SERMON IX.

The Character of Herod *.

MATTHEW X1. 17, 18.

Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, faying,In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her childre and would not be comforted, because they are not.

THE words which St Matthew cites here, as fulfilled by the cruelty and ambition of Herod,are in the 31ft chapter of Jeremiah, the 15th verfe. In the foregoing chapter, the prophet having declared God's intention of turning the mourning of his people into joy, by the restoration of the tribes which had been led away captive into Babylon; he proceeds, in the beginning of this chapter, which contains this prophefy, to give a more particular defcription of the great joy and feftivity of that promifed day, when they were to return once more to their own land, to enter upon their ancient poffeffions, and enjoy again all the privileges they had loft, and, amongst others, and what was above them all,the favour and

* Preached on Innocent's Day

ES

protection of GOD, and the continuation of his mer. cies to them and their pofterity.

To make therefore the impreffion of this change the ftronger upon their minds he gives a very pathetic representation of the preceding forrow on that day when they were firft led away captive.

Thus faith the Lord, A voice was heard in Rama ;lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refufing to be comforted, because they

were not..

To enter into the full sense and beauty of this defcription, it is to be remembered that the tomb of Rachel, Jacob's beloved wife, as we read in the 35th of Genefis, was fituated near Rama, and betwixt that place and Bethlehem.. Upon which circumftance, the prophet raises one of the most affecting fcenes. that could be conceived; for as the tribes, in their forrowful journey betwixt Rama and Bethlehem, in, their way to Babylon, were fuppofed to pass by this. monumental pillar of their ancefter Rachel, Jacob's. wife,the prophet, by a common liberty in rhetoric, introduces her as rifing up out of her fepul-. chre; and, as the common mother of two of their tribes, weeping for her children, bewailing the fad catastrophe of her pofterity led away into a frange. land, refufing to be comforted, because they were not,loft and cut off from their country, and in all likelihood, never to be reftored back to her again.

The Jewish interpreters fay upon this, that the patriarch Jacob buried Rachel in this very place, forefeeing, by the Spirit of prophefy, that his pofterity

fhould that way be led captive, that he might, as they paffed her, intercede for them.

But this fanciful fuperftru&ture upon the paffage, feems to be little elfe than a mere dream of fome of the Jewish doctors; and indeed, had they not dreamt it when they did, 'tis great odds but fome of the Romish dreamers would have hit upon it before now. For as it favours the doctrine of interceffions--if there had not been undeniable vouchers for the real inventors of the conceit, one fhould much fooner. have fought for it among the oral traditions of this church, than in the Talmud, where it is.-

But this by the by. There is ftill another interpretation of the words here cited by St. Matthew which altogether excludes this fcenical reprefentation I have given of them.By which 'tis thought that the lamentation of Rachel here defcribed, has no immediate reference to Rachel, Jacob' wife, but that it fimply alludes to the forrows of her defcendants, the diftreffed mothers of the tribes of Benjamin and Ephraim, who might accompany their children led into captivity as far as Rama, in their way to Babylon, who wept and wailed upon this fad occafion ; and, as the prophet defcribes them in the perfon of Rachel, refufing to be comforted for the lofs of her children, looking upon their departure without hope or profpect of ever beholding a return.

Which ever of the two fenfes you give the wordsof the prophet, the application of them by the evan-gelift is equally juft and faithful. For as the former fcene he relates, was tranfacted upon the very fame fage, in the fame district of Bethlehem near Rama

-where fo many mothers of the fame tribe now suffered this fecond most affecting blow-the words of Jeremiah, as the evangelift obferves, were literally accomplished; and, no doubt, in that horrid day, a voice was heard again in Rama, lamentation and bitter weeping-Rachel weeping for her children, and refufing to be comforted; every Bethlemitish mother involved in this calamity, beholding it with hopeless forrow-gave vent to it—each one bewailing her children, and lamenting the hardness of their lot, with the anguifh of a heart as incapable of confolation, as they were of redrefs. Monster!could no cofideration of all this tender forrow stay thy hands-Could no reflection upon fo much bitter lamentation, throughout the coafts of Bethlehem, interpofe and plead in behalf of so many wretched objects, as this tragedy would make? Was there no way open to ambition, but that thou muft trample upon the affections of nature? Could no pity for the innocence of childhood-no fympathy for the yearnings of parental love, incline thee to fome other measures for thy fecurity-but thou muft thus pitilessly rufh in-take the victim by violence

tear it from the embraces of the motheroffer it up before her eyes-leave her difconfolate for ever-broken hearted with a lofs-fo affecting in it felf-fo circumftanced with horror, that no time how friendly foever to the mournful-should ever be able to wear out the impreffion?

There is nothing in which the mind of man is more divided than in accounts of this horrid nature. For when we confider man as fashioned by his Mas

Counts:

ker-innocent and upright-full of the tendereft dif pofitions-with a heart inclining him to kindness, and the love and protection of his fpecies-this idea of him would almoft fhake the credit of fuch ac -fo that to clear them-we are forced to take a fecond view of man-very different from this favourable one, in which we infcnfibly reprefent him to our imaginations; that is we are obliged to confider him-not as he was made-but as he is -a creature, by the violence and irregularity of his paffions, capable of being perverted from all thefe friendly and benevolent propenfities, and fometimes hurried into exceffes fo oppofite to them, as to ren. der the most unnatural and horrid accounts of what he does but too probable-The truth of this obfervation will be exemplified in the cafe before us. For, next to the faith and character of the hiftorian who reports fuch facts, the particular character of the person who committed them, is to be confidered as a voucher for their truth and credibility;

and if, upon inquiry, it appears, that the man acted but confiftent with himself, and juft fo as you would have expected from his principles, the credit of the hiftorian is reftored, and the fact related ftands inconteftible, from fo ftrong and concurring an evidence on its fide.

With this view, it may not be an unacceptable application of the remaining part of a difcourfe upon this day, to give you a sketch of the character of Herod, not as drawn from fcripture,-for in general it furnishes us with few materials for fuch defcrip tions--the facred fcripture cuts off in few words