frightful; and it is likewise true, that the Almighty had declared that he held human sacrifices in abhorrence; but in the time of Jephthah, the Israelites were corrupted by idolatry; the Chief himself had been accustomed to a kind of life which was calculated to subdue the purity of his religious principles, and his vow may have been uttered in the heat of battle, and without reflection.

You have heard, My Brethren, the principal arguments alleged by the commentators on either side, in support of the respective opinions by which they are divided. If, like them, you are also divided in opinion on the points in dispute, you assuredly will not be so in regard to the judgment you will form respecting the conduct of his daughter.

"So Jephthah," continues the sacred historian, "passed over unto the children of Ammon, to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands, and he smote them with a very great slaughter:-And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels

and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter. And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me; for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon.'

This simple and most affecting narrative, My Brethren, none of you, I am persuaded, can have heard without emotion: there can be among you but one feeling of pity and admiration for this youthful victim of parental rashness, and for the meek resignation and filial piety displayed by her in that interview, the result of which was so different from what she must naturally have expected, on the return of a beloved father, crowned with victory, from the perils of war.

No doubt, this unexpected blow must have caused the most violent revulsion of feeling; and her immediate impressions must have been made up of a frightful mixture of indignation, grief, and despair. But-such is the power of virtue, such the hallowed force of generous sentiments-she presently masters those first emotions of her soul! She represses the most delightful and most powerful feelings of nature; the most brilliant prospects, and the delicious hopes of her prosperous youth, she is prepared to sacrifice to her Father, her Country, and her God. Not a reproach, not a complaint, not a murmur, escapes from her lips. The few words, full of exquisite simplicity, which she makes use of, express only the affectionate piety of a loving heart, and the most unaffected resignation:-"My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon."

While, by transmitting from age to age the story of the sublime devotedness of Jephthah's daughter, the inspired narrator cannot fail to rouse in the bosoms of men of every period and every place the warmest sentiments of admiration for the child; his recital, no less terrible than affecting, is likewise calculated, by exhibiting in the conduct of the father a most deplorable instance of misguided piety, to warn mankind, in all times and countries, into what fearful excesses they may be drawn, by blindly giving themselves up to an unenlightened religious zeal.

In the conduct of Jephthah, as seen in this transaction, all the usual characteristic qualities of FALSE ZEAL meet together: it displays ignorance he does not appear to have any knowledge either of the spirit or the letter of the Holy Scriptures. It displays imprudence—he binds himself by an obligation, the consequences of which he could not foresee. It displays self-conceit―there must doubtless have been in Israel wise and enlightened men, who sought to dissuade him from the accomplishment of

his unhallowed vow; yet he persists in his resolution. It displays an inhuman indifference to the feelings of nature-he glories in the conquest of his parental tenderness. Lastly, it displays contempt of conscience itself-had the written law given him power to dispose of his child, other laws, impressed upon his soul by the immediate hand of God, forbad his making use of that power for the purpose of depriving the devoted virgin of her most sacred rights.

And such, My Brethren, with some little variations, are the qualities which constitute false zeal, in every country and in every age. It is that ignorance, which implicitly and blindly submits to the voice of a mere human oracle; and deems, the more revolting its decrees are to reason and conscience, the greater the merit of obeying them; not reflecting, in its pious folly, that such obedience is resistance to the voice of God himself. It is that false knowledge which clings to the letter, while it destroys the spirit; which, never so well pleased as when surrounded with darkness, takes advantage of an obscure passage to deny doctrines the