enormous crimes."

It was also decreed that "all their

sentences, promotions, and other acts, were null; that all Christians should be forbidden to own them in any manner whatever; their adherents were to be excommunicated, and whoever disobeyed given over to the secular arm."*

To complete the good work, the Cardinals went into conclave, and elected a new Pope, who took the name of Alexander V. But as neither of the old ones would resign, and each of them had his own followers, the Church of Rome presented the strange spectacle, for some years, of a body under three heads. As for Gregory, he carried himself loftily, and even held a Council at a town called Udina, in the Venetian territory; but finding himself in danger of being arrested by the authorities of the republic, to whose vengeance the sentence of the Council made him liable, he mounted a horse, and rode off in the garb of a layman. Under the protection of the King of the Romans, he took up his abode at Gaeta, a place latterly known as the refuge of Pius IX., whence he issued Bulls to curse heretics, together with Pedro de Luna (Benedict XIII.) and Baltassare Cossa (John XXIII.) However, the. Council of Constance afterwards deposed John XXIII., successor of Alexander V., for many and great crimes; and our Gregory, having seen the death of one antagonist, and the deposition of another, was at length persuaded to lay down his own dignity, which the Council of Constance accepted with a good grace. At Rimini, the place where an image of the Virgin winks,— having assembled his Cardinals in Consistory, he announced to them that his representative at Constance had presented his act of cession, and then took off his tiara, and his pontifical vestments, and, laying them on the floor, declared that he would never wear them again, but be content with the dignity of First Cardinal, and the revenue of Legate of the March of Ancona. Benedict, in Spain, persisted in blessing, cursing, creating Cardinals, and performing such other sovereign acts as the shadow of a Pope could, and then died in a wretched and contemptible obscurity.

* L'Enfant, "Histoire du Conseil de Pise," livre iii,

Thus ended the last great schism of the Papacy; and out of that schism the Court of Rome, instructed by long experience, rose to a pitch of temporal power far beyond its utmost attainment in the darkest age, because less noisy, less furious, less haughty, but more consolidated, and exercising a far more prudent, equable, and intensely mischievous administration throughout the world.

GEHAZI.

ELISHA had a servant named Gehazi, who appears to have possessed his entire confidence, and to have been his constant companion and attendant. When the Shunammite stood before Elisha, and he inquired of her what request she had to make of him, and what should be her reward for the attention she had paid him, Gehazi suggested to his master the mode in which she should be requited; when the Shunammite came to Elisha with a message that her son was dead, Gehazi was sent to lay Elisha's staff upon the face of the child, and he did so, but the child did not revive; and when Elisha had raised up the child to life, he told Gehazi to call the Shunammite, to whom he delivered back her son. (2 Kings iv. 14, 31, 36.)

But the most remarkable incident in the history of Gehazi occurred in connexion with the cure of Naaman. Here it is that his real character appears; or, if he was previously a good man, it is here that we have the account of his fall and punishment.

The grateful Naaman wished to give Elisha a token of his gratitude; but Elisha, with a noble disinterestedness, refused to receive it. He did not wish the Syrian to go home with the impression that the Prophet of Israel was a lover of the wealth of this world, or that the gift of God was to be bought with money; and though the famine was still raging in the land, and such a gift as Naaman offered would have been doubly valuable at such a season, yet, rather than receive it, and thereby compromise his character in the estimation of the Syrians, the Prophet resolved to cast himself on that Providence which had hitherto sustained him so remarkably. But Gehazi said, “Behold, my master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving at his hands that which he

brought but, as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him." (2 Kings v. 20.) He accordingly went, and, stating to Naaman that two young men of the sons of the Prophets had come to visit his master Elisha, he requested that there might be given to them a talent of silver,* and two changes of raiment. Naaman offered him two talents, which at the first, perhaps, on the mere pretence of wishing to take no more than his master asked, he declined to accept; but Naaman urged him, and he took the whole. Of what sins was Gehazi guilty?-Covetousness and falsehood.

He was guilty of covetousness. It is evident that his object was to secure the gift of Naaman for himself. Hence, when he had received it, he placed it in the tower, or secret place, intending, doubtless, to make use of it at a future time. He was actuated by a spirit like that of Achan, who, when he saw among the spoils of Ai a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, coveted them, and took them, and hid them in his tent. (Josh. vii. 21.) But did not Gehazi know that God had said, "Thou shalt not covet?" He did know this, but he yielded to the temptation, and the prospect of getting some of Naaman's wealth blinded him against the sin. Truly is it said that "the love of money is the root of all evil." "Were we," says the author of "Mammon," "to analyse the very last sin of which we ourselves are conscious, we should discover that selfishness, in one or other of its thousand forms, was the parent;" and in nothing does the selfishness of man so frequently display itself as in the efforts he puts forth to gain pecuniary wealth. For wealth what dishonourable plans will he not pursue? what wicked schemes will he not devise? what abominable acts will he not perform? many instances, even though he is already rich, he is not satisfied; for worldly possessions can never satisfy; and therefore he still grasps for more, until, in his eagerness to obtain it, he perhaps steps on the very brink of a precipice, and falls to rise no more. Let our younger readers beware of

A talent of silver is calculated to be worth £342. 3s. 9d.

In

covetousness. Let them learn to be content with what Providence bestows, and with what they can obtain by fair and honest means. An anxious desire to be rich is almost sure to lead a young man to ruin. He sets out in life with a determination to secure his object; and though at first he may aim to secure it in a proper manner, yet should his plans be unsuccessful, the danger is, that having set his heart upon the point, he will stoop to mean and dishonourable practices, and attempt to gain it at the sacrifice of every noble principle.

Gehazi was also guilty of falsehood. Dishonourable practices can never be pursued but at the expense of truth. It was only by framing and uttering a lie that Gehazi could hope to succeed; but this he did not hesitate to do after he had once determined to get possession of this property. Accordingly, he stood before Naaman the Syrian, and, with an air as bold as he could assume, told him deliberately that his master had sent him to ask for a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. How hateful does his conduct appear to every honourable mind! And yet we see such conduct almost every day. Deceit is hidden in the breast of every man. We go astray from the womb, speaking lies. Men pretend to admire truth, and yet they practise falsehood. How seldom do we meet with one of whom it can be said, "He never told a lie!" There are such instances, but they are rare indeed; and the number of those who always reverence the truth, who never utter falsehood in any shape whatever, who hate prevarication, or the varnishing of facts with an intention to deceive, is, it is to be feared, very, very small. And yet there is no sin which God hates more than that of lying. He is a God of truth, and falsehood of every kind He utterly detests. How solemn are these words: "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone!" Is the reader conscious that he is guilty of lying? Does the recollection of one, and another, and yet another falsehood that he has uttered, before an indulgent father, before a kind and affectionate mother, rush into his mind as he reads this paper? Let him go at once, and confess his sin, and seek forgiveness of God, lest, with a lie upon his lips, he should be summoned to the judgment-seat, and meet this fearful doom.

Nor did Gehazi utter one falsehood only. "Whence comest thou, Gehazi?” said his master. "Thy servant went no whither," was the reply. A second lie was necessary to hide the first. So is it always. One untruthful word is the parent of a hundred more. The liar never likes to confess having told a lie; but, in order to cover his shame and guilt, he persists in it, and adds to it another. And the second falsehood is told with more ease than the first. Gehazi probably felt more difficulty in telling Naaman that his master had sent him than he did in telling Elisha that he had gone no whither. For sin of every kind, and the sin of lying in particular, hardens the heart, and sears the conscience. Look at that youth. He has told an untruth; but it is the first, and the crimson blush rises on his countenance in a moment: but let him fail to repent of it, and he will soon tell another, and perhaps not blush at all. But, O! if you have begun, renounce, and that immediately, lest your heart should become like the granite-rock, hard and insensible.

And was Gehazi's sin detected? Yes: he went back boldly to his master, as if all was right, not imagining that his guilt would be discovered. But the Prophet said to him, "Whence comest thou, Gehazi?" The guilty man could not bear that question. Had he been innocent, he could have answered it satisfactorily. But he had sinned: and who that has done wrong likes to be questioned respecting the deed? He therefore replied, "Thy servant went no whither." And did he suppose, then, that Elisha knew not what had taken place? Had he forgotten that his master was a Prophet? If so, how soon was he reminded! "Went not mine heart with thee when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?" said Elisha. Thus it appears that the Spirit of God communicated the whole to the Prophet's mind; and though Gehazi thought that no one was witness of his guilt, it was known not only by Him who is the Searcher of the hearts of men, but also by his master, whom he intended to deceive. You may commit sin, and then try to hide it by a falsehood; but, sooner or later, it will be brought to light, to your utter confusion and dismay. As in this case, so in others, of which we have an illustration in the history of Ananias and