Go ye also into

the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a peny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a peny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the good-man of the house, saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong; didst not thou agree with me for a peny? Take that thine is, and go thy way; I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and the first last for many be called, but few chosen.

righteousness. It was as hateful to the Jews to think of sharing, as to contemplate the loss of, their privileges. The intimation, therefore, which occurred in the discourse of our Lord, that the time would come when the Gentiles, though called late, would be admitted to glory, filled them with indignation. We may apply the lesson both generally and individually. Let us not allow the grandeur of either our Church or nation to inflame us with pride,-the first and worst source of uncharitableness: let us not, if we have long repented, and long cultivated the spirit of faith and wisdom, look slightingly on those who have but just felt the movements of Divine grace. What have we that we have not received? And if we are all alike indebted to one common Fountain of compassion, what room is there for disputing the right of mercy to exercise itself without obeying the dictates of our selfishness or our pride? Want of charity, with its attendant evils, is more than sufficient to deprive the best religious privileges of their force, and so place the first where the last had stood. Christianity is the only religion which has established itself on the foundation of love; and love is the only sufficient foundation of religion. It is by the power of this divine principle alone that an infinite God can act for the benefit of His creatures, or that His creatures can prove their obedience to His will by continually reciprocating acts of holiness.

The Sunday called Sexagesima, or the second Sunday
before Lent.

LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE COLLECT.-It is the requisite characteristic of earnest prayer, that it springs from a strong feeling of necessity. The praises which we render to God are only acceptable when they express the unaffected sentiments of grateful hearts; and in the same manner we must be able to say and feel, when we present our petitions, that we put not our trust in anything which we do, but depend solely on the power of God, exercised in our favour through Jesus Christ. Our dread of adversity, like the desire of good, will always partake of the nature of our principles. Worldly and sensual, our only fear will be lest the chances of life should deprive us of present enjoyments. Roused to a better understanding of the designs and capabilities of our being, our fears will then be most intensely excited when adversity threatens us in the form of spiritual losses and defections. Happy they who are susceptible of such sorrows and apprehensions!

The Epistle. 2 Cor. xi. 19.

E suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. For ye suffer if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak: howbeit, whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool,) I am more: in labours more abundant; in stripes above measure; in prisons more frequent; in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one; thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeying often; in perils of waters; in perils of robbers; in perils by mine own countrymen; in perils by the heathen; in perils in the city; in perils in the wilderness; in perils in the sea; in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness; in watchings often; in hunger and thirst; in fastings often; in cold and nakedness; besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

THE EPISTLE.-The readiness with which the first preachers of the Gospel suffered everything for its sake, affords a noble illustration of its power to strengthen and elevate the heart. It was not by the patient endurance of bodily pain merely that they exhibited the grandeur of the principles which glowed within them ;-reproach and contumely, scorn and misrepresentation, attended their self-devotion to the cause of truth. They who suffered fools gladly,-the bold, presumptuous pretenders to wisdom-would not endure the glorious yet mild instruction of these true disciples of knowledge and heavenly science. Yet, unprovoked and unwearied, the teachers of the Gospel could persevere in their course, rejoicing in tribulation whenever their affliction might remind either themselves or others of the Cross of Christ. St. Paul supported his claims to attention by arguments

The Gospel. St. Luke viii. 4.

HEN much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. Those by the way-side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved. They on

adapted to the views of those whom he had to instruct. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews,-a Jew both by birth and profession; but he could urge arguments of a still more forcible kind,-he was influenced in all he did by the warmest and most generous sympathy:-"Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not ?"

THE GOSPEL.-In this divine parable our Lord shows in the most striking manner how small a proportion of those to whom the Gospel is preached receive it with truly thankful and obedient hearts. The way-side hearer allows it to fall upon his ear as if it were of no more value than the verbiage of tasteless and formal moralists. Others receive it upon hearts cold and impenetrable. The superficial knowledge which they acquire displays itself in an outward conformity to some of the more obvious requirements of decency, or perhaps a momentary expression of zeal when provoked by the contradiction of declared unbelievers. Others have received the word with joy, pleased with the discovery of its adaptation to the necessities of the world, or the state of morals; or if their characters be of a more ardent and imaginative kind, they thus receive it, because it answers some natural wish, or capricious desire of the heart; but it has not penetrated or converted the soul, and temptation coming, the whole of the seeming belief vanishes. There is yet another class to whom God's word, though at first acknowledged, comes in vain. This consists of the busy and ambitious votaries of the world. The Gospel rouses them to attention,-quickens the conscience,-obliges reason to warn them of the folly of their anxiety respecting the things which perish. A few straggling signs of repentance,-of faith,-of devotion, appear; but the world

the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns, are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground, are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

presses on with its cares and temptations, and the weak nurslings of the Gospel perish. Blessed are they to whom the conclusion of the parable applies. Wisdom is justified of her children; and they shall be justified when they appear in the presence of their eternal Father. "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand." This must seem a hard saying to the understanding of those who are unwilling or unaccustomed to consider the character of the Gospel. The minds of men are naturally not more inclined than their hearts to receive it as it comes from the clear regions of truth. Doctrine and moral precept share the like fate in this respect. They are equally unacceptable to the worldly, and would be still more so could it see them in their most perfect forms. A softening shadow is thrown around their radiance by Divine mercy itself; and our weak sight is enabled to bear the lustre of the brightest truth passing through its proper medium. But the world, by wilful unbelief, converts the transparent veil of inspired language into clouds and darkness. Men see without perceiving. They are assured of God's presence, but feel it not. He reveals His will and intentions; but to the revelation, all-important and interesting as it is, they oppose a deaf ear and an obstinate heart. That our Lord, in speaking by parables to the multitude, did not act with severity or with the intention of refusing them the blessings of light and knowledge, appears from the whole tenor of His conduct. He came for the express purpose of instructing mankind. "I am come a light into the world" was the language which He used; and when we consider how patiently He unfolded His gracious designs, how plain were His offers of mercy and of the regenerating Spirit, who will doubt His right to such an appellation ? The medium of parables was in reality employed that prejudice might be disarmed; that ignorance might not be disheartened; that minds least accustomed to spiritual contemplation might be able to see, even from the beginning, somewhat of the plan and objects of the Gospel. "That seeing they may see, and not perceive," was spoken proverbially, and in reference to the persevering obstinacy of men, rather than as a declaration of intended punishment. But the world, as in other cases, did itself make that a cause of difficulty which was originally intended to open the paths of truth, and thereby converted a blessing into a cause for the highest species of moral and spiritual punishment. The structure of our Saviour's parables is of the simplest character: no one could fail to understand the general meaning of that above delivered. He was known to speak of moral and religious truths; and the people had been accustomed from the most ancient times to this mode of instruction. Unwillingness to make the practical application, hardness of heart, pride, and self-sufficiency were the true reasons of their finding His parables obscure. In the result his hearers divided themselves into two classes: the one contented to remain in their darkness; the other seeking from the Lord with humbled hearts the spiritual interpretation which He alone could give.