The commandment: Thou shalt love the Eternal, thy God, includes the duty to so regulate our actions as to lead other men to the love of God, If thou art well versed in the law; if thou art seen in the company of the wise; if thy behavior is mild to every man, what do the people say? They say: How great is the Law of God: for see, how beautiful is his life, and how good are all his actions; woe to him that knows not the Law. But if a man is learned, and his conduct rude, his thoughts mean, his actions equivocal-then, the people say: Woe to him that is versed in the Law; woe to his father, woe to the teacher. Thus are Law and Lawgiver brought low before men; and of those who are the cause, it is said (Ezechiel 3, 20): When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling-block in his way, he shall die. THE PHARISEES.

XXVIII.

Sins of Omission.

For I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is always before me.-Psalms li. 3.

HIS is so important a subject that it must be dwelt upon. How common is the classification of sins into those of commission and of omission: and how

common is the mistake that the former are the more hurtful. Even in our prayers we ask pardon for “our sins of commission" and "our sins of omission" and the tones of our voice show that the latter are put apart, as in a parenthesis, and are considered not at all heinous. We must arouse ourselves to the truth that sins of omission may be much worse than the worst sins of commission, as they are called. These latter may be committed in the heat of passion, and may break out perhaps only once in a man's life; his character may then be like a house which has been smitten by a storm-blast, having a chimney knocked down, or the corner of the roof torn off; but sins of omission are like a dry rot which reduces the whole edifice to such a state that at any moment it may drop into a heap of dust. CHARLES F. DEEMS.

EEP our shame for follies past,

Talents wasted, time misspent, Hearts absorbed by worldly cares, Thankless for the blessings lent.

XXIX. Worship, Wise and Otherwise.

Bring no more vain oblations.

I cannot

bear iniquity with solemn meeting.-Isaiah i. 15.

One of the ancient teachers exclaimed, I wonder if there be One in this generation who will accept correction; if I say to him, Take the mote out of thine eye, he straightways answers, Take the beam out of thine own.-From the Talmud.

HOU, son of man, guard thy foot when thou goest

to the sanctuary of the Lord to pray, so that thou goest not there full of sin before thou have repented; and incline thine ear to receive the teaching of the law from the priests and sages; be not like the foolish who bring sacrifices for their sins, yet do not cease from their evil works, they hold them in their hands when they lift them to heaven; how can their prayers find acceptance there? They do not even try to learn whether they do good or evil.

ANCIENT PARAPHRASE OF ECCLESIASTES.

If thou bring thy goods to the altar and there rememberest that thy brother had aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.—Sermon on the Mount.

XXX.

More Light and Welcome.

He is the Lord of wonders, who, in His goodness, reneweth daily the wonders of creation!

O,

cause a new light to shine upon Zion, and may we all be worthy soon to enjoy its brightness. - Hebrew Ritual.

ALSO desire a religion of to-day; but that must not necessarily be one born to-day or manufactured today. An ancient religion whose fundamental truths have stood the test of ages, and is rich in associations and traditions, will not only do as well, but sometimes better, provided only we do not turn it into an idol and

sacrifice to it our reason and our judgment. Take what you think the best thought of to-day, graft it on the old stem, and give it time to assimilate the sap, and just see what a finely colored flower will appear bye-and-bye and what new species of plant you will produce. Reason is the primal revelation of God and the only channel through which any other can truly enlighten He is an infidel who doubts the wisdom of God in the endowment of His creatures; and, if He gave us the right to err, let no man dare to stamp that privilege as a sin. The enemy of faith is not reason-but unreasonableness. G. G.

us.

ET him walk in the gloom who will,

Peace be with him! But whence is his right

To assert that the world is in darkness,

Because he has turned from the light?

Or seek to o'ershadow my day

With the pall of his self-chosen night?

XXXI.

The Balm of Prayer.

My prayer is to the living God.-Psalm.

I.

WHEN prayer delights thee least, then learn to pray, Now is the greatest need that thou should'st pray.

2.

Crooked and warped I am, and I would fain
Straighten myself by Thy right line again.

3.

My well is bitter; cast therein the tree,

That sweet henceforth its brackish waves may be.

4.

Say, what is prayer, when it is prayer indeed?
The mighty utterance of a mighty need.

5.

The man is praying, who doth press with might
Out of his darkness into God's own light.

6.

The greenest leaf, divided from its stem,
To speedy withering doth itself condemn.

7.

All things from God their sentence wait
And sun and moon are beggars at His gate.

(Sel.) RICHARD CH. TRENCH.

Some of the Pharisees held that we should never pray unless our soul prompts us to it; others, however, taught that we should not pass over the appointed times of devotion; for, said they, it cannot fail that the soul, in speaking to God, should be aroused from its lethargy.

That which leads men into infidelity is the neglect of prayer. MUHAMMADAN.

Prayer is better than sleep.

MORNING CALL OF THE MUEZZIN.