could but come back again that you might act differently. But an act once done, cannot be undone. It may be repented of, and mourned over, but it cannot be changed; it must remain for ever. And then, when we consider that all these wrong acts of ours are written down in the book of God's remembrance, this thought becomes a very solemn one indeed. At the day of judgment, that book will be opened and read. And how dreadful it would be to have all our sinful acts, and all our idle words, read and remembered then! But we may have a thought to comfort us, when we consider all this, which Darius had not. We know that our sins may be pardoned, that our wrong and foolish

actions may be forgiven, although they cannot be undone. Yes, dear children; if you really repent; if you are sorry, not only because you have vexed a fellow-creature, but also, and especially, because you have offended God; and if you pray earnestly for pardon through Christ, then your sins will be blotted out, and remembered against you no more for ever. Read this beautiful promise:—“ I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins." (Isa. xliii. 25.)

But we must go back to Daniel. As soon as the morning was come Darius went to the den into which Daniel had been thrown, and cried with a lamentable voice, and said,

"O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?" And oh! how joyful Darius was when he heard Daniel's own voice answer from within the dark den: "O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me." So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. And then the king commanded, and they brought the wicked men who had accused Daniel, and cast them into the den of lions. "And the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, or ever they came at the bottom of the den."

Now, I will not talk to you today about the faith and courage of Daniel, nor of the kind care of God over him, because I have spoken to you already upon these subjects. But before we end our lesson I will ask, and answer for you, one question. It is about Daniel's conduct at this time. Was it right of him, do you think, when Darius made that decree, to go and disobey it directly? Is it not our duty to obey our rulers, and to keep their laws? Does not the Bible itself tell us to do so? Perhaps some little difficulty of this kind came into your minds while you were listening to the story, and you would like to have it cleared up. Well, then, I will answer the question in a few words,

which you must try to remember. It is our duty to obey rulers and laws always, except when they command anything contrary to God's word; and then we ought to "obey God rather than man.' This was the principle upon which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, acted, when they refused to obey Nebuchadnezzar's command to worship the golden image. And this was the rule according to which Daniel acted when Darius made the decree that none should make any petition. to God or man for thirty days, except to himself. And so it is that holy martyrs have acted in all ages of the world. They have willingly given up their lives, and suffered the punishment threaten-ed; but they would not, they