goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry;" and then death comes! It is not strange we should plead to be excused, professing in our humility a willingness to relinquish the glories of heaven, and still to abide in the Pitti palace. How many die rich who, at the same time, of all men are the most poor and miserable--unable to surrender the gay society in which they moved, the elegances which surrounded them, the honours which crowned them, the enterprises before them, the lands which they had called after their own names, the mansions they had erected with their own hands, closing their eyes upon the bright heavens which had only shined benignantly upon them, and bidding an eternal farewell to all they had sought, acquired, and loved, lie down amid darkness and worms! To such it must be hard to die; they are not gathered to their fathers, but thrust into the grave like a whipped convict into his dungeon. It is not thus the wearied and afflicted children of God die. The glories of the world have been dimmed by the tears through which they have been seen. They have nothing to lose-they have all to gain; and, therefore, they hail death as a friend, instead of meeting him as a foe. Their resignation is not the result, merely or mainly, of anticipated deliverance from trials. A higher object is before them; a holier aspiration animates them. They desire to be absent from the body that they may be present with the Lord and like him. At the same time their Lord sanctifies their afflictions to awaken this desire, and gradually and gently sunder worldly ties, so that trials drive at the same time that heaven attracts. Stroke falls upon stroke, and billow succeeds to billow, till all the waves of adversity seem to have rolled over them. Then how easy it is to die-to leave the world when the world has left themto relinquish all when they have lost all-to venture all when they have all to gain. To die is gain! Defeat is victory! Death is life! To them the world is one grand impertinence on their heavenly way. They know its toil, its drudgery, its dull monotony; friends have forsaken them, and friends have gone before them; the domestic circle is thinned; disappointments multiply; poverty pinches; disease pains; the world is without an object; the heart sickens of life, and bids welcome to death. Thus God has been dealing kindly even in their trials. They have not been cursed by prosperity, but by a benevolent, though severe discipline, prepared for the grand event of life— its close. They die easily, bravely, gloriously, thanking God for their poverty, their obscurity, their hard toil, their scanty fare, their miserable sheds, the world's pity and the world's hate, and whatever has made it easy for them to die. All things have worked together for their good, as they now see; and the greatest judgment Heaven, in its wrath, could have sent, would have been that they should live and die in the Pitti palace. LIFE'S CLOSING PILGRIMAGE. IN any respect, old age is, to the thinking mind, a deeply interesting studya living mark of the bound to which in life's pilgrimage we must march, unless, perchance, our journey is abridged and our short span cut shorter: the living memento that we may grow old is scarcely less impressive than the silent monitor that we must die. The thought that the limbs now at our command may one day reluctantly obey or utterly refuse the dictates of our will, is an impressive caution to our pride. Unto us, as unto the apostle, the words may apply, "When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself and walkedst whithersoever thou wouldst; but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldst not." The sight of an old man forces upon the mind the truth, that the survival of our strength, the lingering of the shell when it has become untenantable, is "labour and sorrow," and suggests the thought that when one has passed into the last scene of all "Second childishness, and mere oblivion: Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything"- tion of a peaceful rest before the last great journey. And where, all these cheerful associations failing, seems to the old a solitude, there may be a companionship in the last hours of the pilgrimage which depends neither upon kindred nor acquaintance. Giddy youth may pass heedlessly by with the scanty courtesy which contents itself with avoiding an overt act of insult; world-engrossed care may refuse an instant of attention to the aged remnant of another generation; acquaintances may be few, and friends there may be none in the world, while in the heart there lives One who sticketh closer than a brother. His whisperings to the solitary are worth all the world beside, for they are heard above all the acclamations of earthly joy, above all the groans of earthly sorrow. And the language of this Friend is, "That neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, the sooner the curtain falls upon his nor powers, nor things present, nor feebleness the better. things to come, nor height, nor depth, "AND YET THERE IS ROOM." THERE is room,— he is looking, with earnest and gratified interest, upon the repetition of himself in his descendants; then, in- 1. At the foot of the cross. Jesus says, deed, is old age a pleasant prolonga- "Him that cometh unto me, I will in B 2 ers. 3. There is room in heaven. "In my Father's house," says Christ, "are many mansions." Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Paul, Luther, Whitfield, have each a mansion, and there are multitudes yet unoccupied; there are many thrones vacant; there are many crowns, harps, robes, waiting for own"After this I beheld, John says, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb." What countless myriads are now adoring before the throne; accessions are being daily and hourly made to their number, "and yet there is room." 4. And there is room in the mercy of God. "His arm is not shortened, that it cannot save;" his patience is not exhausted; the gates of the city of refuge are not yet closed; the fountain of Immanuel's blood is still open; our great High-priest is still interceding within the vail. "See Jesus stands with open arms; He calls, he bids you come; Thousands have entered, and "Ten thousand times ten thousand more Are welcome still to come. Ye longing souls, the grace adore; ONESIPHORUS. A WARNING VOICE. By the Author of "The Sinner's Friend." "THE BOOK OF LIFE, OR THE LAKE OF FIRE!" "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire."-REV. XX. 15. READER! Have you ever thought of this certain and endless state? Endless life, or endless fire. One of these you will certainly enter; but which of the two? Shall it be the latter?-endless fire! How can you dwell with everlasting burnings no release; no end-everlasting woe? Now, poor sinner, if your name is not written in the Lamb's book of life, endless misery is your certain doom. But stay! There is a way of escape -one path, and one only, which leads from hell to heaven, and that path is clearly pointed out by the Son of God himself, who has mercifully declared that "He is the way, the truth, and the life; and whosoever cometh unto God by him shall in nowise be cast out." Oh, what encouragement to a poor, self-condemned, half-despairing sinner! But you have not a moment to lose; death is approaching with hasty strides ; and surely you will not trifle with mercy so freely offered-a free giftno costly sacrifice required-all perfectly free-the purchase of a Saviour's blood! Flee, then, for your life, and flee instantly, to the ever-blessed Jesus, who is waiting, even at the eleventh hour, to receive you, vile as you may have been. Delay not until to-morrow; the door of mercy may be shut, and then it will be too late! Shut out from heaven-shut up in hell for ever! was agony to her maternal heart. She had spent this last day of the year in supplication and strong cries to God for his merciful interposition in her daughter's case. Her confidence in the rectitude of God's government was unshaken; it was an anchor to her soul, and enabled her, with apparent composure, to perform all the duties required of her in those painful hours. But we must not attempt to reveal the feelings which were so carefully concealed in the silent sanctuary of a mo our intrusion, and will only be known, with their results, when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed by Him who "understandeth the thoughts afar off." Flee, flee, flee-flee for your life- ther's bosom. They are too sacred for flee from the wrath to come. Remember, and take warning also; remember that the wrath of God abideth on him who believeth not on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. You have not a single moment to lose-no, not a moment. May the Lord help you to escape: but remember again, that if you are lost, it will be your own fault. The foregoing heartfelt breathings were suggested on hearing a pious mother pleading with her son to pray that his name might be registered in the Lamb's book of life. They were reading together the 20th chapter of Reve lations. May every parent be equally anxious upon this all-important and overwhelming subject-eternal life, or eternal fire. "SPARE IT THIS YEAR." A LOVELY female, of seventeen years, lay sick, and apparently sinking to the grave on the last day of The skill of physicians had been baffled, the tenderest maternal nursing was fruitless, the care and anxiety of a fond father of no avail. Her mother had hoped against hope till despair of her child's recovery had settled on her heart. She tried to exercise entire submission to God's righteous will, but the fact that her daughter was not a Christian, and was dying without hope. The day passed away, the sun set in clouds, and a cold, stormy night succeeded. The family retired, and the mother, after making her sick child as comfortable as she could, sat down, a The fire lone watcher at her bedside. sent up its fitful light upon the intelligent features of the daughter, whose face was nearly as white as the pillow on which it rested. The storm moaned with the passing scenes within. fearfully without, as if in sympathy The mother, suppressing her own emotions, was trying to decipher those of her daughter by the variations in her agi tated countenance, when she broke the silence by saying, "Dear mother, how can I die in my present unrenewed state? O pray for me, dearest mother, that I may having been born again, and adopted into live to give you comforting evidence of the family of Christ. God grant me this, and I ask no more below." The mother responded to the prayer, and knelt by her bedside to give utterance to the desires of her full heart. After prayer, the daughter sank into that heavy, painful sleep so often attendant on debility and exhaustion, and the mother took up the Bible, as the great source of light and consolation, as well as the medium of communication between God and his people. The first words that met her eye, were, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?" She paused to think and weep. "My child," she thought, "has lived seventeen years, and received WHAT SHALL WE DO THIS To Young People. much religious instruction; her mind is well stored with religious truth; few youth have committed such large portions of Scripture to memory-well may the Lord demand fruit from such a BELOVED YOUNG FRIENDS!-Eighteen tree! It is his due. He has come again hundred and forty-seven is no more. and again by his Spirit, by sickness, by Its deeds are past, but all recorded; faithful admonition, seeking fruit and and again shall they rise from mefinding none-justice cries, Cut it down. mory's mysterious depths, and be read What can a mother object to the exe- amidst the burning brightness of the cution of this justice? Spare it this year, last great day. Inspired by this thought, said the parable: Oh, spare it this year, let the opening year honour the Sacried the yearnings of maternal love-viour. Be it the first act of your youthspare it this year-I will try to cultivate it better. No, she replied to herself, I can do nothing; Christ must be the great intercessor; for him the Father heareth. If he intercede-spare it this year-the work will be done." Thus passed that long December night. The dawn of 1825 found that mother still pleading with her Saviour and her God. After breakfast the pas tor called. As he met the mother, he said, "How is poor J. this morning?" From the overflowings of her full heart the mother exclaimed, "Spare it this year." Her pastor understood and appreciated her emotions, and on his bended knees before God, in that sick room, went over the truths of the parable, acknowledged the justice of God's claims, his right to cut down the tree; but pleaded the language of the parable, "Spare it this year." The plea was heard; during that very day the deathly symptoms abated; the sick daughter gradually recovered. As the spring opened she gained strength and elasticity. In the month of May a revival of religion commenced among that people; a great number of all ages became hopeful subjects of grace, among whom was this spared daughter, led to Christ by that very pastor. In October of that year, she, with many others, took upon herself the vows of the Lord by a public profession of religion. This young lady was spared till 1836, when she peacefully and joyfully entered "the rest that remains for the people of God," having given the best of evidence, by a holy, useful life, of having been adopted into the family of Christ. ful spirit to pay its cheerful homage to PRAY! Pray for yourselves, that the light of the gospel may more and more pervade your mind, and the love of the gospel fire your heart. Pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that on you his grace may rest; that he may sanctify you for the Saviour's service; and that, by his hallowed influences, you may become "temples" of "the Holy One." Pray for the world, that, as ignorance of Christ is the ruin of souls, its gloom may no longer enshroud our race; but that the "darkness" which "covers the earth" may be chased by the spreading glories of "the Sun of Righteousness." Rising from your knees, the Spirit of prayer will lead you to Аст! At the dawn of this new period bring all your powers to the aid of the heavenly kingdom. Be assured that vast resources are at the command of the young. Mighty consequences are inYour volved in your devoted efforts. energy will arouse the church; it can no longer slumber; its day-dreams will be over; it will, through you, arise in all the majesty of its might, and this year will the world feel its power. "To-day," therefore, we wish you to survey the world; and, to view it aright, you must look at it in the light of "the cross;" for Calvary" is the only spot whence its kingdoms and their glory |