weeping over the daily papers, as we feel what a share we have had in causing those troubles, and thinking there is nothing now to be done but patiently bear the trial. There is something to be done. We may yet avert much that, if we remain inactive, will come upon us. Did the prayers of one man ten times stay the hand of the Almighty Avenger? And shall the prayers of thousands, through the precious blood of Christ, avail less? No, dear friends, we can pray, and, oh, may it be our happy experience that the "effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!"

But we can do still more; we can put our shoulder to the wheel and work. We have work to do in our own hearts yet; do not let us rest contented with a little growth in grace. But if we have a passion yet strong-if we have an unholy temper yet unconquered, oh, let us fight daily, hourly, unceasingly! Let us not give ourselves any rest till we have trampled the enemy under foot! We must be in earnest, dear friends; earnest to conquer, and earnest to watch when we have conquered, that the enemy does not rise again. Let personal holiness be the chief work of our life; and remember, we

must never rest satisfied till we are conformed to the image of Christ; till we have attained to the fulness of His stature.

Then there is work, also, in the world to be done. Let us not always be studying our own case, or even our own spiritual advantages and pleasures, while thousands round us are living in worse than heathenism! Do not let us condemn others for not doing for India what we ourselves neglect to do for those who are living round our doors, no better than they! And if we do these things, God may have mercy on us yet, and put an end our sufferings.

And you, rich worldling, and you, poor, depraved one, will you do nothing to put an end to this war? It may be you are even now weeping bitterly over the loss of a murdered friend. It would be cruel, you say, to tell you that you could have been in any way the means of that dear one's death; and yet, deeply as I feel for you, I dare not shrink from honestly telling you, you have been intimately connected with it; and solemnly and earnestly I entreat you to turn and amend your ways, or you will daily be accumulating trouble for yourself in this life, and reap, as your reward, an eternity of misery in the next. B. S.

an old building near the bank, in the pulling down of which a number of workmen were busily engaged. "Stop," said my friend, pointing to the building; "twenty years ago I was en

largest, if not the largest, concerns in the county. My master was mayor of the place, had his country house, ran his carriage, had his livery servants, lived in great style, and was looked up to as one of the wealthiest men in the place. He died very suddenly. His affairs were found to be in a bankrupt state, and within a few weeks after his death the establishment was closed, and large posting bills announced the sale by auction of all the effects. The creditors lost many thousands of pounds, and his family were thrown on the world in a penniless condition."

"Tell me," I inquired, "how it was that his affairs got into such a state?"

"There were, I think," replied my friend, "several causes which assisted in bringing about the downfall of this once stylish family; but the chief cause, I believe, was this-the man was a Sabbath-breaker." He usually spent the sacred day with his accounts and ledgers, and in drinking and card-playing. I

masters, and have generally found that, sooner or later, they have had the Almighty's blight falling upon either themselves, their circumstances, or their families."

"Do you know what became of your old master's family?" I asked.

I do not know what became of the daughters," was the reply, "but the last that I heard of the son-he who had been nursed in the lap of luxury-was that, after leading a career of iniquity, he was working in a gang of convicts, with a log chained to his leg!'

Reader, the above is far from a solitary case, and if you will carefully note the career of Sabbath-keeping and Sabbath-breaking men, you will find that there rests a curse on the one and a blessing on the other; for doth not the Scriptures say, "Blessed is the man that walketh in all the ways of my commandments, to do them," and "My Sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them?"

and his little son, of whom he made a very idol. After some warm expressions of sympathy, the colporteur said to the sick man, "How very much I should like to be able to console you by the same means by which I find consolation in all' my troubles. "With your Bible, I suppose, as usual! Why, you are always

singing the same song. Your Bible, indeed! Can your Bible cure my child?" "The Author of the Bible can do so most assuredly, should He find it good to do so, and if you pray to Him for it.""It is this Author, even according to your statement, which ascribes to Him all power here below, who is the cause of all the ills that trouble us.' "And supposing that it should really prove that it is in order to give health to your soul that he afflicts your body" "That is all pure nonsense. It is not, however, about myself that I am troubled, but about my child?" "Poor fellow! it is about yourself that I, on the contrary, am most concerned. God will have mercy on your child, should He have determined to take him to Himself; but what would He do to you, who so determinately reject the appeals which He addresses to you?" "Once again I tell you I am in no danger; I am not at all afraid!" "You are more than ill; you are dead. Yes, what do I say? spiritually dead, dead in your errors and sins. Dear friend, out of pity for yourself listen to the voice of Him who appeals to you, whose wish it is to give you more than life. Were your soul to be required of you, what would become of it?" These words, uttered slowly and solemnly, had an evident effect on the workman, who, without replying a single word, turned his face to the wall. At this moment a neighbour entered for the purpose of tendering her services. She questioned him, but not a word could she get from him. Looking round she perceived the colporteur, and

seeing the Bible in his hand, she exclaimed, "Go away! what you have there tells me that you are a miscreant, nay, worse than that, a Protestant." "If you call me a Protestant, I can say, 'Yes;' but as to being a miscreant, I must answer, 'No.' Listen to what I believe." On this the colporteur rehearsed his confession of faith by reading a number of passages of Scripture. Whilst he was reading, the workman turned himself round again, with an expression of countenance altogether changed; and when our friend ceased reading, the woman remarked in a mild tone of voice, "You are not, then, a heathen, as I thought you were, but a Christian." I am but an unworthy disciple of Jesus Christ, though I feel that I can still say to Him, 'Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love Thee.'"

In order to abridge the narrative, I will merely give the conclusion of it. The workman at length declared that he felt he had need of mercy and pardon; that the words, "If your soul were to be required of you, "had overturned everything; and although the greater portion of the passages which were read to him from the Bible seemed still to be unintelligible to him, yet he had understood sufficient to convince him that he could no longer continue to live as he had lived; that he must now at any price become acquainted with God, and make his peace with Him. He bought a Bible, and with folded hands entreated the colporteur to come every day, if that were possible, to read the Scriptures to him.

burdened, and when he shall stand complete in the image of his Saviour. There shall be no more sin there; Satan, the great enemy of his soul, shall have no power over him then, for there shall in no wise enter into that holy place anything that defileth. The trials that the Christian meets with are many and grievous; but what is it that causes him to be lowest in the dust? Is it not when he looks within himself, into the deep recesses of his own wicked, sinful heart, and sees how deeply he has offended against that loving Saviour, who has given Himself for him, the just for the unjust, to bring him to God? How does he look forward to that time, when he shall be clothed in the robe of Christ's righteousness, and shall serve Him day and night in His temple! Faint not, Christian! Soon will the last battle have been fought; soon will the race be run, and thou shalt hear the voice of thy God saying unto thee, "Come up hither;" and thou shalt join the company of the redeemed before the throne of the Lamb, to go no more out, but to be for ever with the Lord.

And is there anything else to which the Christian looks forward with delight, when contemplating that rest which is reserved in heaven for him? He feels that the presence of Jesus, and the freedom from sin, would, of themselves, form a heaven for him; yet still there is something that gives it a home aspect. He looks around him, and how many familiar faces does he miss, and finds they are not here! He must now tread the rough places of the world alone; they will

never rejoin him here; but he is enabled to look forward to the time when he shall meet them again, and enjoy with them the sunshine of Jehovah s smile.

It may be, dear reader, that the Lord is now dealing with you in this very way; that He is now emptying you, as it were, from vessel to vessel; that He is taking away first one prop, and then another, and thus leaving you, as regards those who have been your comfort and support, alone in the world. Oh, dear Christian! what is the reason of this? May it not be because you have loved them too fondly? God gave them to you to sweeten your path through this wilderness world, and you have abused that gift; instead of loving it in remembrance of Him who gave it, your love has been centred on it; and had not your heavenly Father in mercy taken that blessing from you, it might be that you would have wandered further and further from your God. He saw your danger, and, to draw your love more to Himself, He took from you those upon whom your heart's best affections were placed. Oh, how differently will you view this sorrow, as seen in the light of eternity; you will then know the reason for it which now you cannot trace; and you will learn how this and every other trial through which you have passed was needed, and how each one of them has been fitting and preparing you for that place which you shall be privileged to occupy in the temple of the Lord of Hosts. E. E. N.