You will find an account of the casting of lots, in the beginning of the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. It was ordered by God, that Aaron might determine which of two goats should be offered up in sacrifice, and which should be sent away alive into the wilderness.

You will see, also, in the twenty-sixth chapter of Numbers, the fifty-fifth verse, that God ordered the land which He gave the Israelites, to be divided among the people by lot.

Cities also were given to the priests and Levites by lot, as you may read in the twenty-first chapter of Joshua.

In the first chapter of Acts, you will see another instance of casting lots. It was done by the disciples, after Peter had told them that another apostle ought to be chosen in the place of Judas, who betrayed Christ and afterwards hung himself. They selected two, and prayed, and then cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias.

You remember, also, that when our Saviour was crucified, the soldiers took his garments, and cast lots, to see what every man should take. How these lots were cast we do not exactly know. Perhaps the name of each person was written on something, and all the names thrown into the lap of some one, who folded his loose robe all round them, so that nobody could see them, and then

putting his hand under the fold, and feeling among them, drew one out, without being able to know beforehand which it would be. For we read in Proverbs, The lot is cast into the lap: but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

Lots have been used both for good and for bad purposes. They are used for very bad purposes, in lotteries; in which foolish people buy tickets, a few of which draw prizes, but most of them blanks, or nothing. These lotteries do a great deal of harm. They make a great many people idle, and lazy, and dishonest. They ruin many; and most of those who get money in them are greatly injured by growing rich so suddenly. I hope you will never buy a ticket in a lottery. If anybody should ever offer to give you a ticket, you ought not to take it. You should avoid having anything to do with this wicked way of drawing lots.

After the mariners in the ship had cast the lots, the lot fell upon Jonah. He must have thought before, that he was the person who had particularly called down the displeasure of God, and that it was on his account, that the storm was threatening them with instant destruction. It would have been well if he had confessed this. But he did not. He endeavored to conceal his guilt, till at length the lot falling upon

him, he must have begun to feel not a little agitated.

Still he did not tell them of his disobedience to the command of God, and why he had embarked in their ship to go to Tarshish.

CHAPTER V.

Jonah tells who he is, and why he wished to go to Tarshish. Sin will, sooner or later, be detect• ed. The mariners are in great alarm. Jonah tells them to cast him into the sea. They, at length, do it. Jonah's feelings. Children may die unexpectedly. Are we prepared to die?

THE mariners, finding that the lot had fallen upon Jonah, were anxious to know, if he, indeed, was the cause of their calamity; and, as he did not appear to be ready to give any explanation of the matter, they asked him a number of questions. 'Tell us,' said they,' we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what people art thou?'

Although they began to suspect that there was something wrong about Jonah, yet they treated him kindly. They wished to give him a fair opportunity of letting them know who he was, and what was his business. They thought, that by knowing this, and also the character of his countrymen, they might, perhaps, be the better able to judge concerning him, whether he was an honest man, or one who had been guilty of some great crime, and was endeavoring to escape from punishment.

Jonah replied, 'I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea, and the dry land.' He also told them, how God had commanded him to go to Nineveh, and cry against it, and confessed, at last, his disobedience and guilt, in endeavoring to flee away from the performance of his duty.

By this time, he began to have some true sorrow for his conduct; and he must have felt deeply humbled and ashamed thus to acknowledge his wickedness, before these poor, ignorant idolaters. For, though belonging to the nation of the Hebrews, whom God had chosen to be his peculiar people, and whom He had taught to understand his true character, and how they must love and obey Him,-Jonah had acted as if he had known as little about the true

God, as the mariners themselves did. He had great light and knowledge, and yet he sinned against this light and knowledge. He was a prophet, too, as he told them, and this occupation was of the most important and honorable kind; -he was chosen by God himself to preach to his countrymen, and sometimes he foretold future events. And yet, how little he had acted like a prophet of the Lord. God had directed him to perform a great and difficult duty, but he had shrunk from it in a very cowardly way, and foolishly thought that he could get rid of it, by escaping from his own country, and fleeing beyond the call of God, to a distant land.

And so it is, my dear children, that, sooner or later, those who disobey the commands of God, and commit sin, will be discovered, and their wickedness brought to light. This very often happens, as in the case of Jonah, in this world, and, if not, it surely will in the next. For we are told, in the Bible, that God shall bring every work into judgment; with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. We shall ali stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. And our Saviour says, to show how particular this account will be,—Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.