or render ourselves unfit for attending upon it.

Parable of the Marriage of the King's Son.

Matt. xxii. 2.

Mrs. B.-"THE kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain King," (you see here the same form of beginning, upon which we made some remarks a few days ago :) "which made a marriage for his son:" or rather, who made a feast on the occasion of the marriage of his son; "and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden," (or invited) "to the wedding; and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen

and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready come unto the marriage. But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise; and the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the King heard thereof, he was wroth; and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden, were not worthy. Go ye, therefore, into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage, So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was furnished with guests. And when the King came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment and he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then, said the King to the servants,

Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness."

Henry.-What, because he was not well dressed enough, Mamma? Surely that was not right of the King; particularly when he had asked him in himself.

Mrs. B.-My dear boy, your objection, which, however, does not surprise me, proceeds from your thinking of the manners and habits of the present day, in which it would not only be highly unjust to act in the way you imagine the King to have acted, (as indeed it would have been in that day, if you had quite correctly stated the circumstances;) but it would also be preposterous and absurd for a King, upon the marriage of his son, or any great occasion, to send out for his guests, literally into the highways and hedge-sides. But in the times and country, in which our Saviour lived, there was nothing ridiculous or extraordinary in either of these circumstances. It was no uncommon thing for great persons,

upon great occasions, to give feasts, which lasted, some times, several days together, at which all who came, travellers and others, of whatever rank in life, were received and fed: a part of the entertainment consisted also in giving to such of the guests as had them not, suitable dresses for the occasion. "Changes of raiment," you will find in reading the history of the Bible, spoken of as the commonest species of present made by a person to his guests. And you remember, in reading the parable of the Prodigal Son, they brought out "the best robe and put it on him." Dresses being thus furnished by the master of the feast to all who applied for them, it was a piece of disrespect, amounting to an insult, to come to the table without such a preparation and merited that, which in this instance it received, being turned out from the brilliant feast into the darkness and gloom of the street.

:

Mary. But is that what is meant by "outer darkness," Mamma? Because

I thought it meant much that.

worse than

Mrs. B.-So it is explained by the commentators, my love, on this passage: in the spiritual sense, indeed, being turned away from the heavenly feast.

But before we go to this, we had better go through the meaning of the parable generally. Do you understand the meaning of it, Mary?

Mary. No, Mamma, I do not think I do; I was trying, as you read it, but I could not make any thing of it.

Mrs. B.-Let us see, then, what we can make out together. In the first place, the King, the giver of the feast, was?

Mary.-God, Mamma.

Mrs. B.-And the feast, to which He called or invited a certain number at first?

Mary.-Oh! I see, Mamma, the parable is against the Jews, who were first called to be Christians, and who would

not.