would feel after such a favour had been done to you? Would you not feel thankful and happy, and ready to help every one who was in trouble? But this wicked servant no sooner had his debt forgiven, than he went out, and finding one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence, which was no more to be compared to his large debt than one drop of water to a large river, he laid hands on him and put him in prison, because he could not pay him. You may be sure his other fellow-servants were very sorry when they saw this; and they went and told their lord, who, after he had called him, said, "O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?" Then his lord, being angry, gave him up to punishment and torment, till he should pay all that was due. Our Lord finished his parable by saying, "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

This story is one which we ought to think of every day; for do we not every day say, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us?"

God has, for the sake of his dear Son, freely forgiven us all our sins. Jesus by his blood blotted out our transgressions, and made us the children of God and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. We only deserved to go to hell, for we were born in sin; and the youngest child shows evil dispositions and passions enough to make its Father justly angry, and to make it unfit for going to heaven: yet God promises that He will pardon all our sins, even if they are red like crimson. He is a God of mercy: though we can never deserve anything, yet He gives us all things needful for our souls and bodies. Now suppose for a moment another child should hurt you, tell tales of you, or be otherwise unkind to you; could that child ever do as many naughty things to you as you have done towards God? If you only tried to count the wrong things you have done in one day, you would soon be obliged to stop; you never could count them all; yet you are allowed to kneel down

every night and say, "Forgive us our trespasses;" and you are taught to hope God will forgive you for the sake of Jesus. But you are also taught that He will not forgive you unless you quite forgive every one that has done wrong to you. You are told not to bear any ma lice or hatred in your heart; you are told to follow the example of your Saviour Christ. Now when He was ill used did He show any revenge? "When He was reviled, He reviled not again." You are told not to render evil for evil; but on the contrary," to bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." And here again you have the pattern set you by your Lord, which you must copy while you are on the earth, if ever you wish to be like Him and live with Him in heaven. He prayed for his murderers, saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And another part of your catechism teaches you to forgive one another; that is the duty towards your neighbour, which is to do to all as you would wish done to you. Now as

you would be most thankful to have your own sins all forgiven, so you must take care never to harbour an unforgiving thought against any one who has done wrong to you; but put on, as becomes the true children of God, holy and beloved, kindness, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against any, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. (Col. iii. 12, 13. Ephes. iv. 32.) L. S. R.

ON LIVING TO THE GLORY OF GOD.

Jane. My dear mamma, I have often been taught in sermons, and also by you, that it is our great duty to live to the glory of God. I don't think I quite understand the meaning of that. Will you, then, let me ask you what it is?

Mrs. L. You could not, my dear child, ask me a more important question; nor one on which I could more earnestly wish to inform you rightly. But first, let me ask you to tell me what is the nature of your difficulty: may be of such a kind that as soon as you describe it

it

I may be able to know better how to explain to you the whole subject.

J. I cannot quite see how it could be that such poor sinful creatures as we are can add any thing to the glory of God. Did you not tell me that his glory was already infinite?

Mrs. L. You have indeed put your question in a difficult form to answer; and I must freely confess to you that we cannot see how the conduct of man can increase the glory of Him who was from eternity perfectly holy and perfectly omnipotent. But in the solemn subjects of moral conduct and action, it is not so much our duty to reason as to obey; and when we are directed to "do all to the glory of God," we are not to ask whether any thing will be added to his glory if we do right, but simply to act in that way which we have reason to believe does glorify Him. Have you any doubt about what that course of conduct may be?

J. Not exactly that: I conclude of course that it is a life of holiness, truth, and wisdom. But still, as we are commanded, "whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all to the glory of God," I thought I would not be wrong to know what it meant, that I might try to have my mind upon it when I was doing any thing.

Mrs. L. It is very far from being a wrong desire, my dear Jane, to know this, if it is properly chastened; and that is the reason why I began by teaching you that we have less to do with reasoning than with acting in those great matters. But I will try what I can do, in a few words, to make plain to you what you wish to understand. You remember where it is said, and that by the holy and blessed inhabitants of the heavenly mansions, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive honour and glory and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created'." In this manner do the hosts of heaven glorify Him with their voices, singing praises to his name, exalting the honour of the Creator, and acknowledging the nothingness of the creature. These words, also, have often led me to

1 Rev. iv. 11.

think of that very subject you have now introduced; and they have directed my thoughts in a course which has seemed to give me some satisfaction in the way of practically understanding it. Perhaps they may be of the same use to you. We are here plainly told the purpose for which the angels believe that all created things came into being: for God's pleasure they are, and were created. There was nothing in the creature that caused it to be made. It was not for its worthiness to be that it was made; it was not for any independent worth it would have when made; it was not for its own pleasure and enjoyment that it was made, although pleasure and enjoyment are granted, in rich abundance, to all the innocent creation. The pleasure of the creature, we are expressly and positively assured, was not the first and supreme purpose of God in creating it. This is a great revelation, a revelation infinitely, and I may almost say awfully important; yet its awfulness will be taken away from the obedient heart. But to become really obedient to such a truth as this, is to go through a change which no one can say he has passed on this side the grave. How obstinately does that idea cling to all our minds, that we may seek our own pleasure, and make it the chief object of our daily pursuit! How anxiously and earnestly does the heart desire it! How entirely and undividedly is our fleshly nature bent upon it! But this pursuit is sin: it is idolatry; it is rebellion. A really sanctified mind will resist the idea, and endeavour to stifle the affection which accords with it whenever it arises. If our principles agree with those of the chorus of angels in heaven, we shall condemn that thought, although it is the very ruling passion of our fallen nature. When our thoughts are right, and when our feelings are right, they will alike move in this direction; they will confess, and that with pleasure and full consent, that the angelic song was the only true account of the whole creation: "For thy pleasure they are, and were created." The moment we can truly feel ourselves as a part of this great work and this great purpose, we feel ourselves in our right position. Never, till then. It comes home to a reflecting mind, as a thing that cannot

be doubted; and to a humbled and religious heart, as a truth that controls it, and points out its future course: "I was made for the pleasure of my Creator: there is no other reason for my existence that can take the place of this. I was not made for myself; I am not to serve myself, to seek myself, to labour to enjoy myself. Happiness may be given me, and it will be, as a promise from Him; but I am created for the pleasure of my God." Such thoughts as these are rare in human breasts; but they are the only right ones, the great master thoughts that should control mankind. They are upon the great master truth which heaven's holy voices have taught us, and which occupies the deepest reflections of its highest archangels. That truth should be a rule of action to the world. It is such to those who never fell from innocence; and those who are fallen, but since redeemed by Christ, should study it and adopt it. If once we can thoroughly consent to it, as the undoubted purpose for which our lives were given us, and the only right and good purpose for which they could be given, we should feel a weight taken off our minds, which nothing else can remove. If our whole man were conformed to it we should be truly conformed to the will of God, and have gained the closest union with the holy and the happy. Every one in heaven who uttered it felt it, and had no other purpose or desire. We may utter it, too; but how far is it from being our only purpose! Now, when every thing which we do or think is performed with reference to this great purpose of God, I imagine that by that means God is peculiarly glorified. It is when He is put out of mind and disregarded, that the creature attempts to glorify itself; but when we forget ourselves and sink into our proper nothingness, the glory of God is attained. With this mind what we do should be done, and what we enjoy enjoyed. It is not because I wish it and delight in it; but because He has been pleased to make me for it, and it for me: this will tend to equalize all things; to bring what is unpleasant nearer to what we like, when we are assured that both are alike for the pleasure of God. If this feeling is deeply cherished and becomes part of ourselves, it will