ing man said to me one day, "I can trust a man of the world to be as good as his word, but as for one of your converted people, I would not trust him with a shilling, he would be sure to cheat me." That such an impression should get about comes from the fact that Conversion is supposed to dispense with amendment. It does nothing of the sort, it is simply the arousing of the mind to a sense of the danger of the course which has been hitherto pursued, but that is not all. Amendment must follow, or the second state of that man will be worse than the first.

An uncle of mine was walking along a road one very black night, and he had with him a lantern. He thought he was so familiar with his road that he could certainly find it without the use of the light, and the wind was high, so he kept the lantern under his cloak, but a sudden gust raised his coat and blew the flap aside, and the light of the lantern flashed out over the ground, and my uncle saw to his dismay that he had missed his way, and was standing at the very edge of a slate quarry. Another step and

into the depth.

he would have been hurled Then he carefully groped his way back to the right road, keeping his lantern near the ground,

to make quite sure of his steps, and so got home in safety. Translate this into the spiritual life, and you have a parable of Conversion. You are going on in the dark; you will not use that light of conscience which God has given you to guide you along the right way; you cover it over, and obscure the light, and so you go on without it,

and go wrong. Then, suddenly, something

occurs which makes conscience flash out and shew you that you are on the edge of destruction. You start back in fear. That is Conversion. Then, carefully lighted by conscience, you begin to retrace your way. That is Repentance. Then you get into the right road again, and walk lustily on towards your Heavenly Home. That is Amendment.

III. S. Paul says, "By the Grace of God I am what I am." Yes! it was the Grace of God which roused him. It was the Grace of God which arrested him. But that is not all S. Paul says. He adds, "And His Grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain." That is important. St. Paul's will worked along with God's Grace. God called, and he answered," Here am I." Christ said, "I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest,' and he answered, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to

do ?" At once he responded to the call by a free act of his will. Remember that whenever God arouses you from sin or sloth, you must at once act upon the call, you must have a readiness to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So only can Conversion lead to Repentance and Amendment of life. Conversion is a sudden shock. It may paralyse you, or it may stimulate you to a new life, all depends on your will. Rise up at once when God speaks, and say,

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Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" S. Paul had no thought that he was to lie in the road where he had fallen, but he knew that his duty was to be up and about some work for God. So with you. If you have been aroused, then do something for God, and the first thing you can do is to retrace your steps and mend your

course.

SERMON VII.

THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL AND

UNDERSTANDING.

(PURIFICATION OF S. MARY).

S. LUKE II. 27.

"He came by the Spirit into the Temple."

THE Holy Spirit leads very variously. He leads Our Lord into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil, He leads Symeon into the Temple to see that Light which is to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of Israel. But wherever the Spirit of God may lead, the end of that leading is by the right way into the Land of Righteous

ness.

The Spirit of Guidance is the Spirit of Counsel, one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost.

Without the guidance of that Spirit, man is sure to go astray. He may have plenty of intelligence, but human intelligence is not sufficient to guide him. He must as well be supernaturally enlightened, for the way he has to go is not the way seen by the eyes of sense, but by the eyes of the understanding, divinely enlightened to see. Take a simple illustration: A man may have the best eyes in the world, but they profit him nothing in a house for finding his way about, unless the window shutters be opened, and the outer light be allowed to pour in and lighten the inside of the house. S. Gregory takes this figure to explain the action of the Divine Spirit of Counsel. He says that just as the whole house is full of darkness, before the admission of outward light, so does every man walk in darkness and in danger of error, unless he walks by the light of the Spirit of Counsel.

I have heard of a blind man on whom an operation was performed, and thereby he obtained his sight. Now this led to a remarkable result. While he was blind, he went about the town without a guide, tapping the way with a stick, and walking across the streets, without fear. But no sooner were his eyes opened than he began to be