Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb" (Rev. vii. 9, 10). III. But there is another view which I must take of the text. There may be those present who have not this good hope in them: in order that they may be moved by fear, if they be not drawn by love, I must not omit to state, in the last place, that some of those who come to the marriage will be rejected; that some of the professors of religion will be convicted of an unsound profession, and will be cast out, so that they shall never see the kingdom of heaven. These are represented by the man who had not on the wedding-garment.

It is evident, my brethren, that the mention of one man in this place does not refer to number, but to character; otherwise it would be opposed to the concluding words of the parable, in which our Lord draws an opposite conclusion, " Many are called, but few are chosen." Its use appears to be this: it serves to divide the guests into two classes; and forcibly impresses upon us this solemn truth, that if there should be but one present, without a wedding-garment, among the assembled multitudes, when the King shall come in to see the guests, the eyes of the King will rest upon that one; he will be singled out, and exposed before all.

The absence of the wedding-garment in any who are bidden to the marriage may proceed from various causes; but they are all resolvable into this one, their own perverse will they will not receive it, and put it on. To every one of them the Saviour may say, How often would I have gathered you under my wings; how often would I have clothed you with the garment of salvation; but ye would not.

Some, through carelessness, neglect it; others, through inconsideration, deem it unimportant; whilst others, through pride and self-sufficiency, think the garment of their own imaginary righteousness good enough: they will not stoop to appear before God in the righteousness of another, though it be the righteousness of God himself, the wedding-garment which God has himself provided, and which he declares to be indispensable, and without which every one who appears among the guests will be considered as an intruder, endeavouring to force an entrance into the kingdom of heaven in the "filthy garments" of fallen nature, which, however clean they may appear to the dim and darkened vision of mortality, are an abomination unto the Lord, and cannot for a moment endure the brightness and the glory of an eternal world.

Beloved brethren, put away from you such vain pretensions, such delusive hopes, such

presumptuous confidence. The rejection of the wedding-garment of Christ's righteousness incontestably proves that you neither appreciate the condescension and grace of the King of kings, nor will give honour to his Son. Be assured, that those that honour him he will honour, and they that despise him shall be lightly esteemed. Say not, in your unbelief, that God will not be so strict; that though you may not have complied with all his commands, yet he will deal with you in mercy. The truth of God declares otherwise. And judge yourselves, brethren, which is most worthy to be received, the truth of God, or your unbelieving fancies. You shall find mercy, indeed, if you flee to Christ, the mercy-seat, but not otherwise; and the mercyseat is open to all. You shall be admitted as welcome guests, if you be clothed with the robe of his righteousness, but not otherwise. To others, the garment in which you are clothed may appear like the wedding-garment which the King has provided; but it cannot deceive the great King. Your real character may be unknown by the world, and by the Church of God on earth; but it will yet be made manifest to all. He who "walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks knows your works." The robe, which is his own, will be recognised by the King. It was no doubt one of the "good" who obeyed the call, that refused the robe which was provided: the "bad," or those who see themselves to be such, would not think of refusing it.

O how should this lead us to searchings of heart, lest any of us may be trusting to any supposed righteousness of our own, for acceptance and eternal glory. We all profess the faith of Christ; we are members of his Church visible; let us often put this question to ourselves now, How came I in hither?" lest when the King comes in to see the guests, we should be found destitute of the weddinggarment, and then shall we be speechless. O, brethren, let me hope that you will look to Christ alone for salvation; that you will believe on him and serve him; then shall you have boldness in the day of the Lord; then shall you meet him with joy.

However many the excuses which men may make now, they will be speechless then. The wicked shall be silent in darkness. That fearful doom will be pronounced upon them, "Bind them hand and foot, and take them away, and cast them into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and gnashing of teeth."

And why, brethren, has the Lord spoken thus and why do we repeat his words? It is that, "knowing the terrors of the Lord, we would persuade men :" and, knowing also his

"AMONG the several reasons given for the names of this and the two following Sundays, the most probable seems to be this: the first Sunday in Lent being forty days before Easter, was, for that reason, called Quadragesima Sunday, which in Latin signifies forty; and fifty being the next round number above forty, as sixty is to fifty, and seventy to sixty, therefore the Sunday immediately preceding Quadragesima Sunday, being farther from Easter than that was, was called Quinquagesima (or fifty) Sunday, which is also fifty days inclusive before Easter; and the two foregoing Sundays, being still farther distant, were, for the same reason, called Sexagesima and Septuagesima (sixty and seventy) Sundays."+

On this and the two succeeding Sundays, the Church may be said to turn her face towards Christ's passion. As that time is one of express humiliation, so the services of these three Sundays all partake of that tone of feeling which will be deepened in the solemn season of Lent.

The COLLECT is taken from the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, and is an exact translation of the original Latin form. "The general spirit which these three collects" (of Septuagesima and the next two Sundays) "breathe, is that of deep humility: a spirit more especially required in the Christian at this time, when he is preparing his mind to observe, with due and appropriate seriousness, the returning season of Lent. It is under this powerful impression of self-humiliation that we beseech the Lord' favourably to hear the prayers of his people.' At least this expression evidently supposes the petitioner to have his soul deeply impressed with the characteristic spirit of Christianity, which requires its followers to humble themselves in the sight of the Lord.' Therefore, in approaching the throne of the Almighty, we feel and confess ourselves unworthy to offer unto him any sacrifice, even the sacrifice of prayer. If our prayers be accepted, they owe their acceptance to his grace and favour. They are the expression of our bounden duty and service.' He, however, is merciful-not viewing our frailty and unworthiness, not weighing our merits -but pardoning our offences through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thus, when we are sufficiently humble to feel that our prayers are accepted only by grace, we are soon brought to confess, that, whatever sorrows overtake us, they are as nothing, compared with our unworthiness. We confess that, by the heaviest calamities, we are but justly punished for our offences:It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.' Nor does the Christian consider himself degraded by such confessions of infirmity and unworthiness; for he is not thereby prevented approaching the living God, but rather rendered more fit for his service. So, in this collect, with humility indeed, but in a wellgrounded faith, we beseech the Almighty, by every availing plea, to deliver us from the evil of sin. We

plead his mercy, his goodness, his glory, his cove. nanted promise of redemption, through his Son Jesus fered up for the mercy of God-no plea avail for the Christ. And since no prayer can be successfully ofexercise of his love-no hope encouraged, that, for his name's sake, he will save us, except through Jesus Christ-so He, the Saviour, is mentioned last in order. He is our final hope. All our pleadings must not only begin, but end in him." *

In the EPISTLE, St. Paul is calling the attention of the Christians at Corinth "to the Isthmian games, which were celebrated near" that city. "Did they not well know, that though several racers set out to run for the prize, yet it was only awarded to the victorious person, and the rest were disappointed? This induced each of them to exert himself to the uttermost, in order to be successful. Let, then, the Corinthians do the same in their Christian course; let them run with earnestness, self-denial, and patience, without shrinking from hardships or perils, and without loitering from attention to worldly allurements, that they might obtain the prize which self-indulgent professors would come short of. They well knew, that every man who contended in these athletic exercises must prepare himself for them by the most rigorous and universal temperance, or he could not expect to succeed. Now, they submitted to this self-denial for a garland of herbs or evergreens, which would soon wither and decay, even as the honour annexed to them must be very transient; but Christians contended with the enemies of their salvation, in the hope of obtaining an incorruptible crown of glory and felicity, and ought not to shrink from any self-denial or selfsuffering.' He places before them his own example in this matter: what he exhorts them to do he was himself doing. Thus he sought and possessed the assurance that he should not, after having preached to others (as the heralds called the combatants to the conflict), be himself rejected, as having no title to the incorruptible crown.' This does not imply that the apostle doubted of his acceptance or perseverance; but it shewed the Corinthians the nature of his assurance, and forcibly cautioned them not to rest in such hopes as were consistent with indiscriminate selfindulgence, even in things lawful. He had abundant occasions and methods of thus bringing and keeping under his body, without using the tortures, austerities, and flagellations of the papists; whilst he willingly endured hunger, thirst, fatigue, imprisonment, &c. in preaching the Gospel, and was frequently in watchings, fastings, and prayers, as well as habitually temperate in all things."+

The GOSPEL is the parable of the labourers in the vineyard. "The way of God's dealings with man, under the Gospel dispensation, is here compared to the conduct of a householder who employs labourers in his vineyard. The householder has a vineyard to be cultivated; he hires labourers; he assigns them a reward. God, too, has a work for his reasonable creatures; that they should live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present world, in expectation of his glorious kingdom hereafter. Early in the morning,' from their very infancy, are Christians summoned to this service, summoned to renounce the works of the devil, and to keep God's holy will and commandments, and to walk in them all their life. So is it engaged in behalf of every child in baptism; and happy, happy would it be, if all, as they came to age, acknowledged the obligations by which they are bound, and kept that service which is perfect freedom.' Great, indeed, is the honour of the service, and great the recompense of the reward.' Why has our heavenly King so often reason to expos tulate, If I be a father, where is mine honour? And if I be a master, where is my fear?'

James on the Collects. + Rev. T. Scott's Commentary.

"Reckoning the morning, as the Jewish custom was, from the sixth hour of our day, the third hour answers to the period of youth; the sixth, to that of manhood; the ninth, to that of advancing age. A quarter, or a half, or even three-fourths of the longest life are now past. Is it to be still said, 'The harvest is past, the summer ended, and we are not saved?' Such is the goodness of God, that he does not abandon the rebellious people who have long preferred their own will to his. He does not let them alone to reap the fruits which they have sown. The Gospel is continually sounding in their ears the offer of reconciliation and acceptance; is inviting them to seek the pardon of sin through the one sacrifice for sin, and so to go into the vineyard and work there their appointed time. Such were those whom John the Baptist brought to repentance; such were those who first listened to the message of the apostles; and such are many in every age, who, having in their youth been deaf to the call of duty, hearken to it in their riper years. What reason have they to bless God who has subdued their sinful and reluctant hearts, and made them willing to serve him! How thankfully does St. Paul speak of this, and describe his own case as an encouragement to others. For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.'

"It is not the object of this parable to point out the danger of delay in turning to the service of God. But the parable gives occasion to remark it. For how few live to an eleventh hour! How few, if they do live to it, then listen to a command which they have rejected all their lives! Fewer still are able to give proof of their obedience by going then to do work in the vineyard! Let not the long-suffering of God,' which is designed to lead to repentance,' lead to presumption, which might preclude repentance. To the eleventh hour, to the very close of life, it is written over mercy's gate, Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' But, upon no man's forehead is it written, This man shall have space granted to him to seek the gate at last, and shall have the will to knock there. And if God intended to reward those who do not decidedly engage in his service, we should not find this parable in Scripture. He would not rebuke and invite those who are standing all the day idle, if all were to receive, whether they had laboured in the vineyard or no. If God would hereafter make no 'difference between him that serveth him, and him that serveth him not,' we should not be told that though many are called, few are chosen."*

The Cabinet.

OFFICE OF MINISTERS.-He [Christ] is also the goodman of the house, the Church is his household, which ought with all diligence to be fed with his word and his sacraments. Those be his goods most precious, the dispensation and administration whereof he would bishops and curates should have. Which thing St. Paul affirmeth, saying, Let men esteem us as the ministers of Christ and dispensers of God's mysteries. But, I pray you, what is to be looked for in a dispenser ? This, surely, that he be found faithful, and that he truly dispense and lay out the goods of the Lord, that he give meat in time-give it, I say, and not sell itmeat, I say, and not poison. For the one doth intoxicate and slay the eater, the other fecdeth and nourisheth him. Finally, let him not slack and defer the doing of his office; but let him do his duty when time is, and need requireth it. This is also to be looked for, that he be one whom God hath called and put in office, and not one that cometh uncalled, unsent for, not one that

Bishop J. Sumner on St. Matthew.

of himself presumeth to take honour upon him. And surely, if all this that I say be required in a good minister, it is much lighter to require them all in every one, than to find one any where that hath them all. Who is a true and faithful steward? He is true, he is faithful, that coineth no new money, but seeketh it ready coined of the goodman of the house, and neither changeth it nor clippeth it, after it is taken to him to spend, but spendeth even the self-same that he had of his Lord, and spendeth it as his Lord commanded him, neither to his own vantage uttering it, nor, as the lewd servant did, hiding it in the ground. -Bishop Latimer's Sermon before the Convocation of the Clergy.

THE MEMORY OF THE PAST VIVID AT THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.-Conceive that there exists in every mind the indelible impress of every past thought, scene, action, relation, passion, sympathy, and perception, subject, as they must ever remain, to the laws of association. Suppose the sight of the Son of man, arrayed for judgment, to be the first reviving link of a train of association which shall embrace the whole of our past intellectual, moral, and religious being. We shall thus, as it were, live backward all our past existence, and that in the very presence of the Holy One and the Just; and with new powers of judgment, a nice perception of right and wrong, with moral principles, and a pure religious illumination, in their highest exercise. What would this be but a most unerring, searching, and comprehensive judgment of our whole lives, as sentient, as rational, as accountable beings? And would it be the less terrible, because it resides in our retribution, we should stand in awe, as an impleaded own breasts? Surely, before such an instrument of criminal, beneath the suspended weight just ready to crush him in its fearfully gradual descent. Alas! that there may be too much room to pursue the allusion yet farther, and to say, that while such a process of judgment proceeds, it may be like the weight, still descending, with torturingly slow precision, to crush the wretch yet quivering through every nerve with more and more exquisitely excited sensibility.-Rev. G. A. Poole's Sermons on Association.

Poetry. HUMILITY.

THE bird that soars on highest wing
Builds on the ground her lowly nest;
And she that doth most sweetly sing,
Sings in the shade, when all things rest:
In lark and nightingale we see
What honour hath humility.

When Mary chose "the better part,"
She meekly sat at Jesus' feet;

And Lydia's gently-open'd heart

Was made for God's own temple meet:
Fairest and best adorn'd is she,
Whose clothing is humility.

The saint that wears heaven's highest crown
In deepest adoration bends;

The weight of glory bows him down

Then most when most his soul ascends;
Nearest the throne itself must be
The footstool of humility.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

LINES

Suggested by the sight of Bishop Coverdale's Arm-chair, now in the possession of George Weare Braikenridge, Esq., of Broom. well House, near Bristol.

DID, then, the venerable Coverdale

Own this rude chair?

Did he whose ardent zeal
First gave to England God's eternal word
In her own language, rest his aged limbs
In this plain seat of simple workmanship?
Hail, valued relic of departed days;
Memorial of past cares, and toil endured
For God and virtue's sake! How does the sight
Of thy quaint antiquated form call up
The thought of times gone by, of studious hours,
Of nights consumed in anxious solitude,
In saintly meditation, and in prayer
To that benignant Spirit, which doth instruct
To read aright the oracles of God!
Methinks I see the reverend prelate sit,
His rapt eye raised to heaven, and lighted up
With glad anticipation of the fruit

Of that blest tree of knowledge, which his hand
Is planting in his native soil. I see
His pale face brightly beaming as he reads
Of that all-gracious promise, that the wise
Shall shine like to the firmament, and they
That turn their brethren unto righteousness,
Even as the stars for ever and for ever.
I mark him as he turns the sacred page,
How he draws comfort from the gracious words
Of his Redeemer: "Blessed is the man
Who suffereth persecution for the sake
Of righteousness; for heaven itself is his."
Cheer'd by the Saviour's promise, how his soul
Soars upwards! how he plies his much-loved task,
Reckless of torture, and the blood-stained sword
Of unrelenting bigotry! He bears

In mind the great Creator's first command,
"Let there be light," and lo his task is done :
Now lettest thou thy servant, Lord, depart
In peace and holy triumph; for his eyes
Have seen the sacred volume pour its light
Upon his native land. England, the word
Of life is thine! O prize it as thou oughtst,
And venerate the name of him whose hand,
Dauntless, first gave it to his parent land.

Miscellaneous,

J. E.

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON.-Next to the inspired Scriptures,-yea, and as the vibration of that oncestruck hour remaining on the air, stands Leighton's Commentary on the first Epistle of St. Peter.-S. T. Coleridge.

TYRE A BEACON.-What was Tyre?" the crowning, merchant, joyous city; the mart of nations; whose antiquity was of ancient days, whose merchants were princes, and her traffickers the honourable of the earth. She built herself a stronghold," and heaped up "fine gold as the mire of the streets," and her navy gloried in the costly spoil of foreign lands, and all the ships of the sea were in her "to occupy with their merchandise." But in the hour of prosperity did she forget her infirmity, and her "heart was set as the heart of God; by reason of her beauty her heart was lifted up, and because of her brightness she corrupted her wis

dom, and her sanctuaries became defiled by the iniquity of her traffic." Wherefore hath the Lord of Hosts blown upon the pride of all her glory. His commandment went forth against the merchant city, and our eyes yet behold its terror; he hath "broken down her towers," and "scraped her dust from her," and made her "like the top of a rock." Behold! to this day it is a barren waste for the spreading of the fisherman's net, and "her stones and her timber and dust are laid in the waters," and she hath "died the death of them that are slain in the midst of the sea." Thus hath it ever been His holy pleasure, in mercy to raise up, and in wrath for their manifold provocations to lay low again, the kingdoms of the world; because, in the hour of success, they knew not wherein they should glory. We hear, methinks, from all corners of the earth, a mighty and concurrent sound of voices yielding attestations to this awful truth! Babylon, "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," for this cause "is fallen and broken to the ground." "The Lord of Hosts hath swept it with the besom of destruction," and not even does "the Arabian pitch his tent there," or "the shepherds make their fold." The Lord hath purposed it, who hath disannulled it?-His hand was stretched out, and who hath turned it back? Palestina! thou, too, for the same besetting sin, art dissolved wholly! Moab is laid waste and brought to silence, her fields have languished, and the gladness of her lands is gone! Damascus is a ruinous heap! and the spirit of Egypt has failed in the midst of her, and her counsel is destroyed, and that because she hath forsaken the God of her salvation, and not been mindful of the rock of her strength. And who shall vainly think that "God hath forgotten," that the book of remembrance is closed, or that we are less accountable than these? What heart so deceived as to say within itself, "he will not require it?"-No! it is for us to "mark the old way which wicked men have trodden, and how they were cast down out of time, and their foundation overflown with a flood." And thou, Britannia! in whom God's mightiest works are done, if thou, who art exalted unto heaven, trustest in thine own beauty and brightness, and forgettest God, and art stayed on aught but him, thou too shalt be brought down to hell; it shall be more tolerable for Tyre than for thee!-Rev. I. C. Wigram.

2 KINGS, V. 17. "And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules' burden of earth?"-In some cases it is almost impossible to perform the ablutions which are required in the East, from the difficulty of obtaining water. Contrivances have therefore been adopted to obviate it. Some of the Arabs rub their hands on a smooth stone for this purpose. Other people make use of sand, as possibly the servant of Naaman wished to do of the earth he requested. "Both at sun-set and at eight o'clock, the whole assembly were summoned to prayers, a man standing outside the tent and calling them to their devotions, in the same manner as is done from the minarets of the mosques of Turkish towns: each man rubbed his face over with sand, a heap of which was placed in front of the tent for that purpose, to serve as a substitute for water for their religious ablutions. We could not but admire the decorous solemnity with which they all joined in the divine worship, standing in a row, and bowing down and kissing the ground together."-Irby and Mangle's Tour.

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