Holy Writ which says, "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,' Matt. vi. 14, 15.

Now, there are some things so very provoking! Some people who at times use us so very ill, that forgiving them seems to be a thing altogether out of the question. On common occasions we might make an effort, and pass over a great deal, we might forgive those who have offended us; but when they have deeply injured us, and wrung our very heartstrings with their bitterness and bad conduct, must we forgive them then? Nay, read the words. "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Think what you may, do what you will, the words will not alter their meaning. Forgive, or you will not be forgiven!

In such a case, what is to be done? There is an old saying, "If the mountain will not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain." But we have no need of the saying in this instance, seeing that we have a better one in the Holy Scriptures. "Let us not fight against God," Acts xxiii. 9. "Who hath hardened himself against him, and prospered," Job ix. 4. It is in vain to expect God's word to bow down to us,

N

and therefore we must bow down to the word of

God.

What! did not the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners, forgive, when he offered up himself, the just for the unjust? What were his words, when despised, derided, betrayed, scourged, spat upon, crowned with thorns, and crucified? "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," Luke xxiii. 34.

Oh for a kind-hearted, a merciful, a Christian spirit, to follow such a glorious example! Father of mercies, for thy Son's sake, forgive us our trespasses! Melt thou our hard and unholy hearts, and teach us to forgive all those who have trespassed against us!

OLD HUMPHREY

IN A HAPPY MOOD.

I WALKED abroad after reading in the word of God of the grace of the Redeemer. My heart was softened by a sense of his mercy. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed," Isa. liii. 5.

The sun was in the sky; in his fiery chariot he flamed along the illumined heavens, flinging in all directions his insufferable rays. The firmament above was as burnished gold, and the earth was gilded with his glory. In an ecstacy I thanked God for the sun, while my eyes were blinded with his beams.

The snow-white clouds, heaped one upon another, sailed calmly along the clear blue sky. They were more than beautiful; I lifted up my heart to the Father of mercies! "These are thy handiworks!" With pleasure, and with unwonted capacity for enjoyment in my soul, I thanked

God for the clouds, which had ministered so much to my delight.

The winds came sweeping along the corn-fields, changing the yellow grain to a wavy sea of gold, and breathing around odours that gladdened my very spirit. With delight I stood, opening my mouth wide to inhale the grateful, the refreshing, and invigorating air; and with strong emotion I thanked God for the winds, while my heart danced for joy.

The oaks and elms shook their proud heads, and brandished their giant arms, the birch and the poplar turned up their silvery leaves, and the willows bent down till they touched the very waters of the rippling brook. Their freshness, their variety, and exceeding beauty overcame me; and with a faltering tongue I thanked God for the trees which had given me such abundant gratification.

The wild flowers, that in profusion spread their varied hues around, now decking the shrubs, now streaming along the hedgerows, and now spangling the grassy sod beneath my feet; the foxglove, the thistle, and stinging-nettle, that gave a richness to the tangled vegetation of the banks and broken ground, all added to my joy ; while the warbling birds, and the joyous myriads of the insect world, filled up the measure of my

delight. The tears started to my eyes while I thanked God for them all. "Praise God," said I, "in his sanctuary; praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts; praise him according to his excellent greatness. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord."

With delight pressing upon me from all quarters, I again thought of the immeasurable mercy of the Redeemer, who had opened a way, the only way for fallen man to regain what he had lost by transgression. He who thought it not robbery to be equal with the Father, came down from heaven, and died for sinners upon the cross.

'Amazing grace! O love beyond degree;

The offended dies to set the offender free!"

Believe this, cling to this, and trust in this, O my soul, amidst all thy joys, and all thy sorrows! For when the sun shall cease to shine, and the wind to blow; when the clouds shall be dispersed, and the flowers and the grass withered; when the feathery songsters and the joyous insects are gone, and there shall be no walking abroad in the earth; when this chequered world of flowery meads and rugged pathways shall pass away, a more glorious existence shall be known. Mortal pain, and sin, and death, and hell will no