r
his death, the people of Mayence adopted his arms as those of the city,
in memory of the wise and holy rule of the wheelwright's son.

And there are other monuments which are built up in the home circle,
and by the fireside. The good wife and mother, be she high or low, who
fills the home with the sweet-smelling savour of holiness and love,
precious in the Lord's sight as Mary's ointment; who leads her children
in the right way, by the gentle ministry of a good example; who is
alike cheerful and resigned in bright days and dark, "making a sunshine
in a shady place," such an one has a monument fair and stately, on
which God's own finger writes, "She hath done what she could."

SERMON XXXIX.

THE BLESSING OF MERCY,

(Fourth Sunday after Trinity.)

S. LUKE vi. 36.

"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful."

"Mercy" is the one great cry of human nature. We dare not ask for
justice, we can only plead for mercy. David, after his great sins,
could utter nothing but the mournful cry, the model for all penitent
sinners, "Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness." The
publican standing afar off, and looking at his faults, and not at his
virtues, offers the pattern prayer for all men, "Lord, be merciful to
me a sinner." The blind man by the wayside, the leper filled with
loathsome disease, speak in the same strain, "Jesus, Thou Son of David,
have mercy upon us." And so now from ten thousand altars, from
bedsides wet with tears, from stately mansion and humble cottage, there
rises one cry to Heaven, "O Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of
the world, have mercy upon us." And we know to our comfort that "to
the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have
rebelled against Him."

But there is something more to think of beside our need of mercy. We,
who want so much mercy from God, must learn to show mercy to our fellow
men. We are bidden to be merciful, even as our Father is merciful. We
are all ready enough to talk of the mercies and lovingkindnesses of God
to us and to all men, but what mercy, what lovingkindness, do _we_ show
to our brethren here in the world? And yet an exceeding bitter cry is
being heard amongst us. The poor cry to the rich, the starving to the
well fed, the sorrowful to the prosperous, the weak to the strong. All
along life's highway lie those who have fallen among thieves, who are
wounded and stripped, who are friendless and f