condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.

33. No man, when he hath lighted a lamp, putteth it in a cellar, neither under the bushel, but on the stand, that they who enter in may see the light.

34. The lamp of thy body is thy eye: when thy eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when it is evil, thy body also is full of darkness. 35. Look therefore whether the light that is in thee be not darkness.

36. If therefore thy whole body be full of light, having no part dark, it shall be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining doth give thee light.

In the thirty-eighth verse of Matthew's text Kal Tŵv Papioaíov is omitted in B; but it is found in nearly all the other authorities.

In the twenty-fifth verse of Luke's text a, B, C, L, R, Γ, σχολάζοντα. г, et al. add oxoλátovтa. This reading is followed by the Coptic and Ethiopian versions. In the twenty-ninth verse πроonтоυ is omitted after 'Iwvâ in N, B, D, L, Z, in many codices of the old Italian version, and of the Vulgate, in the Jerusalem Syriac, and the Armenian versions. It is rejected also by Tischendorf, Westcott, Hort, and Wordsworth. In the thirty-third verse the authorities are divided between φῶς and φέγγος, but we believe that φως has the stronger endorsement.

Following the order of Luke, we first have to explain the parable of the expelled demon. Since there is an inability in man to conceive beings above himself otherwise than in his own likeness, the Lord by the figure of anthropopathism

represents the demon under the guise of a man driven out from his home, a wanderer seeking rest. It is vain to seek a moral counterpart for every detail in the account. Thus we

need not inquire what are the dry places through which the demon wanders. Our first duty is to find the moral application of the parable. All admit that in the first intention the house whence the demon went out is the house of Israel. We do not attempt to fix the definite historical event by which the demon was expelled from that house. It is sufficient for the application of the parable that God had raised himself up a people, whom he destined to be a holy people, whom he taught, and guarded, and blessed above all the peoples of the earth. While they were faithful unto Yahveh, the demon was driven out, and the house was swept and adorned. From the fact that Matthew adds that the house was vacant also, many interpret these conditions of the house in a bad sense, that it was devoid of virtues, and hence readily admitted the evil spirit. This interpretation seems the exact contrary of what Christ wishes to teach. Under the figure of a perfectly ordered house Christ wishes to represent the moral beauty and right order of the souls of men which result from the expulsion of Satan. Such a condition of the house invites Satan to re-enter, because he hates whatever God loves, and his fiercest assaults are upon the choicest spirits. Such was the condition of the house of Israel in its best days, when it faithfully followed after God. This interpretation is so natural and clear that we marvel that many interpreters of great name have defended a contrary one. Certainly the conditions of a house swept and garnished are desirable in the natural order of things. It is certainly a violence to make that proper condition of a house in the natural order a figure to represent a perverse state of a soul in the moral order. Moreover, this state of the house is clearly made a result of Satan's expulsion thence. How can we say that, when Satan is removed from the soul, its condition becomes evil? If evil is in the soul, Satan is there also; there is no middle state. It is true that Matthew says that the demon found the house vacant. But we judge that this means that it was cleared of all beings of his kind.

(19) Gosp. III.

The re-entrance of Satan with seven associate demons into the house is a simple figure to represent, first, the decadence of the Jewish race. They had been favored above all the peoples of the earth, and they became the basest of mankind. Their history since the coming of the Messiah is a dark page in the world's history. This figurative language of Christ is certainly fulfilled in them.

The union of the chief demon with seven others is simply a figure to represent that in their case and in all similar cases the abuse of God's graces induces a state worse than that existing before conversion. The number seven is employed only to portray vividly the greater power which Satan has over the man who falls from grace.

The Lord does not, of course, imply that this state of things always happens. He expresses only what did happen in the case of Israel, and what Satan strives for in every case. Though Christ had direct reference to Israel in this parable, the truth enunciated is universal in its application. The sinner by penance routs the demon from his soul. By the aid of God's grace he sweeps and garnishes that soul, expelling thence all foul thoughts and wickedness. It becomes beautiful, the most beautiful of all earth's creations: it is the abode of the Blessed Trinity. While the period of the fervor of conversion lasts, it seems that the demon is far away, and that the soul could never more admit him. But the evil one is biding his time; and he will come back seeking entrance; he will come back with re-enforced strength. He will come back not openly, but stealthily. He does not always succeed; but Christ is speaking of the man in whom he does succeed. Few men will believe that they are the dwellings of the devil; most of Satan's victims drift into his possession without actually realizing it. It is for Satan's interest that they do not realize it. The tempter cloaks his real nature under some guise. He comes in the form of the love of this world, the pride of intellect, sinful pleasure, the deadly slumber of the spirit, the lack of living faith. So the poor convert after a time feels a great dryness in prayer; and, in consequence, perhaps prayer is abandoned, or badly said. This is Satan's opportunity; for no man can resist temptation without prayer: "Watch ye and pray, that ye