XXV."KEPT."

"Kept by the power of God."-1 St. Peter i. 5.

HE believer's path is often one of great trial. Yet it is ordained by Infinite Love, consecrated by the Great Exemplar, and has been safely trodden by thousands who have gone before. All who tread it may have peace for their portion, hope for their companion, and should have holiness ever in view as their great object. In order for this to be the case, they require to be kept; and this is their happy privilege. They are kept from all the power of the enemy; kept from their own evil tendencies; kept from the many dangerous attractions of the world around them; "kept "-so the word signifies-"as in a garrison"; kept through the Father's Name, according to the Saviour's prayer. Looking at the idea of their path, we should remark that they are kept persevering in it; kept from lying down, going back, or turning aside; kept, by God's power, through faith to glory.

XXXI.

XXVI. THE PEACEMAKERS.

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And how early

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."-Matt. v. 9. EAN STANLEY, in one of his sermons to children at Westminster Abbey, on Inno cents' Day, said: "I knew once a very famous man, who lived to be very old-who lived to be eighty-eight. He was always the delight of those about him. He always stood up for what was right. His eye was like an eagle's when it flashed fire at what was wrong. do you think he began to do this? I have an old grammar which belonged to him, all tattered and torn, which he had when a little boy at school; and what do you think I found written, in his own hand, in the very first page? Why, these words: Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, to silence vicious tongues-be just, and fear not.' That was his rule all through life, and he was loved and honoured down to the day when he was carried to his grave."

"HOC AGE."

"Not slothful in business."-Rom. xii. 11. IR WALTER SCOTT, writing to a friend who had obtained a situation, gave him this excellent advice. "You must be aware of stumbling over a propensity, which easily besets you from the habit of not having your time fully employed; I mean what the women very expressively call dawdling. Your motto must be, Hoc age. Do instantly whatever is to be done, and take the hours of recreation after business, and never before it. If that which is first in hand is not instantly, steadily, and regularly dispatched, other things accumulate behind, till affairs begin to press all at once, and no human brain can stand the confusion. Pray mind this: this is a habit of mind which is very apt to beset men of intellect and talent, especially when their time is not regularly filled up, and left at their own arrangement. But it is like the ivy round the oak, and ends by limiting, if it does not destroy, the power of manly and necessary exertion. must love a man so well, to whom I offer such a word of advice, that I will not apologise for it, but expect to hear you are become as regular as a Dutch clock, hours, quarters, minutes, all marked and appropriated. This is a great cast in life,

I

and must be played with all skill and caution."Lockhart.

XXXII, GOSPEL LIGHT.

"A light to lighten the Gentiles."-St. Luke ii. 32. ▶HEN the Gospel was first preached to the Saxons of Northumbria by Paulinus, and king Edwin sat in council with his chiefs and wise men to consult whether they should give up their idols and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the councillors arose and spoke thus:

"In winter, O king, when thou art sitting in thy hall at supper, with a great fire, and thy nobles and commanders around thee, sometimes a little bird flies through the hall, in at one window and out at another. The moment of his passage is sweet to him, for he feels neither cold nor tempest; but it is short, and from the dark winter he vanishes into the dark winter again. Such, O king, seems to me the short life of man; for we know not whence we came or whither we go. If therefore this new doctrine can teach us anything certain, let us embrace it."

And so Edwin and his people, listening to the teachers, came out of the dark winter of heathenism into the glorious light of the Gospel, and became Christians.

his office to instruct.

day with a professor who was commonly called the students' friend, such was his kindness to the young men whom it was

While they were now walking together, and the professor was seeking to lead the conversation to grave subjects, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path, which they supposed belonged to a poor man who had nearly finished his day's work.

The young student turned to the professor, saying, "Let us play the man a trick. We I will hide his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind these bushes, and watch to see his perplexity when he cannot find them."

"My dear friend," answered the professor, "We must never amuse ourselves at the expense of the poor. But you are rich, and may give yourself a much greater pleasure by means of this poor man. Put a crown piece, if you have them, in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves."

The student, having two crown pieces, did so, and then placed himself, with the professor, behind the bushes hard by, through which they could easily watch the labourer,

and see whatever wonder or joy he might

express.

The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes. While he put on his coat he slipped one foot into one of his shoes. Feeling something hard he stooped down and found the crown. Astonishment and wonder were upon his countenance. He gazed upon the crown, turned it around, and looked again and again; then he looked around on all sides, but could see no one. Now he put the money in his pocket, and proceeded to put on the other shoe; but what was his astonishment when he found the other crown! His feelings overcame him. He fell upon his knees, looked up to heaven, and uttered a loud and fervent thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children, who by some unknown hand would be saved from perishing.

The young man stood there, deeply affected, and with tears in his eyes.

"Now," said the professor, "are you not better pleased than if you had played your intended trick?"

"Oh, dearest sir," answered the youth, "you have taught me a lesson now that I shall never forget. I feel now the truth of the words which I never before understood'It is more blessed to give than to receive."'"

IFFICULT as some of the requirements of the Gospel undeniably are, it cannot be disputed that were all ranks and orders of men brought

under its gentle sway, the world would present an unbroken scene of harmony and joy. The Gospel sheds a tranquillizing light on every relationship of life, and not only shows us how to be happy ourselves, how to enjoy peace in our own souls, but also aims at binding together the communities and households of mankind in the most enduring ties. True, it does not always accomplish this, but that is because it is only cordially embraced, and its rules followed, by the few.

The precept of the text may perhaps be a difficult one to carry out constantly in practice; but it surely cannot be as difficult in our day as it was when it was first

VOL. XIV. NO. X.

uttered to the Ephesians, living in the midst of the midnight darkness of heathenism.

The command may be enforced under the following heads:

I. The Obedience of Veneration.

It must be confessed that the present age is not very remarkable for the spirit of veneration. veneration. But there is no earthly relationship so characterized as this is. The bonds that unite parents and children are woven by the hand of God Himself, and ought never to be put asunder. To your parents God has committed your support, protection, guidance. They are God's vicegerents in the little domestic kingdom over which He has set them. As such you ought to treat them. Next to God, you owe them the most profound respect. Crush in the bud the first tendencies of your hearts to light or disrespectful L 2

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