no Israelites or circumcised persons could perish; since Abraham would, after death, snatch them from hell, and bear them in his bosom to Paradise. This foolish hope is here reproved by Christ, who gives an instance where a wicked Jew calls on his father Abraham in vain'. Towards the close of the parable, the rich man is represented lifting up his eyes from his place of torment, and making a request to the blessed patriarch, that he would send Lazarus to his five brethren, now alive, in order to "testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment,"-a request naturally enough addressed to Abraham, on account of his great familiarity and friendship with God, and his known character for compassion and tenderness. Nevertheless, instead of indulging the suppliant in his desire of new evidence, Abraham refers him to that which his brethren already had: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." Not satisfied with this answer, the tormented person renews his intercession, with the same freedom that the patriarch himself had once used in behalf of the people of Sodom; representing, further, that the means of conviction which his brethren enjoyed, not having yet prevailed, it would be but charity to try another: "If one went unto them from the dead they will re7 Bishop Heber.

pent8. To what purpose? What could such a messenger propose, or urge, which had not been proposed and urged already? With all the eloquence of an inspired tongue, could he add or say any thing which had not been said already? The experiment had been fully tried by the patriarchs and prophets upon the hopes and fears, the reasons and passions of men by all the powers of nature; the applications of which have been so great, and the variety of addresses so unanswerable, that there is not a greater paradox in the world, than that so good a religion should have been no better recommended by its professors'. Abraham answers, That they had already sufficient evidence of these things; that they wanted no further means of knowledge, if they would make use of those they had; that it would be loss of labour to afford new evidence, since it was not the want of evidence that occasioned the unbelief2. The most awful, and, perhaps, the most striking part, of the whole parable, is the assurance of Abraham at the end of it; that they who would not hear Moses and the prophets, could not be persuaded, though one did rise from the dead 3.

There is no doubt whatever that this was a parable so painted by our Lord's habitual know

ledge of all things, as to convey most forcibly an important truth to His disciples of all time; yet, as in respect to other parables, so in this, and almost every incident recorded in the New Testament, the people at Jerusalem, who would keep alive the interest of that wonderful city in the minds of travellers, do not in the least hesitate to point out each locality of this whole transaction. The house of the rich man, says a recent traveller, at whose door Lazarus lay, is pointed out, as well as the house of Lazarus himself, close by; and one of the monks assured him of the certainty of the fact, with very great solemnity. It has been, I believe, a very common idea among the general readers of Scripture, that our Lord would describe in this place the account of an event that had happened to two well-known persons, who had lived and died at Jerusalem, a little time before. But, nevertheless, it would have been quite impossible that any remains of such a history should still exist, because, as Jerusalem was entirely thrown down by the Romans, and had undergone since so many changes and misfortunes, that even the Temple can only be traced by its foundations, and by the mountain on which it was well known to have been built, it is simply ridiculous to suppose that any private house could have been picked out of the rubbish,

Pictorial Bible.

even if it had ever had a being. Nor does there seem any great weight in the opinion that Lazarus must have been the same person as the friend of Christ, and the same whom He raised from the dead, because of the name of Lazarus : for the brother of Martha and Mary, so far from being a beggar, was a man, to all appearance, in easy, or competent circumstances, giving feasts and entertainments, not only to our Saviour, but to His Apostles, and to a number of the Jews besides. Nor does it appear possible that this incident could have happened between the death of Lazarus, and his restoration to life. Lazarus was a very common name among the Jews; and whether or no the incident was real or fictitious, the name would not determine the doubt about it.

SECT. XCVIII.-Christ teacheth the Power of Faith.

Luke xvii. 1-10.

It is most probable that the discourse we now enter upon was uttered by Jesus at another period of this His last journey through Galilee to Jerusalem. Many of the things which are mentioned in this part of St. Luke's Gospel would appear, according to St. Matthew, to have been also said at other times; and it is not impossible but that their importance rendered a repetition expedient and useful'. He now says unto His disciples, In the present Bishop Heber. Archbishop Sumner. 7 Dr. Robinson.

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state of the world, it cannot be expected but that many should be seduced from the practice of virtue and piety; but wretched is that man who is in any way the occasion of it, either by persuasion, enticement, or bad example. Such trespasses must however be rebuked, as often as they are committed; and, as often as they are acknowledged, they must be forgiven ; for forgiveness is essentially a Christian's duty o. The Apostles, it should seem, became affected by a sense of the great difficulties of the task they were called upon to perform, and of their inability to surmount them; not through any want of faith to believe all that their Lord instructed them in, but from an imperfect reliance on the power of God to enable them to endure with sufficient patience, or to exercise sufficient virtue, or, above all, to enable them to perform miracles for the great work of converting men to Christianity. This seems to be the meaning of their speech at this time: "Increase our faith," judging from our Saviour's reply to it'. Some suppose the expression to mean, Lord, lay down some rules concerning the measure of our faith, as Thou hast here done concerning the extent of our charity. Be this as it may, Jesus reminds them, in reply, That the least degree of active, growing faith, "as a grain of mustard seed," would produce Bishop Mann. "Archbishop Sumner. Bishop Mann.