maxim that he inculcated was: 'Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets.' But the whole of his sayings breathe a similar spirit of benevolence and gentleness. He preached, for the first time that it had been done on earth, the doctrine of 'peace and good-will towards men;' that is, universal love and peace among all mankind. 'Ye have heard,' said he, 'that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy: but I say unto you, love your enemies: bless them that curse you: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.' Again: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven: blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted: blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth: blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled: blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy: blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God: blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven: blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.' In this manner he taught the great necessity for being humble and lowly in spirit, as the basis of all virtue and social happiness. He likewise inculcated at different times the necessity of putting away everything like ostentation in doing good actions. He tells us not to give our alms before men, but to bestow them in secret; not to pray ostentatiously in public, but in a private place. No one, until he appeared, ever pointed out that there was no difference betwixt actual transgression and the wish to transgress. He tells us that sins of the heart are equally punishable with the commission of an offence. To break the least of the commandments' is to be reckoned equivalent to breaking the whole; and it is further said, it is impossible that our oblations to God can be accepted of so long as we live at enmity with a brother; that is, having a quarrel with any one. 'Leave thine offering before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way with him.' Who amongst us, may we ask, keeps this saying in remembrance? Do even all who attend the public worship of God most strictly and statedly hold it in mind? Again, he forcibly warns us against self-righteousness, and the presumption of shewing our neighbours their faults, before we have put away the same or other faults from ourselves. 'Hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Judge not, that ye be not judged.' How valuable are these reproofs ! Continuing to admonish us of the danger of hypocrisy, he says that we shall know men by their fruits-that is, we shall know them by their actions, not their words. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit: therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.' We likewise learn that there must be no limit to the extent of our forgiving of injuries. Being asked if we should forgive an injury for seven times, he said to those about him: 'I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven.' Three things, we are told by St Paul, are essential-Faith, Hope, and Charity, but that the greatest of these is Charity, or a disposition to think well of our neighbours: 'Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.' Throughout the New Testament, charity is inculcated as the first of the Christian virtues. Omitting any consideration of the woful distractions on ecclesiastical polity which retard the free course of Christianity, no error is more lamentable than the substitution of forms and observances on set occasions for that all-pervading spirit of piety, which should influence us in the whole business of life. This true character of Christianity has been happily illustrated in the well-known sermon, Religion in Common Life, preached before Her Majesty the Queen (1855), by the Rev. John Caird. Referring to the text, 'Not slothful in business: fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,' the preacher observes, that 'it seems to imply that religion is not so much a duty, as a something that has to do with all duties; not a tax to be paid periodically, and got rid of at other times, but a ceaseless, all-pervading, inexhaustible tribute to Him who is not only the object of religious worship, but the end of our very life and being. It suggests to us the idea that piety is not for Sundays only, but for all days; that spirituality of mind is not appropriate to one set of actions, and an impertinence and intrusion with reference to others, but, like the act of breathing, like the circulation of the blood, like the silent growth of the stature, a process that may be going on simultaneously with all our actions-when we are busiest as when we are idlest; in the church, in the world; in solitude, in society; in our grief and in our gladness; in our toil and in our rest; sleeping, waking; by day, by nightamidst all the engagements and exigencies of life. For you perceive that in one breath-as duties not only not incompatible, but necessarily and inseparably blended with each other-the text exhorts us to be at once "not slothful in business,” and "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." We have, then, Scripture authority for asserting that it is not impossible to live a life of real piety amidst the most engrossing pursuits and engagements R of the world-that the hardest-wrought man of trade, or commerce, or handicraft, who spends his days "midst dusky lane or wrangling mart," may yet be as truly holy and spiritually minded as the most secluded anchoret. We need not quit the world and abandon its busy pursuits in order to live near to God "We need not bid, for cloistered cell, THUS I THINK. J OHN LOCKE, author of the Essay on the Human Understanding, left behind him a paper embracing a kind of Confession of Belief, which is found in the appendix to the memoirs of the author by Lord King. As illustrative of the form of thought of a great man, on matters of daily concern, we present this confession of Locke, which he entitles, Thus I Think. 'It is a man's proper business to seek happiness and avoid misery. Happiness consists in what delights and contents the mind; misery, in what disturbs, discomposes, or torments it. I will therefore make it my business to seek satisfaction and delight, and avoid uneasiness and disquiet; to have as much of the one, and as little of the other, as may be. But here I must have a care I mistake not; for if I prefer a short pleasure to a lasting one, it is plain I cross my own happiness. Let me then see wherein consists the most lasting pleasures of this life, and that, as far as I can observe, is in these things: 1st, Health-without which no sensual pleasure can have any relish. 2d, Reputation-for that I find everybody is pleased with, and the want of it is a constant torment. 3d, Knowledge-for the little knowledge I have, I find I would not sell at any rate, nor part with for any other pleasure. 4th, Doing good-for I find the well-cooked meat I ate to-day does now no more delight me; nay, I am diseased after a full meal. The perfumes I smelt yesterday now no more affect me with any pleasure, but the good turn I did yesterday, a year, seven years since, continues still to please and delight me as often as I reflect on it. 5th, The expectation of eternal and incomprehensible happiness in another world, is that also which carries a constant pleasure with it. If, then, I will faithfully pursue that happiness I propose to myself, whatever pleasure offers itself to me, I must carefully look that it cross not any of those five great and constant pleasures above mentioned. For example, the fruit I see tempts me with the taste of it that I love, but if it endanger my health, I part with a constant and lasting, for a very short and transient pleasure, and so foolishly make myself unhappy, and am not true to my own interest. Hunting, plays, and other innocent diversions, delight me: if I make use of them to refresh myself after study and business, they preserve my health, restore the vigour of my mind, and increase my pleasure; but if I spend all, or the greatest part of my time in them, they hinder my improvement in knowledge and useful arts, they blast my credit, and give me up to the uneasy state of shame, ignorance, and contempt, in which I |