feast of the Passover to that of Pentecost. Such a length of time gave men's minds full opportunity to cool, afforded scope for discussion and consideration, and therefore for a reliable and well-founded determination. Not till such a final conviction was formed on the part of the eye-witnesses of his glory, did Jesus finally quit the earth and take his seat at the right hand of the Almighty Father. In order that the reader may at one view see these ten appearances, and learn on what vouchers they rest, we shall here set them down, subjoining the authorities to whom we are indebted for the several accounts.

APPEARANCES OF JESUS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION.

I. To the woman returning from the sepulchre-Matthew. II. To Mary Magdalen at the tomb-Mark and John. III. To Peter-Luke and Paul.

IV. To the two disciples going to Emmaus-Mark and Luke. V. To the apostles (except Thomas) assembled at evening— Mark, Luke, John, and Paul.

These five appearances took place at or near Jerusalem, on the first day of the week, that on which Jesus rose from the dead.

VI. To the apostles, Thomas being present, eight days afterwards, at Jerusalem-John.

VII. To seven of the apostles, on the shore of the Lake Tiberias-John.

VIII. To the eleven apostles and to five hundred brethren, on a mountain in Galilee-Matthew and Paul.

IX. To James, probably at Jerusalem-Paul.

X. To the eleven, at Jerusalem, immediately after which followed the ascension-Luke, in Acts (i. 2—11), and Paul. Between the first and the last of these ten appearances, seven weeks intervened. The long interval was of service in aiding the disciples to understand, at the day of Pentecost, that the kingdom of Jesus was of a spiritual nature; for as he remained so long among them on earth, and yet did not take steps for setting up his kingdom here, he evidently, they would see, had no intention of doing so; and this inference they would make more readily than if he had immediately on his resurrection disappeared once for all. As it was, when he was seen by them at intervals during forty days, and when at last he bade them farewell, referring them for the manifestation of his kingdom to the effusion of the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost, they must at length, as we know they did, have fully learnt that their expectation of an earthly empire was founded in error. That error,

in a more or less substantial form, remained with them till that day; but the events which then took place removed all misapprehensions, and gave the finishing touch to that preparation

which made the apostles the most faithful and unwearying heralds and the most heroic witnesses (comp. Acts i. 2-8).

The persons to whom Jesus appeared, were those who were best able to ascertain the reality of that appearance. Who but those that had been constantly in his company could sufficiently attest his existence after the crucifixion? There is a true saying to the effect that testimonies should be weighed, not numbered. Those, however, which assure us of the certainty of the resurrection of Jesus, gain in value by being subjected to both processes: if numbered, they are found to be a great multitude; if weighed, they prove to be those of the greatest validity. In value of testimony, what can surpass the evidence afforded by men who to the best opportunity of knowing the truth, sacrificed their all in its promulgation? And as regards number we are not limited to the eleven apostles, nor to the five hundred brethren; but each convert they made was a new witness, and still every sincere disciple sets the zeal of his experience to the truth and infinite value of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So truly divine did that gospel appear, so great its promulgator, so blended was that gospel with Jesus, and so closely allied was the Son with the Father, that one of the witnesses above referred to, whose life was prolonged, and whose living testimony was borne for half a century after his Master's death, could find no other terms adequate to express his conception of the relation in which stood God, Christ, and the gospel, save those lofty words with which he, John, has introduced his narrative of the life and death of Jesus. That sublime portion of Scripture (John i. 1-14), which may be regarded as the Apostle John's last comment and highest appreciation of the majesty which in his early days he dimly saw and most imperfectly comprehended, re presents Jesus as being a visible manifestation of the Divine Mind in such a manner that, as God's wisdom, which, as being such, was God himself, dwelt in Jesus, so Jesus declared, or, as the original implies, set forth or portrayed before the eyes of men that God whom in himself no eye hath seen or can see. Jesus thus, the power of God and the wisdom of God' (1 Cor. i. 24), stood at a far greater altitude than any sage or philosopher, who, whatever his attainments, possessed only scattered and broken rays of the sun of spiritual truth, whereas Jesus was that sun itself; and, being in the bosom of God, was acquainted with his whole will, received his spirit without measure; and before all others, but for the benefit of all others, was his beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased. The divinity, therefore, of Jesus in his doctrine, his spirit, his aims, his working, his goodness, is attested by his being raised into spiritual union with God, and is illustrated in the thousand rays of divine light which he beamed forth in the days of his flesh, which lie more or less scattered in the Gospels, and which we have in this work, with some regard to the con

nections of place, time, and thought, endeavoured to place before the reader. In so doing, we have wished not to perform for him, but to aid him to perform for himself, a task which is of supreme consequence, namely, the study of the Life of Christ. That study is full of light, comfort, and strength, to reward those who thoroughly enter into it. That study is the divinest and the most delightful of earthly employments. That study tends to make the student like Christ. That study should be begun now, be repeated again and again with every new accession of spiritual culture, and be continued till our last hour; but it can be completed only in the light and bliss of the eternal world.