better emotions of the heart which had manifested themselves before she was married, but which her union with a worldly man had almost extinguished, now revived again with an earnestness that betokened an awakening conscience. "How

said, "have been your consoWhat gracious instances of

very precious, my dear sir," she lations to my poor husband. mercy, even at the eleventh hour-nay, at the very last moment, did you produce from the sacred Scriptures, to rescue his terrified soul from despair. You displayed before him the love of Christ, and, I may truly say, before myself also, in the most endearing and affecting point of view that could have been presented to the mind; and with which the blessed Bible alone could have furnished you. In vain may we look for such pure disinterested love upon earth as was His, even among our most devoted relatives."

"Most true it is," answered her companion:

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

"Ye are my friends,' said the adorable Saviour, ‘ if ye whatsoever I command you.

do

"Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

"Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

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These things I command you, that ye love one another.'* "These, my dear Mrs. Stately, are the gracious words of Christ. Think what it is to be a 'friend' of the Saviour, and how easy and how condescending the condition,—' If ye

* John xv. 13-17.

do whatsoever I command you.' And what is a most happy consideration, these words are addressed to all, without exception, who will receive and obey them. Should any one doubt of such a boundless compassion being extended to every living creature who desires to be saved, let him read, to the peace and comfort of his soul, the divine invitation addressed to all in the last chapter of the book of Revelation:- And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.' '*

As a farther proof of the tenderness of our Lord's compassion," observed Mr. Gracelove," read, my dear madam, that most touching address to the Jews, contained in the Gospel of St. Matthew, and pray with me that it may never be said against ourselves

6

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!'

"And what was the fearful consequence of such a fatal rejection ?

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'Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.' ↑

"Imagine what must have been the depths of divine sympathy in the Redeemer's heart, when the prophetic vision of what was so shortly to overwhelm the devoted city drew tears from his sacred eyes; and this sympathy, too, evinced towards a bloodthirsty people who were about to become his very murderers! St. Luke records in his Gospel this touching and interesting fact:

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:

And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it,

Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this + Matt. xxiii. 37, 38.

* Rev. xxii. 17.

thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

"For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

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"And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.'* How profoundly, then, does it concern us, my dear Mrs. Stately, to prepare for the time of our visitation!" For nothing is more certain than that we must die, and after death -the JUDGMENT!

"Had I experienced," said the lady, "no other proof of the efficacy of Scripture, and of the Redeemer's graciously proffered love to his penitent creatures, than that which has been manifested in the case of my poor dear husband, I should be quite convinced of the great power of God in his inspired Word. Before your arrival, my dear friend, he was on the brink of despair; and, now, his dark forebodings have disappeared, and his mind is supported and comforted by the consolations and promises of the Gospel, addressed to those who repent and believe. I heartily thank God for the mercy so freely bestowed; and yourself, as the humble instrument in His hands."

"Mark the faithfulness and the goodness of God to his penitent creatures," observed her companion, "whom, for his beloved Son's sake, He is willing to receive, if truly repentant, even at the eleventh hour. Mark the grace and the loving kindness of that promise which says:

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

* Luke xix. 41-44.

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For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.'*

"With such a promise in view, the Psalmist could confidently say, upheld and inspired by the power of the same

divine grace,

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.'†

"What a blessing it is, to such frail beings, that God, in the plenitude of His heavenly pity, should in so many instances. 'deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage."‡

"I never felt,” remarked the lady, with a subdued countenance," the utter impotency of wealth and station to minister relief, at a mortal hour, as during my present severe affliction. But a short week has elapsed since Mr. Stately and myself, in the desperate foolishness of our hearts, imagined ourselves absolutely impregnable behind the rampart of gold, with which we had fenced in our untenable position. See how, in a moment, this fortress of our confidence-like the walls of Jericho, and from the same omnipotent command-has fallen prostrate in the dust! Wealth was the Dagon of our idolatry: See how it has fallen-shivered into fragments-before the chastising presence of God!"

"The lust of gold," said our moralist, "with its manifold evil consequences, has, perhaps, served to ruin more souls than any other passion of the heart. And yet, for how short a period can riches be retained even when possessed, and for which a man is content to sacrifice his everlasting welfare. Did we possess the 'wealth of Ormus or of Ind,' still we must die! Nor can we take away with us the smallest relic of the And when the last mortal hour shall come-as come it * Isa. xliii. 2, 3. ↑ Ps. xxiii. 4.

store.

Heb. ii. 15.

must-with what thrilling agony of spirit-with what fearful vividness will the worshipper of mammon then remember that momentous question of our Lord

"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

"Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'* "The inheritance of this world," he continued, "is, indeed, a baseless fabric.' That of the next-if redeemed by the blood of the Lamb-stable as the Throne of Jehovah. To have 'the Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God,' is worth infinitely more than all the countless stores of the great and the mighty. And, then, observe what follows: If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.'† Such a glorious result could not have been conceived by the most sanguine Christian heart, had it not been revealed by the Spirit of God in his inspired Word. Then, as regards the trials of life, whatever they may be, however afflictive and long-continued; what do they amount to when put in competition with the endless felicity of Heaven? The apostle says—

"I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us!

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And as it were to stimulate the faith and hope of any timorous or desponding Christian, he adds in a subsequent

verse:-

"We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.' I

"This is the true wisdom, my dear Mrs. Stately,-ʻ to love God; a wisdom which 'is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." + Rom. viii. 16, 17.

* Mark viii. 36, 37.

Rom. viii. 18, 28.