciples.  From  such  sources  the  true  and 
typal    form  of  human  being    may  be    accurately 

learned ;  and  we  are  sure  that  it  was  in  that  form  John  viii. 

46. 
His  existence  passed,  as  He  lived  through  child- 
hood and  youth  and  early  manhood,  in  His  home 
and  neighbourhood,  in  the  nation  and  in  the  Church. 
When  we  bear  this  fact  in  mind  we  can  at  once 
ascertain  the  main  distinctions  of  His  conduct  and 
demeanour  as  son  and  brother,  as  neighbour  and 
friend  and  citizen,  amidst  the  toils  of  life,  in  its 
sufferings  and  its  enjoyments — while  He  lived  on, 
day  by  day,  and  year  after  year,  through  the  thirty 
years  to  which  our  attention  is  directed.  The  cha- 
racteristic features  of  His  path  during  that  long 
period,  the  marked  and  prominent  relationships 
into  which  He  was  brought  by  it,  are,  in  this 
manner,  unmistakably  disclosed. 

H.  Then  again,  besides  remembering  in  general 
that  at  that  time  His  life  was  conformed  to  the 
true  pattern  of  existence,  and  learning  by  this 
means   the    chief   features    that   distinguished    it, 


10 


INTRODUCTION. 


Matt.  ii. 
Luke  ii. 


Appendix, 
Note  B. 


Matthew 
xiii.  55. 
Mark  vi. ' 


we  also  know,  definitely  and  in  detail,  the  outward 
conditions  amidst  which  it  was  carried  forward. 
We  have  been  told  under  what  terms  and  in  what 
framework,  the  ideal  of  existence  was  then  em- 
bodied in  His  person.  The  direction  and  limits  of 
His  earthly  course  in  Nazareth  have  been  clearly 
indicated.  We  are  familiar  with  the  scene,  and  can 
observe  the  circumstances,  the  shape  and  costume, 
in  which  this  Divine  pattern  of  man's  life  was  mani- 
fested through  that  period.  Thus  far  the  direct 
notices  of  the  Evangelists  respecting  this  early 
period  of  His  career,  brief  as  they  are,  and  frag- 
mentary, may  be  looked  on,  and  especially  when 
those  notices  are  connected  with  the  allusions  to 
it  afterwards,  as  furnishing  definite  information. 

Unmistakably  they  point  out  the  place  in  which 
He  lived,  the  social  position  which  He  occupied, 
and  the  nature  of  the  occupations  in  which  the 
purposes  of  His  Incarnation  were  then  accom- 
plished. We  know  the  aspect  of  His  abode  and 
its  surroundings.  Its  physical  characteristics  and 
conditions  illustrated  by  the  light  of  modern  re- 
search, its  historical  associations,  the  nature  of  its 
government,  its  social  advantages  and  disparage- 
ments, nay  the  very  buildings  which  stood  upon 
the    land,    and    the    dialect    of    its    inhabitants, 


INTRODUCTION.  II 


can    be  accurately  learned.     In  some  particulars,     intro- 

^  DUCTION. 

indeed,    the   scene    of  this    part   of    His    earthly   ^     •      ' 

course    may   be   obscure,   but    in    regard   to   the 

chief    of    them,    and     those   which    reveal    most 

significantly    what    we    wish    to    ascertain,    they 

are  so  translucently  disclosed  that  we  may  clearly 

see,    and    distinctly    hear,    and   intelligently  hold   Reasons 

of  Faith, 

converse  with,  the  thmgs  and  persons  amidst  ch.  i. 
which,  as  a  Galilean  Jew,  He  lived  and  moved. 
What  the  manner  of  His  life  in  such  a  home  as 
that  in  which  He  abode,  must  of  necessity  have 
been,  has  been  certified  from  innumerable  sources 
of  information.  They  send  out  lights  which  con- 
verge on  Nazareth  as  it  was  in  the  days  when  He 
was  dwelling  there,  and  they  mutually  attest  and 
interpret  one  another.  So  that,  carefully  com- 
bining them,  and  placing  ourselves  upon  the  spot 
where  their  blended  illumination  is  poured  forth, 
His  living  figure,  robed  in  the  costume  which 
He  actually  wore,  and  surrounded  by  the  circum- 
stances amidst  which  He  habitually  moved — comes 
plainly  into  view.  The  vision,  which  has  been  so 
wisely  hidden  from  careless  discursive  observation, 
is  more  and  more  clearly  and  vividly  defined :  it 
grows  in  its  living  reality  while  we  gaze  on  it,  till 
in  many  respects  we  see  Him  there  even  more 


12  INTRODUCTION. 


Luke  ii 
44- 


INTRO-     distinctly  than  we  can  see  Him  afterwards,  on  the 

DUCTION. 

■ '   well-known    occasions    of   His   active    and    public 

ministry,  in  the  towns  of  Galilee  and  in  Jerusalem. 
III.  In  realising  by  these  means  His  life  through- 
out that  period,  dwelling  with  Him  in  the  house, 
observing  His  daily  occupations,  and  His  inter- 
course with  His  *  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance,'  we 
obtain  most  effective  help,  which  is  immediately 
available  in  canying  out  the  purpose  which  we  are 
contemplating. — Then  again,  this  help  is  increased, 
our  inferences  are  corrected,  and  they  are  also  en- 
larged, by  attending  to  the  fuller  details  of  His 
after  life,  under  the  conviction  that  there  was  no 
break  in  the  continuity  of  its  development.  And 
surely  this  is  certain.  His  course.  His  habits  and 
proceedings,  throughout- His  public  ministry,  were 
the  consistent  extension  and  natural  issue  of  His 

I'ffra,  ch.  life  in  His  earlier  years.  His  path  through 
Nazareth  passed  continuously  into  the  more  public 
manifestations  of  His  earthly  being,  and  it  was 
therewith  harmoniously  blended.  This  fact  is  ne- 
cessarily implied  in  that  consistency  and  unity 
which  must  be  ascribed  to  His  habits  and  pro- 
ceedings. Every  one,  therefore,  who  has  looked, 
under  the  light  of  this  conviction,  into  that  daily 
existence  in  Capernaum  and  Jerusalem  which  was. 


111. 


INTRODUCTION.  13 


SO   to  speak,  interposed   between  the  marked  oc-     intro- 

rTT-  ••  -,1  r,  ,.,^.         DUCTIOlN 

casions  01  His  ministry,  will  see  reflected  in  His   ■ > — 

habits  and  demeanour  there,  the  life  which  He  had 
already  lived,  in  another  sphere  and  under  other 
circumstances,  in  the  home  of  His  seclusion.  The 
distinctions  which  marked  him  then  were  after- 
wards unchanged  ;  and  all  those  precepts  which 
He  delivered  in  His  later  years  had  been  already 
practically  observed  and  kept  by  Him  in  the  years 
which  they  succeeded.  Whea  this  continuity  is 
borne  in  mind,  and  when,  in  the  light  of  it,  we 
read  with  this  backward  reference  the  more  detailed 
pages  of  His  history,  we  find  they  cast  an  en- 
larging, and  also  a  correcting,  illumination  on  the 
earlier  stage  of  His  existence,  and  on  the  scenes 
and  associations  amidst  which  it  passed.  And 
this  is  a  source  of  information  which  in  such  an 
enquiry  as  that  which  we  are  here  meditating, 
should  be  employed  with  greatest  carefulness. 

When  it  is  connected  with  the  others  which  have 
been  indicated,  and  when  the  fragments  of  infor- 
mation which  they  supply,  are  '  carefully  attended  ^"^^^f 
to,    compared    and    pursued  ; '     when    even    the  ^^^  ^"P- 
obscurest    hints    which    they    furnish,    are    thus 
'  diligently  traced ' — clear   and  definite,  and   also 


14  INTRODUCTION. 


INTRO-     authentic,  conclusions  may  be  obtained  concerning 

DUCTION. 

■ • ■    the  subject  of  our  enquiry.     Just  views  of  the  In- 

£>h'ine        camation  and  of  its  Purposes,  of  Christ  as  being  the 

Kingdom,         ^.      . 

ubi  sup.  '  SimiHtudo  exemplaris  totius  naturae,'  of  His  Life 
as  the  Light  of  Men,  require  us  dihgently  to  use 
the  above-mentioned  sources  of  information,  while 
we  observe  that  temper  and  those  rules  of  enquiry 
the  need  of  which  appears  to  be  expressively  indi- 
cated by  the  reserve  of  the  Evangelists.  Such 
an  use  of  these  informants  has  nowhere  been 
forbidden ;  and  their  existence,  in  the  absence  of 
any  prohibition  of  the  kind,  is  surely  an  indication 
that  they  were  meant  to  be  employed.  They 
show  that  we  should  gather  instruction  from  this 
page,  also,  of  the  Revealing  Word  ;  though  hitherto, 
from  what  may  surely  be  called  our  strange  neg- 
lect of  it,  it  has  been  blank  and  inexpressive. 

In  this  belief,  then,  we  will  look  in  the  direction 
which  has  been  pointed  out,  and  carefully  *  pursue 
and  compare  '   the  intimations  of  which  we  have 

Infra,  ch.    spokcn.     And  we  shall  undoubtedly  find  that  they 

vi. 

marvellously  illuminate  the  fuller  and  more  familiar 
pages  of  the  Evangelists.  They  will  enable  us 
to  approach  Christ  in  the  after  scenes  of  His 
ministry,  with  a  deeper  and  more  vivid  sense  of 
His  actual  Personality.      His  relations  with  men 


INTRODUCTION.  1 5 


will   be  widened    in    our  view,  and  we  shall  per-     intro- 
duction. 
ceive  fresh  aspects  of  His  character,  and  a  fuller   • ' 

significance  both  in  the  language  of  His  teaching, 

and  in  its  illustrations.     Moreover,  His  Divine,  as 

well  as  Human  nature  will  come  before  us  more 

impressively  :  we  shall  not  only  understand  Him 

better,  and  get  a  profounder  insight  into  many  of 

the  purposes  of  His  Work  and  Ministry,  but   we 

shall  also  find  our  reverence  towards  His  character 

deepened,  while  we  are  growing  more  familiar  with 

His  Person   and   demeanour.      We    shall    obtain,   iieb.  ii. 
i      •  1  1        •  r    1  r  17,  18;  iv. 

besides,  a  truer  apprehension  of  the  nature  of  our  15,  16. 

appointed  course,  and  of  His  nearness  and  sym- 
pathy while  it  is  being  faithfully  pursued.  Its 
commonest  duties  will  be  ennobled  in  our  view, 
and  we  shall  be  stilled  in  our  frequent  restlessness 
under  what  may  so  often  be  very  naturally  looked 
upon  as  its  deep  and  sad  humiliations. 

Moreover,  besides  this  general  result  from  the 
enquiries  which  we  are  meditating,  we  shall  find 
certain  lessons  supplied  by  them  that  appear  to 
have  a  special  adaptation  to  the  age.  Events 
which  are  now  happening  have  'opened  out  and  Analogy, 
ascertained,'  if  we  may  here  use  Butler's  words  '  '  *"^^' 
in  another  application  of  them — '  the  meaning '  of 
this  heretofore  strangely  neglected  portion  of  the 


1 6  INTRODUCTION. 


INTRO-     Redeemer's  history.     And  from  that  quiet  and  un- 

DUCTION. 

' ' ■   observed,  that  "unhasting,  yet  ever  unresting"  Hfe 

amidst  the  GaHlean  hills,  come  the  very  admoni- 

/>i/m,  ch.    tions  which  our  time  and  people  need,  and  which 
vii, 

will  calm,  while  they  rebuke,  the  turmoil  and  excite- 
ment by  which  our  age  is  painfully  distinguished. 
Those  admonitions  come  to  us,  solemnly  and  yet 
gently  and  benignantly,  condemning  the  selfishness 
which  is  so  fearfully  weakening  our  family,  social, 
and  national  relations,  as  well  as  the  absorption 
in  present  interests  which  is  hiding  from  men  the 
Supernatural  Order  in  which  this  sphere  of  their 
existence  is  incorporated,  while  it  also  separates 
them  from  past  ages,  and  unfits  and  indisposes 
them  to  look  onwards  with  far-reaching  interest 
into  the  future. 

Appendix,        We  surely  need  these  admonitions.     And  here, 

Note  E 

along  with  other  valuable  lessons,  we  shall  find 

them,  if  we  will  turn  towards  that  scene  with 
reverent  heedfulness,  and  diligently  use  the  in- 
struments through  which  the  vision  it  reveals  may 
be  made  known.  Then  it  will  come  forth  with 
unexpected  clearness  and  impressiveness  ;  and  we 
shall  feel  that  its  many  uses  have  amply  justified 
the  efforts  through  which  it  has  been  unfolded. 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH.  1 7 


CHAPTER   I. 

INFANCY  AND  EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

We  begin  then  by  endeavouring  to  obtain  a  dis-     CHAP. 

tinct  view  of  the  material  framework  of  the  Divine  ■ ^ — - 

Life,  and  of  the  social  circumstances  which  sur- 
rounded it,  through  the  period  to  which  our  atten- 
tion is  directed.  They  are  easily  described.  An 
unbroken  and  unquestioned  tradition  represents 
Christ's  early  dwelling-place  in  Galilee  as  standing 
in  the  last  of  those  open  mountain  valleys  which  lie 
in  the  course  of  one  who  is  travelling  southward 
over  the  westernmost  of  the  two  hilly  ranges  that 
are  thrown  off  in  that  direction  from  Mount  Her-  Stanley's 

Sinai  and 

mon.     This  western  range  runs  parallel  with  the  Palestine; 
sea-coast,    overhanging    the     Phoenician    territory  x. 
through  the  greater  part  of  its  extension  ;  and,  just 
before  breaking  down  abruptly  into  the  Esdraelon 
plain,     it     sinks    into     a     green    hollow,     closed 
in  on  all  sides,  upon  which,   centuries  before  the 

C 


1 8  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     period  when  Nazareth  is  first  mentioned,  communi- 

■ r —    ties  must  have  been  settled. 

Its  position  is  so  favourable  for  man's  habitation 
that  none  of  the  upland  plains  that  were  traversed 

Scripture     j^y.  |-j^g  migratory  bands  of  Hamites,  as  they  came 

P-  2.  on  in  this  direction  from  their  primeval  dwelling, 

offered  greater  advantages  as  a  place  of  settlement. 
Doubtless  it  was  in  the  hands  of  some  of  those 
Amorite  or  Highland  descendants  of  theirs,  whom 
the  Israelites  were  commanded  to  exterminate, 
when   it  was    assigned   to    Zebulon  in  the   tribal 

Appendix,  division  of  the  country.  Surrounded  by  gently 
rising  and  well-wooded  hills,  fertile  and  abundantly 
watered,  in  a  genial  and  bracing  climate,  and 
standing  about  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  closely  adjacent  sea — the  site  of  Nazareth 
enjoyed  every  one  of  the  advantages  which  had 
been  promised  to  the  tribe  in  whose  inheritance  it 
was  included.     From  its  rich  pasture  land  Zebulon 

Deut.  could  '  offer  his  sacrifices  of  righteousness  ; '  while, 

close  by,  he  '  sucked  of  the  abundance  of  the 
seas,  and  of  the  treasures  hid  in  the  sand.'  Over 
the  roads  which  led  northwards  into  the  Buttauf 
plain,  or  down  in  an  opposite  direction  through 
the  narrow  winding  passes  that  conduct  to  Es- 
draelon,  his   families   went  forward    to  take   part 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH.  19 

in  the  conflicts   under   Barak,  and  Deborah,  and     cilAi'. 

Gideon.      Nor   could    they  have  held  themselves    ■ ,' ^' 

aloof  from  any  of  the  stirring  scenes  which 
were  witnessed  during  the  later  Jewish  his- 
tory. Living  close  upon  Jezreel  and  Samaria, 
those  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  Nazareth  valley 
would  necessarily  take  their  full  share  in  the  poli- 
tical and  warlike  movements  with  which  the  Old 
Testament  has  made  us  familiar.  In  peaceful 
seasons  they  were  near  enough  for  commercial 
intercourse  with  the  Phoenicians,  whose  chief  settle-  Siriptnre 
ment  at  Tyre  was  only  thirty  miles  distant.  In-  p"i76. 
terchanges  of  their  field  produce  for  the  arms  and 
wares  of  those  traders,  would  naturally  go  forward 
even  in  the  centuries  when  the  Hebrew  national 
spirit  was  mightiest.  And  as  it  waned,  the  Gentile 
influences,  which  wrought  upon  all  the  dwellers  on 
those  Galilean  hills,  and  especially  on  those  among 
them  whose  homes  bordered  on  the  maritime 
settlements,  took  their  full  effect  on  the  people 
who  lived  on  the  ground  we  are  surveying. 

In  all  its  forms  of  life,  in  its  modes  of  thought 
and  intercourse,  and  in  its  social  habits,  that  part  of 
Northern  Palestine  became  more  and  more  deeply 
marked  by  the  features  of  whatever  nation  was  then 
paramount  in  its  sway  over  the  Jewish  ground  and 

c  2 


20 


INFANCY  AND  EARLY  CHILDHOOD  IN  NAZARETH. 


Scripture 
Lands, 
p.  256. 


xxvi.  73  ; 
Luke  xxii 
59- 


people.  Hence  it  was  that  the  time  when  Nazareth 
emerges  from  the  obscurity  of  its  past  history,  and 
comes  prominently  into  notice,  a  Greco-Roman 
aspect  largely  characterized  the  inhabitants  of 
the  town,  their  buildings,  the  social  customs  and  the 
domestic  habits  of  their  life,  nay,  even  the  lan- 
guage in  which  their  intercourse  was  carried 
forward. 

Among  the  communities  further  south  that  in- 
fluence had  been  resisted.  Thus  a  distinctly  Jewish 
aspect  predominated  almost  everywhere  through- 
out Judea  ;  and  even  in  the  towns  and  villages  of 
Samaria,  the  Grecising  influence  was  comparatively 
feeble.  But,  north  of  the  Esdraelon  plain,  it  was, 
with  all  the  tastes  wherewith  it  was  associated,  in 
complete  ascendancy.  This  might  be  perceived  in 
the  people's  common  intercourse.  The  speech  of  a 
Galilean  '  betrayed  him,'  not  only  by  its  provincial 
uncouthness,  but  by  its  frequent  use  of  Greek  words 
and  turns  of  phraseology,  which  had  been  naturally 
introduced  through  the  general  prevalence  of  that 
language  in  his  neighbourhood.  Its  distinction  in 
this  and  similar  respects  from  Judea,  was  neces- 
sarily consequent  on  the  proximity  of  the  Northern 
province  to  the  Greek  settlements,  for,  while 
Judea  leant  upon  the  desert,  Galilee  was  close  to 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN    NAZARETH.  21 

the  Hellenic  communities  that  depended  upon  CHAP. 
Antioch,  Moreover,  the  personal  tastes  of  the  two  ^- — r — - 
new  rulers  of  this  district  of  Palestine  encouraged 
the  tendency ;  as  was  seen,  for  example,  when 
Philip  changed  the  name  of  Banias  into  Caesarea- 
Philippi,  and  there  celebrated  the  rites  of  Greek 
and  Roman  worship  in  the  temple  which  Herod 
had  erected.  Further  south  he  had  replaced  the 
Hebrew  Bethsaida  by  the  Latin  Julias ;  while  his 
brother  Antipas  raised  the  city  of  Tiberias  over  an 
ancient  Hebrew  cemetery  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood. Close  by,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan, 
the  names  of  Gadara,  Hippos,  and  other  cities  of 
the  Decapolis,  with  the  buildings,  especially  the 
large  theatres,  contained  in  them,  indicated  the 
same  tendency.  Sepphoris,  standing  on  the  plain 
just  in  front  of  Nazareth,  on  its  north-western  side,  ScriiJtnre 

became  Dio-Caesarea.   And,  in  fact,  the  whole  coun-  ^-'^'^'l^^ 

'  p.  282. 

try  into  which  the  traveller  entered  who  came 
from  southern  Palestine  up  through  the  winding 
passes  that  led  into  the  town,  was  becoming  more 
and  more  '  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles.'  ^ 

'  Over  the  whole  of  North  Palestine  there  were  numerous  signs  of 
that  'exotic  civilization'  which  had  been  introduced  under  the 
Seleucidse,  and  which  Herod  systematically  extended.  '  Temples, 
theatres,  gymnasia,  some  of  them  built  on  the  largest  scale,  and  in  a 
style  of  the  greatest  magnificence,  hemmed  in  the  narrow  home  of 


22  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN    NAZARETH. 

CHAP.  It  was  natural  that  the  upper  classes  should  be 
. most  influenced  by  what  might  have  been  justly- 
described  as  a  contagion  ;  though,  in  some  instances, 
Hebrew  fidelity  was  maintained  among  them,  as  the 
mention  of  certain  'chief  Pharisees'  in  the  neighbour- 
hood bears  witness.  In  its  resistance  of  the  prevail- 
ing influences  it  had,  however,  its  chief  refuge,  not 
among  *  the  lords,  high  captains,  and  chief  estates ' 
of  the  province,  but  rather  among  the  humbler 
classes,  the  craftsmen  in  the  towns,  the  peasantry 
of  the  numerous  villages,  the  fishermen  upon  the 
lake.  While  their  neighbours  flocked  to  swell  the 
Lukeii.41.   crowds  in  Herod's  theatres,  they  kept  themselves 

Jolmvii.  8, 

"10.  apart  ;   going   up,    from    time   to   time,    in    small 

companies,  to  the  festivals  of  the  Holy  City.  And 
moved  in  those  pilgrimages  by  the  historical  and 

Judaism.  Nor,  indeed,  were  even  those  restricted  boundaries  re- 
spected by  the  half  pagan  monarch.  Even  the  Holy  City  itself  was 
not  exempted  from  these  intrusions  of  heathenism,  but  was  compelled 
to  smother  her  resentment  while  a  theatre  and,  still  worse,  an  amphi- 
theatre, profaned  her  precincts.'  Many  tokens  of  these  foreign  in- 
fluences are  still  extant,  not  far  from  Nazareth,  in  the  eastern  poilion 
of  the  district  in  which  it  was  included.  The  numerous  changes  in 
the  occupation  of  the  country,  and  the  war  devastations  which  have 
swept  over  it,  have  obliterated  almost  every  trace  of  the  buildings 
which  existed  in  Christ's  time  in  His  immediate  neighbourhood.  But 
even  now  the  ruins  of  two  large  theatres,  adapted  to  '  the  reception 
and  entertainment  of  many  thousand  spectators,'  may  be  seen  just 
south  of  Tiberias,  and  about  twenty  miles  from  Nazareth. — Dr. 
Traill's  Josephns,  vol.  I.  p.  xxxvi. 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD  IN   NAZARETH.  23 

sacred  associations  of  the  scenes  through  which 
they  had  to  pass,  they  would  naturally  confer 
together  in  strenuous  protest,  nay,  often  in  re- 
bellious discontent,  upon  the  tokens  which  indi- 
cated, so  ominously  in  their  view,  the  fatalest 
apostasy.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that,  amongst  the 
worthiest  examples  of  these  *  faithful  amongst 
the  faithless  found,'  we  may  reckon  Joseph  and 
Mary,  along  with  the  families  of  which  they  were 
members. 

In  the  midst  of  that  widely  spread  apostasy, 
they  kept  their  '  consciences  undefiled,'  bravely 
upholding  the  trust  and  testimony  which  they 
knew  had  been  Divinely  committed  to  their  charge. 
And  we  may  fairly  reckon  ancestral  influences 
amongst  those  through  the  power  of  which  they 
also,  like  their  relatives,  Zacharias  and  Elizabeth, 
*  were  righteous  before  God,  walking  in  all  the  Luke  i  6. 
commandments  and  ordinances  of  the  Lord  blame- 
less.' 

They  were  both  of  the   '  house  and  lineage  of  Luke  ii.  4. 

Cf. 
David;'  and  this  distinction  gave  a  certain  honour-  Lange's 

able  high-minded  firmness  to  their  consistent  sup-  christ 

port   of  their   profession.       Moreover,   they  were       i^xj 

remarkable  for  their  virtues  and  devoutness.     In 

the  few  glimpses  which  have  been  given  of  Joseph 


24  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     we  can  clearly  discern  an  upright,  self  governed, 

^- — T '   large-hearted,  generous  man.    Mary,  his  '  espoused 

jg'  ■  ■  wife,'  we  know  more  intimately,  though,  with  what 
must  be  regarded  as  a  seemly  and  most  instructive 
reticence,  she  is  on  no  occasion  obtruded  in  the 
history,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  very  seldom  even 
mentioned.  Still,  when  she  has  been  disengaged  and 
set  clear  from  the  illusions  which  fictitious  legends 
and  weak  poetic  sentiment  have  cast  around  the  few 
occasions  on  which  she  is  brought  forward — we 
can  recognise  her  distinctly  enough  for  every 
useful  purpose.  An  affectionately  considerate 
woman;  pondering  things  with  heartfelt  and  not 
merely  intellectual  interest;  her  mind  filled  with 
devout  thoughts  and  recollections,  as  her  ready 
Luke i. 46.  use  of  Scripture  phraseology  bears  witness; 
meek,  trustful,  lovingly  submissive  to  the  Divine 
ordering  of  her  affairs,  yet  strong,  energetic  and 
courageous  in  doing  her  part  in  their  accomplish- 
ment— Mary  stands  forward  the  very  ideal  of  one 
of  the  daughters  and  mothers  of  Israel.  She  was 
a  worthy  countrywoman  of  Miriam  and  Deborah 
and  Hannah,  formed  and  moulded  after  the  highest 
type  of  Hebrew  character,  and  yet  distinguished  by 
all  sweetly  feminine  qualities  in  her  tenderness  and 
trust. 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH.  25 

One  can  imagine  the  home,  frugal  and  well-ordered,     chap. 

and  yet  never  coarse  or  squalid,  which  such  a  hus- ' ' 

band  and  wife  would  gather  around  them,  and  we 
know  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  administered.  In 
its  tone,  and  in  all  its  circumstances,  that  sense 
of  their  royal  ancestry  which  marked  its  godly 
and  high-minded  occupants,  with  the  obligations 
that  were  thence  entailed  on  them — would  make 
itself  perceptible.    And  now,  thinking  of  this  Home,  Appendix, 

Note  C . 

and  of  the  place  and  circumstances  in  which  it  was 

established,  remembering  the  cheerful  though  not 

marked    or   exciting   features   of    Nazareth,    and 

of  the  country  around  it,  where  nature  is  ever  in 

animated,  though  nowhere  in  awful  guise ;  recalling 

its  local  surroundings  and  historical  associations  ; 

thus  thinking  of  Mary  and  Joseph's  dwelling  in  their  joj^n  ;  j^ 

own  city,  we  see  where  God   was  manifested   in 

human  flesh,  where  the  Life  which  is  the  Light  of 

men  was  developed  and  made  known. 

It  was  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
human  nature  afresh  in  its  aboriginal  typal  form, 
as  it  had  perfectly  reflected  the  Divine  Image,  but 
for  the  purpose  also  of  showing  how  man's  course 
in  this  world  should  be  pursued,  that  the  Second 
Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  even  the  Everlasting 
Word,  was  there  'manifested  in  the  flesh.'     Nor 


26  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,  can  we  imagine  any  place,  any  more  than  we  can 
'  ■  '  think  of  any  time,  that  was  better  fitted  for  carrying 
out  the  purposes  of  His  appearing.  In  the  exhaus- 
tion of  all  forms  of  human  error,  and  the  earnest 
aspirations  of  men  for  teaching  from  above,  the 
Kuigdcm,  '  fulness  of  the  time '  for  the  promised  Incarnation, 
^^'  ■  is  immediately  recognised.  And  when  we  think  of 
Nazareth  in  comparison  with  all  other  possible 
localities  in  which  the  earthly  life  of  Christ  might 
have  been  manifested,  the  fitness  of  place  is 
equally  apparent.  In  lonelier  scenes,  in  a  wilder- 
ness seclusion  such  as  that  wherein  the  Baptist 
Luke  i.  So.  '  waxed  strong  in  spirit '  amidst  the  discipline  pre- 
pared for  him,  the  materials  and  instruments  for 
accomplishing  the  Messiah's  purpose  were  evidently 
wanting.  He  could  not  there  have  discharged  the 
relationships  and  fulfilled  the  duties  which  were 
involved  in  His  commission.  And,  in  more  public 
localities,  on  the  great  highways  of  the  world,  in 
Caesarea  or  Tiberias,  nay,  even  in  Jerusalem, 
there  were  exceptional  circumstances,  artificial 
modes  of  life,  that  would  have  interfered  with, 
and  have  spoiled  the  completeness  of  the  pattern. 
Nazareth,  standing,  as  we  may  say,  near  the  centre 
of  the  age's  movements,  nay,  even  within  view  of 
them,  and  yet  so  placed  as  to  be  exempted  from 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN    NAZARETH.  2/ 

their  undue  influence  and  pressure,  furnished  a  scene  CHAT. 

than  which  we  can  imagine  none  better  fitted  for  "- — > ' 

the  reception  and  entertainment  of  the  Divine 
Redeemer,  and  for  the  supply  of  the  instruments 
which  He  needed  for  discharging  this  part  of  His 
benignant  mission  among  men. 

Upon  the  ineffably  mysterious  occurrence  through  Liddon's 

Bamp. 

which  He  took  our  humanity  upon  Himself,  we  Led. 
stay  not  to  remark,  except  with  the  observation 
that  it  was  in  seemly,  and  indeed  needful,  congruity 
with  His  Character,  and  with  the  Purposes  that 
we  have  ascribed  to  Him.  We  must  feel  that  we  are, 
indeed,  among  the  harmonies  of  God,  when,  bearing 
that  Character  and  those  Purposes  in  our  remem- 
brance, we  listen  heedfully  to  the  announcement 
— '  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the 
Power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee.'  ^"^^ '• 
Just  such  an  entrance  into  man's  framework  and 
circumstances,  befitted  the  Redeemer's  Nature,  and 
the  ends  of  His  deep  humiliation. 

And  this  sense  of  congruity,  this  satisfaction  of 
every  mind  which  dwells  thoughtfully  on  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  event,  is  greatly  deepened  when  we 
observe  the  fitness  for  their  part  of  those  who  were 
chosen  as  the  agents  in  its  accomplishment.  Apart 
from   their   native   qualifications,   they   were   also 


Matt.  L 
19- 


28  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN    NAZARETH. 


marvellously  wrought  upon,  so  that  their  adaptation 
to  the  work  assigned  to  them  might  be  perfected. 
The  circumstances  connected  with  the  Incarnation 
brought  the  severest  trials  both  on  Joseph  and 
on  Mary.  His  trustful  generosity  was  exercised 
and  proved  by  those  trials,  and  so  also  were 
her  courage  and  her  submissiveness.  '  Behold  the 
handmaid  of  the  Lord.  Be  it  unto  me,'  whatever 
the  suspicion  and  contumely  of  which  I  am  the 
object — still  '  Be  it  unto  me  according  to  thy  word.' 
The  suffering  brought  on  by  the  occasion,  bound 
them  yet  more  closely  to  one  another.  Grateful 
affection  on  her  part,  and  generous  trust  on  his — 
trust  which  was  so  justified  and  strengthened  by 
the  portents  that  accompanied  the  Birth — secured 
and  rivetted  that  mutual  love  and  reverence  which 
are  the  basis  of  the  home  life,  and  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  were  so  especially  becoming  in  a  purely 
Jewish  household.  And  these  qualities  were  at 
once  urgently  needed  to  support  them  in  the  efforts 
which  they  were  called  upon  to  make  when  they 
removed,  for  a  while,  from  Bethlehem  into  Egypt. 
For    there    they   were    in    a    country    wherein — 


Scripture     although  it  was  not  entirely  foreign,  since   exten- 

P-  233.        sive  colonies  of  Jews  had  been  long  settled  in  the 

land — unusual  exertions  w^ere  required  from  them, 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH.  29 

during  the  two  or  three  years  of  His  earliest  in-     CIIAP. 
fancy.     Well  deserving  our  most  careful  attention   ^- — . 


is  the  fact,  that  it  was  amidst  these  efforts,  amidst 

the  toils    and    privations   which    were    necessarily  Matthew 

ii.  14,  15. 

entailed  on  them  by  their  stay  in  Egypt,  that 
Mary  and  Joseph  grew  into  that  needful  familiarity 
with  the  Child,  which,  with  their  vivid  remem- 
brance of  the  solemn  portents  that  had  attended 
the  Nativity,  must  have  been  impossible  in  the 
daily  monotonous  quiet  of  their  home  at  Nazareth. 
This  arrangement  of  their  affairs  continued — 
through  an  ordering,  the  wisdom  of  which  we 
can  well  discern — until  signs  of  opening  conscious- 
ness were  witnessed  in  the  Infant.  And  then,  at 
the  end  of  two  or  three  years,  during  which 
their  movements  are  fittingly  concealed.  He  came  ,, 
at  length  with  His  parents,  as  we  shall  call  them,  "•  23- 

Luke 

into  the  home  and  neighbourhood  we  have  been  ii.  39- 
surveying.  There,  under  the  tender  and  affection- 
ate watchfulness  of  Mary,  who  was  ever  anxiously 
pondering  the  wonderful  circumstances  connected 
with  His  Nativity,  and  instructed  and  cared  for 
by  Joseph — Christ  grew  up,  through  His  infant 
years,  amidst  the  circumstances  of  a  home  which 
was  in  the  likeness  of  one  of  those  whereof  we  read 
so  often  in  the  after  history.     We  may   gather  a 


30  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH 

CHAP,     distinct  conception  of  the  carpenter's  house  from 

' ■ — —'   the  domestic  allusions  which  we  meet  with  in  the- 

fuller  pages  of  the  narrative,  and  may  thence  learn 
its  form,  its  aspect  and  accommodations.  In 
such  a  house  He  lived,  *  waxing  strong  in  spirit,' 
culturing  and  manifesting  to  '  His  kinsfolk  and 
Luke ii. 47.  acquaintance'  in  Nazareth,  the  understanding 
which,  even  in  His  early  boyhood,  excited  so  much 
wonder  in  Jerusalem.  Nature  in  all  her  aspects 
and  vicissitudes,  the  changing  sky  and  seasons, 
the  plains,  the  distant  mountains — and  Hermon, 
with  its  snowy  summit,  was  in  view — the  neigh- 
bouring sea,  the  employments  of  the  men  around 
Him  and  their  converse,  were  all  educating,  were 
gradually  drawing  out,  the  mind,  the  affections, 
which  appertained  to  the  Humanity  which  had 
been  assumed  by  Him. 

Brief  as  are  the  notices  of  those  early  years,  they 
are  enough  for  an  assurance  which  is  beyond  ques- 
tioning, that  they  carried  Him  forward  in  true  and 
actual  contact  with  the  common  circumstances  and 
transactions  of  human  life  in  that  time  and  place. 
And  therefore  we  need  not  imagine,  for  we  know, 
how  His  individuality  was  realised  to  Himself 
while  those  years  went  forward.  Through  familiar 
intercourse  with  His  thoughtful,  high-minded,  de- 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD  IN   NAZARETH.  3 1 

vout  mother,  as  they  sat  together  in  the  house  and     CHAP. 

as   they  walked  through   the   lonely   passes  that  " > ' 

led   downwards    from    their    mountain    valley,    or 
stood   on  that  hill-top  which  brought  into    their    ,  , 

'■  °  Infra, 

view  those  historical  sites  on  the  associations  of  chap.  iv. 
which  she  would  naturally,  with  all  the  enthusiasm 
of  one  of  David's  daughters,  dwell  ;  by  this 
intercourse,  and  by  the  graver  and  more  measured 
teachings  of  Joseph,  as  he  *  sat  with  Him  in  ^ 
the  house,  and  talked  with  Him  by  the  way' —  19- 
the  human  intellect  of  our  Blessed  Lord  came 
through  ordinary  channels  into  definite  and  realised 
possession  of  that  knowledge  which  had  dwelt 
substantially,  potentially,  within  His  soul  from  the 
beginning.^  So,  again,  the  movements  which  were 
going  on  around  Him ;  the  labours  of  the  crafts- 
men in  their  workshops ;  the  agriculture  of  the 
neighbouring  fields ;  the  commerce  of  which, 
whenever  He  ascended  the  hill-top  beside  His 
dwelling,  the  signs  were  witnessed  in  the  ships 
that  whitened  the  neighbouring  ocean,  and  the 
slowly-pacing  caravans  that  moved  across  the 
adjacent  plain  ;  the  political  disturbances  and  out- 
breaks that  were  constantly  troubling  Galilee,  ^f-  "°^^ 
and  which  naturally  centred  round  Herod's  capital 

*  On  Christ's  '  increase  in  knowledge,'  see  Appendix. 


Lukeii.40. 


32  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     of  Sepphoris,  whose  buildings    glistened   on    the 

• . •   northern  plain  which  there  came  within  His  view 

— all,  in  the  same  way,  augmented  His  knowledge, 
and  enlarged  His  consciousness.  Coming  thus  into 
possession  of  the  copious  imagery  which  was  after- 
wards, reproduced  in  His  teaching,^  He  also  gradu- 
ally obtained  a  deeper  sense  of  His  personal  in- 
dividual life  towards  God,  and  of  the  relations 
into  which  it  brought  Him  with  other  partakers 
of  existence.  His  understanding  opened,  His  soul 
'  waxed  strong '  through  His  docile  reception  of 
the  influences  and  instructions  conveyed  to  it  while 
He  exercised  that  true  childlike  spirit  which  He 
afterwards  commended,  and  which  He  then  exem- 
plified by  submitting  Himself  in  loving  trust  to  all 
who  had  claims  upon  His  confidence. 

^  '  It  was  there,  in  the  fields  below  the  village,  that  He  had 
watched  how  the  lilies  grew,  and  seen  with  what  a  gorgeous  dress, 
in  colouring  above  kingly  purple,  their  Creator  had  clothed  them. 
There,  in  the  gardens,  He  had  noticed  how  the  smallest  of  all  the 
seeds  grew  into  the  tallest  of  herbs.  There,  outside  the  house.  He 
had  seen  two  women  grinding  at  one  mill ;  inside,  a  woman  hiding 
the  leaven  in  the  dough.  There,  in  the  market-place,  He  had  seen 
the  five  sparrows  sold  for  two  farthings.  The  sheep  walks  of  the 
hills,  and  vineyards  of  the  valleys  had  taught  Him  what  were  the 
offices  of  the  good  shepherd,  and  the  careful  vinedresser  ;  and  all 
the  observations  of  those  thirty  years  were  treasured  up,  to  be  drawn 
upon  in  due  time,  and  turned  into  the  lessons  by  which  the  world 
was  to  be  taught  wisdom.' — Dr.  Hanna's  Earlier  Years  of  Our 
Lord,  p.  383. 


INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 


33 


In   those   exercises   of  meekness   and   docility,     CHAP. 

throughwhich  He  thus  entered  into  the  position  that  <«-  -r ' 

had  been  prepared  for  Him,  we  see  the  first  phase 
of  that  manifestation  of  the  typal  Life  which  is  the 
Light  of  men,  and  which  it  was  His  mission  to 
disclose.  In  our  view  of  Him  as  a  '  little  child,'  Mark  x. 
manifesting  in  that  character  the  faith  through  which  'j^'2  '  ^  ' 
intelligence  comes,  and  obtaining  the  intelligence 
which  is  the  reward  of  it,^  we  see,  in  clearest  de- 
velopment, how  the  younger  inheritors  of  being 
everywhere  are  meant  to  take  possession  of  their 
individuality,  and  to  fit  themselves  for  inheriting 
the  accumulated  experience  and  insight  of  their 
elders  ;  and  how  also  they  become  qualified  for 
accomplishing  the  duties,  and  struggling  in  the  con- 
flicts, and  for  occupying,  in  all  other  respects,  the 
place  and  the  relationships  that  are  prepared  for 
them. 

It  was  by  means  of  these  relationships,  as  well 
as  through  the  more  general  influences  which 
wrought  upon  His  human  spirit,  that  He  came 
into  definite  possession  of  man's  personal  life,  and 
disclosed  its  true  embodiment.  Through  the  con- 
nexions into  which,  accordingly,  He  entered,  we 

*  '  Crede  ut  intelligas.  Intellectus  enim  merces  est  fidei.' — St. 
Augustine. 

D 


34  INFANCY  AND   EARLY  CHILDHOOD   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     shall  now  follow  Him,  and  observe  His  discharge 

• r — -   of  their  duties  and  obligations,  while  '  He  increased 

in  wisdom,  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,'  by- 
means  of  them,  thus  manifesting  the  consummate 
Pattern  of  that  Life  which  has  been  appointed  for 
mankind. 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  35 


CHAPTER   II. 

HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

The  fulfilment  of  His  purpose  in  exemplifying  cHAP. 
the  typal  form  of  created  being,  and  by  this  means  .  ^^^  ^ 
setting  forth  a  Life  which  should  be  the  '  Light  of 
men,'  made  it  necessary  that  He  should  enter  into 
every  one  of  man's  relationships.  One  of  the  main 
ends  of  His  Incarnation  was  to  show  how  '  portions 
of  our  individual  existence  become  subjected  to 
the  laws  and  conditions  of  more  general  life,'  and 
for  what  ends  that  which  '  is  thus  sacrificed  has 
been  thrown  into  a  common  fund.'  And  the  first 
of  the  organic  connections  into  which  He  entered 
with  this  view,  is  the  Home  Life — the  Life  through 
which  every  man  is  appointed  to  pass  as  the 
member  of  a  family  and  household. 

This  Home  Life  appears  to  form  an  essential  Divine 

,  1.   .  .    ,       T^.  A'ingdoni, 

part,  not  of  mans  condition  only,  but  of  the  Divme  p.  26. 
Order  of  the  Universe ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
D  2 


36  HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,  that  it  is  out  of  families,  as  their  elementary  con- 
_i^.  stituents,  that  larger  societies  and  associations  have 
universally  been  formed.  Is  not  this  fact  be- 
tokened by  the  Fatherly  name  of  God  .''  And  does 
Gen  i  27  '^^  ^'^^  follow  from  the  statement  that  the  heirs  of 
2  Cor.  iv.  immortal  being  have  been  created  in  the  '  Image 
'^'  of  the  Son  ' .-'     The  domestic  constitution  appears 

indeed,    to   be   grounded    in   the    Divine    Nature. 
Nor  is  its  existence  indistinctly  betokened  by  the 
mention  of  societies  existing  elsewhere  in  the  uni- 
verse, such  as  can  hardly  be  looked  upon  as  a 
Col.  i.  1 6.    niere  aggregate  of  individuals.     The  '  thrones  and 
Rum.  viii.   dominions,'  the  *  principalities  and  powers,'  of  which 
•^'^'  we  are  told,  surely  imply  an  earlier  association  of 

their  members  in  households  ;  and  indeed  the  ex- 
istence of  such  households  appears  to  be  explicitly 
j^  i^gg  j-j  -afhrmed   when   we   read    of  the  'fatherhoods    of 
'5"  heaven  '  in  connection  with  those  of  earth.     More- 

over, with  these  intimations  on  the  subject,  the 
notices  of  man  in  his  still  unfallen  state,  when  he 
was  brought  into  association  with  the  sinless  com- 
munities of  the  Divine  Kingdom,  are  very  strikingly 
accordant.  And  so  also  is  the  signal  honour  at- 
tributed to  the  household  tie  throughout  the  in- 
spired history  of  men,  for  does  it  not  continually 
remind  us  that '  God  setteth  the  solitary  in  families .' ' 


HOME   AND   FAIMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 


17 


Nor  should  we  omit  to  add  to  these  reasons  for     CIIAP. 

believing  in  the  universal  prevalence   throughout   ■ ^ ■ 

the  Divine  Kingdom  of  the  domestic  constitution, 
its  fitness — nay,  we  may  even  say,  its  indispensable 
needfulness — for  the  moral  and  intellectual  train- 
ing of  the  younger  inheritors  of  being.  Their  Lament, 
exercises  of  self-control  and  of  humility  in  this 
position,  prepare  them  for  meeting  the  larger  re- 
quirements of  law ;  while  the  efforts  of  trustful 
love  which  it  demands,  give  them  individual  pos- 
session of  the  treasures  of  knowledge  and  sentiment 
which  belong  to  their  community.  We  may  ob- 
serve too  that,  besides  fitting  its  members  for  wider 
relationships,  it  aids  in  their  personal  development : 
by  means  of  their  family  ties  they  obtain  a  fuller 
and  firmer  possession  of  their  own  consciousness.  Divine 
Life  truly  lived  in  the  household  brings  out  the  p.  27. 
individual  life  in  richer  development,  besides 
qualifying  each  member  for  a  larger  range  of 
activity  and  an  intenser  fulness  of  emotion. 

When  these  considerations  are  borne  in  mind, 
we  can  hardly  question  that  life  in  the  family 
may  be  looked  upon  as  an  essential  portion  of  the 
heavenly  pattern  of  existence  ;  and,  consequently, 
that  its  living  manifestation  in  normal  and  complete 
development  entered  into  the  mission  which   the 


3^ 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
II. 


Supra,  p. 
25- 


I  Chroni- 
cles i.-x. 


Eternal  Word  became  Incarnate  to  fulfil.  Nor 
can  we  imagine  any  circumstances  in  which  it 
could  have  been  exemplified  more  perfectly  than 
in  those  of  a  Jewish  family,  and  especially  of  a 
family  such  as  we  know  that  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
must  have  been,  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  re- 
markable position  which  they  occupied. 

In  a  Jewish  household  we  find  all  the  influences 
and  arrangements  that  are  required  for  the  ele- 
mentary development  of  moral  natures.  The  ideal 
family  and  home  life  of  man  had  been  obscured, 
'  its  heavenly  pattern '  had  been  spoiled  by  his 
apostasy ;  and  one  of  the  ends  of  those  special 
comnmnications  which  God  has  conveyed  to  him 
from  the  beginning,  has  been  its  restoration  ac- 
cording to  its  original  design.  When  accordingly 
we  look  into  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  and  learn 
what  were  the  general  habits  and  tone  of  domestic 
life  amongst  the  Jews,  we  find,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  the  very  ideal  of  Home  realised. 
In  that  guarded  sacredness  of  its  relationships 
which  is  so  significantly  marked  by  the  genea- 
logies of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  manifesta- 
tion of  which  was  doubtless  one  of  the  reasons 
for  inserting  them  ;  in  the  authority  belonging  to 
both  parents  ;  in  the  tenderness  and  care  enjoined 


HOME  AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH.  39 

on  them,  and  the  reciprocal    obedience  and  trust     chap. 
required  from  their  children — we  see  provisions  for  -_    /  _. 
that  very  condition  of  household  duty  and   rela- 
tionship which  might  be  looked  for  in  the  homes 
of  the  unfallen.     What  the  irarptal  of  heaven  are,   Ephes.  iii. 
the  Jewish  irarpia  was   meant  to  be.'     And  such, 
in  fact,  it  almost  was  in  those  old  Hebrew  families 
which   Joseph   and    Mary,  as  '  Israelites    indeed,' 
would  regard  as  their  standard  and  example.     For 
it  would  be  in  the  very  spirit  as  well  as  habits  of 
the  fathers  of  their  people,  that  they  would  obey 
the  domestic  ordinances  which  the  Law  enjoined, 
and    which    the   prophets   had    enforced    by   the  i^aiah  xlv. 
strongest   exhortations,  as  well    as    by   emphatic 
warnings  of  the  results  which  would  surely  follow, 
in  this   instance,  from   neglect   and  disobedience. 

'  The  carefully  guarded  sacredness  of  their  family  life  may  be 
clearly  discerned  throughout  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people.  Seen 
first  in  the  households  of  the  patriarchs,  and  then  during  the  abode 
of  the  people  in  Egypt,  we  find  it  afterwards  systematically  ordered 
and  secured  by  the  laws  of  Moses.  The  chief  distinctions  of  his 
domestic  legislation,  after  carefully  providing  for  the  purity  of  the 
household  (Levit.  xviii. ;  Deut.  xxvii. ),  were  these  :  (i )  Authority  over 
their  children  was  shared  by  both  parents  (Levit.  xx.  9  ;  Deut.  xxi. 
19) ;  (2)  While  reverent  obedience  was  strictly  required  from  children 
towards  their  parents,  affectionate  heedfulness  on  the  parents'  parts 
towards  them,  was  equally  demanded  (Deut.  vi.  7,  xi.  19;  Psalm 
Ixxviii.  5-7) ;  (3)  Only  through  the  family,  as  son  and  brother,  and 
as  husband,  could  the  Hebrew  take  any  part  in  the  business  of  the 
nation  (Numb.  i.  4,  xxvi.  2). 


40  HOME  AND   FAMILY  LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP  Moreover,  in  Joseph's  position  at  Nazareth,  where 

^ — '   he  was  placed  in  the  very  front  of  those  heathen- 

ising  influences,  against  which  such  a  man  would 
be  severely  and  unrelentingly  intolerant,   all   the 
characteristic  distinctions  of  a   Jewish   household 
would   be  brought   out,   and   its   peculiar  features 
rigorously    insisted    on.       Conscientious,    earnest 
son   of  David  as  he  was,  he  would    feel   himself 
Supra,         called  on  to  maintain  an  inexorable  protest  against 
the  laxity  prevailing  in  his  neighbourhood.     His 
home,  therefore,  would  be  eminently  fitted  for  the 
manifestation  of  that  typal  example  of  family  life 
which  was  to  be  exhibited  therein.     And  this  will 
be  recognised  more  clearly,  when  we  examine  its 
particulars,  and  follow  Christ  in  the  discharge  of 
His  household  duties  ;  first,  in  the  early  part  of 
His  course,  where  they  were  chiefly  marked  by 
subordination  and  submissiveness ;  and  then  in  the 
later,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  more  active  and 
arduous,  sphere  of  their  fulfilment. 

Looking,  then,  at  the  earlier  developments  of  His 

household  life,  we  are  first  reminded  that  '  He  was 

Luke ii.  51.   subject  to  His  parents.'     He  '  honoured  His  father 

Exod.  XX.     and  mother,'  implicitly  trusting  them,  as  the  words 

12 

imply,  and    submitting  Himself  lovingly  to  their 
behests.     Recognising  the  paternal  authority  as  re- 


HOME  AND   FAMILY  LIFE   IN   NAZARETH.  4 1 


presentative  of  the  authority  of  God,  and  its  utter-     chap. 

ances  as  the  utterances  which  came  nearest  to  Him    ■ . 

of  the  Law  by  which  the  Divine  Order  is  maintained, 
He  sacredly  obeyed  it ;  and,  in  a  godly  spirit,  He 
subjected  His  human  will  and  washes,  and  con- 
formed all  the  deta'ls  of  His  household  life,  to 
its  requirements.  In  a  home  restricted  by  special  z),z,i„e 
limitations  as  His  was,  with  narrow  resources,  and  "'fao'"' 
commonplace,  if  not  rude,  and  ungenial  com- 
panionship, daily  and  hourly  occasions  would  arise 
for  efforts  of  self-control,  for  submissive  yieldings 
to  the  will  of  those  around  Him,  for  acts  of  kindly 
concession  to  their  infirmities.  And  all  these  oc- 
casions were  faithfully  and  cheerfully  met ;  the 
duties  involved  in  them  were  discharged  lovingly 
and  punctually.  We  may  be  sure  that  gentleness, 
and  tender  consideration  for  the  needs  of  others, 
ever  marked  His  demeanour  in  the  household.  Nor 
were  the  ordinary  influences  of  individual  self-will 
alone  resisted,  but  those  also  which  might  have 
taken  the  guise  of  religious  scruples  and  pious  con- 
scientiousness. Under  no  pretexts  of  devotion  did  Matt.xv.5. 
He  withhold  from  His  parents  anything  by  which 
they  might  have  been  lawfully  '  profited  '  by  His 
means.  In  this  matter  He  showed  no  morbid 
rigidity :    He  was  not  '  righteous  overmuch  ; '  but 


42  HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

in  spirit  and  truth,  He  then  set  forth,  in  His  own 

practice,  that  teaching  respecting  the  Corban  plea 

which  He  afterwards  declared  in  words. 

Nor  was  it  only  in  trustful  dependence  on  His 

parents,  and  submission  to  their  authority,  that  the 

laws  of  family  life  were  typally  observed  in  His 

demeanour.     Such  observance  was  also  shown  by 

His  familiar  and  fraternal  intercourse  with  those 

who  were  in  the  same  position  as  His  own.     We 

say  '  fraternal '  intercourse,  because,  whatever  was 

the  relationship  which  actually  subsisted  between 

Maikvi.3.    Him  and  those  who  are  spoken  of  as  '  His  brethen 

John  vii.  5.   and  sisters,'  every  allusion  to  that  intercourse  shows 

its  closeness  and  its  intimacy.^    Evidently  he  lived 

an  undistinguished  life  in  the  midst  of  them.  Sharing 

cheerfully  in  their  interests  and  engagements.  He 

was  also  patient  with  their  infirmities,  and  heedful 

of  their  needs.     The  statement  that  Joseph  and 

Luke  ii.       Mary  *  sought  Him  among  their  kinsfolk  and  ac- 
44. 

*  Full  information  on  both  sides  of  the  much-disputed  question  as 
to  the  nearness  of  Christ's  connection  with  the  other  members  of 
His  family,  is  given  by  Prof.  Lightfoot  in  his  Epist.  to  Gal.  pp. 
247-282.  It  is  worth  observing  that,  while  the  intimacy  of  His  con- 
nection with  them,  whether  brothers  and  sisters,  or  cousins,  was 
shown  by  their  being  among  the  last  who  learned  His  true  character, 
the  fact  that  they  did,  at  length,  yield,  and  that  they  acknowledged 
Him,  whom  they  had  regarded  as  an  ordinary  relative,  to  be  none 
other  than  the  Messiah,  largely  increases  the  value  of  their  testi- 
mony.— Limne  Kingdom,  note  p.  188. 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  43 

quaintance,'  perfectly  agrees  with  this  conckision.     CM'. 

'  The  parents  of  Christ,'  says  Bishop  Hall,  '  knew   — — . 

Him  well  to  be  of  a  disposition,  not  strange  nor  contcm- 
sullen  or  stoical,  but  sweet  and  sociable;  and  there-  o>i'  .v.'r. 
fore  they  do  not  suspect  that  He  had  wandered  into  °°  ^• 
the  solitary  fields  ;  they  supposed  He  had  spent  the 
time  and  the  way  in  the  company  of  their  friends 
and  neighbours.'  Moreover,  it  is  further  illustrative 
of  the  same  fact,  that  they,  even  His  own  '  kinsfolk 
and  acquaintance,'  were  among  the  people  who  had 
most  difficulty  in  recognising  His  Messiahship.  It 
is  said  that  '  neither  did  His  brethren  and  sisters 
believe  on  Him.'  Was  not  that  unbelief  of  theirs 
markedly  significant  of  such  an  actual  simple  par- 
ticipation by  Him  in  their  common  life,  as  that 
which  we  have  indicated.''  They  could  not  think 
of  One  who  had  taken  part  in  their  daily  occupa- 
tions, and  who,  it  may  be,  had  even  shared  in  their 
amusements,  as  being  so  unspeakably  higher  than 
themselves. 

Yes  :  in  fulfilment  of  His  mission.  He  sincerely 
and  habitually  took  part  in  their  engagements,  and 
was  concerned  in  all  their  interests.  Embodying 
all  this  department  of  human  life  in  a  heavenly 
spirit,    'in    the    Lord,'    and    according    to    God's  Ephes. 

vi.  I 

will,  as  His  Apostle  afterwards  enjoined — He  was 


44 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
II. 


Luke  vii. 
II. 


Matt.xxiii 
5,6. 

Luke  V, 
29. 


in  this  respect,  emphatically,  '  like  unto  His 
brethren.' 

Nor  is  this  true  only  with  reference  to  the 
privacy  of  home  life,  and  the  duties  which  He 
was  called  on  to  discharge  therein.  It  was  seen 
in  public  developments,  on  occasions  of  mourning 
and  festivity.  That  funeral  which  He  met,  not 
far  from  Nazareth,  at  the  gate  of  Nain,  could 
not  have  been  the  only  scene  of  that  description  at 
which  He  had  been  present.  Nor  could  it  either  have 
been  an  unusual  circumstance  in  His  history,  when 
He  was  afterwards  invited  with  His  companions  to 
a  marriage  feast.  The  habits  of  His  public  life, 
the  illustrations  and  allusions  of  His  teaching,  be- 
token familiarity  with  everything  that  took  place 
on  occasions  of  this  kind — with  all  their  incidents, 
and  with  the  feelings,  good  and  evil,  that  were 
brought  out  by  them.  We  are  here  referring  to 
His  presence  at  festal  gatherings,  like  that  in 
Levi's  house  ;  and  to  His  parables,  such  as  that 
of  the  wedding  guests;  as  well  as  to  His  admoni- 
tions against  the  obtrusive  selfishness,  the  vulgar 
pushings  for  precedence,  which,  no  doubt,  He  had 
often  witnessed  in  such  scenes. 

We  plainly  gather  these  suggestions  as  to  His 
demeanour  in  His  earlier  and  youthful  course,  and 


HOME  AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH.  45 

amidst  those  occasions  on  which  acts  of  submissive-  CHAP. 
ness  and  subordination  were  required  from  Him.  v — ,J — - 
But,  further  on  in  His  path,  in  His  early  manhood, 
when  circumstances  demanded  His  strenuous  dis- 
charge of  the  more  active  and  arduous  duties  which 
grow  out  of  the  domestic  relationships,  there  are 
plain  indications  that  these  requirements  also  were 
faithfully  and  punctually  fulfilled.  Every  injunc-  3. 
tion  concerning  the  more  active  services  of  filial  xxvii.  16. 
piety  which  is  laid  down  in  the  Old  Testament,  was  1  Samuel 
faithfully  obeyed,  and  its  highest  examples  — in  His 
laborious  care  for  His  parents,  and  for  those  of  His 
kindred  who  naturally  looked  to  Him  for  help  and 
counsel — appeared  in  His  demeanour.  In  His 
discharge  of  all  the  family  obligations  that  were 
appropriate  to  the  later  years  of  the  period  about 
which  we  are  now  thinking,  the  '  commandment  of 
God  was  not  made  void  by  Him  ;'  and  He  duly 
rendered  everything  whereby  His  family  might  be 
'  profited  '  by  His  exertions.  Definite  illustrations 
of  this  statement  are  suggested,  if  they  are  not 
explicitly  furnished,  by  the  narrative.  It  has 
always  been  held  that  the  silence  of  the  Evan- 
gelists respecting  Joseph  after  his  appearance  at 
the  visit  to  Jerusalem,  can  only  be  explained  by 
his   death   at   some  period  before    Christ's  public 


46  HOME  AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,  ministry  began.^  And  from  this  it  follows  that 
•- — ^ — -  the  support  of  His  mother,  and  the  care  and  govern- 
ment of  their  household,  had,  and  possibly  for  many 
years,  exclusively  devolved  on  Him.  It  is  plainly 
in  accordance  with  this  conclusion  that  He  is 
Markvi. 3.  spoken  of  as  'the  carpenter,'  implying  that  He  was 
in  a  position  wherein  He  had  to  meet  the  duties  of 
the  'good  man  of  the  house,'  in  the  position  which 
Joseph  had  previously  occupied. 

These  conclusions  may  be  securely  drawn  re- 
specting His  family  course  during  the  thirty  years 
of  which  we  are  speaking.  And  these  characteristic 
features  of  His  life  are  brought  out  more  fully 
when  we  bear  in  mind  the  disturbing  influences 
which  operated  there,  in  that  time  and  place,  and 
which  had  such  a  tendency  to  loosen  family  ties 
Supra,  p.  and  obligations.  We  here  refer  to  the  excitements 
and  enterprises  of  the  age,  as  well  as  to  the 
corruptions  prevailing  over  Gentile  Galilee,  which 
appeared  to  call  for  instant  protest  and  resistance, 

'  That  Joseph  died  before  Christ's  public  ministry  began,  is 
plainly  implied  by  the  absence  of  any  mention  of  him  in  the  Evan- 
gelists' narrative  of  that  period,  as  well  as  by  the  emphatic  designa- 
tion of  Christ  as  a  carpenter  (Mark  vi.  3).  And  indeed  the  fact  seems 
be  explicitly  intimated  by  His  commendation  of  Maiy  to  the  care 
of  St.  John,  who  was  commanded  to  receive  her  as  his  mother,  in 
consequence  of  which  command,  and  '  from  that  hour,  he  took  hej 
to  his  own  home '  (John  xix.  26,  27). 


22 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  47 

and  which  found  the  focus  of  their  attractiveness     CHAP, 
and  power,  only  a  few  miles  from  His  dwelHng,  in   -^ — ^ — - 
the  neighbouring  court  of  Antipas  at  Sepphoris,  Appendix, 
full  within  His  view.     We  feel  at  once  indeed  that      °  ^ 
the  merely  dissipating  influences  that  surrounded 
His  position  could  have  had  no  power  over  Him. 
'  One  look  from  His  majestic  brow,  Seated  as  on  paradise 
the  top  of  Virtue's  hill,  Discountenanced  '  them  all.  boolc'ii.  ' 
But   then,    what   wrongs    were  being  perpetrated 
within  His  observation  !     What    errors  were  then 
proclaimed  that    seemed    to    call    aloud    for    His 
instant  protest  and  denial !     Indeed,  every  motive 
that  has  at  any  time  unduly,  though    nobly,   led 
men  away  from  home  ties  and    obligations,  pre- 
sented  themselves  to    His   human   spirit  in   that 
place  and  hour. 

Nevertheless,  to  these  He  firmly  clung  through 
the  entire  period,  because  they  had  the  first  claims 
on  Him;  and  it  was  by  their  discharge,  carried 
forward  in  such  a  spirit  as  we  have  witnessed,  that 
His  individual  existence  was  raised  and  perfected. 
Under  Joseph's  godly  administration  of  his  house- 
hold, every  member  of  it  was  regarded,  in  the 
old  Jewish  spirit,  as  having  been  also  incorporated 
with  a  Fellowship  of  which  God  Himself  is 
Head.    And  this  view  and  feeling  was  reciprocated 


48  HOME   AND   FAMILY  LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     on  the  part  of  the  '  Holy  Child  Jesus,'  and  shown 

• ,^ — '   by  Him  in  acts  of  deference  and  courtesy,  as  well 

as  of  reverent  submissiveness,  all  through  His 
earlier  years,  as  well  as  afterwards  in  that  later 
period,  when  the  care  and  oversight  of  the  house 
probably  devolved  on  Him.  It  was  in  this 
'obedience  to  His  parents  in  the  Lord,'  and  this 
mindfulness  of  the  wants  and  infirmities  of  those 

I  Pet.  iii.     who  were  *  heirs  together  with  Him  of  the  grace 

7-9. 

of  life,'  that  He  'waxed  strong  in  spirit,'  and  'in- 
creased in  favour  with  God.'  Thus  He  grew  into 
the  character  which  was  afterwards  recognised  by 

Matt.  iii.      the '  Voice  from  Heaven,'    '  This  is  my  beloved  Son 
17. 

in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased.' 

Thus  looking  to  the  home  in  Nazareth,  as  it  is 

presented  to  us  by  our  knowledge  of  the  place  and 

its  surroundings,  and  holding  firmly  the  assurance 

that  He  therein  embodied  and  reflected  the  habits 

Supra,  p.     of  the  celestial  irarpLal,  and  observed  the  precepts 

^  ■  which   had    been    inculcated    by   Moses    and    the 

Prophets,   and    which   were    afterwards    set   forth 

afresh  by  His  Apostles — we  may  be  certain  that 

He  thus  honoured  His  father  and  mother,  receiving 

^   ,  their  instruction,  and  even  submitting  meekly  to 

Luke  11.  '  fa  / 

49.  50-        their    rebukes   when    He   was    misunderstood   by 
them.     We  know,  too,  that  He  was  thus  '  kindly 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  49 

afifectioned '   towards   His    brethren,   bearincr  their     CIL\p. 

burdens,  covering  their  infirmities,  mourning  with   ' • — 

them  in  their  sorrows,  and  rejoicing  in  their 
joys.  Moreover,  these  unquestionable  certainties 
respecting  His  earlier  years,  are  still  further  illus- 
trated when  we  examine  His  after  life  and  teaching, 
with  the  purpose  of  thence  obtaining  that  retro- 
spective light  which  may  reveal  more  clearly, 
and  make  us  more  familiar  with,  the  period  under 
our  review. 

We  know  then  that  in  Capernaum,  as  well  as  in   Mait.viii. 

14. 
Jerusalem  and  Bethany,  considerable  portions  of  Luke x. 38. 

His  time  were  passed  amidst  the  intercourse,  the 
employments  and  relaxations,  of  the  families  whose 
members  there  gathered  round  Him.  Nor  can  it 
be  questioned  that  His  domestic  life  in  this  later 
period,  was  uniform  with,  was  the  consistent  ex- 
tension of,  previous  habits  of  the  same  kind  during 
the  years  we  are  considering.  In  those  friendly 
households,  He  observed  his  old  usages,  though 
no  longer  owning  a  home  which  bore  His  name,  as 
His  touching  words,  '  the  Son  of  man  hath  not 
where  to  lay  His  head,'  remind  us  so  pathetically. 
The   familiarity  and  frequency  of   His  references  Matt. 

1  •  1  •       •  1       ,  r   /-        -1        xxiii.  25. 

at  that  time  to  the  common  mcidents  of  family  ]\iark  iv. 
existence,  to  the  domestic  economy  in  every  part 

E 


50  HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,  of  it,  to  the  daily  customs,  nay  even  to  the  ordi- 
~- — ■ — -'  nary  utensils,  of  the  house — show  in  what  associa- 
25.  '   tions   and  habits   He  had   been  previously  living. 

That  tenderness,  also,  and  consideration  which  was 
manifested  in  His  home  intercourse  during  the 
later  period,  must  have  distinguished  Him  through- 
out the  earlier.  His  'kinsfolk  and  acquaintance' 
would  remark  that  just  what  He  was  then,  He  had 
always  been.  And,  along  with  the  kindness  and 
modesty,  the  noble  self-repression  and  control, 
which  was  ever  mindful  of  the  wants  and  feelings 
of  those  that  were  nearest  to  Him  in  His  home, 
we  may  well  connect  His  unbroken  calmness,  His 
habitual  freedom  from  disturbance.  Those  injunc- 
Liike  xxi.  tions  whicli  he  delivered  afterwards  concerning 
^'^'  the  fjbspifivai  ^icoTticai,  the  life  distractions  of  family 

existence,  had  long  been  practised  amidst  the 
narrow  means,  the  humiliating  cares  and  per- 
plexities, of  a  poor  man's  household.  Here,  es- 
pecially, in  His  later  habits  and  injunctions,  we  see 
what  His  earlier  course  must  have  been  amidst  all 
domestic  *  troubles  and  adversities,'  when  He  '  cast 
His  care  '  on  His  Father  who  was  'caring  for  Him.' 
Often,  doubtless,  at  the  table,  and  by  the  fireside, 
Luke  X  42  of  the  Nazareth  household  that  familiar  scene  in 
the  house  at  Bethany  had  been  anticipated. 


HOME   AND   FAMILY   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH.  51 

Yes  :  there  too,  amidst  the  humiHating  anxieties     chap. 

and    perplexities  of   His   household,    the    solemn   ^ r^ — ■ 

reproof  had  frequently  been  heard,  '  Thou  art  care- 
ful and  troubled  about  many  t hi  Jigs'  Nor  do  I 
blame  thee  for  an  earnest  regard  to  them,  since  they 
belong  to  our  family  life,  and  to  these  domestic  bonds. 
Only  keep  their  place  in  relation  to  the  '  one  tiling 
needful'  constantly  in  view.  Administer  them  from 
tJie  soul's  true  centre.  Think  of  them  as  they  are 
explained  by  the  great  object  of  human  life,  by  the 
reasoji  ivJiy  you  have  been  called  into  existence  and 
placed  on  earth,  and  been  summoned  to  these  duties. 
In  the  light  of  that  high  purpose  look  on  all  your 
obligations,  and  regard  and  administer  them  xvitJi 
that  purpose  constantly  in  vieiv. 

With    such    unbroken   calmness,    He  lived    out   John  xiv. 

the   appointed   course    through    which    every   in-  ^^' 

heritor  of  being  in  the  Divine  Kingdom  is  prepared 

for  wider  spheres  of  life  and  service.     Thus  were  ^"'^'^  ^"' 

44. 

the  order  and  purity,  the,  love  and  serenity  and 
blessedness  of  the  heavenly  '  fatherhoods '  com- 
pletely reflected  in  His  person  and  proceedings. 
Nor  was  the  reflection  ever  disturbed  by  the  in- 
fluences then  surrounding  Him,  which  so  mightily 
tended  to  mar  the  embodiment,  and  destroy  its  in- 
fluence and  its  instructiveness.     We   need  hardly 


52  HOME  AND   FAMILY   LIFE  IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     remark  with  what   a   high   sanction    and    solemn 

' ' '   authority  He    thus    surrounded   the   earhest   and 

most  elementary  constituent  of  the  organic  unions 
into  which  men  have  been  incorporated.  That  in 
Supra,  the  '  Life  which  was  the  Light  of  men,'  because 
in  it  the  Divine  Economy  was  perfectly  reflected 
— the  family  existence  was  thus  lived  out  in  all 
its  parts  and  aspects,  and  in  the  most  difficult 
scenes  of  its  development,  confirms,  with  a  proof 
from  which  there  is  no  appeal,  our  assurance  that 
the  discharge  of  home  duties  and  relationships  is 
the  first  and  most  incumbent  of  the  obligations 
which  devolve  upon  mankind. 

And  it  may  well  be  added,  that  His  'waxing 
strong  in  spirit '  amongst  those  duties,  and  there 
'  increasing  in  favour  with  God  and  man,'  is  a  cer- 
tain token  that  in  household  life  man's  individual 
existence  may  be  perfected.  There  the  noblest 
qualifications  and  the  firmest  strength  may  be 
obtained ;  there  men  may  be  fitted  for  the  highest 
and  most  arduous  duties  that  can  ever  devolve 
upon  them  in  the  larger  spheres  into  which  families 
have  been  incorporated. 


LIFE   IN   THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  53 


III. 


CHAPTER    III. 

LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH    COMMUNITY. 

The  next  outlying  sphere  wherein  faculties  and  ^\^,'^^' 
affections  that  have  been  trained  in  this  manner, 
are  exercised,  is  found  in  the  united  aggregate  of 
the  families  which  are  dwelling  in  any  well-defined 
locality.  In  this  aggregate,  which  we  distinguish 
as  the  community,  all  the  households  of  that 
neighbourhood  are  connected  ;  and  unions  of  this 
kind  enter  into  the  still  vaster  and  more  general 
forms  of  the  Divine  Order.  Of  this  Order  they 
are  the  essential  constituents ;  and  into  one  of 
them,  therefore,  Christ  entered  during  the  period 
we  are  surveying. 

In  virtue  of  that  same  law  of  mutual  compensa- 
tion and  helpfulness  out  of  which  families  originate, 
communities,  villages  and  cities  have  been  consti- 
tuted.     From    the    nature   of    their    constitution, 


Col.  i.  1 6. 


54  LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 

CHAP,     households   must   thus    ioin  and   blend  with    one 

III. 
, ■   another.     And  looking  further  outward,  it  may  also 

be    affirmed    that    the   existence   of   these   larger 

unions    is    necessarily   implied  in  those  which  are 

still  vaster,  even  in  the  '  principalities  and  powers,' 

the   nations   and  kingdoms,  which   we   know   are 

universally    existing.       In    other   words,    there    is 

reason    for   believing    that   the   local    associations 

which  lie  next  outside  the  families  of  earth,   and 

include  them,  are  found  in  all  worlds  throughout 

the  universe.    Certainly  they  were  contemplated  as 

Levit.  XXV.  riTTi  ^•  A1- 

31,  32.  an  essential  part  01  the  Hebrew  polity.  And,  since 
this  was  Divinely  framed  and  constituted,  and  was 
administered  by  a  typal  people  upon  a  pattefn 
land,  it  may  well  be  looked  upon  as  the  exemplary 
form  after  which  all  States  were  intended  to  be 
fashioned.^  At  all  events,  it  formed  a  part  of  the 
constitution    under   which    Christ    lived.       Com- 

•  Tlie  typal,  pattern  character  of  Palestine,  and  also  of  the  Jewish 
people,  is  well  worth  remarking  in  connexion  with  our  entire  sub- 
ject. *  Set  in  the  midst  of  all  other  nations,'  the  appointed  home  of 
the  Israelites  presented  what  may  well  be  called  an  epitome  and 
sampler  of  them  all.  And  so  of  the  Jew  it  may  be  said  that  in  him  the 
temperament  of  every  nation,  all  the  phases  of  humanity,  have  been 
reflected,  and  that  every  form  of  man's  development  has  been  seen 
in  his  demeanour.  Obviously  it  was  in  just  such  circumstances,  in 
such  a  land  and  among  such  a  people,  that  the  ideal  of  humanity 
could  be  best  embodied,  and  the  entire  course  of  man's  life  pic- 
tured forth  in  its  completeness. — Cf.  Reasons  of  Faith,  chap.  viii. 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  55 

munities  made  up  of  households  that  were  locally     CHAP. 

III. 
adjacent,  and  then  passing,  through  a  natural  de-   • ■ ■ 

velopment,  into  provinces  and  nations,  are  con- 
stantly referred  to  in  the  statutes  of  the  Hebrew 
legislator.  How  far  the  Mosaic  ordinances,  under 
this  head,  had  been  modified  in  Christ's  age, 
among  the  villages  and  towns  of  Palestine  ;  in 
what  manner  the  communities  of  Galilee  were 
related  to  the  Nation,  so  far  as  the  Jewish  people 
formed  a  nation  at  that  time — is  indeed  uncertain. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  municipal  z°/^.^^^"^' 
affairs  of  such  places  were  administered  by  deputies  ''  '^"' 
from  the  Chief  Council  in  Jerusalem,  who  acted 
under  the  control  of  the  Roman  Government  and 
of  the  Herodian  princes.  Some  such  management 
of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  business  of  Nazareth 
through  the  years  of  which  we  are  now  thinking, 
probably  existed.  But,  whatever  its  exact  nature, 
we  cannot  question  that  civic  and  corporate,  as  well 
as  household,  life  formed  part  of  the  Divinely  ap- 
pointed Order  under  which  Christ  lived  ;  that  He 
fully  entered  into  it,  and  took  His  share  of  all  its 
burdens  and  responsibilities. 

In  this  next  larger  sphere,  as  well  as  in  the 
household.  He  thus  fulfilled,  or  rather  embodied, 
during  the  years  we  are  thinking  of,  the  maxims 


56  LIFE   IN   THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 

CHAP,     which  He  Himself  afterwards  uttered,  and  which 
III.  ' 

' — ^    He  instructed  His  Apostles  to  deliver.     All  those 

acts  of  faithful  duty  and  of  active  benevolence, 
those  habits  of  self-restraining  and  self-devoted  ten- 
derness, which  we  observe  in  Him  during  the  years 
of  His  public  ministry,  had  been  already  witnessed 
in  that  quiet  and  secluded  scene  ;  and  the  lessons 
which  then  were  openly  taught  by  Him,  and  which 
Infra,^.6o  needed  such  a  sphere  as  this  for  their  fulfilment, 
had,  through  many  years  before  they  were  thus 
delivered,  been  diligently  practised  by  Himself 

Our  conviction  that  His  after-life  was  continuous 
and  uniform  with  that  which  He  had  previously 
lived,  and  therefore  that  His  course  in  those  earlier 
years  can  be  inferred  from  it,  makes  this  conclusion 
certain,  however  freshly  the  facts  which  it  brings 
forward  may  present  themselves,  through  our 
strange  disregard  of  them,  and  our  neglect  of  the 
sources  from  which  we  may  obtain  authentic  infor- 
mation on  the  subject.  We  are,  however,  carefully 
guarded  against  the  impression  that  His  habits,  as 
He  so  lived  in  this  enlarged  sphere  of  life,  were 
aimless  and  fruitless,  unsystematic  and  discursive. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  rules  of  Jewish  life 
required  every  member  of  the  community  to 
follow  some  clearly  defined   pursuit  and   occupa- 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  57 

tion.     It  was  then,  as  it  was  afterwards,  a  current     CHAP. 

'                                                                  III. 
maxim  among  His  people,  '  He  who  teacheth  not    ' ^ — " 

111-  1  )       HT  Luke  xxii. 

Ills  son  a  trade,  teacheth  him  to  steal.      Moreover,  27. 
it  is  expressly  said  that  the  '  form  of  a  servant '  was   ^  '  '^'^''  "' 
characteristically  assumed  by  Him  ;    and  we  are, 
besides,  distinctly  told  that  He  followed  the  occu-   Markvi.  3. 
pation  of  His  reputed  father. 

We  know,  therefore,  that  in  Joseph's  workshop, 
and  in  the  houses  of  the  town  and  neighbourhood, 
where  the  carpenter's  occupation  was  carried 
forward — He  was  employed  in  steadfast  and  con- 
tinuous, in  quiet  but  strenuous  toil.  There  He  was 
engaged  on  works  which  afforded  better  opportu- 
nities for  associated  labour,  and  which  would  supply 
occasions  for  wider  intercourse  with  His  fellow 
townsmen,  than  any  others  to  which  he  could  have 
been  appointed.^  In  the  very  likeness  of  the  true 
sons  of  industry.  He  was  thus  constantly  occupied  in 

^  In  connexion  with  the  obvious  fitness  of  a  carpenter's  occu- 
pation for  securing  intercourse  with  His  fellow-townsmen,  we  may 
observe  that  it  also  necessarily  involved  Him  in  negotiations  outside 
the  limits  of  His  community.  Assistance  in  His  work  from  artisans 
engaged  in  connected  trades,  who  were  living  in  the  neighbourhood, 
necessitated  intercourse  of  this  description.  Moreover  purchases  of 
the  materials  of  His  craft  would  take  Him  to  the  neighbouring 
ports,  as,  e.g.,  to  Ptolemais,  which  was  almost  close  by,  and  to  Tyre 
which  was  about  30  miles  distant.  In  however  strange  an  aspect 
facts  of  this  kind  may  present  themselves,  thoughtful  consideration 
will  show  that  they  must  be  recognised  in  order  duly  to  appreciate 
the  course  of  life  which  Christ  at  this  time  pursued. 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH    COMMUNITY. 


CHAP,     pursuits  which  demanded  skill  and  forethought,  to- 
ur. 1  .  ,  . 
^ 1 gether  with  persevering,  vigorous  endeavour,   and 

which  also  were  productive,  and  practically  helpful 

to    the  community  of  which   He  was  a  member. 

In    fact,    the    very    ideal    of  genuine  work    was 

then  witnessed  in  the  labours  of  Him  who,  in  after 

John  V.  17,   years,  was   recognised  as  '  the  carpenter,' and  who 

ix.  4. 

Rom.  xii.     was  cvcr  'diligent  in  business,'  doing  'with  all  His 
8-1 1.  •  1     »     -I 

might    whatever  His  hand  found  then  to  be  done. 

It  was  in  this  position,  as  one  of  the  artisans  of 
the  town,  that  He  took  His  place  among  the  in- 
habitants of  Nazareth,  sharing  their  burdens,  in- 
teresting Himself  in  their  affairs  and  responsi- 
bilities, and  using  all  opportunities  of  well-doing 
which  occurred  to  Him.  We  may  here  usefully 
refer  again  to  the  commonly  accepted  inference 
n  ■^fi''  from  the  narrative  that  Joseph  died  some  years 
before  His  public  ministry  began.  Now  this  being 
so,  it  follows  that  His  occupations  must  have  been 
independently  pursued  through  a  considerable 
period  for  His  own  support,  and  for  that  of  His 
widowed  mother.  Such  a  conclusion  appears  to 
arise  necessarily  from  certain  well-known  state- 
ments which  are  made  by  the  Evangelists  ;  and, 
being  accepted,  it  brings  out  in  marked  emphatic 
illustration  that  aspect  of  His  life  which  we  are  now 


p.  46. 


LIFE   IN   THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  59 

contemplating.     This  next  outlying  sphere  of  duty     CMAT'. 
must  have  been  perfectly  filled  out  by  Him,  and   '       '      ' 
in  every  imaginable  part,  if,  indeed.  He  occupied 
for  some  years,  as  it  so  plainly  seems  He   did,  a 
position  as  the  independent  master  of  a  household.   M^rk  vi.3. 

It  was  perfectly  fulfilled  in  every  part  of  it, 
and  all  its  obligations  were  discharged,  in  sedulous 
and  faithful  toil,  as  well  as  in  acts  of  true  bene- 
ficence. In  other  words  we  know  that,  all  through 
His  abode  in  Nazareth,  He  proved  Himself  to  be  a  ^^^^^  ^^j^, 
*  faithful  and  wise  servant '  in  the  humble  position  45- 

^  Luke  XVI. 

which   He    therein    occupied.       Amidst  the  '  little   10. 
things  '  which  then  engaged  Him,  His  fidelity  was 
manifested.     In  conscientious  toil  and  service,  He 
then  '  rendered  to  all  their  dues ; '  '  custom  to  whom  „ 

'  Kom.  xii. 

custom,  fear  to  whom  fear,  honour  to  whom  honour.' 
Moreover,  the  duties  of  beneficence  were  practised 
by  Him,  as  well  as  those  of  loftiest  and  most  rigorous 
integrity.  He  bore  the  burdens  of  His  neighbours, 
and  promoted,  by  all  means  of  service  and  of  sym- 
pathy, the  public  welfare  of  the  community  into 
which  He  had  entered.  Throughout  that  time 
also,  and  restrained  neither  by  weariness  nor  by 
fastidiousness.  He  *  went  about  doing  good.'  When  ^cts  x.  -^8. 
a  '  brother  trespassed  against  Him,'  He  sought  to  Matt,  xviii. 
reconcile  that  brother  by  all  the  expedients  which 


6o  LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 


CHAP.     He  afterwards  commended.    Nor  was  any  unfeeling 

■ ■ '   harshness  practised  by  Him  in  exacting  payment 

xviii.  28.      of  the  debt  and  service  which  was  owing  to  Him 

from    those    who  were  fellows    in    His    servitude. 

Luke  xvi.     No  Lazarus  lay  uncared  for  at  His  gate.  And  if  He 

met  any  wounded,  languishing  travellers  upon  the 


Luke  X.  ^o. 


roads  which  He  then  traversed,  forthwith  those  suf- 
ferers' wounds  were  bound  up  by  Himself,  and,  in 
tenderest  sympathy  and  foresight.  He  'took  care  of 
them.'     He  fed  the  hungry,  and  clothed  the  naked, 

Matt.  XXV. 

36.  and  visited  the  sick.     Such  conclusions  respecting 

his  habits  may  be  gathered  from  our  certainty 
that  He  had  already  practised  what  He  taught, 
and  that  His  habits  during  His  seclusion  were  con- 
sistently uniform  with  those  of  His  public  life  and 
ministry."*  And  with  them  agree  the  historical 
statements  which  bear  upon   that  period  ;  as,   for 

Luke  ii.  instance,  in  that  mention  of  the  '  acquaintance  ' 
among  whom  they  sought  Him,  and  the  increasing 
'  favour  with  man '  in  which  He  grew  up,  as  well  as 
the   general   familiarity  with   His  person  through 

'  This  backward  reference  and  use  of  the  precepts  which  Christ  and 
His  apostles  deHvered  concerning  the  personal  and  social  duties  of 
men  in  circumstances  such  as  those  amidst  which  He  was  placed — 
might  be  indefinitely  extended.  In  fact  thus  regarded,  such  precepts 
maybe  read  as  historically  descriptive  of  the  Life  which  He  was  living 
throughout  those  years,  and  of  the  temper  andmethod  in  which  every 
human  relationship  was  discharged  by  Him. 


52. 


LIFE   IN   THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  6l 

those  earlier  years,  which  is  plainly  betokened  by     CHAP. 

His  after  history.    All  the  statements  of  the  Evan-   • ■ 

gelists  imply,  nay,  they  plainly  indicate,  the  fact 
that,  as  He  had  not  separated  Himself  in  any 
hermit-like  retirement  from  family  life,  so,  with  His 
domestic,  He  had  perfectly  blended  a  neighbourly, 
existence  in  His  community,  had  actively  engaged 
in  its  business,  and  had  cheerfully  accepted  its 
responsibilities. 

Thus,  still  holding  fast  our  conviction  that,  as 
Man,  He  then  lived  a  real  human  life,  from  day  to 
day  in  active  intercourse  with  men,  and  using  all  ,, 
the  sources  of  information  which  are  within  our  -'^•'^^■'-  55- 
reach — we  may  securely  figure  Him,  not  only 
passing,  as  we  have  seen,  through  the  ordinary 
routine  of  home  pursuits  and  intercourse,  but  also 
taking  His  full  share  in  the  business  and  in- 
terests of  the  community — going  into  the  houses  of 
His  acquaintance ;  buying  and  selling  in  the  mar- 
ket-place; witnessing,  nay,  even  innocently  joining  Matt. 

xi.  19. 
in  men's  festivities  ;  discussing  topics  o^  common 

interest  in  their  assemblies  ;  living  a  neighbourly 

and  helpful,  nay,  what  we  may  not  unfitly  call  a 

humane  and  genial,  as  well  as  beneficent,  existence 

in  the  midst  of  them. 

Thus    He  wrought    at   the  works   prepared    for 


62  ■  LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 


CHAP.     Him,  the  works  which  naturally  presented  them- 


Ephes.  ii. 


selves  in  that  place  and  hour  ;  with  those  works  He 
was  busied,  and  not  with  others  chosen  by  Himself. 
'°-  In  that  quiet  town,  and  among  the  simple  people 

who  were  living  there,  in  His  workshop,  in  their 
houses,  He  thus  laboured,  steadfastly  and  fruitfully, 
for  the  good  of  His  community,  and  for  the  help 
and  welfare  of  those  with  whom  He  was  imme- 
diately connected.  And  so,  besides  manifesting  in 
this  manner  the  true  form  of  that  particular  sphere 
of  human  life.  He  also  perfectly  obeyed,  and,  in 
obeying,  He  typally  exemplified,  that  law  of  func- 
tional service  which  regards  every  one  as  holding 
in  the  Divine  Order  an  appointed  place  which  is, 
Mark  xiii.  in  the  most  emphatic  sense,  his  own,  and  in  which 
I  Pet.  iv.  duties  and  obligations  for  promoting  the  common 
good  have  been  specially  assigned  to  him. 

This  law  obtains  universally,  but  the  stress  of 
its  requirements  is  felt  in  duties  such  as  those  where- 
with Christ  was  occupied  in  Nazareth,  which  have 
been  laid' upon  men  in  their  families  and  neigh- 
bourhoods. And  for  its  perfect  realisation  and 
fulfilment,  they  must  have  a  living  perception  of 
the  system  in  which  they  have  been  incorporated, 
and  of  their  own  peculiar  calling  in  the  midst  of  it. 
Beyond  their  individual  life,  they  must  habitually 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  63 


recognise   the   organic   existence   which  they  are     CHAP. 
^  ^  ^  III. 


sharing,  and  must  perceive  the  *  historic  forces 
and  common  laws '  by  which  it  is  vitally  pervaded. 
Under  this  recognition,  moreover,  their  efforts  must 
be  ruled  by  submissive  patience  and  strenuous  self- 
control,  as  well  as  by  an  utter  trust  in  that  Loving 
Wisdom  governing  the  movements  of  the  whole 
framework,  which  is  indeed  the  immovable  ground 
of  its  symmetry  and  fixedness.  '  Not  my  will,  O  Divine 
Father,  but  Thine  be  done '  must  be  the  ruling  chap.  iv. ' 
motto  of  their  lives.  In  the  far-reaching  harmonies 
of  the  Divine  Economy,  the  results  which  flow 
from  the  efforts  of  any  single  agent  can  be  only 
partially  ascertained,  and  may  be  altogether  hidden 
and  unknown.  And  this  is  a  trial  of  affiance, 
under  which  all  who  overlook  this  view  of  their 
'  organic  life,'  and  are  possessed  by  the  '  spirit 
of  individualism,'  naturally  fail.  Men  of  these 
perceptions  and  this  temper,  act  instinctively  as 
if  the   whole  results  of  their  activity  should   be 

surveyed  ;  and  as  if  they,  and  not  God  Himself,  Ephes.  i. 

II. 
were  the  promoters   of  His  cause.      In  search  of 

immediate  results,  and  at  the  impulse  of  a  zeal, 

which  is  false  and  blind,  since  it  rests  on  a  denial 

of  the  very  fundamental  principles  of  their  Divine 

Association,  they  go  away  from  homely  scenes  of 


64  LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 


CHAP,     toil  and  self-restraint  like  that  in  Nazareth,  where 

III. 
' . '    their  work  should  be  accomplished,  to  enter  into 

another  sphere  which  may  be  far  apart  from  that 

into   which    they   have   been    called.     And    thus, 

I  Cor.  xii.    instead    of    realising    their    place    in    the    great 

O. 

fellowship,  and  duly  accomplishing  its  works  and 
obligations,  its  purposes  are  thwarted  and  contra- 
dicted by  their  means.  Mistrustful  of  the  wisdom 
which  placed  them  where  they  are,  and  which  as- 
signed to  each  one  the  work  that  has  been  given 

I  Pet.  iv.     him  to  do ;  negligent  of  all  seemly  patience  and 
15. 

needful   self-control,  they   seek    to    anticipate    the 

purposes  of  God,  and  would  even  endeavour  to 
improve  them.  And  so,  unconscious  of  the  mighty 
harmonies,  and  far-reaching  symmetry,  of  the 
scheme  which  He  is  administering,  they  throw  its 
earthly  developments  into  that  confusion  wherein 
they  appear  so  often  through  the  long  progress  of 
man's  history,  and  frustrate  many  of  the  chief 
purposes  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  exist- 
ence has  been  given. 
Rev.  iv.  4.  In  other  words,  they  go  away  from  that  Order 
centred  round  the  Throne  of  God,  which  Christ 
came  to  embody,  and  so  to  authenticate  afresh  in 
men's  convictions.  This  is  one  of  its  main  and 
fundamental  characteristics,  that  every  agent  has 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  6$ 

his  own  place  in  it,  a  special  talent  committed  to     CHAP. 

him,  a  peculiar  and  personal   ministry  into  which   ■ , 

*  he  has  been  called.'     And  most  plainly  did  Christ 

set   forth   this   characteristic   by  His  fulfilment  of  i  Cor.  vii. 

20. 
the  lowliest  tasks  and  duties  that  belonged  to  His 

position  during  the  period  of  which  we  are  think- 
ing, just  as  He  set  it  forth  afterwards  in  His  own 
teaching  and  in  that  of  the  Apostles  whom  He  in- 
structed. All  the  time  hfe  was  bending  sedulously 
over  His  daily  toil,  industriously  handling  the  tools 
of  Joseph's  craft,  and  steadfastly  accomplishing  all 
the  other  works  belonging  to  His  time  and  His 
position — He  gloriously  reflected  that  law  of  the 
Divine  Economy  which  requires  every  man  to 
labour  in  the  place  and  manner  which  has  been 
ordained  by  God,  and  then  to  leave  the  results  of 
his  diligence  to  be  inwrought  by  its  Ordainer  into 
the  great  movements  of  His  kingdom,  remembering  Rom.  viii. 
that  its  advancement  and  prosperity  depend  on  ^'^^  ^- 
Him  and  not  upon  ourselves.''  ^7'  -^■ 

In  this  spirit,  and  in  the  practice  of  these  habits. 
He  lived  through  all  those  years  wherein  theyouth- 

*  The  chief  disclosures  of  the  unseen  world,  as  we  find  them  in  the 
visions  of  Micaiah,  of  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  and  in  the  Apocalypse 
of  St.  John,  strikingly  represent  that  '  functional  service,  as  in  a 
camp  of  living  forces  where  authority  is  paramount,'  which  Christ  so 
marvellously  exemplified — as  being  the  universal  law  of  spiritual 


66  LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 

CHAP,     ful  energies  of  His  human  nature  were  restlessly 

,- — '   craving  another  outlet,  and  while  He  was  wrought 

upon  by  influences  through  which  that  restlessness 
was  heightened.  There,  for  example,  was  Herod's 
court  full  in  view  from  Nazareth,  with  all  its 
suggestions  of  treachery  and  corruption  demanding 
to  be  righteously  exposed,  and  put  to  shame  and 
punished.  In  that  one  of  'the  king's  houses'  He 
could  daily  see  where  His  unfaithful  countrymen, 

Luke  vii.      '  gorgeously    apparelled,'    and    '  living    delicately,' 

25. 

were    prospering   on    the   wages    of  their  perfidy. 

Nearer  home,  too,  under  His   closest  observation, 

He  witnessed  spectacles  of  baseness  and  disorder 

and  misrule,  of  hollowness  and  insincerity,  and  of 

fearful  wrong  and  wretchedness    as   the    result — 

spectacles  that  might  have  carried  Him  far  aside 

from  His  quiet  but  appointed  path  under  the  most 

Psalm         specious    pleas    of    patriotism    and    benevolence. 

John  ii.  4    Nevertheless  He  still  went  on,  doing  the  'works 

e'iIic'  ii     ^^^^  were  there  prepared  for  Him  to  walk  in.'    Still 

^°-  He  patiently  'refrained  His  spirit,  and  kept  it  low,' 

existence.  With  veiled  faces,  denoting  '  the  absence,  in  spirits 
that  are  perfect,  of  all  wish  to  display  their  own  attractions,  their 
willingness  to  go  anywhere,  to  do  any  errands '  of  duty  and  love, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  unfallen  world  are  represented  in  the  very  same 
active  obedience  to  the  will  of  God  which  He  so  perfectly  manifested 
during  the  years  of  which  we  are  here  thinking. 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  6/ 

until  what  He  called  '  His  hour,'  with  its  proper     CHAP. 

claims  of  duty,  had  arrived. . ' 

Year  after  year,  in  the  very  likeness  of  what  are  Appendix, 

Note  E. 
regarded  now  as  dreary  lives,  was  He  thus  quietly, 

sedulously  occupied  with  dull,  monotonous  work 
which  had  nothing  to  commend  it  except  the 
claims  of  duty  and  of  faithfulness.  And  He  stead- 
fastly adhered  to  His  purpose,  notwithstanding 
all  inducements  to  abandon  it.  Amidst  the  most 
trying  intercourse  with  uncongenial  companions 
through   all   those  years,   He    'did   not    His   own  John  v.  30; 

vi.  38. 

will,   but   the  will    of  the  Father  Who    had   sent 

Him,'  sustained  throughout  by  the  principle  which 

He  expressed,  with  reference   to    this,  as   to   the 

after-part  of  His  course,  in  those  memorable  words, 

*  Wist  ye    not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  Luke  xii. 

business.'  '  I  have  a  baptism  to  be  baptised  with, 

and  how  am  I  straitened  till  it  is  accomplished.' 

With  this  view,  however,  of  His  '  functional 
service,'  as  man  amongst  mankind,  regarding-  Him- 
self as  having  been  stationed  in  an  appointed 
place  amongst  the  armies  of  the  '  Lord  of  hosts,' 
and  realising  His  corporate  existence  in  this 
largest  sphere  of  it — we  must  not  associate  aught  Matt.  xi. 
of  gloom  and  weariness.  None  of  the  morose- 
ness,    the  sullenly    hard     persistence,    which    we 


68  LIFE   IN    THE  NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 

CHAP,     sometimes  recognise  in  such  cases,  could  be  dis- 

~ r-^ — -   cerned  in  His  steadfast  perseverance  in  His  work 

during  His  years  in  Nazareth,  any  more  than  it 
was  seen  in  the  labours  of  His  public  ministry 
aftei"wards.  The  supposition  that  He  ever  mani- 
fested any  spirit  of  that   kind   is  indeed  expressly 

Luke  ii.       negatived  by  that    mention   of  the    '  favour   with 
52. 

man,'  in  which  He  habitually    grew.     Nor,  indeed, 

could  such  a  demeanour  in  any  wise  co-exist  with 

that  true   view   of  His  corporate  Life   which   we 

know    He    entertained    from    the    beginning,    and 

which,  all  through  His  course,  must  always  have 

given  animation  and  ennoblement  to  His  discharge 

of  its  most  ordinary  duties.       For  He  wrought   at 

them  in  view  of  the  whole   Economy  into  which 

Ephes.  ii.    they  entered,  and  that  Whole  reflected  its  glory 

on  the  humblest  details  in  which  they  called  Him 

to    engage.     As  the  Servant  of  God  He  then  felt, 

and  in  this  character  He  showed,  that  every  one 

who  duly  accepts  his  place,  even  though  it  be  a  lowly 

place,  in  the  vast  system  of  existence,  becomes  so 

identified  with  that   system,  that  we  may  say  he 

has  a  property  in  all  its   greatness   and   renown, 

I  Cor.  xii.    Just  as    each    limb  and  member  has  its   share  in 
26.  '' 

the  honour  of  the   body,  and  as   every  individual 

who  takes  office  in  a  society  that  is  perfectly  com- 


LIFE   IN   THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY.  69 

pacted,  enjoys  all  its  credit  and  distinction,  so —     chap. 

as  He  then  showed — so  is  it  with  the  man  who  faith-   . 

fully  occupies    his    appointed   place    in   the   great 

system  of  existence,  '  All  things  are  his,  whether    i  Cor.  iii. 

22. 
the  world,  or  life,  or  death,  or  things  present,  or 

things  to  come.'  In  His  human  character,  Christ 
habitually  realised  this  truth.  Amidst  His  dreariest 
tasks  and  occupations.  He  was  inspired  by  the 
knowledge  that  notwithstanding,  yea,  rather  be- 
cause of.  His  form  of  a  servant  in  God's  King- 
dom, He  was,  since  He  served  loyally,  even  then 
sharing  in  all  its  glory  and  magnificence.  He 
knew  too  that  this  share  was  duly  rendered  to 
Him  by  all  the  wise  and  good  who  then  looked 
upon  His  work,  just  as  the  sincerest  reverence  and 
the  lowliest  homage  of  all  holy  beings  is  ever 
awaiting  the  humblest  men  who  are  intent  on 
filling  out  their  appointed  place,  and  who  are  there 
accomplishing  the  good  works  that  have  been  '  pre- 
pared for  them  to  walk  in.' 

Moreover,  He  was  further  animated  by  the 
knowledge  that  all  those  forces  of  the  universe 
which  harmoniously  converged  on  Him  in  that 
place,  were  there  working  with  His  own.  Just  as  r^om.  viij. 
each  limb,  which  is  labouring  in  the  whole  body's 
service,  and  which  obeys  the  laws  of  its  activity,  is 


70 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH   COMMUNITY. 


CHAP. 
III. 


Divine 
Kingdom. 
chap.  iv. 


Isaiah 
xxvi.  3. 


helped  by  the  remainder,  and  fortified  by  their 
entire  hfe  and  strength  ;  so,  as  He  then  showed, 
is  everyone  upheld  who  occupies  his  true  place  in 
God's  Kingdom,  and  who  is  working  there  with  an 
eye  that  is  directed  simply  and  sincerely  towards 
the  things  which  are  given  him  to  do.  In  and 
through  the  very  nature  of  his  position,  all  the 
forces  of  the  universe  are  working  together  with 
his  own,  and  He  Who  controls  them  all,  is  on  the 
side  of  one  who  thus  appears  in  the  form,  and 
thus  occupies  his  position  as  a  servant. 

In  other  words,  Christ  then  knew,  and  He  ever 
wrought  under  the  power  of  the  knowledge,  that 
'  all  things,'  the  security  and  welfare  of  the  entire 
system  in  the  midst  of  which  He  was  labouring 
so  faithfully,  were  vitally  concerned  in  His  success. 
And,  therefore,  there  was  overcoming  strength, 
though  there  was  never  anything  like  convulsive 
effort,  seen  in  His  exertions.  Throughout  them, 
and  amidst  all  the  disturbances  which  they  brought 
on  Him,  there  was  the  deepest  peace  at  the 
centre  of  His  Being,  as  there  must  be  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  everyone  who  is  moving  in  his 
ordained  path  around  the  throne  of  God.  By 
His  mighty  energy,  along  with  His  unbroken 
calmness,    He  showed  that,    by   the  very   consti- 


LIFE   IN    THE   NAZARETH    COMMUNITY.  7 1 

tution  of  the  Realm  wliich  is  centred  round  that     CHAP. 

ni. 
Throne,  victorious  strength,   along   with  the    pro- . • 

foundest  rest  and  peace,  distinguishes  the  expe- 
rience of  the  man  who  is  serving  loyally  therein. 
The  eye  of  such  a  one  is  always  clear,  and  his 
nerve  is  always   '  to  true  occasions  true,'  and  his   Isaiali 

xxxii.   17. 

heart,  even  when  wrought  on  most  mightily,  must  James  iii. 
be  always  steadfast  and  serene. 

Here  was  the  secret  of  His  blessedness  during 
those  long  years,  when,  with  this  estimate  of  His 
engagements,  and  thus  supported  amongst  all  dul- 
ness  and  weariness  in  fulfilling  them — He  came 
through  the  household  into  the  community,  and 
took  His  appointed  place,  and  was  recognised 
amongst  its  citizens.  And  thus  was  man's  entire 
life  up  to  this  point  afresh  revealed  by  Him  in  its 
true  form,  and  its  laws  again  enjoined  on  our  ob- 
servance. In  the  dreariest  circumstances  that  can 
be  thought  of.  He  held  to  that  Revealing  Purpose 
under  the  power  of  the  views  which  we  have 
unfolded,  and  thus  He  showed,  more  fully  than 
it  could  in  any  other  manner  have  been  witnessed, 
the  Life  which  is  the  guiding  and  animating  '  Light 
of  men.' 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION. 

CIIAP.     And  yet  His  life  in  that  sphere,  however  com- 

■ ' — "   pletely  and  faithfully  it  was  occupied,  would  have 

been  imperfect,  maimed  and  incomplete,  had  it 
not  passed  into  still  wider  developments.  There 
was  another  Order  in  which  His  faculties  and 
affections  needed  to  be  exercised  ;  and  this  Order 
embraces  communities,  as  each  community  rises 
out  of,  and  is  organically  connected  with,  its 
constituent  families. 

The  encompassing  Sphere  and  Order  of  which 

we  are  here  speaking,  is  the  Nation.     It  may  be 

defined  as  the   aggregate  of  communities   which 

are  existing  within  clearly  marked  and  recognised 

Gen.  X.  32.    territorial    boundaries,   and    which    are    united    by 

Dent.  _  -^ 

xxxii.  8.  common  qualities  of  race  and  temperament,  by 
ancestral  history,  and  by  general  interests  and 
sympathies.  In  this  enlarged  range  and  form  of 
existence,  the  Purposes  of  His  Incarnation — which. 


NAZARETH   LIFE    IN    THE    NATION.  TZ 

let   us   once  more   remind   ourselves,  were  to   em-     CHAP. 

IV. 
body,    and,    by  embodying,    to  reveal  and  afresh    ^^ , 

authenticate  the  true  form  of  human  being — made 

it    necessary  that    He  should  also   live.      For  we 

must  recognise  the  National  relation  as  part  of  the 

Divine  Economy  of  life  ;  as  an  essential  constituent 

of  the  framework  through  which  God's  design  in  the   Rev.  x.\i. 

r-    1  24,  26  ; 

creation  of  immortal  beings  has  been  accomplished,  x.xii.  2. 
In  this  Economy  nations  grow  out  of  communi- 
ties through  a  necessary  enlargement,  and  by  the 
working  of  the  same  principle  of  mutual  com- 
pensation and  helpfulness  as  that  which  developes 
communities  from  families.  The  supply  of  com- 
mon needs,  the  satisfaction  of  individual  wants, 
the  growth  of  the  Body  by  that  '  which  every  Ephes.  iv.' 
joint  supplieth,'  the  fulfilment  of  deeply  seated 
affections,  desires,  aspirations- — are  provided  for  by 
National  Societies.  We  may  say,  indeed,  that  they 
furnish  an  Organ  which  is  not  only  needed  for 
the  supply  of  many  of  the  necessities  of  moral 
natures,  but  which  is  also  essential  to  their  effec- 
tive exercise  and  their  plenary  development. 

From  the  nature  of  its  constitution,  the  Nation 
may  be  thus  confidently  spoken  of  as  one  of  those 
normal  aboriginal  forms  of  common  life  which  are 
found  everywhere  throughout  the  Realm  into  which 


74  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION. 

CHAP,     men  have  been  restored.     And,  accordingly,  it  is 

' . '    clearly  discerned  in  those   revealing  visions  of  the 

Rom.  viii.    Celestial  World,  wherein  we  read  of  its   'thrones 

38- 

Coloss.  i.     and    dominions,'    its    '  principalities    and    powers.' 

Rev.  XX.  4.  These  words,  and  their  connected  symbols,  would 
be  meaningless  and  misleading,  unless  such  commu- 
nities are  existing  in  that  upper  sphere  ;  unless  the 
Nation  is  indeed  part  of  that  '  pattern  of  things  in 
the  heavens,'  after  which  the  human  economy  of 
life  which  Christ  came  to  manifest  afresh,  has  been 
framed  and  modelled. 

How  perfectly  this   pattern  was   copied   in   the 
Hebrew  polity  is  apparent  in  almost    every  page 

Exod.  xix.    of  the   Old   Testament.     Throughout    its    history 

Psalms  and  poetiy,  references  to  the  national  life  of  the 
Jewish  people,  as  the  very  ground  of  their  earthly 
existence,  are  constantly  occurring.  The  discharge 
of  every  obligation  connected  with  this  life  was 
made   incumbent,  without   any  distinction,   on  all 

Exod.  the  members  of  the  commonwealth.     The  consti- 

xxviii.  21.  .  ,  ...  -     ,     .  .,  , 

Numb.  i.  tution,  the  very  designation,  01  their  tribes  ;  the 
3,xx\i.  2.  j^^^ -^yj^j^,]^  compelled  every  Hebrew  to  enrol  him- 
self in  the  national  militia ;  the  dependence  of  the 
local  on  the  general  and  supreme  courts  of  judi- 
cature; the  obligation  which  required  every  one  of 
the  people  to  attend  the  public  festivals — made  it 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION.  75 


absolutely  necessary  that   they  should   all   realise  CHAP. 

their  position   and   character  as   members   of  the  ^- — , — - 

nation,  and  recognise  the  claims   and   obligations 

which  were  therewith  connected.'     Moreover,  this 

consciousness  was  deepened  by  the  belief,  which 

was  never  relinquished  by  the  people,  even  in  the 

darkest  seasons  of  their  history,  that,  as  a  nation.   Gen.  xvii: 

18. 
they    were    entrusted    with    a    charge    which   had   isaiah  Ix. 

most  important  bearings  on  the  welfare  of  mankind.  ^' 
The  same  sense  of  their  position  and  responsi- 
bilities was  emphatically  recognised  and  dwelt  on  in 
the  Psalms,  which  were  in  popular  use  throughout 
all  periods  of  the  Jew'ish  history ;  and  it  was  the 
ground  of  the  most  frequent  and  urgent  pro- 
phetic admonitions.  Precepts,  warnings,  rebukes, 
addressed  to  the  people  in  their  national  character, 
were  constantly  uttered  by  their  seers  and  teachers, 
and  were  always  listened  to  in   the   same  spirit  as 

'  Dean  Milman  {//isf.  of  Jews,  vol.  i.  p.  405)  has  some  striking 
remarks  on  what  he  calls  the  'unextingiiishable  nationality'  of  the 
Jews  in  comparison  with  the  comparatively  languid  and  destructible 
patriotism  of  other  nations,  and  on  the  means  which  have  secured 
the  feeling  in  such  energy  and  permanent  vitality.  Of  those  means 
as  they  are  above  enumerated,  attendance  at  the  public  festivals 
which  compelled  them  often  to  meet  and  travel  together  in  large 
numbers,  and  the  presence  of  the  Levites,  under  a  secular  as  well 
as  spiritual  character,  in  every  part  of  the  community — were  most 
effective  in  preserving  the  people  from  habits  of  sullen  narrow  iso- 
lation, and  in  maintaining  a  vivid  sense  of  their  national  interests 
and  relationships. 


'Jf^  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION. 

CHAP,     that  which  inspired  them.     So  that  every  Jew,  and 

^ . '   still  more  every  Jew  of  the  'house  and  lineage  of 

Luke  ii.  4.  David,'  must  have  felt  his  distinctions  as  a  member 
of  the  commonwealth,  deeply  and  indelibly  im- 
pressed on  him.  They  could  not  be  separated  from 
his  habitual  consciousness  ;  they  constituted  the 
very  groundwork  of  his  life  ;  they  moulded  his 
existence  in  the  community  and  in  the  household. 
And  he  must  have  regarded  them  too  with 
animation  as  well  as  constancy.  He  must  have 
gloried  in  his  ancestral  traditions  and  his  people's 
history  ;  and,  when  he  remembered  Israel's  mis- 
sion in  the  world,  how  its  typal  monarch  was  to 
Psalm         have  '  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river 

Ixxii.  8; 

cvi.  5.  unto  the  ends  of  the  earth,'  and  how  *  all  families 
and  kingdoms  were  to  be  blessed*  in  it— he  must 
indeed  have  '  rejoiced  in  the  gladness  of  his  nation, 
and  gloried  in  his  inheritance.' 

Hence,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  we  may  be 
certain  that  this  part  of  the  Divine  Order  was 
always  witnessed  in  Christ's  human  character,  was 
therein  embodied  and  reflected,  and  so  proclaimed 
afresh  as  binding  on  mankind.  Our  remembrance 
of  the  Purposes   of  His   Incarnation  justifies    this 

Introdiic-     statement.     And    it   is  further   supported   by  the 

tioji. 

unquestionable  oneness  and  consistency  of  the  later 
with  the  earlier  years  of  His  career. 


NAZARETH  LIFE  IN   THE  NATION.  -jj 

For  none  of  that  mere  cosmopolitan  indifference     cilAr. 
in   which    He   is   sometimes    represented — as,  for  . 

example,  by  writers  who  have  spoken  of  '  His  great 
soul  rising  above  all  national  distinctions,'  and  of 
'  His  standing  forth  not  as  a  Jew  but  as  a  man  ' — 
was  ever  seen  in  Him.  On  the  contrary,  all  through 
the  years  of  his  active  ministry,  He  identified  Him- 
self nationally  with  the  people  of  His  birth  :  He  was 
a  Jew  in  all  matters  of  outward  observation  and 
conformity.^  It  was  not  to  reason  or  philosophy, 
but  to  the  fathers  of  His  nation,  that  He  appealed 
when  He  was  rebuking  the  degeneracy  and  corrup- 

*  'Looking  into  the  documents  from  which,  and  not  from  our 
"  spiritual  instincts,  and  knowledge  of  character,"  we  can  alone  learn 
what  Christ  really  was,  we  are  impressed  by  this  fact,  that  He  stands 
before  us  in  perfect  harmony  and  keeping  with  everything  around  Him. 
He  is  not  a  foreigner  ;  nor  does  He  wear  that  cosmopolitan  garb 
with  which  some  would  fain  invest  Him  in  the  scene  in  which  His  life 
was  passed.  On  Jewish  ground  He  was  a  Jew,  and  was  identified 
with  all  the  Jewish  institutions.  Not  only  is  it  the  countenance 
of  a  son  of  Abraham,  with  all  the  Hebrew  features  marked  on  it, 
that  we  are  beholding,  but  we  see  that  He  has  adopted  the  social 
language  and  habits  of  His  nation.  He  has  identified  himself 
closely  with  the  people  of  His  birth.  He  observes  their  customs, 
He  reverences  their  authorities,  He  frequents  their  assemblies.  He 
worships  in  their  temple,  their  institutions  are  supported  by  His 
offerings.  Again  I  say,  we  must' not  consult  our  own  notions  as  to 
what  He  was,  and  what  He  did  ;  we  must  take  the  Evangelists' 
account  of  Him;  and  now,  taking  it,  tell  me  of  anything  which  was 
left  undone  by  Him,  through  which  He  could  have  shown  more 
clearly  than  He  actually  did  show,  that  He  was  a  Jew  in  all  matters 
of  outward  observation  and  conformity.' — Reasons  of  Faith  ^  (2nd  edit. ) 
PP-  52,  53- 


78  ,  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION. 

CHAP,     tions  of  His  age.     In  fact,  He  '  never  showed  his 
IV. 
^. — r^ — -    Judaism  more  conspicuously  than  when  He  uttered 

those  invectives  which  have  been  adduced  as  reasons 
for  divesting  Him  of  His  character  as  the  Son  of 
David,  and  for  removing  Him  from  His  place 
amongst  the  posterity  of  Abraham.  Every  one  of 
those  occasions  on  which  He  manifested  His 
spiritual  nobleness,  His  own  entire  freedom  from 
all  the  unworthiness  which  we  associate  with  the 
Judaism  of  that  period — may  be  alleged  in  proof 
that  it  was  a  Hebrew  countenance  which  looked 
with  such  indignant  anger  on  those  corruptions  ; 
and  that  it  was  in  a  voice  wherein  we  can  re- 
Reasons  of  cognise  the  tones  of  the  best  Jews  in  the  purest 
p.  54.'  eras,  that  He  so  earnestly  rebuked  them.'     Unques- 

tionably, therefore,  this  was  true  of  Him  during 
His  abode  at  Nazareth.  So  that  in  figuring  Him 
there  before  our  minds,  we  must  not  only  regard 
Him  as  the  member  of  a  household,  discharging  all 
family  obligations  ;  and  also  as  the  member  of  a 
community  bearing  its  burdens,  and  busying  Him- 
self with  its  responsibilities  ;  we  must  also  think  of 
Him  in  the  character  of  a  patriot,  recalling  the 
memories  which  were  so  closely  associated  with 
Appendix,  those  historic  scenes  around  Tabor,  and  Carmel, 
and  Gilboa,  which  came  constantly  within  His  view. 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION.  79 

The  heroic  ages  and  examples  of  His  fatherland  ;     CHAP, 
its  great  mission,  so  passionately  dwelt  on  by  the r-^ — • 


prophets,   and  which  has  yet  to   be  accomplished 
— filled  His  human  spirit,  and  constantly  formed 
the  animating  themes  of  His  discourse,  especially 
when  He  dwelt  on  the  national  degeneracy,  and  Matt. 
anticipated  the  lamentations  which  He  afterwards  39.  '  "^ 
uttered  so  pathetically  as  He  looked  upon  Jerusalem. 

Moreover,  it  should  be  carefully  observed  that 
this  aspect  of  His  life  was  brought  out  with  especial 
force,  and  was  made  signally  impressive,  by  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  His  people  in  those 
years.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  the  national  spirit 
was  as  strong  in  them  as  ever,  but  their  country, 
as  one  of  the  Imperial  provinces,  was  then  reduced 
to  an  absolute,  if  we  may  not  say  an  abject, 
dependence  on  the  Roman  power. 

Their  position  at  that  time  has  been  well  likened 
to  that  of  British  India  under  our  own  government. 
'  The  distant  British  monarch  might  be  named  as  Dr.  Traill's 
the  parallel  of  the  distant  Roman  Emperor;  the  /jil'f'JJ'Jc- 
Governor-General    occupies    a    position    much    re-  '"^"'^^^-  '• 
sembling  that  of  the   President,  or   Proconsul    of 
Syria  ;  while  the  Governor  of  one  of  the  provinces 
is  as  the  Procurator  of  Judea.     The  native  princes, 
the  allies  and  tributaries  of  the  British  Government, 


8o  NAZARETH    LIFE   IN    THE   NATION. 

CHAP,      stand  in  the  place  of  the  Herods,  the  Agrippas,  and 
IV.  .  . 

^~- — . PhiHps  ;  the  kings  and  tetrarchs  who  ruled  by  the 

permission,  and  during  the  pleasure,  of  the  sove- 
reign foreign  power.'  Such  as  these  were  the 
political  circumstances  of  Palestine  and  its  inhabi- 
tants, at  the  period  under  observation  ;  and  they 
were  singularly  fitted  to  supply  a  test  which  should 
bring  out  the  spirit  and  demeanour  of  the  truest, 
loftiest  patriotism. 

The  characteristic  marks  of  that  spirit  can  be 
unmistakably  ascertained  and  indicated.  It  is 
plain  that  one  who  was  really  possessed  by  it, 
would  never  shrink  from  taking  prompt  advantage 
of  every  occasion  which  required  a  distinct  and 
emphatic  assertion  of  his  nation's  claims  and  cha- 
racter. Clear  of  everything  which  might  have  the 
appearance  of  unworthy  and  timeserving  compro- 
mise, he  would  earnestly  range  himself,  after  the 
manner  of  the  best  among  his  ancestors,  upon  his 
country's  side,  and  insist  zealously  on  its  standing 

Neheni.  i.     and   prerogatives  ;   faithfully  pointing  out,  at  the 
4-1 1- 

Acts  x.wi,  same  time,  the  causes  of  its  weakness  and  de- 
generacy. On  the  other  hand,  he  would  not  less 
carefully  avoid  everything  like  mere  fanaticism  in 
that  direction ;  and  he  would  watchfully  hold 
himself  aloof  from  every  desperate   and   frenzied 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION.  8 1 

enterprise   which  might  aim  at    the   recovery   of    CHAP. 

IV. 
merely  outward    political  independence.     Indeed,   >- — . 

he  would  not  ascribe  any  value  to  such  indepen- 
dence, when  it  could  only  be  obtained  and  held 
by  stratagem  or  force,  without  any  regard  to  the 
spirit  in  which  such  a  possession  should  be  trea- 
sured, and  in  an  unmindfulness  of  that  moral  dis- 
cipline through  which  fitness  for  holding  it  should 
be  acquired. 

Under  such  circumstances  as  those  in  which 
Christ  lived,  this  would  evidently  be  the  course  of 
genuine  patriotism.  And  how  perfectly  it  was 
fulfilled  by  Him,  may  be  learned  from  the  ex- 
pressive silence  of  the  narrative,  as  well  as  from  its 
explicit  statements  in  those  pages  where  His  words 
and  acts  have  been  recounted  in  detail. 

In  all  the  distinctive  habits  of  His  life,  and  in 
His  most  emphatic  declarations,  especially  in  His  Matt.  ix. 
acceptance  of  the  title  '  Son  of  David,'  and  His  g''.  ^xh! 
frequent  allusions  to  the  connection  of  that  genera-  '^^" 
tion  with  the  generations  which  preceded  it — we 
have  seen  good  reason  to  believe  that,  in  His  later 
years,  His  national  position  was  formally  assumed 
by  Him,  that  His  life  throughout  was  habitually 
manifested  in    Hebrew  costume   and    expression.  Supra,  p. 
Now  all  our  grounds  for  this  assurance  show  as  ^^* 

G 


82  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION. 

CHAP,     plainly  that  He  had  zealously  assumed  this  position 

v_    / during   the  earlier  years    of  His  seclusion.      Not 

only  does  this  follow,  as  we  said,  from  considering 
the  Purpose  of  His  Incarnation,  but  the  fact  is  neces- 
sarily involved  in  the  consistency  and  oneness  of  His 
whole  life.  We  hence  gather  the  strongest  assurance 
that  He  spoke  in  Nazareth  upon  this  subject  in  the 
tones  which  He  subsequently  used  ;  that  then  also 
the  sentiments,  the  memories,  the  hopes,  which 
befit  an  ardent  patriot,  were  heard  from  him. 
Animated  and  exulting  when  He  dwelt  on  His 
ancestral  history.  He  mourned  also  throughout 
those  earlier  years  over  His  people's  degeneracy, 
and  inveighed  against  the  blindness  and  corruptions 
which  were  the  causes  of  their  deep  humiliation. 
Then,  too,  He  sorrowed  with  that  same  grief  which 
He  afterwards  manifested  as  He  wept  over  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  days  which  He  saw  were  coming  on 
Luke  xvii.  her,  through  evils  which  were  already  causing  the 
37 ,  XIX.  i^j^f^  |-Q  fester  into  a  carcase,  upon  which  the  eagles 
of  retribution  must  be  gathered. 

Thus  in  the  years  of  which  we  are  thinking,  did 
He  show  His  patriotic  attachment  to  His  father- 
land.    And  yet,  not  less  markedly,  did  He  then, 
as    afterwards,  hold   himself  aloof  from   the   un- 
^a  t.  xxu.   gQygj-j^g(j^    frenzied    movements    of   the   insurgent 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION.  8; 


spirits  of  His  day  ;  nay  more,  there  is  good  reason  c  hai* 
to  believe  that  He  earnestly  discouraged  them.  It  — . — 
is  well  known  that  at  that  time  Galilee  was  fre- 
quently the  scene  of  rebellious  outbreaks,  against 
the  Roman  Government,  which  were  undertaken 
by  men  who  were  desperate  and  frenzied  by  oppres- 
sion, and  who  were  often  marked  by  purest  sincerity 
and  noblest  zeal,  believing  themselves  fully  justified 
in    their  endeavours,'      And  yet,  while  it   cannot 

'  '  One  of  the  most  serious  of  these  outbreaks,  in  which  all  Ciahlee 
must  have  been  involved,  took  place  immediately  after,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  the  deposition  of  Archelaus.  The  increased  tribute, 
which  followed  on  the  enrolment  that  had  been  made  under 
Cyrenius,  was  made  more  odious  to  the  people  by  the  fact  that  it 
was  farmed  by  residents  in  their  towns  and  villages.  The  "  receipt 
of  custom,"  or  tax-office,  was  in  the  midst  of  them  :  this  badge 
of  degradation  was  constantly  in  view  ;  and  their  restless  impatience 
under  it,  exasperated  fiercely  the  discontent  which  many  already 
felt  on  witnessing  the  gradual  heathenising  of  the  province,  and 
shed  fresh  venom  into  the  ill  feeling  which  existed  between  them  and 
their  Gentile  neighbours.  Of  this  feeling  the  leaders  of  rebel  bands, 
some  of  them  being  fanatics,  some  mere  banditti,  eagerly  availed 
themselves,  and  in  one  instance  with  conspicuous  success.  Judas 
of  Galilee,  whether  patriot  or  brigand,  "drew  away,"  at  this  very 
time,  "much  people"  to  follow hiin.  Intrenched  in  those  spacious 
caves  of  the  ravine  which  runs  up  from  the  Gennesareth  plain,  that 
had  harboured  the  robber  bands  which  were  driven  out  by  Herod 
in  his  youth,  it  was  a  long  time  before  they  were  subdued.  But  the 
outbreak,  though  quelled  for  the  time,  disclosed  such  inquietude 
and  discontent,  that  larger  bodies  of  troops  were  draughted  into  the 
country.  Centurions,  with  their  bands  of  profligate  soldiers,  were  to 
be  found  in  every  considerable  town  of  the  province,  such  as  Caper- 
naum, Nazareth,  Cana,  and  Sepphoris." — Scripture  Lands  in  con- 
nexion luith  tkeir  History,  pp.  283,  284. 


84  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE   NATION. 

CHAP,     indeed   be   said   that    He   coldly  frowned   on    all 

r^ — '   those  enterprises — for  did  He  not  choose  one  from 

it^^See     ^^^^  very  parties  who  were  engaged  in  them   to  be 

Note.  numbered    amongst  the  Twelve — yet    they    never 

received  from  Him  either  assistance  or  encourage- 

Pamdise      ment.^     Milton's    representation,    which    declares 

A'igaincd. 

l)ook  i.        that,  at  this  time, 

'  Victorious  deeds 
Flamed  in  his  heart,  heroic  acts  ;  one  while, 
To  rescue  Israel  from  the  Roman  yoke. 
Then  to  subdue  and  quell,  o'er  all  the  earth. 
Brute  violence  and  proud  tyrannic  power ' — 

is  not  only  unsupported  by  any  authority  that 
can  be  gathered  from  the  Evangelists,  but  is 
quite  out  of  keeping  with  every  account  of  his 
demeanour.  No :  in  the  very  spirit  which  after- 
John  vi.  wards  led  Him  to  '  depart  from  those  who  would 
have  made  Him  a  king,'  He  constantly  refused 
to  take  any  share  in  the  insurgent  movements 
which  then  were  going  forward.  From  the  mere 
fanaticism  of  the  politicians  of  those  days.  He 
turned  habitually  and  steadfastly  away. 

In  such  well-defined  occupancy  of  His  national 

*  Simon  Zelotes,  or  the  Canaanite.  The  former  of  these  desig- 
nations of  the  Apostle  is  the  Greek  equivalent  of  the  latter,  which  is 
tlie  one  used  by  Matthew  and  Mark.  Each  of  these  clearly  indi- 
cates the  fact  that  Simon  had  belonged  to  one  of  those  insurgent 
parties  out  of  which  the  sect  of  the  Zealots  originated. 


15- 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION.  85 

position,  in  such  a  sincere  and  zealous  acceptance     CHAP. 

of  its  claims  as  the  ordinance  of  Him  who  hath   ^ . 

*  divided    to    every   nation    its    inheritance,'   along  ^^"^^"i"  g 
with  a   persistent  abstinence   from    all    unnatural, 
premature,     and     impatient    methods    of    accom- 
plishing   its   duties — this   sphere   of  life    also  was 
perfectly  filled  out  by  Him,  and  authenticated. 

And  amidst  circumstances  that  were  remarkably 
fitted  for  such  a  disclosure,  He  then  showed,  by 
His  words  and  His  demeanour,  as  one  of  the  He- 
brew people,  what  are  the  rules  and  laws  of  true 
national  existence.  They  were  so  embodied  in  His 
life  as  distinctly  to  make  known  in  what  manner 
they  should  be  observed  in  every  possible  combi- 
nation of  events  ;  in  what  way  communities,  which 
are  made  up  of  well-ordered  families,  and  which 
are  organically  compacted  according  to  the  true 
laws  of  their  association — may,  however  they  are 
circumstanced,  form  themselves  into  nations  which 
shall  worthily  take  a  place  among  the  unfallen  -^V'''?,  p. 
*  principalities  and  powers.'  Just  as  He  stood 
forth  in  this  position,  should  they  stand  whose 
fatherland  is  honourably  recognised  amongst  man- 
kind. And  those  who  are  living  where  it  has 
been  depressed  beneath  its  just  position,  through 
the  unfaithfulness  of  its  sons,  may  also  see  how. 


«6 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   THE  NATION. 


p.  197, 


without  any  compromise  of  duty,  they  should  as 

patriots  demean  themselves  ;  as  they   may  hence 

also  learn  what  are  at  once  the  lawful  and  the  most 

effective    methods    through    which    their    nation's 

place  and  prerogatives  may  be  recovered. 

In  short,  all  the  courage   and   self-devotedness, 

the   far-sighted  wisdom  and    noble  self-control  of 

genuine   patriotism,  were  witnessed    during    those 

thirty  years  in  Nazareth,  as  they  were  witnessed 

afterwards   through    the    scenes     of    His    public 

ministr}^  in  Capernaum   and  in  Jerusalem.     What 

Rom.  xiii.    the  scors  and  prophets  had  already  declared,  and 

I. 

Titnsiii.  i.   what  in  later  days  the  Apostles  taught  to  be  the 

will  of  God  in  this  department  of  man's  social  life, 
was  visibly  embodied  in  His  own  proceedings,  in 
His  acts  and  also  in  His  abstinences;  and  it  was 
so  embodied  amidst  events  than  which  none  can 
be  imagined  as  better  fitted  for  accomplishing  this 
one  of  the  Purposes  of  His  course  as  man  amongst 
mankind.  We  may  say  that  in  His  national,  as  in 
His  municipal  and  household  life,  the  very  ideal  of 
existence  was  beheld  in  Him. 

All  the  acts  in  which  He  discharged  these 
relationships  were  perfectly  blended  together  in 
harmonious  development,  so  that  the  works  be- 
longing to  each   never  embarrassed,  or  interfered 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    THE   NATION.  8/ 

with,  those  belonging  to  the  others.     As  the  three     CHAP, 

IV. 
spheres  of  being,  rising  one  out  of  the  other,  make  > r-^ — - 

up  the  beauty  and  strength  of  the  Economy  which 
is  constituted  by  their  union,  so  was  it  in  His 
Person  and  proceedings.  The  symmetrical  com- 
pleteness of  the  Whole,  as  well  as  the  entireness  of 
its  several  parts,  was  therein  perfectly  reflected. 


8S  CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 


CHAPTER   V. 

CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

CHAP.  In  surveying  Christ's  perfect  embodiment  of  the 
.  _  ,'  ^  Divine  Order  as  He  thus  throughout  those  early- 
years  harmoniously  blended,  in  perfect  fulfilment, 
one  duty  with  another,  we  have,  all  along,  observed 
His  recognition  of  the  relations  in  which  He  stood 
towards  God,  and  towards  the  communities  which 
are  centred  round  His  throne.  It  was  plainly  in 
what  the  Bible  calls  a  Godly  spirit,  and  under  an 
habitual  consciousness  of  the  Divine  and  Celestial 
bearings  of  His  earthly  Life,  that  every  trial  and 
restraint  in  it  was  borne,  and  that  all  its  active 
duties  were  discharged. 

Ephes.  ii.        And  this  is  just  saying,  in  other  words,  that  He 

19- 

iieb.  xii.     thought  and  spoke,  and  that    He  ever  acted,  as 

22. 

one  who  knew  that  this  earthly  scene  of  being 
has  been  incorporated  into   the   heavenly  sphere 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH.  89 

of  purity  and  love,  having  been  so  blended  there-     CHAP. 

V 
with. as  to  form  one  congruous  whole;  and  that  « ^ — ' 

He  showed  that  the  perceptions  and  emotions  of 
that  higher  sphere  should    rule  men   everywhere, 
through  all  times  and  occasions,  and  in  the  dis- 
charge of  every  obligation.     It  was  thus  that,  like 
the    patriarchs  of   His   nation,  or,  we  may  rather 
say,  like  those  unfallen  beings  who  are  ever  looking 
towards  the  throne — He  *  walked  with  God.'    *  God  Gen.  v.  24; 
was  in  all  His  thoughts.'     And,  as  He  afterwards 
declared  that,  in  His  human  character,  as  the  '  Son 
of  Man,'  He  was  '  in  heaven,'  while  He  was  still  John  iii. 
busied  amongst  the  duties,  and  was  carrying  the 
burdens,    of    His    earthly   course,    so    was    it    in 
Nazareth,  during  the  years  of  His  seclusion.     He 
lived  and  moved  and  had  his  being  there,  as  one  phiiipp. 
who  knew  that   His  Commonwealth  was  in  Hea-   (joioss.  iii. 
ven.     His    '  affections   were  set  on  things  above.'   ''  ^' 
In  every  development  of  His  personal  life,  in  His 
household  and  community,  and  in  His  position  as 
a  member  of  the  nation,  this  heavenly  character 
and  demeanour  were  observed  in  Him. 

That  calm  and  noble  bearing  which  distinguished 
those  earlier  years  befitted  one  Who  knew  that,  as 
Man,  He  was  even  then  living  in  the  '  City  of  God,  Heb.  xii. 

22     2  ^. 

the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  amongst  an  innumerable 


go 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
V. 


Divine 
Kingdom, 
chap.  iii. 


company  of  angels,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men 
made  perfect.'  And,  while  this  consciousness  ruled 
Him  at  all  times,  and  on  every  occasion  of  duty 
and  of  trial,  it  was  chiefly  shown — its  most  em- 
phatic expression  was  witnessed — in  His  Church 
Life.  It  was  manifested  most  clearly  in  His  cele- 
bration of  the  worship,  and  His  observance  of  the 
laws  and  ordinances,  which  belonged  to  the  Divine 
Society  into  wdiich  He  had  been  sacramentally 
admitted. 

This  Holy  Fellowship  had  been  established  in 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  as  a  witness  of  man's 
recovery  from  the  loss  into  which  he  had  brought 
himself  by  his  apostasy,  and  also  as  a  means  of 
perfectly  delivering  him  from  the  effects  of  it,  and 
re-establishing  him  in  complete  oneness  with  those 
communities  which  still  abide  in  their  allegiance. 
For  these  ends,  the  Church  was  added  on  to  the 
older  associations  already  existing  in  families  and 
cities,  supervening,  as  by  a  new  creation,  upon  the 
aboriginal  order  of  man's  being.  We  are  told  that 
every  other  form  of  human  fellowship  was  beheld 
by  the  Apostle,  when  the  Celestial  Economy  was 

Revel,  xxi.   revealed  to  him.  Therein  he  saw  communities,  with 
lo,  22, 23. 

their  families  and  households  ;  and  He  also  beheld 

the  symbols  of  royalty  and  dominion.     But  it  is 


CHURCH    LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  9 1 

expressively  said  that,  as  he  looked  through  the     CIIAI'. 

farspreading    scene,    he    '  saw    no    temple    there.'   > , 

Unfallcn  beings  have  no  need  either  of  the  in- 
struction or  of  the  help  which  are  furnished  by 
the  Institution  of  which  such  structures  are  me- 
morials. In  man's  circumstances,  however,  those 
requirements  are  urgent.  He  must  be  constantly 
reminded  of  his  relationship  towards  God,  and  of 
his  connections  with  his  fellow  inheritors  of  being, 
especially  with  those  past  generations  of  mankind 
who  are  dwelling,  during  his  earthly  life,  in  the 
region  of  departed  souls.     And  he  requires  helps,   Dhme 

Kingdoiii, 

besides,  in  warding  off  evils  by  which  his  earthly  ubi  sup. 

existence    is    beset,    and    in    accomplishing    those 

purposes  which  the  deepest  instincts  of  his  nature 

assure  him  are  those  for  which  he  was  created. 

Such  are   man's  urgent   needs.     And  they  are 

effectively  provided   for    in    the   Church's   Society 

and    Institutions.      That    Society    existed    at    the 

time  of  which  we  are   speaking,  it  was  seen,  and 

its  intention  was  expressed — in  the  Synagogues  of 

Israel,  and  in  the  Temple.     And  we  are  expressly 

told  that  it  was  '  His  custom '  then  to  attend  the   Luke  iv. 

16. 
services  of  the  Synagogue  every  sabbath  day.    Thus 

was  His  participation  in  the  Church-Life  of  Israel 

continually  witnessed ;    and  it  was  also  witnessed 


92 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
V. 


John  vii. 
14. 


Appendix, 
Note  D. 


Vitringa, 
Oil  Syna- 


still  more  impressively  by  His  participation  in  the 
temple  worship,  when,  in  that  obedience  to  the 
Mosaic  ordinances  which  we  know  He  habitually 
practised.  He  went  up,  at  the  appointed  seasons,  to 
its  more  remarkable  assemblies  and  services. 

How  the  Synagogue  was  constituted,  and  what 
forms  of  worship  and  instruction  were  used  in  it,  is 
as  well  known  as  are  the  particulars  of  any  of  the 
institutions  belonging  to  that  period.^  Its  antiquity 
may  be  uncertain,  but,  at  all  events,  we  know  that 
it  was  then  found,  in  every  village  as  well  as  town, 
where  Jews  were  living,  maintaining  the  testimony 
which  their  people  were  commissioned  to  uphold 
and  propagate,  and  celebrating  forms  of  Divine  ser- 
vice which  Moses  had  enjoined  on  them.  Prayers, 
in  liturgical  form,  and  compiled  for  the  most  part 
from  the  Inspired  Writings  ;  readings  from  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets ;  instruction  from  men  who  were 
reputed  to  have  deep  insight  into  truth,  along  with 
prophetic  exhortations — made  up  the  Synagogue 
services,  as  they  were  then  celebrated.  Through- 
out, it  was  assumed  in  them  that  man  had  been 
redeemed  and  restored  into  God's  Family  and 
Kingdom.     They  declared  his  union  with  '  angels 


'  An  account  of  the  arrangements  and  services  of  the  Synagogue 
at  this  time,  is  given  in  Note  D.  of  the  Appendix. 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  ^^ 

and  archangels  and  all  the  company  of  heaven  ; '     CIIAP. 
and    they    also    constantly    reminded    him    of   his   ^ r^ — - 


connection  with  the  fathers  who  were  then  dwelling 
in  Sheol  or  Hades,  the  realm  of  the  departed.^ 
Moreover,  they  expressed  the  grateful  conscious- 
ness of  men  who  knew  by  what  a  costly  price 
they  had  been  reinstated  in  God's  kingdom,  and 
who  acknowledged  their  relationships  therein  ;  and 
they  also  expressed  contrition  for  failures  in  dis- 
charging the  duties  which  belonged  to  those  rela- 
tionships, and  asked  that  strength  might  be  given 
for  their  subsequent  fulfilment. 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  Synagogue  worship, 
and  such  were  the  truths  that  were  conveyed  by 
it.     Moreover,  in    the   person   of    its    Elders  and  ^,.f  § 
Ministers,  and  of  the  Council  which  was  formed  by  s^g^^^,^^^- 
them,  and  which  appears  to  have  been  at  this  time  ^"^"^  ^i"  , 

tringa,  ui>i 

-  It  is  certain  (see  Vitringa,  and  Art.  Synagogue,  Bi7>.  Die.)  that 
there  were  allusions  to  the  dead  in  the  prayers  of  the  Synagogue.  The 
real  nature  of  these  offices  of  devotion  is  matter  of  well-known  con- 
troversy. But,  in  any  case — whether  they  were  simple  acts  of  com- 
munion, or  utterances  of  interceding  supplication — they  brought  past 
generations  distinctly  into  view  before  the  worshipper,  as  part  of  the 
Society  into  which  he  had  been  incorporated.  He  lived  in  the 
presence  of  their  members.  They  had  a  property  in  him,  and  he  in 
them.  He  was  consciously  joined  on  to  those  spirits  of  the  departed. 
Then,  in  numbers  constantly  increasing,  they  were  assembled  in 
Sheol,  or  Hades,  to  which  in  His  after  discourses  Christ  frequently 
alluded,  and  which  must,  long  before,  even  during  the  period  which 
we  are  here  contemplating,  have  been  explicitly  recognised  by  Him. 


94  CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

in  relations  of  dependence  on  and  subjection  to  the 
Sanhedrim  at  Jerusalem — it  exercised  a  control, 
which  was  guarded  and  enforced  by  the  severest 
penalties,  over  every  part  of  Jewish  life.  It  influ- 
enced, if  it  did  not  rule,  the  existence  of  the 
Israelite  in  his  domestic  and  social,  and  in  his 
national  character ;  sustaining  and  purifying  every 
relation  which  belonged  to  him.  And,  as  we 
shall  see,  there  is  sufficient  reason  for  believing 
that  to  this  government  of  the  Synagogue  in  Naza- 
reth, our  Lord  was  habitually  submissive  ;  as  it  is 
certain  that,  by  an  unbroken  custom,  He  joined  in 
its  prayers,  and  reverently  listened  to  its  readings 
and  instructions. 
Matt.  vi.  We   know,  from    His  own    words,    what    super- 

xxiii.  14.'  stitions  had  gathered  round  these  exercises  ;  and 
how  they  had  been  enfeebled  in  their  celebration 
and  disfigured  by  habits  of  thoughtless  and  even 
idolatrous  formality.  Every  corruption  which  has 
ever  spoiled  and  perverted  Divine  worship,  was 
seen  then  in  the  Synagogue  observance  of  the 
Hebrew  ritual,  although  it  contained,  and  chiefly 
in  inspired  words,  some  of  the  noblest  proclama- 
tions of  every  ordinance  of  the  Divine  Law,  and 
Vitringa,  somc  of  the  most  touching  utterances  of  prayer 
^  and  thanksgiving  that  have  ever  been  used  in  the 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  95 

devotions  of  the  sanctuary.  Yet,  perverted  and  chap. 
misused  as  this  ritual  was,  He  sincerely  and  habi-  -- — r — ' 
tually  worshipped  by  its  means.  Unhindered  by 
the  dulness  and  irreverence  of  those  around  Him, 
and  looking  through  the  corrupted  methods  in 
which  these  forms  of  Divine  service  were  cele- 
brated, to  the  truths  which  were  expressed  in  them, 
entering  into  their  spirit,  submitting  himself  meekly 
to  the  influences  which  they  were  intended  to 
convey — He  earnestly  employed  them  all.  The 
Schemah,  the  Shemoneh-Esreh,  the  Daraschoth 
were  thus  used  by  Him  as  affirmations  of  His 
Divine  Calling,  and  also  as  channels  through  which 
grace  was  conveyed  for  its  fulfilment.^  By  their 
means  He  recognised,  and,  in  recognising.  He  bore 
witness  to,  the  facts  of  man's  redeemed  position  ; 
communing  with  His  Heavenly  Father  and  with 
all  sharers  of  existence  in  the  use  of  them,  and 
receiving  fresh  supplies  of  strength,  and  of  quicken- 
ing inspiration,  from  their  testimony  and  assurances. 

'  The  Schemah  consisted  of  three  portions  selected  from  the  Law, 
viz.,  Deut.  ix.  4-9  ;  xi.  13-21  ;  Numb.  xv.  37-41.  The  Shemoneh- 
Esreh  consisted  of  eighteen  prayers,  of  which  the  greater  part  were 
said  to  have  been  composed  by  Ezra  and  his  colleagues.  And 
the  Daraschoth,  derived  from  the  verb  signifying  '  to  enquire  into ' 
or  '  discuss '  (Cf.  I  Cor.  i.  20 ;  Titus  iii.  9),  was  the  exposition,  or 
sermon,  such  as  that  which  our  Lord  Himself  afterwards  delivered, 
as  recorded  by  St.  Luke  (iv.  16). 


g6  CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 

CHAr.         That  very  significant  allusion  by  the  Evangelists 

• . '    to    His  customary  attendance  at  the  Synagogue, 

^u-eiv.  connected  with  His  well-known  habits  in  after 
John  xvui.  years,  assures  us  that,  all  through  that  earlier  period, 
He  joined  in  its  worship  and  listened  to  the  in- 
structions which  were  delivered  in  its  teaching. 
Nor,  still  holding  to  our  belief  in  the  consistent 
oneness  of  His  earthly  course,  can  we  doubt  that 
His  later  recognition  of  the  salutary  connections 
which  existed  between  the  Church  Institute  and 
common  life — as  when  He  spoke  of  its  influence 
Matt  xviii    ^^  '  reconciling  the    brother  who  had  trespassed,' 

15  ;  xxiii.     ^^^  Qf  ^]^Q  injunctions  which  the  '  scribes  who  sat  in 

2,3. 

Moses'  seat'  were  uttering — had  been  also  mani- 
fested throughout  His  abode  in  Nazareth.  Every 
Synagogue  was  meant  to  carry  out  the  secular 
laws  of  Moses  ;  thus  raising  the  tone  of  thought 
and  feeling  in  the  families  surrounding  it,  and 
strengthening  the  bonds  which  united  their  mem- 

Reasons  of  bers   to   each   other.      Purifying,  restraining,  and 

lis/' ^  ennobling  influences  were  meant  to  flow  out  from 
it,  through  which  the  moral  and  physical  Welfare 
of  the  whole  community  might  be  promoted.  ^  Nor 
can  we  think  that  of  those  uses  also  of  the  Sy- 
nagogue, by  which,  wherever  it  was  found,  the 
Church  was  represented — He  was  unmindful.   They 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 


97 


were   neither   neglected    nor   discouraged  by   His     CHAP. 

means.     On  the  contrary,  both  by  His  own  obedi-   ■ ^ — 

ence,  and  by  the  influence  which  He  exerted — this 
part  also  of  the  Restoring  Dispensation  was  fulfilled 
by  Him. 

And,  in  the  same  way,  with  the  same  spirit  and 
purpose,  He  went  up  at  the  appointed  seasons,  at 
Passover  and  Pentecost,  and  at  the  Feast  of  In- 
gathering— to  take  part  in  the  Temple  services,  to 
which  those  of  the  Synagogue  were  carefully  con- 
formed. That  at  this  time,  He  went  up,  not  only 
on  the  occasion  named  by  the  Evangelist,  but 
habitually,  to  Jerusalem,  at  the  great  festivals,  will 
hardly  be  questioned  when  we  duly  consider  His  l^evit. 
position  and  His  purposes.  Attendance  on  those  \,  15,  n. 
festivals  was  obligatory  on  every  pious  Jew ;  and 
the  after  and  fuller  details  of  His  life  show  that, 
by  such  men,  they  were  in  those  years  observed, 
habitually  and  earnestly.  Mingling,  then,  unob- 
servedly,  amongst  those  faithful  worshippers,  the 
'  waiters  for  Israel's  consolation,'  the  Simeons  and 
Annas  of  the  time,   and,  among  them,  with  the 

John  xii. 

devout  Jews  who  came  as  pilgrims  to  the  Holy  29. 
City  from  every  region  of  the  globe — Christ  regu- 
larly took  part,  from  the  years  of  His  boyhood,  in 

H 


qS  church   life   in    NAZARETH. 

CHAP,     the    impressive   ritual  which  was  then  celebrated 

' ' — -'    on   Moriah.      From  the  very  first  He  manifested 

that  same  devoutness,  in  '  spirit  and  in  truth,'  which 
Johniv.24.    He  afterwards  commended.     In  that  scene  of  the 
national  assemblies,  amidst  the  most  stirring  me- 
mories and  associations.  He  openly  recognised,  and, 
in  thus  recognising,  He  afresh  proclaimed,  the  facts 
and  the  duties  of  man's  redeemed  position.   He  com- 
muned there  with  the  fathers  of  His  people,  and 
with   the  denizens  of  that  heavenly  sphere    with 
Su/»'(7         which  our  earthly  abode  is  blended.      And  there, 
p-  93-  too.  He  received  influences  which  strengthened  and 

quickened  Him  in  discharging  all  those  obligations 
which,  as  Man,  He  had  undertaken  to  fulfil.  Nor 
can  we  doubt  that,  on  each  recurrence  of  these  con- 
secrated seasons.  He  felt  the  'gladness'  of  those 
Psalms        ^vho  said  '  We  will  go  up  into  the   House  of  the 

xcvi.  c. 

cxxii.  Lord.     Our  feet   shall   stand   within   thy  gates,  O 

Jerusalem.'     He  rejoiced  with  His  brethren  amidst 
the  impressive  services  which  were  celebrated  on 
Mount  Zion  ;  and,  in  that  communion  with  them, 
I  Kin^s       He    confirmed    their   submission,   along  with   His 
Psalm^        own,  to  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord.     In  His  com- 
xlviii.  9.       jj^Qj^  prayer  and    thanksgiving    with  them  in    the 
Sanctuary  of  their  fathers.  He  renewed  His  ener- 
gies with  theirs  for  the  discharge  of  all  the  obliga- 


CHURCH    LIFE   IN    NAZARETH. 


99 


tions  which  in  that  place  were  so  solemnly  urged     CHAP. 

on  their  regards.'*  "■ < — - 

Then  again,  besides  realizing  with  signal  vivid- 
ness His  Divine  and  heavenly  relationships  on 
those  occasions,  and  gaining  eminent  supplies  of 
*  grace  to  help  '  in  their  fulfilment,  through  the 
influence  of  the  moving  associations  amidst  which 
the  Temple  services  were  celebrated — He  also 
looked  upon  the  Sanctuary  on  Moriah  as  a  distin- 
guished sign  of  those  national  purposes  for  the  pro- 
motion of  which  the  Church  was  likewise  instituted. 
And  as,  by  His  own  submission,  and  by  His  in- 
fluence, He  upheld  the  Synagogue  in  its  bene- 
ficent working  among  the  families  of  Nazareth, 
so  He  regarded  '  Mount  Zion  and  her  assemblies'  Isaiah  iv. 
as  an  instrument  for  raising  the  spirit  of  the  Nation  ; 
for  counteracting  its  errors  and  corruptions,  and 
joining  its  members  in  closer  unity ;  and  for 
helping  it  to  fulfil  its  mission  in  the  world.      He 

■•  That  at  this  period  Christ  regularly  celebrated  the  principal  feasts 
in  Jerusalem  is  implied  in  the  habits  of  His  family — whose  rigorous 
Judaism  was  betokened  by  the  fact  that  Mary  accompanied  Joseph 
to  the  Holy  City — as  well  as  in  His  habitual  fulfilment  of  the 
Mosaic  appointments.  He  was,  therefore,  familiar  with  Jerusalem, 
with  its  circumstances  and  spirit,  long  before  His  public  ministry 
began.  And  this  fact  is  assumed  by  the  more  thoughtful  commen- 
tators on  the  Gospel  history  (e.g.  Lange,  '  Life  of  Christ,'  vol.  i. 
p.  416,  E.T. ),  as  sinister  inferences  have  also  been  drawn  from  it  by 
writers  of  the  rationalist  'persuasion.' 


lOO 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
V. 

Psalm 
cxxii.  5- 


Psalm 
Ixvii.  4. 

Micah  iv. 
2. 


Gen.  xxii. 
la 

Zech.  xiv. 
8. 


Matt.  xxii. 
'7. 


looked  reverently  towards  the 'thrones  of  judgment 
in  the  House  of  David,'  and  zealously  helped  in  sus- 
taining their  authority  among  the  people.  And 
He  cordially  joined  in  those  expressions  of  world- 
wide philanthropy  which  the  Hebrew  anthems  were 
continually  uttering.  '  Let  the  nations  be  glad 
and  sing  for  joy,'  He  said,  '  for  Thou  shalt  judge 
the  people  righteously,  and  govern  the  nations 
upon  earth.'  He  constantly  remembered  how  it 
had  been  promised  that  '  Out  of  Zion  should  go 
forth  the  law,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Jeru- 
salem.' And  He  always  pointed  to  the  Temple  as  a 
witness  that  the  descendants  of  Abraham  had  been 
called  to  stand  forth  among  men  as  the  typal 
patterns  of  the  race  ;  and  that  '  all  nations '  as  well 
as  families,  were  hereafter  to  be  '  blessed  '  by  their 
teaching  and  example. 

With  these  views  of  its  secular,  as  well  as 
of  its  spiritual,  uses  in  the  Divine  Order,  He  ob- 
served the  ordinances  of  the  Church,  both  in  the 
Synagogue  and  in  the  Temple.  Looking  through 
their  disfiguring  environments,  and  the  mischievous 
deadening  corruptions  that  had  been  brought  on 
them — to  their  real  nature  and  their  original  inten- 
tion. He  received  the  knowledge  that  is  conveyed  by 
them,  and  the  genuine  influence  which  is  imparted  by 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  lOI 

their  agencies  ;  and  He  also  showed  how  they  bear     CHAP. 

on  the  discharge  of  all  personal  and  family  and   ~— — < ' 

national  obligations. 

Reverently  contemplating  His  Life  at  Nazareth 
under  these  aspects,  it  may  indeed  be  said  that 
the  archetypal  form  of  the  Church,  and  the  essen- 
tial purposes  of  its  institution,  were  therein  per- 
fectly reflected.  Many  of  His  words  and  deeds 
are  only  intelligible  on  the  supposition  that  He  had 
always  recognised  it  as  a  disclosure  of  the  Order 
in  which  the  Will  of  God  is  truly  and  perfectly 
embodied,  and  as  a  system  of  divinely  instituted 
agencies  for  restoring  men  to  perfect  conformity 
with  the  true  standard  of  their  life,  and  for  help-  Divine 
ing  them  to  practise  a  perfect  obedience  to  the  „  ^201!"^' 
laws  by  which  all  existence  is  controlled.  The 
supernatural  realities  of  which  it  testifies — in  its 
declarations  respecting  the  Sovereignty  of  God,  the 
changeless  order  of  His  Universe,  the  terms  on 
which  we  hold  our  place  amongst  its  families  and 
kingdoms,  the  intercourse  into  which  we  are  brought 
with  them — and  the  obligations  which  hence  de- 
volve on  us,  all  these  testimonies  with  the  de- 
meanour required  by  them,  were  habitually  and 
clearly  mirrored  in  His  words  and  His  proceedings. 
And  His  acknowledgment  of  them  was  especially 


102 


CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 


CHAP. 
V. 


Matt.  xiv. 

5- 

Luke 
xxiv.  19. 


Acts  iii.  I. 


manifested  by  His  constant  protest  against  those 
corruptions  by  which  the  Divine  Society  had  been 
enfeebled  and   perverted. 

For  even  in  those  years,  while  He  was  thus 
using  the  Church's  ordinances,  He  faithfully  and 
zealously  protested  against  the  abuses  which  so 
misrepresented  their  character,  and  weakened  their 
efficiency.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  during  the  later 
period  in  relation  to  which  His  teaching  and  conduct 
are  fully  described  by  the  Evangelists,  His  denun- 
ciations of  the  Church  evils  of  His  time,  were — as 
indeed  became  the  prophetic  character  which  was 
then  assumed  by  Him — most  frequent  and  em- 
phatic. But  we  may  confidently  assume  that  He 
did  not  then  first  begin  to  utter  them,  any  more 
than  that  He  commenced  in  that  after  period,  an 
observance  of  the  ordinances  which  before  He  had 
neglected.  We  have  the  fullest  assurance  that,  all 
through  His  earlier  life.  He  maintained  the  re- 
ligious habits  which  we  afterwards  see  Him  prac- 
tising, as  they  were  subsequently  practised  by  the 
Apostles  under  His  instruction.  And,  therefore, 
it  is  quite  certain  that,  while  He  diligently 
and  devoutly  used  all  the  '  means  of  grace  that 
appertained  to  His  Church  Life,  He  must  often, 
even   in  those  earlier   years,  have   lifted  up   His 


CHURCH    LIFE   IN    NAZARETH.  10^ 

sometimes  sadly  and  sometimes  indignantly  pro-     CHAP. 

testing   voice,    against    Sadducean    cynicism    and   ~ ' — - 

Pharisaic  ostentation.  Then,  too.  He  condemned  the 
cold  formalism  and  false  sentiment,  along  with  the 
self-seeking  plausibilities,  of  the  mere  religionists  of 
that  day  and  generation  ;  while  at  the  same  time 
he  denounced,  with  strongest  vehemence,  the  men 
whom  He  saw  polluting  the  Sanctuary  with  un- 
godly traffic,  and  making  vile  merchandise  of  its  John  iv. 
corruptions.  Often,  too,  would  He  then  turn 
men's  thoughts  back  to  the  great  purposes  for 
which  the  Church  had  been  instituted,  and  to  the 
purer  simpler  days  in  which  those  purposes  had  been 
faithfully  accomplished.  He  'shewed  the  House 
to  the  House  of  Israel,  that  they  might  be 
ashamed    of   their    iniquities.'     And    '  He   helped 

Ezekiel 

them  to  measure  the  Pattern,  that  they  might  keep  xiiii.io, 
the  whole   form    thereof,  and    all  the  ordinances 
thereof,  and  do  them.' 

In  this  manner  he  fulfilled  the  duties  of  His 
Church  Life  by  protest  and  conflict,  as  well  as 
in  the  exercises  of  worship  and  contemplation. 
And  while  He  lived  and  worked  through  common 
days  and  scenes  amidst  the  glorious  light  thrown 
on  them  from  the  Sabbath  hours  and  from  the 
devotions  of  the  Sanctuary,  He  plainly  recognised 


II. 


104  CHURCH   LIFE   IN   NAZARETH. 

x_riAP.     every  region  of  man's  existence  as  incorporated  in 

■ . '   the  Divine  Sphere  of  his  being,  and  as  forming  part 

of  it.  He  showed  how  'this  world  may  be  trans- 
John  iii.  figured  and  glorified,  and  the  world  above  sub- 
stantiated and  made  ours  by  their  mutual  blend- 
ing '  on  the  commonest  occasions,  and  amongst  the 
dreariest,  humblest  occupations. 


I.v 


NAZARETH  LIFE  IN  ITS  AFTER  DEVELOPMENTS.       I05 


CHAPTER   VI. 

NAZARETH    LIFE    IN    ITS    AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 

This  view  of  Christ's   Church   Life  harmoniously     CHAP. 

blending,  and  firmly  compacting,  all  the  other  rela-  > r-^ — 

tionships  that  were  sustained  by  Him,  completes 
our  survey  of  His  earlier  embodiment  of  the  Divine 
Order  as  it  is  meant  to  be  manifested  amongst  men. 
We  now  see  it  in  its  entireness  and  its  perfection. 
Steadfastly  gazing  on  Nazareth  under  all  the  histo- 
rical lights  which  converge  on  it,  instructed  by  all  '^"^^'^^ 
the  means  of  information  that  are  at  our  command 
— the  very  Ideal  of  human  existence  comes  forth 
therein,  complete  under  every  aspect  in  which  it  can 
be  contemplated. 

In  that  undistinguished  position,  amidst  occupa- 
tions and  companions  such  as  are  allotted  to  the 
great  majority  of  the  human  race,  we  observe  every 
relationship  fulfilled,  every  duty  calmly  and  nobly, 


I06  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 

CHAP,     ^j^fj  yg|-  unobtrusively  accomplished,  in  His  house- 

■ •      '    hold  and   community,   in    His  nation   and    in    the 

Church.  In  His  connections  with  all  surrounding 
persons  and  occasions,  and  His  heedfulness  of  every 
one  of  their  just  requirements — the  common  life  of 
man,  in  its  accustomed  scenes,  was  there  consistently 
and  greatly  lived.  The  virtues  which  had  been  seen 
in  the  best  men  before  His  time  were  but  faint  gleams 
of  that  full-orbed  refulgence ;  and,  by  all  men  since 
^   ,  then,  the  glory  which  was  there  beheld  in  Him, 

Psalm  ° 

Ixxii.  17.  has  been  only  dimly,  brokenly  reflected.     Surveyed 

Cant. V.  16. 

John  i.  14.  in  relation  to  all  surrounding  things,  Christ's  Life  in 

Nazareth  was    evolved    in   complete,  harmonious 

development.     And  it  was  also  seen  resting  upon, 

and  growing  out  of,  past  times  and  generations. 

In  all  His  relationships  He  was  united  to,  and,  so  to 

Lukexxiv.   speak,  He  came  forth  from,  the  general  mass  of  His 

27. 

John  vi.  predecessors  upon  earth.  He  inherited  their  attain- 
ments and  possessions ;  their  vitality  was  ener- 
gising in  His  person  and  associations ;  through 
innumerable  channels,  their  life  affected,  moulded 
and  determined,  that  which  He  lived  there  during 
the  years  which  we  have  been  surveying. 

And  this  sense  of  His  connection  with  past  genera- 
tions, over  and  above  that  in  which  He  stood  with 
the   men  who  were  then  living  with  Him   upon 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS.  lO/ 

earth,  is  necessary  to  complete  our  view  of  His     chap. 
position  as  a  member  of  the  race,  so  that,  in  the    _      '    . 
fullest    significance,    His    disciples    may  recognise 
Him,  as  He  is  there  observed  in  the  years  of  His 
seclusion,  not  only  as  the  Son  of  Mary  and  the 
Son  of  David,  but  also  as  the  Son  of  Man.     Now, 
however,  we  miust  connect  these  years  with  those   j.'   ' 
which  followed  in  His  after  history :  we  must  see 
how  His  Life  in  Nazareth  fulfilled  the  intention  of  all 
human  lives  in  contributing  to  man's  general  pro- 
gress and  advancement.    This  is  necessary,  because 
no  one's  place  is  entirely  filled  out,  his  life  is  not 
beheld  in  all  its  significance  and  practical  moment- 
ousness,  unless  this  connection  with  the  afterhood 
of  its  history,  has  been  witnessed  and  considered. 

We  have  seen  then  how  certain  is  the  fact  that 
Christ's  subsequent  three  years  in  Capernaum  and 
Jerusalem  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  beginning  of  His 
ministry,  but  showed  rather  the  continuance  and  en- 
largement of  that  which  had  already  been  carried 
forward,  through  the  thirty  years  preceding.  Then, 
indeed.  His  embodiment  of  the  Divine  Order 
was  brought  out  more  fully  and  impressively,  be- 
cause then,  *  His  hour '  having  come,  He  emerged  ,  ,    .. 

'^  *=        John  11.  4 ; 

from  His  retirement  to  enter  on  His  office  as  a  Pro-  '^"-  ^• 
phet  in  the  world.     But,  excepting  His  prophetic 


I08  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS 

CHAP 
y\    '      utterances,  and  the  miraculous  works  by  which  they 

were  fittingly  accompanied,  there  was  nothing  in 
that  later  course  which  the  Evangelists  have  de- 
scribed, that  can  be  justly  spoken  of  as  new.     It  is 
true  that  in  His  teaching  through  His  latter  years, 
He  spoke   with  an  authority  which  He  had  not 
before  assumed  ;  and  that,  in  His  miracles,  He  then 
Reasons       Opened  out  the  world  unseen,  and  showed  the  su- 
p.  oa  ^'      preme  control  which  He  was  exercising  over  all  its 
regions,  as  He  had  never  previously  done.     But, 
with  these  exceptions,  what  was  seen  in,  and  what 
was    heard    from.  Him    throughout   those   years, 
which  had  not  been  heard    and    seen   during  the 
long  period  by  which  they  were  preceded  }      The 
highest  manifestations  of  wisdom  and  beneficence, 
of  tenderness  and  self-devotion — had  been  already 
witnessed    in    His   character ;  those  qualities  had 
been  lived  out,  and  they  had  been  spoken  forth,  and 
amidst  the  very  scenes  through  which  the  Evan- 
gelists afterwards  conduct    Him  in  their  history  ; 
Acts  i.  2.     in  families  and  households,  in  streets  and  market- 
I  2.  " '      places,  in  the  Synagogue  and  in  the  Temple.     In 
all   those  places,    He  had  been    living  that   same 
kind  of  life  which  we  see   Him   living  afterwards; 
He  had  toiled    amidst  its    duties,   and    in   it    He 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS.  IO9 

had  sufifered  too  from  the  '  contradiction  of 
sinners  against  Himself,'  from  the  opposition  and 
reviHngs  of  those  who  looked,  impatiently  and 
angrily,  upon  the  goodness,  the  love  and  right- 
eousness, which  they  beheld  in  Him. 

It  was  amidst  those  trials  that  He  had  *  in- 
creased '  in  that  wisdom,  and  acquired  that  spiritual 
strength  and  nobleness,  which  were  displayed  so 
conspicuously  in  His  public  ministry, as  theEvange-  „  , 
lists  describe  it.  There,  amidst  those  sufferings,  *  He  ^-  ^• 
had  learned  the  obedience '  with  which  His  Father's 
will  was  afterwards  accomplished.  The  power  and 
calmness,  the  steadfast  patience  and  long-enduring 
courage,  which  those  writers  have  so  wondrously 
depicted,  were  the  natural  outcome,  in  His  human 
spirit,  of  that  discipline  through  which  He  had 
long  been  passing,  and  to  which  He  had  so  {^  "  '^' 
lovingly  submitted.  Indeed,  we  may  here  remark 
it  as  one  of  the  most  impressive  among  the  many 
Divine  congruities  of  truth  which  may  be  discerned 
in  the  Gospel  History,  that  His  after  life  is  presented 
by  His  biographers  as  coming  forth  in  such  natural 
development  from  that  course  which  a  consideration 
of  the  Purposes  of  His  Incarnation,  and  of  the  scene 
of  their  fulfilment,  apart  from  any  reference  to  His 


34- 


no  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    ITS   AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 

CHAP,     subsequent  history,  would  show  He  had  accom- 

. , ; pHshed.^ 

Now  in  this  growth,  this  slow  gradual  develop- 
ment of  His  perfections,  Christ  exemplified  a  law  of 
the  Divine  Order,  as  truly  as  He  did  in  fulfilling  the 
many  relations  in  which  we  have  been  surveying  Him. 
He  thus  showed  how  those  germs  of  excellence 
which  are  implanted  in  the  human  spirit,  are  meant 
to  be  gradually  expanded,  during  the  course  of 
years,    by   loyally   and   lovingly   discharging    the 

duties,  and  submitting  to  the   restraints  and  trials, 
Matt.  xi.  -  .  .  _,, 

29.  of  the  earlier  stages  of  existence.      There  alone 

can  genuine  strength  and  courage  and  self-control, 
an  absolute  mastery  over  our  faculties,  and  skill 
and  power  in  using  them — be  certainly  acquired. 
In  what  manner  the  most  effective  processes  of 
self-culture    may    be    carried    forward,    and    how 

'  In  the  preceding  chapters  we  have  assumed  that  oneness  and 
uniformity  of  the  later  with  the  earlier  course  on  which  we  are 
here  commenting,  and  have  used  it  as  one  of  our  three  sources  of 
information  respecting  this  part  of  the  Divine  l^ik  [see  Introducf  ion). 
The  accordance  of  its  testimony  with  that  of  our  other  two  infor- 
mants furnishes  an  '  evidence  '  which  is  well  worth  observing.  And 
this  will  come  out  still  more  impressively,  if  the  other  two  means  of 
information  are  used  independently.  That  is  to  say,  the  Purpose  of  the 
Incarnation,  and  the  scene  of  its  fulfilment,  being  alone  regarded,  we 
should  see  that  first  in  Nazareth  such  a  Life  must  have  been  lived 
as  that  which  we  afterwards  witness,  in  Jerusalem  and  Capernaum, 
when  its  prophetic  and  miraculous  characteristics  have  been  de- 
ducted. 


AZARETH  LIFE  IN  ITS  AFTER  DEVELOPMENTS.       1 1 1 

spiritual  perfection  is  to  be  sought  for  and  attained,     CHAP. 

was  surely  shown,  most  clearly  and  instructively,   " ■ ' 

when  He  came  forth  from  such  plainness  and 
monotony,  such  utter  commonness  of  life  as  that 
was  amidst  which  He  was  living  through  that  long 
period,  in  the  perfection  of  a  character  before 
which  all  men,  even  the  noblest,  have  bowed,  and  j^^asons 
bowed  most  humbly  in  their  purest,  loftiest  moods.  ^  ^g'^'' 

Nor  was  it  only  in  the  growth  and  development 
of  His  personal  character,    that  the  Laws  of  the 
Divine  Order  were  then  revealed  by  Him.     He  also 
showed  how  genuine  influence  is  exerted,  and  the 
essential  conditions  of  acquiring  it.     Of  this  we  are 
reminded  by  the  statement  that  during  these  years 
He  '  grew  in  favour,  with  man  '  as  well  as  God.  We 
remember  that  it  was  after  the  Life  in  Nazareth  had 
closed,  and  in  Divine  approval  of  His  course  therein, 
that  the  testimony  came  :  '  This  is  My  beloved  Son,   Matthew 
in  Whom  I  am  well  pleased.'     And  it  was  then,  too,  "^'  ^^' 
long  before  He  had  '  manifested  forth  His  glory,'  and  john  i.  14; 
while  the  Life  was  still  quietly  going  forward,  that  "'  "' 
the  conviction  was  awakened,  and  grew  up  in  the 
minds  of  His  earliest  disciples,  that  in  Him,  com- 
plete goodness,  the  loftiest  manifestation  of  human 
existence,  had  been  witnessed.     It  should  ever  be 
carefully   remembered   that   they  were    His   near 


112  NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   ITS   AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 

-  CHAP,     neighbours,  men  who  had  long  lived,  but  a  few  miles 
■ "^    away,  in  His  own  district  of  the  land,  who  first  fol- 
lowed Him.    From  what  they  personally  knew,  and 
had  seen  of  Him,  they  were  led  to  their  belief  that,  in 
John  i  45    ^^^  Life,  the  '  Light  of  men '  was  witnessed.     And 
living  with  Him,  and  getting  every  day  into  closer 
intimacy  with  His  mind  and  character,  they  found 
increasing  reasons  for  their  trust,  until   it  grew  at 
length  into  an  overpowering  conviction.    His  quietly 
consistent  and  unvarying  goodness  had  at  length 
gained  their  confidence  ;    and,   wisely  yielding  it, 
they  understood  Him  more  perfectly:  the  human 
character  which  had  so  grown  up  in  their  regards, 
led  them  onwards  to  the    Divine  aspects  of  His 
Person.      Recognising   the    Son    of  Mary  and    of 
David,  as  being   also  the  Son  of  Man,  they  came 
Matt.  xvi.    afterwards  to  know  Him  as  the  Eternal  Word,  the 
J^;  Son  of  God.      And  with    only  one  break  in   its 

John  XX.  ■' 

3'-  continuity  of  growth,  this  assurance  strengthened. 

Once  indeed,  in  an  hour  of  overwhelming  trial, 
an  immense  shock  was  given  to  their  convictions. 
But  they  soon  recovered  from  the  effects  of  it, 
and  their  trust  never  afterwards  deserted  them 
Baptized  with  Pentecostal  fire,  they  held  it  with 
unquenchable  ardour  to  the  end,  and  all  life  was 
henceforth  tried  by  the  Life  which  they  had  wit-- 


NAZARETH    LIFE   IN    ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS.  II 3 

ncssed,  as  by  a  standard  from  which  there  could  be     CHAP. 

VI. 
no  appeal.     In  the  strength  of  their  faith  in  Him,   • , 

they   overcame   the   world,    and    victoriously   ac- 
complished the  mission    to  which  they  had  been   ijohnv.4. 
appointed. 

Moreover,  by  the  influence  which  they  exerted, 
His  course  in  Nazareth  still  further  exemplified, 
by  embodying,  the  Divine  Order  of  man's  being. 
In  that  world-wide  manifestation  of  His  glorious 
character  which  went  forward  through  their 
agency,  we  see  one  of  the  most  momentous  laws  ^^..^^.^  ^^ 

of     man's    existence     impressively    brought    for-  ^°' 

Acts  i.  8. 
ward,    since    every  partaker  of  immortal    life   on 

earth  has  thus  been  appointed  to  send  out,  by  the 
instrumentality  of  those  immediately  around  him, 
influences  that  shall  reach  far  beyond  his  own 
circle,  and  by  which  the  welfare  of  mankind  is  Qr^[  y\  jo. 
furthered.  Now  this  law  also,  was  fulfilled  in  2  Pet.  i.  7. 
the  course  which  we  have  been  surveying.  It  so 
wrought  on  those  whom  it  immediately  affected, 
that  through  and  from  them  it  passed,  like  leaven 
in  a  mass,  or  like  all-pervading  light,  over  the 
whole  earth.  This  power  of  Christ's  Divine  Exam- 
ple had  its  origin  in  the  habits  of  His  life  throughout 
the  thirty  years.  And  in  remembrance  of  them,  as 
well  as  of  the  years  which  followed,  it  may  be  truly 


114 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN    ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 


CHAP. 

VI. 

Bushnell's 
Nature 
cud  the 
Super- 
natural, 
chap.  X. 


Psalm 
xxii.  8. 

John  xii. 
32- 


said  that,  'filling  every  mould  of  action,  every  term  of 
duty  and  of  love,  with  His  own  Divine  manners, 
works,  and  charities — all  the  conditions  of  human 
existence  have  been  raised  by  the  meaning  which  He 
has  shown  to  be  in  them,  and  the  grace  which  He 
has  put  upon  them.  The  world  itself  is  changed  ; 
it  is  no  more  the  same  that  it  was  :  it  has  never 
been  the  same  since  He  lived  in  it.  The  air  is 
charged  with  heavenly  odours,  and  a  kind  of 
celestial  consciousness,  a  sense  of  other  worlds,  is 
wafted  on  us  in  its  breath.  Christ  and  His 
all-quickening  Life  are  now  in  the  world,  as  fixed 
elements,  and  will  be  to  the  end  of  time,  so  that  we 
may  say,  "  Look  ye  hither,  all  ye  blinded  and  fallen 
of  mankind  !  there  is  a  better  nature  among  you  ; 
a  pure  heart,  out  of  some  purer  world,  is  come  into 
your  prison,  and  He  walks  through  it  with  you." ' 

Thus  does  He  exert  an  universal  influence  over 
men  s  minds  and  hearts.  In  this  view  of  it,  also.  His 
dominion  over  the  spirits  of  men  '  extends  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.' 
And  this  function  of  His  world-wide  rule  began 
in  Nazareth  during  the  thirty  years  which  we  have 
been  reviewing.  Indeed,  we  there  see  some  of  the 
most  striking  features  of  this  pattern  left  by  Him 
for   universal   imitation.     Some   of  the  most  im- 


NAZARETH  LIFE  IN  ITS  AFTER  DEVELOPMENTS.       II 5 

pressive  tones  of   the    voice   which     is    heard    in      CIIAP. 

all  ages  and  regions,  and  through  every  generation,    > ^^ — ' 

were  uttered  there  ;  and  just  because  His  place  and 
circumstances,  amidst  the  common  paths  of  men, 
throughout  those  early  years,  brought  Him  into 
closer  relations  with  the  majority  of  those  who  ^^^'-  "•  7- 
continually  look  to  Him  for  teaching  and  example. 
Moreover,  by  means  of  what  we  there  witness,  we 
can  better  understand  the  after  life  which  His 
biographers  have  written  in  detail  :  we  can  enter, 
more  intelligently,  and  with  deeper  interest,   into 

the  meaning  of  the  lessons  which  He   taught,  by   Luke  xxiv. 

19- 
word    and    deed,  during  the  years  of   His   public 

ministry,  in  Capernaum  and  in  Jerusalem. 

Nor    may   we   here    omit   to    notice    that    His 

pattern  in  that  earlier  part  of  His  course  becomes 

more  imitable,  as  well  as  more  intelligible,  by  the 

power  of  His  sympathy.     For  eminently  there  we 

may  realize  His  fellowship,  and  feel  the  power  of 

His  Redeeming  Love,  while  we  copy  His  example. 

Here,  however,  and  in  looking  towards  this  aspect 

of  our  subject,  the  profoundest  reverence  is  needed, 

and  we  must  be  careful  not  to  contravene,  by  any 

of  our  own  words  respecting  it,  the  utterances  of 

the    Fatherly    and    Prophetic    instructors    of    the 

Church. 


ii6 


NAZARETH  LIFE  IN  ITS  AFTER  DEVELOPMENTS. 


CHAP. 
VI. 


Luke  xxii. 
42. 

John  V.  30. 


Ephes  i. 
10. 

I  Pet.  iii. 
18. 


And  yet,  heedfully  bearing  in  mind  their  teaching 
concerning  the  highest  ends  of  His  Incarnation  and 
Atonement,  we  cannot  speak  of  His  course  through- 
out that  earlier  period — when,  in  every  relation 
which  then  devolved  on  Him,  He 'did  not  His  own 
will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who  sent  Him,'  when 
His  constant  rule  of  conduct  was,  '  Not  my  will,  O 
God,  but  Thine  be  done ' — except  as  part  of  the 
manifestation  of  that  Divine  Sacrifice  through  which 
our  world  has  been  restored  to  its  place  in  the  Divine 
Kingdom.  His  Life  in  Nazareth,  with  its  severe 
restraints  and  its  bitter  trials,  arose  from,  and  it 
disclosed,  that  law  of  self-devotion  which  holds  good 
universally,  on  which  the  safety  and  welfare  of  the 
universe  is  based,  and  of  which  the  highest  illus- 
tration has  been  witnessed  in  that  Atoning  Work 
through  which  man's  redemption  was  secured. 
It  was  joined  on  to  the  self-denials  and  sorrows 
of  His  after  years,  to  the  'agony  and  passion' 
which  ended  in  the  '  precious  death  '  wherein  that 
illustrious  Work  was  perfected.  Did  not  His  Divine 
Sacrifice  begin  to  be  offered  up  in  the  very  hour  of 
His  Incarnation,  and  was  it  not  carried  forward  all 
through  His    earthly  Life  unto  the    end!^     And, 

-  '  Not  only  in  "  His  agony  and  bloody  siveat,  and  in  His  cross  and 
passion,"  but  throughout  the  Whole  Life  of  which  His  last  sufferings 


NAZARETH   LIFE   IN   ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS.  II7 

tliinkiiiG:  now  of  that  earlier  part  of  it,  we  know  that     CHAP. 

VI. 
there  must  have  been  many  hours   and   days  and    — . — - 

year.s,  while  it  proceeded,  which  wore  at  least  as 

dark  a  colouring  as  any  that  followed,  which  were  as 

gloomy  and  severe.     Was  His  human  course  indeed 

sadder  and  more  painful  to  Him  in  Capernaum  and 

in  Jerusalem,  than  it  had  been  in  Nazareth  ?    Was   Isaiah  liii. 

He  not  there  too  a  '  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted   .' 

^  John  xv. 

with    grief'.''       Had    not   the   same   inflictions   of  ^^■ 

1  ,.  1  -1  1  i_  -^^^^  i'i-  4- 

human  malice  and  perversity,  the  scorn,  the  contra- 
diction, the  hatred,  which  pained  Him  afterwards, 
already  been  encountered  amidst  the  hard  con- 
ditions, the  dull  and  low  companionship,  by  which 
His  Life  was  there  distinguished.  Surely  through 
the  sufferings  which  He  then  endured,  and  which 
appeal  to  every  man's  experience,  He  works  not 

were  the  climax  and  consummation,  the  law  of  self-devotion  was 
declared  by  Him.     Our  popular  phrases  and  modes  of  speaking  on 
this  subject,  have  obscured  the  constancy,  as  well  as  the  naturalness, 
with  which  Christ  exemplified  this  obligation.     May  we  not  say  that 
our  doctrines  of  justification  have  veiled  from  us  the  Justifier,  and 
that  our  theories  of  the  Atonement  have  hidden  the  sacrificial  Life 
and  Death  of  Him  by  whom  it  was  effected  ?   Moreover,  the  symbols, 
as  well  as  the  dogmas  in  which  they  are  expressed,  have  also  darkened 
those  realities.     It  is  in  deepest  reverence  and  tenderness  that  I 
would  here  ask,  if  our  familiar  mention  of  His  Cross,  and  of  His  Blood, 
and  our  often  sentimental,  and,  I  must  add,  sensuous  exhibitions  of 
the  mere  physical  sufferings  of  our  Redeemer  in  the  last  moments  of 
His  life,  have  not  obscured  that  life-long  devotion  of  His  will  and 
affections,  in  which  He  "gave  us  an  example  that  we  should  follow 
in  His  steps."' — Church  Restoration,  p.  149. 


lO. 


Il8  NAZARETH   LIFE    IN    ITS  AFTER   DEVELOPMENTS. 

CHAP.      less  powerfully  than  by  His   sufferings  afterwards 

, upon   our    minds    and    hearts,    and    then    too    He 

clearly  showed  forth  the  law  through  which  all  deeds 

that  are  being  wrought  fof  man's  true  welfare  must 

Rom.  vi.      be  accomplished.    Every  benefactor  of  our  race  will 

lO. 

Gal  ii  20  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^  doing  his  work  effectively,  he  must  be  a 

V.  24.  i  partaker  of  Christ's   sufferings '  in    Nazareth,  as 
Philip-  ,,       .     T  1 

pians,  iii.  well  as  m  Jerusalem  ;  and  must  become  'conformed 

to  the  death '  in  which  there,  too.  He  died  to  sin, 
and  lived  the  true  life  of  man  towards  God. 

We  thus  realize,  and  are  strengthened  by.  His 
sympathy,  while  we  are  instructed  by  His  teaching. 
When  in  this  manner  we  see  Him  *  compassed  about 
with  our  most  ordinary  '  infirmities,'  and  '  in  all,' 
even  in  the  commonest  things,  '  made  like  unto 
His  brethren,  while  yet  He  was  without  sin  ' — 
we  approach  Him,  not  only  with  deeper  reverence, 
but  with  more  brotherly  regard.  From  that  per- 
fected sense  of  His  oneness  and  fellowship  with 
men,  special  grace  is  given  in  our  commonest 
'  times  of  need,'  '  grace  to  help  '  in  the  long  drawn- 
out  and  saddened  dreariness  which  must  always 
make  up  the  largest  portion  of  every  earthly  life 
which  is  truly  passed  according  to  His  will. 


CONCLUDING  APPLICATION.  II 9 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CONCLUDING   APPLICATION. 

That   perfection  in  which  we  now  behold  Him,     CH^  p. 

and    in    which    He   justified    every    faithful    true-    ■ ^ — ' 

hearted  man  who  preceded  Him  on  earth,  besides 
strengthening  and  instructing  all  who  follow — 
comprises  many  parts  and  aspects,  and  some 
of  these  have  special  uses  and  significance  in 
different  regions  and  periods  of  the  world's  history. 
Nor  can  any  thoughtful  '  observer  of  the  times ' 
question  that  the  portion  of  the  Divine  Life  on 
which  we  have  been  dwelling,  has  peculiar  bear- 
ings of  this  kind  upon  our  own  day  and  generation. 
In  Bishop  Butler's  words,  if  we  may  again  use 
them  with  this  reference — '  Events,'  now  hap-  Attah-y 
pening,  'open  out  and  ascertain'  this  part  of  the  P^-"-^^^^P- 
Inspired  Record,  for  in  this  character  we  may  re- 
gard it,  although  the  facts  therein  contained  have 
not  been  explicitly  related.     Every  one   who   has 


120 


CONCLUDING   APPLICATION. 


I  Chroii. 
xii.  32. 

Matt.  xvi. 
3- 


Jer.  xviii. 
12. 


gone  in  spirit  to  Nazareth,  and  who  has  atten- 
tively watched  that  plain  and  quietly  ordered, 
but  at  the  same  time  strong  and  noble  Life 
which  was  lived  there,  and  who  has  then  called 
to  his  remembrance  the  circumstances  amidst 
which  changed  fashions  and  modes  of  being  have 
now  brought  mankind — must  feel  that  those  thirty 
years  utter  a  special  voice  to  ourselves.  And  this 
fitness  of  theirs  for  our  '  teaching  and  rebuke,' 
and  for  our  '  instruction  in  righteousness,'  appears 
more  striking  when  we  consider  certain  moral  in- 
fluences, which  are  working,  along  with  obvious 
physical  causes,  to  produce  the  evils  which  are 
at  once  the  theme,  the  perplexity  and  the  despair, 
of  every  thoughtful  watcher  of  the  times.  The  im- 
patient haste,  the  self-willed  '  devices  and  desires,' 
to  which  we  are  now  referring,  and  which, 
added  on  to  the  constant  evils  whereby  man  is 
afflicted  —  furnish  the  special  distinctions  of  our 
age,  largely  arise  from  those  heightened  sensibilities 
which  the  Christian  Revelation  has  produced  in 
the  hearts  of  men  who  have  looked  only  partially 
upon  the  facts  which  it  discloses,  or  who  have 
never  conversed  with  these  facts  at  all,  except 
through  the  intercepting  veil  of  the  symbols  by 
which  they  are    represented.     Christ's  Gospel   has 


CONCLUDING   APrUCATION.  12  1 


raised   such  men's  standard    of  life  and  duty,  but  chap. 

it    has    not    yet    brought  clearly    into    their  view ,__ ^ 

those   truths  and  motives    which    would    at    once 

supply  the  genuine  overcoming    strength  through 

which    the    requirements    of  that  standard    might    Ephes.  iii. 

i8 
be    fulfilled.'       Their    sense    of  moral    obligation 

has  been  heightened,  but  it  has  been  only  by  an 
incomplete  perception  of  realities  which,  seen  in 
their  entireness,  would  at  once  explain  the  '  un- 
hasting,  and  yet  unresting,'  fidelity  and  steadfast- 
ness with  which  Christ  accomplished  His  work 
during    that    most  trying    period    of   His   earthly 

course,  and  which  is  in  such  marked  contrast  with   Isaiah 

xxviii.  1 6. 

the  unbelieving  impatience  and  eagerness  of  our  ^^^^^  ^^j 
day  and  generation.  '9- 

'  It  has  been  well  obsei'ved  by  a  thoughtful  and  acute  writer, 
that  '  Christianity  has  indeed  spread  in  late  years,  superficially,  but 
it  has  not  spread  deeply.  Everywhere  it  has  been  raising  the  tone 
of  moral  sentiment,  purifying  the  domestic  atmosphere,  removing 
from  view  throughout  Christian  countries  whatever  is  morally 
offensive,  cherishing  and  promoting  beneficent  enterprises,  bringing 
all  minds  into  a  habit  of  kindly  reflectiveness.  Yet  it  has  been 
making  little  or  no  progress  as  a  deep  spiritual  power.  It  has  not 
evolved,'  i.e.  by  means  of  its  disclosures  of  revealed  facts,  '  mighty 
influences  within  the  bosoms  of  men  individually.  And  the  con- 
sequence of  (such)  a  diffusion  of  Christianity  under  this  aspect  of 
a  mild,  purifying,  but  powerless  influence,  must,' he  adds,  'bean 
antagonistic  reaction  from  Christianised  sensibilities  upon  Christianity 
itself,'  through  the  influence,  i.e.  of  the  tempers  which  have  thus  been 
originated  by  means  of  facts  that  are  only  partially  apprehended, 
and  which  must  be  seen  in  their  entireness,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
standard  which  they  have  been  the  instrument  of  establishing. 


122  CONCLUDING  APPLICATION. 


CHAP.         This    contrast    becomes    more    impressive    the 

VII. 
— — . •    longer  we  dwell  on  it,  and  reflect  upon  the  causes 

by  which  it  has  been  produced.  And  it  furnishes 
many  obvious  and  valuable  lessons,  to  some  of 
which,  in  conclusion,  the  reader's  attention  is  here 
specially  directed. 

The  chief  of  these  lessons  has,  in  part,alreadybeen 
brought  forward,  when  we  were  observing  Christ's 
work  as  a  member  of  the  Nazareth  community, 
in  connection  with  that  which  we  have  all  along 
recognised  as  the  great  distinction  of  His  life. 
Preface.  Let  it  be  again  said  that  this  was  not  the  fulfil- 
ment of  any  '  plan '  which  He  had  Himself  devised, 
but  rather  the  embodiment  of  the  aboriginal  pur- 
pose of  all  existence,  the  fulfilment  of  His  Father's 
Will,  and  this  was  to  be  accomplished  by  means  of 
the  *  good  works '  which,  in  that  time  and  place  of 
His  Incarnate  Life,  had  been  'prepared  for  Him 
to  walk  in.*  Thus  living,  labouring,  and  also 
suffering,  we  saw  that  He  observed  that  rule  of 
functional  service  which  is  observed  by  every  being 
who  has  *  kept  the  first  estate '  in  which  he  was 
created.  Nor  was  it  sadly  or  morosely  that 
He  was  thus  engaged  on  what  the  '  world  '  of  His 

as:e  would  think  and  speak  of  as  His  dreary  tasks. 
I  John  ii.         ^  ^  _  -^ 

i6.  He  wrought  upon  them  cheerfully,  in   full  view  of 


CONCLUDING   APPLICATION.  I  23 


the  whole  scheme  and   economy   into  which  they     CHAP. 

enter,  and  in  the    fullest  assurance    that    its  pur-   ■ . 

poses  would  be  successfully  accomplished.  And  ^"/"''h 
yet,  as  we  saw,  every  pretext  which  seemed  fitted 
to  call  Him  off  from  those  quiet  toils,  there  pressed 
itself  on  His  attention.  Throughout  those  drearily 
protracted  years,  every  one  of  the  evils  with  which 
afterwards,   when    '  His   hour   had   come,'    He  so 

valiantly  contended,  were  before  and  around  Him,   F.  W.  Ro- 

,  .  •     1  •  .  .  ^        ^    r        •  r       bertson's 

provokmg  mdignation,  crymg  aloud  tor  mterie-  Scrmons, 
rence.  The  hollowness  of  social  life ;  the  misin- 
terpretation of  Scripture ;  forms  of  worship  and 
of  phraseology  which  were  hiding  truth  ;  injus- 
tice, priestcraft,  cowardice,  hypocrisy'  —  every 
mischief  which  seemed  to  justify  His  hasty  relin- 
quishment of  the  work  which  was  set  Him,  that 
He  might  enter  on  some  other,  appeared  to  cry 
aloud  for  His  protest  and  resistance.  But  He 
never  listened  to  those  plausible,  but  misleading 
invitations.  He  went  forward  steadfastly  in  His 
appointed  way.  The  vision  which,  we  may  say, 
had  raised  His  human  perception  of  duty,  and 
which  heightened  His  conscientiousness  so  loftily, 
also  showed  the  reasons  of  His  employment  in 
their  true  form  and  character,  and  widely  opened 

out    the  scenes  in  which  it  was  carried  forward,  ^"^^'^> 

'  r-  70. 


,  124  CONCLUDING   APPLICATION. 

CHAP,     and    the   associates  with    whom   He  was   engaged 

VII.        .       .  ^  "^ 

• • in    its    fulfilment.     And  therefore   He    steadfastly 

persevered  in  the  very  spirit  that  was  ex- 
pressed in  the  remarkable  words  with  which  He 
afterwards  followed  His  declaration,  '  The  harvest 
truly  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few.'  Those 
words  were  not,  '  Go  ye,  yourselves,  at  once  into 
the  harvest  field.  Step  forward  wherever  you 
see  that  the  sheaves  are  ripening  for  the  reaper's 
Matt.  IX.  .t-oil  ;  '  but,  *  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that 
He  will  send  forth  labourers,'  whom  He  hath 
Himself  called  and  qualified  for  His  own  work, 
and  who  will  do  it  in  the  use  of  those  means  of 
utterance  and  activity  which  He  hath  furnished. 
Acts  ix.  6.  as  each  one  of  them  sends  up  his  prayer,  '  Lord, 
Gal.  1.  i6.  y^r\^^^  ^yiij-  Thou  have  me  to  do,'  under  the  power 
of  an  inspiring  desire  to  labour  in  His  cause. 

That  loyal  adherence  to  appointed  duty,  in  its 
rebuking  contrast  with  the  self- asserting  spirit 
which,  more  or  less,  has  marked  every  age — nobly 
vindicated  all  sincere  though  often  decried  and 
misapprehended  labourers  in  earlier  days,  and  it 
stands  forth  as  an  illustrious  example  of  stead- 
fastness in  discharging  the  most  trying  and  weari- 
some obligations  through  all  time  to  come. 

In  every  generation  it  has  thus  been  profitable 


CONCLUDING   APrLICATION.  12$ 


for  teaching  and  rebuke.     But,  as  we  said,  it  ad-     CHAP. 

...               ,      .         ,          .  .                                 VII. 
dresses    specially    emphatic   admonitions    to    our-    ^^ , — 

selv'es.     How  severely,  for  example,  does   it  bear 

on  those  bustling  philanthropists,  those  '  doers  of 

good '  amongst    us,  whose  '  doings '  have  such    a 

suggestive  resemblance  to  the  world's  vanity  and 

restlessness.      Amidst  the  pleasant  excitement  of 

their    publicities,   they  are    professedly   furthering 

Christ's  cause,  and  they  freely  use  Plis  name  to 

sanction    their   endeavours;    yet    we    can    hardly 

imagine  any  stronger  contrast  than  is  seen  when 

we  compare    that   long   portion  of  His  Life  with 

theirs,  and  His  methods  then  of  doing  His  Father's 

Will  with  those  which  they  are  using !    Surely  His 

desire  was  at  that  time  as  earnest  as  ever  for  the 

promotion  of  man's  welfare,  and  He  was  then  as 

impatient  as  He  ever  felt  with  the  evils  which  were 

hindering  it.     Yet  he  waited  and  worked  on  in  His 

appointed  sphere,  until  '  His  hour '  had  come,  or, 

in  other  words,  until    He  was  called  by    God   to 

that  work  of  protest  and  of  resistance,  for  which 

our  modern  philanthropy  requires  no  summons  but 

its  own  emotions  and  impatience. 

Impressive   lessons  of  most  seasonable    rebuke 

Church 

may  well  be  drawn  from  those  thirty  years  in  this  Restora- 
view  of  them.     And  then  how  gloriously  do  they  ad  finem. 


126  CONCLUDING   APPLICATION. 


CHAP,     vindicate  the  course  of  others  who  are  grievously 

VII.  . 
, ■    suffering  through  that  plausible  and  busy  restless- 


ness, and  whose  perplexities  and  discouragements 
it  is  increasing.  Those  martyr  toilers  and  sufferers 
who  are  abiding  in  so  many  hidden  places  through- 
out the  land,  as  each  one  patiently  '  waits  for 
cxxxi.  P.      Israel's   consolation,'   and  '  refrains  his   spirit,  and 


keeps  it    low,'    amidst    his    labours    and    his    self- 


B.  Va'sion. 
iSIark  XV. 

43.  denials — may  well  look  triumphantly  towards  that 

-Luke  II.  2 5.  lowly  scene,  where  Christ's  Life  was  going  for- 
ward in  the  very  image  of  their  own.  Day  after 
day  did  He  work  and  suffer  there,  amidst  weary 
loneliness,  and  aching  lack  of  sympathy,  just  as 
they  work  and  suffer  now  who  are  waiting  on 
their  sad  and  heavy  ministries,  uncheered  and 
unrequited.  Joy  and  triumph  surely  to  all  these 
sons  and  daughters  of  affliction,  when  they  re- 
member Whose  course  is  reflected  in  their  own, 
since  just  like  them  did  He  live  on,  through  weary 
saddened  dreariness,  in  the  home  and  workshop 
of  the  carpenter,  and  amidst  the  dull  ungenial 
companionship  of  those  long  years  of  His  seclusion  ! 
Nor  is  this  all.  For  that  same  Living  Redeemer, 
Jobxix.25.  Who  when  '  He  stands  in  the  latter  day  upon  the 
4,  ■   earth,'    will    vindicate,  as   wise  and  illustrious,  the 

course  of  so   many  whose   lives   'were  accounted 


CONCLUDING  APPLICATION.  12/ 


madness  and  their  end  without  honour  — may  even     chap. 

VII 

now  be  recognised  as  deeply  sympathising  with  -_ — ^ — - 
them  in  this  very  aspect  of  their  trial.  They  may 
well  remember,  and  take  great  comfort  from  the 
recollection,  that,  as  '  in  all  points  '  so  especially 
in  this,  '  He  was  tempted '  like  as  they  are  ;  and 
that 'with  the  infirmities'  which  their  peculiar  trial 
specially  reveals  to  them,  He  has  '  a  fellow  feeling.' 
In  the  unquestionable  fact  that,  long  before  The 
Temptation,  He  had  been  often  moved  to  antici- 
pate the  season  and  opportunity  which  had  not 
yet  arrived,  we  see  a  peculiar  application  of  His 
sympathy  in  succouring  all  who  in  their  uncheered 
sadness  are  in  like  manner  tempted  to  relinquish 
their  discouraged  and  unrequited  efforts,  and  step 
forth  from  overshadowed  paths  of  toil,  into  the 
crowded,  sunny  highways  of  the  world.    And  most 

thankfully,  even  in  the  gloomiest  passages  of  their   Heb.  11.17, 

r  &  18;  IV.  15, 

lives,  may  those  lonely  witnesses  and  sufferers,  16. 
comfort  themselves  with  the  remembrance  :  By  His 
experience  tJiroiigJi  those  years  in  Nazareth,  He  can 
feel  with  lis,  as  zvcll  as  for  us,  in  these  sad  days, 
amidst  these  apparently  frustrated  efforts,  and  fruit- 
less toil,  and  while  this  unheeded  testimony  is  being 
home.  In  that  weary  time,  He  suffered  zvhat  we  are 
suffering  now.     A  nd,  on  the  ground  of  this  comtnon 


128  CONCLUDING   APPLICATION. 


CHAP,    fcelvig  and  experience,  ive  can  plead  before  Him  with 

^ . — — '    a  confidence  ivhicJi  otlierxuise  we  conld  not  have  felt, 

for  His  grace  to  help  in  this  onr  time  of  need. 
Appendix,  In  its  fitness  to  supply  such  aid  and  consolation, 
as  well  as  in  its  rebuking  contrast  with  the  spirit 
and  habits  of  the  age,  M^e  see  this  neglected  part 
of  Christ's  history  'spread  out,  and  its  meaning 
ascertained.'  And  now,  as  its  main  features  have 
been  brought  within  our  view,  if  we  carefully  set 
that  long  period  of  the  Divine  Life  beside  those 
needs  of  men,  which  exist  indeed  in  every  age, 
but  which  are  specially  urgent  in  our  own — it 
will  come  forth  still  more  distinctly  and  impres- 
sively. Every  distinction  and  movement,  all  the 
characteristic  habits,  of  the  thirty  years,  will  then 
be  clearly  manifested.  And  the  Life  which  is 
indeed  the  Light  of  Men,  their  Light  in  every  path 
and  in  all  circumstances  of  their  lives,  will  be  beheld 
complete  in  all  its  aspects.  All  '  sorts  and  condi- 
tions '  of  human  being,  man's  estate  in  every  one  of 
its  developments,  will  be  therein  witnessed  in  per- 
fectly accurate  reflection.  Clearly  and  plainly 
will  this  be  seen.  And  seeing  it,  the  question 
may  here  well  be  asked,  Can  we  entertain  any 
doubt   by   Whom   that   disclosure   was    effected  .'* 

Tohn  i.  49  ; 

iv.  42.         Are  we  not,  like  those  who  first  witnessed  it,  now 


CONCLUDING    APPLICATION.  1 29 


led    from  the   human  character  of  Christ   to  the 
Divine  ? 

Surely  we  must  feel  that  only  the  Eternal  Word 
'  Who  was  with  the  Father  in  the  beginning,'  by 
Whom  the  worlds,  and  the  Order  which  they 
sustain  and  manifest,  were  called  into  existence — 
could  thus  have  perfectly  embodied  and  declared 
the  Divine  Mind  and  Purposes.  And  so  it  is  that 
we  arise  from  this  contemplation  of  His  Human 
Life,  which  we  now  see  in  its  entireness,  saying, 
with  a  conviction  even  firmer  than  we  can  have 
ever  felt  before,  '  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Thou  art  none 
other  than  the  Son  of  God  ; '  as  with  our  completer 
apprehension  of  the  benignant  work  which  He 
has  thus  so  perfectly  accomplished,  we  must  then 
add,  with  profounder  and  more  grateful  reverence 
than  ever,  and  of  a  truth,  'Thou  art  the  Saviour 
of  the  World.' 


APPENDIX. 


CONTENTS. 

Note  A.     Reasons  for  the  Sileitce  of  the  Evangelists  ; 
the  Events  of  the  Thirty  Years  . 

Note  B.  Nazareth  and  its  Ntighboiirhood    . 

Note  C.  On  fesus  increasing  in  Wisdom 

Note  D.  On  the  Synagogue  and  its  Worship 

Note  E.  Practical  Lessons  . 


■especting 


131 
133 
137 
139 
141 


APPENDIX. 


Note   A. 

Reasons  for  the  Sile?ice  of  the  Evangelists  respecting  the 
Events  of  the  Thirty  Years. 

In  F.  Spanheim's  '■  Dubia  Ev  angelica''  (xcvi.  Pars  II.  pp.  A  PP. 
650-3)  will  be  found  a  careful  treatment  of  the  questions, 
Cicrtatitum  ciaaTTjiua  Historioe  EvaJigeliccz  reperiatur  apud 
MatthcBU7n  %  Et  cur  acta  piieritice,  adolescentice,  et  juventutis 
Christi  silentio  transmissa  ab  onuiibus  Evangelistis  %  After 
dwelling  on  the  importance  of  the  subject,  he  presents  his 
views  (which  fairly  represent  those  which  are  commonly 
held)  of  it,  under  these  five  heads  ;  viz.  : 

(i)  Haec  facta  per  singularem  Dei  dispensationem,  quae 
summa  ratio  est.  .  .  .  Dispensat  Ille  tempora  et  memo- 
riam  temporum  pro  arbitrio,  et  sapienter  id  factum  a 
nobis  credi  debet.  (2)  Addi  potest,  id  ipsum  non  tan- 
tum  Dei  dispensatione  factum,  sed  et  convenientissime 
factum,  ut  liqueret,  Christum  nobis  per  omnia  similem 


132  APPENDIX. 


APP.  setatis  inferioris  infirmitates . . .  suscepisse,  et  sensim  adole- 
visse,  quod  notat  diserte  Scriptura  (Luc.  ii.  40,  52).  (3) 
Adde  sic  ostensum,  praeparatione,  et  diutuma  quidem 
opus  esse  ad  munus  in  Dei  domo  convenienter  admin- 
istrandum.  ...  (4)  Adde,  sapienter  a  Christo  exspectatum 
tempus,  quo  cum  authoritate  doceret,  quod  nonnisi  il- 
lorum  est,  qui  setatem  maturam  attigere.  (5)  Immo 
ilia  ipsa  dispensatione  per  avyKurafiaiTiy  singularem  Ju- 
daeorum  consuetudo  observata,  quibus  setas  xxx.  anno- 
rum  vel  prsecepti  divini,  vel  veteris  instituti  obtentu 
prffifixa,  priusquam  Docturae  insignibus  dave  cum  pugil- 
laribus  donarentur,  et  ad  publicum  docendi  munus 
admitterentur.  Unde  (i  Paral.  xxiii.  3)  ubi  Levitarum 
numeribus  initur,  illorum  tantum  capita  putantur  qui  vel 
triginta  annos  attigerant,  vel  illos  erant  supergressi.  Quod 
ad  qusevis  munera  sacra  a  Judaeis  promiscue  relatum. 

For  the  best  account  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  which 
profess  to  supply  the  omission  of  the  Evangelists,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  '  Cambridge  Essays,'  1856,  and  to 
B.  H.  Cowper's  '  Apocryphal  Gospels,  with  Notes,  &c.' 
London,  1867. 


APPENDIX.  133 

APP. 
- 

Note  B. 
Nazareth  and  its  Neighbourhood. 

'  The  city  lies  on  the  western  side  of  a  long,  narrow, 
basin-like  valley,  running  from  N.N.E.  to  S.S.W.  Its 
houses  stand  in  the  lower  part  of  the  western  slope,  which 
is  steep,  and  rises  high  above  them.  This  hill  is  covered 
with  aromatic  herbs  and  flowers  ;  at  the  very  top  stands 
a  wely,  called  Neby  Ismail.  This  lies,  according  to  Robin- 
son, four  or  five  hundred  feet  above  the  valley,  which 
itself  is  not  far  from  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea  ;  the  measurements  vary.  The  mountains  which 
lie  N.  and  N.W.  of  Nazareth,  are  from  1,200  to  1,300 
feet  high.  The  loftiest  lie  N.W. ;  those  less  elevated 
more  to  the  N.,  they  sink  towards  the  E.  and  S.E.,  till 
they  rise  suddenly  again  in  Tabor.  Towards  the  S.E. 
the  valley  of  Nazareth  becomes  narrower,  and  ends  in  a 
winding  path  leading  to  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  There 
are  also  roads  leading  east  to  Tabor  and  Tiberias,  south- 
east to  Jerim,  south-west,  by  way  of  Cafa  and  the  plain, 
to  Carmel,  north-east  to  Kafirkenna,  and  north-west  to 
Sefurieh  and  northern  Galilee. 

'  Both  of  the  latter  nm  E.  of  the  Wely  Neby  Ismail, 
whence  a  magnificent  panoramic  view  may  be  taken, 
embracing  the  beautiful  cone  of  Tabor,  Little  Hermon, 
and  Gilboa  in  the  east ;  the  mountains  of  Samaria  at  the 
west ;  the  whole  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  battle-field  of 
ancient  and  modern  times,  is  at  its  foot.     Beyond  the 


134  APPENDIX, 


APP.  plain  can  be  seen  the  long  wooded  Carmel  ridge,  reaching 
to  the  new  convent,  and  to  Haifa,  washed  by  the  sea. 
The  city  Acca  lies  hid  behind  the  hills.  Toward  the 
north  there  stretches  away  another  of  the  beautiful  plains 
that  adorn  this  part  of  Palestine,  El  Buttauf,  which  runs 
E.  and  W.,  and  sends  its  waters  into  the  Kishon.  On 
the  northern  limit,  lies  the  large  village  of  Sefurieh  (Dio- 
csesarea),  near  to  the  foot  of  a  solitary  peak,  on  which 
stand  the  ruins  of  a  castle.  Beyond  the  plain  of  El 
Buttauf,  there  are  long  ridges  running  E.  and  W.,  and 
advancing  in  height  till  the  mountain  of  Safed  (the  city 
set  on  a  hill,  Matt.  v.  14)  is  reached.  Farther  eastward, 
lies  an  ocean  of  larger  and  smaller  peaks,  beyond  which 
the  higher  ones  in  Hauran  are  discernible ;  and  north- 
east the  majestic  Hermon,  with  its  cap  of  snow,  is  in  full 
view.  South-west,  but  far  nearer,  the  noble  promontory 
of  Carmel  projects  into  the  silver  mirror  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. In  the  south-east,  one  standing  on  the  heights 
in  the  rear  of  Nazareth,  can  see  the  nature  of  the  country 
which  connects  Camiel  with  the  mountains  of  Samaria ; 
that  it  consists  of  a  large  number  of  low  wooded  hills, 
separating  the  Esdraelon  plain  from  the  fertile  valleys  at 
the  south  of  Samaria. 

'  The  same  supply  of  woods  and  low  bushes  gives  the 
Carmel  range  an  attractive  appearance,  remarkably  in 
contrast  with  the  naked  hills  of  Judaea.  The  beauty  and 
grandeur  of  the  view  from  the  Wely  Neby  Ismail,  toge- 
ther with  the  almost  infinite  number  of  recollections  con- 
nected with  localities  in  view,  make  this  prospect  one  of 
the  most  sublime  and  most  deeply  interesting  that  the 


APPENDIX.  135 


world  affords.' — Ritter's  Comp.  Geog.  of  Palestine,  \o\.  iv.       AIT 
E.  T.  "       ^ 

'  These  are  the  natural  features  which  for  nearly  thirty 
years  met  the  almost  daily  view  of  Him  who  "  increased 
in  wisdom  and  stature  "  within  this  beautiful  seclusion. 
It  is  the  seclusion  which  constitutes  its  peculiarity,  and 
its  fitness  for  these  scenes  of  the  Gospel  history.  Un- 
known and  unnamed  in  the  Old  Testament,  Nazareth 
first  appears  as  the  retired  abode  of  the  humble  carpen- 
ter. Its  separation  may  be  the  ground,  as  it  certainly  is 
an  illustration,  of  the  Evangelist's  play  on  the  word  "  He 
shall  be  called  a  Nazarene."  Its  wald  character,  high  up 
in  the  Galilean  hills,  may  account  both  for  the  roughness 
of  its  population,  unable  to  appreciate  their  own  Prophet, 
and  for  the  evil  reputation  which  it  had  acquired  even 
in  the  neighbouring  villages,  one  of  whose  inhabitants, 
Nathaniel  of  Cana,  said  :  "  Can  any  good  thing  come  out 
of  Nazareth  ?  " 

'  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  any  local  reminiscences 
should  be  preserved  of  a  period  so  studiously,  as  it  would 
appear,  withdraw^n  from  our  knowledge.  Two  natural 
features,  however,  may  still  be  identified,  connected — the 
one  by  tradition,  the  other  by  Gospel  narrative — with 
the  events  which  have  made  Nazareth  immortal.  The 
first  is  the  spring  or  well  in  the  green  open  space,  at  the 
north-west  extremity  of  the  town;  a  spot  well  known  as 
the  general  encampment  of  such  travellers  as  do  not  take 
up  their  quarters  in  the  Franciscan  convent.  It  is  pro- 
bably this  well,  which  must  always  have  been  frequented 
as  it  is  now,  by  the  women  of  Nazareth,  that  in  the  earliest 


136  APPENDIX. 


APP-  local  traditions  of  Palestine  figured  as  the  scene  of  the 
Angelic  Salutation  to  Mary,  as  she,  after  the  manner  of 
her  country-women,  went  thither  to  draw  water.  The 
tradition  may  be  groundless;  but  there  can  be  little  ques- 
tion that  the  locality  to  which  it  is  attached,  exists,  and 
that  it  must  have  existed  at  the  time  of  the  alleged  scene. 
— The  second  is  indicated  in  the  Gospel  History  by  one 
of  those  slight  touches  which  serve  as  a  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  the  description,  by  nearly  approaching,  but  yet 
not  crossing,  the  verge  of  inaccuracy.  "  They  rose,"  it  is 
said  of  the  infuriated  inhabitants,  and  "  cast  Him  out  of 
the  city,  and  brought  him  to  a  brow  of  the  mountain  " 
(fwc  6(ppvoc,  Tov  ooovc)  on  which  the  city  was  built,  so  as 

to   "  cast  him  down  the  cliff"  (wnre  KaTaKfjr]j.iriaai  ah  uv). 

Most  readers,  probably  from  these  words,  imagine  a  town 
built  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  from  which  summit 
the  intended  precipitation  was  to  take  place.  This,  as  I 
have  said,  is  not  the  situation  of  Nazareth.  Yet,  its 
position  is  still  in  accordance  with  the  narrative.  It  is 
built  "  upon,"  that  is,  on  the  side  of  "  a  mountain,"  but  the 
brow  '  is  not  underneath,  but  over  the  town,  and  such  a 
cliff  (-vVJTjjuycif)  as  is  here  implied,  is  to  be  found;'  as  all 
modern  travellers  describe,  in  the  abrupt  face  of  the  lime- 
stone rock,  about  thirty  or  forty  feet  high,  overhanging  the 
Maronite  convent,  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  town.' 
— Stanley's  Sinai  and  Palestine,  chap.  x. 


APPENDIX.  137 

APP. 
Note  C. 

On  Jesus  increasing  in    Wisdom. 

'  When  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  Our  Lord  "  mcreased  in 
wisdom  and  stature,"  we  can  scarcely  doubt  that  an  intel- 
lectual development  of  some  kind  in  Christ's  human 
soul,  is  indicated.  This  development,  it  is  implied,  cor- 
responded to  the  gi-owth  of  His  bodily  frame.  The  pro- 
gress in  wisdom  was  real,  and  not  merely  apparent,  just 
as  the  growth  of  Christ's  Human  Body  was  a  real  growth. 
If  only  an  increasing  manifestation  of  knowledge  had  been 
meant,  it  might  have  been  meant  also  that  Christ  only 
manifested  increase  of  stature,  while  His  Human  Body 
did  not  really  grow.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  St.  Luke 
had  previously  spoken  of  the  child  Jesus  as  being  "filled 
\A'ith  wisdom,"  and  St.  John  teaches  that,  as  the  Word 
Incarnate,  Jesus  was  actually  "  full  of  truth."  St.  John 
means  not  only  that  Our  Lord  was  veracious,  but  that 
He  was  fully  in  possession  of  objective  truth.  It  is 
clearly  implied  that,  according  to  St.  John,  this  "  fulness 
of  truth  "  was  an  element  of  that  "  glory  "  which  the  first 
disciples  beheld  or  contemplated.  This  statement  ap- 
pears to  be  incompatible  with  the  supposition  that  the 
Human  Soul  of  Jesus,  through  spiritual  contact  \vith 
which  the  disciples  "  beheld  "  the  glory  of  the  Eternal 
Word,  was  Itself  not  "  full  of  truth."  St.  John's  narrative 
does  not  admit  of  our  confining  this  *'  fulness  of  truth  "  to 
the  latter  days  of  Christ's  ministry,  or  to  the  period  which 
followed  His  Resurrection. 


138  APPENDIX. 


APP.  '  There  are,  then,  two  representations  before  us,  one 

suggesting  a  limitation  of  knowledge,  the  other  a  ful- 
ness of  knowledge,  in  the  human  soul  of  Christ.  In 
order  to  harmonize  these  statements,  we  need  not  fall 
back  upon  the  vulgar  rationalistic  expedient  of  supposing 
that  between  St.  John's  representation  of  Our  Lord's 
Person,  and  that  which  is  given  in  the  first  three 
Gospels,  there  is  an  intrinsic  and  radical  discrepancy.  If 
we  take  St.  John's  account  together  with  that  of  St.  Luke, 
might  it  not  seem  that  we  have  here  a  special  instance  of 
that  tender  condescension  by  which  Our  Lord  willed  to 
place  Himself  in  a  relation  of  real  sympathy  with  the 
various  experiences  of  our  finite  existence?  If,  by  an 
infused  knowledge  He  was,  even  as  a  child,  "  full  of  truth," 
yet,  that  He  might  enter  with  the  sympathy  of  experience 
into  the  various  conditions  of  our  intellectual  life,  He 
would  seem  to  have  acquired,  by  the  slow  labour  of  ob- 
servation and  inference,  a  new  mastery  over  truths 
which  He  already,  in  another  sense,  possessed.  Such  a 
co-existence  of  growth  in  knowledge,  with  a  possession  of 
all  its  ultimate  results,  would  not  be  without  a  parallel  m 
ordinary  human  life.  In  moral  matters,  a  living  example 
may  teach  with  a  new  power  some  law  of  conduct,  the 
truth  of  which  we  have  before  recognised  intuitively.  In 
another  field  of  knowledge,  the  telescope,  or  the  theodo- 
lite, may  verify  a  result  of  which  we  have  been  previously 
informed  by  mathematical  calculation.  We  can  then  con- 
ceive that  the  reality  of  Our  Lord's  intellectual  develop- 
ment would  not  necessarily  be  inconsistent  with  the 
simultaneous  perfection  of  His  knowledge.     As  Man,  he 


APPENDIX.  139 


might  have  received  an  infused  knowledge  of  all  trutli,       AI'I' 
and  yet  have  taken  possession,  through  experience,  and 
in  detail,  of  that  which  was  latent  in  His  mind,  in  order 
to  correspond  with  the  intellectual  conditions  of  ordinary- 
human  life.'— Canon  Liddon's  Bampton  Lectures^   Lect. 


Note    D. 

On  the  Synagogue  and  its   Worship. 

'  There  are  certain  traditional  peculiarities  which  have 
doubtless  united  together  by  a  strong  resemblance  the 
Jewish  synagogues  of  all  ages  and  countries.  The  ar- 
rangements for  the  women's  places  in  a  separate  gallery, 
or  behind  a  partition  of  lattice-work ;  the  desk  in  the 
centre,  where  the  Reader,  like  Ezra  in  ancient  days,  from 
his  "  pulpit  of  wood,"  may  "  open  the  book  in  the  sight  of 
all  the  people  .  .  .  and  read  in  the  book  the  law  of  God 
distinctly,  and  give  the  sense,  and  cause  them  to  under- 
stand the  reading ; "  the  carefully  closed  Ark  on  the  side  of 
the  building  nearest  to  Jerusalem,  for  the  preservation  of 
the  rolls  or  manuscripts  of  the  Law  ;  the  seats  all  round 
the  building,  whence  "  the  eyes  of  all  them  that  are  in  the 
synagogue  "  may  be  "  fastened  "  on  him  who  speaks  ;  the 
"  chief  seats,"  which  were  appropriated  to  the  "  ruler  "  or 
"  rulers  "  of  the  synagogue,  according  as  its  organization 
might  be  more  or  less  complete,  and  which  were  so  dear 
to  the  hearts  of  those  who  professed  to  be  peculiarly 
learned  or  peculiarly  devout — these  are  some  of  the 
features  of  a  Synagogue,  which  agree  at  once  with  the 


I40  APPENDIX. 


APP.       notices  of  Scripture,  the  descriptions  in  the  Talmud,  and 
the  practice  of  modern  Judaism, 

'  The   meeting   of   the    congregations   in  the  ancient 
synagogues  may  be  easily  realised,  if  due  allowance  be 
made  for  the  change  of  custom,  by  those  who  have  seen 
the  Jews  at  their  worship  in  the  large  towns  of  modern 
Europe.     On  their  entrance  into  the  building,  the  four- 
cornered   Tallith  was  first  placed,  like  a  veil,  over  the 
head,  or,  like  a  scarf,  over  the  shoulders.     The  prayers 
were  then  recited  by  an  officer  called  the  "  Angel "  or 
"  Apostle  "  of  the  Assembly.     These  prayers  were  doubt- 
less many  of  them  identically  the  same  with  those  which 
are  found  in  the  present  service-books  of  the  German 
and  Spanish  Jews,  though  their  liturgies,  in  the  course  of 
ages,  have  undergone  successive  developments,  the  steps 
of  which  are  not  easily  ascertained.     It  seems  that  the 
prayers  were  sometimes  read  in  the  vernacular  language 
of  the  country,  where  the  synagogue  was  built ;  but  the 
Law  was  always  read  in  Hebrew.     The  sacred  roll  of 
manuscript  was  handed  from  the  ark  to  the  Reader  by 
the  Chazan  or   "minister;"  and   then  certain  portions 
were  read  according  to  a  fixed  cycle,  first  from  the  Law, 
and  then  from  the  Prophets.     It  is  impossible  to  deter- 
mine the  period  when  the  sections  from  these  two  divi- 
sions of  the  Old  Testament  were  arranged,  as  in  use  at 
present ;  but  the  same  necessity  for  translation  and  ex- 
planation existed  then  as  now.     The  Hebrew  and  Eng- 
lish are  now  printed  in  parallel   columns.      Then,  the 
reading  of  the  Hebrew  was  elucidated  by  the  Targum,  or 
the  Septuagint,  or  followed  by  a  paraphrase  in  the  spoken 


APPENDIX.  141 


language  of  the  country.  The  Reader  stood  while  thus  APP 
employed,  and  all  the  congregation  sat  down.  The 
manuscript  was  then  rolled  up,  and  returned  to  the  Chazan. 
Then  followed  a  pause,  during  which  strangers  or  learned 
men,  who  had  "  any  word  of  consolation,"  or  exhortation, 
rose,  and  addressed  the  meeting.  And  thus,  after  a  pa- 
thetic enumeration  of  the  sufferings  of  the  chosen  people, 
or  an  allegorical  exposition  of  some  dark  passage  of  Holy 
Writ,  the  worship  was  closed  with  a  benediction,  and  a 
solemn  "  Amen." ' — Conybeare  and  Howson's  Sf.  Pau/, 
chap.  vi. 


Note  E. 
Practical  Lessons. 


' .  .  .  There  are  important  truths  to  be  learned  from 
the  voluntary  and  long-continued  abode  of  Christ  among 
the  poor.  For,  first,  did  he  not  authorise  the  condition 
of  which  He  Himself  partook  ?  Did  He  not  effectively 
give  His  sanction  to  the  natural  gradations  of  society,  by 
Himself  dwelling  in  one  of  the  lowest  of  those  grada- 
tions ?  ...  In  living  as  a  mechanic  with  His  (reputed) 
father,  did  He  not  give  an  explicit  sanction  to  the 
existence,  not  of  abject,  but  of  decent  and  industrious 
poverty  ?  Did  he  not  thereby  teach  us  a  lesson  of  civil 
economy,  if  the  expression  may  be  used,  and  authorise 
the  existence  in  our  communities  of  a  humble,  but  not 
degraded,  of  a  submissive,  but  not  a  servile  or  a  suffering 
class  of  poor  ?     Now  this  is  a  lesson  which  the  poor  man 


142  APPENDIX. 


APP.  may  learn  with  much  profit,  in  days  of  wild  declamation 
about  equality  in  earthly  enjoyments  and  possessions. 
Our  Lord  practically  and  powerfully,  as  practically  and 
powerfully  as  He  could,  even  by  Himself  dwelling  quietly 
among  the  poor  for  thirty  years,  contradicted  these  fana- 
tical declaimers  ;  and  no  poor  Christian  man  can  have  a 
better  antidote  against  their  foolish  and  delusive  sayings 
than  is  presented  by  that  fact — a  fact  which  will  furnish 
the  humble  follower  of  Jesus  Christ  with  a  strong  and 
satisfactory  reason  for  being  contented  with  his  condition 
in  a  well-ordered  community,  even  though  that  condition 
should  approximate  closely  to  the  lowest. 

'  But  this  long-continued  abode  of  Our  Lord  with  His 
parents,  furnishes  this  second  lesson — That  those  whose 
lot  is  in  the  midst  of  poverty,  should  patiently  endure  its 
privations,  its  necessary  privations,  and  meekly  submit 
to  its  reproach.  Let  it  be  granted  that  it  sorely  tries  the 
faith  and  patience  of  even  a  Christian  man,  to  stand  by, 
the  toil  and  careworn  spectator  of  ease  and  luxury  in 
which  he  may  not  participate,  of  enjoyments  which  he 
cannot  share  ;  and,  while  want,  and  it  may  be  sorer 
affliction,  is  in  his  own  home,  to  look  upon  the  affluence 
and  pleasures,  and  perhaps  submit  to  the  cruel  scorn,  of 
men  less  virtuous  and  worthy  than  himself  It  is  a  sore 
trial ;  and  his  is  a  noble  and  heroic  character,  who  can, 
in  such  circumstances,  possess  his  soul  in  patience. 
But,  did  Christ  set  no  example,  and  teach  no  lesson,  and 
furnish  no  motive,  by  which  that  trial  may  be  wisely  and 
well  endured  ?  Yes,  truly,  He  did  this ;  and  when  the 
poor  man,  who  takes  his  principles  of  conduct  from  the 


APPENDIX.  143 

APP. 


Gospel,  feels  rising  within  himself  the  strong  emotions  of 
impatience  and  indignation  at  what  he  may  deem  the 
hard  features  of  his  lot,  let  him  think  of  the  seclusion  of 
his  Lord  for  thirty  years  amid  the  humility  and  privations 
of  His  father's  home,  and  that  for  all  this  time  He  sat  not, 
though  He  might  have  done,  at  the  table  of  the  rich,  nor 
shared  in  their  fascinating  pleasures  and  gay  pursuits, 
but  submitted  to  many  wants,  and  endured,  it  may  be, 
much  contempt.  I^et  the  poor  man  think  of  this,  and 
he  will  derive  patience  and  strength  as  he  thus  reflects  on 
his  condition.  This  hottie  of  ?nifie — alas  !  that  I  should  call 
this  miserable  shelter  home ;  it  is  no  abode  of  luxury  a?id 
Joy,  fortune  never  alighted  at  my  threshold,  pleasure  makes 
no  stay  with  me,  but  want  is  fny  constant  inmate,  a  fid 
unrelieved  afflictio?i  is  often  within  these  wretched  walls. 
Yes,  but  in  such  a  home  did  my  Saviour  dwell  for  thirty 
years ;  and  He,  too,  endured  the  privations  with  which  I 
am  so  familiar,  and  submitted  to  the  scorn  which  mortifies 
■  my  pride.  Shall  I  then  repine  ?  May,  rather,  I  will  thank 
Hi?n  for  the  lessofi  and  example  which  He  has  set  before 
me,  and  I  will  seek  for  larger  supplies  of  grace,  that  I  may 
follotv  with  more  mcehiess  in  His  steps,  and  endure  more 
patiently  what  He  endured. 

'  Thus  far,  however,  we  have  only  considered  the  con- 
dition of  Christ  during  his  abode  at  Nazareth.  It  is  now 
our  part  to  reflect  upon  his  employments  there,  and  we 
think  it  possible  to  derive  from  such  reflections  also 
many  valuable  practical  lessons  of  almost  universal  appli- 
cation. And  one  of  them  well  deserves  our  close  and 
serious  attention.     For,  perhaps,  there  are  few  errors  by 


144  APPENDIX. 


AFP.  which  we  are  more  commonly  misled,  than  that  of  regard- 
ing the  ordinary  and  humble  avocations  of  life  as  worthy 
only  of  contempt,  and  as  affording  no  field  for  the  exer- 
cise of  such  virtue  as  may  rightly  claim  our  reverence 
and  praise.  The  common  business  of  every  day,  tlie 
transient,  and,  as  we  think,  the  trivial  occupations  of  the 
larger  portion  of  our  time,  especially  if  our  avocations  lie 
in  the  humble  walks  of  life ;  these,  if  we  do  not  foolishly 
regard  them  with  contempt,  are  commonly  spoken  of  as 
duties  which  must  be  got  through  with,  rather  than  as 
duties,  which,  as  truly  as  those  we  consider  higher,  re- 
quire to  be  well  and  wisely  done. — The  occupations  of  a 
general,  or  a  statesman,  or  a  king,  have  some  importance, 
but  how  petty  and  how  trivial  are  my  pursuits  ! — How 
frequently  does  one  reflect  in  this  manner  on  his  common 
occupations  !  And  how  naturally  do  we  continue  in 
the  same  strain  :  The  higher  walks  of  life ;  yes,  there  is 
sotne  occasion  and  scope  for  virtue  there,  but  none  in  the 
narrow  and  secluded  path  in  which  I  am  called,  or,  I  may 
say,  condemned  to  walk  I  Brethren,  there  are  very  few 
of  us  who  do  not  constantly  speak  and  reason  in  this 

manner Nevertheless,    such   thoughts   indicate 

nothing  else,  except  that  we  are  in  the  habit  of  taking 
relative,  and  not  absolute  views  of  the  things  around  us  ; 
and,  if  it  were  now  our  purpose,  we  might  adduce  satis- 
factory arguments  to  prove  that  the  man  who  helps  to 
build  a  house,  is  engaged  on  a  work  not  less  important 
and  essential  to  the  well-being  of  society  than  that  of 
the  man  who  is  the  member  of  a  senate  ;  and  that  the 
woman  who  trains  for  a  community  one  virtuous  child, 


APPENDIX.  145 


has  done  as  good  service  to  that  community  as  the  APP. 
general  who  conducts  its  wars.  But  this  is  not  our 
purpose  at  this  time.  We  carry  your  thoughts  to  higher 
and  more  certain  ground,  and  ask,  How  else  can  we 
regard  the  occupations  of  this  earthly  life,  however  trivial 
they  may  seem,  except  as  parts  of  a  vast  instrumentality, 
by  which  we  are  to  be  made  ready  for  our  "  everlasting 
habitation."  The  truth  therefore  is,  that  every  act  we 
perform  is  of  great  and  pennanent  importance ;  so  that 
we  cannot  do  a  trivial  thing  :  the  most  ordinary  deed  of 
the  humblest  person  in  this  assembly  is  a  deed  of  highest 
moment,  since  it  manifests  the  character  of  his  soul,  and 
is  a  means  whereby  that  character  may  be  injured  or 
improved.  This  may  be  affimied  of  all  our  occupations. 
And  hence  it  is  quite  evident  that  we  err  in  regarding 
the  humble  avocations  of  life  as  furnishing  narrower 
scope,  or  fewer  occasions  for  lofty  virtue,  than  the  higher. 
This  earthly  scene,  which  is  rightly  regarded  only  when 
it  is  regarded  as  a  scene  of  discipline  for  one  of  two 
future  worlds,  is  throughout  furnished,  and  in  every  depart- 
ment, with  means  which  may  be  employed  in  preparation 
for  one  or  other  of  those  worlds.  And  if  it  be  true  that 
the  soul  of  every  man  is  of  equal  value  in  the  sight  of 
God ;  that  He  regards  not  our  conventional  distinctions 
of  rank,  expedient  or  necessary  as  they  may  be  to  us, 
but  as  truly  wills  the  sanctification  of  a  peasant  as  of  a 
prince ;  then,  it  must  be  also  true  that  He  has  given  to 
both  of  these,  as  His  responsible  creatures  upon  earth, 
equal  opportunities  of  cultivating  and  maturing  that  holi- 
ness, without  which,  we  are  told  that,  neither  of  them 


146  APPENDIX. 


A  PP.  can  see  the  Lord.  He  hath  furnished  high  and  ample 
opportunity  of  making  great  moral  attainments,  of  per- 
fecting holiness,  in  the  lowliest  as  in  the  loftiest  occupa- 
tions of  those  whom  He  will  hereafter  judge ;  so  that  the 
man  of  humble  life  may  become  as  virtuous  and  as  wise 
as  the  man  who  consorts  with  princes,  or  controls  the 
affairs  of  states.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that  heaven  will  be 
hereafter  peopled  with  men  from  all  the  ranks  into  which 
humanity  is  now  divided.  Among  the  glorified  saints 
who  will  hereafter  crowd  the  streets  of  the  celestial 
city,  and  join  in  the  same  anthem  of  ceaseless  praise,  ^ 
there  will  be  many  who  trod  on  earth  the  lowliest  walks 
of  life,  as  well  as  many,  we  trust,  whose  paths  lay  in  the 
highest,  and  many  whose  voices  upon  earth  were  only 
heard  in  the  accents  of  servitude  and  of  submission,  as 
well  as  many  who  here  spoke  only  that  they  might  com- 
mand and  be  obeyed. 

'  These  lessons,  too,  on  the  importance  of  all  the 
occupations  of  life,  even  of  the  most  ordinary  and  of  the 
humblest,  and,  on  their  equal  usefulness  for  the  purposes 
of  moral  discipline,  are  surely  taught  us  most  impres- 
sively by  the  lowly  employments  of  Our  Lord  at  Nazareth 
for  thirty  years.  If  He  had  then  moved  in  a  higher 
sphere,  or  had  been  engaged  in  higher  duties,  our  erro- 
neous impressions  respecting  high  spheres  and  high 
duties  would  have  been  confirmed,  and  men  might  then 
have  sighed  with  more  reason  for  such  opportunities  as 
their  Lord  had  chosen.  But  He  took  the  lowliest  paths  of 
life,  and  occupied  Himself  v/ith  the  humblest  of  its  duties ; 
and,  in  acting  thus,  He  authenticated   the  reasons  we 


APPENDIX.  147 


have  endeavoured  to  set  forth  as  opposed  to  that  erro-  APP 
neous  impression.  If  He  had  been  employed  for  thirty- 
years  in  the  occupations  of  high  rank  and  office,  there 
would  have  been  some  show  of  reason  in  our  common 
notion  respecting  the  superior  importance  of  such  employ- 
ments, and  the  superior  opportunities  they  furnish  for  high 
attainments  in  virtue.  But  He  lived  and  laboured  for 
that  long  period  as  an  ordinary  mechanic,  and  He 
thereby  taught  us  that  the  occupations  of  a  mechanic, 
even,  are  of  high  importance — of  high  importance,  surely, 
if  the  Son  of  God  thought  them  worthy  of  His  diligent 
attention  for  thirty  years.  He  also  taught  that  they  may 
furnish  high  occasions  for  the  exercise  of  virtue ;  and 
surely  this  must  likewise  be  admitted,  since  it  was  amidst 
them  that  He  advanced  "  in  favour  with  God  and  man," 
and  since  the  character  in  which  He  came  forth  from 
His  retirement  was  the  most  perfect  character  the  world 
has  ever  seen.' — Christ  at  Nazareth.  Eight  Sermons,  &c. 
(Lond.  1845). 


LONDON  :     PBINTED    BV 

SrOTTISWOODE     AND    CO.,     NBW-8TBKKT    SQDABE 

AND    PAHMAMBNT    8TRK£T 


By    the    same    Author,    8vo.    cloth,    lOs.  6d. 

THE   DIVmE    KINGDOM 
OiN    EAETH   AS   IT    IS    IN    HEAVEN. 


'  Our  Commonwealth  is  in  Heaven.'— St.  Paul. 
'  JJiscitc  in  tcrris  ccelestem  militiam :  hie  vivimus,  et 
illic  niilitamus.    Coeli  mysterium  doceat  me  Deus  Ipse, 
Qui  condidit :  non  homo  qui  se  ipsum  ignoravit.' 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Importance  of  realizing  the  Supernatural  Coimexions  of  Man's  Existence— How 
this  Rualizatiou  is  effected,  and  its  Results— Erroneous  Methods  of  using  the 
Organs  of  Revelation  for  this  end— Evil  Consequences  thence  arising— These 
indicate  Objects  of  men  who  are  taking  True  Methods— And  show  the  Course 
which  should  be  adopted  by  them— Effects  flowing  from  the  Efforts  thus 
carried  forward— Outline  of  Plan  of  the  Work  which  is  suggested  by  these 
"Views. 

CHAPTER  I. 
THE     DIVINE     ORDEU. 

Nature  of  the  Divine  Order,  and  its  Final  Purpose  in  our  View— Called  into 
Existence  by  the  Second  Person  of  the  Godhead— Quickening  Operations  of 
the  Holy  Spirit— Typal  Form  of  Created  Spiritual  Existences— Divine  Com- 
munications with  them— Nature  of  the  Associations  which  they  constitute— 
Circumstances  of  their  Progress — Helps  vouchsafed  in  it,  and  its  Issues— 
Failm-es  :  Apostasy  from  the  Divine  Order- Consequent  Conflict  of  Loyal 
with  Rebellious  Spirits— Relations  between  Various  Communities— Apprclien- 
sion  of  the  Scheme  thus  carried  into  Effect— Introduction  of  Man  into  tho 
midst  of  it— Circumstances  of  his  Unfallen  State— His  Life  amidst  them,  and 
liis  Prospects— Forfeiture  of  those  Prospects. 


The   Divine   Kingdom   Sfc. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HUMAN  apostasy:  its  causes  and  results. 

Beciprocal  Influence  and  Connexion  of  Spiritual  Existences  illustrated— Advan- 
tages arising  from  the  Connexion — Its  Perversion,  and  the  Consequences— 
Of  Evil  Spirits,  and  their  increase  of  such  Perversion— Explanation  from 
this  Source  of  Man's  Fall  and  Loss— DetaUs  of  Course  in  which  it  was 
effected — Its  Consequences  shown  (1.)  In  Discord  between  Man  and  the 
Order  he  was  placed  in — (2.)  In  Morbid  Reflection  of  the  Mind  upon  itself — 
(3.)  In  Loss  of  Communion  with  the  Eternal  Word— (4.)  In  Human  Discord 
and  Contention — G-eneral  View  of  these  Evils,  and  their  transmission  to  Pos- 
terity— View  of  them  as  Necessary  Results  from  Laws  that  are  Unchangeable 
— Light  in  which  regarded  by  Man's  Fellow  Inheritors  of  Being — Probability 
of  Occurrence  of  Similar  Events  among  other  Races — Reasons  for  expecting 
an  Intervention  on  Man's  Behalf — General  Account  of  the  Intervention 
actually  efifected— Its  Main  Features,  as  shown  (1.)  In  Mediator's  Nearer 
Relation  with  Man — (2.)  In  His  establishment  of  a  Society  additional  to  those 
originally  Constituted — General  Review  of  the  Work  thus  carried  forward. 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  RESTORING  DISPENSATION  :     ITS  INSTITUTIONS,  AND  THEIR  WORKINQ. 

View  of  this  Dispensation  conducts  into  '  religious  *  Sphere  of  Man's  Existence — 
Must  be  measured  by  reference  to  Normal  Condition  of  Being — Nearer  Relation 
of  Mediator  operates  (1.)  In  Drawing  out  Introverted  Feelings — (2.)  In  cor- 
recting False  Views  of  God— (3.)  In  re-establishing  sense  of  Law— (4.)  In 
counteracting  Divisive  Influences  of  Evil — Recapitulation  :  General  Review 
of  this  part  of  Redeeming  Work — Further  carried  forward  by  Institution  of 
the  Church.  Its  General  Purpose  and  Design— This  carried  out  (1.)  By  its 
Consecration  of  Times  and  Places— (2.)  By  its  Institution  of  Sacrificial  Ser- 
vice—(3.)  Through  the  Agency  of  Representative  Priesthood— (4.)  By  its 
Aggressive  Conflict  with  the  'World'— (6.)  By  its  Associations  for  Worship 
and  Service— (6.)  Also  through  Use  of  its  Ordinances  as  'Means  of  Grace'— 
General  Review  of  "Working  and  Influence  of  these  Institutions— These  Pur- 
poses carried  forward  in  midst  of  each  Generation  on  Earth — Also  carried 
forward  amidst  Departed  Generations— Intermediate  State  (Hades),  and  its 
Inhabitants— Of  the  Knowledge  which  is  conveyed  therein — Relation  of  this 
State  to  Man's  Condition  upon  Earth — Consideration  of  it  is  necessary  to 
the  Completeness  of  our  View  of  the  Church — Views  hence  suggested  as  to 
Communion  of  its  Members — Recapitulation  :  General  View  of  Church  Society 
— Its  complete  Adaptation  to  its  Purposes — Fulfilment  of  Restoring  Work. 
Inferences  from  its  General  Aspect  and  Perfectness — Its  Developement  in 
Man's  History. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

LAWS  OP  RESTORING  DISPENSATION  :    THEIR  DEVELOPMENT  IN  HISTORY. 

Its  Laws  Developed  by  Comparison  ■with  it  of  Man's  Proceedings — This  Compari- 
son in  View  of  Prophets  '  since  the  World  Began ' — Fikst  Result  of  Compari- 
son seen  in  Necessity  of  Trustful  Reception  of  the  Remedial  Dispensations  and 


The   Divine   Kingdom   tjr. 


Cordial  Use  of  its  Provisions — Tliis  necess.ary  for  Individual  Welfare — It  is 
also  iiocossary  for  accotnplisliment  of  Social  Purposes— Completeness  of  the 
Revelation  for  both  these  Ends— Second  Result  of  Comparison  in  showinf? 
tlio  purely  instrinnental  character  of  Remedial  Institutions — This  one  of  their 
Fundamental  Characteristics- Jlan's  Natural  Tendency  to  overlook  it— Effects 
of  this  Neglect  shown  (1.)  In  State  of  Heathen  'SVorld- And  (2.)  In  the  Cor- 
njptions  of  the  Church— These  appear  (a),  In  Intolerance  ;  (/3),  In  Obscured 
Views  of  Revealed  Disclosures;  (v),  In  Idolatrous  Worship — General  View  of 
these  Effects— Third  Result  of  Comparison  in  showing  the  Necessity  of 
connecting  the  '  Supernatural '  with  the  '  Common '  Order  of  Existence — How 
these  were  meant  to  he  Combined — Inspired  Testimony  on  this  Subject — 
This  confinncd  by  Consequences  of  neglecting  such  Connexion — Those  Con- 
sequences further  shown  (1.)  In  Revolt  against  S]Mritual  Authority — And 
(•-'.)  I7i  its  Despotic  Exercise— Prophetic  Protest  against  both  these  Evils — 
FouuTH  Result  of  Comparison  in  bringing  out  Law  of  Functional  Service — 
Nature  of  this  Law,  and  its  Universality — It  is  specially  incumbent  on  Man 
in  his  Church  Position  and  Relations— Typal  Instances  of  the  Disregard  of 
it  in  Jewish  History — Consequences  of  neglecting  it  shown  (1.)  In  Mutual 
Strife — (2.)  In  False  Views  of  the  Means  and  Instruments  of  Grace- (3.) 
In  Neglect  of  Sujiematural  Ministrations  in  the  Church — Prophetic  Protests 
against  this  Neglect — Condemnation  of  it  by  Life  and  Ministry  of  Unfalleii 
Beings— Fifth  Result  of  Comparison  in  production  of  Assurance  and  Hope — 
Grounds  of  such  Confidence — History  shows  (1.)  Advantages  of  holduig — 
(2.)  Evils  of  resigning  it — General  Review  of  above  Five  Laws  of  Redeeming 
Dispensation — Growing  Neglect  of  them. 

CHAPTER  V. 

FULFILJIENT  IN  LIFE  AND  MINISTRY  OF  CHRIST. 

General  View  of  Causes  of  neglect  of  above  Laws— This  neglect  reached  its  Crisis 
at  Period  of  the  Incarnation — Purposes  of  the  Incarnation — Embodiment  in 
Christ,  and  Manifestation  by  Him  of  Divine  Order  of  Man's  Being — Sho-rni 
generally  in  His  habitual  Mindfulness  of  our  Supernatural  Relations — Tlien 
specially  (1.)  In  His  exemplary  Fulfilment  of  Family  Obligations — (2.)  In 
needfulness  of  Neighbourly  Obligations— (3.)  In  Functional  Discharge  of 
Good  Works  prepared  for  Him— (4.)  In  Fulfilment  of  National  Duties  and 
Relationships— (5.)  In  Observance  of  Duties  and  Services  of  Church  Life — 
This  Manifestation  of  True  Order  of  Human  Life  made  more  impressive  by 
'  Signs  and  Wonders '  wrought  by  Him — Views  of  Human  Conflict  with 
'  Powers  of  Darkness '  thus  made  known — This  Conflict  reached  its  Ciisis  in 
His  Death— Perfectncss  of  Atoning  Sacrifice  brought  out  in  that  Event — His 
Ministry  in  the  Intermediate  State— Disclosure,  in  His  ResuiTection,  of 
Nature  of  Celestial  Beatitude — Recapitulation  :  Review  of  His  Manifestation 
of  Divine  Life — Apostles'  Testimony  respecting  it — Their  Declaration  of  the 
Laws  of  Redeeming  Dispensation  as  made  known  by  Him— Recapitulation : 
Review  of  their  Testimony — Purpose  of  St.  John's  Apocalypse.  Rcprosonts 
Powers  of  Evil  assaiUng  Divine  Kingdona — Tlicse  seen  (1.)  in  Evils  which 
arise  Naturally  upon  Earth— And  then  (2.)  in  Special  Chastisements  sent 
Retribiitively  by  God — These  Evils  shown  also  in  course  of  Diminution  and 
Extinction— Recapitulation :  Review  of  Apocalyptic  Visions— Their  Purposes 
in  Man's  Enlightenment. 


The    Divine   Kingdom   Sfc. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LATER  ELUCIDATION  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

ReTelation  now  perfectly  Completed — Causes  of  Misapprehension  of  it— Yet  every- 
where received  by  Godly  Men  ;  and  more  fully  understood  by  them  through 
Heresies  and  Unbelief — ^This  illustrated  in  the  cases  (1.)  of  the  Judaizers — 
And  (2.)  of  the  Gnostics  in  the  'Early  Church' — Their  Errors  Reproduc- 
tions of  older  Errors  and  seen  again  in  later— Work  of  the  Fathers  vnXA\ 
respect  to  them— Review  of  Patristic  Teaching — Elucidating  Work  of  the 
Fathers  taken  up  by  the  Schoolmen — Afterwards  by  the  Mystics  and  the 
Systematic  Theologians— Services  rendered  to  Godly  Men  by  these  Teachers — 
Their  Instruction  confirmed  by  Personal  Experience  and  Historical  Events — 
Extended  by  instrumentaUty  of  Holy  Scripture— And  by  larger  Knowledge 
of  Men ;  also  by  Scientific  Discovei-y — Recapitulation :  Review  of  these 
Elucidating  Agencies — Results  in  manifestation  of  Continuity  and  Correlation 
of  Man's  Existence— Review  shows  that  every  Man  has  been  supplied  with 
means  of  Progress — This  also  true  of  evoiy  Society — Recapitulation  :  Results 
of  Elucidating  Progress. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

rUTURB  PROGRESS  AND  FULFTLJIENT. 

What  thus  seen  true  in  Past  describes  Man's  Position  now — Institutions  of 
Restoring  Dispensation  still  in  Force  and  Efficacy — Supposition  that  they 
were  now  anywhere  accepted— In  that  place  God's  Will  Embodied;  Embodi- 
ment must  spread — Provincial  Communities  thus  Organized— These  must  be 
developed  in  improved  National  Life — Relations  of  Church  and  Nation  in  this 
state — Nations  thus  raised  must  be  United — Their  Mutual  Helpfulness  in 
their  Union  and  Intercourse — Their  Aggressive  Movements  on  the  Dark 
Places  of  Earth — Confirmation  of  such  Prospects  in  '  Prophetical  Predic- 
tions' — Significance  of  Restoring  Dispensation  acknowledged — Man's  Earthly 
Condition  approaching  that  of  Intermediate  State— This  Approach  will 
continue  till  Close  of  Earthly  Economy — Circumstances  of  After  Life — Possible 
Future  Developments  of  Divine  Order  with  reference  to  Future  Destinies  of 
'  Lost' — Closing  Meditations. 


APPENDIX. 

Note  A.— On  the  Reasons,  supplied  by  Revelation  and  interpreted  by  Science,  for 
believing  that  there  is  a  community  of  moral  and  material  nature  between 
ourselves  and  the  inhabitants  of  other  Worlds,  and  of  the  light  which  is  hence 
thrown  on  Man's  Future  Life. 

Note  B. — On  the  Natural  Use  of  Theological  Terms  and  Phrases. 

Note  C. — On  the  Continuity  of  the  Church. 

Note  D.— Of  the  True  Place  of  Holy  Scripture  as  part  of  Divine  Revelation,  and 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  Evidences  of  its  Authority  should  be  presented. 

Note  E. — Detailed  Application  of  the  Teaching  of  the  Work  in  the  Revival  of 
Church  Life;  in  the  Congregation  first,  then  in  Ruri-Decanal  and  Diocesian 
Synods,  and  in  Convocation — Of  the  Secular  Influences  of  this  Life,  and  the 
Method  in  which  Missionary  Labours  should  be  carried  forward. 


Sjx>llisu'ooile  &  Co.,  Printers,  New  street  Square,  London. 


London,  June,  1872. 


A 


Catalogue  of  Books, 


PUBLISHED  BY 


Henry  S.  King  &  Co., 

65,  CORNHILL. 
CONTENTS. 


■>ftti»». 


PAGE 

Forthcoming  Works        ....,.,  2 

German  Official  Works  ou  the  Franco-Prussiau  War         .  6 

The  Comhill  Library  of  Fiction 7 

Forthcoming  Novels       .......  8 

Recently  Published  Works 9 

Poetry i? 

Life  and  Woiks  of  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Robertsun          ,         .  19 
Sermons  by  the  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke        .         .         .20 

Books  on  Indian  Subjects 21 

Recently  Published  Novels 23 

The  International  Scientific  .jeries 25 


65,   CORNHILL, 

June,  1872. 

LIST    OF    BOOKS 

PUBLISHED    BT  » 

Henry  S.  King  &  Co. 


Forthcoming    Works. 


I. 

A  New  Work  for  Children. 

THE    LITTLE   WONDER-HORN. 

By  Jean  Ingelow. 

A  Second  Series  of  "  Stories  told  to  a  Child." 
15  Illustrations.     Cloth  gilt  edges,  3J.  bd. 

{Immediately. 

II. 

MEMOIRS  OF  MRS.  L^TITIA  BOOTHBY. 

Written  by  herself  in  the  year  1775. 

Edited  by  Wm.  Clark  Russell.     Author  of  "The 

Book  of  Authors,"  etc. 

Crown  8vo. 

\In  the  press. 
TIL 
THE  FORMS  OF  WATER  IN  RAIN  AND  RIVERS, 
ICE  AND  GLACIERS. 

With  32  Illustrations.     By  Professor  J.  Tyndall,  LL.D.,  F.RS. 

Being  Vol.  I.  of  The  International  Scientific  Series. 

[In  the  press. 
W  Prospectuses  of  the  Series  may  be  had  of  the  publishers. 
For  full  announcement  of  the  Series,  see  the  end  of  this  Catalogue. 

65,    Cornhill,  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  dr*  Co.,  3 

IV. 

CHANGE  OF  AIR  AND  SCENE; 

A  Physician's  Hints  about 

Doctors,  Patients,  Hygiene,  and  Society  ; 

with    Notes  of   Excursions  for  HeaUh   in   the    Pyrenees,  and 

amongst  the  Watering-places  of  France  (inland  and  seaward), 

Switzerland,  Corsica,  and  the  Mediterranean. 

From  the   French   of    Dx.   Alphonse    Donne. 

Large  post  8vo. 

Utility  of  Hygiene. — The  Hygiene  of  the  Four  Seasons. — Exercise 
and  Travels  for  Health. — Mineral  Waters. — Sea  Baths. — Hydro-The- 
rapeutics.— Hygiene  of  the  Lungs. — Hygiene  of  the  Teeth. — Hygiene 
of  the  Stomach. — Hygiene  of  the  Ej'es. — Hygiene  of  Nervous  Women. 
— The  Toilet  and  Dress. — Notes  on  Fever.  [Shortly. 

V. 

THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CREATION : 

Being  a  Series  of  Popular  Scientific  Lectures  on  the  General 
Theory  of  Progression  of  Species  ;  with  a  Dissertation  on  the 
Theories  of  Darwin,  Goethe,  and  Lamarck  ;  more  especially 
applying  them  to  the  Origin  of  Man,  and  to  other  fundamental 
questions  of  Natural  Science  connected  therewith. 
By  Professor  Ernst  H^CKEL,  of  the  University  of  Jena. 

With  Woodcuts  and  Plates.  [S/wrf/y, 

VI. 

CONTEMPORARY   ENGLISH   PSYCHOLOGY. 

From  the  French  of  Professor  Th.  Ribot. 
An  Analysis  of  the  views  and  opinions  of  the  following  Meta- 
physicians, as  expressed  in  their  writings. 
James   Mill. — A.  Bain. — John  Stuart  Mill. — George  H.  Lewes. — 
Herbert  Spencer. — Samuel  Bailey. 

Large  post  8vo.  [In  the  press. 

VII. 
PHYSIOLOGY  FOR  PRACTICAL  USE. 

By  various  eminent  writers. 

Edited    by  James    Hinton, 

with  50  Illustrations. 

65,    Cornhill,  Lo?idofi. 


4  Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  on  Co., 

VIII. 

A  TREATISE  ON  RELAPSING  FEVER. 

By  R.  T.  Lyons, 
Assistant-Surgeon,  Bengal  Army. 

Small  Post  8vo.  \In  the  press. 

IX. 

BRAVE    MEN'S    FOOTSTEPS. 

A  Book  of  Example  and  Anecdote  for  Young  People. 

By  the  Editor  of"  Men  who  have  Risen." 

With  Illustrations.     Crown  8 vo.      [^Iti  the prest. 

Josiah  "Wedgwood — the  Man  of  Energy.  Granville  Sharp — 
the  Negro's  earhest  Friend.  Richard  Cobden — the  International 
Man.  Dr.  "William  Smith— the  Father  of  English  Geology. 
Andrew  Reed— the  Stay  of  the  Hopeless.  Michael  Faraday 
— the  Refined  Philosopher.  Thomas  "Wright— the  Prison  Philan- 
thropist. Joseph  Paxton — the  Gardener  Architect.  The  Early 
Life  of  the  late  Prince  Consort,  etc.,  etc. 

X. 

THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  ROBERT  DUDLEY, 

EARL  OF  LEICESTER,  THE  FAMOUS  FAVOURITE  OF 

aUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

From  the  Private  Correspondence  of  the  great  Earl  of  Leicester. 
By  Thomas  Wright,  M.A.,  F.S.A.,  etc.     [^Shortly. 

XI. 

CABINET   PORTRAITS. 

Sketches  of  Statesmen, 

By  T.  Wemyss  Reid. 

One  Vol.,  Crown  Svo.  [Shortly. 

Mr.  Gladstone. — Mr.  Disraeli. — The  Earl  of  Derby. — Mr.  Lowe. — 
Mr.  Hardy. — Mr.  Bright. — Earl  Granville. — Lord  Cairns. — Marquis  of 
Hartington. — Mr.  Wilson-Patten. — The  Earl  of  Carnai-von. — Earl 
Russell. — Lord  John  Manners. — Mr.  Cardwell. — Lord  Hatherley. — 
Mr.  Henley.— the  Duke  of  Argyll.— Sir  Stafford  Northcote.— Earl 
Grey. — The  Marquis  of  Salisbury. — The  Duke  of  Richmond. — Lord 
Westbury. — Mr.  Forster. — Mr.  Newdegate. — Sir  Roundell  Palmer. — 
Lord  Lytton. — The  Late  Earl  of  Derby. — Late  Earl  of  Clarendon. 

65,  Corn  hill,  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  d;^  Co.,  5 

XII. 

BOKHARA:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  CONaUEST. 

By  Professor  Arminius  Vambery,  of  the  University  of  Pesth 
Author  of  "  Travels  in  Central  Asia,"  etc. 

Two  vols.,  demy  8vo.  [/«  the  press. 

XIII. 

BRIEFS  AND  PAPERS. 

Being  Sketches  of  the  Bar  and  the  Press. 
By  Two  Idle  Apprentices. 

Crown  8vo.  \Shortly. 

Our  Leading  Columns. — Our  Special  Correspondent. — Our  Own 
Reporter. — In  the  Gallery. — Our  Special  Wire. — The  Story  of  the 
Fogborough  Englishman.^ — In  the  Temple. — Westminster  Hall. — On 
Circuit. — Scissors  and  Paste. — A  Rising  Junior. — Country  Sessions. — 
An  Eminent  Leader. — Lincoln's  Inn. — At  the  Old  Bailey. 

XIV. 

SOLDIERING  AND  SCRIBBLING. 

By  Archibald  Forbes,  of  the  Daily  News,  Author  of 
"  My  Experience  of  the  War  between  France  and  Germany." 

A  Penny  a  Day. — The  Christmas  Cattle  Market. — Soldiers' Wives. — 
The  Story  of  the  Megaera. — In  a  Military  Prison. — German  War 
Prayers. — Flogged. — Sunday  Afternoon  at  Guy's. — Butcher  Jack's  Story. 
- — Bummarees. — A  Deserter's  Story. — Lions  and  Lion-Tamers. — Our 
]\Iarch  on  Brighton. — Catsmeat. — Army  Crimes  and  Punishments. — 
Whisky.  — Furs.  — Some  Christmases. 

XV. 

HOME-WORDS   FOR  WANDERERS. 

Sermons  by  ARTHUR  S.  THOMPSON,  B.D., 
British  Chaplain  at  St.  Petersburg. 

65,   Cornhill,  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  Kmg  cn  Co., 

Important  German  Official  Works  on  the 
Franco-Prussian  War. 


I. 

THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  GERMAN  ARMIES  IN 
FRANCE,  FROM  SEDAN  TO  THE  END  OP  THE 
WAR  OF  1870-1.  With  large  Official  Map.  From  the 
Journals  of  the  Head-Quarters  Staff.  By  Major  William 
Blume.  Translated  by  E.  M.  Jones,  Captain  20th  Foot, 
late  Professor  of  Military  History,  Sandhurst.  Demy  8vo, 
Price   9^.  [yif^t  out. 

II. 
TACTICAL  DEDUCTIONS  FROM  THE  WAR  OF  1870-1. 
By  Capt.  A.  V.  BoGUSLAWSKl.    Translated  by  Col.  Lumley 
Graham,  Late  i8th  (Royal  Irish)  Regiment.     Demy  8vo. 
Uniform  with  the  above.     Price  7^.  VJ^''^^  <^^^^' 

"Above  all  should  eveiy  infantry  officer  make  these  taclical  conclu- 
sions the  object  of  his  serious  studies,  about  which  there  must  be  great 
controversy.  Out  of  these  deductions  alone  can  we  get  the  lessons  in 
infantry  operations  for  war,  and  for  training  during  peace.  In  all  essen- 
tial things,  according  to  our  conviction,  the  author  has  rightly  appre- 
hended the  lessons  of  the  late  war,  and  his  views  are  a  guide  and 
criterion  that  will  be  of  service  to  every  officer." — Militair  Wochenblatt. 

III. 

THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  SOUTH  ARMY  IN 
JANUARY  AND  FEBRUARY,  1871.  By  Count 
Wartensleben,  of  the  Prussian  General  Staff  Translated 
by  Colonel  Wright.    Demy  Bvo.    Uniform  with  the  above. 

\Jiist  out. 

IV. 

STUDIES  IN  TROOP-MARCHING.  By  Col.  Von  Verdy 
DU  Vernois.  Translated  by  Lieut.  H.  J.  T.  Hildyard, 
71st  Foot.     Demy  Bvo.     Uniform  with  the  above. 

{Parts  I.  aud  II.  are  in  the  press. 

V. 
THE  ARMY  OF  THE  NORTH-GERMAN  CONFEDERA- 
TION.  A  brief  description  of  its  organization,  of  the  differ- 
ent branches  of  the  Service  and  their  role  in  war,  of  its 
mode  of  fighting,  etc.  By  a  Prussian  General.  Translated 
from  the  German  by  Col.  Edward  Newdigate.  Demy 
8vo.     Uniform  with  the  above.  [/«  the  press. 

65,   Cornhill,  Londoti. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  df  Co.,  7 

The   Cornhill  Library   of  Fiction. 

It  is  intended  in  this  Series  to  produce  books  of  such  merit 
that  readers  will  care  to  preserve  them  on  their  shelves.  They 
are  well  printed  on  good  paper,  handsomely  bound,  with  a 
Frontispiece,  and  are  sold  at  the  moderate  price  of  3^.  6^.  each. 

r. 

ROBIN  GRAY.    By  Charles  Gibbon.    With  a  Frontispiece 

by  Hennessy.  {Ready. 

ir. 

KITTY.     By  Miss  M.  Betham-Edwards.  {Ready. 

III. 
HIRELL.    By  John  Saunders,  Author  of  "Abel  Drake's 
Wife."  {Ready. 

IV. 

ABEL  DRAKE'S  WIFE.    By  John  Saunders,  Author  of 
"  Hirell."  {Shortly. 

V. 

FOR   LACK    OF    GOLD.    By  Charles  Gibbon,  Author  of 
"  Robin  Gray." 

VI. 

ONE    OF    TWO.     By  J.  Hain  Friswell,  Author  of  "The 
Gentle  Life,"  etc. 

VII. 

GOD'S  PROVIDENCE  HOUSE.  By  Mrs.  G.  Linn^us  Banks. 

VIII. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  RABY.    By  Mrs.  Hooper. 

Other  Standard  Novels  to  follcnu. 

PANDURANG  HARI. 

A  Tale  of  Mahratta  Life,  sixty  years  ago. 

Edited,  from  the  edition  of  1826. 

By  Sir  Henry  Bartle  E.  Frere,  G.C.S.I.,  K.C.B. 

{Shortly. 

AN  ARABIC  AND  ENGLISH  DICTIONARY  OF  THE 
KORAN. 

By  Major  J.  Penrice.     Post  4to.     {In  the  press. 

MEMOIRS  OF  VILLIERSTOWN. 

By  C.  S.  J.     Crown  8vo.     With  Frontispiece. 

{In  the  press. 

65,   Co7'nhill,  Lotidon. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  6^  Co., 

Forthcoming    Novels. 


j^. 


I. 
HONOK  BLAKE;    THE  STORY  OF  A  PLAIN  WOMAN. 

By  Mrs.  Keatinge,  Author  of  "  English  Homes  irx  India." 
Two  vols.,  crown  8vo.  \_N early  ready. 

II. 
THE    DOCTOR'S    DILEMMA.      By     Hesba    Stretton, 
Author  of  "  Little  Meg,"  etc.,  etc. 

III. 
HESTER   MORLEY'S    PROMISE.     By  Hesba  Stretton, 
Author  of    "Little   Meg,"    "Alone  in    London,"  "David 
Lloyd's  Will."    Three  vols.,  crown  8vo.  \In  the  press. 

IV. 

ISRAEL  MORT,  OVERMAN.  THE  STORY  OP  THE 
MINE.  By  John  Saunders,  Author  of  "  Hirell,"  "Abel 
Drake's  Wife,"  etc.     Three  vols.,  crown  8vo. 

\In  the  press. 

V. 

A  NEW  STORY.  By  Alice  Fisher,  Author  of  "  Too  Bright 
to  Last."    Three  vols.,  crown  Svo. 

VI. 

THE  SPINSTERS  OP  BLATCHINGTON.  By  Mar. 
Travers.     2  vols. 

VII. 

A  NEW  WORK  By  Col.  Meadows  Taylor,  Author  of 
"  Tara,"  etc.     In  three  vols. 

VIII. 

A  LITTLE  WORLD.  By  Geo.  Manville  Fenn,  Author  of 
"  The  Sapphire  Cross,"  "  Mad,"  etc. 

IX. 

THE  HIGH  MILLS.  By  Katherine  Saunders,  Author  of 
"  Gideon's  Rock,"  "  The  Haunted  Crust,"  etc. 

65,   Cornhill,  London, 


Books  PuhlisJicd  by  Henry  S.  King  ^^  Co.,  9 

FORTHCOMING   NOVELS— (f(7«/2«K^rf)- 
X. 

OFF  THE  SKELLIGS.     By  Jean  Ingelow,     In  three  vols. 


WHAT  'TIS    TO   LOVE.     By  the  Author  of  "  Flora  Adair," 
"  The  Value  of  Fosterstown,"  etc. 

XII. 

THROUGH  LIFE.    By  Mrs,  Newman.     One  vol.,  crown  8vo. 


LISETTE'S   VENTURE.      By  Mrs.  Russell  Gray.     Two 
vols.,  crown  8vo. 


Recently    Published    Works, 


SEPTIMIUS.  A  Romance.  By  Nathaniel  Hawthorne. 
Author  of  "  The  Scarlet  Letter,"  "  Transformation,"  etc. 
One  Volume,  crown  8vo.   Cloth  extra,  gilt,  9^. 

A  peculiar  interest  attaches  to  this  work.     It  was  the  last  thing  the 
author  wrote,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have  died  as  he  finished  it. 

II. 

MEMOIRS  OF  LEONORA  CHRISTINA,  Daughter  of 
Christian  IV.  of  Denmark.  Written  during  her  imprison- 
ment in  the  Blue  Tower  of  the  Royal  Palace  at  Copenhagen, 
1663-1685.  Translated  by  F.  E,  Bunnett  {Translator  of 
Grimnis  "  Life  of  Michael  Angela ^^  <S^-Y".)  With  a  beautiful 
Autotype  Portrait  of  the  Countess.     Medium  8vo. 

III. 
LIVES  OF  ENGLISH  POPULAR  LEADERS.   No.  i.  Stephen 
Langton.     By  C,  EDMUND  MAURICE.     Crown  8vo. 

65,  Cornhill,  London. 


lo         Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &>   Co., 

IV. 

STREAMS    FROM    HIDDEN    SOURCES.    By  B.  Mont- 
GOMERiE  Ranking.     Crown  8vo. 

The  Seven  Streams  are  : 


Cupid  and  Psyche. 
The  Life  of  St.  Eustace. 
Alexander  and  Lodowick. 


Sir  Urre  of  Hungary. 
Isabella  ;  or,  The  Pot  of  Basil. 
The  Marriage  of  Belphegor. 


Fulgencius. 

"  Out  of  all  old  lore  I  have  chosen  seven  books  as  setting  forth 
seven  following  stages  of  time,  and  from  each  of  these  have  taken  what 
seemed  to  me  the  best  thing,  so  that  any  man  may  judge,  and  if  it  please 
him  trace  it  to  its  source." — Extract  from  Preface. 

V. 
THE  ENGLISH  CONSTITUTION.    By  Walter  Bagehot. 
A  New  Edition,  revised  and  corrected,  with  an  Introductory 
Dissertation  on  recent  changes  and  events.     Crown  8vo, 
'js.  6d. 

Contents. — The  Cabinet. — The  Pre-requisites  of  Cabinet  Govern- 
ment, and  the  Peculiar  Form  which  they  have  assumed  in  England. — 
The  Monarchy. — The  Monarchy  [contimted). — The  House  of  Lords. — 
The  House  of  Commons. — On  Changes  of  Ministry. — Its  supposed 
Checks  and  Balances. — Its  History,  and  the  Effects  of  that  History. — 
Conclusion. — Appendix. 

VI. 

THOUGHTS  FOR  THE  TIMES.    By  the  Rev.  H.  R.  Haweis, 
M.A.,  Author  of  "  Music  and  Morals,"  etc.     Crown  8vo.  6j-. 

Introductory. — I.  The  Liberal  Clergy.  God. — II.  Conception. 
III.  Experience.  Christianity. — IV.  Character.  V.  History.  The 
Bible. — VI.  Essence.  VII.  Doctrine.  The  Articles. — VIII.  The 
Trinity.  Original  Sin.  IX.  Predestination.  The  Church.  Life. — 
X.  Pleasme.  XL  Sacrifice.  Worship. — XII.  The  Lord's  Day. 
XIII.  Preaching.     Conclusion. — XIV.  The  Law  of  Progress. 

VII, 
SIX  PRIVY  COUNCIL  JUDGMENTS— 1850-1872.    Anno- 
tated by  W.  G.  Brooke,  M.A.,  Barrister-at-Law,     Cr.  Svo. 

I.  Gorham  v.  Bishop  of  Exeter. — 2.  Westerton  v.  Liddell. — 3. 
Williams  v.  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  Wilson  v.  Fendal. — 4.  Martin  v. 
Mackonochie. — 5.  Hibbert  v.  Purchas. — 6.  Sheppard  v.  Bennett. 

65,    Corn  hill,  London. 


Bojks  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &^  Co.,  1 1 

VIII. 

HERMANN  AGHA  :  An  Eastern  Narrative.  By  W.  GiFFORD 
Palgrave,  Author  of  "Travels  in  Central  Arabia,"  etc. 
2  vols.,  Crown  8vo.    Cloth,  extra  gilt,  i8i-. 

IX. 

ALEXIS  DE  TOCGTJEVILLE.  Correspondence  and  Con- 
versations with  Nassau  W.  Senior,  from  1833  to  1859. 
Edited  by  Mrs.  M.  C.  M.  Simpson,  Two  Vols.,  Large 
Post  8vo.  2\s. 

X. 

Fro/71-  the  Author's  latest  Stereotyped  Editioii, 

HISS  yOUMANS'  FIRST  BOOK  OF  BOTANY.  Designed 
to  cultivate  the  observing  powers  of  children.  New  and 
Enlarged  Edition,  with  300  Engravings.    Crown  8vo,  5^. 

XI. 
AN  ESSAY  ON  THE  CULTURE  OP  THE  OBSERVING 
POWERS  OF  CHILDREN,  Especially  in  connection  with 
the  Study  of  Botany.  By  Eliza  A.  Youmans,  of  New 
York.  Edited,  with  Notes  and  a  Supplement  on  the  Ex- 
tension of  the  Principle  to  Elementary  Intellectual  Training 
in  General,  by  JOSEPH  Payne,  Fellow  of  the  College  of 
Preceptors:  Author  of  "Lectures  on  the  Science  and  Art 
of  Education,"  etc.    Crown  8vo.  zs.  6d, 

XII. 

OVER  VOLCANOES;  OR,  THROUGH  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN 

IN  1871.     By  A,  KiNGSMAN.     Crown  8vo. 

"The  writer's  tone  is  so  pleasant,  his  language  is  so  good,  and  his 
spirits  are  so  fresh,  buoyant,  and  exhilarating,  that  you  find  yourself 
inveigled  into  reading,  for  the  thousand-and-first  time,  a  description  of 
a  Spanish  bull-fight." — Illustrated  London  Navs. 

"The  adventures  of  our  tourists  are  related  with  a  good  deal  of 
pleasantry  and  humourous  dash,  wliich  make  the  narrative  agreeable 
reading." — Public  Opinion. 

' '  A  work  which  we  cordially  recommend  to  such  readers  as  desire 
to  know  something  of  Spain  as  she  is  to-day.  Indeed,  so  fresh  and 
original  is  it,  that  we  could  have  A\'ished  that  it  had  been  a  bigger  book 
than  it  is." — Literary  World. 

65,   Cornhill,  London, 

*  * 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  i^  Co,, 


XIII. 

IN  QUEST  OP  COOLIES.  A  South  Sea  Sketch.  By  James 
L.  A.  Hope.  Crown  8vo,  with  15  Illustrations  from 
Sketches  by  the  Author.     Price  6s.     Second  Edition. 

[yust  out. 

"At  the  present  moment,  when  considerable  attention  has  been 
directed  to  the  South  Seas,  by  the  murder  of  Bishop  Patteson,  the  little 
book  before  us  arrives  most  opportunely.  .  .  .  Mr.  Hope's  descrip- 
tion of  the  natives  is  graphic  and  amusing,  and  the  book  is  altogether 
well  worthy  of  perusal." — Standard. 

"  Lively  and  clever  sketches." — Athenceum. 

"This  agreeably  written  and  amusingly  illustrated  volume." — Public 
Opinion. 

XIV. 
ROUND  THE  WORLD  IN  1870.    A  Volume  of  Travels,  with 
Maps.     By  A.   D.   CARLISLE,   B.A.,   Trin.   Coll.,   Camb. 
Demy  8vo,  i6j. 

"  Makes  one  understand  how  going  round  the  world  is  to  be  done  in 
the  quickest  and  pleasantest  manner,  and  how  the  brightest  and  most 
cheerful  of  travellers  did  it  with  eyes  wide  open  and  keen  attention  all 
on  the  alert,  with  ready  sympathies,  with  the  happiest  facility  of  hitting 
upon  the  most  interesting  features  of  nature  and  the  most  interesting 
characteristics  of  man,  and  all  for  its  own  sake. " — Spectator. 

"  Delightfully  written,  as  unpretentious  and  as  entertaining  a  sketch 
of  travel  as  we  have  seen  for  a  long  time." — Scotsmati. 

"We  can  only  commend,  which  we  do  very  heartily,  an  eminently 
sensible  and  readable  book." — British  Quarterly  Revii.w. 


XV. 

THE  NILE  WITHOUT  A  DRAGOMAN.    (Second  Edition.) 
By  Frederic  Eden.     In  one  vol.,  crown  8vo,  cloth,  yj-.  bd. 

"Should  any  of  our  readers  care  to  imitate  Mr.  Eden's  example,  and 
wish  to  see  things  with  their  own  eyes,  and  shift  for  themselves,  next  winter 
in  Upper  Egypt,  they  will  find  this  book  a  very  agreeable  guide." —  Times. 

"  Gives,  within  moderate  compass,  a  suggestive  description  of  the 
charms,  curiosities,  dangers,  and  discomforts  of  the  Nile  voyage." — 
Saturday  Review. 

"We  have  in  these  pages  the  most  minute  description  of  life  as  it 
appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile ;  all  that  could  be  seen  or  was  worth 
seeing  in  nature  or  in  art  is  here  pleasantly  and  graphically  set  down. 
.     .     .     It  is  a  book  to  read  during  an  autumn  holiday." — Spectator. 


65,  Cornhill.)  Londofi, 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  o^  Co.,         \% 

XVI. 

SCRIPTURE  LANDS  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  THEIR 
HISTORY.  By  G.  S.  Drew,  M.A.,  Rector  of  Avington, 
Winchester,  Author  of  "  Reasons  of  Faith."  Second 
Edition.    Bevelled  boards,  8vo,  price  loj.  6d. 

"Mr.  Drew  has  invented  a  new  method  of  ilhistrating  Scripture 
history — from  observation  of  the  countries.  Instead  of  narrating  his 
travels  and  referring  from  time  to  time  to  the  facts  of  sacred  history 
belonging  to  the  dift'erent  countries,  he  writes  an  outline  history  of  the 
Hebrew  nation  from  Abraham  downwards,  with  special  reference  to  the 
various  points  in  which  the  geography  illustrates  the  history.  The 
advantages  of  this  plan  are  obvious.  Mr.  Drew  thus  gives  us  not  a 
mere  imitation  of  '  Sinai  and  Palestine,'  but  a  view  of  the  same  subject 
from  the  other  side  .  .  .  He  is  very  successful  in  picturing  to  his 
readers  the  scenes  before  his  own  mind.  The  position  of  Abraham  in 
Palestine  is  portrayed,  both  socially  and  geographically,  with  great 
vigour.  Mr.  Drew  has  given  an  admirable  account  of  the  Hebrew 
sojourn  in  Egypt,  and  has  done  much  to  popularize  the  newly-acquired 
knowledge  of  Assyria  in  connection  with  the  two  Jewish  kingdoms. 
We  look  with  satisfaction  to  the  prospect  of  a  larger  work  from  the 
same  author,  and  are  confident  that  he  cannot  adopt  a  method  better 
suited  to  his  talents  and  knowledge,  or  more  generally  useful  in  the 
present  state  of  Biblical  literature." — SatH7-day  Rez'ieiv. 

"  This  volume  will  be  read  by  every  Biblical  student  with  equal  profit 
and  interest.  We  do  not  remember  any  work  in  which  the  Scripture 
has  been  interwoven  so  admirably  with  the  natural  histoiy  of  the  places 
in  which  its  transactions  happened.  It  has  been  written  in  a  devout 
and  reverential  spirit,  and  reflects  great  credit  on  its  author  as  a  man  of 
learning  and  a  Christian.  We  regard  it  has  a  very  seasonable  contribu- 
tion to  our  religious  literature." — Record. 


xvir, 

ECHOES  OP  A  FAMOUS  YEAR.  By  Harriet  Parr 
Author  of  "  The  Life  of  Jeanne  d'Arc,"  "  In  the  Silver  Age,' 
etc.     Crown  8vo,  Zs.  bd. 

"  A  graceful  and  touching,  as  well  as  truthful  account  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War.  Those  who  are  in  the  habit  of  reading  books  to  children 
will  find  this  at  once  instructive  and  delightful." — Public  Opinion. 

"  Miss  Parr  has  the  great  gift  of  charming  simplicity  of  style  :  and  if 
children  are  not  interested  in  her  book,  many  of  their  seniors  will  be." — • 
British  Quarterly  Rei'iew. 

65,   Cornhill,  London. 


14         Books  Publishea  by  Henry  .S.  King  &=  Co., 

MVIII. 

JOURNALS  KEPT  IN  FRANCE  AND  ITALY,  FROM  1848 
TO  1853.  With  a  Sketch  of  the  Revolution  of  1848.  By 
the  late  Nassau  William  Senior.  Edited  by  his  daugh- 
ter, M.  C.  M.  Simpson.     In  two  vols.,  post  8vo,  i\s. 

' '  The  present  volume  gives  us  conversations  with  some  of  the  most 
prominent  men  in  the  political  history  of  France  and  Italy  ...  as 
well  as  with  others  whose  names  are  not  so  familiar  or  are  hidden  under 
initials.  Mr.  Senior  has  the  art  of  inspiring  all  men  with  frankness, 
and  of  persuading  them  to  put  themselves  unreservedly  in  his  hands 
without  fear  of  private  circulation." — Athenmim. 

"  The  book  has  a  genuine  historical  value." — Sahirday  Review. 

' '  No  better,  more  honest,  and  more  readable  view  of  the  state  ot 
political  society  during  the  existence  of  the  second  Republic  could  well 
be  looked  for." — Examiner. 

"  Of  the  value  of  these  volumes  as  an  additional  chapter  in  the  history 
of  France  at  the  period  when  the  Republic  passed  into  the  Empire,  it  is 
impossible  to  speak  too  highly." — Public  Opinion. 

■  XIX, 

THE  SECRET  OF  LONG  LIFE.  Dedicated  by  special  per- 
mission to  Lord  St.  Leonards.    Large  crown  8vo,  5^. 

"Apleasantly  written  volume, of  a  very  suggestive  character." — Standard. 

"Some  shrewd  observations,  illustrated  by  references  to  a  number  of 
remarkable  instances  of  long  life." — Public  Opinion. 

"A  very  pleasant  little  book,  which  is  always,  whether  it  deal  in 
paradox  or  earnest,  cheerful,  genial,  scholaiiy." — Spectator. 

"  The  bold  and  striking  character  of  the  whole  conception  is  entitled 
to  the  warmest  admiration." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

' '  We  should  recommend  our  readers  to  get  this  book  .  .  . 
because  they  will  be  amused  by  the  jovial  miscellaneous  and  cultured 
gossip  with  which  he  strews  his  pages." — British  Quarterly  R^vitw. 

XX. 

JEAN  JAROITSSEAU,  THE  PASTOR  OF  THE  DESERT. 

From  the  French  of  Eugene  Pelletan.     Translated  by 

Colonel  E.  P.  de  l'Hoste.     In  fcap.  8vo,  with  an  engraved 

frontispiece,  price  5^. 

"There  is  a  poetical  simplicity  and  picturesqueness ;    the  noblest 

heroism ;    unpretentious  religion. ;    pure  love,   and   the  spectacle  of  a 

household  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord The  whole 

story  has  an  air  of  quaint  antiquity  similar  to  that  which  invests  with  a 
charm  more  easily  felt  than  described  the  site  of  some  splendid  ruin." — 
Illustrated  London  Ntws. 

"  This  charming  specimen  of  Eugene  Pelletan's  tender  grace,  humour, 
and  high-toned  morality." — Notes  and  Queries. 

"  A  touching  record  of  the  struggles  in  the  cause  of  religious  liberty 
of  a  real  man." — Graphic. 

65,  Corn  hill,  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &'  Co.,         15 


XXI. 

THE  SUBSTANTIVE  SENIORITY  ARMY  LIST.  First 
Issue.  Majors  and  Captains.  Containing  the  Names  of  all 
Substantive  Majors  and  Captains,  Serving  upon  Full-pay 
or  Retired  upon  Half-pay,  arranged  according  to  their 
Seniority  in  the  Service,  and  in  such  order  as  immediately 
to  exhibit  the  standing  of  every  such  Major  or  Captain  for 
Promotion  in  his  own  Arm  of  the  Service,  whether  Cavalry, 
Artillery,  Engineers,  Infantry,  or  Marines,  specifying  their 
particular  Corps,  and  distinguishing  those  holding  Higher 
Brevet-rank.  By  Captain  F.  B,  P.  WHITE,  ist  W.  I. 
Regiment.     8vo,  sewed,  2s.'6d. 

XXII. 

DISCIPLINE  AND  DRILL.    Four  Lectures  delivered  to  the 
London  Scottish  Rifle  Volunteers.     By  Captain  S.  Flood 
Page,  Adjutant  of  the  Regiment,  late  105th  Light  Infantry, 
and    Adjutant    of    the    Edinburgh    Rifle    Brigade.      Just 
pubhshed.     A  Cheaper  Edition,  price  is. 
' '  One  of  the  best-known  and  coolest-headed  of  the  metropolitan  regi- 
ments, whose  adjutant  moreover  has  lately  published  an  admirable  col- 
lection of  lectures  addressed  by  him  to  the  men  of  his  corps." — Times. 

"  Capt.  Page  has  something  to  say  ....  and  in  every  case  it  is 
said  moderately,  tersely,  and  well." — Daily  Telegraph. 

"  The  very  useful  and  interesting  work.  .  .  .  Every  Volunteer, 
officer  or  private,  will  be  the  better  for  perusing  and  digesting  the 
plain-spoken  truths  which  Captain  Page  so  firmly,  and  yet  so  modestly, 
puts  before  them ;  and  we  trust  that  the  little  book  in  which  they  are 
contained  will  find  its  way  into  all  parts  of  Great  Britain." — Volunteer 
Seniee  Gazette. 

' '  The  matter  ...  is  eminently  practical,  and  the  style  intelligible 
and  unostentatious." — Glasgmv  Vohinteei'  Netvs, 

XXIII. 

CATHOLICISM  AND  THE  VATICAN.  With  a  Narrative  of 
the  Old  Catholic  Congress  at  Munich.  By  J.  Lowry 
Whittle,  A.M.,  Trin.  Coll.,  DubHn.     Crown  8vo,  4^-.  (id. 

\Just  out. 
"  We  cannot  follow  the  author  through  his  graphic  and  lucid  sketch 
of  the  Catholic  movement  in  Germany  and  of  the  Munich  Congress,  at 
which  he  was  present  ;  but  we  may  cordially  recommend  his  book  to 
all  who  wish  to  follow  the  course  of  the  movement." — Saturday  J^ez'u'H'. 
"  A  valuable  and  philosophic  contribution  to  the  solution  of  one  of 
the  greatest  questions  of  this  stirring  age." — Chureh  Times. 


65,   Cornhill^  London. 


1 6         Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &■  Co. 


XXIV. 

NAZARETH :  ITS  LIFE  AND  LESSONS.  In  small  8vo, 
cloth,  5J-.  By  the  Author  of  "The  Divine  Kingdom  on 
Earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven."  \_Jnst  out. 

"  In  Him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  oj  men." 

"A  singularly  reverent  and  beautiful  book;  the  style  in  which  it  is 
written  is  not  less  chaste  and  attractive  than  its  subject." — Daily  Tele- 
graph. 

"We  would  earnestly  commend  it  for  attentive  perusal  to  those  who 
are  proposing  to  undertake,  or  have  just  entered  upon,  the  sacred 
ministry  in  our  church." — Morning  Post. 

"Perhaps  one  of  the  most  remarkable  books  recently  issued  in  the 
whole  range  of  English  theology.  .  ,  ,  Original  in  design,  calm 
and  appreciative  in  language,  noble  and  elevated  in  style,  this  book,  we 
venture  to  think,  will  live." — Churchman'' s  Magazine. 


XXV. 

THE  DIVINE  KINGDOM  ON  EARTH  AS  IT  IS  IN 
HEAVEN.  In  demy  8vo,  bound  in  cloth.  Price  ^os.  6d. 
"  Our  Commonwealth  is  in  Heaven."  [Now  ready. 

"It  is  seldom  that,  in  the  course  of  our  critical  duties,  we  have  to 
deal  with  a  volume  of  any  size  or  pretension  so  entirely  valuable  and 
satisfactory  as  this.  Published  anonymously  as  it  is,  there  is  no  living 
divine  to  whom  the  authorship  would  not  be  a  credit  .  .  .  Not  the 
least  of  its  merits  is  the  perfect  simplicity  and  clearness,  conjoined  wit 
a  certain  massive  beauty,  of  its  style." — Literary  Chiarhman. 

"  A  high  purpose  and  a  devout  spirit  characterize  this  work.  It  is 
thoughtful  and  eloquent  .  .  .  The  most  valuable  and  suggestive  chapter 
is  entitled  '  Fulfilment  in  Life  and  Ministry  of  Christ,'  which  is  full  of 
original  thinking  admirably  expressed." — British  Quarterly  Review. 


65,   Cornhiil  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &=   Co. 


f 


O  E  T  R  Y 


I. 
SONGS  OP  LIFE  AND  DEATH.    By  John  Payne,  Author 
of  "  Intaglios,"  "  Sonnets,"  "The  Masque  of  Shadows,"  etc. 
Cr,  8vo,  5,5',  [Jxsi  out. 

II. 
SONGS  OF  TWO  WORLDS.    By  a  New  Writer.    Fcap.  8vo, 
cloth,  5^-. 

"The  'New  Writer'  is  certainly  no  tyro.  No  one  after  reading  the 
first  two  poems,  almost  perfect  in  rhythm  and  all  the  graceful  resei-ve  of 
true  lyiical  strength,  can  doubt  that  this  book  is  the  result  of  lengthened 
thought  and  assiduous  training  in  poetical  form.  .  .  .  These  poems  will 
assuredly  take  high  rank  among  the  class  to  which  they  belong." — - 
British  Quarterly  Rruiciu,  April  1st, 

"No  extracts  could  do  justice  to  the  exquisite  tones,  the  felicitous 
phrasing  and  delicately  wrought  harmonies  of  some  of  these  poems." — 
Noticonformist^  March  2']th. 

"Are  we  in  this  book  making  the  acquaintance  of  a  fine  and  original 
poet,  or  of  a  most  artistic  imitator?  And  our  deliberate  opinion  is  that 
the  former  hypothesis  is  the  right  one.  It  has  a  purity  and  delicacy  of 
feeling  like  morning  air." — Graphic,  March  i6th. 

"  If  these  poems  are  the  mere  preludes  of  a  mind  growing  in  power 
and  in  inclination  for  verse,  we  hiive  in  them  the  promise  of  a  fine  poet. 
.  .  .  The  verse  describing  Socrates  has  the  highest  note  of  critical 
poetry." — Spectator,  Feb.  \']th. 

"One  of  the  most  promising  of  the  books  of  verse  hy  new  writers 
which  have  appeared  for  a  considerable  time.  Very  little  is  wanted  in 
the  more  artistic  of  these  poems." — Civil  Service  Gazette,  March  ^th. 

"  The  author  is  a  real  ]iot\.."— Public  Opinion,  Feb.  I'jth. 

"  Many  of  the  songs  exhibit  exquisite  fancy  and  considerable 
imaginative  power.  .  .  .  We  should  have  been  glad  to  make  further 
quotations  from  these  admirable  poems." — Manchester  Examiner, 
Feb.  Ml. 

"The  writer  possesses,  and  has  by  much  cultivation  enhanced,  the 
gift  which  is  essential  to  lyrical  poetry  of  the  highest  order." — Manchester 
Guardian,  Jan.  wth. 

"  So  healthy  in  sentiment  and  manly  in  tone  that  one  cannot  help 
feeling  an  interest  in  the  writer." — Examiner  Dec.  2,oth. 

"The  '  New  Writer  '  is  a  thoroughly  accomplished  master  of  versifi- 
cation,— his  thouglit  is  clear  and  incisive,  his  faculty  of  expression  and 
power  of  ornamentation  ought  to  raise  him  to  a  high  rank  among  the 
poets  of  the  day." — Glasg07u  Herald,  Dec.  2%th. 


65,  Cornhill,  Lojiaon. 


r8  Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  e^  Co., 

III. 

THE  LEGENDS  OP  ST.  PATRICK,  AND  OTHER  POEMS. 

By  Aubrey  de  Vere.    Crown  8vo,  5^.  \jHst  out. 


IV 

EROS  AGrONISTES.     By  E.  B.  D.     Crown  8vo,  3^.  dd. 

\Just  02(f. 
V 

THE    INN    OP    STRANGE    MEETINGS,    AND    OTHER 

POEMS.    By  Mortimer  Collins.    Crown  Bvo,  5^-. 

"Mr.  Collins  has  an  undercuiTent  of  chivalry  and  romance  beiteath 
the  trifling  vein  of  good  humoured  banter  which  is  the  special  cha- 
racteristic of  his  verse.  .  .  .  The  'Inn  of  Strange  Meetings' is  a 
sprightly  piece." — AthencEtim. 

' '  Abounding  in  quiet  humour,  in  bright  fancy,  in  sweetness  and 
melody  of  expression,  and,  at  times,  in  the  tenderest  touches  of  pathos." 
• — Graphic. 

VI. 

ASPROMONTE,  AND   OTHER   POEMS.      Second  Edition, 
cloth,  4^.  (id. 

"  The  volume  is  anonymous ;  but  there  is  no  reason  for  the  author  to  be 
ashamed  of  it.  The  '  Poems  of  Italy'  are  evidently  inspired  by  genuine 
enthusiasm  in  the  cause  espoused ;  and  one  of  them,  '  The  Execution  of 
Felice  Orsini,'  has  much  poetic  merit,  the  event  celebrated  being  told 
with  dramatic  force." — AthcncEiuu. 

"  The  verse  is  fluent  and  free." — Spectator. 


VII. 

THE  DREAM  AND  THE  DEED,  AND  OTHER  POEMS. 

By  Patrick  Scott,  Author  of  "  Footpaths  Between  Two 
Worlds,"  etc.     Fcap.  8vo,  cloth,  5^. 

"  A  bitter  and  able  satire  on  the  vices  and  follies  of  the  day,  literary, 
social,  and  political." — Standard, 

"  Shows  real  poetic  power  coupled  with  evidences  of  satirical  energy." 
— Edinburgh  Daily  Rci'ird.'. 


65,   Corn/ii//,  London, 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  Kifig.&'  Co.,         19 


y 


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ROBERTSON,  M.A.  Edited  by  Stopford  Brooke,  M.A., 
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THE  CORINTHIANS.     Small  crown  Svo.     53-. 

LECTURES    AND    ADDRESSES    ON    LITERARY    AND 

SOCIAL  TOPICS.     Small  crown  Svo.     3^-.  6d. 

AN  ANALYSIS  OF  MR.  TENNYSON'S  "  IN  MEMORIAM." 

(Dedicated  by  permission  to  the  Poet-Laureate.)     Fcap.  Svo.     2s. 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  HUMAN  RACE.  Translated 
from  the  German  of  Gotthold  Ephraim  Lessing.  Fcap.  Svo. 
2s.  6d.  

A  LECTURE  ON  FRED.  W.  ROBERTSON,  M.A.      By  the 

Rev.  F.  A.  Noble,  delivered  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  of  Pittsburgh,  U.S.     is.  6d. 


65,  Cornhill,  London. 


20         Books  Ptiblished  by  Henry  S.  King  6^  Co., 

Sermons  by  the  Rev.  Stopford  A.  Brooke,  M.A. 

Honorary  Chaplain  to  Her  Majesty  the  Queen. 


THE   LIFE   AND   WORK    OP    FREDERICK    DENISON 
MAURICE.    A  Memorial  Sermon.    Crown  8vo,  sewed.     \s. 

II. 
CHRIST   IN   MODERN    LIFE.     Sermons    preached   in   St. 
James's  Chapel,  York  Street,  London.      Second  Edition. 
Crown  8vo.     'js.  6d. 

"  Nobly  fearless  and  singularly  strong  .  .  .  carries  our  admi- 
ration throughout." — British  Quarterly  Review. 

III. 
FREEDOM   IN   THE   CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND.     Second 
Edition.     Six  Sermons  suggested  by  the  Voysey  Judgment. 
In  One  Volume.     Crown  8vo,  cloth,  3^'.  6^. 

"Everyone  should  read  them.  No  one  can  be  insensible  to  the 
charm  of  his  style,  or  the  clear  logical  manner  in  which  he  treats  his 
subject." — Chicrchman's  IMonthly. 

"We  have  to  thank  Mr.  Brooke  for  a  very  clear  and  courageous 
exposition  of  theological  views,  with  which  we  are  for  the  most  part  in 
full  sympathy." — Spectator. 

"Interesting  and  readable,  and  characterized  by  great  clearness  of 
thought,  frankness  of  statement,  and  moderation  of  tone." — Church 
Opinion. 

' '  A  very  fair  statement  of  the  views  in  respect  to  freedom  of  thought 
held  by  the  liberal  party  in  the  Church  of  England." — Blackwood's 
Magazine. 

IV. 

SERMONS  PREACHED  IN  ST.  JAMES'S  CHAPEL,  YORK 
STREET,  LONDON.     Fifth  Edition.     Crown  Svo.     6s. 

"  No  one  who  reads  these  sermons  vdll  wonder  that  Mr.  Brooke  is  a 
great  power  in  London,  that  his  chapel  is  thronged,  and  his  followers 
large  and  enthusiastic.  They  are  fiery,  energetic,  impetuous  sermons, 
rich  with  the  treasures  of  a  cultivated  imagination." — Guardian. 

"  Mr.  Brooke's  sermons  are  shrewd  and  clever,  and  always  readable. 
He  is  better  off  than  many  preachers,  for  he  has  something  to  say,  and 
says  it." —  Churchman's  Magazine. 

"  A  fine  specimen  of  the  best  preaching  of  the  Episcopal  pulpit." — 
British  Quarterly. 

65,   Cornhill,  London, 


Boohs  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  d}'  Co.,  21 


Books    on    Indian    jSubjects. 


THE  EUROPEAN  IN  INDIA.  A  Hand-book  of  practical 
information  for  those  proceeding  to,  or  residing  in,  the 
East  Indies,  relating  to  Outfits,  Routes,  Time  for  Departure, 
Indian  Climate,  etc.  By  Edmund  C.  P.  Hull.  With  a 
MEDICAL  GUIDE  FOR  ANGLO-INDIANS.  Being 
a  compendium  of  Advice  to  Europeans  in  India,  relating 
to  the  Preservation  and  Regulation  of  Health,  By  R.  S. 
Mair,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S.E.,  late  Deputy  Coroner  of  Madras. 
In  one  vol.,  post  8vo,  6s. 

"  Full  of  all  sorts  of  useful  information  to  the  English  settler  or  tra- 
veller in  India." — Standard. 

"One  of  the  most  valuable  books  ever  published  in  India — valuable 
for  its  sound  information,  its  careful  array  of  pertinent  facts,  and  its 
sterling  common  sense.  It  is  a  publisher's  as  well  as  an  author's  '  hit,' 
for  it  supplies  a  want  which  few  persons  may  have  discovered,  but  which 
everybody  will  at  once  recognise  when  once  the  contents  of  the  book 
have  been  mastered.  The  medical  part  of  the  work  is  invaluable." — 
Calcutta  Guardian. 

II. 
EASTERN  EXPERIENCES.    By  L.  Bowring,  C.S.I.,  Lord 
Canning's  Private  Secretary,  and  for  many  years  the  Chief 
Commissioner  of  Mysore  and  Coorg.     In  one  vol.,  demy 
8vo,  i6j.    Illustrated  with  Maps  and  Diagrams. 

"  An  admirable  and  exhaustive  geographical,  political,  and  industrial 
survey. " — Athenanitn. 

"The  usefulness  of  this  compact  and  methodical  summary  of  the 
most  authentic  information  relating  to  countries  whose  welfare  is  in- 
timately connected  with  our  own,  should  obtain  for  Mr.  Lewin  Bowring's 
work  a  good  place  among  treatises  of  its  kind." — Daily  N'eios. 

"Interesting  even  to  the  general  reader,  but  more  especially  so  to 
those  who  may  have  a  special  concern  in  that  portion  of  our  Indian 
Empire. " — Post. 

"  An  elaborately  got  up  and  carefully  compiled  work." — Home  News. 

III. 
A  MEMOIR  OF  THE  INDIAN  SURVEYS.    By  Clement 
R.  Markham.     Printed  by  order  of  Her  Majesty's  Secre- 
tary of  State  for  India  in  Council.     Imperial  8vo,   \os. 

65,   Com  hill,  London. 


2  2         Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  &>  Co., 


BOOKS    ON    INDIAN    SUBJKCTS-(co«/z«?«?<^). 
IV. 

WESTERN  INDIA  BEFORE  AND  DURING  THE  MUTI- 
NIES. Pictures  drawn  from  Life.  By  Major- General  Sir 
George  Le  Grand  Jacob,  K.C.S.I.,  C.B.  In  one  vol., 
crown  8vo,  ^s.  6d. 

"The  most  important  contribution  to  the  history  of  Western  India 
during  the  Mutinies,  which  has  yet,  in  a  popular  form,  been  made 
public." — Atheticsum. 

"  The  legacy  of  a  wise  veteran,  intent  on  the  benefit  of  his  countrymen 
rather  than  on  the  acquisition  of  fame." — London  and  China  Express. 

"Few  men  more  competent  than  himself  to  speak  authoritatively 
concerning  Indian  affairs." — Standard. 


V, 

EXCHANGE  TABLES  OF  STERLING  AND  INDIAN 
RUPEE  CURRENCY,  upon  a  new  and  extended  system, 
embracing  values  from  one  farthing  to  one  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  and  at  rates  progressing,  in  sixteenths  of 
a  penny,  from  \s.  ()d.  to  2s.  yi.  per  rupee.  By  Donald 
Fraser,  Accountant  to  the  British  Indian  Steam  Naviga- 
tion Co.,  Limited.     Royal  8vo,  \os.  6d. 

VI. 

A  CATALOGUE  OF  MAPS  OF  THE  BRITISH  POSSESSIONS 
IN  INDIA  AND  OTHER  PARTS  OF  ASIA.    Published 
by  Order  of  Her  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  India  in 
Council.     Royal  8vo,  sewed,  ij-. 
A  continuation  of  the  above,  sewed,  price  6d.,  is  now  ready. 

I^°  Messrs.  Henry  S.  King  &^  Co.  are  the  authorised  agents 
by  the  Government  for  the  sale  of  the  whole  of  the  Maps 
enumerated  in  this  Catalome. 


VII. 

THE  BENGAL  QUARTERLY  ARMY"  LIST.     Sewed,  15^. 
THE  BOMBAY  DO.  DO.  Sewed,  9-r. 

THE  MADRAS  DO.  DO.  Sewed,  i2j-. 

65,   Cornhill,  London. 


Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  ^^  Co.,  23 

Recently    Published    Novels. 

I. 
THE   PRINCESS   CLARICE.      A   STORY   OP   1871.     By 

Mortimer  Collins.    Two  vols.,  crown  8vo.     \Jnst  Out. 

II. 
A  GOOD  MATCH.    By  Amelia  Perkier.    Author  of  "  Mea 
Culpa."     Two  vols.  \y list  out. 

"  Racy  and  lively." — AthcrKxum. 
"  Agreeably  written." — Public  Opinion. 

III. 
THOMASINA.     By  the  author  of  "  Dorothy,"  "  De   Cressy," 
etc.     Two  vols.,  crown  8vo.  {Just  out. 

"We  would  liken  it  to  a  finished  and  delicate  cabinet  picture,  in 
which  there  is  no  brilliant  colour,  and  yet  all  is  harmony  ;  in  which  no 
line  is  without  its  purpose,  but  all  contribute  to  the  unity  of  the  work." 
— AthcncEitm. 

"For  the  delicacies  of  character-drawing,  for  play  of  incident,  and 
for  finish  of  style,  we  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  story  itself :  from  the 
penisal  of  which  they  cannot  fail  to  derive  both  interest  and  amuse- 
ment."— Daily  N'ews. 

"  Very  pleasant  and  lively  reading." — Graphic. 

"  This  undeniably  pleasing  story." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

IV. 

THE  STORY  OP  SIR  EDWARD'S  WIPE.     By  Hamilton 

Marshall,  Author  of  "  For  Very  Life."     One  vol.,  crown 

8vo.  \_jjist  out. 

"There   are    many    clever    conceits   in    it     .      .      .     Mr.    Hamilton 

Marshall   proves  in    '  Sir  Edward's  Wife  '  that   he  can  tell    a  story 

closely  and  pleasantly." — Pall  Mall  Gazette. 

"A  quiet  graceful  little  story." — Spectator. 

"  There  is  a  freshness  and  vigour  in  Mr.  Marshall's  writings  that  will 
be  enjoyed  by  the  thoughtful  reader." — Public  Opi)iion. 

V. 

LINKED  AT  LAST.  By  F.  E.  Bunnett.  One  vol,  crown 
8vo. 

"  'Linked  at  Last'  contains  so  much  of  pretty  description,  natural 
incident,  and  delicate  portraiture,  that  the  reader  who  once  takes  it  up 
will  not  be  inclined  to  relinquish  it  without  concluding  the  volume." — 
Morning  Post. 

"A  very  charming  story." — John  Bull. 

"A  very  simple  and  beautiful  story." — Public  Opinion. 

65,   Cornhill,  London. 


24  Books  Published  by  Henry  S.  King  ^  Co., 

VI. 

PEEPLEXITY.  By  Sydney  Mostyn,  a  New  Writer.  Three 
vols.,  crown  8vo.  \JJust  out. 

"  Unquestionably  a  very  powerful  story.  What  may  be  called  its  mani- 
pulation is  exceedingly  able,  inasmuch  as  it  is  told  in  an  autobiographical 
form  ;  and  yet  it  exhibits  the  thoughts,  feelings,  ideas,  andtemptations 
of  a  woman  of  varied  and  interesting  characteristics. "—  Moniijig  Post. 

"We  congratulate  Sydney  Mostyn  on  the  production  of  a  deeply 
interesting  work,  full  of  manly  thoughts,  admirable  reflections,  and 
sparkling  humour.  The  work  is  aptly  named,  and  we  can  assure  its 
author  we  shall  experience  no  perplexity  when  others  from  his  pen  lie 
on  our  table." — Public  Opinio7i. 

"Shows  much  lucidity,  much  power  of  portraiture,  and  no  incon- 
siderable sense  of  humour." — Examiner. 

"The  literary  workmanship  is  good,  and  the  story  forcibly  and 
graphically  told." — Daily  News. 

"  Written  with  very  considerable  power,  the  plot  is  original  and 
.  .  .  worked  out  with  great  cleverness  and  sustained  interest." — 
Slajtdard. 

VII. 

CRUEL  AS  THE  GRAVE.  By  the  Countess  von  Bothmer. 
Three  vols.,  crown  8vo. 

"  yealoitsy  is  cruel  as  the  Grave." 

"The  Wise  Man's  motto  is  prefixed  to  an  interesting,  though  some- 
what tragic  story,  by  the  Countess  von  Bothmer.  .  .  .  Her  German 
prince,  with  his  chivalrous  affection,  his  disinterested  patriotism,  and  his 
soldierlike  sense  of  duty,  is  no  unworthy  type  of  a  national  character 
which  has  lately  given  the  world  many  instances  of  old-fashioned 
heroism." — Athenamm. 

"This  graceful  story — tender  and  gay,  with  the  sweetest  tenderness 
and  the  brightest  gaiety, — whether  pathetic  or  satirical,  is  always  natural 
and  never  dull." — Mortting  Post. 

"An  agreeable,  unaffected,  and  eminently  readable  novel." — Daily 
News. 

VIII. 

HER  'TITLE  OF  HONOUR.  By  Holme  Lee.  One  vol., 
crown  8vo.     (Second  Edition.) 

"It  is  unnecessary  to  recommend  tales  of  Holme  Lee's,  for  they  are 
well  kno's^Ti,  and  all  more  or  less  liked.  But  this  book  far  exceeds 
even  our  favourites,  Sylvan  HoWs  Daughter,  Kathie  Brande,  and 
Thorney  Hall.,  because  with  the  interest  of  a  pathetic  story  is  united 
the  value  of  a  definite  and  high  purpose."—  Spectator. 

"  We  need  scarcely  say  of  a  book  of  Holme  Lee's  writing,  that  it  is 
carefully  finished  and  redolent  of  a  refined  and  beautiful  soul.  We  have 
no  more  accomplished  or  conscientious  literary  artist.  "--.^rZ/w^  Quarterly. 

"A  most  exquisitely  written  story." — Literctry  Churchman. 

65,   Corn/iill,  Lo?idon. 


65,    CORNHILL, 

June,  1872. 


THE 


II(TERI(ATIOHAL  SCIEI(TIFIC  SEI[IES. 


Messrs.  Henry  S.  King  &  Co.  have  the  pleasure  to  announce  that 
under  the  above  title  they  intend  to  issue  a  Series  of  Popular 
Treatises,  embodj-ing  the  results  of  the  latest  investigations  in  the 
various  departments  of  Science  at  present  most  prominently  before  the 
world. 

The  character  and  scope  of  the  Series  will  be  best  indicated  by  a 
reference  to  the  names  and  subjects  included  in  the  following  List  ; 
from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  co-operation  of  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  Professors  in  England,  America,  Germany,  and  France 
has  been  already  secured. 

Although  these  Works  are  not  specially  designed  for  the  instruction 
of  beginners,  still,  as  they  are  intended  to  address  the  non-scientific 
public,  they  will  be,  as  far  as  possible,  explanatory  in  character,  and 
free  from  technicalities.  The  oljject  of  each  author  will  be  to  bring  his 
subject  as  near  as  he  can  to  the  general  reader. 

The  Series  wijl  also  be  published  simultaneously  in  New  York  by 
Messrs.  D.  Appleton  &  Co. ;  in  Paris  by  M.  Germer  Bailliere  ;  and  in 
Leipzig  by  Messrs.  Brockhaus.  The  volumes  will  be  crown  8vo  size, 
well  printed  on  good  paper,  strongly  and  elegantly  bound,  and  will  sell 
in  this  country  at  a  price  not  exceeding  Five  S/iillings.  * 

A  first  List  of  Authors  and  Subjects  is  appended  ;  but  several  of  the 
titles  are  provisional.  The  first  volume,  by  Professor  JNO.  TYNDALL, 
F.R.S.,  entitled  "THE  FORMS  OF  WATER  IN  RAIN  AND 
RIVERS,  ICE  AND  GLACIERS,"  is  now  in  the  Press,  and  will 
he  published  in  the  Autumn.  It  is  impossible  at  present  to  give  a  definite 
announcement  of  the  order  of  publication ;  but  it  is  e.xpected  that 
besides  Professor  Tyndall's  book  the  following  will  be  issued  during 
the  present  year: — 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF 
MENTAL  PHYSIOLOGY. 

By  Dr.  Carpenter. 

BODILY  MOTION  AND 
CONSCIOUSNESS.  By 
Professor  Huxley,  F.R.S. 


PHYSICS  AND  POLITICS. 

By  Walter  Bagehot. 

FOOD  AND  DIETS.    By  Dr. 

Edward  Smith,  F.R.S.;  and 

EARTH-SCULPTURES.    By 
Professor  Ramsay,  F.R.S. 


• 
INTERNATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC   SERIES-FIRST  LIST. 


Professor  T.  H.  HUXLEY,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

BODILY  MOTION  AND  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

Dr.  W.  B.  CARPENTER,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  MENTAL  PHYSIOLOGY. 

Sir  JOHN  LUBBOCK,  Bart.,  F.R.S. 

THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  MAN. 
Professor  RUDOLPH  VIRCHOW(ofthe  University  of  Berlin). 
MORBID  PHYSIOLOGICAL  ACTION. 

Professor  ALEXANDER  BAIN,  LL.D. 

RELATIONS  OF  MIND  AND  BODY. 

Professor  BALFOUR  STEWART,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

THE  CONSERVATION  OF  ENERGY. 

WALTER  BAGEHOT,  Esq. 
PHYSICS  AND  POLITICS. 

Dr.  H.  CHARLTON  BASTIAN,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

THE  BRAIN  AS  AN  ORGAN  OF  MIND. 

HERBERT  SPENCER,  Esq. 

THE  STUDY  OF  SOCIOLOGY. 

Professor  WILLIAM  ODLING,  F.R.S. 

THE  NEW  CHEMISTRY. 

Professor  W.  THISELTON  DYER,  B.A.,  B.Sc. 

FORM  AND  HABIT  IN  FLOWERING  PLANTS. 

Dr.  EDWARD  SMITH,  F.R.S. 

FOOD. 

Professor  W.  KINGDON  CLIFFORD,  M.A. 

THE  FIRST  PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  EXACT  SCIENCE.S 
EXPLAINED  TO  THE  NON-MATHEMATICAL. 

Mr.  J.  N.  LOCKYER,  F.R.S. 

SPECTRUM  ANALYSIS. 

W.  LAUDER  LINDSAY,  M.D.,  F.R.S.E. 

MIND  IN  THE  LOWER  ANIMALS. 

Dr.  J.  B.  PETTIGREW,  M.D.,  F.R.S. 

WALKING,  SWIMMING,  AND  FLYING. 

Professor  A.  C.  RAMSAY,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

EARTH  SCULPTURE:  Hills,  Valleys,  Mountains,  Plains, 
Rivers,  Lakes  ;  how  they  were  Produced,  and  how  they  have  been 
Destroyed. 


INTERNATIONAL  SCIENTIFIC  SERIES-FIRST  LIST. 


Professor  JOHN  TYNDALL,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

THE  FORMS   OF  WATER  IN  RAIN  AND  RIVERS,  ICE 
AND  GLACIERS. 

Dr.  HENRY  MAUDSLEY. 

RESPONSIBILITY  IN  DISEASE. 

Professor  W.  STANLEY  JEVONS. 

THE  LOGIC  OF  STATISTICS. 

Professor  MICHAEL  FOSTER,  M.D. 

PROTOPLASM  AND  THE  CELL  THEORY. 

Rev.  M.  J.  BERKELEY,  M.A.,  F.L.S. 

FUNGI :  their  Nature,  Influences,  and  Uses. 
Professor  CLAUDE  BERNARD  (of  the  College  of  France). 

PHYSICAL   AND    METAPHYSICAL   PHENOMENA   OF 

LIFE. 
Professor    A.    GUETELET    (of  the    Brussels    Academy  of 

(Sciences).     SOCIAL  PHYSICS. 

Professor  H.  SAINTE  CLAIRE  DEVILLE. 

AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  GENERAL  CHEMISTRY. 

Professor  WURTZ. 

ATOMS  AND  THE  ATOMIC  THEORY. 

Professor  D.  QUATREFAGES. 

THE  NEGRO  RACES. 

Professor  LACAZE-DUTHIERS. 

ZOOLOGY  SINCE  CUVIER. 

Professor  BERTHELOT. 

CHEMICAL  SYNTHESIS. 

Professor  J.  ROSENTHAL  (of  the  University  of  Berlin). 
(Subject  not  yet  received). 

Professor  JAMES  D.  DANA,  M.A.,  LL.D. 

On  CEPHALIZATION  ;  or,  Head-Characters  in  the  Gradation 

and  Progress  of  Life. 

Professor  S.  W.  JOHNSON,  M.A. 

ON  THE  NUTRITION  OF  PLANTS. 

Professor  AUSTIN  FLINT,  Jr.,  M.D. 

THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  AND  ITS  RELATION  TO  THE 
BODILY  FUNCTIONS. 

Professor  W.  D.  WHITNEY. 

MODERN  LINGUISTIC  SCIENCE. 


PLEASURE : 

A  HOLIDAY  BOOK   OF    PROSE  AND  VERSE. 


Illustrated.     Elegantly  Bound   in    Ornamental    Cloth   Cover 

with  Gilt  Edges  and  Ilhiminated  Frontispiece,  is.  6d. 

Illuminated  Cover,  sewed,  \s. 


Contents. 

The  Miserable  Family Hain  Friswell. 

Sleep  by  the  Sea.     A  Poem Tom  Hood. 

The  New  Pass Amelia  B.  Edwards. 

A  Regret.     A  Poem The  Hon.  Mrs.  Norton. 

The  Echo  of  the  Bells Alice  Fisher. 

The  Critical  Spirit Rev.  Canon  Kingsley. 

A  Scene  on  Olympus Percival  Keane. 

Tristram  and  Iseult.     A  Poem      ....  Algernon  C.  Swinburne. 

How  Bayard  Maixied  his  old  Love    .     .     ,  Holme  Lee. 

After  Some  Years Laura  Leigh. 

Love  and  Revenge Countess  Von  Bothmer. 

Time  :  an  Apologue Thomas  Purnell. 

A  Tale  of  High  Colour.     jV  Poem    .     .     .  Godfrey  Turner. 

A  New  Lease  of  Life Thomas  Archer. 

The  Gambling  Hands The  Hon.  Mrs.  Norton. 

"  An  extraordinary  shilling's  woitli.  'Tristram  and  Iseult'  is  alone 
worth  far  more  than  the  price  of  the  publication,  which  is  a  very  good 
annual,  and  very  creditable  both  to  the  editor  and  publisher." — Standard. 


Monthly,  Price  One  Shilling. 


THE    MINING    MAGAZINE 
AND   REVIEW. 

A 

RECORD  OF  MINING,  SMELTING,  QUARRYING, 

AND    ENGINEERING. 

Zd'iUd  by  NELSON   BOYD.  F.G.S.,  Etc. 
Henry  S.  King  &  Co.,  65,  Cornhill,  London. 


Date  Due 

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