ing time, mentioned above, this would be nine o'clock.

Market place. The agora' of the Greeks, or 'forum' of the Romans, the place of public resort, in which buying, and selling, and hiring of workmen was ordinarily carried on.

At the third hour, the

crowd of persons attending the market place was usually at its height.

4. Right, i. e., fair, just.

5. Sixth and ninth hours. That is, noon and three o'clock.

6. Eleventh hour. Five o'clock in the afternoon. 8. When even was come. This punctual payment of wages at the close of the day's labour, is in accordance with the rule of the Mosaical Law. "The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.'-Levit. xix. 13. See also Deut. xxiv. 15.

Beginning from the last unto the first. From those, that is, who were last hired, and finishing with those who were engaged first.

II. Good man. Literally, the 'master of the house.' The term 'goodman,' in the English language, had formerly this meaning.

12. Heat. The original implies burning or scorching heat.

13. Friend. The Greek word hardly expresses the present notion of the word friend.' It is rather a common mode of addressing strangers or inferiors, and

would not have been applied by one intimate friend to another.

14. That thine is. That which fairly belongs to you-that which you have earned according to our agreement.

Is thine eye evil because I am good? The expression 'evil eye,' means, as in Prov. xxiii. 6, an eye of envy,' and the sense is Art thou envious, because I choose to be bountiful?' Should you not, instead of drawing invidious comparisons between yourselves and your companions, rather feel that I have a perfect right to make what distinctions I please, and also conclude that I have good reasons for what I am doing?'

It has already been said that the moral of the parable is to be found in the 16th verse- Many that are last shall be first, and the first last, for many be called but few chosen.' The lesson designed to be taught seems shortly as follows: On every side there are many admitted to partake of the privileges of God's kingdom. Yet no one can fail to mark the wide difference which exists between man and man in the same country, even in the same town and village, as regards their spiritual advantages and opportunities of religious improvement. One man is born of Christian parents, early instructed in the truths of God's word, surrounded by good examples and influences, with means of grace frequent and regular. Such a man is, outwardly at least, first in the kingdom of

God; he, if any man, ought to win heaven; as he has been called, so it will be certainly his own fault if he be not chosen. Another man, born of careless, perhaps of vicious parents, is left to himself. Surrounded by evil examples, with few opportunities of attending public means of grace, exposed to temptations manifold and pressing. Such a man seems to be one of the last in the kingdom of God. An example of this is to be found in the case of the Jews who were first called into the household and Church of God. Yet, though they prided themselves on these their special privileges, they forfeited the divine favour, and were rejected; while the Gentiles, who were despised by the children of Abraham, were admitted late into the heavenly vineyard, and obtained a full share of its glorious heritage. And in like manner, may it not come to pass that many of those who seem to be first fail, through a false reliance on their opportunity, to bring forth fruit in proportion to the privileges accorded to them? They will consequently find themselves disappointed in the expectations which they had formed of acceptance with God. Many of those, on the contrary, who are last, and yet have made the most of their scanty means of religious improvement, will find their exertions rewarded no less than if they had been highly favoured with opportunities upon earth. In what proportion the Judge of all the earth, who cannot but do right, will take account of opportunities of good and evil, of warning and temptation, presented to each separate individual, no one knows; and on this point

it is not for man to inquire. But when it is said that many be called but few chosen,' the truth, often enforced elsewhere in Scripture, is repeated, that though many are invited to the knowledge of God's will, few comparatively will so use that knowledge as to find approval in the eyes of the Most High. Few will retain that humility, that entire submission to God's will, that utter denial of any claim or privilege, as of right belonging to them, as will in the end allow them to partake of the rewards of heaven. May there not even be some who, at the last day, will see many of their brethren whose ignorance of religious truth they have pitied, nay, even attempted to relieve, admitted to God's favour, while they themselves will be rejected? And this result will ensue because they have forfeited that favour by a careless abuse of the privileges vouchsafed to them, and by a false reliance on a bare and empty profession of Christianity. 'Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.'

THE TWO SONS.

MATT. xxi. 28-31.

But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of the twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

THIS parable was spoken on the day after our

THIS

blessed Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He had slept at Bethany, and returned the next morning into the holy city, where, as he was teaching in the temple, the chief priests and elders came to him, and asked him by what authority doest thou these things, and who gave thee this authority??? The object of this question, doubtless, was to induce our Lord to declare himself the Son of God. Instead, however, of fulfilling their expectations, he proposes to them another question, promising that, if they answered it, he would satisfy their inquiries. His purpose in demanding of them whether the baptism of John was from heaven or from men, was to expose the insincerity of the chief priests and elders in their conduct towards John the Baptist. They had sent a messenger (John i. 19) to inquire who John the