9. What is the duty of the offending party?

To seek a reconciliation.

10. And of the offended?

To forgive the offence. 11. What are the sins of envy?

Dislike, rash judgments, slander, detraction, injustice.

enemy hunger, give to him to eat; if he thirst, give to him to drink . . . be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Rom. xii. 19–21.) He that seeketh to revenge himself shall find vengeance of the Lord.... He hath no mercy on a man like to himself, and doth he ask forgiveness of his own sins? (Eccl. xxviii. 1, 4.)

9. To seek a reconciliation.-This is enforced by our Lord, when he orders the offending party, instead of making his offering to God, to go his way and be first reconciled to his brother, and then to come and offer his gift. (Matt. v. 24.)

10. To forgive. If ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offences: but, if ye will not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive you your offences. (Matt. vi. 14.) To the question of St. Peter, whether he was to forgive as often as seven times, our Saviour replies, I say not till seven times, but until seventy times seven times. (Matt. xviii. 22); and again, if thy brother sin against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn to thee again, saying, I repent, forgive him. (Luke xvii. 4.)

11. Sins of envy.-Envy is a most dangerous passion. The envious man, unless he keep a strict watch over his heart, will look with dislike on the object of his envy, and that dislike will quickly

12. What the sins of sloth?

The neglect of duty, and indifference to salvation.

CHAP. VI.

ON PARTICIPATION IN THE SINS OF OTHERS.

1. Are we ever accountable for the sins committed by others?

Yes: As often as we become, through our own fault, the cause or occasion of their sin. 2. How does that happen?

When we actually command, or advise, or encourage, or provoke, or entice them to commit sin.

produce a plentiful harvest of uncharitableness in thoughts and words, and deeds. The first murder, that of Abel by Cain, was the work of envy. (Gen. iv. 5-8.) The fall of our first parents proceeded from the same source. Through envy of the devil came death into the world. (Wisd. xi. 24.) 12. Neglect of duty.-Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt. xxv. 30.)

2. Actually.-All such are accessories before the fact. Accessories after the fact are certainly accountable for such accession as a sin of their own: but cannot be accountable in the sight of God for a sin previously committed by others without their knowledge or concurrence, either positively or negatively.

3. And on any other occasion ?

Yes: whenever we scandalize them, that is, lead them into sin by our own bad example. 4. Are we accountable, when we do not actually influence them?

Yes if by neglect of our duty, we allow them to sin.

3. Scandalize.-Whoso shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matt. xviii. 6.)

PART III.

CHAP. I.

OF THE SACRAMENTS.

1. What do you mean by a sacrament?

An external rite ordained by Christ as the visible sign of a certain invisible grace or spiritual benefit bestowed by God on the soul. 2. Does every sacrament impart such grace? Undoubtedly, as often as it is received with due dispositions.

1. The visible sign.—A sacrament is not merely a sign or representation of a spiritual benefit, but the sign or assurance that a certain spiritual benefit is conferred. Thus, in baptism, the application of water with the appointed form of words is not only figurative of the purification of the soul, but is also to us a pledge and assurance that God actually purifies it, and makes the baptized his adopted son, and heir to the kingdom of Heaven.

2. With due disposition.-Where such disposition is wanting, no grace is conferred, but the sacrament is profaned. Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink this chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord. (1 Cor. xi. 27.)

3. But how can that be?

Not through any human power, but through the ordinance of Christ, who has annexed a particular grace to each particular sacrament. 4. How many sacraments are there?

Seven, baptism, confirmation, holy eucharist, penance, extreme unction, holy order, and matrimony.

3. Through the ordinance of Christ.-As Christ divides his graces to each one as he pleases, so he bestows them through what channel he pleases. Now it has pleased him to annex certain graces to certain rites: and the benefit to us is, that we are thus enabled to judge whether the grace has been received or not. The child is baptized: we know then that he is become a Christian, and possesses all the rights of a Christian in the sight of God. But how could we know this without baptism, or some other outward sign of divine institution?

Seven. Of the seven sacraments five are common to all. For, by baptism we are spiritually born again; by confirmation our weakness is strengthened; by the eucharist we are fed with the bread which comes down from Heaven: penance restores the soul from sickness to health, and extreme unction prepares it for its departure to another world. Of the remaining two, holy order supplies the church with ministers, and matrimony sanctifies the state of marriage. Thus has our blessed Lord, by the institution of the sacraments, provided for all our wants in our passage through life. The sacraments are the fountains of the Saviour, at which the Christian is to slake his thirst during his earthly pilgrimage, the