"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"-Matt. vi. 22, 23. See also Deut. xvi. 19; Matt. xiii. 15; xx. 15; Mark vii. 22; 2 Tim. iv. 2; Tit, i. 15; 1 John iii. 20, 21.

THE eye is that organ by which the soul perceives not only the light of the sun, which it is so pleasant to look upon, but all the wonderful works of God, by which the world is enriched and beautified. By the eye we guide ourselves in our various employments and movements. We form our judgment even of what is said to us, by observing whether it is spoken with the smile of playful tenderness, and whether the countenance bespeaks a serene integrity and virtue; or whether the words are uttered with the lip of scorn, or the look of pride, or cunning, or any other evil temper. On the right and healthful condition of the eye depends, in a great measure, the enjoyment which we derive from all that is fair around us; the skill which we are able to apply to our various pursuits; the correctness of our perceptions, both of the moral and material world. How little are we thankful for

this precious organ, while every moment it ministers to our pleasure and advantage! They who are afflicted with the loss of sight know its full value; and if the eye be even dimmed or clouded by any disorder of the body, we are at once made sensible how much our comfort depends on its being clear and "single;" so as to convey to the mind a true and faithful picture of things around us.

The conscience is to the soul what the eye is to the body. It is the faculty by which we discern the difference between good and evil; and by which we form our judgment, both as to the end at which we ought to aim, and as to the means by which we should pursue it. It is at once a witness and a judge within us; and it fulfils its purpose when it shows us the glory of God, as the end to be set before us, and when it warns us to seek stedfastly and singly that blessed end in each particular action. But as the eye is affected by the diseased humours of the body, and then conveys to the mind only a dim and misty notion of outward things,' so the benefit to be derived from the conscience depends on the pains we take to keep it in a sound and healthful state. Men too often wish to silence its warnings, or perhaps to gain from it a different verdict and counsel from that which faithfulness demands. And they contrive to bribe it with some slight attention to its whispers, that it may not condemn them when they disregard its more solemn suggestions; or they blind it with disingenuous reasonings and vain excuses. By such conduct they do, indeed, darken the eye of the soul, and put out the candle of the Lord within them. They thus come to call evil good, and good evil; to put darkness for light, and

1 Mark viii. 24.

2 Prov. xx. 27.

light for darkness; to put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. By another figure of speech, they are said to "sear the conscience as with a hot iron," so that it is no longer sensitive and tender, but becomes dead and hard. Well might our Saviour say of a soul that has thus obscured its power of spiritual discernment, "How great is its darkness!" And of these the prophet speaks when he says, "A deceived heart hath turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver themselves, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” 2 Thus did St. Paul think that he "ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.”3 Thus did the Jews refuse to enter the hall of Pilate, lest they should contract a ceremonial defilement, when they did not scruple to shed the innocent blood.

We should ever pray that God would both enlighten our conscience, and also strengthen its powers by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit. Our consciences will then be to us as the eye of God Himself for He promises to guide us with His eye. We should ever rule ourselves by its godly motions, and beware lest it condemn us in the things which we allow."

It has been well said, that as the eye cannot bear in itself the very least speck of dust, and knows no rest until it has wept it out; so the conscience should be sensitive to the very least stain or spot of sin, and not suffer us to be at peace, until we have washed it out with the tears of penitence; or rather, until it be taken away by the blood of Christ. If we feel duly the importance of keeping this eye of the soul clear and true, we

1 Isa. v. 20.
4 Ps. xxxii. 8.

2 Isa. xliv. 20.

3 Acts xxvi. 9. 5 Rom. xiv. 22.

shall often pray, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."1

"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider 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. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"-Matt. vi. 28-30.-See also Gen. xxii. 14; Luke viii. 14; 1 Cor. vii. 32; Phil. iv. 19.

WHO can see the lilies of the field, and not remember that their simple beauty drew on them their Creator's approving notice, when in the days of His flesh He went in and out among us, and was Himself capable of being soothed by the works which He made so fair and pleasant for the

1 Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24.

children of men? Those sweet and lovely flowers were then as unreproveable in His sight as in the day when He first "saw that they were good." Man, for whose delight and solace they were made, was now sinful and fallen: but the handiwork of God in these, His humbler creatures, was still such as He could behold with complacency.

May we not picture them to ourselves as rejoicing according to the condition of their being, when He who made them had such respect unto them; and when, by His Divine word, He consecrated them into emblems or lessons of whatever is lowly and trustful, unto all generations? They declare to us the profuse bounty, and the continual providence of Almighty God. Frail as they are, and short-lived, to-day blooming in the field, and to-morrow cast into the oven, they are yet arrayed out of God's unexhausted treasury in robes with which the brightest products of human art cannot vie in beauty and in glory.

"They toil not, neither do they spin:" the bright clothing, which it is so pleasant to behold, is furnished for them without any task imposed on them of painful labour; and they close their flowers at night without any anxious care lest the kindly shower or the genial sun should fail them on the morrow.

Our Saviour does not mean to discourage the toils of honest industry, and wise foresight, or obedience to the law which is laid on all of us, "Six days shalt thou labour;" but He means, that in these innocent "flowers of the field" we should see an emblem of those who are "without carefulness:" and who, having diligently done "whatever their hands find to do," are enabled to trust God for the result, with a sure trust that