and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall recompense thee.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also. The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth to-day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? of little faith? Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly

so clothe the grass of the field, which

Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

VII.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened. unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them, for this is the law and the prophets.

Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and

many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

SENECA

(First century of the Christian era.)

LUCIUS ANNÆUS SENECA was a moralist, or a moralizing philosopher, whose precepts were not happily illustrated in his life, and in whose character there is not much to admire. He was born in Spain, about 4 B. C., but brought to Rome in childhood by his father, a man of wealth, belonging to the equestrian class. Rising to eminence as a pleader he incurred, after some years, the hostility of Messalina, the wife of the emperor Claudius, and was banished to Corsica

for eight years. The second wife of Claudius, Agrippina,

procured his recall, and made him the teacher of Domitius, her son by a former husband, who subsequently received the name of Nero and became the worst of emperors. For some time after Nero's accession to the throne, Seneca's influence over the young emperor was great, and was used generally for good, though not unselfishly; for the teacher and adviser improved his opportunities to acquire vast wealth. As the foul and fiendish propensities of Nero came more and more to light, Seneca yielded to them, and became, in a measure, accessory to some of the worst of his early crimes, especially the murder of his mother, Agrippina. But wickeder men than Seneca could possibly be were needed soon to satisfy Nero's demands for counsel and aid, and the philosopher was easily supplanted in imperial favor. The wealth he had accumulated then excited the greed of the vile harpies of the court, and his destruction was decreed. A conspiracy against the emperor was opportunely discovered; Seneca was accused of participation in it; he was ordered to die, and obeyed the order by opening his veins and bleeding to death A. D. 65. Theoretically, Seneca was a Stoic; practically he may be said to have exemplified Stoicism in nothing but the calmness and dignity of his death. But his moral writings are eloquent, forcible, and true, and they have conveyed profitable teaching to all the generations since his time.

SENECA'S RULES FOR A HAPPY LIFE.

(From "Minor Dialogues; " translated by Aubrey Stewart.)

It will come to the same thing, if I say, "The highest good is a mind which despises the accidents of fortune, and takes pleasure in virtue;" or, "It is an unconquerable strength of mind, knowing the world well, gentle in its dealings, showing great courtesy and consideration for those with whom it is brought into contact." Or we may choose to define it by calling that man happy who knows good and bad only in the form of good or bad minds: who worships honour and is satisfied with his own virtue, who is neither puffed up by good fortune nor cast down by evil fortune, who knows no other good than that which he is able to bestow upon himself, whose real pleasure lies in despising pleasures. If you choose to pursue this digression further, you can put this same idea into many other forms, without impairing or weakening its meaning: for what prevents our saying that a happy life consists in a mind which is free, upright, undaunted, and steadfast, beyond the influence of fear or desire, which thinks nothing good except honour, and nothing bad except shame, and regards everything else as a mass of mean details which can neither add anything to nor take anything away from the happiness of life, but which come and go without either increasing or diminishing the highest good? A man of these principles, whether he will or no, must be accompanied by continual cheerfulness, a high happiness, which come, indeed, from on high, because he delights in what he has, and desires no greater pleasures than those which his home affords. Is he not right in allowing these to turn the scale against petty, ridiculous, and shortlived movements of his wretched body? On the day on which