"Obercome ebil with good."-ROMANS xii. 21.

To overcome means to conquer-to get the victory over some person or thing. Before a person can overcome another he must have a struggle or fight with him, as David had with Goliath. The way in which fighting has been done has differed very much in different ages.

In old times, before a soldier went out to fight he used to have his body covered all over with armour. He would have a sort of coat, made out of brass or steel, for the upper part of his body. He would have plates of

brass or steel, fitted together like the scales of a fish, for his lower limbs. He would have a helmet or cap of iron or brass for his head, and a shield to

carry before him. Then he would arm himself with a sword and spear, and so he would go forth to battle.

But now, since firearms have been introduced, this old-fashioned armour is laid aside. It will not protect men from bullets

and cannon-balls, and so it is of little use.

But it is a very different kind of warfare from this that St. Paul is speaking of in our text. No sword or spear, no gun or club, or even a sling and stone, is needed here; our text tells us to "overcome evil with good." The good here spoken of means kindness, or goodness. In the verse before the one of which we are speaking, we read, "If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." This refers to the way in which hard metals are melted. They are put in what is called a crucible that is, a vessel greatest amount of heat. coal, and charcoal is heaped up all around it, and over the top of it. The charcoal is then set on fire, a very great heat is raised, and the hard metal in the crucible is melted down into a liquid form, and the artist can do anything he pleases with it.

made on purpose to bear the This vessel is set upon char

Now this is the way in which God would have us subdue our enemies. By surrounding them with acts of kindness He would have us soften them down, just as the metal melts in the crucible under the heat of the

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charcoal fire; and this is the meaning of the words, "Overcome evil with good." This is the best warfare. It is so for five reasons.

In the first place, to "overcome evil with good" is THE

CHEAPEST WARFARE.

War is one of the dearest things that men have to do with. It costs England many millions of pounds sterling every year for the army and navy, to keep them ready to fight by land or by sea!

When England was engaged in fighting with Napoleon Bonaparte, it cost that country a quarter of a million pounds every day. It now costs the nations of Europe, to keep up their preparations for war, two hundred and fifty millions of pounds every year. We can form no idea how many two hundred and fifty millions of pounds are. But we know it is a frightful sum to pay, just for the sake of being ready to kill men. Why, with a very small part of that money we could clothe and feed all the poor people in the world, and take care of all the sick, and teach all the ignorant, and build churches, and send missionaries wherever they were needed, and give a copy of the Bible to every heathen.

From all this we see what a costly thing war is. But to "overcome evil with good" is a very cheap warfare. It is not necessary to buy any guns or swords in order to engage in it. No powder or shot is needed; love and kindness are the only weapons used in this warfare; and this is what makes it so very cheap. Kind words cost nothing, and kind actions cost next to nothing. If the whole world should engage in this warfare, and try to overcome all evil with good, it would not cost as much

as the government has to pay for the support of a single regiment of soldiers. Overcoming evil with good is the best warfare, because it is the cheapest.

But, in the second place, this is the best warfare because it is THE PLEASANTEST.

The other warfares in which men engage are very unpleasant. Many things help to make them so. Let us just look for a moment at some of these.

The toil and labour of war make it unpleasant. Soldiers often have to make long and fatiguing journeys with heavy burdens on their backs. This was the case in a remarkable manner with the English army, in putting down the rebellion in India, in 1857. The poor soldiers had to march many miles a day, under a burning sun, and carrying their heavy muskets and knapsacks. Great numbers of them were so overcome by the heat of the sun, and the fatigue of their journey, that they dropped down dead as they went toiling on their way.

But, perhaps, nothing ever occurred to show the horrors of war, in this respect, so sadly as what we read about in the retreat of Napoleon's army from Moscow. It took place in the midst of a Russian winter; and winter there is much more severe than with us. The army lost all their baggage; and, without shelter or food, the poor fellows who had followed their Emperor on this expedition, were obliged to begin their long and dreary homeward march, with a powerful enemy hanging about them, and shooting them down as they went along by hundreds and thousands. And with frost and snow, and all the horrors of a Russian winter let loose upon them, they were frozen stiff, or killed by hunger and fatigue. The

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roads by which they passed were strewed thick with the dead bodies of miserable men, left unburied, to be food for the hungry wolves. Oh, how dreadful this is to think of! This shows indeed what a horrid thing war is.

But there is no toil or labour like this connected with the warfare of which we are speaking. Here, the enemy against whom we have to fight is "Evil." But where shall we find this enemy? We may find it in the ugly tempers and dispositions, either in our own hearts and lives, or the heart and lives of those around us. We have no toilsome journey to undertake in order to find our enemy. That enemy is with us, or about us, at all times. In church, at home, by the wayside, at school, when playing, when working, wherever we go, whatever we do, the enemy is always at hand, and we may bę carrying on this best warfare continually. It is the pleasantest warfare, because it is free from the toil and labour which generally attend all other warfare. Another thing which renders ordinary warfare unpleasant is the DANGER which attends it.

War is a very dangerous employment. During the time of battle. hundreds of cannons and thousands of guns are fired off all the time.

Every moment the soldier is in danger of having his head taken off by a cannon-ball, or his heart pierced through