It was also in the midst of martyrdom, that Balaam sung this psalm, Blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.

If I consider death, with regard to the awful tribu nal before which it cites me to appear, and with regard to the eternal books about to be opened, in which are registered so many vain thoughts so many idle words, so many criminal courses, the weight of which is heavy on my conscience; I see nothing still in the death of a martyr, that is not to be preferred to a natural death. It is allowed, that the exercise of repentance in dying circumstances, the prayers, the repeated vows, the submission to the will of God, who leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, are tests of our reconciliation to him. But these tests are often deceitful! Experience but too frequently realizes what we have often said, that the dying take that for willing obedience, which is but constraint. A martyr has purer tests of his sincerity. A martyr might preserve his life, by the commission of a crime; but rather than sin, he devotes it in sacrifice.

Lastly, if consider death, with regard to the futuPity into which it will cause us to enter, I see nothing but what should excite in the martyr transports of joy. He has not only the promise of celestial happiness, but celestial happiness of the highest degree. It is to the martyr, that Jesus Christ calls from the highest abodes of heaven; To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne, Rev. iii. 21. # i sud ; bala Jio e o

an But the fall of St. Peter, though deplorable in it self, becomes still more so, by its concomitant circumstances. Let us review them."

Vat was, first, the simple charge of a servant maid, and of a few spectators standing by, which shook his Courage. Had the apostle been cited before the dedim...had he been legally called upon to give.

an account of his faith....had the cross, to which he promised to follow his Master, been prepared before his eyes....you would have said, that the magnitude of the danger striking his senses, had confounded his reason. But none of these objects were, in reality, presented. The judges, solely engaged in gratifying their fury against the Master, did not so much as think upon the servant. A maid spake, and her voice recalled the idea of the council, the death, and the cross, and filled his soul with horror at the thought.

Secondly, St. Peter was warned; Jesus Christ had declared to him, in general, that Satan had desired to sift him as wheat; and, in particular, that he would three times deny him that very night. A caution so salutary, ought to have induced him to redouble his vigilance; to fortify the place he had discovered so weak; and to avoid a danger, of the magnitude of which he had been apprised. When a man is surprised by an unforeseen temptation; when he falls into a precipice, of which he was not aware, he is worthy of more compassion than blame. But here is a crime, known, revealed, and predicted.

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The third circumstance is derived from the abundant knowledge, communicated to our apostle. Against the offence of our Saviour's humiliation, he had been peculiarly fortified; he had heard a voice from the excellent glory on the holy mountain';' he had been apprised more than any other disciple, that the sufferings of Christ were connected with the scheme of redemption.

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The fourth circumstance is derived from the high office with which St. Peter was invested; From the commission he had received from his Master, in common with the other members of the apostolic college to go and preach the kingdom of heaven; and from this declaration, Thou art Peter, upon this rock will I build my church. This man, called to build up the church, gave it one of the severest inju

ries it could possibly have received. This man, called to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, declared he knew him not. This man, constituted an estab lished minister of his religion, became an apostate, and risked the drawing with him into the same gulf, the souls with whose salvation he had been entrusted. Some faults affect none but the offenders, but others have a general influence on all the church. And such, ministers of the living God, are our faults! Our example is contagious, it diffuses a baneful poison on all those, over whom Providence has ap pointed us to watch.

The oaths he used to confirm his denial are a fifth circumstance. Not content with dissimulation, he denied. Not content with a threefold denial, he denied with an oath.

My brethren, do you understand in these provinces, all that is execrable in the crime of perjury? I doubt it. A perjured man is one who takes the God who bears the motto of Faithful and true Witness, to attest an assertion, of the falsehood of which he cannot be ignorant. A perjured person is one who defies the power of Almighty God: who says, in order to deceive," Great God! thou holdest thunderbolts in thy hand, lanch them this moment at my head, if I do not speak as I think. Great God! thou decidest the destiny of my immortal soul, plunge it in hell, if the sentiments of my heart are not conformable to the words of my tongue." Hence, when St. Peter disavowed his knowledge of Jesus Christ, it was saying in fact," Yes, Great God! if I know this man, of having connexion with whom I am now questioned, to be my Master; if I have heard celestial voices, saying, This is my beloved Son; if I have seen him transfigured on the holy mountain; if I have heard his sermons; if I have attested his miracles; if that indeed be true, may I be the object of thy everlasting abhorrence and revenge."

The Sixth circumstance is the period at which St. Peter disowned Jesus Christ. At the instant Jesus Christ displayed the tenderest marks of his love, St. Peter discovered the most cruel ingratitude. At the moment Jesus Christ was about to redeem St. Peter, this apostle disowned his Master. At the moment Jesus Christ was about to lay down his life for St. Peter, at the moment he was going to endure for him the death of the cross, this apostle refused to acknowledge him.

Ah! human virtue! how feeble thou art, whenever the breath of the almighty, by which thou art sustained, happens to be resumed! And if the Lots, the Moseses, the Davids, the Josiahs, and so many more; if these pillars of the church have been shaken, what shall not this frail foundation be!....If these suns, irradiated to shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, have sustained eclipses, what shall not be done to the smoking flax! If the cedars of Lebanon have been almost rooted up, what shall not be done to the hyssop of the wall!

But let us no longer leave our apostle in the sad situation in which he has been considered. Among the difficulties opposed to the perseverance of the saints, the sins to which they are liable seems to be the strongest. Which side soever we embrace, we apparently fall into error. "Will he for ever precipitate in hell, the man for whom the availing sacrifice of the cross has already been presented? But also will he ever receive into paradise, a man contaminated with so foul a crime? Will he resume his. grace after it is once given? But will he continue it with him, who renders himself unworthy ?" Here providence removes the difficulty which theology cannot solve. It extends to the fallen a gracious hand. That St. Peter the friend of Jesus Christ should be excluded from his grace seems impossible. That St. Peter should ever be readmitted to his favour seems not less inconceivable. Jesus Christ came

to his aid, and enabled him to recover from his crime. Here is the solution of the difficulty. Then, adds our evangelist, Jesus Christ turned towards St. Peter, and looked attentively at him..... This is the second part of my discourse.

II. My brethren, how expressive was that look! How eloquent were those eyes! Never was discourse so energetic! Never did orator express himself with so much force! Jesus looked on Peter. It was the Man of griefs, complaining of a new burthen, added to that, under the pressure of which he already, groaned. It was the compassionate Redeemer pitying a soul about to destroy itself. It was the Apos tle of our salvation, preaching in bonds. It was the subduer of the heart,. the omnipotent God, repress, ing the efforts of the devil, and depriving him of his prey.

1. It was the Man of griefs complaining of a new burthen, added to that, under the pressure of which he already groaned. We cannot doubt but the de nial of St. Peter, augmented the passion of Jesus Christ. A wound is the more severely felt, in proportion as the inflicting hand is dear to us. We are not astonished to see an enemy turn his rage against us; the case is common. But when we find perfi. dy, where we expected fidelity, and where we had cause to expect it; and when it is a friend who be, trays us, the anguish of the thought is difficult to sustain. So it was with Jesus Christ. That the Jewish populace were armed against him, was not surprising; they knew him not. That the Pharisees should solicit his death, is not astonishing; he had exclaimed against their sins. That the Roman soldiers should join the Jews, is not surprising; they considered him as the enemy of Cæsar. That the priests should accelerate his condemnation, is no marvel; they thought they were avenging Moses and the prophets. But that St. Peter, who ought to