been at Jacob's Well, for the purpose of filling her water-pot; on its brink was seated a weary traveller of Judea, whom, as an enemy to her country, she at first viewed with displeasure, but, notwithstanding her displeasure, she had held converse with him; and the voice of his words had excited emotions to which she is unable to give expression, otherwise than in the most abrupt manner.

The woman gradually acquires composure, and now she is able to give her hearers a connected account of her interview with the wayworn Jew, who first accosted her in these words, "Give me to drink." Instead of hospitably presenting him with the cooling cup, she taunted him for laying aside the prepossessions of his proud nation, and condescending to ask a favour from a despised and hated Samaritan. But, instead of retorting, he had meekly replied, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." And he added, "Whosoever drinketh of the water

that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life:" And then he manifested the miraculous knowledge of a prophet, for although a stranger in Samaria, he knew her to be an adulteress. In answer to a question proposed by her, he said that Jerusalem, and not Gerizim, was the place where God ought to have been worshipped with offerings and sacrifices, but that this point was no longer of importance, as the time of a new dispensation had actually arrived, in which God was to be no longer worshipped with the blood of bulls and goats, but in spirit and in truth: finally, he averred that he was Messias, and made good his averment by telling her all that ever she did.

Our Lord's purpose with respect to Nathanael and this Woman of Sychar was the same, namely, to shew, by a manifestation of miraculous intelligence, that his mission was divine. But how differently did he proceed. Nathanael, who was holy, a man of prayer, who was humble-so humble that he distrusted the honesty of his own intentions-he gave con

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fidence by an open attestation of the sincerity of those intentions; whereas he reminded this woman who, though she was living in violation of the law of God, yet was stout and talkative, and without any just sense of the evil of her ways-he reminded her of her infamy, he convicted her of being a sinner in need of a Saviour, and shewed her that Saviour in himself. now a believer in Jesus, and in the spirit of a confessor she has just declared, to her prejudiced fellow-citizens, that Messias has appeared in the person of one of their rancorous enemies, the Jews.

She is

When Philip was convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah, he forthwith sought to communicate the good news to his friend. A more diffusive spirit of charity leads this woman "which was a sinner," to proclaim to all who are athirst, her discovery of the living water :- laying aside her water-pot, and with it every secular concernment, she hastens back to Sychar, to declare that she had seen "the hope of Israel" at Jacob's Well; and eagerly to implore all men not to trust in

her report, but to go thither and judge for themselves. The like faith leads her, which led Philip, to say, "Come and see."

Nor is her testimony unheeded. Among her audience many have heard her wonderful narrative with attention and favour. These may be seen in the market-place, repeating to their neighbours, returning and relaxing from labour, her account of the mysterious stranger, who knoweth the secrets of every heart, who is about to establish a new era of glory-who is the promised and expected Messiah.

Sychar is now like a hive about to swarm. Her inhabitants, in earnest consultation, are drawing near the gates, in hopes that the stranger may still linger in their neighbourhood: they begin to comply with the request of the woman; some have already left the city, and may be seen in lengthening files on their way. to Jacob's Well.

Alas! many among the multitudes are impelled by idle curiosity. But there are also many who, in an honest and good heart, desire to know the Messias these shall not be disappointed.

VIII.

JOHN IV. 31-42.

SHALL we who have known and felt the blessedness of the presence of the Lord Jesus, plead fatigue as an excuse for not joining the gathering procession of those who are streaming from the gates of Sychar? Can we see these strangers seeking the Lord's Christ, and remain languid and passive spectators of their movements?

Far be it from us-our soul thirsteth, yea, panteth, for the living water which proceeds out of his mouth.

We leave the city and enter the rich valley, on part of which it stands: its bold and beautiful scenery is indeed calculated to elevate the mind; and as I lift up mine eyes I am reminded that this is the very defile up which the eleven brethren of Joseph beheld " a company of Ish