and, even in the most serious moments of a justified life, the sinful, blasphemous thought once connected with a passage in God's Word will cross the mind with its hateful remembrance. Neither can the man who has sinned in this respect know the amount of scandal which he has caused, and how many other souls he may have contaminated with the same irreverence by giving utterance to such thoughts. The penitent will do well to confess such flagrant acts as he can remember, as well as the length of time during which he was habitually guilty of profaneness and irreverence.

The Fourth Commandment will call to his memory many acts and habits of sin. For years, it may be, he has profaned the Lord's Day. Whatever reverence he has paid to it has been from mere custom and formality; if he has listened to Sermons, it has been to criticise; his very attendance at Divine Service, perhaps, has been connected with the indulgence of guilty thoughts. In partaking of the Holy Communion in an impenitent frame of mind, he has eaten and drunk his own damnationinstead of deriving benefit, he has added to the number of those sins which, if unrepented, will condemn him. And not only has he himself profaned the Lord's Day, but he has been guilty of leading others, either by example or

precept, into similar profanation. And he has probably scoffed at others as too precise, who kept the Lord's Day with reverence, while feeling in his own conscience that they were better men than himself.

Proceeding to the Fifth Commandment, he will find, perhaps, that the first occasion of open sin, from which his evil course might be traced, was some act of disobedience to his parentshe refused to obey them, or deceived them, or acted contrary to their known wishes, his conscience all the while telling him that he was doing wrong. Though little thought of at the time, he now sees that this beginning of sin, this first deliberate disregard of conscience, has ramified into a thousand branches, and the cloud no bigger than a man's hand has spread over his whole character with the blackness of darkness. To early disobedience to parents, he can now trace a course of wilfulness and vice which has depraved his character, and probably shortened his days-so true it is, even literally, that they who honour their parents will have their days prolonged even in this world, besides eternal honour in the life to come. Too many

also have to accuse themselves not only of early disobedience, but of dishonour done to their parents' declining years, so that, instead of being their prop and stay, they have brought

down their hairs with sorrow to the grave.

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There is also a wide field of duties connected with the Fifth Commandment-as respect to elders, reverence for those in authority, whether in spiritual or temporal matters-in respect to which many in the present day will find themselves deeply sinful.

Few, comparatively, are guilty of the deliberate act of murder; few, perhaps, have even hastened the death of another: but many have indulged in hatred, envy, and uncharitablessforgetting that he that hateth his brother is a murderer. And many have done what is, in some respects, even worse than murder-they have destroyed immortal souls. By evil example, by ungodly courses, by scoffing at religious things, they have contributed to the destruction of the souls of their brethren. We do not sufficiently think how closely we are mixed up together; how our lightly-considered actions, or words, may affect the eternal life of our brother or sister. It is a sad page in the sinner's catalogue, when he comes to consider what effect on the souls of others his actions may have had. God, in answer to his Prayers and penitence, may, for Christ's sake, wipe away his own offences; but the mischief which his evil example has done may result in the irreparable destruction of others.

In no point of view is this dreadful thought more poignant than in breaches of the Seventh Commandment. In a soft luxurious age like the present, perhaps more souls are lost by sins of this sort than by sins against all the rest of the Commandments put together; and the evil is increased by the false refinement which prevents God's Ministers from denouncing such transgressions as they should. The penitent must not shrink from accusing himself in respect to this Commandment as well as the others; the very shame of the avowal is a part of the contrition and of the cure. Of course in such Confession, and in the questions which the Priest may ask, care must be taken to use such language as may least shock the ear. And though it is not necessary to recount all the shameful particulars of such sins, yet so much must be told as will enable God's Minister to judge of the degree of guilt, which admits of much aggravation-as, e. g., the having led those who were innocent into sin, whether by solicitation or example, would of course greatly add to the guilt. A Confessor will take heed not to suggest a knowledge of evil to those who are innocent. If he has occasion to question a young person, he will say, Have you indulged in evil thoughts? If the penitent says, Yes, he will inquire, Of what nature? If the peni

tent says, Of anger and stubbornness-and not others-the Confessor will at once see that he is innocent of what he perhaps suspected, and forbear to inquire further. If, on the other hand, he finds that impure thoughts have been cherished, he will then elicit further, though cautiously, whether such thoughts have developed themselves in words or deeds. What unheard-of miseries might be prevented, if youth were taught, by some discreet and kind friend in whom they confided, the necessity of checking the earliest inclination to sin which brings with it such fearful consequences! Thousands are ruined before they know their danger. What a load of shame and anguish might be spared to the penitent, if he had earlier been used to "open his grief" to one who knew how to advise him as good Bishop Ken so strongly advises in his Manual for Winchester Scholars.

In respect to the Eighth and Ninth Commandments, the penitent must, without reserve, confess every dishonest act or word, not confining himself to the mere letter of the law, but considering what is its spirit. If he has not stolen, he has perhaps cheated, taken undue advantage, used unfair measures or false balances. In many stations of life, virtual sins of this sort against the Eighth Commandment are the great temptation: in others, the Ninth