" hiftorie of his denial of Chrift. And perhaps his mafter forbid him to "infert fuch things, as tended to aggrandife him."

4.) No one has more largely treated this point, than Mr. Jones, who has (m) a catalogue of feveral places in the Gofpels, containing things tending to Peter's honour, which are not mentioned in St. Mark's Golpel.

(1.) The account of Chrift's pronouncing Peter blessed, when he had confeffed him: Chrift's declaring, that he had his faith and knowledge from God: the promife, of the keys, and of that large power, which is made to him: are omitted by St. Mark, though the former and the fucceding parts of this difcourfe are both told by him. See Matt. xvi. 16. .. 20. compared with Mark viii. 29. 30.

(2.) The relation of St. Peter's being commiffioned by Christ to work the miracle, by getting money out of the fifh's mouth, to pay the tributemoney, is told by St. Matthew. ch. xvii. 24. 28. but omitted by St. Mark though the preceding and fubfequent ftories are the very fame as in St. Matthew. See Mark ix. 30.

33.

(3) Chrift's particular expreffions of love and favour to St. Peter, in telling him of his danger, and that he prayed particularly for him, that his faith might not fail, is omitted by St. Mark, but related Luke xxii. 31. 32.

(4) St. Peter's remarkable humility above the reft of the Apostles exprefied in an unwillingneffe, that Chrift fhould wash his feet, which none of the reft did exprefs, with Chrift's particular difcourfe to him. John xiii. 6. &c. is omitted by Mark.

(5.) The inftance of St. Peter's very great zeal for Chrift, when he was taken, in cutting off the High-Priest's fervant's car. John xviii. 10. is not mentioned by Mark in particular, but only told in general, of a certain person that ftood by. Mark xiv. 47.

(6.) St. Peter's faith in cafting himself into the fea, to go to Chrift. John xxi. 7. is not mentioned by St. Mark. (A)

(7.) Chrift's difcourfe with Peter concerning his love to him, and his particular repeated charge to him, to feed his sheep. John xxi. 15. is omitted by St, Mark.

(8.) Our Saviour's predicting to Peter his martyrdom, and the manner of it. John xxi. 18. 19. is not related by St. Mark.

"Thefe, adds that diligent author, are fome inftances of things, tending to St. Peter's honour, recorded by the other Evangelifts, none of which are so much as hinted by St. Mark. . . . All which cannot be accounted for any way more probable, than fuppofing, that this Apostle did not publifh thofe circumftances, which were fo much to his honour."

Indeed, I think, they do confirm the accounts given of this Gospel by the ancients. For thefe omiffions cannot be fo well afcribed to any thing, as to St. Peter's modestie and reservedneffe, who had not mentioned fuch things in his preaching, and difcouraged the putting them down

(m) See new and full Method. Part 3. p. 79... 81.

(4) There is a like thing, and more extraordinarie, re'ated by Matthew only, ch. iv. 28... 31. I do not know, why Mr. Jones omitted it.

CH. VII. down in writing infomuch that, as Tertullian fays, the (n) Gospel publifhed by Mark, may be faid to be Peter's.

5.) Nevertheless I must acknowledge, that there are fome things in St. Mark's Gofpel honourable to Peter, which are not in any other. I fhall mention two or three.

Says St. Mark ch. i. 36. And Simon, and they that were with him, fellowed after him. If thereby be intended the whole companie of the Apoftles, that way of defcribing them is very honourable to Peter. But fome may fuppofe, none to be intended, befide thofe mentioned ver. 29. If fo, it refembles Luke ix. 32. But Peter, and they that were with him: meaning John and James, and referring to ver. 28.

In Mark xiv. 3. Peter is mentioned, as one of the four Apoftles, to whom our Lord addreffed himself, when he foretold the deftruction of the temple, and the calamities attending it. Which is a paffage peculiar to St. Mark.

And ch. xvi. 7. The meffage, which the angel fent to the difciples by the women at the fepulchre, is thus expreffed: But go your way. Tell bis difciples and Peter, that he goes before you into Galilee. Peter is not mentioned, upon this occafion, by Matthew xxviii. 7. nor by any other of the Evangelifts.

Upon this text Whithy fays very well: "Peter is here named, not as "Prince of the Apoftles, but, as the Fathers fay, for his confolation, and "to take off the fcruple, which might be upon his fpirit: whether by "his threefold denial of his mafter, he had not forfeited his right to be "one of Chrift's difciples."

I now proceed to another obfervation.

2. St. Mark's Gofpel, as is evident to all, is the shortest of the four. Jerome, as before cited, fays, Mark (0) wrote a fhort Gofpel. And Chryfoftom obferved, that (p) Mark had the concifeneffe of Peter, following his mafter.

3. Nevertheless there are in St. Mark many things peculiar to himself, not mentioned by any other Evangelift.

Ifhall here put down feveral fuch things, and not thofe, which are omitted by Matthew only, but fuch things, as are in Mark, and in no other of the Evangelifts.

1.) In the account of our Saviour's temptation in the wilderneffe, St. Mark fays, ch. i. 13. and was with the wild-beafts: not mentioned by any other Evangelift, and yet very proper to fhew the hardships, which our Lord underwent at that feafon.

2.) Ch. i. 20. In the account of the call of fames and John, the fons of Zebedee, he says, they left their father in the ship, with the hired fervants. A circumftance not mentioned by any other.

3.) Ch. i. 29. And forthwith, when they were come out of the fynagogue, they entered into the houfe of Simon, and Andrew, with James and John. In Matth. viii. 4. it is only, come into Peter's houfe. In Luke iv. 38. and entered into Simon's boufe.

4.) Ch. i. 33. And all the city was gathered together at the door. Not in any other Evangelift. Compare Matt, viii. 16. Luke iv. 40:41.

5.) Ch.

(n) See Vol.. p. 581.

· (a) See here. f. 175. (p) See Vol. x. p. 322,

5.) Ch. i. 35. And in the morning rifing up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a folitarie place, and there prayed. 36. And Siman, and they that were with him, followed after him. 37. And when they bad found him, they faid unto him: All men feek thee. This is not at all in Matthew, and is here much fuller, and with more particulars, than in’ Luke iv. 42.

6.) Ch. i. 45. Of the leper, cured by our Saviour, he fays: But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter. Not particularly mentioned by the other Evangelifts. Compare Matth. viii. 4. Luke v. 14. 15..

7.) In the cure of the paralytic. ch. ii. 2. And firaitway many were gathered together, infomuch that there was no room to receive them, not much as about the door. 3. And they come unto him, bringing one fick of the palfie, which was born of four. 4. And they uncovered the roof.

No other Evangelift has fo particularly defcribed the croud. In Mark only is it faid, that this fick man was born of four. He likewise more particularly defcribes the uncovering the roof. Compare Matt. ix. 1. 2. Luke v. 18. 19.

8.) In the hiftorie of the man with a withered hand, cured in the fynagogue, on a fabbath. ch. iii. 5. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardneffe of their hearts, he faith unto the man: Stretch forth thy hand. Not fo full in any other Evangelift. Compare Matt. xii. 9... 13. Luke vi. 6... 11.

9.) Ch. iii. ver. 6. And the Pharifees went forth, and ftraightway took counfel with the Herodians against him. Matth. xii. 14. mentions Pharifees only. Luke vi. 11. mentions no perfons by name.

10.) Ch. iii. 17. And James the fon of Zebedee, and John the brother of James. And he named them Boanerges. Not in any other Evangelift.

11. Ch, iii. 19 And they went into the house. 20. And the multitue cometh together again, fo that they could not fo much as eat bread, 21. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold of him. For they faid: He is beside himself. Whether that expreffion, he is befide himfelf, is to be understood of Christ, or of the multitude, this paffage is pe culiar to St. Mark.

12.) Ch. iv. 26. And he faid: So is the kingdom of God, as if a man fhould caft his feed into the ground, 27. and should fleep, and rife night and day, and the feed fhould spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29. But when the fruit is ripe, immediately he putteth in the fickle, because the harvest is come. This parable is peculiar to St. Mark. See Whitby upon the place, and likewife (9) Grotius.

13.) After the parable of the grain of muftard feed, betide other things common to him and Matthew, he adds, ch. iv. 24. And when they were alone, he expounded all things to his difciples. Compare Matt. xiii. 31.... 34.

This

(9) Hæc parabola, aliis omiffa, cum fuam hic explicationem non habeat, explicari debet ex fimili comparatione, qua cft apud Matth. xiii. 24. Grot ed Marc, iv. 26.

This particular leads us mightily to think, that either Mark was an eye-witneffe, or had the beft and fulleft information of things.

14.) Mark iv. 36. And when they had fent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. This circumftance, peculiar to St. Mark, enables us to account for our Lord's faft fleep in his paffage to the countrey of the Gadarens. We perceive from St. Mark, that this voyage was undertaken in the evening, after the fatigue of long difcourfes in public, and without any refreshment. Our Lord's fleep in the midst of a ftorm is mentioned by all three Evangelifts. Matt. viii. 24. . Mark iv. 37. 38. Luke viii. 23. 24. But this Evangelift alone leads us to difcern the occafion of it.

15.) Farther, in the fame ver. 36. of ch. iv. And there were als with him feveral other little ships. A particular, peculiar to St. Mark.

16.) And in the account of this voyage cross the fea, he fays ver. 38. that our Lord was in the hinder part of the ship, afleep on a pillow: two circumstances, wanting in the other Evangelists.

17.) Certainly, thefe, and other things, are fufficient to affure us, that either Mark was an eye-witneffe: or, that he wrote things, as related to him by an eye-witnesse, even Peter himself, as all the ancients fay.

18.). In Matt. viii. 28. 34. Mark v. I. 19. Luke viii. 26.... 39. are the feveral accounts of our Lord's healing the demoniac, or demoniacs, in the countrey of the Gadarens. For Matthew fpeaks of two, Mark and Luke of one only. In St. Mark's hiftorie are divers things, not in the other Gospels. In him alone it is faid, that the man was always night and day in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with fiones. And he only mentions the number of fwine, that pe rifhed in the fea, faying, they were about two thousand.

19.) All the first three Evangelifts have given a hiftorie of our Lord's raifing the daughter of Jairus, and healing the woman with an iffue of blood, both in connexion. Matt. ix. 18... 26. Mark v. 22. ... 43. Luke viii. 41... 56. St. Mark has feveral things, which are in neither of the other. Of the woman he fays ver. 26. fhe had fuffered much of many Phyficians... and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. At ver. 29. And fhe felt in her body, that he was healed of that plague. At ver. 41. he inferts the very words, which Jefus fpake, when he railed the daughter of Jairus: Talitha Kumi. I have omitted fome other things, peculiar to St. Mark in the account of these two miracles.

20.) Ch. vi. 13. In the account of the commiffion given to the twelve by Chrift in his life-time, he fays: they anointed many with oyl, and healed them. Which is mentioned by no other Evangelift, as was obferved of old by (r) Victor.

21.) Mark vii. 2. 3. 4. What is there faid of the Jews washing themfelves, when they come from the market, before they eat and of their cleanfing cups, pots, brafen veffels, and tables, is peculiar to St. Mark. Comp. Matt. xv. 1. 2.

22.) Ch. vii. 21. 22. Are the things, that defile men. St. Matthew, ch. xv. 19. mentions feven things only. St. Mark has thirteen. And two of them, an evil eye, and foolishnesse, are very fingular.

(r) See Vol. xi. p. 34.

23.) Ch.

23.) Ch. vii. 31 ... 37. Our Lord bestows hearing and speech upon a deaf and dumb man.

24.) Ch. viii. 22... 26. Our Lord cures a blind man at Bethfaida. These two miracles are peculiar to St. Mark, being related by no other Evangelift.

maeus.

25.) Ch. x. 46... 52. is the account of the miracle on the blind man near Jericho. St. Mark, ver. 46. calls him blind Bartimeus, fon of TiNot mentioned by the other Evangelifts. See Matt. xx. 29... 34. Luke xviii. 35. 43. And at ver. 50. he cafting away his garment, rofe, and came to Jefus. A circumftance peculiar to St. Mark. Which Thews his exact knowledge of the hiftorie, as did likewife his calling the man by his name.

26.) Ch. xi. 13. For the time of figs was not yet: that is, the time of gathering was not yet come. A most useful obfervation peculiar to this Evangelift, fhewing, that as there were leaves, it was reasonable to expect fruit on this fig-tree, if it was not barren. Upon this text might be confulted (s) Bishop Kidder, and (t) Mr. Hallet.

27.) Ch. xiii. 3. 4. And as he fat upon the mount of Olives, over against the temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, afked him privately, .. When fhall these things be? No other Evangelift has mentioned the names of the difciples, who put this question to our Saviour. Comp. Matt. xxiv. 1.... 3. Luke xxi. 5.

28.) In Mark xii. 41 ... 44. and Luke xxi. 1.. 4. is the account of the people cafting their gifts into the chefts of the treafurie, in the temple. St. Mark fays: And Jefus fat over against the treafurie. In which expreffion there is great propriety. And he alone mentions the value of the poor widow's two mites, faying: Which make a farthing. 29.) Ch. xiv. 51. And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth caft about his naked body. And the young men [the guards] laid bold on him. 52. And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked. A particular, in no other Evangelift, yet very fitly taken notice of, as intimating the ufual noife and disturbance, when a man is taken up in the night-time, as a malefactor, and is carried before a magiftrate. By (u) the noife of the people paffing along that young perfon was excited to come haftily out of the house, where he was, to inquire what was the matter. Mr. Le Clerc, in his French Teftament, has an useful note upon this place. He obferves the natural fimplicity of the Evangelifts narration. Which, as he justly says, confirms the truth of their hif

torie.

30.) Ch. xv. 11. And they compell one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the countrey, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his craffe. That particular, the father of Alexander and Rufus, is in no other Evangelist. Comp. Matt. xxvii. 32. and Luke xxiii. 26.

(s) Demonflration of the Meffiah. Part 2. ch. ii. p. 38. 39. (1) Notes and Difcourfes, Vol. 2. p. 114.

...

125.

31.) Ch.

(u) Non de Apoftolorum grege. fed ex villa aliqua horto proxima, ftrepitu militum excitatus, et fubito accurrens, ut confpiceret, quid agere tur. Grot, ad Marc, xi. 51.