THE

GIFT AND THE GAUGE.

THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS.

CHAPTER I.

MATT. XXV. 14. LUKE XIX. 12.

In this parable we have a picture of Christ, and of the solemn relation in which He stands to His people, and to all mankind. In the prospect of His departure from this world, He sets before His disciples, and all who will hear His voice, their responsibility to Him for the exercise of their various gifts. Not a link of the chain that binds them to Him can be broken. He is over them; and no power can depose Him from his throne, or absolve them from the allegiance they owe Him. Though soon to be out of sight, He should never be out of mind; for His authority over them will never be suspended. He is going away; but He will come again, and will reckon with them, from the least even to the greatest. All, therefore, should watch

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and work; and be as faithful to their trust in His absence, as if they saw Him visibly superintending them in their various spheres of action; for the day is coming when they must all appear in His presence, and give in their account.

I. Our Lord a Nobleman.

"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country." Matt. xxv. 14. "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." Luke xix. 12. The nobleman is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God was of the most distinguished descent. As a man He was of royal extraction, and could point to David as His progenitor; and, as the Son of the Highest, divinity was stamped upon His character, and He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The rank of the most illustrious on earth grows pale in the presence of the Prince of peace. Trace the most noble lines back to their origin; and they lose themselves in the obscurity of the past. Some man of mark stepped forward from the crowd; won himself a name; and became the founder of a kingly house. "His gift made room for him;" the hand of the Creator marked him for authority, and distinction; and his fellow-men acknowledged the sign, and hailed him as their king. But go beyond him, and all is dark. The founder of the princely family looms in

the distance like a beacon-light; but beyond that shining light nothing is visible. The roots of the majestic tree are hidden in the soil. The magnificent river, on whose bosom a proud navy floats,the highway of a nation's wealth,—the great artery through which a nation's life-blood flows,-commences at its source among the mountains, an insignificant stream. And the proudest head that wears a crown, the noblest family in whose veins the blood of warriors and statesmen, orators and martyrs, flows, sprung originally from the common stock of humanity, without an honour to adorn their brow. How little are the great ones of the earth, compared with Him who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person; and to whom every knee shall bow! They are but tapers to the mid-day Sun. They must cast their crowns at His feet, and prostrate themselves before Him. He must increase; they must decrease. Their light is borrowed, but His is His own. "They are of the earth, earthy; but He is the Lord from heaven."

Worldly grandeur and state would have been out of keeping with the spiritual greatness of Jesus Christ. Earthly splendour and imperial power, would have dazzled the eyes of the beholders, and obscured the lustre of His character. ness of condition, and poverty of garb, best became the Possessor of such peerless excellence; that nothing might be ascribed to the influence of

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wealth, or rank, or power; and that His Divine nobility might shine through His plain exterior in simple and unmixed beauty. He was above the world; in it, but not of it; and therefore He could not consistently borrow any thing from its fleeting glory. Had He arrayed Himself in its magnificence, it would have been mingling iron and clay with pure gold. A gaudy setting would have ill consorted with a jewel of such exquisite beauty. He was noble in love; sublime in meekness and humility; glorious in holiness; princely in munificence; kingly in mercy; and great in calm fixedness of purpose, and singleness of aim for the glory of God, and the salvation of man. He seemed never to think of Himself; but His heart glowed with a self-denying fervour for the good of others. Love made Him oblivious of personal comfort. He was a daily sacrifice to God for man. Nothing could divert Him from His purpose of mercy. The basest ingratitude, and the deepest injuries, could not quench the ardour of His love. Had the world not been blind, it would have risen up as one man, to pay homage to One whose empire is grace and truth: who in His triumphs sheds no blood but His own; who conquers by kindness; and whose crown is wreathed with mercy. His domain of glory was of the highest order. His distinctions, His conquests, His splendours had no need of carnal honours and decorations. "Jesus

Christ," says Pascal," without worldly possessions, or scientific eminence, has His own peculiar sanctity. To the internal eye of the heart, to the discernment of true wisdom, how illustrious was the pomp of His appearance, and how unspeakable His great

ness!"

Let not envy, however, blind us to the claims of the nobles of this world; or to the wise purposes subserved by them in the economy of Divine Providence. Gradations in society are absolutely indispensable to its welfare, and to the healthy play of its spontaneous development. A dead level, a dull uniformity, would be moral death; and prove fatal to the finest manifestations of human progress. It would crucify energy; impose a heavy tax upon skill; and stereotype what is common-place. It would stifle aspirations after excellence; give the bread of the industrious to the idle; mock the hopes of genius; and award the prizes of life to the dunces of the earth. Robbed of its reward, enterprise would sleep; and the great springs of improvement and activity would be relaxed, and put out of joint. The prospect of passing upward in the scale of society applies the spur to many a man, whose mind would otherwise rust. Possessing a guarantee that the fruit of his mental and bodily toil will be secured to himself and his family, the hope of winning his way to a more honourable position, and