serve

of gold and silver, but of costly habits, and finely wrought vessels, liable to be destroyed in the manner here mentioned. Our divine Instructer assures his hearers, that, should their treasure be on earth, there would their hearts be also. "Ye cannot," says he " two masters; ye cannot serve God and Mammon." Mammon was a Syrian word, signifying riches, which are here represented under the figure of a person who has been deified, or rather been raised to universal dominion by the folly of mankind.

Our Lord proceeds to caution his hearers against extreme anxiety respecting our earthly subsistence, and gives a striking exhortation to trust in the providential care of our heavenly Father. It added a peculiar force to our Saviour's words, that they were delivered in view of the surrounding beauties of nature. He could point to the fowls of the air, and the flowers of the field, and show his auditors, that the whole creation attested the truth of his instructions. "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; are ye not much better than they?" The ravens, in particular, are mentioned in Luke's gospel, and our Lord, in directing his disciples to trust in God for their subsistence, bids them consider the ravens. It may appear to some surprising, that so abject a creature should be so frequently recognised in Scripture, as an object of care

to the Maker and Preserver of all things. When the Most High challenged Job out of the whirlwind, he demanded, "Who provideth for the raven his food? When his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat." The Psalmist uses it as an argument for praising God. "The Lord giveth food to the young ravens which cry." The ravens are sometimes driven rather prematurely from their nest, before they are all able to subsist by their own industry. In this case, pinched with hunger, and abandoned by their parents, they fill the air with their cries; as it were complaining to God concerning their destitute and helpless condition. Nor do they cry in vain, the Almighty Benefactor supplies all their wants. But the care of Providence is not confined to the young. It extends also to the parents, (who "neither sow nor reap, have neither storehouse nor barn,") and provides food for them from his inexhaustible stores. Even the meanness of the character of this bird may serve the more strongly, in a considerate mind, to excite and establish a firm reliance on the wise and bountiful arrangements of Providence. The argument of our Lord is exceedingly strong and pointed. If the Almighty hear not in vain the croaking of a young raven, he surely will not turn a deaf ear to the supplications of his people.

Our divine Instructer again turns our attention to the beauties of nature, to demonstrate the providential care of our heavenly Father.

"Consider," says he, "the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." "It is," says Sir J. E. Smith, "natural to presume that our Saviour, according to his usual custom, called the attention of his hearers to some object at hand; and as the fields of the Levant were overrun with the Amaryllis Lutea, whose golden liliaceous flowers, in autumn, afford one of the most brilliant and gorgeous objects in nature, the expression of, Solomon in all his glory, arrayed like one of these, is peculiarly appropriate." A description of probably the same species of flower is given by Mr Salt, in his voyage to Abyssinia. "At a few miles from Adowa," says he, "we discovered a new and beautiful species of Amaryllis, which bore from ten to twelve spikes of bloom on each stem, springing from the common receptacle. The general colour of the corolla was white, and every petal was marked with a single streak of bright purple in the middle. The flower was sweet scented; and its smell, though much more powerful, resembled the lily of the valley."

Our Saviour's words, "Consider the lilies," &c. acquire additional force and beauty, when we call to mind, that they were suggested by the sight of the splendid species of lily, which abounds in Palestine. We may imagine our Lord, when delivering his divine Sermon on

the Mount, pointing to those superb flowers, which decked the surrounding plain, and deducing from their beauty lessons of contentment, and reliance on the bounty of our heavenly Father.

A survey of the beauty and variety of the plants and flowers in the vegetable kingdom, ought ever to inspire admiration and gratitude to our heavenly Father, and confidence in his goodness. This lesson is taught us by our Saviour. "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" The dried stalks of herbs and flowers are used in the East for fuel, wood being very scarce. The meaning of our Lord appears to be, if God bestow such exquisite beauty upon things, of no further value, than to give a transient pleasure to the eye, and afterwards serve for the meanest use, how much more will he take care of his rational and immortal creatures.

Our Lord after enjoining us to take no thought for food and raiment, explains his meaning by the following direction. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. These words point our attention to objects of infinitely greater importance, and prohibit the excessive anxiety about earthly things, which excludes that supreme regard to religion, which ought to occupy the first place in our thoughts and affections.

LETTER XI.

The Subject concluded.

MY DEAR NIECES,

Our Lord, in his admirable sermon on the mount, strongly prohibits censoriousness and self-conceit. He probably alluded to a distinguished trait in the character of the Scribes and Pharisees, who valued themselves on their descent from Abraham; looked down upon other nations; and censured with asperity and bitterness those who were not of their own sect or party. "Judge not," says our divine Teacher, "that ye be not judged."

And, why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or, how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?" This expression was proverbial among the Hebrews. The following passages are taken from the sayings of the Rabbis. "How sayest thou, cast the fragment of a mote out of thine eye, while a beam of wood is in thine own?" Another Talmudical author professes his wonder, "that any one should suffer himself to be rebuked, when, if any should say, Cast the mote out of thine eyes, it might be retorted, Pluck thou the beam first out of thine own eyes." The de