the weight, and he was obliged to beckon to his companions in the other boat to come and help him. With their assistance he succeeded in drawing out the net, and they began to fill both the boats with the fish they had caught. But now they got into still more trouble; for the number was so great that the boats began to sink, and they were afraid for their lives.

Simon had probably thought, like many others, that our Saviour was merely a great teacher sent from God, and no more; but he now perceived by this miracle that He could be no less a person than the Saviour who was expected, and he immediately fell down on his knees at our Lord's feet, saying, "Depart from me; for "I am a sinful man, O Lord." But little did he know the love and mercy

of that Saviour whom he thus besought to depart from him. He perhaps was afraid that Christ was come to take vengeance on him for his past sins, and therefore he entreated Him to depart; or perhaps it was from a feeling of his unworthiness to remain in the presence of one so holy.

It would be well for us, if we felt our unworthiness as Simon did; for we are all sinners, and we should humble ourselves before God. But we need not be so alarmed at the remembrance of our sins as he was; for we know the Lord Jesus Christ to be a pardoning Saviour, full of mercy and loving-kindness, ever ready to forgive all who come to Him by true repentance and prayer.

Our Saviour, however, knowing that it was Simon's ignorance which had caused his request, did not depart from

him, as he had foolishly prayed Him to do, but said to him, "Fear not; from "henceforth thou shalt catch men;" meaning, that he was now to leave off his trade of a fisherman, and to be employed in teaching the Christian religion to mankind. Accordingly, when he and his companions had brought their boats to land, they forsook all they had, and, trusting to Christ to provide for them, (which they knew He was able to do, having just witnessed His power in the miracle of the fishes,) they followed Him, and continued ever after His faithful followers. They were also among the number of those twelve disciples whom our Saviour peculiarly favoured above the rest, and who were called Apostles, a word that comes from the Greek, and means persons sent on a special duty, as these twelve

apostles were sent by our Saviour to preach His Gospel in different parts of the world.

All these holy men, as well as Simon (who was also called Peter), left their worldly business and forsook their former ways of life to follow the Lord. You, my dear children, are not, as I before told you, put to such a trial; but do not suppose that you have nothing to forsake for your Saviour's sake: you must forsake your sins before you can be a follower of the Holy Jesus; you must leave off your bad tempers, your naughty habits, your disobedience, if you wish to be a true disciple of His.

"Let the wicked forsake his way, " and the unrighteous man his thoughts, "and let him return unto the Lord."Isaiah, lv. 7.

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XI.

THE POOL OF BETHESDA.

You have just heard one of our Lord's miracles; I will now tell you another, which took place during one of his visits to Jerusalem, where he went, as was his custom, to celebrate the Pass

over.

Now, you must know, that near the sheep-market in Jerusalem there was a pool, called in the Hebrew language Bethesda, or the House of Mercy; and it was so called from the many deeds of mercy which it pleased God to perform there.

For at particular times the waters of this pool were troubled by an Angel from Heaven, and whoever first stepped