have broken the hearts of her parents, by her contempt of their authority, and her departure from under their roof to the abodes of blackness and darkness;-not indeed for ever, for it pleased God to prevent that, but yet blackness and darkness it was, as to every thing that is moral, excellent, and amiable.

In this state we are not informed how long she continued, or how many victims she allured and destroyed. The description of her former conduct is exceedingly brief, while that of her penitence and her pardon is much more explicit; to teach us, possibly, that when Divine Mercy and Sovereign Grace have pardoned the weeping penitent, the recording angel is to erase from his volume the awful detail of former crime, and only to suffer so much to stand in evidence, as may serve to heighten the feeling of gratitude to the compassionate Saviour, who has caused that difference, now so apparent to all. Thus, the Apostle Paul, when reminding the Corinthian converts of their former state, after the enumeration of some most awful crimes, he

says-And such were some of you; adding, however, immediately, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. So, in the passage before us, the sacred historian mentions this person as a woman that was a sinner, but he directly proceeds to inform us of her change of heart and life. This leads me to notice

2. Her attendance on the ministry of Christ. We are not, indeed, distinctly told of her previous attendance upon the discourses of Christ; yet we may conclude this to have been the case from the following circumstances. Had she not become a changed character she would not have dared to enter the house of a Pharisee; which sect, as to outward sanctity, was unimpeachable. Nor, had she been still in her former state, would she have had any wish to lis ten to the words of Jesus, or to have made him so costly an offering as this perfume. We may therefore, I conceive, very naturally conclude, that this poor outcast had mingled, on some former occasion, with the multitudes who crowded to listen to the

words of mercy and grace, which fell from the lips of our great Redeemer. Probably she went attired in the garb of her wanton profession to entrap and ensnare the unwary, even when from curiosity listening to the words of Christ. It is possible she might have heard him repeat those consolatory words; The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. But, whatever were the words he used, an abiding effect was produced upon her mind. She retired home, no doubt, with a heart penetrated with a sense of guilt, and shame, and remorse; yet somewhat encouraged to indulge a faint glimmering of hope, from the address of Jesus to the perishing multitude.

Ah! my brethren, conceive you of this woman that she is unworthy of your notice? Suffer me then to tell you, that thus you must hear the word of Christ, and that if you have never been driven by that word to your closets, and to your knees, to ask for mercy and grace as unholy, and unworthy, and undone, you have

yet to take the very first step in the way to the kingdom of God. Oh! take heed, lest it be said to any of you, as it was to some in the days of our Lord; The publicans and harlots enter into the kingdom of God before you. But notice thirdly,

3. Her personal application to the Saviour. He was in the house of a Pharisee, and she must have known that she might possibly be rebuked, yea expelled with indignation, if she ventured to enter such a dwelling. It was also at a dinner, or feast, and she could not be ignorant, that weeping and mourning would be generally very disagreeable to the guests, on such an occasion. Nor could she be uninformed of the pure and holy character of the immaculate Redeemer, so that she might naturally have feared a repulse rather than any word of pity and mercy. But, notwithstanding all these considerations, she determines to enter into the presence, and implore the compassion, of Christ; and she ventures in, though probably with a trembling step, and with a trembling heart.

To dilate, at any length, on the touching

and most affecting particulars of this application, so beautifully recorded by the Evangelist, would be to take off from the effect produced by the simple narrative itself. A few particulars must, however, be noticed. Prominent among the other graces displayed on this occasion was the humility of this poor woman. She stood at his feet behind him, as if sensible of her unworthiness to look upon the face of Incarnate Deity. Our blessed Lord was, probably, reclining in the posture most common in Oriental countries during the principal meal, which was a late dinner, or rather an early supper. At his feet, thus placed behind him, stood this weeping Magdalen. Her penitence and her tears must not, therefore, pass unnoticed. She began to wash his feet, his sandals being off, and to wipe them with the hairs of her head.

A pious prelate of our church has thus beautifully touched upon this interesting passage: "The woman is come in, and now she doth not boldly face Christ; but, as unworthy of his presence, she stands behind. How could she in that site wash