utters no prayer; he merely thanks God for his superiority over other men.

Extortioners-unjust. The first denotes. those who take the property of others by open violence; the second, those who obtain it by secret fraud.

12. All that I possess. Rather, 'all that I gain.' The Pharisee meant to say that so strict was his compliance with the law of Moses, that even out of the least of his gains he rendered a tenth part to God.

13. Standing afar off. Not daring to approach beyond the precincts, or outer court, of the Temple.

God be merciful to me a sinner. Or, as it might be rendered, God be propitiated, be reconciled to me, who confess myself a sinner.' The original word seems to include the idea of some compensation or satisfaction having been offered to reconcile an offender with one who was estranged from him.

14. Justified rather than the other. This expression does not mean to imply that the publican was comparatively more justified in God's sight than the Pharisee, but that the one was absolutely accepted, while the other was rejected.

The moral of this parable is contained in the words with which our Lord concludes his discourse-Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.' This is a general precept, enforced by our Lord in almost the very same words on several other occasions. Here it has a particular reference to the frame of mind in which the prayers of men must be addressed to God, if they are

to find acceptance at the throne of his grace. The lesson is plain that according as petitions are uttered in the self-satisfied and presumptuous spirit of the Pharisee, or in the humble, self-condemning temper of the publican, so in the one case will high thoughts be brought low, in the other self-abasement will in due time be exalted. The particular time and manner in which God will 'put down the mighty from their seats, and exalt the humble and meek,' will probably vary in different cases. With some men this result will be brought about during their probation upon earth; with others, not until the final recompense of each man shall be allotted. But this much is certain, that he who offers up his petitions to the throne of grace in the spirit of the Pharisee in the parable,-with no consciousness of any want, who boasts that he is 'rich, and has need of nothing,' when, in fact, he is wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,'-such a man cannot hope that God's ears will be open to his prayers. He, again, who is content with offering to the Most High thanksgiving which redounds more to the credit of the creature than to the honour and glory of the Creator, or who supposes that 'holy desires, good counsels, and just works,' can in any degree proceed from himself, or be perfected by his own unaided strength,—such a man must not be surprised if his addresses to God remain unanswered. He who presumes on his fancied deserts, and shuts his eyes to the evil which is in and about him; he who makes a boast of his own innocence, when he

ought to be humbling himself for his guilt; he who stands with unabashed effrontery in the presence of the Almighty, when he ought to be low on his knees before his footstool; the pride of such a man will surely have a fall. Above all, he who relies on his own good deeds, of whatsoever kind they may be, or fancies that his works and merits will secure acceptance with his judge, that man forgets, to his own imminent peril, the vital truth that in 'the sight of God shall no flesh be justified,' and that when we have done all that is required of us we are still unprofitable servants.' Prayer offered in any such spirit as this has no warrant from God to expect a favourable answer. And so he who, like the Pharisee in the parable, claims a right to be heard because the comparison between himself and his brethren seems to be in his own favour; he who measures his merits by the standard of the world, and forgets to contrast himself with the perfection of God; he who expresses selfsatisfaction if he be able to acquit himself of flagrant violations of the rules of morality; such a man has never learnt the lesson that to the lowly and humble of heart alone is the promise made that he that asketh shall have, and he that seeketh shall find.

Acceptance of prayer is reserved for those who feel keenly the burden of their offences, whose first petition is ever for forgiveness, and who seek for that forgiveness not on any claims of their own to pardon, but through the One Atonement which reconciles earth with heaven. The strictest morality, the most exact

performance of religious duties, the most regular offering of devotion, will avail nothing unless based on a deep sense of man's need of pardon, and on the all-sufficient merits of Christ as alone able to wash away sin.

THE TEN PIECES OF MONEY.

LUKE xix. 12-27.

He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And another came, saying, Lord, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: for I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapedst that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

His given THIS

HIS parable is, in some of its details, very similar

to that of the Talents (see page 65) as

by St. Matt. xxv. 14-30; but the two must not be confounded. The time and place of the delivery of each parable is different, that given by St. Matthew