offended, angry. A word will rouse our pas

sions. Let us learn of Him who was meek and lowly of heart,' and who, even while suffering an agonising death upon the cross, prayed thus for His murderers,' Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'

Let us pray for those who despitefully use us, and persecute us;' for unless we can forgive one another, my friends, we cannot hope ourselves to be forgiven of God our Father who is in heaven, and by our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Let us go lovingly to our husband, or friend, or to our neighbour, who has offended us, and try to win them by our gentleness, our kindness, and by our love. Let us assure them of our entire forgiveness, let us remind them that this life is far too short for quarrelling. Eternity is too solemn a reality to live here below in anger or in coldness towards one another. Let us melt them with sweetness, and tenderness, and Christian love, and show them that the mind of Christ is in us, His humble, lowly followers,

that we are His children, His disciples, 'forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you,' being our end and aim.* The love of God in us must show itself in our love to the brethren, for He teaches us, 'If any man love not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?' And 'we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.'

Let us all strive, dear friends, to live a life of forgiving love, to cultivate a spirit of sisterly meekness and patient endurance, walking in the love of God, as followers of Jesus. Let us not only be kind to those who are kind to us; for if we desire to please God we must be good to the froward, and to those who are unkind to us; to the irritating, worrying husband, troublesome, unkind neighbour, to the naughty, wilful child. Let us give up disputing, bickering,

* Col. iii. 13.

wrangling, quarrelling, offending. Let us cease to be fault-finding with, and scandalising, gossipping about, one another. Remember that 'a soft answer turneth away wrath;' that we are commanded, 'Do unto others as you would they should do unto you,' that nothing pleases God so much as a 'meek and quiet spirit,' which we are Divinely taught is in 'His sight of great price.'

Thus, dear sisters, and thus only, we shall become day by day more like unto Him, and we, to whom so very much hath been forgiven, will love Him much, and see more and more the holiness of Jesus, the purity and loveliness of His character, until at length we shall be made like unto Him, for we shall see Him as He is,' in those glorious realms above, where, with sins forgiven and souls saved, we shall no longer need this prayer, 'Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.'

For with all the ransomed Church of God,

gathered in from every land, we shall dwell, where sin and sorrow cannot enter, and clad in the robe of His perfect righteousness, saved by His grace and redeemed by His precious bloodshedding, we shall spend Eternity in adoration of the Lamb who was slain' for our sins.

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION.

|T our last Mothers' Meeting, dear friends, we found what we well knew before, namely, that we, each and all, need daily forgiveness of our sins, for the health and safety of our souls, just as truly as we require daily bread for the support of our bodies, and that in all our needs we must go straight to the Giver of all good, and to the Forgiver of our trespasses. But as our poor weak natures are born in sin, and prone to wickedness, no sooner have we prayed for pardon, washed our garments in the blood of the Lamb of God, than we fall again into fresh sins, and are thus full of fears and anxieties. Therefore we are taught to pray, 'And lead us not into temptation.'