thou shalt be condemned.St. Matthew xii. 37. preaches in Parthia and India, Because they provoked his spirit so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. What time as they went from one nation to another: from one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong but reproved even kings for their sakes; Touch not Mine Anointed: And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, and do My prophets no nor be dismayed at their harm.— looks, though they be a rebellious house.-Ezekiel ii. 6. encounters sacred cattle, and their votaries,— Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator.Romans i. 25. They went forth, preached every where, the They made a calf in Horeb and worshipped the molten image. Thus they turned their Glory into the similitude of a calf that eateth hay.— : Then sent He Moses His servant: and Aaron whom He had chosen. And these shewed His of Lord working with them, tokens among them : and and confirming the word wonders in the land with signs following.-St. Mark xvi. 20. Ham. He sent darkness, and it was dark and they were not obedient unto His word. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish. He smote their vines also and fig-trees and destroyed the trees that were in their coasts. He spake the word, and the grasshoppers came, and caterpillars innumerable : and did eat up all the grass in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote all the firstborn in their land: even the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold: there was not one feeble person among their tribes.— They angered Moses also in the tents and Aaron the saint of the Lord. So the earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan: and covered the congregation of Abiram. And the fire was kindled certain great personages are converted,— There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Proverbs xiii. 7. but the king and many of his subjects remain obstinate. He sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.-Exodus ix. 34. St. Thomas in spiritual Egypt is slain for the faith. I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.-St. Luke xii. 4. in their company: the flame burnt up the ungodly. And He increased His people exceedingly: and made them stronger than their enemies. Whose heart turned so, that they hated His people : and dealt untruly with His servants. But within a while they forgat His works: and would not abide His counsel. But lust came upon them in the wilderness: and they tempted God in the desert. And He gave them their desire : and sent leanness withal into their soul. Yea, they thought scorn of that pleasant land: and gave no credence unto His word; But murmured in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Egypt was glad at their departing for they were afraid of them. THE SECOND FOUNDATION. Sapphire. HERE was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.-Ex. xxiv. Thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment. And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones. And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.-Ex. xxviii. 15, &c. And he made the breastplate of cunning work. And they set in it four rows of stones. And the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.-Ex. xxxix. 8. &c. : As for the earth, the stones of it are the place of sapphires and it hath dust of gold. But where shall wisdom be found? It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.-Job xxviii. 5, &c. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.-Isaiah liv. 11. Her Nazarites were purer than snow, their polishing was of sapphire.-Lamentations iv. 7. Behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.-Ezek. x. 1. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle.-Ezek. xxviii. 13. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The second, sapphire. -Revelation xxi. 14, 19. In common with a multitude of crystals the sapphire exhibits the twin formation. Though very subject to flaws, it is sometimes found without blemish: it is a stone of a very great hardness and, as has been alleged, of a special coldness. The sapphire is associated with crystalline rocks, and many of our finest specimens are drawn from river-beds: it adorns itself with various shades of heavenly blue, and is transparent and translucent; in size it sometimes exceeds a length of three inches. One sort there is in which resides a star-like opalescence; whilst a second kind, pale by nature, loses all colour under the action of intense heat, and becomes brilliant like a diamond. The sapphire, which appears as a piece of heaven dropped down to earth, does indeed link earth to heaven, time to eternity, the old Israel to the new, Eden to Paradise for while it spreads a pavement beneath the Celestial Throne, it is named also as a precious stone of Eden, and is last of all a gem among the treasures of earth; in the High-Priest's breastplate it is set for a memorial, and in the New Jerusalem for a foundation; the holy Nazarites displayed a comeliness as of sapphire, and above the heads of the cherubim there appeared as |