even dare to offer it before God, in the solitude of our chamber, whilst in His Presence carrying on the work of self-examination.

We were made angry.

The treatment to which

we were exposed was so irritating that we could not avoid anger. We were disobedient. We saw others setting the example, and it was impossible not to follow it. We yielded to sins of frivolity, and vanity, but others were much worse, and tempted us by their wilful turning away from all serious thought. In almost every case, the first thought which arises in our minds, when we are accused of a fault, is, if possible, to lay the blame upon another-to say, that the sentence of our will was not to originate sin - but simply to echo it. And in that thought we rest. Such a common, such an almost universal fault, is not, we may say, to be compared with a crime like that committed by Pilate; but every sin we must remember, has different stages of development, each being in itself complete; and as surely as the acorn contains the oak, so surely do our faults contain crimes. That they do not become crimes may be owing to God's mercy in shielding us from the opportunity of being guilty of them; or to His Grace enabling us to crush them before they are placed within the reach of those opportunities.

For the former we may be infinitely thankful at this present moment; but it is the latter alone, which can give us cause for hope hereafter.

And the habit of self-justification, the constant endeavour to extenuate our faults, does unquestionably lie at the foot of all self-deception, and therefore, of all that frightful amount of secret and unknown sin, which hurries thousands to everlasting destruction, by blinding them fatally to their true position. If we wish to be true ourselves or to make others true, if we desire really to make any progress in our Christian life, the very first point we must aim at, is so to conquer our pride as to take upon ourselves the burden of our own offences, to acknowledge them to others, to ourselves, and to God. Strange to say, the last is the most easy duty, and they who have shrunk from the slightest shadow of blame before their fellowcreatures, and even tried to discover excuses in their own sight, will often and often pour out their complaints to God, and own themselves guilty of the very sins, the accusation of which they have been so strenuously rejecting. That is because they take their own time for the acknowledgment. The first rush of indignation is over, pride has been satisfied, and conscience has had power to work. But real self-conquest and real sincerity of heart, are to be found in the acknowledgment at the moment,-the confession "I was wrong," when pride whispers most loudly "I was right;or if not actually right, at least, justified in my fault, because of the aggravation I received." There is no practice which tends more to open our eyes,

and make us see ourselves as we are. The instant we have brought ourselves to own that we were in fault, quite apart from the consideration whether others were more to blame than ourselves, we have no longer any motive for refusing to see truly. All that is generous towards our fellow-creatures, and loving and obedient towards God, rises up in our breast, and makes us anxious to know the full extent of our error; and in discovering the ground of one fault, we necessarily discover the existence of others; we become single-hearted, single-minded, and upon that single-mindedness, peace will necessarily follow.

"Peace that passeth understanding," the peace that dwells with those whose wills are at one with God. Wide indeed is the gulf, infinite the distance, which separates that blest repose of conscience, from the false reasoning, the double-hearted selfexcuse, the cold, mocking, pretended indifference of the miserable Pilate. We follow him onwards in imagination, to that last act of his guilty life, the memory of which still haunts the mountain from which he is said to have flung himself in his despair; and we look to our quiet homes, and our innocent employment, our daily duties, and our light faults, and the centuries of time which divide him from us, seem centuries also of moral separation.

But once - hereafter how soon, who shall tell? all distance of place and of time shall be

annihilated, and we, with the murderer of Christ, shall stand side by side, before the Tribunal of Christ.

May God grant us to be so true to ourselves now, that the belief which we cherish, of being free from a participation in guilt like his, may then be found to be reality.

BEARING THE CROSS.

ST. LUKE, Xxiii. 26.

"And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus."

THIS action of Simon, the Cyrenian, is always considered a type of the Christian life. Our Lord, himself, describes our duty under the figure of bearing the cross, and no one would therefore dare to dispute the exactness of the analogy. There must then be an evident practical lesson contained in it; and perhaps we are apt to think that it is one easily understood, if not readily carried into practice. We believe that bearing the cross is another mode of expression for patience and resignation, for the calm acceptance of whatever trials God may think fit to lay upon us; and with this view we perhaps strive to submit to our own portion of affliction without open murmuring, with a sense of strong endurance based upon duty. We strive, and for a time we succeed. Whilst a certain amount of external aid is granted us;perhaps whilst we are in health, or not tried by bereavement, or permitted to have certain seasons of relief,—we bear up against all our trials. But there