and having arrived at a village called Tirathaba with arms in their hands, Pilate intercepted them with his troops, and But the Holy Ghost avers, that all scripture is profitable, and what- I ever things are written, are written for our learning, that through patience and comfort of the scripture we might hope.—(2 Tim. iii. lê. Rom. xv. 4.) And in particular the Spirit of God proclaims those blessed and happy who read and meditate on the prophetical writings They must stand in judgment before that great master, whose sacred pages they have contradicted, and dare to affront his messa ges, which have taken hold of their fathers, and in due time shall find them out:-(Zech. i. 6.) Such are they upon whom the vials are to be poured out, that blaspheme his name and his tabernacles and them that dwell in heaven.-(Rev. xiii. 6.) But as to the saints. and such as reverence the sacred oracles, these things are a great ¦ delight, and of choice use and benefit. 1. Since they are grounded upon the declarative will of God, it is their duty and practice to pray for the issue of the prophecies, which though terrible to their enemies, are yet a promise to the church. 2. To hope for and expect the happy day of the manifestation of the sons of God, (2 Pet. iii. 13. Rom. viii. 21.) when the creature that now groans under the bondage of the wicked, shall be delivered into their glorious liberty. 3. To rejoice in the glory of the church that is coming, and deligh in the dust of Zion, mingling it with their tears, to cement her rising walls with triumph. 4. To sustain the present exercises and troubles with faith patience, and joy, (Rev. xiii. 10. xiv. 12.) assuredly knowing that i these days of sin and sorrow hasten to a period. The ancient patri- ¦ archal church saw not our Lord's incarnation, which their children " enjoyed. Our forefathers saw not the revelation and consuming stat of antichrist, which we have beheld; (2 Thess. ii. 8.) and the gene ration draws nigh, nay, some it may be are already born, who m see a great part of his confusion, if not his final and total ruin. There are four great works upon the wheel of providence, as yet to roll over the world. The destruction of antichrist, the conversion of Israel. the ruin of the Turk, and the glorious state of the church, (Mal. i. Il "from the rising of the sun to his going down, when the name of Jehovah of Hosts shall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place gospel incense of prayer, and the pure offering of daily wer A 1 slew great numbers of them. But complaint being made to the Roman governor, Vitellius, Pilate was censured and sent to Rome, to answer for his conduct.* Whilst Ventidius Cumanus was intendant of Judea, the Samaritans shewed their relentless hatred against the Jews, for those of Galilee passing through Samaria according to their custom, in order to worship at Jerusalem, were attacked and ill treated by the Samaritans; and Cumanus having allowed himself to be bribed by them, and refusing to render justice to the Galileans, caused a general revolt, in which the Jews were severely punished; but three of the Samaritans who were sent to Rome were condemned to death, and Cumanus banished.† Previous to the taking of Jotopata by Vespasian, the Samaritans having assembled in multitudes on mount Gerizim, wore the appearance of hostile intentions; and refusing to disperse at the command of Cerialis, the Roman general whom Vespasian sent against them, he attacked them on the mountain, and slew between eleven and twelve thousand of them.+ The Samaritans partook more or less of the fortunes of the Jews, during the reigns of the subsequent emperors of Rome, and breaking out upon many occasions into revolt, were from time to time destroyed in great numbers. Adrian is ship shall be presented to his name, for his name shall be great among the heathen, saith Jehovah of Hosts."—(Heb. xi. 13.) Being then persuaded of the promises, though we have not received them in full fruition, let us embrace them in our bosoms, (1 Thess. iv.) and help on those blessed days by fervent prayer, and comfort one another with these and like words of the happy estate of the Church here for a season, and of her glorious estate in heaven for ever. * Jos. iii. 65, 66. Crevier, iii. 22. + Crevier, iii. 296. Basn. 73. Basn. 73. Crevier, iii. 294. 296. said to have taken away all their books and prohibited the the rite of circumcision; whilst Theodosius was more favour able to them. In the reign of Theodoric they were so numerous at Rome. as to be able to contest with that church the right to a building, which they claimed as one of their ancient synagogues. In the reign of Zeno they rebelled and elected a king of the name of Julian, but who was defeated by the generals of Justinian, and thereupon all their synagogues were demoJished. And it is said that no less than twenty thousand of them were slain by the sword, and twenty thousand me sold by the Arabs to the infidels of Persia and India.* By degrees, however, these people sunk into insignificance. and perhaps it would be difficult to be sure that one of the genuine descendants is now in existence. The famous Benjsmin of Tudela could find but about one hundred of them eve in the twelfth century, who were very poor and wretched, # Sichem ; but who still continued to offer there such sacrifices as their poverty would allow. Baldensel found some of them in the fourteenth century, whe carefully distinguished themselves from the Jews as well as the Mahometans, and Christians; and who Basnage thinks were genuine descendants of the Samaritans. Basnage alleges there were in his timet some Samaritans still left at Sichem or Naplous,+ situate between mount Ebe Maundrell visited this place in 1697, and had a very curious conversation with a Samaritan high priest then residing there, res pecting many questions arising out of the Old Testament.-See bis Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, pp. 79. 85.; and for the present state of Naplous see Jolliffe's Letters from Palestine, p. 44. Wilson's Travels, vol. i. 976. and Gray's Key to the Old Testament, pp. 17 and 18. The learned Joseph Scaliger also entered into a correspondence with these people, from which it appears that at that time and mount Gerizim, who observed the law of Moses more xactly than the Jews; and that they had there the tomb of Joseph, and his bones which were brought from Egypt;* they, as well as the Jews, were looking for a Messiah, who they called Hasheab, or Hathab.-Bp. Chandler's Vindication of his Defence, vol. ii. 398. 408. where see many other particulars relating to the Samaritans. Napolose, the ancient Sychar or Sichem, is luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens, and by stately trees collected into groves all around the beautiful valley in which it stands." Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. 506. The remark may be interesting to the Christian reader, that while Capernaum, the capital of Galilee, which was exalted unto heaven, or the highest prosperity, when Jesus and his apostles preached there in vain, is brought down to hell, Hades, to death, or entire destruction, being nothing now but shapeless ruins, as Chorazin and Bethsaida also are; and while Samaria, the capital of the country which bore its name, is cast down into the valley; Sychar, then one of its inferior cities, from which the inhabitants came forth to meet Jesus, and in which many believed in him as the Saviour when they heard his word, is ranked by every traveller who describes it, amongst the most striking exceptions to the general desolation, which has otherwise left but a remembrance of the cities of Judah, of Samaria, and Galilee."-Keith from Prophecy, p. 153. Nor was the utter destruction of Samaria without distinct and appropriate prophecies. "I will make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley; and I will discover the foundations thereof.”—Micah, i. 6. "Thus saith Jehovah, As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria, in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch;-and I will smite the winter house, with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah."-Amos, iii. 12-15. And literally have these predictions been fulfilled, even to the very stones being poured into the valley !—Maundrell, p. 78. Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. 391-420. Keith, 155. * Gen. 1. 25. Exod. xiii. 19. Dr. Edward Clarke, in his Travels |