The reader's attention is directed to two of the parts the subject on miracles, where new suggestions arise towards the promotion of social science and spiritual reform; and the subject on prayer, where a striking analysis will be found.

That the heavenly truths made known in the divine teaching of Jesus may be embodied in the reader's constant thought and daily life; that the influence of the following pages may be as seeds of love and mercy sown in the beating heart of the present and the future of society, until Jesus shall come in the fulness of His grace and claim the earth which He has redeemed, and rule in every heart as the King of Mercy, is the neverceasing prayer of the reader's

Humble and obedient servant,

LONDON, 1860.

J. WATTS LETHBRIDGE.

LOVING THOUGHTS

FOR

HUMAN HEARTS.

CHAPTER I.

Jesus, or Pictures of Mercy.

“He delighteth in mercy." (Micah vii, 18.)

MERCY has a home in two worlds-one in heaven, one on earth. In heaven it reigns; on earth it lives. Mercy has had two separate forms the first in eternity, the second in time. It has filled the mind and soul of two beings-the mind of a perfect God, and the soul of a holy man. The echo of mercy was once heard on the earth, and then the voice came nearer in a distinct sound. First, the shadow fell on the world; afterwards, the body came.

Mercy, like the summer sky, looks down upon the earth, and gives moral beauty to everything in which it reflects itself. The earth and the men upon it present many views. There are pictures of youth, of natural scenery, of intellectual and moral beauty; but these are imperfect in their details, and have partially defaced surfaces. The fairest, the brightest, the holiest picture on earth is Mercy. Sometimes its

form is like the rising sun, and is seen as if through blood; sometimes it sparkles as if it were a sea in summer glory; and sometimes, in its setting, it seems amidst clouds of purple and gold.

It is a proof of wisdom to adapt means to ends. There is order in proportion. The portico and the building should be adapted to one another. The framework and the picture should be of corresponding worth. The book and the binding should agree. The thought and the word ought not to oppose each other. The word and the act should be as one, like a happy, wedded pair. The work and the men must be friends together. A body was prepared for mercy to inhabit; vast was the expenditure in the preparation. Earth had not the means at her command to supply the model. No form that walked the earth, or that had ever walked it, would do for the earthly habitation of Mercy. It was a divine plan. The framework was prepared; it was a holy work, and fitly joined together. No flaw, no stain could be traced upon the surface of the same.

THE FIRST VIEW.-The dwelling-place of the Holy One was the body of Jesus. This holy form was the residence of the Son of God. At first an infant, and wherefore?-if not to give all infants, living or dying, an interest, a hope, from his birth, his love, his mercy. This human form was the mercy seat, and on which was seen to rest the visible presence of the Majesty of Heaven; here was placed the holy of holies, within whose veil was fixed the abode of the Divine.

But what couch could be found sufficiently soft to cradle the heaven-born Messenger? and what spot on earth would be selected for the birth of this new form of humanity-this new head and representation of a new era-"the Second Man, the Lord from