will be different degrees of reward and enjoyment in heaven, proportioned to our capacities for receiving them. There "shall we know even as we are known" to God; and all the doubts and uncertainties which we must feel here will there be removed for ever. Meanwhile we may rest assured of this, that we have no hard master to serve; that "his yoke is easy, and his burden light." He views with equal eyes the high and low, rich and poor, great and small; and holiness and goodness are the only means whereby we may hope to see Him. But if we neglect the "talents" entrusted to our care, if we refuse to cherish and foster our good dispositions, and suffer them to be overcome by evil, consider what was the case of the "wicked and slothful servant." Once more, remember the money was entrusted for the especial purpose of trading; he had the commands of his master so to employ it; instead of which, he buried it in the earth, and, when his master returned, endeavoured to excuse himself by pretending that fear of misusing it had induced him to bury it in the ground, where it had lain idle for many years; so he paid it back again, just as he received it. But were those the orders of his master? Does not He say to us, I give you faculties, and dispositions, and opportunities of doing good: I order you to cultivate them and make the most of them? Would it, do you think, be an answer, were we to say to our Lord, "Lord, I possessed till my death all the faculties thou gavest me; but I never exercised them; I was afraid of doing wrong, and I did no good I let all my good dispositions lie idle, all my opportunities pass away"? And would not God justly say, "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked and slothful servant. While others have gained ten-fold, thirtyfold, a hundred-fold, of what I entrusted to them, thou, with the same opportunities, hast wasted and misused thy talents."

And now follows what may appear at first sight to be injustice. "Because thou hast so wasted them, they shall be thine no longer. I take from thee that of which thou madest no good use, and I give yet more and more to him who has proved himself a good and faithful servant: he has been faithful over a little; he has now entered into the joy of his Lord: he shall have the opportunity, even now, of proving more and more his faithfulness, and gaining yet more the love of his Master." Is there any injustice in this?

But remember, that if God finds fault with and punishes those who do not improve their capacities, what will he do to those who pervert and turn them to evil? The larger the sum entrusted, the greater the guilt; the greater the ability of good, the more awful is the sin of not only neglecting it, but perverting it to a contrary purpose. Upon the fate of such, God has not left us in doubt, though he has mercifully concealed from our knowledge what will be their punishment. Oh! may we ever strive faithfully to exercise our respective "talents," and pray to Him for his aid and counsel throughout our lives, that at the last great day of reckoning we may hear addressed to us these blessed words, "Well done, ye good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord!"

Text-2 CORINTHIANS V. 9, 10.

HYMN.

THE time draws near when thou, my soul,
Thy last account must give;
When thy whole life shall be surveyed
By Him who bade thee live.

How many talents, O my God,
Hast thou bestowed on me!
But yet how few can there be found
Devoted, Lord, to thee!

My health, my time, my worldly store,
And thy more precious word,
Thy talents are, for which I must
Account to thee, my Lord.

Much of my time, alas! I've lost,
And much have I misspent ;
How careless of my grand concern!
On trifles how intent!

SIEGE AND DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.

PART II.

FIRED with indignation at the obstinacy of the Jews, and impatient of delay, the Romans cut down all the trees within a considerable distance of Jerusalem, and having with great labour raised new mounds, on the first of July, A.D. 70, they began to batter the wall of Antonia; and having effected a breach in five days, they entered the castle, from whence they pursued the fugitive Jews quite to the Temple. Titus then renewed his offers of peace and protection, supported by the entreaties of Josephus, their countryman; but the only reply was, that they would rather endure the worst of miseries than render up their liberties.

Resolved to succeed, Titus redoubled his efforts; and on the few following days razed the foundations of the castle of Antonia, levelled it to the ground, and ascended from thence to the Temple, where he set fire to the cloisters and portico, as the Jews themselves had done to other porticos, in order to obstruct the passage of the Romans. On the 8th day of August, finding the inner temple too strong for the attacks of the battering-rams, and that it could not be undermined, Titus reluctantly ordered the gates to be fired; but with design, if possible, to save the Temple. However, one of the Roman soldiers, not regarding the wish of his general, threw a firebrand through the golden window into one of the chambers, the wood of which being ignited thereby, soon set the whole fabric in a blaze, and defied every exertion to extinguish it, until the devouring element had utterly destroyed the most magnificent and beautiful structure then in existence.

This heartrending sight to the Jews was a dreadful misfortune, more deeply mortifying than all the miseries they yet had suffered; and even those dying of hunger lifted up their eyes to behold; then, sighing, closed them again, and expired, having seen the last of that sacred Temple in which, for ages past, their forefathers in days of prosperity had lifted their hands in adoration to the God of the universe.

Nothing but fury and vengeance instigated the conquerors, who now proceeded to every act of revenge and

H

cruelty, cutting down all the people they met with in their way; plundering, destroying and burning the houses; and, in one of the large buildings, about six thousand helpless old men, women and children, were consumed in the flames. In this deplorable condition, some of the Jews desired a parley with Titus, who, after sharply reprimanding them for their obstinacy, promised them their lives on condition of speedy and complete submission; but the rest would not comply, and demanded to be allowed to depart from the city with their wives and children, as being unwilling to trust to the promises of the Roman commander. At this Titus became so enraged, that he caused it to be proclaimed that no further mercy should be shewn to any of them; and accordingly the work of slaughter and pillage went on with increased barbarity and horror.

The chiefs of these resolute Jews retiring to the King's palace, where they had deposited their treasures, they continued to defend themselves against the Romans, and not only so, but even slew their own countrymen who had condescended to treat with Titus, to the number of 8000; and betaking themselves to the strong parts of the upper city, called Sion, they resolved to hold out to the last, and die sword in hand, probably thinking that, as God had so many times manifested his goodness by miraculously delivering their ancestors even in the very last extremity, he would still interpose to save a remnant of their nation, and, above all, to avenge them on their enemies for the destruction of his holy temple. But the crisis was come-a new era was to succeed-and it was henceforth to be shewn that, in the government of the world, God is no respecter of persons. High hills, mountains and pyramids, had blazed with profane and heathen sacrifices; these were superseded by magnificent temples, many of them devoted to ignorant and barbarous idolatry; and the knowledge of a true God had only been partially revealed to the Jews, that in the fulness of time it might be perfected. This time had now arrived; therefore a peculiar people and a select temple were no longer necessary; the sacred lamps that burned in the Holy of Holies were to be eclipsed by a divine light, shedding its supreme splendour to all parts of the earth. No longer did the Omnipotent Spirit dwell visibly in a temple made with hands; but, spreading the wings of his love over the whole extent of the globe, he invited all to partake of his

great salvation, and offer the sacrifices of righteousness. And that the better covenant with its better promises might be fully appreciated, the law by which the Jewish religion had been established and supported was suffered to be perverted and turned to the purposes of extortion and fraud, so that it bore little resemblance to, and still less of the reality of, that which was given by Moses.

In pursuance of his declaration, Titus raised new batteries, made a breach in the wall which protected the confederated Jews in their last retreat, and, breaking in upon them, dispersed and slaughtered them with insatiable cruelty. In vain did they creep into the vaults, cellars, and even common sewers, vengeance followed them at every step and into every hiding-place; for now the Romans being masters of the whole city, all opposition having ceased, their only employment was inhumanly butchering all the Jews they could find, as if nothing short of entire extermination could satisfy their fury. This slaughter commenced on the eighth of September, being the Jewish Sabbath, the very kennels. running down with blood like water after a shower.

Thus was the famous city of Jerusalem reduced, after a siege of about five months, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian and thirty-seven years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The number of Jews that perished by famine and by the sword is stated at above one million one hundred thousand. Ninety-seven thousand were taken prisoners, and these were exclusive of two hundred and thirty-seven thousand four hundred and ninety that fell in the previous part of the siege; so that altogether little less than two millions of Jews perished by the hands of the Romans, either through famine or by the sword.

Nor was the work of desolation to end here. Titus ordered his soldiers to lay the walls of the city, the temple, and all that remained, level with the ground; to remove the stones, and actually to plough up the earth with oxen yoked to the ploughs, that even the ground should bear no sign of having had such a city on its surface. How literally was the prophecy of Christ fulfilled, that one stone should not remain upon another! (Matthew xxiv. 2; Luke xix. 41-44).

Three towers were said to have been left standing by the Romans on account of their beauty, and as landmarks for them to point out where once stood the wonder of the