for they still spent upon themselves what they said they had given to God. Well did our Saviour call them hypocrites: deceitful; drawing nigh unto the Lord with their mouths, and honouring him with their lips, while their heart was far from him. In vain, however, says our Saviour, do they worship me.

You see, my friends, what an excellent religion the Christian religion is. How much of a piece and alike in all which it directs. Do you not, indeed, wish to be real Christians? It commands us indeed to love God and our Saviour: but it commands us also to love, and honour, and help our fathers and mothers; it commands us to trust to Christ for our salvation, but it teaches at the same time that the road to salvation lies through the duties of life, even of the most humble life. The poorest slave, who loves and fears his God, who believes and has been baptized in Christ, and studies to do as Christ

says, and who walks his humble round of duty without murmuring and complaining, is in the road to salvation, to honour and glory with his Saviour, though he digs with his hoe all the day long, and lies down at night on his humble bed and under his lowly roof. If his life shew forth the fruits of the Holy Ghost, if his heart be made clean, and his thoughts are full of religious and good things, he will be owned by his Saviour, and angels will welcome him into paradise.

Our Saviour goes on to tell them, that there was no difference between washing and not washing hands: between eating this or that food. It went in at the mouth, and supported the body of man. The things which came from the heart were the things to defile a man. For out of the heart, says he, proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things

which defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands, defileth not a man.

Our blessed Lord now left the country of the Jews, and went into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon-a country inhabited by Heathens, as the Jews termed them. A woman came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying: Lord, have mercy on me, O Son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. The devil had, at this time, I have told you, great power over the bodies of men, which power God allowed him, in order to shew people that Christ, who cast him out of their bodies, had more power than he. We are not told in what manner this poor girl was tormented by him: Perhaps he may have thrown her into fits, or he may have deprived her of her senses. In whatever way he troubled her, so it was, that Jesus took no notice of the mother's request. I have told you that Jesus Christ

confined himself entirely to the Jews: he did nothing then for any other people. After he went up into Heaven, his religion. was to be preached to all the nations of the earth. His disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away for she crieth after us. She knew his power too well not to be earnest with him to use it for her poor daughter. Our Saviour thus answered his disciples: I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. While I am on earth, it has been determined that I should confine myself to the Jews. Those lost sheep must first be attended to. After I shall have ascended up into Heaven, the other sheep, the poor wandering Heathens shall also be called, and as he tells us in another place, they will hear his voice, and be made one fold under one shepherd. However, his good and merciful nature must have made him stop for her: for, by this time the woman came up to him and worshipped him, saying, Lord,

help me. He answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs. It is not right, that my mercies should be shewn, just now, to any other people but the Jews. They are the children: the Heathens are the dogs for a time. But she said, going on with the same way of speaking: Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Yes: O merciful Jesus, the children may eat the bread: the Jews are feeling the good effects of all thy mercies: but as the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the table, so we, poor Heathens, may share in a small mercy dropped on us sometimes from thee. Our Lord was pleased with her answer, which shewed that she had great faith in him, and said to her: O woman, great is thy faith under all thy disadvantages, thou hast a great belief in me: be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. With