thirdly, on the Sunday following, on the Heavenly Jubilee. *

And, while these solemn subjects occupy our minds, let us pray, that the word which shall be preached, may be blessed to them who hear it and that those who have lived hitherto without concern about their existence in a future state, may now be awakened to contemplate its certainty and importance. May they be able, from the period of this earthly Jubilee, to date their well-grounded hope of a heavenly and eternal Jubilee !

In discoursing on the MOSAIC Jubilee, we shall treat,

1. Of the sabbatical year, or hallowed seventh year of the Jews, on which the Jubilee was founded; which was one of the most remarkable ordinations of God to his chosen people. We shall endeavour to shew, that it involves in it a conclusive argument for the divine authority and legation of Moses; and shall then point out a practical lesson which Christian nations, at this day, may derive from the conduct of the Israelites concerning it.

2. Of the seventh sabbatical year, called the year of Jubilee. We shall consider its two

* It is proper here to observe, that these discourses, prepared for the Jubilee, were not delivered wholly from the pulpit, owing to their great length.

Though the Jubilee be here called, "the seventh sab

chief characters of mercy, and then point out its analogy to the mercy of the gospel and redemption by Christ.

I. It will be proper to premise the general character and purpose of the Mosaic Jubilee.

The ordinance of the Jubilee was first given from Mount Sinai, by God himself; and was intended as a religious, a moral, and a political institution.

1. As a religious institution; to be a memorial of the redemption from Egypt, and a type of the greater redemption by Christ. It was a year of respite from worldly care, and a season for religious reflection and improvement; and so far, was an emblem of the rest and of the employment of the heavenly Canaan.

2. As a moral institution; to inculcate the virtues of humanity and charity between man and man, by the frequent exercise of releasing the debtor and redeeming the captive.

3. As a political institution; First, to preserve the possessions of the tribes of Israel to their respective families; in order that the house and lineage of the Messiah might be distinctly traced, and the fulfilment of the prophecies concerning him, might be fully established at a future day. For every inheritance

"batical year, it is not meant that it took place on the 49th, "but on the 50th year."

in Israel reverted to its original possessor, every fiftieth year. Secondly, to prevent the accumulation of wealth by individuals, and to preserve a well-regulated equality of property in society. Nor could any injustice or oppres sion result from it, for every man who bought or sold, knew that the year of Jubilee was to come; and every thing was transacted with a view to the great year of redemption.

But a grand consequence of the institution of the Jubilee, and which it is of primary importance to bring to notice in the present age, was this, that it established the divine authority of Moses. The year of Jubilee, like that sabbatical year on which it was founded, was a standing miracle. Moses foretold, in the presence of all Israel, that the polity which he was establishing, would be confirmed from heaven after his death, every seventh year, and every fiftieth year! Many learned men have overlooked this evidence of the Jewish theocracy; but no Christian ought to be ignorant of the sabbatical year, or hallowed seventh year, of the Mosaic dispensation. For the institution of it is a proof of the divinity of our religion; and the conduct of the Israelites, in regard to it, will convey solemn admonition to Britain at this day.

The original institution of the sabbatical year was given from Sinai in the following

terms: "And the Lord spake unto Moses in "Mount Sinai, saying, speak unto the children "of Israel, and say uuto them, when ye come "into the land which I gave you, then shall "the land keep a SABBATH unto the Lord." We may observe, that the land was to keep à sabbath by resting one year from the plough and from the harrow. "Six years thou shalt "sow thy field; but the seventh year shall be "a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for "the Lord. Thou shalt neither sow thy seed "nor prune thy vineyard. And thou shalt "number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, "seven times seven years; and the space of "the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou "cause the trumpet of the JUBILEE to sound; "and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year. Ye "shall not sow, neither reap, for it is the year "of Jubilee. And if ye shall say, what shall

we eat the seventh year; behold, we shall "not sow nor gather in our increase? Then "I will command my blessing upon you in the "sixth year; and it shall bring forth fruit for "three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth

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year; until her fruits come in, ye shall eat of "the old store."*

*Lev. xxv. 1.

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Now we may ask, what lawgiver, in any age or country, possessing merely human authority, would have ventured to promulgate such an ordinance as this to any people? What lawgiver would even have thought of obtaining a present fame, by pretending that such an ordinance was from God? For, on human principles, it was at once impolitic and unnatural. Moses commanded the Israelites to abstain from agricultural labours, and wait a spontaneous harvest of nature.

He assured them, that the

polity which he was then ordaining would be sanctioned by the divine interposition, at regular intervals, in the revolution of time. He not only foretold an event which was yet in the womb of futurity, but an event which was contrary to experience; and which, if it took place, could not be doubtful or uncertain, but would be public and universal, arresting the minds and subjected to the senses of all Israel. "Every sixth year shall bring forth fruit for "three years." And this was to continue as long, as the Israelites should obey the statutes of God, and hallow the seventh year and no longer. And for this miraculous fertility of the earth, the Jewish legislator pledged himself; he pledged the credit of his whole code of laws for ages and generations to come. And, had his assertion proved false, a people so prone to rebel as the Israelites, would never

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