retribution. One reason for it would appear to be that it fixes unmistakably the con- nection between the sin and its punishment. Robespierre, the famous French revolu- tionist, literally choked the river Seine with the heads of those whom he sent to the guillotine. But the day came when the death-tumbrel containing himself waH trundled along the streets of Paris to the selfsame fatal axe, amid the shouts and encrations of the multitude. Cardinal Beaton condemned to death George Wishart, 0ne of the first of the Scottish Reformers, and watched him burning at the st'l.ke, while he himself reclined on rich cushions on the walls of his castle at St. Andrew's. Three months afterwards the cardinal himself was put to death, and his dead body was hung by a sheet from the very battlements whence be had looked at the execution of Wishart. There is something more than accident in such things. There is the vivid impression intended to be made on people's minds, that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 2. The same is true of the resemblance between the manner of the sin and fhe manner of the punishment. Jezebel's murder of Naboth was treacherous and ignominious. She herself was put to death in a treacherous and ignominious way. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Jacob cruelly deceived his aged father Isaac when be was blind and feeble. What a pointed retribution it was when be was afterwards cruelly deceived by bis own sons in their statements about Joseph I Haman was banged on the gallows which he bad made for Mordecai. One of the most terrible instances of this truth, that as we have treated others we shall be treated ourselves, is the case of Charles IX. of France, referred to above. He con- sented to the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. He caused the streets of Paris to run with the blood of the Huguenots. He died at the age of twenty-four: and what a death I French historians of the highest order say that he was in such agony of remorse that be literally sweated blood. The blood that oozed from his own body caused him to think of those whose blood he had so freely shed, and he cried out in his last hours about the massacre of the Huguenots. Horrible! Yes; but there is a deep and solemn truth underlying all this. It is a truth that should have practical result upon every life. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." If your sin is public, most likely your punishment will be public. Men who commit commercial frauds-that is, sins against public confidence and trust-they ought to suffer, and they do suffer, public exposure. If your sin is secret, your punishment will also most likely be secret. They who sin against the laws of health suffer in an impaired constitution. They who sin by speaking evil about others most likely will have many to speak evil about themselves. Standing there by Naboth's vineyard, and thinking of the envy, covetousness, and murder, of which it reminds us, and their terrible consequences, let us bear the blood of Naboth and the blood of Naboth's house crying to us from the ground, "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Such, then, is the Divine law of retribution. But God, who is just, is also merciful. He willeth not the death of e. sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness, and live. We have looked at the way of bis justice. Let us look also at the way of bis mercy. It is_ the way of the cross. "God so loved the world, tbat be gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." If you reject God's mercy, there is only the other alternative-God's retributive justice.-0. H. I.
Ver. 1-ch. x. 36.-The history of Jehu. "Then Jebu came forth to the servants ()f his lord," etc. Jehu was the son of Jehoshaphat and the grandson of Nimshi. He was one of the monsters of history. The leading facts of his revolting life will be found in this and the following chapter. His history furnishes- I. A REVOLTING EXHIBITION OF HUMAN DEPRAVITY. He was ruthlessly and craftily cruel. He shot Jehoram dead in bis chariot. ".And Jehu drew a bow with bis full strength, and smote Jehoram between bis arms." He commanded Jezebel, who was looking out of e. window as he drove up, to be thrown down, e.nd in her fall she was fatally injured, and her borly was trodden down by the feet of horses, awl afterwards consumed by dogs (ver. 36). He then proceeded to exterminate the family of Ahab. He addressed letters to tbo~e who had the care of his sons (no less than sevonty in number), anii proposed to them to select the fittest of tbem, and pluce him on the throne of his fathL"r. This they t!ccliued to do (through fear of 202 THE SEOOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [OH. IX. 1-37,