have this brought out in the Lord's prayer. It begins with the recognition of the Fatherhood of God - "Our Father" — but it instantly mingles with the relation of a Father the demands and the definition of a King; for before asking any blessing, we must say, "Hallowed be thy name," that is, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" and therefore, when we approach God as our Father, and never fail to let go that thread which must run through all our petitions, ever influential, ever present, we are not to forget that while he retains the relationship of Father, he wields the sceptre, and sits on the throne of the great universe itself. In the beautiful prayer presented by Abraham, we learn, what deep sympathy he felt with sufferers. Abraham had no sympathy with Sodom's sins, but he had the deepest with Sodom's sorrows and Sodom's sufferings. And we ought, in all similar cases, thus to distinguish. God has not placed us upon a judgment throne to pronounce upon fellow-creatures. The less a church pronounces judicial sentences, and the more it proclaims and prays, the better. The position of prelate, and bishop, and presbyter, is low at the throne of grace, never on the throne of judgment. Surely, of all misfortunes in man's state, his greatest is his implication in sin, the power and source of all misery, and the seed of an eternal curse. Whilst it is God's prerogative to pronounce the sinner's doom, it is our privilege to pity the sinner's misfortune, and to pray for his forgiveness, according to the riches of the mercy of God. We may pity the sinner, and yet not show any sympathy with his sin. But too true it is, that the first feeling that we have when we see some one commit sin, and especially when that sin hits us, is indignation, and the last is pity; how different was the example of Jesus! Only on one occasion is it said that, when they sinned, Jesus was angry; but lest it should be thought that this was too like fallen humanity, it is added, "being grieved with the hardness of their hearts"— the anger of Jesus being so associated with grief, that the evangelist knew not whether he should define it grief at the sinner's ruin, or anger at the sinner's sin. We too, looking at sin, should try less to feel indignation, being sinners ourselves, and more to cherish pity and deep compassion. Sodom was not spared, only Lot, the righteous one, escaped from the midst of it. She knew not her day,like Jerusalem, she knew not the things that pertained to her peace; and therefore she perished. Abraham's deep interest in Sodom suggests also the vast importance of carrying the gospel to great capitals, cities, and towns. In fact, the whole of this passage might be preached in favor of such an institution as the City Mission. Abraham was on this occasion the great City Missionary at the throne of grace, smitten with deep horror at Sodom's sin, and an awful apprehension of her coming ruin. It is a most remarkable fact, disclosed in the New Testament, that our Lord sent all his apostles to cities; and of himself it is said, that he preached in Capernaum, in Chorazin, and in Jerusalem, and in the towns and cities round about. With respect to Jerusalem, he hung over it, wept over it, and prayed over it. His commission to the apostles was, "Go, beginning at Jerusalem;" and of them it is said, "They went two and two into every city;" they also went to Athens, Corinth, Rome, the seats and the centres of the world's civilization and knowledge, and there they preached, first and foremost, the gospel of Christ. So now whilst the villages of the country must be provided for, the great force of the gospel ought to be concentrated upon great cities and towns. It is stated in a recent Report of the City Mission, that upwards of half a million of persons have been visited, prayed with, instructed, and had the Bible read to them, in London, who had never before had a visit from a Christian minister, or a Christian messenger of any sort whatever. Now, what a blessing must such visits have proved! and who can doubt that the success of such efforts is one of the great means of arresting the judgments of Heaven, and maintaining this awfully overgrown capital in that state of social, loyal, and moral relationship, which it now, amidst all the capitals of the world, so distinctively and so beautifully maintains? One can see immense good sense in this. It is in towns and cities that sin from its combination assumes its most terrific aspects. The young man who would be seen and watched in the country village, knows that in London he can plunge into its dens, rush into its excesses, and for a season feel sure there is no eye upon him which can detect him; and so he hopes, and hopes in vain, that he may ultimately escape. Sin assumes in cities a more heinous, more intense, and more aggravated development; and therefore, upon cities and towns and dense populations the greatest sympathies of the Christian church ought to be concentrated, and the greatest efforts and labors of the Christian community expended. We have many proofs of this. Paris at this moment is France, and in fact all France takes its tone, its shape, and its coloring from Paris. And with all our characteristic independence of each other, London very much gives its modes of thinking to the country. The newspapers with the greatest power are here; books full of the richest instruction are published here; and these go forth from this capital, and impress influences for evil or for good upon the most sequestered villages and the smallest hamlets, scattered throughout the length and the breadth of our native land. As Abraham prayed for Sodom, let us pray for special blessings upon our own capital. Let us pray that God would revive his work in the midst of it, that he would multiply the means and the ele ments of Christian instruction in the heart of it; and that, distinguished by its wealth, its intellectual power, and its social influence, it may be illustrious also for its Christian purity and its evangelical piety. And pray not only for our cities, but for our villages also, and our parishes, and for all with whom we are associated; and pray, like Abraham, feeling strong sympathy with suffering, deep pity for the sinner, but praying, fervently, perseveringly, that sin, the fever that racks, the poison that destroys, the element that rends, convulses, and splits all society into fragments, may be right speedily expunged and put away; that the earth may yield her increase, the nations rejoice for joy, and God, our own God, bless us. CHAPTER VII. SCARCELY SAVED. "Grown wiser for the lesson given, I fear no longer, for I know, That where the share is deepest driven "And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: THE era of Lot was typical of the last days of this present dispensation. It is recorded in the Gospel according to St. Luke, xvii. 29, 30, that our Lord, after speaking of Noah, and his deliverance, thus alludes to the case of Lot: "The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Just as a remnant was saved from the destroying flood, because of their attachment to their Lord and Saviour, a flood that came unexpectedly, upon a world that slept in sin; and as, after Lot had escaped from Sodom, the fire descended and utterly consumed the city he had left; so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. world shall be going on as then, men eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage; many of them asking, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers - The |