obligations. Of promises which are in themselves unlawful it is not necessary to speak at length. To make them is itself a sin; and to carry them out only adds to our criminality. It was wrong, for instance, for Herod Antipas to promise the daughter of Herodias to give her whatsoever she would ask, even to the half of his kingdom; but when she asked for the head of John the Baptist, he was bound to refuse, for this involved the commission of murder,-the murder even of one whom Herod himself regarded as good and holy.

3. Benevolence, or kindness, is the third leading duty which we owe to all men. Our Lord has taught us that, while the command which enjoins supreme love to God is the first and great commandment, the second is, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' The modes in which this principle will develop itself are numerous and varied. Many of them are impressively set forth in the New Testament; and St. Paul, in particular, has illustrated this subject in his beautiful description of charity, or love, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians. To some of these modes we may now advert.

Our benevolence is to manifest itself in forbearance. Love suffereth long' (1 Cor. xiii. 4). We are charged to 'forbear one another' (Col. iii. 13). The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance' (Gal. v. 22, 23).

Our benevolence is to be evinced in meekness and a readiness to forgive. This feature of character is again and again enjoined on us. The Saviour Himself has said, 'Resist not him that is evil; but whosoever smitheth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.' 'Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you' (Matt. v. 39, 44). St. Paul tells us that 'love is not provoked'; and he charges the Ephesians, ‘Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and railing be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you' (iv. 31, 32). The principle of benevolence is thus opposed to the anger which involves selfish irritation,

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while it admits of that moral displeasure which base and injurious actions should call forth, though this feeling must be guarded and regulated, lest it should become vitiated by selfish passion. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath' (Ephes. iv. 26). Our Lord Himself was the pattern of meekness; and He repeatedly inculcated the forgiveness of injuries, enforcing it by making it a condition of our being ourselves forgiven by God.

Again, Christian benevolence will lead us to regard the faults and sins of others with unaffected sorrow. 'Love rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth.' That moral displeasure of which we have spoken, as a feeling that should be called forth by base and injurious conduct, must be combined with grief, and with a sincere desire to lead the offenders to repentance. This state of feeling will guard us against that vice which Holy Scripture condemns as 'evil-speaking.' It is not right for us to make the faults of others topics of conversation, when there is no call of duty to mention them, and still less to speak of them with a secret satisfaction and self-complacency arising from the feeling of personal superiority. The mind that is under the controlling influence of Christian love will carefully avoid this, and will, indeed, pursue an opposite line of conduct. That love prompts us to think favourably of all others, to put the best construction on actions that truth will admit, to hope for the amendment of offenders,-and to cover the faults of others when it is not necessary, in the interests of truth and righteousness, or for the protection of others, to advert to them.

Still further, benevolence will develop itself in a superiority to envious feeling. Love envieth not.' Accustomed to regard the interests and happiness of others as well as our own, we shall not repine at their prosperity or at the distinctions which they may attain. While ourselves intent on attaining excellence and deserving success, we shall not be grieved if others rise above us, remembering that our respective powers and opportunities are given to us by our Father in heaven, and that

this life is one of training for a higher and eternal state. This last consideration may well reconcile us to many things in our outward condition in which it might otherwise be difficult for us to acquiesce.

Again, Christian benevolence will manifest itself in sympathy with the afflicted and distressed, and in active efforts to relieve their sufferings. The charge of St. Paul is, 'Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep with them that weep' (Rom. xii. 15). Kindness to the poor and sorrowful, and the mitigation of their distresses, are duties again and again enforced by our Lord Himself, and to which a special blessing is promised. When thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just' (Luke xiv. 13, 15). In His description of the last judgment, our Lord gave prominence to kindness to His afflicted and persecuted people, as the natural development and proof of devotedness to Himself (Matt. xxv. 34—40). The Apostles inculcate the same duties. St. Paul, describing his intercourse with the leading Apostles at Jerusalem, and the interchange of views between them, beautifully says, 'Only they would that we should remember the poor, which very thing I was also zealous to do' (Gal. ii. 10). And St. John writes, 'Hereby know we love, because He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?' (1 John iii. 16, 17.)

There is yet another mode in which Christian benevolence will put forth its power. It will prompt us to earnest and sustained efforts to lead others to Christ, and to promote, in every way, their spiritual interests. We are called upon to breathe the spirit, and to tread in the footsteps, of our Lord, who declared His mission on earth to be, to seek and to save that which was lost,' and who rejoiced over those who were brought to repentance, and who came to Him for salvation

and blessing. We should seek to diffuse the light of Christian truth around those who now sit in darkness, and to lead every wanderer back to God. And if a Christian brother has fallen into sin, has been actually surprised in it, so that his guilt is incontestable,-while we should manifest displeasure at his conduct, we should seek his recovery. Such is the charge of St. Paul:- Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, looking to thyself lest thou also be tempted' (Gal. vi. 1).

CHAPTER V.

DUTIES ARISING FROM THE SPECIAL RELATIONS OF HUMAN

IN

SOCIETY.

N addition to the duties which we owe to all men, there are particular duties required by the special relations which the constitution of human society involves. There are the duties, for instance, of parents and children, of husbands and wives, of masters and servants, and of magistrates and subjects. These are stated and enforced in Holy Scripture; while the great facts of Christianity supply additional motives to the careful observance of them.

1. Our attention must first be directed to the duties arising from the parental and filial relation.

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The duties of children towards their parents are so important that they have place in the legislation of Sinai. The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.' This commandment was quoted by our Lord, when He charged the Pharisees and scribes with making void the word of God by their tradition; and He pointed out one important application of it which that tradition had set aside (Matt. xv. 3-6). St. Paul, too, cites this commandment and enlarges upon it in his Epistle to the Ephesians :-- Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth' (vi. 1—3).

The charge that children should 'honour' their father and