wool." Blessed words! perhaps this poor woman had heard them, for they are in the Old Testament. At any rate the Spirit of God, who had caused those words to be written, had led her to see her sins, as well as to repent deeply and bitterly of them, and had guided her to the feet of the only being who could put away her sin, remove her guilt, and give her pardon and peace! Those who know any thing of the evil propensities of their own hearts, and feel that, if they have not fallen into open and grievous offences, it is because of God's mercy in preserving them, and not from their own goodness;-such persons, Edward, will rejoice, when they see wicked people, who have wandered far away from Christ, brought back to His feet. And their Saviour's mercy, in receiving such miserable sinners, will only make them love Him so much the more. They will not be envious of His kindness, nor inclined to complain because His boundless love is open to all. No; they will remember what He has also done for themselves! How much He has forgiven; how much He has borne with them! they will think of their own continual wanderings from Him, in thought, word, and deed; though they may not have offended so openly and sadly as some others, they will remember, that, if He were extreme to mark what is done amiss, then would they also be condemned. For the hearts of all are by nature alike; even in regard to practice, there is not one that can say, "I have not sinned." But the Pharisee (and we have seen before that the Pharisees were very righteous in their own eyes) was quite astonished that our Lord should allow a person of bad character to approach Him in this manner. He had no pity for her

himself, and he could not understand how her misery should touch the heart of Christ; her streaming eyes, her bended body, the reverence and affection with which she approached our Saviour, were all lost on the hard-hearted and self-righteous Pharisee. He knew nothing himself of the tears of penitence, or of that love and value for a Saviour which none but sinners could feel! Had he been in our Lord's place, he would not have allowed himself to be touched by such unholy hands, but would have driven this brokenhearted sinner away from his feet. And as it was, he took it for granted in his own mind, that this man could be no prophet; for that "if he had been, he would have known who, and what manner of woman, this was that touched him," and would, no doubt, have sent her away.

E. But Jesus would not have done so, I am sure. Besides, Mamma, He must have known what sort of a person this was.

M. Yes, Edward; He knew all her sins, and all her sorrow too; and He knew the value of that faith, which could bring such a sinner to His feet with a hope of finding pardon there. He knew too all her love for Him; that love, which made her bathe His feet with her tears, and wipe them with the hairs of her head, and then anoint them with the most precious ointment her hands could procure. He saw all this, and graciously allowed such expression of her feelings-such relief of her bursting heart. Nor were the thoughts of the woman only known to Christ; He was also aware what was passing in the mind of the Pharisee, and replied aloud to his inmost heart. For "Jesus answering said unto Him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master,

say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence; and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. He said unto him, thou hast rightly judged."

E. I think I can tell what Jesus meant by this little story, Mamma. The debtor who owed five hundred pence must have been this poor woman, who had offended our Lord by her sins so very much. And the debtor who owed so very little, compared with her, must have been the Pharisee.

M. Just so; and you see he is described by our Lord as needing pardon too, though he knew it not. He also had a debt, and although it might be smaller than the other debt, yet as he had nothing to pay, he too must have been condemned to punishment. Thus, you see, the Pharisee was taught, and we are taught, that, in God's sight, all are sinners, and that whether our debt be greater or smaller, whether our sins be more or fewer, it is still utterly impossible for any one of us to clear our debt ourselves. Those who owe the least stand in need of mercy and forgiveness. He frankly forgave them both. "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness although we have rebelled against him." Thus, you see, our Lord graciously explained to the proud Pharisee what had caused him so much wonder, His allowing a sinful woman like this to approach His sacred person. He then proceeded to point out to him that, if her debt had been by far the greatest, so had her love exceeded his beyond all degree. "Jesus turned to the woman,

who had stood all this time behind Him weeping, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. My head with oil thou didst not anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Thou gavest me no kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Therefore I say unto you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven her, for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little."

E. You see, Mamma, Jesus did know that this woman was a sinner; for He says, "her sins, which are many, are forgiven."

M. Yes; He is, you know, the Saviour of sinners: He came into the world expressly to seek and to save that which was lost in sin. Surely it would not have become Him to refuse to receive sinners; especially one who came to Him weeping bitterly for her past offences, yea washing His feet with her tears, and unable to do enough to show her repentance, or her grateful love to Christ for coming to save such as she was. By men indeed she was regarded as an outcast from society; but the Son of God was ready to receive and restore even her; to pardon her guilt to heal her soul; and to bring her back again into the way of peace, and to the hope of happiness.

E. But, Mamma, is it not wrong to keep company with wicked people? I thought we ought to avoid all bad persons.

M. You are quite right: we ought to do so, Edward. Our Lord did many things in which we can

He was, as

not imitate Him; and this may be one. we have just observed, the Saviour of sinners; and therefore sought them out, that He might save them. He was the Physician of our souls; and therefore refused not to receive the spiritually sick, however bad their case might be.

Again, He was too holy to be in danger from any society, into which His mercy might lead Him; and His character was too pure to suffer from the disrepute of those amongst whom He moved. But this is not our case; and least of all is it the case of young persons. They would be in great danger of suffering from the example and conversation of bad people, if they were to venture to mix with them: and the world too would judge of them by the society in which they were found. Besides, if those who openly despise and break God's laws, were allowed to mix with the virtuous, there would be no distinction of right and wrong, and the whole world would soon become like themselves. Still, my dear Edward, our merciful religion does not shut such persons out from all hope. Far from it! Christ has His ministers in the world, whose business it is to be, in their Master's name and from Him, physicians of men's souls, as He was when on earth, as He is still though now in heaven. It is the duty of these, the shepherds of Christ's flock, to search out even the worst, and to speak to them of forgiveness through the Son of God. What you and I could not do with propriety, a grave and holy clergyman, set apart expressly to this work, is bound to do; for he is sent by Christ Himself to bind up the broken-hearted, to turn the sinner from the error of his way. He may not refuse the worst of