act necessarily flowing from the indulgence of tentment with our own estate, envying or grievthis desire. Covetousness is thus the prolific ing at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinseed of many crimes. Let it once find entrance ate motions and affections towards any thing that into the heart; and though at first nothing but a is his.' desire, which no one sees, and which even he who is conscious of, does not readily suspect, yet it becomes imperceptibly stronger and more intense, till it bursts through all restraints, rushes on to its consummation in the perpetration of atrocious crimes, and involves its victim in disappointment, misery, and shame.

As covetousness begins with the desire of the heart, our Lord repeatedly called the attention of his hearers to the necessity of checking it in its beginnings there. Men often deceive themselves with respect to this sin, and imagine that it is nothing merely to desire what others possess, provided they abstain from acts of theft, injustice, and oppression. But the pure and comprehensive morality of the gospel forbids even the desire; and requires the strict and conscientious government of the heart, as indispensable to the obedience of the Christian life. If men were careful to check covetous desires when they first arise, they would find it comparatively easy to abstain from covetous acts; but when the desire is secretly and long cherished, it acquires an extent of influence, and facility of operation, which render it dangerous in the extreme. What we ourselves possess should be considered as the allotment of Providence concerning us, to be enjoyed with gratitude, and faithfully applied to the uses for which it has been given. What others possess should be surrounded with an idea of sacredness, which should at once check all desire to disturb their possession, or to deprive them of it. The covetous man makes the objects of his desire his supreme good; and hence our Lord in warning his hearers against covetousness, emphatically added, a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesscth.' The covetous man therefore seeks in these things a happiness which they cannot afford; and his life is one of bitter disappointment. He overlooks the sovereignty of Providence in allotting the conditions of men, and is habitually discontented with what he has, from a desire to acquire what he has not. Covetousness, however, is to be distinguished from the mere love of worldly gain or substance in this, that its desire is fixed on what others possess. We covet their property, and would deprive them of it. We are not only discontented with our own lot, but we envy the lot of others. Hence the answer to the question in the Shorter Catechism, what is forbidden in the tenth commandment,' is thus expressed; it forbids all discon

We see from this passage how wretched the victims of sinful passions are. There is no peace to the wicked, even on earth. Sin is essentially misery. The sinner, in indulging a corrupt desire, cherishes a serpent in his breast, which, if not destroyed, will sting him to death. The apostle might well ask the members of the church at Rome, what fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.' The sinner seems to be prosperous, and to spread like a green bay tree; and at times so powerful is the influence of delusion, that he even imagines himself to be a wise and happy man. But sooner or later misery overtakes him; his enjoyments prove to be the apples of Sodom. Some passions are particularly prolific of misery to those who indulge them; and covetousness is one of these. There is a peculiar meanness in it, which degrades its victim, and embitters all his possessions. away his face, and would eat no bread.' Miserable man! his own covetous desires darkened the whole world to him, and turned his heart into a fountain of bitterness and anguish.

Ahab turned

THIRTEENTH DAY.-EVENING.

Trust not in oppression, and become not rain in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart upon them,' Psal. lxii. 10.

WEALTH is one of the principal idols of fallen corrupt men. It gives them importance in society, and enables them to procure whatever enjoyments are most agreeable to the depraved and ungodly heart. Hence in that vast scene of idolatry which society incessantly exhibits, multitudes are seen crowding around the shrine of wealth, undergoing severe penances, and submitting to the most irksome and degrading labours, that they may win the smiles of their idol. As long as men confine themselves to lawful occupations, which are necessary and useful, while they involve no injury to the rights and property of others, their idolatry of wealth, though often extreme, does not present its darkest and most revolting aspects. But when, to gratify their desire, they are seen disregarding the claims, and trampling on the rights of others,—when fraud, and duplicity, and artifice are resorted to,-when they put forth violent hands on their neighbour's substance, and

extort by oppression what they cannot obtain by | in righteousness, and only by his permission and justice, their idolatry of wealth stands out in a forbearance, had the oppressor the means and the hideousness of aggravation from which we turn opportunity of success. From his throne, the away in disgust. infinite Ruler beheld all his criminal devices and Much of the robbery and oppression which cruel acts. The eternal enemy of all sin and have disturbed and desolated society, has pro- injustice, he was the witness of every circumceeded from this idolatry of wealth. Scarcely stance of secret fraud. Not a coin put into his any sinful passion has led to more injustice and coffer, but he knew whose lawful property it cruelty. Under its influence, men in authority was. Not a morsel of bread snatched from the have perpetrated the most heinous crimes against fatherless and the poor, but he saw in the oppresnations, plunging into bloody and exterminating sor's hand. How vain, as well as criminal, injustice wars, and overrunning fertile and cultivated pro- is! If the earth was a scene of atheistic anarchy vinces with rapacious troops. A yoke of bitter and confusion, oppression and robbery would bondage has often been imposed, to fill the trea-be foolish enough; but as it is a province under sury of a prince. In the humbler conditions of the sceptre of an infinitely righteous and powerlife, the same passion has prompted to endlessly varied schemes of cunning and oppression. The pharisee, under the guise of devotion, has robbed the widow. The pretended guardian, beneath a mask of counsel and prudence, has appropriated the inheritance of the fatherless. Every virtue has been feigned to gratify it. Human ingenuity has been exhausted in the contrivance of devices to rob others. How much of the wealth, accumulated in society, may be ascribed to this passion? Well has the apostle said, 'The love of money is the root of all evil.' In itself, money has no moral character, but is like dust, mindless and powerless, But the covetous dispositions of men invest it with interest and attraction. It is the instrument of power. It is the price of pleasure. To possess it is to possess influence, reputation, luxury, and outward splendour; and therefore the whole force both of mind and body is bent upon its acquisition.

Oppression and robbery, like all sin, are vanity. There is no profit in them. When we see the oppressor, indeed, rushing on in his course, heaping up stores, and gratifying his wishes as they arise, we may be disposed to conclude that his lot is prosperous and happy; but there is a disquietude lurking within which forbids peace, a war of feeling, inseparable from his flagrant violation of righteousness and truth; and when the curtain is drawn aside, there is often much to awaken pity, nothing to excite desire. There is a taint in all his gains. The curse of injustice is upon them; and though that curse may not always be felt, yet does it imply a state of moral disorder, incompatible with true joy. There are times, too, when that curse utterly blights all the pride and triumph of the oppressor; and he trembles amidst his abundance. The doctrine of the divine sovereignty is a burden which he cannot bear. While he has been gratifying his corrupt heart, and injuring his neighbours, God continued to reign

ful Sovereign, they darken into acts of absolute insanity. For not only does that Sovereign know all their devices, but, though silent and forbearing, there is a time at hand when he will punish the unrighteous for their injustice and cruelty. He will no more keep silence, but speak out. He will disclose the secret courses of the ungodly. He will set forth the unhallowed sources of their gains, and vindicate the injured rights of the helpless and the poor. 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?' He who would not answer the widow, will be compelled to answer God. He who seized upon his neighbour's vineyard under false pretexts, will be shown to be no better than the thief on the highway, or the outlaw in his den. Instead of honour, he will reap shameinstead of prosperity, wretchedness, wailing, and woe! Having sown the wind, he will reap the whirlwind. For all his unrighteous gains, a reckoning will now be made; and in that reckoning, not a tear which he ever caused to stain the orphan's cheek, not a sigh which he ever drew from the widow in her solitude, not a wrong, however artfully inflicted, nor an unjust scheme however skillfully framed, will be lost sight of. 'Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no longer steward.'

FOURTEENTH DAY.-MORNING.

'Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate,' Esth. v. 13.

THIS is the language of Haman, the favourite and prime minister of Ahasuerus, king of Persia. He had been advanced by his sovereign to the highest dignity of a subject, so that all the other princes of the court were required to do homage to him. Mordecai, the cousin of queen Esther,

who sat at the king's gate, alone refused to bow | envy. What was Mordecai, compared with him? to Haman. Enraged at this, Haman resolved A humble Jew-a subordinate officer about the to destroy not only Mordecai, but, if possible, the palace, one on whom no honour had been conwhole of the Jewish nation; and by representing ferred, to whom no one bent the knee. All this that people to Ahasuerus as peculiar and dis- was true, but his firmness in refusing to honour obedient, prevailed on him to issue a decree for Haman, wounded the pride of the latter; and the massacre of the Jews, throughout the wide as he witnessed it, he hated him, would most extent of the Persian empire. The execution of willingly have destroyed him, and poured his this decree was prevented by the timely inter- blood like water on the street. position of Esther, who, being in high favour with Ahasuerus, invited him and Haman to a banquet. The proud heart of Haman was elated by this supposed honour. He went to his house with joyful steps, told his wife and friends of all his wealth, preferment, and honour, and particularly referred to his distinction, in being invited to a banquet with the king and Esther. One circumstance alone galled and vexed him. On leaving the palace, he had seen Mordecai in his usual seat, refraining from all reverence as before; and now that he dwelt, in his swelling vanity, on his glory and riches, he added: Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.'

What a fearful passion envy is! While it is most unreasonable, there is no limit to the excesses to which it impels. The envious man finds in the prosperity of him who is the object of his passion, only the fuel of a raging fire. He regards him as resisting his own claims, and robbing him of his own property. He considers whatever he possesses as so much taken from himself; and, in the bitterness of his hatred, is often prompted to devise the most cruel and sanguinary schemes. There was envy in Cain, when he slew his brother Abel. He hated him for his worth, and for his privilege. This passion has been the cause of many of the most atrocious crimes, which have stained and blackened the earth. Though Haman passed by Mordecai, as he sat at the king's gate, what would he not have done had he gratified his hatred? His eyes looked daggers, if his tongue did not speak them. Time and place alone prevented his envy from rushing into murder. The apostle has well stated the gradation, when he says, 'envy, debate, deceit, murder. Bishop Hall, speaking of Cain's treatment of Abel, breaks out, O envy, the corrosive of all ill minds, and the root of all desperate actions! The same cause that moved Satan to tempt the first man to destroy himself and his posterity, the same moves the second man to destroy the third. There was never envy that was not

In the character of Haman, we see a multitude of low selfish passions. His heart was set upon the world. He was vain of the honour, which had been bestowed upon him. He was resentful, blood-thirsty, and discontented. He was full of malice and envy, hating all who opposed his wishes, grieving at their privileges and prosperity, and earnestly desiring their ruin. He enjoyed, even by his own confession, what- | ever was most desirable in life. He was the favourite of his prince. He had banqueted with him, and was to enjoy the same privilege again. He had ample wealth. Possessing all these things, there was no lot to be compared with his own. Yet his prosperity availed not. He hated | bloody.' Mordecai, and wished his destruction; and be- While envy is so fierce and deadly towards its cause he saw him sitting at the king's gate in object, it is a prolific source of misery to those security, and withholding, as before, the homage who indulge it. The sight of Mordecai embitwhich he received from the very princes of tered all the joy of Haman's preferment. His Shushan, he was restless and miserable. In this, own confession proves this. All this; my wealth, there was wounded vanity, a spirit of uncontroll- my preferment, my seat at the queen's table, able discontent, and a hatred of Mordecai, because my invitation to partake of the queen's banquet of his sincerity and firmness. We might suppose | to-morrow, the homage of the princes, the admirhim to have said, 'What is it to me what others ation of the people-all this availeth me nothing. are or do? My desires are fully gratified. The Let us examine our hearts, lest this fruit of most distinguished in Shushan is less honoured sin should lurk in some plausible disguise there. than I.' But no! When one evil passion is We are commanded to rejoice with them that cherished, it brings others in its train. Man rejoice, and to weep with them that never exhibits sin in one form only. The worldly- latter is more easy than the former—at least, the mindedness of Haman was associated with appearance of it is more frequent. Do we rejoice vanity, arrogance, wrath, hatred, malice, revenge; | then in the good of others? Is it an addition to and towards Mordecai his hatred darkened into our own happiness, when we behold them pro

weep.

The

sperous and happy? Are we prompt and cheer- | fessedly they were united in the belief of the same ful in aiding them in their plans of industry and usefulness, and when these are crowned with success, do we feel as if the smile of Providence had shone upon our own heads? We are all brethren; and true charity leads us to dwell together as such. Sin has broken up the human family, and darkened and troubled the earth with strife; but divine grace is given to restore order, heal breaches, and put an end to division; and in heaven, where grace will be perfected in glory, the old picture of love which gladdened Eden before the fall, will once more be realized; for all will love and live as brethren. There will be no envy there, and there can be no meetness for that blessed place, as long as one emotion of envy ruffles and pollutes our hearts.

descend to men of low estate. This is a far more

profitable, as it is a perfectly safe exercise. By those described as of low estate, we may consider the apostle as meaning those in humble condition, whose hearts by grace have been weaned from the love of the world and its possessions. These persons are morally great in the midst of outward meanness. Their estimate of things is founded on immutable and sublime principles; and in condescending to commune with them, we not only exercise and strengthen our sympathies as Christians, but we derive elevation from the nobleness of their sentiments. We learn to look at things from the same commanding points of view with them, and we come forth from their society more deeply impressed with the vanity of the world, and more keenly alive to the grandeur of spiritual things. In the atmosphere which they breathe, the deceitful colouring of the world is cold and faint; while objects are seen there, which overshadow by their majesty and duration all that the children of the world idolise and contend for. It is a good exercise for the heart to sympathise with the poor; and if the poor are Christians, adorning the meanness of their lot with the dignity and the lustre of holiness, their society becomes a school where the sublimest truths are taught, and the purest sentiments cherished.

How becoming is this condescension among the members of the church? We have spoken of them as a family; they are also represented as a body; a figure which conveys the most perfect idea of union, which material objects can supply. When one member of the body suffers, all the other members are more or less affected; and so when any member of the church is visited by trial, every other member ought to feel as if the trial were in some measure personal, and should strive to soothe and support the suffering member under it. Were one member to boast against another, it would be considered a violation of all propriety and relationship, in condemning which no language could be too strong. Of the mystical body, the church, Christ is the glorious and everliving Head. All the members derive their life and honour from him; and their union to, and dependence on him, form a common ground of sympathy, which should bind their hearts together as with an adamantine cord.

FIFTEENTH DAY.-MORNING.

Now, the end of the commandment is charity, out

of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned,' 1 Tim. i. 5. CHARITY undoubtedly signifies here brotherly love, though it is something used in the more comprehensive sense of love to God, as well as to man, and sometimes in the more limited sense of love or kindness to the needy and the poor. The two first significations may be considered as identified; since wherever there is true brotherly love, there is implied love to God as the principle from which it springs. Now charity is the end of the commandment; the sum and substance of the law; that which the law requires, and which being rendered, the law is completely fulfilled. The law requires us to love our neighbour as ourselves; and if this be done, the duties which we owe to others, will not fail to be discharged. Selflove is deeply seated in our nature, and is wisely designed to lead to the preservation of life, the protection of property, the avoidance of evil, and the increase of happiness. Under proper regulation and control, it contributes largely to our welfare, comprehending all the circumstances that bear upon our interest, being keenly sensitive, unceasingly watchful, and unweariedly active. Like all the other principles of our moral constitution, it has been perverted and injured by sin; and so prone is it to run into excess, to degenerate into selfishness, that it requires to be carefully checked, wisely directed, and firmly governed. In enjoining us to love others as we love ourselves, the law is eminently wise. There is no danger that we will love ourselves too coldly; and if we love others in the same proportion that we love ourselves, our love to them will be the best possible check to a selfish disposition. The golden rule, as it has been justly termed, is founded on this principle, for it requires us to do unto others as we would that they should do unto us, thereby making self-love the standard by which to determine the measure of relative duty.

As this brotherly love is the end of the law, so is it much more the end of the gospel. The law enjoins the principle of love, but the gospel expands and applies it. The gospel, indeed, is one continuous and emphatic expression of love. It reveals the most amazing love in God, in the mission and work of his only-begotten Son. It exhibits an example of unparalleled condescension and tender pity in the humiliation of the Redeemer, his shame, sufferings, and death, in behalf of sinners. It is a message of peace, breathes all the gentleness of peace in its style,

and