.. -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-

.. meta::
   :PG.Id: 29080
   :PG.Title: Plain Words for Christ
   :PG.Released: 2013-09-06
   :PG.Rights: Public Domain
   :PG.Producer: Al Haines
   :DC.Creator: Reginald \G. Dutton
   :DC.Title: Plain Words for Christ
              Being a series of readings for working men
   :DC.Language: en
   :DC.Created: 1880
   :coverpage: images/img-cover.jpg

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PLAIN WORDS FOR CHRIST
======================

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      PLAIN WORDS FOR CHRIST,

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      BEING

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      A SERIES OF READINGS FOR WORKING MEN.

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      BY THE LATE
      REGINALD \G. DUTTON, M.A.

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      *Curate of St. Martin's, in the Fields.*

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   ..

   |  "Lord, as to Thy dear cross we flee,
   |  And hope to be forgiven--
   |  So let Thy life our pattern be,
   |  And form our souls for heaven."
   |                  *John Hampden Gurney.*

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      PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE,

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      LONDON:
      SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE.
      NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.;
      43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.;
      BRIGHTON: 135, NORTH STREET.
      NEW YORK: \E. & \J. \B. YOUNG & CO.
      1880

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      Dedicated
      TO THE WORKING MEN OF ENGLAND:
      AMONGST WHOM I CAN NUMBER
      MANY FIRM FRIENDS.

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   PREFACE.

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As the following pages are addressed to working
men, I have touched only on those topics upon
which I thought they were likely to need advice.
The language throughout is as simple as possible,
so that all may understand it; and, following the
example of Holy Scripture, I have, wherever I
have found it possible, illustrated my meaning
from the teachings of nature.

That the book has many imperfections I am
well aware; but I humbly trust that He, Whose
guidance I have so often and so earnestly sought
in writing the following pages, will be pleased in
His mercy to grant that the words here written
for His cause, and for His people, may "not
return unto Him void," but may "accomplish
that which" He shall please, and may prosper
in the thing whereto He sends it.

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R.G.D.

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HINTON HOUSE,
1880.

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   CONTENTS.

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`Life`_
`My Birthday`_
`Temptation`_
`Drink`_
`Idle Words`_
`Excuses`_
`Poverty`_
`Out of Work`_
`Discontent`_
`"I want to better myself"`_
`Masters and Men`_
`Forgiveness of Others`_
`Hard Work`_
`Courtship`_
`Marriage`_
`Kindness`_
`Our Parents`_
`Our Children`_
`Home`_
`Heaven our Home. (Part I.)`_
`Heaven our Home. (Part II.)`_
`Sunday`_
`Church`_
`Holy Communion. (Part I.)`_
`Holy Communion. (Part II.)`_
`The Bible`_
`The Holy Spirit`_
`God's Ministers`_
`Prayer`_
`On being alone`_
`On Setting a Good Example`_
`Helping Others`_
`Our Companions`_
`The Books we Read`_
`True Manliness`_
`Honesty`_
`Bearing the Cross`_
`Humility`_
`Martyrdom`_
`Repentance`_
`Faith`_
`The Shortness of Life`_
`The Death of Friends`_
`The Fear of Death`_
`Sorrow and Suffering`_
`Death`_
`Last Words`_

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.. _`LIFE`:

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   LIFE.

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..

   |  "He liveth long who liveth well!
   |    All other life is short and vain;
   |  He liveth longest who can tell
   |    Of living most for heavenly gain."
   |                                  *Bonar.*

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There are two distinct classes of people who
enjoy God's gift of life, and who look upon that
gift from two utterly different points of view.
The worldly man looks upon life as a time in
which to gratify his desire for pleasure, or in
which to pursue his business schemes.  The
Christian looks upon life as a preparation for
death, which shall lead him, as it were, through
a gateway to the life to come.  Nay, more than
this, so nearly are these two connected, life and
death, that the way in which men spend the
former, mainly depends on the view they take of
the latter.  To the man who believes only in the
things of time and sense, there practically appears
no life to come.  Death is the end of all things;
he neither sees, nor cares to see anything beyond
it.  But how different is it with the Christian
man!  To him life is a growing-time--a time for
growing in grace.  What the spring-time and
early days of summer are to the corn, what the
April showers are to the tender shoots, so is life
to him!  He lives with a consciousness that death
is hovering near, and often nearer perhaps than
even he may think; but so far from making him
wretched, or discontented, the thought of his
departure rather causes him joy.  To him life is
but a shadow, a vapour, a short, passing, wintry
day; death is but the dark valley--necessarily
dark, for he too is but mortal--but beyond this
darkness there is light, light unearthly, light
glorious, which will lighten his eyes in death.

Life has often been compared to a ship, sailing
over stormy seas, but always pointed towards the
haven of rest, which is on the heavenly shore;
meeting with many disasters, suffering many losses,
till at length, "with rent cordage and shattered
deck," she reaches the port of Heaven.

There is a story told of an ancient Greek
teacher, who was asked what kind of ship he
considered the safest to weather a storm--if he
thought one with a pointed keel, or a flat-bottomed
boat the best for resisting the violence
of the waves?  The old man answered, "The
only really *safe* ship I know of is the one
which is drawn up upon the shore."  And
oh! reader, is not this true of life?  Have you never
felt as you sailed across life's troubled sea, and
met with ships of all kinds crossing towards the
same harbour, have you never felt that none
could really be called *safe*--safe amid the
changes and chances of life--none safe until they
were drawn up high and dry upon the heavenly
shore?  The best ship ever built may be wrecked
in a storm, the most experienced pilot ever known
may miss his way in a fog; and the most God-fearing,
upright, honest Christian may be, nay
certainly is, liable to faults, mistakes, and failings.
"The only safe ship I know of is the one which
is drawn up upon the shore!"  There, out of
reach of the violence of the waves, far from their
stormy tides, the ship rests safely.  It makes
but little difference whether the ship be
flat-bottomed or pointed as to its keel; it makes no
difference at all whether the man be rich or poor,
whether he be bond or free.  It is to the same
harbour both are bound, it is to the same Master
each will be accountable for deeds done in the
body.  Only be sure that you are living now the
life that Christ would have you live, and that you
can say with S. Paul, "the life that I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.[#]"

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[#] Gal. ii. 20.

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.. _`MY BIRTHDAY`:

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   MY BIRTHDAY.

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   |  "My birthday! ev'ry minute tells
   |    Me time is passing by,
   |  And bids me look to One Who dwells
   |    Beyond the starry sky;
   |  A frowning past would seem to say:
   |    'What moments have been thrown away.'

   |  Great God! as birthdays come and go,
   |    And mark each fleeting stage below,
   |  Be Thou my hope, be Thou my aid--
   |    The only strength which cannot fade--
   |  And when the throbs of life have passed,
   |    O take me to Thyself at last."
   |                            *John Burbidge.*

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Reader, just think what a birthday is.  Your
birthday is the day on which you were born.  The
day on which God sent you into this world, giving
you a free will to fight for Him or against Him.
And every year regularly since that day you have
had a birthday.  You have been getting every
year nearer and nearer to the grave, nearer and
nearer home.  And what is the home to which
you have been drawing nearer, God's or Satan's?
Has every fresh birthday found you growing in
grace as well as in age?  Can it be said of you,
as it was of our blessed Lord, He "increased in
*wisdom* and stature, and in favour with God and
man?"  Remember that such wisdom as that
mentioned there is not to be got out of learned
books.  It is the same kind of wisdom that
Solomon had, the gift of Almighty God.  Learned
men write learned books, and we read their
writings with delight.  But a queen even took
a long, a toilsome journey in person to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, for he was the wisest man
on earth.

Just think for a moment how old you were last
birthday.  How many of those years can you
truthfully say have been spent in the service of
Christ?  Jesus Christ passed thirty years here
on our earth, thirty weary, sorrowful years, and
He can truthfully say that every day of those
thirty years was passed for you and for me!
Yes, reader, every day and every hour!  He bore
the mocking laughter of the Jew, and the idle
scoffing of the Gentile, that He might know
what ridicule meant, and might help you to bear
it too.  He worked in the carpenter's shop that
He might know what labour was, and understand
what weariness means.  He saw that foxes had
holes, and the birds had their nests, while He
had no place in which to lay His head; and all
this He suffered, that He might know the full
bitterness of the cup of misery drunk by the
houseless, homeless poor.  And He knew too
that each year, each birthday, brought Him nearer
to death, and what a death it was!  Oh! have
you ever thought of the pain of knowing all this
beforehand?  Perhaps now and then, (but very
rarely,) you sit down on your birthday to think
of your death-day.  But God has mercifully hidden
from your eyes the manner and circumstances of
your death.  It wasn't so with Christ.  Whenever
the thought of death came into His mind,
there would rise up before Him a vision of three
crosses of wood on a hill outside a city.  Crowds
of people would be standing round, and Roman
soldiers keeping guard.  On two of the crosses
would be nailed thieves; on the centre one
Himself, the Lord of life and glory.  I remember
seeing a picture a few years ago in London by
a well-known artist.  He had painted a boy
standing near a carpenter's bench in a village
workshop.  He had been working hard, and was
now resting, and in the act of stretching Himself.
Both arms were extended at full length, and the
head leant slightly on one side.  A woman,
kneeling on the floor behind Him, was looking
at some treasures in a large chest.  The sun
falling upon the figure of the boy, cast a shadow
upon the floor, a shadow of a figure stretched as
if it were ready for crucifixion, and the artist had
well named his picture "The Shadow of Death."  Reader,
you may be young, as young as that boy
in the picture; but near you too may be standing
the shadow of death.  The boy Jesus, in stretching
His weary limbs, strangely cast a shadow on the
ground of the death of the man Christ.  And
though you know it not, death may be standing
quite as near to you as it was to Him--or nearer.

Oh then be up and doing, working for the Master
Christ, ere the night cometh.  Rather let each
birthday as it comes find you nearer to your
Father in heaven, and more prepared to meet
Him.  And then those beautiful lines shall be
true of you, and of your life:--

   |  "To Thy saints, while here below,
   |  With new years new mercies come;
   |  But the happiest year they know,
   |  Is their last which leads them Home."

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.. _`TEMPTATION`:

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   TEMPTATION.

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   |  "When wounded sore the stricken heart
   |    Lies bleeding and unbound,
   |  One only Hand, a piercèd Hand,
   |    Can salve the sinner's wound."
   |                          *Mrs. Alexander.*

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What is temptation?  A good man was once
asked that question, and he said--"The border-line
between sin and holiness.  Not sin itself,
but the surroundings, the outer crust, as it were,
of sin."  And that is the best answer I can give you.

Well did the Master know what temptation
was; and in His godly wisdom He has given us
a special petition in His own Prayer against it.
"Lead us not into temptation," we continually
pray, and we often say those words thoughtlessly
and carelessly enough, but none of us ever know
how many temptations these words keep us from.
God gives us trials, and they are good for our
faith; but it has been well said, that what is a
trial in the hand of God becomes a temptation
in the hand of Satan.

You should always try and remember, when
tempted, that Jesus is near you and looking
on--that no temptation can befall you, save what He
allows.  If you call to Him for help, He will hear
you, and answer: not always to remove the
temptation, but to give you His grace and strength
to withstand it.

There is a story told of a young workman in
the Black Country, who was converted to God,
and was in consequence subjected to great
persecution from those who were employed with him
in the forge.  One day they stripped him naked,
and placed him in front of the furnace fire, while
a number of men and lads stood by using filthy
language.  They threatened to keep him there
until he swore, but he remained silent; till at
length one, in whom there was more humanity
than the rest, freed him from his tormentors.  The
clergyman happened to hear of it, and sent for
him, and asked how he felt when in that fearful
case.  "Sir," was his simple answer, "I never felt
before that Jesus was so near me as then."  Don't
you think that Christ had given that young man
a large portion of His Spirit?  Don't you think
that he was a martyr--a witness for Christ?  It
was the same, you know, with those three children
thousands of years ago at Babylon.  The great
King of Babylon had taken them captive; and
he commanded them to fall down and worship
a golden image which he had set up.  There
they were in Babylon--far from the temple, where
they used to worship God, far from their friends
and relatives.  They were only three young men
among thousands of strangers.  And after all,
would it have been so very wrong, just for once,
to fall down and worship, as the king commanded?
Yes, it would have been wrong, very wrong;
and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego knew it
would have been wrong; and so they refused.
And what was the consequence?  Why, the
names of those three heroes, for heroes they
certainly were, have been recorded in the Bible,
and translated into every language under heaven,
and to this day we hold them up as examples for
our sons to follow.

Reader, if you and I resist the devil, and
overcome temptation, there is no likelihood of our
names being written in the Bible.  No children
yet unborn will read the records of our history;
no scholar will translate the story into other
tongues.  But our names, and the account of the
temptation, and how we resisted it, will all be
written down in the Lamb's great Book of Life.
And is it not worth striving against any
temptation in order to obtain such honour?  Is it not
worth while bearing witness for Jesus, if in return
we wear the martyr's crown?  But I would have
you look higher than this.  Jesus Christ died to
save us; and should we not be grateful to Him
for that?  It is very little we can do for Him
Who has done all for us.  But we can do this.
The weakest, and the poorest, and the most sinful
among us can, when the temptation comes, put
up a prayer to Jesus to ask His gracious help.
And I know of none shorter, and certainly of
none better, than the words He Himself has
taught us--"Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil.  Amen[#]."

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[#] S. Matt. vi. 13.

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.. _`DRINK`:

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   DRINK.

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   |  "When you see a drunken sot
   |    From out the tavern reel,
   |  Be thankful for a better lot,
   |    And turn not on your heel.
   |  Go warn him of the dreadful glass,
   |    And save him, if you can;
   |  But never scorn him as you pass--
   |    Remember he's a man."
   |                          *John Burbidge.*

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Drink!  Why is it that when we speak that
word we instinctively tremble?  Is it not because
we feel that it is the great enemy of our country
and our race?  Is it not because we call to mind
strong men and women reeling under its
influences?  Neglected homes, ragged children,
and general wants rise up before our eyes at the
first mention of that word, Drink!  Have you
ever been in any of our large towns late on a
Saturday night, and watched a woman waiting
patiently outside a public house for the drunken
husband, who is spending his time and his wages
within?  Perhaps there is a babe at her breast,
and a ragged child crying at her side.  Crying! yes,
crying, because it knows that this means no
supper, no comfort, no peace.  It is an awful
sight.  I don't know any sight more sad; no not
even a weeping mother mourning her only son.

Look into the newspapers again, week after
week filled with cases of drunkenness.  A horrible
murder is committed; and if it should be peculiarly
brutal in its details, we are almost certain
to find that the murderer was drunk.  Yes, it is
drink that fills our prisons to overflowing; it
is drink that fills the mad-houses of the country;
and it is drink which indirectly taxes every single
member of the society in which we live.  Then,
again, drunkenness leads to the commission of
countless other sins.  Apart from sins committed
under the influence of drink, there are many sins
to which drink leads.  I have known a case in
which a woman, who began life with high motives
and honest intentions, being afflicted with a great
and deep sorrow, was advised by her friends to
seek consolation in drink.  The glass which she
then took led to another, and that one to another,
and so on, until to-day that woman is pronounced
by those very friends to be a hopeless and
confirmed drunkard.  As I said, before she took to
drink her character was good; now it is far
otherwise.  And I am told that so great are her
thefts, that everything in that house has to be kept
under lock and key.

Oh, don't you think that is a terrible picture
of the influence of drink?  Don't you think that
at the Day of Judgment God will blame the
friends, however kindly they may have meant it,
who first advised her to drown her grief in drink?
Reader, that is a true story.  It is no made-up
tale.  That poor woman is well known to me;
and so far as I can see, the few years more she
may have to live, and they cannot be many, must
be passed in sorrow, in suffering, and in pain.
And, unhappily, this curse of our nation does
not end in our own land.  Wherever the English
tongue is spoken, wherever the English foot
treads, there the curse follows.  From the swarthy
African, who knows the white man's "fire-water,"
which maddens his brain and dulls his senses, to
the red Indian warrior who changes the skins of
wild beasts for English gold and English spirits
on the shores of Lake Ontario, all men know of
the Englishman's curse: and knowing, learn to
dread it.

It is drink which destroys our navy and our
army alike.  It is drunkenness which saps the
strength of many of our greatest minds before
they have left the university.  And what can I
say of our country villages,--of our young men,
who year by year are growing up and beginning
for themselves the labour of life; of the boys
who, almost as soon as they leave school, learn,
in many cases, to follow the example of their
elders, and find the public house a convenient
meeting-place?

It is for the young men of England to redeem
their country's honour.  It is for every individual
soul to do battle with this mighty foe.  Let the
work be begun in our villages, in our homes, in
ourselves.  Let us be moderate in our living, in
eating and in drinking; and then, by example
rather than by precept, by deed rather than by
word, we shall have done what we could; and
when we lie down in death, it will be our comfort
to reflect that little as it was we did, and poor
and weak as were the efforts of our heart, we did
it to the Lord and not unto men.

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.. _`IDLE WORDS`:

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   IDLE WORDS.

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..

   |  "O, never say a careless word
   |    Hath not the power to pain,
   |  The shaft may ope some hidden wound
   |    That closes not again.
   |  Weigh well those light-winged messengers;
   |    God marked thy needless word,
   |  And with it, too, the falling tear,
   |    The heart-pang that it stirred."
   |                          *Anna Shipton.*

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Our Lord, in S. Matthew's Gospel, tells us
"that every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account thereof in the day of
judgment[#]."  Now there are so many forms of speech
which may be called "idle words," that I think
it would be best to consider each separately.
And so we will divide them under three heads.
\1. Needless words.  \2. Impure words.
\3. Careless words.


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[#] S. Matt. xii. 36.

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1. Now all "idle words" are needless.  You
may be sure of this, that if God had made,
as He has made, many expressions necessary to
our ordinary conversation or adapted to our daily
wants, such could never be "idle words."  I do
not mean to say, nor would I have you think by
this, that any expressions of joy or merriment,
that any of the amusing stories we hear, or any
of the ordinary conversation of life, comes under
the head of "idle words."  But what I do mean
by "idle words" and needless words is all that
we commonly call gossip.  Now gossip is quite
needless.  It is generally taken up with talk
about our neighbours; rarely, very rarely, is any
thing said in their favour--most often are their
characters blackened.  Now you know it is so
easy often to say an unkind thing of a person,
and so hard to say a kind one, that men prefer
the easier method, and the character suffers
thereby.  But would this be so, think you, if we
always remembered that for these and such like
"idle words" God would bring us into judgment?

2. Then again there are *impure words* and
swearing.  Now I daresay when you swear you
don't think of what it means.  When you turn
round upon a fellow man and curse him, it does
not occur to you that you have solemnly called
upon God to give his soul over to everlasting
damnation.  God Almighty alone can tell what
effect that curse, so carelessly spoken, may have.
I cannot and do not believe that it will affect
the soul of him *against* whom it is launched.
But I do believe, for God has told us so,
that that word, however carelessly and thoughtlessly
spoken, will one day be brought up against
the speaker, and for that and any other "idle
words" he may have spoken, he "shall give an
account in the day of judgment."

And the same is true of impure words.  They
may be said thoughtlessly, but they may yet for
all that do as much harm as if you had thought
over them before speaking.  Suppose you throw
a stone into a pond, the stone sinks and you see
it no more, and all you can see is a widening
circle spreading ever farther and farther until it
ripples at your feet upon the shore.  And this is
true of life.  You speak an impure word, or you
tell an impure tale to some of your friends, and
you go away and forget it.  But the word or the
story may have been heard by a little child
perhaps, and that word or story may be the first step
on the road to its ruin.  "For every idle word
that men shall speak, they shall give an account
in the day of judgment."

3. And what shall I say of careless words, for
they are words so often spoken even by the very
best among us?  We speak the words, and often
we regret them as soon as spoken.  But we are
too proud to recall them.  It may be that a word
which we have carelessly spoken may be remembered
years after, when we ourselves have passed
away.  Besides which, careless words, needless
words, and impure words pass upwards before
God, and He hears them and notes them down
against that day when men shall give an account
of every idle word.

   |  "By God's eternal dwelling-place,
   |    Those words went floating by,
   |  And still the echo wanders on
   |    Throughout eternity.
   |  And whispering yet within thy heart,
   |    'The still small voice' is heard,
   |  And thou shall cry, 'O God! forgive
   |    My needless bitter word!'"

Yes, reader, God may forgive the words, and will
do so, as He has promised; but, as that verse says,
"the echo wanders on throughout eternity."  And
the consequences wander on too.  And though
God may have forgiven the utterance of the word,
yet since it was idly spoken, you will have to
"give an account thereof at the day of judgment."

It has been said, that the words spoken here
"wander on" through eternity, and that we shall
one day confront again the words which we have
spoken in the flesh.  How careful then ought we
to be of every idle word!  How particular that
none escape us!  For think of the torment it will
be to the purified soul to meet in the everlasting
city with the echoes--even though they be but
the last dying echoes--of the idle words which
the lips have spoken on earth.

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.. _`EXCUSES`:

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   EXCUSES.

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..

   |  "Make not vain excuses;
   |  God gives strength to all,
   |  Sets His guardian angels
   |  Round us, lest we fall.

   |  In the hour of trial
   |  Call upon thy Lord,
   |  Fight thy battle bravely,
   |  Think upon His Word,

   |  'I will never leave thee,
   |  I am ever near,
   |  In My strength go forward,
   |  Cast away all fear.'"
   |                  *E.C.O.*

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How natural it seems to make excuses.  If
we are found fault with, we have an excuse ready
to our tongue.  If we have to confess that we
have been in the wrong, we do so with an
excuse.  Ever since the day when Adam and Eve
fled from their Maker's Presence in the Garden
of Eden, ever since Adam spoke those first words
of excuse, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat,"
ever since then man has made one excuse after
another, until excuses come so readily that it is
difficult to speak without making one.  We are all
of us very fond of trying to shift the blame from
our own shoulders on to those of others.  If a
railway accident takes place, it is most difficult to
find out who is to blame for it.  If an army is
cut to pieces in battle, the blame is generally laid
upon the dead.  But if a praiseworthy action is
done, and men talk about it, and it gets reported
in the newspapers, there are always plenty of
people quite ready to come forward and lay claim
to having done the brave deed.  And what is
true of our earthly life, the life of the body, is true
also of the life of the soul.  When we fall into
sin, when we come on our knees to confess the
sin to Almighty God, how very often the
confession is spoilt by excuses.  Just as Adam laid
the blame on Eve, and Eve in her turn blamed
the Serpent, so we lay the blame on somebody
else, and expect God will accept our excuses.

Now there are so many excuses that the devil
teaches men, that it would be quite impossible
for me to deal with nearly all of them; but
there are one or two of the commonest, against
which I can put you on your guard.

One of the excuses most frequently made for
not coming to Christ is, "I am not good
enough."  Reader, which of us would be good enough for
Christ, if He required us to be perfect?  But He
wants us to come just as we are, to come with
our sins, and lay them upon Him, Who bore
them long ago "in His own body on the tree."

I have read of an artist who wanted to paint a
picture of the Prodigal Son.  He searched through
the mad-houses, and work-houses, and prisons, to
find a man wretched enough to represent the
Prodigal, but he could not find one.  One day
he was walking down the street and he met a
beggar; he thought the man would do, and he
told him he would pay him well, if he would
come to his room, and sit for his picture.  The
day came, and the man appeared at the artist's
door, and reminded him of his appointment with
him.  But the artist looked at him and said,
"No, I have never seen you before.  I made an
appointment with a ragged beggar, not with you."  But
the man persisted, and named the place where
they had first met; so the artist asked him what
he had been doing.  "Well," answered the beggar,
"I thought I would dress myself up a bit before I
got painted."  "Then," said the artist, "I do not
want you; I wanted you *as you were, not as you
are now*."  And, reader, Christ wants *you as you
are*, when He first meets you.  Without excuses,
poor, sinful, and miserable; a broken and a
contrite heart He will not despise.

   |  "I came to Jesus as I was,
   |  Weary, and worn, and sad;
   |  I found in Him a resting-place,
   |  And He has made me glad."
   |

Another very common excuse is, "There is no
hurry."  Men, and especially young men, think,
"Oh!  I've got life before me, why shouldn't I
amuse myself a bit now? and then, when I'm old,
too old for amusement, I'll give the days of my
life to God."  I have heard a story, that on one
occasion Satan gathered his wicked spirits
together, and they took counsel as to how they
could best ruin mankind.  And some said one
thing and some another.  One, for instance, stood
up and said, "I'll go and tell them that there's
no God."  But Satan said, "No, that won't do;
it's too old a story; it has been tried and failed."  And
another rose up and said, "I'll go and persuade
them that the Bible is not true."  And
Satan replied again, "No, that won't do either;
you might persuade a few, but you would not
convince many.  But," he added, "I'll tell you
what to do, go and tell them that there's no
hurry, they'll all believe that."  And from that
day to this Satan has been telling us that there's
no hurry, and we all *do believe that*.  Yes, the
very best of us and the very wisest, as well as the
worst and most ignorant, still think that there's
no hurry.  Morning after morning the sun rises,
and every evening he sinks beyond the distant
hills.  Year by year, spring follows winter, and
summer follows spring.  Every year we gather
in a new harvest, and then the winter evenings
are with us once more; and because these things
come so regularly and so naturally, we are apt to
think that there's no hurry.

Reader, if you are still persuading yourself that
there's no hurry *for you*, make the excuse no
longer.  Jesus invites you, saying, "Come unto
Me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I
will give you rest."  God's ministers invite you,
preaching the Gospel of the Blessed God.  The
open church and the pealing bells invite you,
"the gay green earth" and the open sky, the
birds and beasts, all these invite you to look
at them, in and beyond them, to their Maker's love.

I wish I had time to say more about these
excuses.  They are as numerous as the grains of
sand on the seashore.  But I suppose if I did
exhaust them all, Satan would be quite ready to
give you fresh ones.

God "willeth not the death of a sinner, but
rather that he should turn from his wickedness
and *live*."  Oh! think of that joyful life,
immortal, everlasting, around the throne of Christ.
Think of your dear friends who have gone before;
think, it may be, of the pious mother, who first
taught your infant lips to say "Our Father,
which art in heaven."  And she, too, is there!
And then, reader, think of the punishment of
sin; there's no escape from that!  Our Lord
Himself has told us what that will be--"Cast ye
the unprofitable servant into outer darkness;
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 30.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`POVERTY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   POVERTY.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "God sends us poverty or wealth,
   |    Whichever He thinks best;
   |  The best for earthly warfare here--
   |    The best for heavenly rest.
   |  If God has sent you wealth, it is
   |    Not yours, but only lent.
   |  If He has sent you poverty,
   |    Then learn to be content."
   |                          *R.D.*

.. vspace:: 2

One of the questions, which men have wasted
many weary hours in trying to answer, is the
question of the uneven division of wealth in the
world.  Great men and clever men have tried,
and all alike have failed; nay, some have gone
further, and have declared that since an unseen
Being has divided wealth so unevenly, it is for
them to redistribute it.  And these, too, have
failed.  And I suppose as long as the world lasts
we shall never have an answer to the question--How
is it that one man in this world is so rich
that he really does not know what to do with his
money: he buys horses and carriages, and stocks
his house with lovely and costly treasures, and
with wrought silver and gold?  And how is it,
on the other hand, that a man, living perhaps at
the rich man's very gates, a man as religious, as
honest, as straightforward as he, how is it that he
must needs rise early and go late to rest to gain
his daily bread?  How is it that sometimes even
with all his daily toil he feels an anxiety quite
unknown to the other, as to where the next meal
is to come from?  Can you answer that question?
I think not!  And, reader, you are not alone in
your ignorance; for I have never heard of anybody
yet who could give any cause for this uneven
division of wealth.

No, of all God's gifts to men, none are so
unevenly distributed; and none cause so much
bitterness between men, as His gift of riches.  The
great thing then to remember is, first, that both
poverty and wealth come from Almighty God.
If we have riches, God has given them, not to use
them selfishly for our own purposes, but in order
to benefit other people.  While, if we are poor in
this world's goods, we may be rich in heavenly
treasure, and still look upon our poverty as the
gift of God.  "But," you may say, "it is all very
well for you, with everything you can want, to
talk to us about poverty being a blessed state, and
a gift of God, but you can't know anything of
the troubles of poverty."  Now, there may be
and there are certain troubles which a poor man
necessarily feels, and which a rich man does not,
and these of course I don't pretend to know.
There may be moments in your life, in which you
feel that God has forgotten you, that starvation
must be very near!  But do remember that God
never *forgets* His people.  He never fails to help
and govern those He has brought up in His
steadfast fear and love.  The same kind providence
watches the poor man's humble cottage and the
royal throne.  The same God will mark what is
done amiss in both cases, and will most surely
punish it.

Our Lord and His Apostles were poor working
men.  He had made all men, and had only to
speak the word, and the kings of the earth would
gladly have flocked in eager to be His disciples;
but no, He passes over all these, and He goes
down to the seashore, and He finds some plain
fishermen mending their nets, He bids them follow
Him; and, just as if it was the most natural thing
in the world, they get up, and leave behind them
their few earthly possessions (probably little else
than fishing-tackle), and they follow Him without
delay.  They know well that they are going after
a poor man, but they never think of the poverty.
They know that theirs will be no bed of down,
when the toils of day are over, for He whom they
follow has "not where to lay His head[#]."  They
know that the man they are following has no
earthly home, and that when they leave their
father and the ship, they leave all that they have
and all they will ever have on earth.  I wonder,
reader, if you have ever thought of these Apostles
of Jesus leaving *all* to follow Him, and of their
reason for doing so.  And what was the reason--was
it hope of worldly honour?  I think not; if
so they would very soon have been bitterly
deceived.  Or was it, think you, to have their names
and history written down in the Bible, that all
men might read of their self-denial?  I hardly
think that likely, for when they started to follow
Jesus, they knew but little of Him, and nothing
at all of a Bible, in which their names should
appear.  No, what these Apostles had is what
we want so much, rich and poor alike.  God's
great gift of *faith*.  Faith to believe God, as
Abraham believed Him.  Faith to take Christ
at His word, as the Apostles did.  Faith here,
which shall guide us through this world of sin,
and land us, whether rich or poor, on the eternal
shore beyond it.  To us, then, poverty or wealth
alike would come as God's gifts, and we should
thankfully accept them as such, and we should no
longer complain of our hard lot and our little
grievances, but should think more of Christ, and
less of ourselves--more of His riches, and less of
our poverty.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. viii. 20.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`OUT OF WORK`:

.. class:: center large bold

   OUT OF WORK.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Be it good or ill,
   |  Be it what you will,
   |  It must help me on my road,
   |  My rugged way to Heaven, please God."
   |                            *C. Rossetti.*

.. vspace:: 2

As this book is written specially for working
men, it could hardly be complete without a few
words on the above heading.

Now I am not going to enter into the question
of why it is that so many people are constantly
out of work.  In some cases, it may be the fault
of the master: in some cases, that of the men.
There may be, again, hard times in which it is
difficult to get work, and for some perhaps quite
impossible.  But what I want to do is to offer a
few kindly words of advice to such as may be out
of work.  And, first of all, if you have ever been so,
you must have felt, and I hope have felt keenly,
the blessing of practising habits of saving.  We
all know what is meant by putting aside
something against a rainy day; and those of us to
whom the rainy day of wanting work has come,
have probably had cause to regret a good deal of
wasted money, spent in the public house, before
that evil day came.  We have felt that if we had
kept the money we had wasted in this way, it
would have greatly helped in keeping the wolf
away from the door.

But the great point for Christian men to
remember is that whether they are out of work or
not in a worldly sense, they are always, or ought
always to be hard at work in a heavenly sense.
If we are out of work, it may be our master's
fault, or it may be our own.  But if we are out
of work for Christ it is never His fault, and so it
must always be ours.  Our work for Jesus begins
as soon as we enter this world, and ceases not
till we leave it.  If you were to go to a far-off
country, where there was no other human being
near you, you would still have to be working for
Jesus.  There is always the battle with self, the
daily self-denials, the oft-repeated doubts to be
silenced; and this we shall find quite enough
work for us to do.  Each Christian has his own
separate work to do for God; and we may be
quite sure of this, that God will not take us out
of this world until that work be done.  Some
time ago, in an English dockyard, a great ship was
to be launched.  An immense multitude of people
came to see it glide down the slides that were to
carry it into the water.  The blocks and wedges
were knocked away; but the massive hull did
not stir.  Just then a little boy ran forward, and
began to push the ship with all his might.  The
crowd broke out into a laugh of ridicule; but it so
happened that the vessel was just ready to move;
the little push the boy gave it was all that was
needed to start it, and away it went into the
water.

Now we have each of us got some work to do
for the Master.  It may be great, or it may be
small; but if we will but look for it, there it is.
It may be our business to speak a word to a
friend who is living in sin, or it may be we
may have to speak to multitudes.  It is certain
that we all have to set a good example, and to
live a Christian life.  Yes, even when we are out
of work, we can show that we are working for the
Master.  We can try and be content with our
hard lot, and God only knows how very hard that
lot sometimes is.  We can refrain from speaking
against our employer, or saying anything unjust
or untrue of him.  You know it is always easier
to say an unkind word, or to think a hard thought
of one who has done us harm, than to speak or
think kindly of him; and because it is easier we
generally do so.  You may say this is but natural.
So it is.  But there are a great many things
which come quite naturally to us, which are
wrong, and forbidden in the Bible; and if we
would go to heaven, nay more, if we would
please God, we must deny ourselves in some of
these very things which come so naturally to us.
And do remember, reader, that though masters
may be, and certainly often are unkind to their
servants, and unfaithful to their trust, it is not
for us to judge them.  God has told us that
vengeance is His, and He will repay.  Masters
and men alike have hard times: and though the
masters may have more money, they have more
calls upon their purse and heavier expenses than
the poor.  For failing crops do make hard times
for the farmers, and loss of wealth means hard
times for the merchant, just as hard in its own
way as any the poor have to suffer when they
are out of work.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`DISCONTENT`:

.. class:: center large bold

   DISCONTENT.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Some murmur if their sky is clear
   |  And wholly bright to view,
   |  If one small speck of dark appear
   |  In their bright Heaven of blue;
   |  And some, with deepest love are filled
   |  If but one ray of light,
   |  One star of God's good mercy gild
   |  The blackness of their night."
   |                                  *Trench.*

.. vspace:: 2

Discontent in any form, and among any
class of people, is indeed a disagreeable, and a
wicked thing.  It is disagreeable, because it
makes one's neighbours uncomfortable.  It is
wicked, because it is a sin against God.  It is
bad enough and wrong enough when we find it
amongst the poor.  It is worse than wrong when
we meet with it among the rich.  "Godliness with
contentment is great gain[#];" and so often do
these two go hand in hand, that they have come
to be looked upon as almost inseparable.  A
discontented man is always an unhappy one, and we
may say, too, generally manages to render those
about him unhappy.  We have given us in the
Bible, for our warning, an example of discontent
in the person of Jonah.  Jonah, as you will
remember, was sent to a city called Nineveh, to
warn its sinful inhabitants of the wrath of God.
So he went, and preached throughout her streets
that after forty days the city should be overthrown.
But, contrary to the expectation of Jonah, the King
of Nineveh and his people humbled themselves
before God, and repented of their evil ways.
And Almighty God, with that forbearing love
which He is wont to show to His repentant
children, heard the prayer of the people of Nineveh,
and they and their city were saved.  But, strange
as it may seem to us, this forbearance "displeased
Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry[#]."  He
was angry because Nineveh was saved, and
because it seemed to him that his was now a false
position.  And so this discontented man went
out of the city, and there he made himself a booth,
or tent, to keep off the hot rays of the noonday
sun, and he wished that he might die.  And then
Almighty God taught Jonah a lesson--such a
lesson as it would be well for each one of us to
learn.  He caused a gourd to grow, to ward off
the heat from Jonah; and when Jonah began to
be glad because of this tree, God sent a worm to
its roots, and one after another the leaves fell off,
and the tree died; and discontent again
prevailed in Jonah's heart.  Then God called him,
and said, "Thou hast had pity on the gourd for
the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest
it grow; and should not I spare Nineveh, wherein
are more than six score thousand persons, that
cannot discern between their right hand and
their left[#]?"  How many houses there are in
England, which would be happy ones were it not
for this demon form of discontent.  How many
families have been made wretched, and homes
broken up, all through discontent.  There are
people, who enjoy the best of health, the fruits of
the earth in their season, and many other gifts of
God Almighty's providence, and who yet amongst
it all lack His great gift of contentment.  And
there are others who lie upon beds of sickness,
or beds of pain, in our crowded hospitals,
or in loathsome dens in the back streets of our
great cities, and these have that gift of contentment
which the world never gave them, and can
never take away.  There are little children, who
play happily and contentedly in our great
thoroughfares, who have never seen a country
lane, a cornfield, or wild flower.  And there are
many grown-up people, to whom these are sights
of every day, and who fail to recognise the hand
of the great Giver.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] 1 Tim. vi. 6.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Jonah iv. 1.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Jonah iv. 11.

.. vspace:: 2

The dew of heaven only falls on those parts of
the earth which most need it--gardens, grasslands,
and cornfields.  Little, if any, is wasted on
the barren rocks, or on the unthankful sea.  So,
too, is it with contentment.  God does not lavish
it where it will not be gratefully and thankfully
received; but where few of His good things
come, in hospitals, in orphanages, and very often
among the poorest of the poor, there He rains
down His great gift in rich abundance, that all
men who see it may wonder, and thank the
great Giver of all.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`"I WANT TO BETTER MYSELF"`:

.. class:: center large bold

   "I WANT TO BETTER MYSELF."

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "We've no abiding city here:
   |    This may distress the worldling's mind,
   |  But should not cost the saint a tear,
   |    Who hopes a better rest to find."
   |                                  *Kelly.*

.. vspace:: 2

"I want to better myself!"  How often we
hear those words.  A man has a very comfortable
place, he has a kind master, a good home,
pleasant companions, and yet he throws up
everything and makes a fresh start in a new place, and
all because he says he wants to better himself.
Now I am not going to say one word against
a man's trying to better himself.  Not only is
there no harm in it, but it is everybody's duty
to try and do so as far as he can.  But I hope
to shew you, before you put down this book, that
there is more than one way of bettering
yourself; that it is quite possible to change your
place, and to get more money by the change,
and yet not to better yourself at all.  Do try,
first of all, to get out of your head the idea that
money is the great thing.  It is not.  It is, of
course, necessary to have money, but it is not
good for any body to have too much.  You
generally find that an increase of wages means
fresh disappointment, while if a man has just
enough to live on he learns to be content.  Oh!
I know it is the same with all classes.  The rich
are quite as bad as the poor; nobody ever has enough.

Now undoubtedly the first thing we ought to
look out for, though very few do so, when
trying to better ourselves, is a greater opportunity
of practising our religion.  Ask yourself the
question, "In changing my village, am I likely to be
any nearer to my God?  Shall I read my Bible
more often?  Shall I get more time for prayer?"  Be
sure that the time thus spent in the service
and worship of Almighty God will not be wasted,
for He will make it good.

Again, another question to ask is, "Shall I
find as comfortable a home, and as nice
companions, as I have here?"  For, I trust, we all
know the influence companions have upon each
other.  Man was never made to be alone always,
and therefore it is most necessary that his
companions should be good and pleasant men.  And
who can rightly estimate the value of a good
home.  A place to which a man can go at night,
instead of the public-house.  A place to which
the angels love to come, and bring down stores
of happiness from the presence of God.

And then there is one way more in which a
man may better himself; and that is what most
people put first instead of last on the list; I mean,
by money.

Your wages may not be sufficiently high, and
you may know of a place where they are higher.
But don't be deceived by the pay given for work
being higher, for other things may be higher too.
For instance, in some country places the wages
are twelve shillings a week, while in London
they may be one pound.  But in London, clothes
are dearer, and you would want more of them.
Lodgings are dearer and harder to get, and, reader,
people are harder too!

But perhaps you will say, "How is it that so
many men leave their work in a place to better
themselves, and return without having bettered
themselves at all?"  The answer to that question is
plain and simple enough.  They thought it was only
a question of money, and they looked no further,
and so failed.  But if you really wish to better
yourself, ask yourself the questions I have asked
above, and don't be satisfied until you get an
answer.  Ask God to help you to better yourself,
and He certainly will help you to do so.  If He
sees it would be good for you, He will allow you
to better yourself in this world; and if not, then
He will take you away, in His own good time,
that you may better yourself in the world to come.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`MASTERS AND MEN`:

.. class:: center large bold

   MASTERS AND MEN.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "God has given each his station,
   |    Some have riches and high place,
   |  Some have lowly homes and labour,
   |    *All* may have His precious grace.

   |  And God loveth all His children,
   |    Rich and poor, and high and low,
   |  And they all shall meet in heaven,
   |    Who have served Him here below."
   |                              *Mrs. Alexander.*

.. vspace:: 2

Now I want to say a few plain words about
the relations of masters and men to each other.
In these days of unhappy differences between
them, days of constant strikes and lock-outs, it is
surely not out of place to say a few words in the
interests of peace.  There have no doubt been
faults on the side of the masters, and no doubt
faults too on that of the men.  All alike are
human, and as such are open to make mistakes,
and very often the mistakes they make are
difficult to correct.  There is no doubt that the
old spirit of familiar intercourse between masters
and men has passed away.  Days when the master
was indeed a father to his people, and when all his
workmen loved him, and honoured him as such.
Those days and that spirit have gone from
amongst us.  In the country among the farmers
we have a different class of men altogether.  In
towns the employers of labour are different
too.  The labouring class have changed and are
changing still.  Working men in the country
change their work much oftener than they used
to.  But there are certain golden rules which, if
carefully followed in spite of all changes, may
still be of use to masters and men.  And, first,
there is the grand old rule of "give and take"
(the bear and forbear of scripture); without this
no society can hold together, no two classes can
live together in unity.  Masters must always give
their men the benefit of a doubt in all cases, and
the men on their part must always be ready to
acknowledge that their master wishes to act justly
and fairly towards them.

Another golden rule is always to be ready to
receive and gratefully acknowledge kindness.
And this too applies quite as much to the master
as to his men.  The man who, passing by his
master's hayfield, finds that cattle have got in
and drives them out, does his master service.
And the master who knowing of it does not
acknowledge the service, deserves most richly to
lose his crop.  And the man who in time of
sickness receives from his master wine or other
necessaries, and does not gratefully thank him
for the same, deserves to lose his place for his
ingratitude.

I have spoken in another chapter of civil
speaking.  Nowhere is it more needful than in the
dealings of masters and men.  If a master speaks
uncivilly, or harshly, or unkindly to his men, how
dare he expect that they will care to speak civilly
in return?  And if the men do not speak civilly
to their master, it is certain he won't care to hold
much conversation with them.  But, above all, if
you would know the right and proper relations
between masters and men, you can't find it better
put than in the Bible.  There, either in the
dealings of Christ with His Apostles, or in the
epistles of St. Paul and St. James (notably in the
sixth chapter of Ephesians), you will find a fit
example for you to copy in your daily life.
St. Paul warns the Ephesians against eye service.
And is there any more necessary caution than
that in these days.  Men are so apt--we are all
so apt--to slur over our work, to do it carelessly,
that we need to be cautioned that all work is
hallowed, and is done to the Lord.  And the
masters too will find a word for them.  They are
warned against threatening their servants, or
speaking harshly to them, for they too have a
Master in heaven, Who will one day be their Judge.

If you are a master, an employer of labour, then
remember that poor folks have their troubles.
They may not be your troubles, and you may not
understand them; but oh, do speak kindly and, if
you can, feelingly.  There are some poor fellows
working on our English farms and in our large
warehouses who have never known what a kind
word meant; whose earliest recollections carry
them back to an ill-tempered mother, or a
drunken father, and to them a kind word would
be a comfort indeed.

And if you have to toil, reader, in the sweat of
your brow for your daily bread, remember that
your master has his troubles too.  Failing crops
or losses in business tell upon his purse, and
sometimes on his temper, and then perhaps he may
speak harshly.  But it will soon be over; all the
work, all the angry words, all the sorrow, and
the great Master Himself shall enter the
harvest-field, and the golden sheaves shall bow before
Him, as they did in Joseph's dream, "for that
harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers
are the angels."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`FORGIVENESS OF OTHERS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   FORGIVENESS OF OTHERS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Oh! never bear malice, 'twill poison the breast,
   |  The storm is all over, then, there let it rest.
   |  The hot word of rage has been truly unkind,
   |  But the sting of deep sorrow may linger behind.
   |  'Twere better to yield than for ever be foes,
   |  One look of compassion strikes harder than blows;
   |  'Tis human to injure--to wound--or to threat,
   |  But oh! 'tis divine to forgive and forget."
   |                                        *J. Burbidge.*

.. vspace:: 2

In that beautiful prayer which our blessed Lord
left to His disciples, we have amongst other
petitions, one especially directed to the forgiveness
of sin.  We ask God to forgive us what we
have done amiss against Him, and call Him to
witness that we forgive our brother who has
sinned against us.  "Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us."  You
see it is as much as saying to God, that we
*don't* want Him to forgive us, *unless* He sees
that we have freely forgiven any who may have
sinned against us.  Now it is very much easier,
is it not, to speak an angry word, or to think an
unkind thought of anyone who has offended us?
It may be they have not even *sinned* against us.
Perhaps they have said something about us which
in our hearts we know to be quite true, only we
don't want the neighbours to know it, and so we
pretend it is false; and we pretend to think we
have been injured, and that we have something
to forgive.  And many of us I fear go farther
still and refuse to bestow forgiveness at all.  I
have known forgiveness withheld from people for
the smallest reasons.  A family have not received
the pew in church they wanted, or their name
has been omitted by mistake from a dinner list,
or they were forgotten in a Christmas charity, or
something of the kind.  And for such trifles as
these they blame the clergyman generally,
forgetting that his parish work may have taken up
his time, and so the mistake may have arisen.
And yet these people are nothing loth to kneel
before their Father in Heaven, and with this
unforgiven trespass on their hearts they pray,
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them
that trespass against us."

Perhaps you may say, "I don't see that it
matters much to people whether I forgive them
or not.  I am but a poor man, and my love or
my hatred can't make much difference to them."  But
reader, I answer, whether your friend be rich
or poor, if he be a true friend, it will always
make the greatest difference to him, if he have
done you hurt, whether he have your forgiveness
or no.  And more than this, it matters very much
indeed to Him who has said, "If ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly
Father forgive you your trespasses."  And just
think what an awful feeling it would be for you,
if you heard that a person with whom you had a
quarrel, had died suddenly, and carried the sense
of his unforgiven trespass into the world to come.

A short time ago in the South of England
there lived two friends.  They were always
together; they loved each other, and could not
bear to be apart.  For a long while, the greater
part of a lifetime, this friendship continued, and
as they were both religious men, their friendship
was blessed and strengthened by Almighty God.
But after a while it pleased God to try their love
for each other, and like the dead fly in the
ointment, or the worm at the root of Jonah's gourd,
he sent a slight cause of disagreement between
them.  So slight a matter was it that it was
difficult to say which of the two was to blame,
but it was sufficient to come between them.
And so little by little a coldness arose, each
being too proud to say he was in the wrong,
until the coldness ripened into anger, and so
they separated.  For some years they lived apart,
hearing nothing of each other, until one morning
when one of them was reading the newspaper,
he found the report of his friend's death.  So
sudden and unexpected was it that it took him
quite by surprise, and he never recovered the
shock.  Night and day he kept thinking of years
gone by, when they were firm friends, and then
he would remember the evil day when their
disagreement took place, and then came death!

Reader, if you have been living, or are living
in enmity with anyone, go *at once* and ask their
pardon, or if necessary grant it.  So shall you
pray with some hope of acceptance the oft-repeated
words, and show not only with your lips, but in
your life, that you really mean what you say when
you pray, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive them that trespass against us."

   |  "Then forgive and forget!--'tis a rule of such worth,
   |  That 'twould scatter rich blessings all over the earth;
   |  Turn deserts to gardens of beauty and peace,
   |  And bid half the storms of contention to cease.
   |  As we act to ourselves, we should act to another,
   |  And look on each man that we meet as a brother,
   |  In hope that when nature lays claim to her debt,
   |  Our God will in mercy forgive and forget."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HARD WORK`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HARD WORK.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Work is sweet, for God hath blest
   |  Honest work with quiet rest--
   |  Rest below, and rest above,
   |  In the mansions of His love,
   |  When the work of life is done,
   |  When the battle's fought and won.

   |  Working ere the day is gone,
   |  Working till your work is done:
   |  Not the work that pain imparts,
   |  But the work of honest hearts;
   |  Working till your spirits rest
   |  With the spirits of the blest."
   |                              *Anon.*

.. vspace:: 2

I have spoken so often in these passages already
on the subject of work, that but little remains to
be said.  And yet there are so many kinds of
work, and hard work too, that we can do on earth,
that it seems as though we could never get to the
end of them.  There are, for instance, home work,
warfare work, praying work, and a great many
other kinds of work, of which it would take
too long to speak now.  Of some of these I have
spoken already in this book, but I want to say a
few words about *warfare work* in this chapter.

Warfare work is perhaps the hardest kind of
work of all, because it is work of the spirit.
It is a work that must be always going on,
while we live here; so long as Satan lives
to tempt man to sin, man must war against
it.  In the sixth chapter of S. John we read
in the 28th verse, "Jesus said unto them, this
is the work of God that ye believe on Him,
whom He hath sent."  It is no easy thing to
believe; nay, it is very hard to believe simply
in Jesus Christ; and yet in the above passage He
Himself speaks of it as the work of all others,
which is to be done for God.  When our hearts
get crusted over with sin and selfishness, it is no
easy matter to take again the heart of a little child
and simply believe our Father's word; and yet
this is needful work for His children.

But besides this inner struggle, there is another
that affects more our outward life.  All have a
besetting sin to fight against--drunkenness, lust,
or such like.  Very different, however, are the
ways in which this warfare is waged.  Some
struggle because they can't help it, and are like
"the dumb driven cattle"; others are so feeble
that they soon

   |  "By the roadside fall and perish,
   |  Weary with the march of life."

Others try to conceal, even from themselves, that
they have a conflict to maintain.  It is the
Christian only, who going forth in the strength of
Another, can hope to work joyfully and successfully.

And now having said thus much about warfare
work, let me add a few words about everyday
labour, by giving a few hints to those who may
be doing hard work.  First, then, *be punctual*.
Time is a gift from God.  And if we choose to
mislay our own portion, we have no right to take
that of those around us.  Just look, for instance, at
a case which happens almost daily.  A man starts
to go on a long journey.  Say, if you will, he is
going to Manchester.  His train is so timed, that
he reckons it will arrive in London half-an-hour
before the departure of the Manchester train.  In
that half-hour, he will have to collect his luggage,
and cross London.  The train arrives in London
ten minutes late, the man misses the train for
Manchester by five minutes.  It may make a
difference to him, all through his life, that he
missed that train.  And so you see the need of
punctuality.  Secondly, *be thorough*.  "Whatsoever
thine hand findeth to do, do it *with thy might*."  Do
not try and do more than you are able; but
what you do, do well.  It is better to do one thing
well, than half-a-dozen badly.  There is nothing
too small to be done thoroughly--no work so
unimportant, that you can say, "It doesn't matter
*how* I do it."  And this thorough spirit, you will
find, will prevent your delaying doing your work.
You won't wish to put off till to-morrow what
can be done to-day.

Thirdly, *be straightforward*; never mind
anybody seeing *how* you work.  Never do evil that
good may come.  The devil has so much power
over the mind of man that he will readily suggest
the evil, but he will keep back the good which
might follow.  The Christian's road is the straight
road, where none can lose their way.  Any duty
that has to be done secretly is not duty at all, but
a sham!  The truths that must be made pleasant
by worldly methods will lose their truthfulness,
and fail of their effect.

Fourthly, *be patient*; God doesn't care about
your success, He looks upon the unwearied arm,
the patient heart.  If you measure your work by
that of others you will grow impatient, for in
many cases they may seem to do much more, and
to succeed much better than you.  Be patient
when your employer speaks sharply to you.  It
may not be deserved; it may be he blames you
where he should blame someone else; never
mind, be patient.  "If ye do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners
also do even the same.  But love ye your enemies,
and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again;
and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be
the children of the Highest, for He is kind unto
the unthankful and to the evil[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Luke vi. 35.

.. vspace:: 2

Lastly, reader, *be spiritually minded*.  Never
let work of any kind interfere with the worship of
God.  Remember, He is your Father and your
Friend, as well as "the great Work-master."  If
we are to work hard in our earthly business, it
must, if it is to prosper, be softened and mingled
with our heavenly work; that so "passing through
things temporal we finally lose not the things
eternal."

And then after work comes rest!  The body, so
worn with sickness, so faint with toil, so weary
with fatigue, will enjoy its rest.  Nor will it rest
merely in the green "sleeping-place," which has
been beautifully called "God's acre," beside the
quiet river, or by the ancient church; but it shall
rise to take an active part in the great hereafter
of the sons of God.  And who shall dare describe
to us the rest of the troubled spirit in the
Father's house?  Who shall tell us of its wanderings,
its joys, its occupations?  It is enough for
us to know that "there remaineth a rest to the
people of God[#]."  A rest we cannot understand,
we must not seek to know, until that day, when
we shall find ourselves in that heavenly presence,
"where the wicked cease from troubling, and the
weary are at rest[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Heb. iv. 9.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Job iii. 17.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`COURTSHIP`:

.. class:: center large bold

   COURTSHIP.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Still in the pure espousal
   |  Of Christian man and maid:
   |  The Holy Three are with us,
   |  The threefold grace is said.

   |  For dower of blessed children,
   |  For love and faith's sweet sake,
   |  For high mysterious union,
   |  Which nought on earth may break."
   |                              *Keble.*

.. vspace:: 2

As this book is intended especially for young
men, it would manifestly be incomplete if I were
to avoid any subjects upon which young men were
likely to need assistance.  And so now I propose
to say a few plain words upon courtship.  I know
that this is what is called a delicate subject, and
I know too that any words from a stranger upon
this subject must be both carefully and thoughtfully
spoken, if they are to find acceptance.  Now
courtship, like almost everything else, is open to
abuse; and, like very nearly everything else too,
it very often is abused.  It is often made a
pretext for impure conversation and indecent
liberties.  Have you any right to expect that any
marriage, however suitable the match may be in
other ways, if it follows such a courtship as this,
will be blessed by the Almighty, and happy in the end?

Courtship is almost as old as the world.  It
is the same in all countries, wherever man is
found there courtship exists, in some form or
other.  But though courtship is a necessary step
to married life, yet it is by no means necessary
that it should be made an excuse for indulging in
impure and filthy conversation.  Young men and
young women should remember that wherever
they are, and whatever they may be doing,
whether it be work or amusement, they have a
duty to perform as Christians which must come
before all other duties whatsoever.  I know it is
hard for young men, living in country villages,
and continually indulging in what is called "free
talk," to keep such guard over their lips, as to
prevent anything passing but what is strictly
pure and right.  But it must be done; for, as I
said just now, if the marriage is to have God's
blessing, (and what marriage can be really happy
without it?) then the courtship must be free
from sin.

Many young men, again, think it no harm to
keep company with a young woman--to walk with
her, as they say--without ever having any serious
thoughts of marrying her at all.  Now, this again,
is wrong--all wrong.  It is one of the links in
the devil's chain, with which he seeks to bind
the souls for whom Christ died.  It is one of
the many ways by which he tries to draw souls
into his net by teaching them to do wrong, all
the while pretending that there is no harm.
Therefore, my advice is, don't keep company
with any young woman you do not mean to
marry in the end.

And now one word upon the choice of a
wife, for this is most important.  I do not
think a man can be too careful in this
respect if he wishes to have a happy home.  And
this is one of the great benefits of courtship--it
enables a man to get an insight into the
character of her whom he intends to make his
wife.  Now, of course, there are always many
things which must be left to the man to choose
for himself; and different people will choose
very differently.  But there are, I think, certain
qualities which, if they were to be found oftener
in wives, would completely change the tone of
many of our English homes.  Such qualities are
good-temper, cleanliness, cheerfulness, patience,
contentment, and love.  I might name many
more, but I have no time to speak of them now.
But though at first sight it may seem strange, the
qualities which I have named above are those we
most rarely meet with.

But, above all things, it is essential that a man
should have a godly wife, first for his own sake,
then for his children's.  One who will look upon
prosperity as the gift of a kind Father, Who thinks
of the happiness of His children; and upon
adversity, if it come, as part of a necessary
discipline, sent by the same loving Friend.  Then
the man may confidently and hopefully take such
an one to be his wedded wife, "to love her,
comfort her, honour, and keep her in sickness and in
health; and, forsaking all other[#]," keep himself
only unto her, so long as both shall live.  And
then when the weary days of sickness, or the
solemn hour of dying shall come to him, the wife
will be there to nurse the sick, or close the dying
eyes, and to whisper words of comfort to the departing soul.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Marriage Service.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`MARRIAGE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   MARRIAGE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Husband dear, 'twas your loving hand
   |  Showed the way to that better land,
   |  Oh! how often you cheered me then;
   |  'Things will be better, dear wife, again.'

   |  Hand in hand, when life was May,
   |  Hand in hand now our hair is grey,
   |  Shadow and sun for every one,
   |  As the years roll on.

   |  Hand in hand, when the long night-tide
   |  Gently covers us, side by side,
   |  We will trust, though we know not when,
   |  God will be with us for ever then!"

.. vspace:: 2

Before entering on this great and solemn
step in life, every man should read through the
service in the Prayer Book for the solemnization
of matrimony.  Therein you will see with what
awe and reverence it is spoken of, as a thing
"not to be undertaken lightly, but reverently,
discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear of
God[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Marriage Service.

.. vspace:: 2

You will find that it was ordained for the
mutual society, help, and comfort of the man
and woman, that they ought each to receive from
each other both in prosperity and adversity.
Each man and woman is solemnly reminded of
"the dreadful day of judgment," when "the
secrets of all hearts will be disclosed[#]."  Could
any words be more solemn, or full of warning?
And yet how many enter upon marriage with but
little thought of the solemn vow they then take
before God.  And this, I think, is quite sufficient
to account for the unhappy results of so many
marriages; for the bitterness and quarrels
between husband and wife, and the frequent
applications for divorce.  I have already spoken of
how careful you ought to be in making choice of
a wife during the days of courtship.  Many men
are taken with a pretty face, or a fine dress, or a
bright, cheery manner; but unless there is a good,
honest, God-fearing heart underneath, you may
be sure you will not be happy with her when
trials and troubles come, as come they surely
must into the lives of each of us.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Marriage Service.

.. vspace:: 2

Now let me earnestly beg of you to think of
what you are going to promise in the Marriage
Service.  You take each other, as those words so
beautifully express it, "for better, for worse, for
richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to
love and to cherish," *until death parts you*.
Remember this--marriage is not merely a passing
engagement you can enter into for a short time
and give up when you like.  It is not like
courtship.  No, it is lifelong.  Some, alas! do not
look upon it as binding.  But never allow
yourself to forget how God looks upon such a sin;
and the Bible tells us that the most terrible
judgment awaits those who have broken their
marriage vow.  God's laws are written in the
Bible, and no Act of Parliament can change
them.  The Bible must be the Christian's rule of
life, and its precepts he must follow.

Let yours, then, be *a Christian marriage*--one
on which you may trust God's blessing will rest.
Try throughout your life to fulfil what you then
promise, and to make your wife a good, true,
and loving husband.  Be good-tempered and
forbearing with her.  When troubles come, try and
share them bravely together; so that she who has
helped to bear your burden, when the troubles are
past, may also be "a helper of your joy."  Your
wife has often much to put up with--home cares,
troubles with the little ones, delicate health, a
hard struggle, perhaps, "to make both ends meet;"
therefore, when you come home after your day's
work, always have a kind word ready for her.
Do not keep an undue share of your wages for
yourself, for amusement, or for drink, but share it
with her, giving her enough to make her home
and the children comfortable.  In short, learn to
take your rule of life straight from God's Holy
Word, where it is written, "Bear ye one another's
burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Gal. vi. 2.

.. vspace:: 2

But, above all, try and help each other on the
way to Heaven, and to live not for yourselves,
but for God and for others.  Then, indeed, you
will be, as the Marriage Service says, "heirs
together of the grace of life;" not merely of the
few short years spent together in this life present,
but of that blessed life beyond the grave, where
"there is neither marrying, nor giving in marriage,
but they are as the angels of God[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xxiv. 38.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`KINDNESS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   KINDNESS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "I ask Thee for a thoughtful love,
   |  Through constant watching wise,
   |  To meet the glad with joyful smiles,
   |  And to wipe the weeping eyes:
   |  And a heart at leisure from itself,
   |  To soothe and sympathise."
   |                          *A. L. Waring.*

.. vspace:: 2

A little kindness goes a long way!  There
are many people in the world, nay about our own
homes, whom respectable people have given up,
as being hopelessly bad; and who have become
what they are because they have never known
what kindness meant.  If you were to go through
our prisons, you would find that there is a vast
number of criminals in them who can trace their
first step on the road to ruin to the want of a
word kindly spoken.  They have never known,
what you and I, reader, have enjoyed perhaps from
our childhood up, a mother's tender love.  The
word "home" suggests to their minds thoughts of
a drunken father, more a beast than a man; and
of a mother who was so taken up with the cares
of this world, that she had no love to give to her
children.  Yes, I have often heard of cases, in
which a word of kindness, spoken at the right
moment, might have gladdened the whole
afterlife.  I have known some cases in which even
murder might have been prevented, if only a kind
word had taken the place of an angry one.

Reader, a kind word costs very little, and goes
a very long way.  Even a kind look will do
something.  I once knew a deaf and dumb man,
whose look was so kind that little children would
run up to him in the street, though he was quite
powerless to speak kindly to them.  I have spoken
of forgiveness of others--kindness and forgiveness
are very nearly connected.  A really kind man
is always a forgiving man; and he who knows
how to forgive is always a kind-hearted person.

Kindness shows itself in all the relations of
life.  A kind man is kind to his wife, kind to
his children, and kind to his friends.  But
nowhere does real kindness show itself more strongly
in a man, than when he is kind to animals.
They quickly understand and are thankful for
kindness; and in their way repay it.  For
instance, everybody who has had anything to do
with horses knows how far a little kindness will
go with them.  Very often a horse's temper is
upset for a whole day, because he was unkindly
treated at starting.  Then there are numbers of
horses whose tempers have been completely ruined
by their having been ill-treated when they were
young.  Oh! yes, a little kindness goes a long
way; and it amply repays the bestower to see how
gladly and how thankfully it is received.

We have, many of us, heard the story of the
soldier who was killed in battle, and whose dog,
unknown to him, had followed him, until he fell;
and how when night descended on the battlefield,
the faithful creature, mindful of his dead
master's kindness to him, refused to quit the
corpse, but stayed there to protect it.  We have
heard, many of us, the story of the poor beggar,
with no friend on earth but one little dog, who,
in return for his kindness in giving it food,
followed him in his weary walks, until at last, on
the cold and snowy high road, when the poor
man lay down to die, it was his only companion.
When in the morning a party of travellers passed
along the road, they found them lying dead
together, with a shroud of pure white snow
covering them both.  Then again you may have,
seen Landseer's beautiful picture of "The
Shepherd's chief mourner."  The room is deserted,
and the coffin is alone in the middle, with
the shepherd's plaid thrown over it; alone, yet
not alone, for there, with his head resting on
his master's coffin, sits "the shepherd's chief
mourner," the sheep-dog, who had followed him
in life, and will not leave him, even after death.
And if kindness, heaven-born kindness, goes so
far with the lower animals, it has an equal, may
I not say even a greater influence upon
mankind.  Which of us has not felt sometimes the
benefit of kindness?  It may have been in a time
of sickness, or sorrow, it may have been a kindly
word spoken as we passed away from a new-made
grave.  But whatever may have been the
circumstances under which it was spoken, there can be
but few whom a kind word has failed to reach.
And if this is so; if *we* have derived joy and
happiness from a kind word, why not speak a
kind word to others, after the example of our
God, "for He is kind, to the unthankful and
the evil[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Luke vi. 35.

.. vspace:: 2

Strive, then, to practise the golden rule of
kindness, in whatever station God has placed
you.  Be genial, be kind, be civil to all, following
the Apostolic rule, "Be ye kind one to another,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another: even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Ephesians iv. 32.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`OUR PARENTS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   OUR PARENTS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Who sat and watched my infant head,
   |  When sleeping on my cradle bed?
   |  And tears of sweet affection shed?
   |                              My Mother!

   |  Who taught my infant lips to pray,
   |  And love God's holy Book, and Day,
   |  And walk in wisdom's pleasant way?
   |                              My Mother!

   |  And God, Who lives above the skies,
   |  Would look with anger in His eyes,
   |  If I should ever dare despise
   |                              My Mother!"

.. vspace:: 2

Our earliest recollections are of our father and
mother!  All through our childhood they were
near us, joining in our play, nursing us in
sickness, comforting in pain or trouble.  All that
made us happy, or that made the world seem
bright to us, they gave us.  They were always
ready to reward us when we were good; they
were always grieved when we did wrong.  We
never can repay our parents for all their
kindness to us in our infancy.  All the labour which
supplied the bread we ate and the bed we slept
on; and shall not we do what we can for them
in their old age?  If your parents, reader, were
religious people, they prayed for you besides, and
you will never know on this side the grave how
many early temptations those prayers may have
kept off.  You can understand now why it was
that your parents sometimes punished you for
doing wrong, though you might not have seen the
wisdom of it then.  And the day will come,
believe me, when you will learn--it may be only
"through much tribulation"--the wisdom of the
punishments inflicted by our Father in heaven.
"For *now* we see through a glass darkly; but
*then* face to face: now I know in part, but *then*
shall I know even as also I am known."  And
now, in all humility, do let me say a word to
those parents into whose hands this book may
chance to fall.  I have spoken of influence and
its wonderful power in the other parts of this
book.  I have repeatedly dwelt on the necessity
of setting a good example; let me do so once
again here.  I cannot put what I wish to say into
better, or shorter, or simpler language than it
has been put by a recent writer, who speaks as
follows--"Old friends," he says, "fathers, mothers,
whose heads are filled with the snows of age,
whose brows are furrowed deep with the traces
of life's cares and burthens, perhaps with the
thorns of its crown, we look to you to teach us
all that God means by death; all the blessings
with which the angel who guides our pilgrimage
comes laden, when he advances to clasp our
hand, to be to us a rod and a staff through the
glooms that hang about the threshold of the
ever-lasting home.  We look to see you with something
of the brightness of the heavenly home upon
you now; a gleam in the eyes, a tone in the look
and bearing, which have been caught from long
communion with the things and beings, whose
full glory awaits you there.  No complaints, no
sadness, no sorrowful looking back to the world
which you are leaving, and where your place,
to which you thought yourself all-important, is
already filled."

Lastly, let me return for a moment to those to
whom this book is specially addressed.  Young
men, it is your duty and your privilege alike to
take care of your parents, and to provide for their
wants when they are too old or infirm to do so for
themselves.  Be laying by a little store of money
now against that day, if it be only a few pence
a week that you can save out of your wages, you
can't think what a help it may be hereafter.  You
wouldn't like your children to leave you to die in
the workhouse; you wouldn't like, when old age
comes, to feel that you and your wife, who had
lived happily together for years, were now to be
taken to live within high walls in a pauper's
dress, and not be free to go in and out as you
pleased.  You wouldn't like to find that you were
suffering all this want, while your son, who was
quite able to keep you out of it, was drinking
away his wages in the nearest public-house.  And
if you wouldn't like this yourself, why should you
treat your parents so?  This, as you know, is
not a made-up case; it is happening every day in
almost every village in the country.  God gave
us parents, first, that they might take care of us;
and then, if need be, that we should take care of
them.  The earthly parent should be in every
way a pattern of the heavenly, for He is good,
"even to the unthankful and the evil," to the
just and to the unjust alike.

Reader, if you have not been doing your duty
to your parents hitherto, go and begin at once.
Try and make the old folks comfortable.  Let
them feel that their son is indeed a comfort to
them, and a stay in their old age.  And then,
when old age comes upon you, God will repay
you.  In the hour of sickness He will be with
you, comforting and blessing you: until the time
come when you too have to lean on your staff for
very age, while the shadows grow darker and
darker round you.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`OUR CHILDREN`:

.. class:: center large bold

   OUR CHILDREN.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Oh! there are times when to our sight,
   |  E'en on this side the grave, is given
   |  A glimpse revealing in full light
   |  The triumphs gained on earth by heaven.

   |  In Him our little ones are great,
   |  In Him our feeble folk are strong;
   |  And childhood sits in high estate
   |  Amid the martyrs' noble throng."
   |                              *R. Tomlins.*

.. vspace:: 2

God has committed no more solemn charge
to our care than that of our children.  Over and
over again in the Gospels do we find that Jesus
called attention to little children.  On one
occasion you will remember that strife having arisen
among the disciples, as to which of them should
be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus,
perceiving it, took a little child, and set him by His
side; and from this simple circumstance He
taught His disciples that in order to enter into
that kingdom, they must receive His message with
the same simple, trustful faith, as would a little
child.  And once again, we read that the parents
brought their little ones to Him that He might
bless them; and when His disciples, being vexed
that their Master's time should be taken up with
what they doubtless considered a trifling matter,
Jesus, we read, rebuked them, and said, "Suffer
the little children to come unto Me, and forbid
them not; for of such is the kingdom of God[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Mark x. 13.

.. vspace:: 2

Reader, the times have not changed so much,
since Jesus walked upon our earth, that we can
afford to disregard His words.  Do remember
that if you use bad language, or tell an impure
story, or even speak an unkind word, you may be
putting a stumbling-block in the children's way,
and keeping them from Christ.

And now let me say a word concerning Baptism.
I do not believe, and our Church nowhere teaches
her children to believe, that a child who dies
unbaptised is in danger of eternal damnation.  But
she does tell us that *the parents* who keep their
children back from that sacred ordinance, are in
danger of punishment.  She goes straight to the
Bible, as her authority, and points out the blame
which our Lord attached to the disciples, who
would have kept the children from Him,
teaching us thereby that the same kind of blame
belongs to those parents who keep their children
from holy Baptism now.

And when your children are baptised the great
thing to remember is example.  Parents, set a
good example to your children at home.  Children
very quickly notice anything that is wrong, and
as quickly copy it.  And then they go out, and
teach it to other children, and so by your bad
example at home, you may have destroyed the
happiness of many lives.  Teach your children
rather that they may have an interest beyond the
grave, that for them there is laid up a rich reward
in our Father's kingdom.  "I pity," says a recent
writer, "the son, who has never had an interest
beyond the grave; but I pity far more the mother,
who has never told him of the rest that remaineth
for the people of God."

There were once two fathers, both of whom God
had blessed with children.  One lived on the river
Mississippi, in America.  He was a man of great
wealth.  Yet he would have freely given it all to
have brought back his son from an early grave.
One day that boy had been borne home unconscious.
They did everything that they could to
restore him, but in vain.  "He will die," said the
doctor.  "But doctor," cried the poor father, "can
you do nothing to bring him to consciousness, even
for a moment?"  "That may be," said the doctor,
"but he can't live."  Time passed, and after awhile
the father's wish was gratified.  "My son," he
whispered, "the doctor tells me you are
dying."  "Well," said the boy, "you never prayed for me,
father, won't you pray for my lost soul now?"
The father wept.  It was too true he had *never
prayed*.  He was a stranger to God.  And in a
little while that soul, unprayed for, passed into
eternity.  Young man, the day will come, when
you perhaps will be a father too.  If your boy
was dying, and called on you to pray, could you
lift your burdened heart to Heaven?  Have you
learned this sweetest lesson of heaven or earth, to
know and hold communion with your God?  And
before this evil world shall have marked your
dearest treasures for its prey, oh learn to lead your
little ones to a children's Christ.  But what a
contrast was the other father!  He too had a
lovely boy, and one day he came home to find
him at the gates of death.  "A great change has
come over our boy," said the weeping mother;
"he has only been ill a little while, but it seems
now as if he were dying fast."  The father went
into the room, and put his hand on his son's
forehead.  He could see the boy was dying.  He
could feel the cold damp of death.  "My son, do
you know you are dying?" he asked.  "No,
father, am I?" said the boy.  "Yes, my boy, you
can't live till the evening."  "Well, then, I shall
be with Jesus to-night, shan't I, father?"  "Yes,
my son, you will spend to-night with the Saviour."  As
he turned away, the little fellow saw tears
trickling down his father's cheeks.  "Don't weep
for me," he said; "when I get to heaven, I shall
go straight to Jesus, and tell Him that ever since
I can remember, you have tried to lead me to
Him."  Reader, if God should give you a son, and
should see fit to take him again to Himself, would
you not rather he should carry such testimony as
that to your Master, than have all the wealth of
the world rolled at your son's feet?

Once more, then, let me earnestly pray you to
set a good example.  Young man, set a good
example to the boys who work with you on the
farm or elsewhere.  They will be ready to pick
up anything good or bad from you.  And if they
once learn it, it will be very hard to unlearn it
again.

And to all who read this book, whether their
work lie in the farm, in the counting-house, in
the barracks, or on board ship, my last words are
the same; the great secret of example is purity of
heart and life.  Never do anything or say
anything that you would be ashamed for God to hear.
And if you yourself have never thought how little
it would profit you to gain the whole world, and
lose your own soul, I beseech you not to let
another sun go down before you think out that
great question.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HOME`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HOME.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Friend,--when in trial and suffering,
   |    Where dost thou find thy home?
   |  Where in thy pain canst thou seek relief,
   |    Where in thy sorrows come?
   |  Where from the world's rude conflict
   |    Canst thou find a calm retreat?
   |  Where learn afresh with courage
   |    Thy trials and sorrows to meet?
   |  Where is thy shield from adversity's dart?
   |  Friend, thy *home* is a loved one's heart.

   |  Man,--when thy heart is torn with grief,
   |    When thy hopes are for ever gone,
   |  When adversity's cloud hangs over thy head,
   |    And earth's troubles weigh thee down,--
   |  When those whom thou lovest have turned away,
   |    And cruelly slighted thee,--
   |  When thy heart is crushed, and thy joys are gone,--
   |    For shelter, oh! where canst thou flee?
   |  Man, though from comfort on earth thou'rt driven,
   |  Thy home and thy joys are with God in Heaven."
   |                                          *L. Jewitt.*

.. vspace:: 2

Home!  What a word that is.  Is there any
word like it?  Any that brings so much joy, or so
much sorrow, into the human breast?  The fisherman
who has toiled all night and caught nothing,
looks anxiously for dawn, because he knows that
then he will return home to wife and children.
The sailor, toiling over the endless sea, rejoices as
he thinks that each moment he is nearing home.
The labourer in the fields is glad when the hot
sun sinks towards the west, because it is nearly
time to go home.  The boy at school longs for
the holidays to come because it means home, and
to him home is everything.  The weary traveller,
well-nigh dead with fatigue, who sees his distant
home from the top of a neighbouring hill, gathers
fresh strength from the sight to continue his
journey.

But the home can only be really home in the
truest and best sense of the word, when the
people who live there make it home-like.  It need
have no costly adornments, but every member of
the family should have "the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God
of great price."  There should be no display
of angry tempers, or of hard words.  Kindness
should reign there; gentleness and love should be
practised there.  In short, that home can only be
a happy one which is a copy of the home in
heaven.  Parents have a very solemn and
important duty to perform here.  It is for them to
make their homes not nurseries of vice and sin,
but homes of love and happiness, where Jesus and
His angels will be glad to come.  How many
men and women there are who can trace an evil,
misspent, sinful life back to their early home.  It
was, may be, from a father's lips they first learnt
to swear; perhaps from a mother's example they
first learnt to lie.  And the children, too, have
a solemn duty to perform with regard to home.
There are life lessons which must be learnt at
home, if we would learn them at all.  Obedience,
purity, love, and piety, all must be learnt at home;
and if these are indeed to be found there, the
home on earth is a fit type of the home in heaven.

Reader, are you doing your utmost to make
your home on earth like the home beyond?
Perhaps you have never thought much about it.
Perhaps you have never considered that there was
any connection between them.  But there is;
there should be.  They should be, as it were, the
same home, separated indeed by a narrow gulf,
but joined by a bridge over which all must pass,
even death itself.

Some people look upon death quite wrongly,
for this reason.  If one of their children die,
they almost think that when the earth covers it
they will never see it again; but the Bible does
not teach that.  Rather should we feel, in the
beautiful words of the hymn, that our little ones
are going home--

   |  "They are going--only going--
   |    Jesus called them long ago;
   |  All the wintry time they're passing
   |    Softly as the falling snow.
   |  When the violets in the spring-time
   |    Catch the azure of the sky,
   |  They are carried out to slumber
   |    Sweetly, where the violets lie.

   |  All along the mighty ages,
   |    All adown the solemn time,
   |  They have taken up their homeward
   |    March to a serener clime,
   |  Where the watching, waiting angels
   |    Lead them from the shadow dim,
   |  To the brightness of His Presence
   |    Who has called them unto Him."

Yes, it is even so, "they are going, only going,"
from the home on earth to the home in heaven.
Going from pain and sorrow and sin to a better
home, where there is no bitter parting, no more
sorrow, and no more death.  And looking at it
in this light, would you wish to keep them, would
you even seek to stay their departure for one
short hour.  The home on earth is subject to
sickness, to sorrow, and partings.  But the home
in heaven knows none of these.  We cannot
always stay at home on earth, but must needs go
out to work for our living among strangers.  But
when we once reach the many mansions of our
Father's house, we shall go no more out.  There
will be no more sleepless nights, or sunless days,
for the Sun of righteousness shines on all alike,
"and there is no night there."

Strive then to dwell together in unity on earth;
doing *your* best to make home what home should
be, and God will do the rest.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HEAVEN OUR HOME.  (PART I.)`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HEAVEN OUR HOME.  PART I.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There is a blessed Home
   |    Beyond this land of woe,
   |  Where trials never come,
   |    Nor tears of sorrow flow.

   |  There is a land of peace,
   |    Good angels know it well:
   |  Glad songs that never cease
   |    Within its portals swell."
   |                        *Baker.*

.. vspace:: 2

Our thoughts, as Christians, must needs often
turn upon our heavenly home.  The labourer
toiling in the hot harvest-field often thinks of
his distant cottage.  The sailor upon the lonely
sea is often thinking of those at home.  And
the Christian, in the midst of his troubles and
temptations here, must often think of his home
beyond.  Heaven is the dwelling-place of God.
It matters little how far away it is.  God is there,
and that is enough.  We often feel sad when
we think of our dear ones who have left us.  But
if we could look beyond the veil into the eternal
city, we should see the Good Shepherd leading
them by the green pastures, and beside the still
waters.  Our friends, who have died in the fear
of God, are not lost to us for ever, only gone
before.  They had a desire "to depart and to be
with Christ, which is far better"--better than the
suffering, and the sorrow, and the toil.  And
Christ has given them their wish.  And He has
told us that if we would rejoin them one day, and
be with them for ever, we must not lay up treasure
on earth, but in heaven.  Earthly treasure, gold,
silver, land, popularity, and the praise of men,
these may be taken from us, and given to others.
But heavenly treasure--purity of life, love to God,
helping travellers on the road to heaven--these
we may lay up now, with the certainty that we
shall never lose *them*, either in this world or in
that which is to come.

I read a story the other day of a rich man in
America, to whom a person went to try and
interest him in mission work.  The rich man
took him up to the top of his house, and said to
him, "Look yonder over that beautiful rolling
plain, that is all mine as far as the eye can
reach."  He took him round again to the other side, and
showed him thirty miles of pasture, with horses
and cattle feeding.  "They are all mine," he
said, "I have made it all myself."  Then he
pointed proudly towards the town, and showed
him streets and warehouses, and a great hall
named after himself, and said once more, "They
are all mine; I came into this country a poor
man, but my own industry has done it all."  The
other listened patiently until he had done
speaking, and then pointing upward to the sky,
he asked, "And what have you got there?"  "Where?"
asked the rich man.  "In heaven!"
said the other.  "I have got nothing there," he
answered bitterly.  Alas, he had lived his
three-score years and ten, and must soon enter eternity,
and yet he had no treasure in heaven!

Reader, where is *your* treasure?  "Where your
treasure is there will your heart be also[#]."  There
is no harm whatever in your feeling pleasure in
your cottage, or your garden, or your field.  But
when these things shut out thoughts of God,
and thoughts of heaven, from that moment they
become sinful.

   |  "I'm but a stranger here;
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  Earth is a desert drear;
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  Danger and sorrow stand
   |  Round me on every hand;
   |  Heaven is my Father-land;
   |          Heaven is my Home.

   |  What though the tempest rage!
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  Short is my pilgrimage;
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  And time's wild wintry blast
   |  Soon will be overpast;
   |  I shall reach Home at last;
   |          Heaven is my Home.

   |  There at my Saviour's side;
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  I shall be glorified;
   |          Heaven is my Home.
   |  Then with the good and blest,
   |  Those on earth I love the best,
   |  I shall for ever rest;
   |          Heaven is my Home."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. vi. 21.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HEAVEN OUR HOME.  (PART II.)`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HEAVEN OUR HOME.  PART II.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "While I do my duty,
   |  Pressing through the tide,
   |  Whisper Thou of beauty
   |  On the other side.
   |  Tell who will the story
   |  Of our now distress--
   |  Oh! the future glory,
   |  Oh! the loveliness."
   |                  *J. M. Neale.*

.. vspace:: 2

I have thought it best in writing on so wide
a subject as "Heaven our home," to divide it
into two parts; so that in this chapter I shall
finish with a few practical thoughts on the subject
we entered upon in our last.  I there spoke about
laying up treasure in Heaven.  I gave you the
advice our blessed Lord gave when He was upon
earth, and pointed out how very much more
valuable to the Christian man would be a little
treasure laid up in Heaven, than all the wealth
this world could give rolled together at his feet.

You know how, when you used to go to school,
prizes were sometimes given.  And you know,
if ever you brought home a prize, how your
brothers and sisters would come round you, eager
to get the first look.  Well, it is just the same
in life!  This life is but a school-time, a
growing-time, a running-time, in which we all set out to
win a prize, and that prize is the home in
Heaven.  Try and get the first prize, reader, in
this life-school.  How to be most like Christ,
that is the lesson given you to learn.  "As for the
prizes that God has ready, I cannot tell you about
them; for they are more beautiful than anything
you have ever seen, or can fancy.  In that
glorious country where our Father's home is, you
will have such prizes as you never could have
dreamt of."  When the time to receive the prize
will come I cannot tell; that will depend partly
upon the way in which the lesson is learnt--though
some there are, alas! who never learn it at all.
Never trouble yourself about the time; "Whenever
it is time for you to go home, our Father
will send for you."  I remember a noble boy who
gave promise, if he had lived, to do something
good and great; he was sunshine in the house,
and made his parents' hearts like summer.  In
the morning he was full of health and spirits,
ready to enjoy to the full all the games and sports
of the holiday; in the afternoon he was dying
from an accident--not in pain, but calm and
quiet.  The next day, when he had gone home to
God, his little sister came to their mother, and
said, "Shall we crown him, mother?"  "Crown
him! yes, by all means, for he is a brave little
soldier, who has fought for Christ.  He tried to
be like Jesus--obedient, unselfish, and loving,
and now he has gone back to his Father's home,
where they will make a wreath for him of fadeless
roses and lilies of light.  Yes, crown him with
many crowns; you can find none so beautiful as
those which the angels have been weaving for
him in Heaven."

Now I want you to look at "Heaven our
home" in two different ways: 1. as our reward,
2. as our rest.  First, then, as our reward: God
rarely gives man a command without giving
him a promise also.  It was so, you know, with
Abraham.  In Genesis xii. 1, we read, "The
Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy father's house, unto a
land that I will shew thee"--that was the
command.  "And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;
and thou shalt be a blessing," and that was the
promise.  And I could name a number of God's
saints in every age, to whom He has given
commands, but seldom or never without a promise.

Reader, God has given you a command, the
command to follow Him, and work for Him, and
love Him; and He has given you a promise, that
if you serve Him faithfully here you shall reign
with Him eternally hereafter in Heaven.  And,
oh! think of the kindness of our Heavenly
Father!  Just compare the two--a few years of
sickness, sorrow, and labour here, and then an
eternity of rest and perfect happiness there.

Secondly, look at Heaven as our rest.  And
perhaps there is no way of looking at it which
gives us more thankfulness than this.  Sorrow
and labour we must have here, but there we
shall have rest, and our "rest shall be
glorious."  "Everything round us here has a capacity for rest
as well as action.  The stormy winds and restless
waters can at times be calm and still.  The city,
with its ceaseless hum and stir of voices and
footsteps, lies hushed and quiet in its nightly rest.
The railway, with its snorting engines, its crowded
stations, and lightning speed, seems as if it knew
no rest; yet a moment after the flying train has
gone there is no sign of life or motion along its
iron rails."  And so, too, is it with life.  The
most active Christian will one day be at rest.
Like the stormy waves, or the whistling train,
he cannot work for ever, and after his work is
over then will come rest.

Oh! reader, Heaven is indeed a home worth
working for.  Where is the home on earth, in
which we never hear an angry word, or never
see a cold or passionate look?  But it won't be
so in Heaven!  In our Father's kingdom we shall
hear no angry words, and we shall have nothing
but the kindest looks.  God is there, and Jesus
is there; and there too we shall meet our friends
who are now "absent from the body," but
"present with the Lord."  The mother who first
taught you to speak the name of your Heavenly
Father will be there.  The father, whose bright
Christian example you remember as a child, will
be there.  Your brothers and sisters will be there.
All, in short, will be there, who by their bright
Christian examples have helped you on the road
to Heaven; for all God's saints will be there,
enjoying their reward and resting from their labours.

Young man, the same Heaven is open to you
as to them.  The same battle-field lies before
you; the same cross and the same crown.  The
same heavenly watchers as welcomed them are
waiting to receive you into your heavenly home.
It is for you to say whether you will accept their
invitation to come.  It is for you to show by
your daily life and conversation whose side you
have chosen in the battle of life, whose home you
will live in hereafter.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`SUNDAY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   SUNDAY.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Oh! pass not hence so swiftly,
   |    Bright Sabbath hours, we pray;
   |  None other tell so sweetly
   |    Of regions far away.

   |  No breath of flowers at eventide,
   |    When the rain-cloud's store is spent;
   |  No cooling airs so softly glide
   |    From the sultry firmament;

   |  No waveless calm along the deep,
   |    When its fever-pulse is still;
   |  No visitings of dew-like sleep
   |    To eyelids worn with ill."
   |                            *F. C. Boyce.*

.. vspace:: 2

The word "Sabbath" means *rest*.  And such
indeed God intended Sunday to be.  "Six
days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work,
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord
thy God[#]."  Our Saviour indeed teaches us that
the stern and strict way in which the Sabbath
was kept by the Jews was an unnecessary and
painful discipline.  He told the people it was
quite lawful to do good on the Sabbath day,
even though that good might be misinterpreted
and misunderstood.  He taught us that Sunday
was a day sacred to God, and not to man, and
that "the Sabbath was made for man, and not
man for the Sabbath[#]."  You know the old words--

   |  "A Sabbath well spent
   |  Brings a week of content,"

and if you will try to put that old maxim into
force, you will find as you give up the Sunday to
God and His service, so surely will He be with
you during the week.  For now the old Jewish
Sabbath has given place to the Christian Sunday--our
Lord chose "the first day of the week" on
which to rise from the grave, and the Church has
fitly chosen the first day of the week as the best
on which to meet together to worship her
ascended Lord.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Exod. xx. 8.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Mark ii. 7.

.. vspace:: 2

Sunday was never meant to be a dreary day,
or a wretched day, any more than it was meant to
be a working day, or a drinking day.  And if you
give the day to God, be sure He will give you
plenty of amusement, and plenty of happiness.
His is no wearisome service, His is no tiring
Sunday task, but in His worship you will find
peace, and His service is perfect freedom.

Sunday, again, is most valuable to working men
as a *day of rest*.  During the great French
Revolution, those who were at the head of affairs
determined that they would neither fear God nor
regard man; and so they passed a law to the
effect that none should pay any heed to Sunday,
to its services, its lessons, or its rest.  And what
was the consequence?  Why, these ungodly men,
looking at it only from a worldly point of view,
found that it was quite impossible for the body or
mind of man to keep on working day after day,
and week after week.  And so the plan failed,
and Sunday came to be restored again.  You
must have felt the need of Sunday rest, after the
week's toil sometimes too; you must have felt
ready to cry out, in the words of the Postman's
song,

   |  "We ask one day in seven,
   |    'Twas ours since time began--
   |  Sent by the love of heaven,
   |    In pity for toil-worn man."
   |

Look once more on Sunday as *a thinking day*.
Men, and especially working men, need some
quiet hours, when they can cease work and
let their thoughts turn to the world to come.
And this is one great use of Sunday.  There is
a quiet calm in the air; no sound of the threshing
machine or the ploughman's voice breaks the
stillness; man can feel that he is *alone with God*.
And so wandering out into the fields at eventide,
or sitting in his cottage garden, or by his hearth
when the little ones are in bed, he can think of
his prospects and hopes here below, and still
more of those in the world to come.

Lastly, Sunday is *a day of learning*.  On
Sunday we go up to church, and learn from God's
minister's lips the lessons of His love.  We sit
at home and we read our books, and most of all
the Bible, that Book of books, which is specially
fit for working men to read.  We go out walking
in the fields, and see God's works in nature, and
from them too we learn something; and as we
learn these lessons on earth, they serve to bring
us nearer to our Father in heaven.

But do remember this; that Sundays on earth
are meant to be as far as possible copies of that
eternal Sabbath rest above.  The service of prayer
and praise with which our churches re-echo on
earth, are but copies of the grand and perfect
worship in the courts of heaven.  The evening
hours spent with our family before going to rest,
are but a type and shadow of the eternity we
shall spend in that family of which God is the
Head, and Jesus Christ the Elder Brother.  And
the comfortable home, which God has given us
on earth, is after all but a faint picture of those
many mansions, "where the sun shines for ever,
and the flowers never die."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`CHURCH`:

.. class:: center large bold

   CHURCH.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "The Church's one foundation
   |  Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
   |  She is His new Creation
   |  By water and the Word:
   |  From Heaven He came and sought her
   |  To be His holy Bride,
   |  With His own Blood He bought her,
   |  And for her life He died."
   |                          *S. J. Stone.*

.. vspace:: 2

How very often it happens, when the subject of
religion is mentioned, that we hear people say, "I
go regularly to church."  And this is thrown in
the teeth of the clergy, as if the very fact of church
attendance was quite enough in itself to save the
soul.  But do you think that Jesus Christ would
have left His Father's throne in heaven, and
lived those thirty troubled years, and died that
terrible death, if salvation was so easy?  Do you
think that if men could be saved by merely going
to church, our blessed Lord would have made
use of such expressions as "*Strive*" (that is, toil,
labour hard) "to enter in at the strait gate," or
again, "Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not
be able"?  I hardly think He would.  Religion
was made for man, and not man for religion.
It was given him as the means whereby he might
speak to God, and hold frequent communion with
his Maker.  It is quite possible to be a most
regular attendant at church, and yet to go away
without receiving the slightest benefit.

Some time ago I heard of an old woman who
regularly went to a place of amusement, where
she had been accustomed to go as a child.  And
though she became at last quite deaf, and nearly
blind, she still persisted in going.  And, reader,
there is such a thing as deafness of the soul.  The
beautiful words of Scripture, the grand soul-stirring
music, the touching words of our Church's prayers,
may all pass by unheeded, unless the soul is
waiting upon that God Who is her helper and
deliverer.  But there is quite another class of
persons, who receive no benefit from our Church's
services.  I mean those who never go to church
at all.  Sometimes when the clergyman goes to
see them they find it convenient to tell a lie,
and say they are chapel people; but they never
go to chapel.  They live from day to day,
and from year to year, as if there was no God,
no church, no minister, no Bible.  And when
they come to die, what then?  They go down
into that dark hereafter of uncertainty; uncertain
indeed to them, for they have neglected during
their life everything that kindles and keeps alive
the hope of a better world.

Reader, if this is your case, if you have
neglected church-going, let me implore you to do so
no longer.  The day will come when you will have
to confess your sins, not to man but to God.
There will be no concealment then; no shirking,
or hiding your real motives under cover of a lie.
The eyes of Almighty God will look you through
and through; and if you take any excuses to Him,
be sure they will not avail you.

Some people, again, there are who stay away
from church for the following reason.  They feel
that they believe the Word of God, and all the
great truths written in the Bible; but they also
feel that they love the world very much, more
indeed than they love Christ, and if they
become Christians they think they will have
to give up all pleasure and go through the world
with a long face, and never smile or laugh
again.  But, believe me, no greater lie was ever
forged than that.  The devil started it
thousands of years ago in sunny Eden; but there is
not one word of truth in it; it has been well
called "a libel on Christianity."  It does not
make a man gloomy to become a child of God.
Do you think that if a man is dying of thirst and
you give him a drink of water, that the *drink*
makes him gloomy?  Do you think that when the
Queen's gracious message of pardon comes to
a condemned murderer, that the *pardon* makes
him a gloomy man for the rest of his days?  Oh,
no.  And that is what Christ and Christianity are
to the soul of man.  What the water is in the one
case, what the Queen's free pardon is in the other,
so is religion, so is church-going, so is
Bible-reading, so is Christ to the soul.  Oh, then, come
to church, the church of your baptism, the church
of your fathers.  Come to it as God's own blessed
appointed means of salvation.  Join in the prayers
and praises.  Listen to the lessons and the sermon,
and ask that your heavenly Father may send His
blessing upon your hard and stony heart.  And
don't forget this most important duty, without
which all church-going, all prayer, and all
sacraments will be worse than useless,--don't forget
to practise in the week the lessons you have
learnt in church on Sunday.  You will learn there
the lessons of life, the lessons of holiness,
therefore act up to what you hear, and "let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify"--*not you*, but--"your Father
which is in heaven[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. v. 16.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HOLY COMMUNION.  (PART I.)`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HOLY COMMUNION.  PART I.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Once, only once, and once for all,
   |    His precious life He gave;
   |  Before the Cross our spirits fall,
   |    And own it strong to save."
   |                          *Canon Bright.*

.. vspace:: 2

It is such a very sad sight Sunday after Sunday
to see so many people, and especially young men,
go out of church when the Holy Communion is
going to be administered.  In so many churches,
even in those where the congregations are large,
we see the great bulk of the congregation getting
up, as soon as the sermon is over, and leaving
church.  You may perhaps often have been among
the departing guests, you may have sung the
words,--

   |  "My God, and is Thy Table spread?
   |  And doth Thy Cup with Love o'erflow?
   |  Thither be all Thy children led,
   |  And let them all Thy sweetness know."

Yes, you may often have sung those words, and
yet left the church with the rest, directly after
singing them.  You had been asking Him that
*all* His children might be led to His Table, and
yet you yourself walked out of church among the
first.  And yet you say, perhaps, many people
do it.  My friend, is that any reason why *you*
should do it?  When God comes to judge you,
He will not ask you what *many* people did,
neither will He ask you what your friends and
neighbours did, but He will ask you what *you* did.

Our Saviour told His disciples of a certain
broad way, and of a great company who were
walking along it.  He told them moreover of a
wide gate by which the multitude entered, but
which opened on destruction.  And again He
told them of a certain narrow way, and of a
straight gate, leading unto life, and of this gate
He added, "few there be that find it[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. vii. 13, 14.

.. vspace:: 2

Now one of the great helps to travellers on the
latter road is this Communion Feast.  To the
worthy partaker, to the travel-stained and weary
wayfarer there come "times of refreshing from
the presence of Jehovah[#];" times when he may
turn aside from the rugged way, and rest awhile
before resuming his march heavenward.  God has
provided many helps for Christian soldiers, but
I know of none so mighty, so comforting, so
refreshing as that of the Holy Communion of His
Body and His Blood.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Acts iii. 19.

.. vspace:: 2

Now we often hear objections raised to coming
to Holy Communion.  And one of those most
often given is, "I am not good enough to come."  Reader,
which of us is *good enough* for that sacred
feast?  If you are waiting until you are "good
enough," I fear you will have to wait until your
hair grows white with age, and even then you
will not be "good enough."  It is like a man
who has never been into the water, standing on
the river brink, and saying he wishes to bathe.
And I go to him, and say, "Why don't you go
in? there is the river, there are numbers of bathers
already in the water, you can see what it is like,
why not go in?"  And he answers me, "I won't
go into the water until I can swim."  What could
you say to such a person as that?  Would you not
tell him that the only way for him to learn to
swim was by going into the water?  And that is
just the mistake people make about Holy
Communion.  They think it is intended for saints,
not for sinners.  But this is not so; Holy
Communion is for the sinner, who feels his sin and
feels his need of a Saviour.  If you feel that you
are a sinner, and that you want to get the better
of your sin, and to lead a new life; if you really
hate your sin, and really love Christ, then come
to Holy Communion: for Christ has appointed
it for you especially.  He will not ask you to
give Him any promise that you cannot keep.
All he requires is that you should try and do
your duty, your duty to God, and your duty to
man, and to do it lovingly and cheerfully, "as
to the Lord, and not unto men[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Col. iii. 23.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HOLY COMMUNION.  (PART II.)`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HOLY COMMUNION.  PART II.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "O agony of wavering thought,
   |  When sinners first so near are brought!
   |  'It is my Maker--dare I stay?
   |  My Saviour--dare I turn away?'"
   |                            *Keble.*

.. vspace:: 2

I felt that in one short chapter it was
quite impossible to grasp all, or nearly all the
objections to coming to Holy Communion; and
so I propose in this chapter to speak of one
more objection, commonly brought forward, before
closing this subject.

You will remember that in the last chapter
we considered the objection of not being good
enough.  Now another very common objection,
and one very often heard, is, "I am afraid of
being laughed at!"  Perhaps you will say, "I
never have said that."  No, reader, you may
never have *said* it with your lips, but have you
never *thought* it in your heart?  This power of
laughter, or ridicule as it is called, is a terrible
one indeed.  There is hardly a weapon in Satan's
armoury which he uses with such deadly effect
upon the souls of men.  Very many a young man
goes up to the Bishop for Confirmation, and the
Bishop lays his hands upon his head, and then
as those grand old words, which have been
spoken over the heads of so many, are said over
him, "Defend, O Lord, this Thy child with
Thy heavenly grace," the Holy Ghost enters
into his soul, and for the moment he feels that
he can go out and conquer.  But his good
resolves--and they are really good--are too often
like the seeds which fell in stony places, which
"had no deepness of earth: and when the sun
was up, they were scorched; and because they
had no root, they withered away."  And then
the young man leaves the church, with his good
resolves fresh made; and from that moment there
begins within him the struggle, which is to end
in Heaven or in Hell.  He goes and joins his
companions, and if he says anything about
religion he gets laughed at, and in too many
cases he forgets his Confirmation vows, and the
good in him quickly dies.  I cannot help
thinking that the reason why so many young men
fall away after Confirmation, is because they
neglect to go *at once* to the Holy Communion
of Christ's Body and Blood.  Oh! yes, ridicule
is indeed hard to bear, even for the best amongst
us.  "Almost any man," says Canon Farrar,
"will confront peril with a multitude; scarcely
one in a thousand will stand alone against a
multitude when they are bent on wrong ... for
martyrdom (or bearing witness for Christ) is not
one, but manifold; it is often a battle-field where
no clash of earthly combatants is heard; it is
often a theatre no wider than a single, nameless
home."

But just think for a moment of this laughter of
your friends.  How long is it likely to last? and
when it is over (for it must end some day), what
is there to follow?  Think of that when you are
tempted by ridicule to turn aside from doing
what is right.  It would be hard indeed if you
could not bear a laugh for Christ, Who could
bear death for you!

Some time ago a very young boy went to
school for the first time.  He was a mere child,
only eight years old, and he had never seen so
many boys together before.  The boys slept in
large rooms, about fifteen boys in each room, and
when he came, he was put into one of these,
without knowing a single boy in the room.  Now
this child had been carefully and religiously
brought up, and before the little fellow left home
his mother had talked to him about the school to
which he was going.  Amongst other things she
had told him never to forget to say his prayers.
So, accordingly, the first night the boy got to
school he knelt down to pray.  No sooner,
however, was he on his knees than the whole room
was in an uproar.  Some of the boys threw their
slippers at him, some laughed, some shouted, or
hissed, but still he kept on his knees.  At last he
rose and the tears stood in his eyes, for remember
he was only a child.  The next night he knelt
down again, with the same result; boots and
slippers were thrown at him, but still he
persevered.  For many nights this went on, until at
length one night a little fellow came and knelt
beside him, and said, "Mother told me to say
my prayers too, but I was afraid."  And so for
some nights the two knelt side by side, and got
an equal share of the slippers and the laughter.
But at length a change came over the room.  The
good example had borne fruit, and one after
another the boys in that room knelt down
regularly and said their prayers.

I have read of the greatest victories by land
and by sea.  I have read accounts of the Duke
of Wellington's campaigns, and of Nelson's
battles; but nowhere have I read of a greater
victory, won under more trying circumstances,
than that child's victory over his companions'
laughter.  And will you be beaten by him?
Will you, a strong man, give in, where a weak
child of eight years old would not?  Will you
deny Christ, and break your Confirmation and
Baptismal vows, because you can't stand the
laughter of a few?  Just look on a few years
ahead--it may be only a few hours.  You will
be standing before a great white throne, while
on it will be sitting your Judge.  Around that
throne stands the noble army of martyrs--men
who laid down their lives in torture and pain
for the sake of Christ crucified.  The charges
against you are read out, charges of carelessness
and neglect of God and of His Sacraments; and
then the Judge turns to you, and asks you if you
have any excuse to make.  And you answer Him,
"Yes."  And then God turns to you again, and
He looks at the martyr band, and thinks of all
that they have suffered, as He asks you--"What?"  And
then I fancy I can hear you saying that you
made good resolutions, and that you intended to
keep straight, but your companions laughed at
you, and you fell away.  Do you think Almighty
God would be satisfied with such an excuse.  I
think not.  Do you think that you would deserve
a place in the same kingdom as that in which the
martyrs of Jesus rest?

Reader, go to Christ when the world laughs at
you, and ask Him to strengthen you against
temptation.  He is well able to do so, for when
He was on earth, men "laughed Him to scorn."  He
suffered the rebukes of many, for "He bare the
sin of many.  He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and
with His stripes we are healed[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Isaiah liii. 5.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE BIBLE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE BIBLE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There is a Book, who runs may read,
   |    Which heavenly truth imparts;
   |  And all the lore its scholars need,
   |    Pure eyes and Christian hearts."
   |                              *Keble.*

.. vspace:: 2

There is no book that is so frequently given
as a present as the Bible.  It has been translated
into every tongue, and carried to every shore.  In
the king's palace, and in the lonely hut, from one
end of the world to the other, wherever
Christianity is preached, the Bible is read.  I have
often seen a picture of a lady reading a book
intently.  She is represented as sitting near a
table, with a shawl thrown loosely round her, and
a widow's cap upon her head.  That lady is the
Queen of England, the greatest woman in the
world; and the book she is reading is the Bible,
the Word of a greater than she.  Underneath is
written, "The Secret of England's greatness."  Yes,
the Holy Bible, or rather the study of the
Bible, is indeed the secret of England's greatness,
just as drunkenness is the secret of England's
weakness.  It is not because the Queen of England
alone reads the Bible, but it is because the Bible
is read in so many English homes.

Now there are several ways of reading the
Bible.  It is quite possible for a very clever man
to read the Bible, and not understand it; and
it is quite possible, too, for a poor unlettered
man, if he have faith, to read, and understand.
Some people read the Bible as a history, and a
very good history it is, and so they get what they
want.  Some, again, read it to try to find fault
with what they read.  Some read it to try and
draw out words in support of their own peculiar
views, and if they can get only a few words, which
they can so twist as to satisfy their easy
consciences, then they are quite content that their
religion is right, and all else wrong.  But some
there are, quite different from any of these, who
read the Bible, not to make out some new
doctrine, or plan of salvation, but as the Word of
the Living God.  To these, every word they read
is as the voice of God, and every text a guide
on the way which ends in Christ.  Instead of
picking put texts and founding a new sect upon
them, and so adding to the already too numerous
divisions amongst us, they diligently "search the
Scriptures[#]," and by them they make proof of
their religion.  Love to Christ as their Head,
and obedience to His laws, these are their two
great doctrines; and these shall inherit the
promises, and "sit down with Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven[#]."


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. John v. 39.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt viii. 11.

.. vspace:: 2

Yes, depend upon it, there is no book to take
the place of the Bible.  It has brought comfort to
the souls of many, who could find no comfort
elsewhere.  It has soothed the pillow of the
dying, and its holy words are repeated over the
dead to comfort the mourner.  It is read and
accepted by men, who cannot agree on many
other points.  Its plain homely truths are suitable
for all, rich and poor alike.  But it is eminently
the working man's book.  "It is chiefly the
inspired sayings and doings of working men; from
David the shepherd, and Amos the herdsman,
Peter and John the poor fishermen, up to One
chosen out of the people, of Whom it was said in
contempt, "Is not this the carpenter?"

Reader, you will find as you go on in life
many books and other things to interest you.
You will find companions gather round you, and
make much of you, and some perchance may try
to turn your heart away from Christ and His
Word; but the day will come when you will
grow tired of the books, delightful though they
may appear now; and the day will come when
the companions will drop off or die, and you will
find that the only companion you have left will
be the old Book; the Book out of which in
early childhood you first learnt the lessons of
life--lessons of a warfare with evil, lessons of a
Saviour's love.  And oh! what a comfort is the
Bible in the long weary hours of sickness and
of sorrow.  I have known men who have lived
godless lives, and never opened their Bible, or
thought of their Saviour; I have known such, at
the very first touch of sickness, send for a person
to read to them something from the Bible.  The
Christ they had neglected all their lives through,
was only sought for on the bed of death, and the
unopened Bible plainly bore witness how little
they cared while in health for their Saviour's
words.  We should think but little of a child
who was in the habit of receiving money and
clothes and frequent presents from his father,
and who, when that father wrote to him, put his
letters regularly by unopened.  Reader, you are
ready to blame the child; are you quite as ready
to blame yourself for neglecting to read the letters
of your heavenly Father, which He has written in
His holy Word?

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE HOLY SPIRIT`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE HOLY SPIRIT.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed
   |    His tender last farewell,
   |  A Guide, a Comforter bequeathed,
   |    With us to dwell.

   |  And every virtue we possess,
   |    And every victory won,
   |  And every thought of holiness,
   |    Are His alone."
   |                            *Harriet Auber.*

.. vspace:: 2

We say in the Belief, "I believe in the Holy
Ghost."  And we need to think often of what
these words mean, for many hardly stop to think
who He is, in Whom they here profess to believe.
People know of God the Father, and His love to
sinners.  They can speak of Jesus as the Saviour
of a lost world.  But the name of the Holy
Spirit rarely enters their thoughts, and seldom
perhaps occurs in their prayers.  But is this right?
Is not the Holy Spirit quite as much God as
Jesus Christ is?  It is His special office and
pleasure to help mankind.  With what loving
care He does this the lives of individual men
can shew.  When a sinner is converted to Christ,
a lost sheep restored to the Fold, it is the work
of God's Holy Spirit.  When we feel that we
want to lead better or holier lives, when we feel
grateful to Christ for all He has done for us,
when we seek to please God, or to deny self,
this again is the work of the Holy Spirit.  At
Holy Baptism He is present at the font; He
washes away sins in the Blood of Jesus; He gives
a new heart, and a right spirit to the repentant
sinner, and leads our feet into the way of peace.
Sometimes we see a man who has been leading
a life of sin suddenly turn from his evil ways and
become a consistent, God-fearing Christian, and
we wonder at the change, and say how extraordinary
it is; and we ask each other if it will
last--and if it does last we wonder still more,
never thinking for a moment that it is only an
instance of the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

I have spoken of how very near the Holy Spirit
is to us at Holy Baptism.  He is near us always;
He hears every word we speak, and notes down
every thought of our heart; but there are special
occasions on which He is specially near us: Holy
Baptism is one of them, Confirmation is another.
He is present when a young man or young woman
kneels before the Bishop to be confirmed.  He
loves to hear and answer the prayer, "Defend,
O Lord, this Thy child, with Thy heavenly grace,
that he may continue Thine for ever, and daily
increase in Thy Holy Spirit more and more, until
he come unto Thine everlasting kingdom."  Yes,
young man, He was with you at your Confirmation,
and heard and noted down the promises
made by you then--promises to give up "the
devil and all his works, the carnal desires of the
flesh," not to "follow or be led by them;"
promises to "keep God's holy will and commandments,
and walk in the same all the days" of
your life.  And though you may have forgotten
that you made those promises, He has not.  And
He, too, promised something in return.  He
promised that God's "Fatherly Hand should ever
be over you," and that He Himself would ever
be in you, as you travelled onward on the road
to heaven.  In Holy Matrimony, again, the same
Holy Spirit is ever near.  He joins the man and
woman in an unseen union, as a great and good
poet has it--

   |  "A high mysterious union
   |  Which nought on earth may break."

And when at Ordination the white-robed priests
and deacons of our Church pass up to kneel before
the Bishop, the Holy Ghost is there.  And, lastly,
at the bedside of the dying Christian, while
weeping friends stand round, the Holy Ghost is there.
He is above all things *the Comforter*, and He
loves to comfort those that mourn.  With His
gracious influence He cheers the dying spirit,
pointing away from earthly things and earthly
dwellings to a "Paradise of God," where "there
is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,"
and where "the former things," that is the things
of earth, "are passed away, and all things have
become new."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`GOD'S MINISTERS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   GOD'S MINISTERS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Lord, pour Thy Spirit from on high,
   |    And Thine ordained servants bless;
   |  Graces and gifts to each supply,
   |    And clothe Thy Priests with righteousness.

   |  So, when their work is finished here
   |    They may in hope their charge resign,
   |  So, when their Master shall appear
   |    They may with crowns of glory shine."
   |                            *James Montgomery.*

.. vspace:: 2

What is a Minister?  The word "*Minister*"
means "*a Servant*"--and the ministers of God
are God's servants.  Now, of course every
Christian man and woman is a servant of God.  But
ministers are men who are specially set apart, by
His Holy Spirit, for their high and holy work.

Just as in the days of the Apostles, the Holy
Spirit told the Church to separate Barnabas and
Saul for the work of the ministry, so now the
principal question in the Ordination Service is
that of the Bishop, who asks the candidate--"Do
you trust that you are *inwardly moved by the
Holy Ghost*, to take upon you this office?"  And
that is only another way of asking--"Do you
think you have really received a call from the
Holy Spirit?"

There is no work on earth so noble as the
minister's work--the work of taking care of souls.
Just as a doctor cures the body, by giving proper
medicine to the patient at the right moment, so
it is the duty and privilege of the Christian
minister to give the right medicine to the soul.

Now if you will take your Prayer Book, and
turn to the Service for the Ordering of Priests,
you will find that the first words spoken by the
Bishop to the Archdeacon, who presents the
candidates, are these, "Take heed that the persons,
whom ye present unto us, be apt and meet" (that
is to say, well fitted) "for their learning and godly
conversation to exercise their ministry."  So you
see that two things are required of those who
come up for ordination,--1. that they should be
well-instructed; 2. that they should be godly men.

Of the first of these it might be and has been
objected--"What is the use of having a learned
clergy, so long as they have the love of God in their
hearts?"  To this objection, I would simply answer,
that while doubtless it is far more important to
have a godly than a learned Ministry; still the
Bible has given us two special instances of great
learning among the servants of God.  In the Old
Testament, "Moses was learned in all the wisdom
of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and
in deeds[#]."  While in the New Testament
S. Paul was "brought up at the feet of
Gamaliel[#]," a doctor of the Law.  And surely I need
not attempt to prove from Scripture that God's
ministers must be godly men.  Experience and
common sense alike teach us that unless they
are godly, their learning can profit them but little.
For if God's ministers are to do God's work,
the work of doing good to others, it is most
important that they should set a good example in
their daily life.  A man may preach the very best
of sermons; he may draw together immense
congregations; his services may be reverent, beautiful,
impressive; but unless his daily life aims at strict
accordance with his Sunday teaching, that man's
religion is vain.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Acts vii. 22.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Acts xxii. 3.

.. vspace:: 2

And now, having spoken on the duty of God's
ministers, let me say a few words as to the duty
of the flock towards their clergyman.  First to
respect and reverence him as "the Servant of
the living God[#]."  We do not indeed respect
the man himself more than he deserves, but we
respect God's minister, on account of his office,
and for the reverence we feel for the Master at
whose hands he holds it.  Secondly, if we really
respect the office, we shall readily obey the advice
God's minister gives; we shall gladly and
frequently go to church, and frequent the Holy
Communion--we shall listen with care to his
sermons, and act upon the advice contained in
them; and thus we shall find ourselves daily
growing more and more fit for joining the Church
in Heaven.  Thirdly, we shall do all in our
power to help him in his work.  Everybody can
do something.  Some no doubt can do more
than others, but all can do a little.  If you hear
things said of him, which you know to be untrue,
say so.  When God's minister stops to speak to
you, shew that you are glad of the opportunity
of speaking to him; for if we will, we can always
get some good from the words of a good man.
And then if you get into any trouble or difficulty,
go and ask his advice.  There can be no doubt
as to this being the right and proper course.
God's minister has been set over your parish,
as a person found "meet for his *learning* and
godly conversation" to exercise his ministry.  In
some parishes the Vicar is the only person of
education, and by going to him for advice in a
difficulty, instead of to the publican or the nearest
neighbour, a great deal of trouble might be saved.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Dan. vi. 20.

.. vspace:: 2

But perhaps you will ask, "How is it that we
see some of the clergy leading evil, or even immoral
lives?"  Reader, I understand your difficulty; it
is one I have often felt myself.  But just ask
yourself this question.  Is there any profession on
earth, of which it can be said, that *every single
member* is living up to what he professes?  I do
not for one moment defend immorality or evil-living
among the clergy.  It is terrible indeed to
think that they to whom we might most reasonably
look for example should be setting a bad
example, and poisoning instead of curing the
souls that Jesus died to redeem.  But these men
are few and far between.  And thank God, there
is another side to the picture.  The greater
number of the clergy of the Church of England, are
men leading high, noble Christian lives; many of
them men who have given up wealth, comfort,
and a happy home, to serve Christ and His poor
in our crowded cities, or in our country villages;
men who have learnt Christ as "the truth is in
Jesus[#]," and whose one desire is to give that
precious truth to others also.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Eph. iv. 21.

.. vspace:: 2

As to the others, it is not for us to pronounce
their doom; we may safely leave them in the
hands of that God Who has said, "Woe be to the
shepherds that do feed themselves!  Should not
the shepherds feed the flocks[#]?"

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Ezekiel xxxiv. 2.

.. vspace:: 2

And I am quite certain that if we do not help
God's ministers in this work, God will require a
reason from us for this.  How many of us I
wonder ever pray for our ministers, and yet the
prayers of the people are one of the greatest helps
the ministers of God can have.  Then again we
can help him in his choir, and in many other
ways besides.  The young men of a parish
especially can help the parson.  He looks to them
as having been trained in his schools (baptized it
may be by him), to fill up the gaps in his church,
and above all to set a good, manly, Christian
example when they are out of his sight.

There are a great many people, especially
in country villages, who are always speaking
against God's ministers, and do all they can to
hinder their work.  But the day of sickness
comes, and they are laid by for a time, and
money and victuals get scarce, the very first
place they send to is the Vicarage, and the man
from whom they ask help is the minister they
have abused.  And very rarely is this help
refused.  For though it is often given with a heart,
heavy at the thought of the little thanks he is
likely to get, and the little good it is likely to do
his Master's cause, it is yet given ungrudgingly,
for he remembers his Lord's words, "Inasmuch as
ye have done it unto one of the least of these My
brethren, ye have done it unto Me[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 40.

.. vspace:: 2

Oh! then think kindly of God's minister whom
He has set over your parish.  He thinks of you
and of your wants, and of your troubles, more
often than you suppose.  He is more frequently
at the Throne of Grace, asking God to bless His
people, than you may think; and in that day
when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, it
will be known how many souls owe salvation to
the prayers, frequent and earnest, of the ministers
of God, and how many jewels by their means will
shine for ever in the Master's crown.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`PRAYER`:

.. class:: center large bold

   PRAYER.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
   |  Uttered or unexpressed,
   |  The motion of a hidden fire
   |  That kindles in the breast."
   |                          *Montgomery.*

.. vspace:: 2

What is prayer?  Prayer is the uplifting of the
soul of man to heaven, in silent communion with
its God.  Prayer is the telling out of our wants,
of our weaknesses, our temptations, and failings
to our Father in heaven.  It has been known
ere now to bring down marvellous and
unexpected answers to the children of men.  Homes
have been saved from destruction; armies
delivered from slaughter; sinners converted to
Christ--by the power of prayer.  As John Keble
has taught us, in his beautiful morning hymn--

   |  "New mercies each returning day,
   |  Hover around us while we pray;
   |  New perils past, new sins forgiven,
   |  New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven."
   |

You remember the answers to prayer recorded
in the Bible.  Elijah prayed that it might not
rain; and God withheld the showers.  On another
occasion, he prayed that fire might come down
on his sacrifice, and fire came down.  Hezekiah
prayed for an increase of days; and we are told
that "there was added unto his life fifteen
years."  In the New Testament again, our blessed Lord,
we are told, spent whole nights in prayer to God.
In the history of the Early Church too, there
are many instances of answers to prayer.  There
is the beautiful story of St. Augustine, who
after leading a wicked and immoral life, was
brought to Christ through the prayers of his
mother.  But why quote more?  You and I,
reader, I trust know and value this power of
prayer.  To be able, in the midst of the most
pressing business, or the hardest toil, to retire
into the secret chamber of our heart, as it were,
and there tell to God our most urgent needs
in prayer is one of the greatest comforts of our life.

And God often answers prayer in a way we
little expect; so little, indeed, that we are apt
hardly to realize it as an answer at all.  A few
years ago, there was an awful storm on the east
coast of England, and a ship was seen to be in
peril about a mile from the shore.  The life-boat
was launched, but owing to some delay, it seemed
likely to be of but little use.  As the boat was
nearing a dangerous spot, one of the men cried,
"Boys, shall we turn back, it is almost certain
death to go on?  The ship seems to have gone
down, and, no doubt, all hands have perished."  But
one of his mates answered, "As I ran along
the cliff, I saw behind a hedge two ladies praying.
I am a wild chap, yet I do believe God hears
prayer; we shall save some lives."  Then on went
the life-boat, with her gallant crew, ploughing her
way through the dangerous breakers.  The ship
had gone down when the boat reached the spot,
and no sign could be seen of her crew.  The
life-boat drifted four miles.  In those four miles the
sailors picked up first one poor fellow, then
another, until eight lives had been saved.  The
shipwrecked sailors often told the tale afterwards,
how that in answer to those ladies' prayer, the
life-boat held on its way, and the little crew were
saved.  Yes, and I could tell you of more wonderful
answers to prayer than that, but my object is
not to tell you interesting stories, but to strive to
leave a lasting impression, by God's grace, upon
the heart.  I have told you how God answers
prayer, in a way which, though kind and loving,
was quite unexpected.  Sometimes God's answers
may not seem to us kind and loving, but may at
first appear to be harsh.  We find in the end,
however, that He knows best what is good for us.
Oh! it is impossible to pass through life without
feeling the power of prayer.  The life of every
separate person must testify to its power; the
death of every Christian is an exhibition of it.
"Pray without ceasing," then.  Whenever you
feel inclined to speak an *idle word*, say a few
words to God instead.  You can speak quite
easily to your father on earth, why not speak as
easily to your Father in Heaven?  Nothing is too
small, or too common, to tell Him about.  The
little daily troubles; the differences between
masters and men; the question of your wages;
the home troubles, the field troubles; the wet
season, or the summer heat; the insects which
destroy your garden, or the sins which are destroying
your soul--these and such as these are not
too small, or too simple to take up the attention
of our Father in Heaven, "Who feedeth the young
ravens that cry unto Him," and without Whose
knowledge not even a sparrow falls to the ground,
and dies.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`ON BEING ALONE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   ON BEING ALONE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Call it not solitude to be alone,
   |    Call it not solitude, for God is nigh:
   |  And holy angels from His heavenly throne
   |    Breathe round us love, and comfort from on high.

   |  Then go we forth to work and struggle on,
   |    Onwards our steps, and upwards still our hearts;
   |  Let all men see the strength, the power supreme,
   |    One precious hour of solitude imparts.

   |  Oh! never, never let us turn away
   |    From one such blessed hour that God has given,
   |  One moment when we can in silence pray
   |    And raise our hearts unto our home in heaven."
   |                                            *Anon.*

.. vspace:: 2

There are but few people, I suppose, who care
to be alone.  Man, you will say, was made for
society; he was made to be of use to others, and
not to dwell alone.  True, it is not good for man
to be always alone; and yet there are times when
it is well to withdraw ourselves from the busy
world, and to go into some solitary place, and be
alone.  It is a want that we all feel more or less.
David felt it, "Oh that I had wings like a dove,"
he cried, "for then would I flee away and be at
rest[#]."  The Master felt it, for He continued whole
nights alone in prayer to God.  And God's saints
in every age have felt it.  In this busy life of ours
we must often feel rest and solitude acceptable.
How glad we are, for instance, when the evening
comes, and we know that the day's toil is over,
and that we can be alone.  And when Saturday
night comes we are more glad still, for we know
that it means not merely a night's rest, but a day's
rest too.  Now I want you to think of being alone
in three separate and distinct senses, 1. Solitude.
2. Loneliness.  3. Isolation.  And first,
solitude.  A recent writer, speaking of our blessed
Lord's frequent nights spent alone on the Mount
of Olives, says,--"There is something affecting
beyond measure in the thought of these lonely
hours; the absolute stillness and silence, broken
by no sounds of human life, but only by the
hooting of the night-jar, or the howl of the jackal;
the stars of an eastern heaven raining their large
lustre out of the depth; the figure of the Man
of Sorrows kneeling upon the dewy grass, and
gaining strength for His labours from the purer
air, the more open heaven, of that intense and
silent communing with His Father and His God."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Ps. lv. 6.

.. vspace:: 2

Yes, there is something wonderfully solemn
and grand in that kind of solitude, the solitude
of prayer.  The intense silence of the world
sleeping below Him, the cold night air upon
His brow, the kneeling figure and earnest words;
these all we can picture to ourselves, and say such
*solitude* is good!

Then, again, there is loneliness.  Who has not
felt lonely?  It may have been that as we stood
round an open grave and listened to the beautiful
words spoken by our Church over the departed,
we first learnt what loneliness meant.  I have
been told that nowhere is the sense of loneliness
stronger than on hearing the service for the
Burial of the Dead at sea.  I have been told
that there comes over the spirit an untold sense
of loneliness when one of a vessel's crew is
committed to the deep, far from land, in the midst of
the ocean, "looking for the resurrection of the
body, when the sea shall give up her dead;" and
the living comrades stand around the corpse and
see the cold waves close over their mate's remains.
But solitude is no mere feeling of the mind, it is
a stern reality.  It comes as a necessary part in
the life of all men, and so it must be met.

Lastly, there is isolation.  And this to men is
the hardest trial of all.  To be obliged to mix
with people with whom we have nothing in
common, to go about and live with those who
have no fear of God before their eyes, to work
with the blasphemer, to toil for the vicious, to
mix with the depraved; oh! sit needs a Christian
spirit indeed to bear up under such a trial.
But Christ knew well what it was to do this.
He was as much alone in the crowded street as
ever He was on the cold hillside.  He was as
truly alone when He sat at meat in the Pharisee's
house as He was while walking on the sea of
Gennesaret.  Oh yes, isolation is the portion
of all true Christians as it was of the Master.
We can talk to men of the world, we can mix
with men of the world, and we can do good to
men of the world, and yet all the while we are
alone.  Oh! don't you know what it is to long to
ask advice, and yet have none of whom to ask it?
Don't you know how easy it is to make hundreds
of acquaintances, but how very hard it is to have
one true friend?  And this is what Jesus felt, and
felt for us.  He went through it all, all the
solitude, all the loneliness, all the bitter isolation for
you and for me, that when the time came that we
should be alone, we might remember His loneliness
and take courage.  Reader, the day will come
when you too will have to be alone.  You may
surround yourself with friends now, you may
take pleasure in counting the number of those
who are proud to know you; but, believe me,
it won't be so always.  Alone you will have
to pass through the dark valley of the shadow of
death, alone you will have to stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ.  Alone you will have
to give "that strict and solemn account" of the
way in which you have used your time, your
influence, and your power on earth.  But there is
One, One who knows what loneliness is, Who
has promised to be with you, if you ask Him;
promised to take care of you over the dark valley,
for the darkness is no darkness with Him, and He
has passed over that way before.  Go then to
Jesus, the lonely Man of sorrows.  Make a friend
of Him, and tell Him that you want His help in
your solitude, His guidance in your loneliness,
His presence in your isolation; ask Him to come
to you as He came of old to His toiling, weary,
lonely disciples on the Galilean sea; ask Him to
come and guide your ship into quiet harbours,
and safe resting-places, and to bring you into a
better country, even an heavenly, where none are
sad, or sick, or lonely, for all are filled with the
Presence of God.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`ON SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   ON SETTING A GOOD EXAMPLE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Poor indeed thou must be, if around thee
   |    Thou no ray of light and joy canst throw,
   |  If no silken cord of love hath bound thee
   |    To some little world through weal and woe.

   |  If no eyes thy tender love can brighten,
   |    No fond voices answer to thine own,
   |  If no brother's sorrow thou canst lighten
   |    By daily sympathy and gentle tone.

   |  Daily struggling, though enclosed and lonely,
   |    Every day a rich reward will give;
   |  Thou wilt find, by hearty striving only
   |    And truly loving, thou canst truly live."
   |                                    *Harriet Winslow.*

.. vspace:: 2

There is no subject of those on which I have
written as yet in this book, or of those on which
I shall write, that I believe to be of greater
importance than that of setting a good example to
others.  Amongst other things our influence on
one another has been compared to the action of
the sea.  And indeed the comparison is a good
one.  The sea is a mighty power, stronger perhaps
than any other natural force.  It is constantly and
silently at work.  We stand on a rock in the midst
of the ocean; a rock that looks so firm, and seems
so hard that it blunts the sharpest tools to work
it.  And yet, quite silently, the restless sea is
eating into its very heart with its ceaseless
beatings.  And so is it with influence, or example.
Silently, but none the less surely, do we make our
influence felt upon each other.  The influence
may be bad or good; it may be a bad or good
example we are setting, or a bad or good word
that we speak, still there are always plenty of
people ready to take it up and copy it.  Probably
for every person we can see to be influenced by
our example, there are at least ten of whom we
know nothing.  Reader, these are solemn thoughts.
The idle word you spoke yesterday has gone
beyond recall; but God heard it and noted both it
and its effect upon those who stood by.  And
you may one day find that that word has caused
a world of sorrow to spring up around it.  Yes,
we cannot unspeak a word carelessly spoken, or
unthink one evil thought.  How often we hear it
said, "Alas!  I possess no influence, what can I
do?"  Now it is true that many have no wealth,
no beauty, no rank, no intellect, no learning; but
there never has been a heart created since the
world began, that has not received and exerted
the precious, though much-abused gift of influence.
How is this?  Just because every heart has the
power of loving!  There is a story told of Cecil's
little daughter, who was asked by her father how
it was that everybody loved her so much.  "I
think, dear father," replied the child, "it must
be because I love everybody."  Here, then, is a
work we all can do, and we all have to do.
"Love is power."  The sunshine has to do its
work; it penetrates the darkest places, the dirtiest
streets, the most dismal prisons; it brings light
and heat to the chilled and cold; it gives colour
to the flower, and ripeness to the fruit.  And so
it is with good influence.  The influence of one
loving heart may do a world of good.  It may
not be a powerful heart; it need not be the heart
of a learned man; still less need it be the heart of
a rich one; so long as it is a loving heart it will
go about cheering and lighting up, warming and
colouring and ripening all things like the sun.

Many good people seem to think it a duty to
keep their hearts locked up tight from their fellow
men.  Have you ever thought seriously of the
sin of doing this?  Have you ever thought that
such a course makes the religion of your gentle,
kindly, warm-hearted Master appear in a cold and
disagreeable form?  Have you ever thought that
as the Lord Jesus looks upon the cup of cold
water bestowed on a neighbour as given to Him,
so He will look upon the wounded feeling, the
repulsed confidence, the bruised spirit, you have
occasioned as given to Him too?  Oh! it is a
sad thing to fold up in a napkin the talent of
*manner*; to lose, as it were, the key of the door
which opens the hearts of men.

But if you are using your influence, don't be
afraid to use it for Christ; to be an out-and-out
Christian!  Those are the sort He always blesses
in the end, and their works follow them long
after they have passed onward to their reward.

Not long ago, in a Sussex village, there lived a
young man, a farm-labourer.  He had often wished
to stay in church for Holy Communion, which he
knew well would help him, beyond all else, in the
good and earnest life he was trying to lead.  Still
the fear of his companions' laughter held him
back.  One Sunday morning, however, after
praying much for God's help to aid him to do
what was right, he knelt on, when the others
had left the church, and went up to receive the
Holy Communion.  On coming out of church
his friends began to laugh at him for staying,
but he said nothing, and walked quietly home.
Sunday after Sunday he persevered, though it
was hard work, and he was often tempted to give
way.  Months passed, and one Sunday another
boy came and knelt down beside him, instead
of leaving church, and he too received the Holy
Communion.  A few Sundays after they were
joined by another, and after that more and more
of the young men of that parish began to follow
their example.  Nor did the good resulting from
this end there.  These young men are now banded
together in that parish, working together for
the same great Master Christ, each in his own
occupation, and leading others to the knowledge
of the Saviour.  And all this came from the
courage of that one brave soldier of Christ, who
used his influence in his Captain's cause.  Reader,
will not you go and do likewise?

Hitherto I have spoken only of the good
influence we may exercise upon our companions and
on strangers.  What shall I say of the influence
we may exercise on our home?  Ere this, one
Christian man has been known to change the
whole manner of life of a household.  St. Paul
tells us in his Epistle to Timothy to "shew piety
at home;" and after all it is *in our own homes*
that we must bear witness for Jesus Christ.
Speak up for Christ when occasion demands it,
above all live a Christian life, and then the lives
of those around you will be brought more under
the influence of religion.  But to young men
particularly is the call to influence others loudest
and clearest, and to set a good example their
plain duty--

   |  "Young men be strong for Jesus,
   |  To toil for Him is gain--
   |  And Jesus wrought for Joseph
   |  With chisel, saw, and plane."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HELPING OTHERS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HELPING OTHERS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "The cowslip and the spreading vine,
   |    The daisy in the grass,
   |  The snow-drop and the eglantine,
   |    Preach sermons as we pass.
   |  The ant within its cavern deep
   |    Would bid us labour too,
   |  And writes upon its tiny heap--
   |    'There's work enough to do.'

   |  To have a heart for those who weep,
   |    The sottish drunkard win;
   |  To rescue all the children deep
   |    In ignorance and sin;
   |  To help the poor, the hungry feed;
   |    To give him coat and shoe;
   |  To see that all can write and read--
   |    Is 'work enough to do.'"
   |                          *John Burbidge.*

.. vspace:: 2

Of all the different kinds of work that God
has given us to do here on earth, there is none
more important, none more satisfactory, than
this work of helping others.  Ever since Jesus
Christ stood upon the shore of the sea of Galilee,
watching two fishermen mending their nets; ever
since He spoke to those two, saying, "Follow
Me, and I will make you fishers of men[#]," the
command has been binding upon all Christians.
To go out upon the grand field of philanthropy,
of love of men, is the noblest occupation that
our poor life can have.  To spend and be spent
in the service of our fellow-men is a work that is
so specially blest by Christ, that I hardly think
that a chapter on "helping others" will be in any
sense out of place here.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. iv. 19.

.. vspace:: 2

But perhaps you will say, "How can I, I who
am so poor, help others?"  Reader, you have only
to look for such work, and God will give it you.
It may be you can help others by giving them
your time.  For instance, if you have an aged or
infirm neighbour, too feeble to dig his own
garden, it would no doubt be a great help to
him if you were to go and offer to do it for
him.  Some time ago, in a country village, there
was a young man, who wished to try and help
others in some practical way, for the Master's
sake.  For a long time he could not find anything
to do; but at last one of his neighbours, an old
man, became very ill, and bedridden.  He was
very poor, and his old wife almost too infirm to
attend to him properly.  For the last two years
this young fellow has gone in in the morning,
before going to his work, and done all he could
for him in the house; and every night on returning
home, he goes again, settles him for the night,
and reads the Bible to him before leaving.  One
day, when he was praised for doing this, he said,
quite simply, "I do like to do it, it seems like
helping Christ: whenever I go there, I say to
myself, 'I was sick, and ye visited *Me*.'"

That young man understands the true meaning
of the words "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto
one of the least of these My brethren, ye have
done it unto Me[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 40.

.. vspace:: 2

Reader, there may be no sick neighbour for
you to help, but there is no doubt you can find
work to do if you will only try.  Oh! don't
stand idle all the blessed hours of youth, that
God has given you to work for others.  Stand
up like men, ready to go and fight for Jesus, the
Great Captain of the Lord's host.  Ask God to
give you strength and victory, and to fulfil the
promise He once gave to His chosen people, by
the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, "They that wait
upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall
run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Isaiah xl. 31.

.. vspace:: 2

..

   |  "Come labour on!
   |  Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,
   |  While all around him waves the golden grain?
   |  And to each servant does the Master say,
   |                            'Go, work to-day.'

   |  Come labour on!
   |  The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,
   |  Blessed are those who to the end endure;
   |  How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,
   |                            Oh!  Lord, with Thee."
   |

Yes, the end of helping others lies in the
Master's kingdom.  The reward of serving Christ
in the person of His poor, awaits you in the
many mansions.  You may meet with coldness,
and hard words, from those you would seek to
help; but generally, you will find them only too
glad of it.  And what matters it what men say
and think of your work, if the Lord approves
of it?  What will it matter whether your friends
did not help you, if Christ helps you here, and
gives you your reward in heaven?

It is especially a young man's calling to help
others.  He need not give up the least bit of his
ordinary daily work or daily pleasure to do so.
All he needs is a ready will to undertake the
work as soon as Christ gives it him to do.

I cannot close this chapter better than by
quoting some remarks, made some years ago by
one of the London clergy.  Preaching to young
men upon the words, "Young man, I say unto
thee arise!" the preacher said--"We need young
men, fired with the thought that they are called
by Christ to be the saviours of society from the
sins that are wasting it, to render to their
country and to humanity the noblest service, by
fighting with voice and hand against those deadly
foes that menace our very life; and will, if they
are allowed to run riot, certainly drag us down to
hell.  Young men, rise up to stand against it
and destroy it.  Lift up against it the Standard
of the Cross.  Be known as Christ's soldiers,
banded and pledged to overthrow it.  Let your
conversation be pure from all taint of uncleanness;
and never let the glass rob you of your power to
stand up for Christ against sensual sin.  Rebuke
and frown down the young man's talk, and the
habit of life it engenders; you know what I mean.
Say to those who love it, it is just this that is
destroying us as a people.  Unless our young men
rise up together, as one man, and make drunkenness
and harlotry shameful and hateful, I see no
hope for our country, but a hope of growing decay."

Those are wise words, carefully and thoughtfully
spoken.  God grant, reader, that you and I may
lay them seriously to heart.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`OUR COMPANIONS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   OUR COMPANIONS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "A friend I had, long, long ago,
   |    And one I learnt to prize,
   |  He taught a truth that all should know--
   |    In work true honour lies.
   |  A frank and cheerful face had he,
   |  And a heart as light as heart could be.
   |    \*      \*      \*      \*      \*
   |  He has found his rest in Heaven above,
   |    But has left a golden fame;
   |  For the neighbours tell his deeds of love,
   |    And the children bless his name;
   |  And comrades too for many a day
   |  Shall roughly wipe their tears away."
   |                            *John Burbidge.*


There are, perhaps, few things so important
to a young man as to make a right choice of
companions.  How much depends on this.  How
much of our present and future happiness; nay,
more, how much of our eternal welfare depends
upon those with whom we mix on earth.  Very
many a young man has begun life with the best
intentions and the holiest desires; and all these
have been dashed to the ground by his having
made an unwise choice in selecting his companions.

Now there are several things to be thought
of in making this choice.  And I shall try to
put a few of these before you.  First, it is most
important that your companions should be
God-fearing men.  I don't think any friendship can
be really happy, or even lasting, unless this is the
case.  For remember that there are friendships
which do not end with life; that true friendship,
blessed by Almighty God, is only begun here
below, and is carried on in that distant
spirit-land beyond the grave.

Secondly, don't think that because your
companions should be godly men, they must needs be
gloomy or dull.  A man may be godly, and at
the same time quite able to laugh with others,
and make as good jokes as they; but his laughter
will never be turned against religion, nor his jokes
made at the expense of the people of God.  A
man who is a drunkard, for instance, will never
be a good or even pleasant companion for you.
His conversation in his sober moments is rarely
interesting, and when he is in liquor he is worse
than a beast.  And as to his example, what can
I say of that?  It will be an example which God
grant, reader, you may never follow; but it is an
example which it is better you should not even
see.  In a word, as a recent writer has put it,
my advice to you is, "Make friends with sober
men, who can talk and laugh without incessant
liquor."

Now it may be you think you are quite strong
enough to resist temptation.  It may be you think
that as you pass through this world yours will be
a life of temptation, and you feel that if you can't
resist it now, you never will.  It was said of
Sophronius, a wise teacher in Ancient Greece,
that one day when his daughter Eulalia came to
ask permission to visit a worldly friend, Lucinda,
Sophronius forbade her.  And when Eulalia,
trusting in her own power to overcome the temptations
of her evil companion, replied, "Dear father, you
must think me childish if you imagine I should
be exposed to danger by going."  Sophronius
took, in silence, a dead coal from the hearth, and
gave it to his daughter.  "It will not burn you,
my child: take it," said he.  Eulalia did so, and
behold! her hand was blackened, and, as it chanced,
her white dress too.  "We cannot be too careful
in handling coals," said Eulalia in vexation.
"Yes, truly!" replied her father; "You see, my
child, the coals, even if they do not burn,
blacken."

And so, too, is it with companions.  The coals
may not burn, but only blacken; and companions
may not leave any lasting impression for evil on
the heart.  Their example may not even appear
to the conscience as being black and evil, but
they blacken the character, at any rate for the
time, none the less, if not in the sight of men,
undoubtedly in the sight of God.

And there is one point more.  Do remember,
that even the worst of us, the most degraded, are
being constantly watched by people above us in
society.  And very often they don't care to have
anything to do with us, *because of our companions*.
I once heard a foreman, who employed a great
number of hands on a certain work, say of a young
man, whose name had been recommended for
employment, "He keeps such bad company."  And
though I knew the young man in question well,
and knew that whatever his companions might
be, he himself was pure and good, still it was of no
use my speaking to the foreman, because he *was*
keeping bad company.  Depend upon it, reader,
there is truth in words written down in our
Father's Book, "Godliness is profitable unto all
things, baring *promise of the life that now is*, and
of that which is to come[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Tim. iv. 8.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE BOOKS WE READ`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE BOOKS WE READ.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There is a Book, who runs may read,
   |    Which heavenly truth imparts,
   |  And all the lore its scholars need
   |    Pure eyes and Christian hearts.

   |  The works of God, above, below,
   |    Within us and around,
   |  Are pages in that Book to show
   |    How God Himself is found."
   |                            *John Keble.*

.. vspace:: 2

There are few things which have so mighty a
power for good or evil, on the lives of most of us,
as the books we read.  Nor is it easy for us to
read nothing but what is profitable and good.
From the Bible, of course, we can always get
wholesome reading, and always gain fresh stores of
knowledge; but we cannot always be reading the
Bible.  And there are in these days many books
and papers which a young man may come across,
which can hardly fail to do him harm; books with
perfectly innocent titles, and apparently quite
harmless, and yet the reading they contain is as
poison to the human soul.  But there are plenty
of good books too, thank God; and almost every
village has its library, and every cottage home its
books.

But even if you are ever so careful as to what you
read, it is almost certain the devil will put
something into your hands that you should not read.
He does so to us all.  Rich and poor, young and
old, all alike read a good deal that they should
not--for rich people have their temptations too, and
very hard they are tried sometimes.  Well, the
only safeguard I know of is, whenever you read
anything you know to be bad shut up the book at
once, and read no further.  And whenever you
read anything that you are doubtful about, take
down your Bible and ask God to shew you, out
of His Word, whether what you have been reading
is right or wrong.  You know, I daresay, that
all along a part of the south coast of England
there are a number of round towers, built at certain
distances from each other.  And the object of these
towers was this.  Many years ago we expected
a foreign foe to land on our shores, and we built
these watch-towers to guard against surprise.  And
it is just the same with the Bible.  God has said,
I won't prevent the devil trying to persuade you
to read these bad books, and I won't prevent your
reading them; but I give you the Bible, which, if
you compare its words with the words of the books
you read, they will, like the men in the
watch-towers, give you warning of the enemy's approach.
Reader, if you require plainer words than those
written in God's Bible, I fear you will never read
them on earth, and you certainly will never read
them in heaven.  How often we hear men say,
"I'm no scholar."  And this is given as an excuse
for not coming to church, and for not reading the
Bible, and a lot of other things too.  But there's
many a man who will tell you he's no scholar,
if you ask him to read the Bible; but if you give
him a newspaper and tell him there's an account
of a horrible murder in it, he'll take that gladly,
and he won't tell you he's no scholar then!  He'll
very soon find that either his wife or his children
can read to him about the murder of a fellow
creature, but he won't take the trouble to ask them
to read to him about the death of God's only Son.

Oh, reader, be honest with God.  He is honest,
and means what He says.  Man may not see
through your excuses.  He may go away and pity
you for your want of learning, and you may be
sitting at home thinking how cleverly you have
deceived him.  But all the while, though you
little think it, God is holding up your character,
and He sees through you, and every bit of what
He sees, is written down in His great book to
be brought up against you at the last day.  Some
people give as an excuse for reading bad and
immoral books, that they can understand them.
They say they *can't understand* the Bible.  No
doubt that is true.  God says the carnal man--that
is the man who loves this world and things
of the flesh--cannot understand spiritual things;
and the Bible is a spiritual book.  How can the
unwashed heart understand the Bible?  Well, you
say if it is a sealed book, how am I to understand
it?  The word of God, I answer, may be and is
darkened to the worldly man, but the way of
salvation is written so plainly, that a little child
of six years old can read it, if he will.  And
oh! if you come across any impure or sinful book, do
be careful what you do with it.  Don't let it lie
about.  A little child may take it up and read it,
and it may be, through your carelessness, its first
step on the road to ruin.  Don't say, that's not my
look out!  Reader, it is your look out; and God
will lay it to your charge.  If you stop under a
hayrick to light your pipe, and you carelessly
throw the lighted match away among the hay,
so that the rick catches fire, isn't that your fault?
You didn't mean, I daresay, to set fire to the rick;
you didn't leave home, and go to that particular
place in order to set that rick on fire, but I think
that any magistrate in the kingdom would make
you suffer for your carelessness.  And so it is
with God.  He looks at results as well as at
intentions.  And if you carelessly leave a bad book
about, and it happens to do harm, the punishment
of that harm, be it little or be it much,
will rest upon your soul in the life to come.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`TRUE MANLINESS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   TRUE MANLINESS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There are other battles to fight, my boy,
   |  Than the battle of which you speak;
   |  There are battles which none can win, my boy,
   |  But the lowly in heart and meek;
   |  There are battles in which earth's mightiest fail,
   |  And the strong ones are the weak.

   |  There's a battle, my boy, with the world's rude laugh
   |  At the lessons our Saviour taught,
   |  And many a battle with self, before
   |  We can do the things we ought;
   |  A battle which, not for the praise of men,
   |  Is in secret and silence fought.

   |  If in the battle of life, my boy,
   |  Thou would'st stand on thy Captain's side,
   |  With the white-robed hosts that follow the Lamb,
   |  The called, and chosen, and tried,
   |  Thou must take up thy cross, denying thyself,
   |  And follow the Crucified."
   |            *From* "*The Child's Book of Ballads.*"

.. vspace:: 2

There is nothing a young man desires more
than to be thought manly.  At school he is
constantly told to be manly.  And indeed true
manliness is a grand thing.  How often we hear
our young men say that they want to be more
independent.  You may have said so yourself,
reader; what harm if you have?  Isn't it a fine
thing, and a noble thing, and a right thing to be
independent?  Certainly it is; and I hope before
the end of this chapter to have shewn you the
difference between true and false independence,
and true and false manliness.

Now let us deal with manliness first.  What is
it to be manly?  To be manly means to be
man-like--like a man.  And He Who was our great
pattern man, the only perfect pattern that ever
lived, has shewn us in His own life what true
manliness means.  He knew well how fond
young men in all ages would be of trying to be
manly, and so He gave them His advice how to
be so.  Listen to it.  He said, "Except ye be
converted, and become *as little children*, ye shall
in nowise enter into the kingdom of Heaven."  As
little children!  Young man, do you hear that? you
must become as submissive, as obedient, as
trustful and believing as a little child, if you
would be manly.

And one of the greatest marks of true
manliness is respect paid to women.  A true man is
ever courteous, and careful of his words and acts
in the presence of a woman.  He indulges in no
thoughts of impurity or lust; but if they arise
he drives them out.  Like Joseph, when he is
tempted to sin against his master's law of purity,
he says to himself, "How can I do this great
wickedness and sin against God?"  I know no
surer test of manliness than that.  To be careful
of woman's virtue, and to be mindful of God's
commands.  To help the weak and those who
cannot help themselves, to think for those who
will not think for themselves, is manliness indeed;
and he who will do these things in the midst of
a mocking crowd, shews that he is truly manly.

And next, let me say a word about independence.
So many young men nowadays seem to
think that independence consists in being rude
to every one they meet.  But if this is your idea
of independence you may be sure you are on the
wrong road, and the sooner you get right the
better.  Real independence is, as I said, a fine
and noble thing.  An independent man can walk
through the world with his head up, and give
every one a civil answer, for he is as good as they.
Oh! learn, reader, to be more truly independent.
Learn to withdraw your dependence from man,
and put it all on God.  It is quite possible to be
too dependent on man; it is quite impossible to
be too dependent on God.  Whether you wish it
or not, you must depend on Him.  He sends you
life and health, food and raiment, all that you
have, and all that you hope for.  If you have
saved enough money you can take a cottage, and
live comfortably and independently in your old
age; but if you have saved ever so much money,
you can never lose your dependence on God.

Lastly, let me in all earnestness say a kindly
word to young men.  You are just beginning life;
everything is before you; and perhaps you feel, as
indeed you ought to feel, that as you grow in
years you wish to grow in true manliness and
independence.  Very well; take a kindly word of
advice from a stranger; it is this, always be civil
to everybody.  A little civility goes a long way,
farther often than you think.  Be civil to your
superiors, and they will think the more highly of
you for it.  Be civil to your equals, and they will
respect you for it.  Be civil to your inferiors, and
they will look up to you for it.  It costs very
little to give a civil answer, and we often have
reason afterwards to regret an uncivil word,
uncivilly spoken.  I do believe that this is a most
important thing in going through life.  We so
constantly hear whole masses of men classed
together and unfairly judged because of the
conduct of one of their number who may chance to
have been met.  I have so often heard railway
porters, for instance, described as a most civil
class, and no doubt they find their civility
paying.  Above all, reader, to look at it from a
higher ground, civility is pleasing to God.  Of
Christ it was said, "When He was reviled, He
reviled not again[#];" and if He set us this
example of civility it was to shew us that we can
be truly manly, and truly independent, and at
the same time truly civil, and truly Christian in
heart.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] 1 Pet. ii. 23.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HONESTY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HONESTY.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "'Tis but a flash that spans the sky,
   |  A few short hours of joy to wreathe:
   |  Reader! this moment you and I
   |                Might cease to breathe!

   |  Then, live more worthy of a soul
   |  Implanted by a Hand Divine!
   |  Press onward to a richer goal!
   |                While yet there's time!

   |  He who can so secure his fame,
   |  Has nobly filled his narrow span,
   |  And future times shall write his name,
   |                *An honest man!*"
   |                            *John Burbidge.*

.. vspace:: 2

"Honesty is the best policy" is a saying we
frequently hear.  And we may have said, "Ah! that's
all very well for thieves and such like, but
it doesn't apply to me."  Reader, you may be
honest, strictly honest in the sight of man, but
are you strictly honest in the sight of God?  You
may never have taken so much as a pin that did
not rightly belong to you, but are you quite
certain that you have never taken of the things of God?

Now let us just consider this for a few moments.
To-day, we will say, is Sunday, God's holy day!
To-day, of all days in the week, God has chosen
to be set apart for His worship.  He has given
you time to be so employed.  He has given you
an open church to go to.  He has given you
health and power to go, and yet perhaps you
reject all, and never go at all.  Don't you see
that you have taken of things of God, that you
have taken His gift of health, and His gift of
Sunday rest--things given that they might be
spent in His service, and in worshipping Him
in His church.  And yet you accept these gifts,
you take them as the most natural things in the
world, and use the gifts of Almighty God for
your own selfish purposes.  And is this honest?
Certainly not.

But we will take another and a commoner
case, if you like.  God has perhaps given you
influence among your fellows, and as you go
about among them, you hear some person spoken
against in terms which you know are not true.
And yet you allow the matter to pass, because
you are afraid that if you spoke, you might lose
your influence.  You forget that even if you lost
it for the time, God, for Whose sake you spoke,
would surely give it back, if He thought it good
for you; and besides this, you would have the
consciousness of having done an honest deed, and
of having done it in an honest fearless way.

And so you see that it is quite possible to be a
strictly honest man in the sight of men, and a very
dishonest man in the sight of God.  And which,
think you, is the best?  Which will stand you in
good stead at the day of judgment, your character
as it has appeared to men, or as it appears to God?
I think the latter.  For in the Bible we are taught
that the sight of God and that of men are two
utterly different things, "for the Lord seeth not
as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

Some time ago in Edinburgh two gentlemen
were standing at the door of an hotel one very
cold day, when a little boy with a poor thin blue
face, his bare feet red with cold, and with nothing
to cover him but a bundle of rags, came and said,
"Please, sir, buy some matches."  "No, don't
want any," the gentleman said.  "But they are
only a penny a box," the poor little fellow pleaded.
"Yes, but you see we don't want a box," the
gentleman said again.  "Then I'll give you two
for a penny," the boy said at last.  And so to get
rid of him the gentleman who tells the story says,
I bought a box of him.  But then I found I had
no change, and so I said I would buy a box
tomorrow.  "Oh do buy them to-night, if you
please," the boy again pleaded, "I will run and
get you the change, for I'm very hungry."  So I
gave him the shilling, and off he started.  I waited
for him, but no boy came.  Then I thought I had
lost my shilling; still there was that in the boy's
face I trusted, and I did not like to think ill of
him.  Late in the evening I was told a boy
wanted to see me.  When he was brought in, I
found it was a smaller brother of the boy that
had got my shilling, but if possible still more
ragged and poor and thin.  He stood for a
moment diving into his rags, and then said, "Are
you the gentleman that bought the matches from
Sandie?"  "Yes."  "Well, then, here's fourpence
out of your shilling; Sandie can't come, he's very
ill; a cart ran over him, and knocked him down,
and he lost his cap and his matches and your
sevenpence, and both his legs are broken, and the
doctor says he'll die, and that's all."  And then,
putting the fourpence on the table, the poor child
broke out into great sobs.  So I fed the little
man, and went with him to see Sandie.  The
two poor little things lived alone, father and
mother both dead.  Poor Sandie lay on a bundle
of shavings; he knew me as soon as I came in,
and having told me how his legs were broken, he
added, as his eyes fell on his little brother, "Oh
Reuby, little Reuby!  I'm sure I'm dying, and
who'll take care of you when I am gone?"  Then
I took his hand and said, I would always take
care of Reuby.  He understood me, and had
just strength enough left to look up at me, as if
to thank me; the light went out of his blue eyes.
And in a moment--

   |  "He lay within the light of God
   |  Like a babe upon the breast,
   |  Where the wicked cease from troubling
   |  And the weary are at rest."
   |

That story was told in the noblest church of
our great city.  It was reported in the papers the
following day.  And I have no hesitation in
saying that beautiful as are the words in which
it is told, and wonderful as the effect may have
been on the hearts of those who heard it, it was a
sight far more wonderful than any we can imagine,
when that story was told in the courts of the
kingdom of heaven.

Reader, think of little Sandie when you are
tempted to say you are honest, and ask yourself
the question, "Can I lay my hand upon my heart
and say, My God, I am honest indeed, honest as
that poor child was, honest before my neighbours,
honest before Thee."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`BEARING THE CROSS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   BEARING THE CROSS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "'Take up thy cross,' the Saviour said,
   |  If thou would'st My disciple be;
   |  Deny thyself, the world forsake,
   |  And humbly follow after Me.

   |  'Take up thy cross,' nor heed the shame,
   |  Nor let thy foolish pride rebel:
   |  Thy Lord for thee the Cross endured,
   |  To save thy soul from death and hell!

   |  'Take up thy cross,' and follow Christ--
   |  Nor think till death to lay it down;
   |  For only he who bears the cross,
   |  May hope to wear the glorious crown!"
   |                           *C. W. Everest.*

.. vspace:: 2

Bearing the cross, or self-denial, as it is
sometimes called, forms a necessary part of the
daily life of every Christian man.  Every one of
us can give up something for the good of others.
A rich man is called upon to give up one thing,
a poor man another.  But let none think that his
riches or his poverty, as the case may be, will
excuse him from bearing the cross of Christ.  And
indeed in the heart of any true servant of God,
there will be no wish to shirk the hard and
disagreeable part of His service.  His heart will be
so filled with love and devotion to Christ, that
he will gladly bear the cross, "despising the
shame."  It may be we are called upon to give
up our time to go and see a sick neighbour, or
it may be we are asked to do a neighbour a
good turn by going on an errand for them when
we wish to go elsewhere.  But whatever it may
be, it is certain that opportunities for practising
self-denial occur in the lives of us all.  "If any
man will come after Me"--Christ has told us--"let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow Me[#]."  There is the command, now hear
the promise made to such as fulfil the command,--"and
where I am, there shall also My servant be[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xvi. 24.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. John xii. 26.

.. vspace:: 2

Self-denial may be in very simplest matters,
and yet be quite as acceptable to Christ as would
be the most costly gifts bestowed by the rich
upon His service.  You remember when Jesus
was on earth, how one day He was sitting over
against the Treasury, and as He sat there He kept
taking notice of all the pieces of money that were
cast into the Treasury.  Now there happened to
come by some very rich people, and they put large
sums into the box, and passed on their way.  And
again others came, and they too being rich, "cast
in much."  But after awhile there came by one
who is described as "a certain poor widow;"
and "she cast in all she had, even all her living."  How
much it cost her to give that one farthing
Jesus Christ knew well.  Instead of keeping it to
spend upon her own needs, she brought it up to
the temple Treasury and gave it back to God.
And that is just what you must do.  I do not say
it is necessary, or even right, that people should
in these days give everything they possess to God.
In one sense indeed we ought to give up *all we
have* to the service of Christ; I mean by this
that we ought at all times to be ready to part
with things earthly, if they interfere with the
cross we are called upon to bear.  And I do say
that we ought to deny ourselves some little
comfort or pleasure, and make a rule of giving
the money that we should thus have spent upon
ourselves to the service of Almighty God.

It is told of a great and good man who lived
many years ago at Cambridge, that on one
occasion, being disheartened by the wickedness of
many of those with whom he came in daily contact,
he retired to his rooms, and taking his Bible
he asked God to give him such help from its
pages as would serve him in his trouble.  He
opened the Bible at the twenty-seventh chapter
of S. Matthew's gospel, and his eye quickly fell
on the thirty-second verse, "And as they went
out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name;
him they compelled to bear His Cross."  Charles
Simeon, for it was he, rose from his knees
comforted and strengthened.  The likeness between
his own name of Simeon and the Cyrenian's
name of Simon, struck him forcibly; and he came
to the conclusion that it was the will of his
Father in heaven that he should bear the cross
under which he was labouring.

Reader, yours, like his, may be the cross of
ridicule, of your friend's laughter at the things of
God; and a bitter cross it is to bear!  But try
and look upon it as a cross laid upon you by your
Saviour, a cross which He has borne before you
up that bitter hillside of Calvary.  Remember it
is not merely that you are called upon to bear
the cross, but, like Simon of Cyrene, that you
should "bear it *after* Jesus."  Therefore ask Him
to give you strength to take up your cross daily,
cheerfully and lovingly, and bear it after Him.
Then self-denial will be less hard for you to
practise than it is now.  I do not say it will be
pleasant, for that it can never be, but the sting of
it will be taken away; indeed for the Christian,
it long ago was taken away and laid on Him
Who bore the burden of our sins on Calvary.  So
let yours be a life of obedience here, a living
for others, a pleasing of others, not of yourself;
"For even Christ pleased not Himself[#]," but
"was made sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we
might be made the righteousness of God through Him[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Rom. xv. 3.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] 2 Cor. v. 21.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`HUMILITY`:

.. class:: center large bold

   HUMILITY.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Fain would I my Lord pursue,
   |    Be all my Saviour taught;
   |  Do as Jesus bids me do,
   |    And think as Jesus thought:
   |  But 'tis Thou must change the heart,
   |    The perfect gift must come from Thee:
   |  Meek Redeemer, now impart
   |    Thine own humility.

   |  Let Thy Cross my will control,
   |    Conform me to my Guide;
   |  In Thine Image mould my soul,
   |    And crucify my pride;
   |  Give me, Lord, a broken heart,
   |    A heart that always looks to Thee:
   |  Meek Redeemer, now impart
   |    Thine own humility."
   |                          *Toplady.*

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Reader, do you know what humility is?  It
is quite possible to be very proud indeed, and yet
seem quite humble.  Indeed, humility is often
made the cloak of pride.  And yet nothing can
be more different than these two.  Pride enters
so much into the hearts, even of the very best of
us, that there is but small place left for humility.
We often hear it said of a person, "Oh! he
feels *proper pride* about such and such a matter."  But
is there any such thing as *proper pride*?  I
can't find it in the Bible.  I do find, indeed,
written there a great deal about pride and proud
people.  "God resisteth the proud, but giveth
grace unto the humble[#]," for instance.  I turn again
to my Church's Prayer Book, and I find nothing
there about *proper pride*; but I read there that the
Church teaches her children to ask God to deliver,
or save, them "from all pride, vain glory, and
hypocrisy."  I find that in the prayer, to be used
in time of war, we ask God to abate our enemies'
pride.  But neither here, nor anywhere else, can
I find *any sort* of pride commended to Christians.
And so I have come to think that we have got
hold of the wrong word, and that the word we
ought to use is *delight*.  It is quite right that a
man should be delighted with his children, or his
garden, or his goods.  It is quite wrong that he
should be proud of them.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. James iv. 6.

.. vspace:: 2

Now humility is just the very opposite to all this.
Pride makes a man put forward his own opinions,
and hold to them, good or bad.  It makes him
think all his possessions better than those of other
people.  Humility, on the other hand, makes a
man ever ready to listen to the opinions of others,
and to take advice.  And humility teaches him
that the best possessions earth can give, are but
poor compared to those of Heaven.  Just as in
a cornfield the lightest ears of corn stand up
straight and attract attention, while those which
carry most grain hang down and are kept
concealed by their weight, behind the others; so, too,
is it with humble-minded men.  They shrink
back from the gaze of men, behind their comrades;
and because they are quiet, and seldom speak much,
men think but little of them.

I have somewhere read a story of Benjamin
Franklin, who once went to call at a friend's house.
On his leaving, his friend told him he would shew
him a shorter way out.  They passed down a narrow
passage, talking to each other, when Franklin's
friend suddenly cried out, "Stoop, stoop."  "I
did not know," says Franklin, "what he meant,
until I felt my head hit against the beam."  His
friend, seeing what had happened, said, "You are
young, and have to go through the world.  Stoop
as you go through it, and you will miss many hard
knocks."

Reader, that was good advice.  It is as suitable
to you as to Franklin.  Will you not take it?
Never be ashamed of doing anything that humility
calls upon you to do, and "you will avoid many
hard knocks."  Try and look upon all work,
however distasteful and unpleasant, as work for God.
If Jesus Christ had been proud, do you think He
would have borne all the taunts of those thirty
bitter years?  If S. Paul had been a proud man,
do you think he could ever have written down that
glorious list of troubles and hardships, suffered by
land and by water, in the eleventh chapter of
2nd Corinthians?  How often we hear it said
of a man, "He's a nice man, he's got *no pride
about him*."  And if pride in others doesn't please
you, do you think if you shew pride it will be
likely to please God?  It was He who gave you
that hatred of pride in others; but He gave it
that you might correct it in yourself.

And the day will come when pride will be
destroyed.  It is one of the greatest sins.  Other
great sins are covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony,
anger, sloth.  And the virtues which are contrary
to these are humility, liberality, chastity,
gentleness, temperance, patience, diligence.  Ask
yourself to-night before you lie down to rest this
question, "How many of these last virtues can I
say I am practising?  Am I humble?  Do I give,
as I am able, of my time, or my money, or my
sympathy to help any of my neighbours?  Am I
thoroughly pure in thought, word, and deed?  Am
I gentle and kind to all around me?  Am I
moderate in eating and drinking, and temperate
in my habits of life?  Am I patient under
suffering, sorrow, or misfortune?  Do I do my best to
serve God and man, working hard in that position
of life to which Almighty God has called me?"

Reader, if you can say *yes!* to all those
questions when your conscience asks them, you need
not have much fear of God's reckoning day.  "In
quietness and confidence shall be your strength."  Trusting
in Jesus for complete salvation, living in
love and charity with your neighbours, you will
pass the waves of this troublesome world, and
land upon the everlasting shore, out of reach of
the ocean waves.  And down from the gates of
the heavenly city will come to meet you, Jesus
Christ our Lord, with the words which He has
graciously promised to speak to all that humbly
follow after Him here, "Well done, thou good and
faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord[#]."

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.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 21.

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.. _`MARTYRDOM`:

.. class:: center large bold

   MARTYRDOM.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Not by the martyr's death alone
   |  The saint his crown in heaven has won;
   |  There is a triumph robe on high
   |  For bloodless fields of victory.

   |  What though he was not called to feel
   |  The cross of flame, or torturing wheel:
   |  Yet daily to the world he died,
   |  His flesh, through grace, he crucified."
   |                                  *John Keble.*

.. vspace:: 2

What is martyrdom?  We sing every Sunday
morning in Church the words, "the noble army
of martyrs praise Thee;" we bless God every
Christmastide for his martyr S. Stephen, and yet
I suppose there are many people who regularly
attend Church who have no idea of what a
martyr is.  Now I will tell you.  A martyr is
a witness!  Any man, woman, or child, (for there
have been children martyrs,) who bears witness
to the truth, and suffers for it, is a martyr.  If
you or I, reader, bear ridicule; if our friends
laugh at us for going to Church, or for staying
for Holy Communion, then we are martyrs.
The man who lives in an ungodly society, and
by his life and example bears witness to the
truth of Jesus, and suffers for so doing, he is a
martyr.  As I write these words I can recall a
vast number of martyrs' names; for the martyrs,
like the saints, are of every age and of every
Church.  Just as every cornfield has its poppies;
just as every poor man's garden has its little
plot set apart for flowers, so every Church has
its martyrs.  I can recall the name of Xavier,
the great Indian missionary, dying alone upon
the seashore, with the cruel blasts of a Chinese
winter freezing his very bones.  Or I think of
Bishop Patteson, already mentioned in these pages,
dying by the clubs of the natives, far off amid
the Southern seas.  I could tell you the now
well-known story of David Livingstone, of his
wonderful power over the African mind, of his noble
conflict with slavery, and his patient death in his
lonely hut at Ulala.  But I will tell you one
story of martyrdom which happened quite lately,
nearer home than any of these, a story of how a
boy, scarcely ten years old, gained the martyr's
crown.  About a year ago, a boat with seven
young boys went out on the coast of Scotland.
The boys rowed out from the shore some little
way, until suddenly seeing something in the sea,
they all rushed together to the side of the boat to
look over into the water.  The boat was upset,
and they all went over into the sea.  One boy
alone could swim, and, one after another, that boy
saved five of his companions; in trying to save
the sixth, he himself became exhausted, and sank
to rise no more.  That night there was joy, the
joy of recovery, in five happy homes; and I dare
say the parents, in their joy at getting their boys
safe back, hardly gave a thought to the brave little
swimmer who had given his life for theirs.  But
I can imagine that his Saviour gave him a warm
welcome in Paradise that night, and in return
for his bravery, gave him the martyr's crown.
For that child was a martyr!  God had given
him a brave spirit, and on a sudden He called
upon him to shew it, and he bore witness for
Christ.

Reader, your witness and mine may be very
different to that.  But it may nevertheless be as
truly called martyrdom.  If we are ready to
confess Christ before men, He will not forget our
names before His Father's throne.  But if we
are cowardly here below, and deny Him now,
He will certainly not recognise us in His Father's
kingdom.

Even little children can be martyrs.  As the
hymn says:--

   |  "When deep within our swelling hearts
   |  The thoughts of pride and anger rise,
   |  When bitter words are on our tongues,
   |  And tears of passion in our eyes;
   |  Then we may stay the angry blow,
   |  Then we may check the hasty word,
   |  Give gentle answers back again
   |  And fight a battle for our Lord."
   |

Under the Emperor Diocletian (A.D. 304) a
great number of children suffered martyrdom.
They were brought up and condemned to die,
not for any sin they had committed, but because
their parents had taught them to worship God.

A child called Hilarion was one of those who
suffered.  He was brought up before the Roman
Consul, (a person with somewhat similar power
to our magistrates,) and the Consul threatened
to have him flogged; but the child only laughed
at him.  "I will cut off your nose and your ears,"
said the governor; but Hilarion answered, "I am
a Christian still."  And so he was led away to
prison and to death.

Reader, do not the accounts of these brave
and noble lives and glorious deaths make our
own lives seem poor and selfish and wretched?
Do they not make us feel how very much grander
and nobler these kind of lives were than
anything we can shew nowadays?  I remember
seeing a book once, called, "Is life worth living?"  I
never looked further than the title-page, but
the title struck me.  Look round at your
neighbours, look at our country villages, look at the
overflowing public-house, and at the empty
church, and then ask yourself, "Is life worth
living?"  And the answer must be, No!  But
look once more at your own life, look at those
good people who are labouring among Christ's
poor in our crowded cities, look at the holy
lives of many of our clergy, and then ask
again, "Is life worth living?" and the answer
must be, Yes!

You may not be able to live among the poor in
our large towns, it may not be your calling to be
a minister of Christ, but still it is quite possible
to be a martyr, to bear witness for Christ in the
station in which He has placed you.  The clerk
at his desk, the mechanic in his workshop, the
labourer in the field, the sailor in his ship, the
servant in his situation, all can shew that they
are martyrs.  The greatest battles are not those
fought on the battle-fields of earth, but in the
secret chambers of the human heart.  There is
many a brave man who will face a horde of savage
foes on the field of battle and die bravely like a
soldier, but who dare not and will not face his
own evil heart; and there is many a poor creature,
with a suffering body and a feeble mind, who
cannot bear a harsh voice or an unkind word, and
yet who has gained the greatest possible victory,
the victory over self.

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.. _`REPENTANCE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   REPENTANCE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There was a soul one eve autumnal sailing
   |    Beyond the earth's dark bars,
   |  Towards the land of sunsets never paling,
   |    Towards Heaven's sea of stars.

   |  And as that soul went onward, sweetly speeding
   |    Unto its home and Light,
   |  Repentance made it sorrowful exceeding,
   |    Faith made it wondrous bright."
   |                                  *Mrs. Alexander.*

.. vspace:: 2

What is repentance?  The word which in
our New Testaments is so often translated
"Repentance," means "a change of heart."  Yes,
that is what repentance really is, and not merely
a desire to serve God; not an anxious longing to
lead a new life, but actually leading that new life,
and treading new ways by the help of God's Holy
Spirit.  Many people believe and teach the
doctrine of instantaneous conversion, as it is called.
And by this is meant that the heart of man is
changed in a moment from a state of sin to a
state of holiness; that all the old desires pass
suddenly away, and new affections take their
place.  Thus some men will tell you that they
can name the day and hour of their conversion,
and that whatever they may do in the future,
they will eventually be found in Christ.  We do
not by any means deny that there are such things
as instantaneous conversions; but we say that they
are few, and that what seem to be such are often
neither lasting nor real.  True repentance is no
easy road to tread.  Very often it takes a man
his whole lifetime, and even then his repentance
may not be complete.

I have spoken of what repentance is not, now
let me say a few words as to what true repentance
is.  First, then, you will feel, if you have truly
repented of your sins, a true desire to give up
the whole of your heart to Christ.  I cannot
dwell too strongly on the necessity of giving up
*the whole* heart.  Christ will not take less.  He
never will reign there, while Satan holds a part
of it; He will have *all*, or none.  In your own
strength you cannot do this; the world, the flesh,
and the devil will try hard to prevent you.  Of
himself the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor
the leopard his spots, "neither can ye do good
which are accustomed to do evil."  But if your
repentance is real, the desire to give the whole
heart to Christ will be so strong as to shut out
all other claims.  Another sign of true repentance
will be a distrust of self.  There will be an
increasing desire for guidance other than your
own, the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Need I
add that this guidance, without which it is
impossible to go right, is never kept back from
those who ask it of God in prayer, for His dear
Son's sake.

One more sign of a real repentance is perseverance
in the face of failure and backsliding.
If your repentance is real, the new life will seem
so far better to you than the old, that you will
persevere in it, in spite of failure.  "No man,
having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God[#]."  And no
sinner, who has once repented of his sin, and
then is frightened at his failures, or discouraged
by his difficulties, can call his repentance real.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Luke ix. 62.

.. vspace:: 2

And the last sign of true repentance that I
shall give you is trust in God's love for Christ's
sake.  Your perseverance will depend entirely on
your faith or trust in God.  In common life we
know that as we put a greater distance between
ourselves and any object at which we may be
looking, it becomes less and less distinct; whereas,
the nearer the eye approaches any object, the more
distinct that object becomes.  So is it with man
in his relation to God.  The further he wanders
from God by sin, and the greater distance he puts
between himself and his Maker in this way, the
less he knows about Him, and the less he is able
to trust Him.  But the nearer man comes to God
in true repentance, the more he learns of that
great Being, and the more he learns to trust
God's love to him for Christ's sake.

Reader, may you and I learn such true
repentance as this, and having learnt it, may we
"bring forth fruits meet for repentance."  May
we cultivate a sense of our own nothingness,
and of God's greatness; and may we put a
generous trust in our good Lord, Who has done
so much for us.  "May we never indulge
unworthy thoughts, measuring our Lord's tender
mercies by ours; but let us in every trial and
temptation, nay, even in the hour of surprise or
sudden fall, yet cling the closer to Him, Who is
the true Refuge of sinners, and Who is ever
willing to receive those who in sincerity return
to Him."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`FAITH`:

.. class:: center large bold

   FAITH.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Faith is the Spirit's sweet control,
   |    From which assurance springs;
   |  Faith is the pencil of the soul,
   |    That pictures Heavenly things.

   |  Faith is the lamp that burns to guide
   |    Our bark when tempest-driven;
   |  Faith is the key that opens wide
   |    The distant gates of Heaven."
   |                          *John Burbidge.*

.. vspace:: 2

I spoke in the last chapter of faith being one
of the signs of true repentance.  Repentance, as
I then showed, was that grace whereby we
forsake sin; faith, on the other hand, is the grace
whereby we believe and trust in the promises of
God, made to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now it is not always an easy matter to exercise
faith in God.  Many people believe in God's
judgments, and when these are in mercy sent
upon them, they are quite ready, like Ahab of
old, to humble themselves before their offended
Master.  But take away the punishment, stay the
uplifted rod, and let them receive instead of
judgments, mercies, and then where is their
faith?  It is no easy thing to believe in God!
to believe, that is, that prosperity and adversity
are alike gifts of the same Father.  To believe
Him as Abraham believed Him, whose faith
"was counted unto him for righteousness."  To
believe Him as Job did, so that not even the loss
of worldly goods, or terrible pain inflicted on the
body, or even the advice of her he trusted and
loved more than all other on earth, could cause
him to blaspheme.  To have such faith in Christ
as the Apostles had, who "left all and followed"
Him; nay, more, such faith that one of their
number could exclaim, "I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ, and be found in Him,
not having mine own righteousness, ... but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Phil. iii. 8.

.. vspace:: 2

Yes, reader, that is the kind of faith you and I
shall need when sorrow and troubles come upon
us; that is the only kind of faith which can carry
a man peacefully through life, and bear him up
in death, till his eyes rest upon the everlasting city.

But there are many people who have faith, but
only a very little.  Their faith is like S. Peter's.
It is strong enough to make them desire to be
with Jesus, but not strong enough to carry them
to Him.  Just as St. Peter tried to walk over the
dark waters of the sea of Galilee to go to his
Lord, so these try, and often try hard, to walk
over the waters of sin to go to Christ.  But when
temptations arise, or doubts arise, they begin to
sink, as it were, that is to say, their faith begins
to fail, and they cease to please God.  St. Peter's
fault was not that he had no faith, but that he had
*too little*.  That he had some, who can doubt, for
if he had not, he surely would never have left the
ship, and his companions, to walk upon the water
to Christ.  And so it is with us.  Many of us
have God's great gift of faith: sufficient faith to
leave the world, and start to go to Christ, but we
find that our failures are frequent, that when we
would do good, evil is present with us, and so,
like St. Peter, we begin to sink, it may be just as
we are nearing Christ.  What we want, then, is
more faith, and we must ask God for this, for He
alone can give it.

But what shall I say of those who have no
faith at all; those who never start on the journey
whose end is Christ?  Are they not, think you,
in a dangerous state?  True, they may be living
happily enough *now*, but the end must come one
day, and *what an end that will be*!  Think of
that, reader.  Think if it be not better to suffer
the Master's rebuke for having *little faith*, than
to receive no rebuke at all, because you have *no
faith*.  Once more, faith is necessary to those who
would live godly lives, because there are certain
mysteries in religion which are left to faith, and
which we must accept as facts, though we cannot
understand them.  For instance, we are told that
there are three Persons in the Blessed Trinity--the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and
yet though there are three distinct Persons, there
is but one God.  We cannot understand that, but
we must believe that it is so.  Just as in nature
there are many things we cannot understand, but
which we accept as true; and if we do so in
matters relating to man, are we not equally bound
to do so in such as bear reference to God?  It
is such a common thing nowadays to hear silly
people, who wish to be thought clever, say, "I
won't believe anything I cannot understand!"  But
there are many things which these very
people accept as true, but which they in no way
understand.  For instance, I suppose they all
believe that the grass which is eaten by geese,
by cows, or sheep, will by a process of digestion
turn to feathers on the geese, to hair on the cows,
and to wool on the sheep.  But do they
understand how this happens?  No, they do not; but
though they cannot understand it, they
nevertheless believe it.

And, reader, there are many who cannot
understand many things in God's world of nature,
and they do not want to, for they accept them as
matters of faith.  But if there is anything in
religion they cannot understand, they must needs
disbelieve it at once, or else be guilty of seeking
to pry into "the deep things of God."

Learn, then, this one lesson from these few
words on faith; namely, that there are things
which Almighty God has purposely hidden from
the sons of men, both in the Church and in the
world; many things of which it is written, "What
I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know
hereafter[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. John xiii. 7.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Brief life is here our portion;
   |  Brief sorrow, short-lived care:
   |  The life that knows no ending,
   |  The tearless life, is *there*.
   |  The morning shall awaken,
   |  The shadows shall decay,
   |  And each true-hearted servant
   |  Shall shine as doth the day."
   |                          *S. Bernard.*

.. vspace:: 2

The ancients had a saying, "Whom the gods
love, die young."  By which, I suppose, they meant
that the best men, and those whose lives were
of the greatest promise, died in early youth.
Whether this is true or not, I cannot pretend to
say.  Certain it is that many die in early youth,
long before we have had a chance of seeing what
they were likely to turn out.  And indeed the
shortness of life is evident to us all.  From the
child who dies in infancy, to the old man whose
grey hairs are brought down to the grave in
sorrow, all have experience of the shortness of life.

And what is life?  What does the Bible say of
it?  "It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
time and then vanisheth away[#]."  "Vanisheth
away;" yes, reader, just like the steam which
issues from boiling water; just like the mists
which cling for a while to the hillsides, before
they melt into nothingness, so is life.  We see it
for awhile, a little while, and then like a morning
mist, life vanishes away.


.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. James iv. 14.

.. vspace:: 2

Life has often been compared to the sea.  At
times the sea is ruffled by the winds which pass
over its surface; and then again, the wind drops,
and the sea is calm and still again.  And so is it
with life.  The winds of passion or of discontent
pass over it, and angry temper ruffles the calm
of life, and then by degrees the peace of God
comes down upon us, and life is once more happy.
But true happiness, in life or in death, is only
to be found in Jesus.  He is the only sure haven
of rest, the only hiding-place from the storm,
and in Him alone can we find rest until we pass
the waves of this troublesome world.

Some years ago a young man went out, full
of hope and energy, to take charge of a mission
which we had planted among the Southern seas.
He could not tell when he left our shores whether
his life was to be long or short, whether it would
be rough or smooth; but he went forth trusting
in his God, and he went forth to die.  He
reached his diocese in safety, and for some years
Bishop Patteson, for it was he, preached the
gospel, and baptised, and planted missions among
those wild people, for whom he had given up his
English home.  But at length one day the bishop
went to an island where the people did not
know him, and where at the time they happened
to be angry with white men.  And so when the
good bishop came ashore, they pressed round him,
and he soon saw that all was not right.  At
length one, bolder than the rest, drew near and
knocked the bishop down with his club, and then
the others closed round him, and so he died.
"And they put the young martyr bishop in an
open boat," says one, "to float away across the
bright blue water, with his hands crossed as if in
prayer, and a palm branch on his breast."

That life was not a long one, but who will
dare to tell us that it was not a useful life, and
a glorious death.  It may not be given to you to
win the martyr's crown, or to die for Jesus Christ.
But it is given to you to live for Christ; and
remember there is a living death, a killing of
self, which you may do, a death of which St. Paul
speaks, when he says, "I die daily[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] 1 Cor. xv. 31.

.. vspace:: 2

For, after all, what think you was life given to
us for?  Was it to amuse ourselves, or to enjoy
ourselves in?  Was it not rather to do good to
others, and to work for Jesus Christ?  Surely the
best lives, and the noblest lives, and the happiest
lives are those spent in the service of others.
And the Master has told us that He will reward
such: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these My brethren, ye have done
it unto Me[#]."  And who are Christ's brethren?
In every cottage home, in the lonely hut, wherever
man is found, whether he be rich or poor, king
or beggar, nay the worst specimens of humanity,
the murderer and the drunkard, these all are the
brethren of Jesus.  It is for these He has bid us
work, and toil, and pray.  It is for these He has
commanded us to live and, if need be, to die.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. Matt xxv. 40.

.. vspace:: 2

And no life is too short for this kind of work.
The youngest child can do something in the
Master's vineyard.  It may be only given us to
speak a kind word to a companion.  But very
often a kind word, spoken in the nick of time,
has saved a soul from condemnation.  Live your
life here, then, as Jesus lived His, Who went
about doing good; Who sat at meat with the
Pharisee and the sinner alike; and Who even
allowed a sinful woman to approach Him, and
did not turn her away.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE DEATH OF FRIENDS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE DEATH OF FRIENDS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "Whene'er the Christian's eyelid droops and closes
   |    In nature's parting strife,
   |  A friendly angel stands where he reposes,
   |    To wake him up to life.

   |  The mourners throng the way, and from the steeple
   |    The funeral bell tolls slow;
   |  But in the golden streets the holy people
   |    Are passing to and fro;

   |  And saying as they meet, 'Rejoice! another,
   |    Long waited for, is come;'
   |  The Saviour's heart is glad, a younger brother
   |    Hath reached the Father's home!"
   |                                    *J. D. Burns.*

.. vspace:: 2

There is nothing so sad as parting.  There
comes over the heart such a feeling of utter
loneliness that we know not where to turn for relief.
It may be the mother who has lost her darling
child, and sits counting the weary hours, and
missing its baby prattle.  It may be the wife of
the sailor who sits alone in her cottage with the
cruel letter in her lap, which tells of how her
husband sank, and died.  Or it may be the
severing of heart and heart; the parting of two
friends who have lived together, and loved each
other with a friendship stronger than death.  But
in whatever way it comes, it is ever the same;
the same bitter feeling of loneliness, casting its
shadow over the life.

And there is but one way that I know of in
which we can get rid of this feeling of loneliness;
only one Person to Whom we can apply for
relief with any certainty of success.  The Man of
sorrows, Who could weep tears of human sorrow
at the grave of Lazarus, and speak words of
sympathy to that troubled multitude who stood
around his grave; He alone can sympathise with
us in our bereavement, and comfort us in the
death of our friends.

The Bible is full of beautiful passages on this
important subject.  Who, for instance, can read
those beautiful words in the seventh chapter of
the Revelation, and not receive comfort?  "I
beheld, 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, clothed with white robes, and
palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice,
saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb.  And one of the
elders answered, saying unto me, What are these
which are arrayed in white robes? and whence
came they?  And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest.  And he said unto me, These are they
which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.  They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun
light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living fountains
of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes."

Reader, if any of your relations or friends have
gone before you to Paradise, if they have died
in God's holy faith and fear, and if, after reading
such beautiful words concerning their heavenly
state as those above quoted, you still wish them
back on earth, then your heart must indeed be of
the earth, earthy.  Oh, think for one moment of
the troubles and trials of this present life, and
then turn your thoughts to the state of the blessed
dead.  No more sickness or sorrow for them;
no more care, no more trial; no more sleepless
nights or anxious days, for they are as the angels of
God.  "Blessed are the dead which die in the
Lord: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may *rest
from their labours*\[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Rev. xiv. 13.

.. vspace:: 2

There are times in the life of every man, when
God comes specially near to him; when He says
as it were to the soul of man, "Look unto Me, *I*
am thy salvation[#]."  One of such times is when we
are standing by the death-bed of our loved ones.
It may be we have given them the love which
rightly belonged to God, and so He has seen fit to
take them.  Or it may be that we have loved
them too little, and lightly valued them here, and
so to teach us the value of friends, God has taken
them to live with Him above.  It may seem to
you and to me a hard method of dealing with
the human soul, but remember that the dealings
of Almighty God are clothed with mystery, "and
His ways past finding out[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Ps. xxxv. 3.

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Rom. xi. 33.

.. vspace:: 2

Lastly, there is one thought more, which may
give comfort to those who are mourning the loss
of their dear ones.  The day will come when we
shall meet them again, on "the far eternal shore."  But
if we would meet them there we must live as
they lived; we must serve Christ as they served
Him; and love God as they loved Him.  And
then He will bring us together again on the
ever-lasting morning, "when the day breaks and the
shadows flee away[#]."  "When we are to leave
this present state," says Alford, "is a matter
hidden from our eyes, and not dependent on
ourselves; but how we will leave it, whether as the
Lord's blessed ones, or with no part in Him, this
is left for ourselves to determine.  There is set
before us life and death.  May we choose life, that
it may be well with us, and that we may wake
from the bed of death to find ourselves for ever
with the Lord."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Cant. ii. 17.

.. vspace:: 2

"Therefore let us be of good cheer concerning
them that have fallen asleep in Jesus; and let us
be of good cheer concerning ourselves.  Good as
it is to obey and serve God here, it has been far
better for them to depart, and to be with Christ,
and it will be far better for us, if we hold fast
our faith and our confidence in Him firm unto
the end."

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`THE FEAR OF DEATH`:

.. class:: center large bold

   THE FEAR OF DEATH.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There is no death! the stars go down,
   |  To rise upon some fairer shore;
   |  And bright in Heaven's jewelled crown,
   |  They shine for evermore.

   |  There is no death! an angel form
   |  Walks o'er the earth with silent tread,
   |  And bears our best loved things away,
   |  And then we call them dead."
   |                            *Lord Lytton.*

.. vspace:: 2

I have spoken in the earlier part of this book
on the general subject of death; I now want to
add a few words on that which so many, even
of the best of us, feel, the fear of death.

I suppose there have been times in the lives
even of the best and bravest men when this fear
rose up before them.  Times when the dark
valley looked darker than usual, and life seemed
sweeter than it really was.  It is but human to
fear what we can in no way understand, and
certainly none of us can understand death.  His
is a message which comes to all alike; to rich
and to poor, to young and to old; the soldier on
the battle-field, who lays down his life for his
country; the sailor, who sinks into a watery
grave, and whom the dark wave covers; the
missionary, who dies for his Master's sake; to
these and many more the angel of death comes,
and, whether they are ready or no, they have to
yield to his bidding.  But of this we may be
sure, that God never takes any one away from
this world until his work is done.  We all of
us have some special work to do, either good or
evil, and until that work is done we shall be kept
from danger and from death.  The right way
then to look upon death is as the gate that leads
us to a better world, the pathway leading to
Christ.  And the prayer of our heart should be this--

   |  "Let me be with Thee where Thou art,
   |    Where spotless saints Thy Name adore;
   |  Then only will this sinful heart
   |    Be evil and defiled no more.

   |  Let me be with Thee where Thou art,
   |    Where none can die, where none remove;
   |  Where neither life nor death can part
   |    Me from Thy Presence and Thy Love."

And if that is the feeling that you have with
regard to the life to come, death can have no
terrors for you.  "The sting of death is *sin*," but
Jesus died long ago to wash your sins away.  If
then you are free from sin, that is from wilful sin,
you will have but little fear of death.  It is Satan
who gives us this fear; it is Christ who takes the
fear away.

But in order not to fear death, we must be
prepared for it.  If a man *really* loves God he is
prepared to die anywhere and at any moment,
and so he does not fear death.  "Unto the godly,"
says David, "there ariseth up a light in the
darkness."  And so we may say now that to the
Christian there ariseth up a light greater and
brighter than any David knew of in the darkness
of death, even that light which came "to lighten
the Gentiles, and to be the glory of His people Israel."

I came across a story the other day of a courtier
who had passed his life in the service of his
prince.  He had fallen dangerously ill, and now
lay dying.  The prince went to see his faithful
servant, and was touched with the sad spectacle
of suffering.  "Is there anything," he asked, "that
I can do for you?  Ask it, and you shall not be
refused."  "Prince," said the dying man, "give
me a quarter of an hour of life."  "Alas," said the
prince, "what you have asked is not in my power
to give; ask something else if you wish me to
help you."  And the story runs that the dying
man cried out in the agony of his soul, "I have
served you for fifty years, and you cannot give
me one quarter of an hour of life!  Ah! if I had
served the Lord thus faithfully, he would have
given me not a quarter of an hour of life, but an
eternity of happiness."  Very soon after he died.
Happy for him if he himself profited by the lesson
which he gave to others on the nothingness of
human life, and the need of working out one's
own salvation.

Reader, the day perhaps will come when you
too will wish to ask for a quarter of an hour's
life.  It may be you will rise to-morrow
morning, and God's sun will be shining bright, and
everything will look peaceful and happy as you
leave home, but the angel of death may have
started on his errand; and instead of your
walking in, gaily whistling, in the evening when your
work is over, there may come down the village
a mournful company bearing a wounded man
upon a hurdle.  That man may be yourself; and
as you reach your own door the films of death
may be gathering over your eyes, and the one
request you would like to make would be,
"Oh! that I might have but a quarter of an hour to
make my peace with God."  It has been the
prayer, ere now, of many a one more hardened in
sin than yourself.  The richest men have felt the
longing, and they would have given half of all
their hard-earned gold to get that quarter of an
hour.  The poorest men have felt it too; and if
they could begin life again they felt that they
would live very differently, and Christ and not
Satan should be Master of their hearts.

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
the living God[#]."  It is a fearful thing to live a
life of wickedness, and to die with unforgiven
sin upon the soul.  But the remedy is in your
own hands.  The Lord Jesus waits to be gracious;
He loves you, He toils for you, He weeps for
you, as He wept for Jerusalem of old, and all He
asks of you is to give Him your heart now, and
then there will be no such thing as fear in death;
for the perfect love wherewith He will teach you
to love Him, will cast out all fear and all terror,
and in your case there will be no pain in death,
but the spirit will pass away from earth to meet
Him at last on the shore of heaven.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Heb. x. 31.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`SORROW AND SUFFERING`:

.. class:: center large bold

   SORROW AND SUFFERING.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "'Nobody knows but Jesus!'
   |    Is it not better so,
   |  That no one else but Jesus,
   |    My own dear Lord, should know?

   |  When the sorrow is a secret
   |    Between my Lord and me,
   |  I learn the fuller measure
   |    Of His quick sympathy."
   |                        *F. R. Havergal.*

.. vspace:: 2

"Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly
upward[#]" is a very true saying.  And I suppose
there will be few people, if any, of those who
read this book, who will not know something
about sorrow.  Yes, we all feel sorrow, more or
less.  Some people feel it more acutely than
others.  To some it is a real burthen.  From the
little child who cries over its broken toy to the
old man who weeps over his lost wealth, all are
partakers of sorrow.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Job v. 7.

.. vspace:: 2

Suffering, again, might be "sorrow's own sister,"
so closely are the two connected here below.
For instance, God sends a great and crushing
sorrow; say, for instance, the death of a dear
friend, or the sickness of one we love; and to
us the news of this sorrow brings intense pain,
deep suffering.  And you may ask, why is this
suffering necessary?  You tell us it is sent by
God, and that all He sends is for our good,
what is the need of suffering?  I will tell you.
A friend of mine who had been in Eastern lands,
told me he once saw a shepherd who wanted his
flock to cross a stream.  The shepherd went into
the water himself and called them, but no, they
would not follow him into the water.  What did
he do?  Why, he went in among the flock, and
lifting a little lamb under each arm, plunged right
into the stream, and crossed it without even
looking back.  When he lifted the lambs, my
friend said, the old sheep looked up into his
face, and began to bleat for them; but when he
plunged into the water, the dams plunged in
after him, and then the whole flock followed.
When they reached the other side he put down
the lambs, and they were quickly joined by their
mothers, and there was a happy meeting.  My
friend told me, too, that he noticed that the
pastures on the other side of the stream were
much better, and the fields greener, and on this
account the shepherd was leading them across.
And in like manner does the good Shepherd,
even Jesus Christ, having found his oft-repeated
call to men to look up to heaven vain, so also
does He often take from His flock a little
lamb, and crossing with it the stream of death,
places it down amid the green pastures and still
waters of Paradise.  And by this means he often
causes the parents to look up to the same place,
for right well He knows the truth of His own
words, that "Where the treasure is, there will the
heart be also.[#]"

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Matt. vi. 21.

.. vspace:: 2

And so, perhaps, you begin to see that suffering
used by Almighty God has its uses.  It very
often is the means, in cases where other means
have failed, of weaning a soul away from earth,
and fixing its hopes on the things of heaven.  It
very often is the first warning given to the soul
of man, that here has he no continuing city, but
must seek one to come.  Reader, it may be as
you have walked along life's troubled way, you
have as yet had but little taste of suffering.
But it will come one day.  It comes to us all;
and very often, the best men, and the holiest
men are the greatest sufferers, under the
chastening hand of God.  You remember the case of
Job in the Bible, what a sufferer he was!  And
yet Job was a good man; for when the temptation
came to him to curse God and die, he recognised
it as the voice of Satan, even though the words
were spoken by the one nearest to him on earth.

The great thing for us all to recognise in the
day of suffering and the time of sorrow alike, is the
good hand of our God upon us.  To understand
that there is such a thing as being "perfect
through suffering," and that we, even as the Master
Himself did, may learn obedience by the things
which we suffer.  That a smooth existence without
sorrow and without suffering may be a life of
mental anguish, while a life of sorrow and suffering
may be a life of joy, of hope, and of triumph,
are doubtless lessons hard to learn; but for all
that we must needs learn them.  And if we
cannot learn this lesson from the lives of those
around us, it may be God's good pleasure to
teach it in our own.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`DEATH`:

.. class:: center large bold

   DEATH.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "There is a Reaper whose name is Death,
   |    And with his sickle keen,
   |  He reaps the bearded grain at a breath,
   |    And the flowers that grow between."
   |                                *Longfellow.*

.. vspace:: 2

So solemn a subject is that of death, and so
near have many of us been brought to it, either in
our own homes or in those of others, that we
cannot but approach it with a feeling of awe.  To
the worldly man death can never be a pleasant
prospect.  At best it means to him the cessation
of all hope and of all action.  All worldly pleasure
is then at an end, and for him there remains no
such rest as is the hope and stay of the people
of God.

Another class there is that looks upon death in
another way.  These do not really enjoy life here
below, still less do they enjoy any hope of life to
come.  For such persons death is but a leap in
the dark; a bridge across the dark valley from the
mists of earth into a far more misty future; a
passage from the darkness here into the deeper
and blacker darkness beyond.

But how different all this is in the case of the
Christian man.  He has been preparing, all his
life through, for the world to come.  His
conversation--his "citizenship--is in Heaven[#];" and
in death he recognises the method by which his
dear Lord calls him home.  There is no sting,
no agony, in the Christian's death; Jesus, his
Saviour, took that away long ago.  There have
been death-beds, on which men lay with bodies
racked with aching pains, or horribly mutilated,
and yet the look on their faces was perfectly happy.
The body indeed was suffering agony, but the
mind was feasting on visions of a far-off land.
and a kindly Saviour ready to receive the
redeemed one home.  Oh, yes, there is something
grand and striking about the Christian's death.
The invisible spirits of God ascending and
descending, as of old they did to the sleeping
Jacob at Bethel, keep bringing stores of comfort
to his soul.

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Phil. iii. 20.

.. vspace:: 2

Among the many grand and noble deaths which
history records, I know of none grander in its
simplicity or more precious in its lessons, than
that of Commodore Goodenough in our own day.
He had gone ashore with a boat's crew, on one of
the South Sea Islands; when he was surrounded,
and attacked by the natives, who were exasperated
at the cursed man-stealing trade which has
brought discredit on the English name.  The
Commodore was wounded by an arrow, which
chanced to be poisoned; but this he did not
know.  Nor was it till his ship was nearing
Adelaide, that he discovered that his wound was
mortal.  And then beneath the open sky, far
from his English home, on the deck of his vessel
in which he had sailed over those summer seas,
he called his men around him; and as the rough
seamen, one after another, gathered quickly round
their dying chief, he looked upon them, with the
films of death already settling on his glazing eyes,
and said, "My men, I want you to serve God."  These
were the last words he ever spoke to them,
and then his spirit passed away to join the vast
multitude before the throne of that God he had
loved and served so well.

The death of a Christian is indeed precious
from the lessons we learn from it.  But in order
to die a Christian's death, remember you must
live a Christian's life, and then you may say with
Balaam--"Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last end be like his[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Num. xxiii. 10.

.. vspace:: 4

.. _`LAST WORDS`:

.. class:: center large bold

   LAST WORDS.

.. vspace:: 1

..

   |  "On what has now been sown
   |    Thy blessing, Lord, bestow;
   |  The power is Thine alone
   |    To make it spring and grow."
   |                          *Newton.*

.. vspace:: 2

We have now reached the last chapter of these
readings, and the last words must be spoken.

We have thought together upon life and death;
upon humility and self-denial, those "two graces
peculiarly Christian."  I have spoken of our
duties to our parents and to our children
respectively; of work of various kinds on earth,
and of rest in our Father's kingdom.  And now,
reader, that it is almost time for us to part, let
us "gather up the fragments that remain, that
nothing be lost[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] S. John vi. 12.

.. vspace:: 2

Have you learnt anything, do you think, that
you didn't know before, from the words of this
book?  Are you any nearer to your Father's house
than you were when first you opened it?  Has
the Bible seemed in any degree more precious to
you, or has it in any way increased your regard
for the things of the Spirit, and the peace that
passeth understanding?  If these, or any of them,
have been attained, I have gained my object.
If this book has in any way put before you the
old, old story in a new light, then my purpose has
been accomplished, my work is done.  But if
there is any one who rises from reading this book,
feeling still careless about God, or holiness; if
there be any who, like Felix of old, intends to
put off repentance to a more convenient season,
which season may never come, let me earnestly
beg of him in these last words to repent, ere it
is too late.

The present time is yours--the future is God's.
And remember that you must give up sin *entirely*
if you would be a follower of Christ.  Don't rest
content, as I well know too many do, with being
no worse than others.  Don't go with the multitude
to do evil.  Christ wants you to try and be
better than others, and not as good or bad as they.

Set a high standard before you, even the
standard of the God-man Himself.  Rise higher
than the low standard aimed at by those around
you.  "Rise higher--learn from Christ, Who was
lifted up, how to draw all men unto you, learn to
think for them, to feel for them, to work for them,
to suffer for them."  And oh! don't think such
occupations as these will make you a gloomy
man, or a dull companion.  "Rejoice, O young
man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but
know thou that for all these things God will
bring thee into judgment[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Eccles. xi. 9.

.. vspace:: 2

Arise then, young men, in the strength which
your God has given you.  Go forth and shew the
world and your fellows what true manliness and
self-control will do for a man; enjoy life, but use
it and don't abuse it, and so "be faithful unto
death," and you too shall receive "a crown of
life[#]."

.. vspace:: 2

.. class:: noindent small

[#] Rev. ii. 10.

.. vspace:: 2

There in the heavenly home your sins will
never be mentioned again.  Jesus Christ waits
to bear them for you.  The angels wait to
welcome you.  The Holy Ghost waits to take
possession of your heart, and make His dwelling
there.  And will you disappoint all these?  Take
your Bible, and turn to the beautiful story of the
lost sheep in the fifteenth chapter of St. Luke,
and there read how "there is joy in the presence
of the angels of God, over *one* sinner that
repenteth."  As one has beautifully put it--

   |  "And all through the mountains thunder-riven,
   |    And up from the rocky steep,
   |  There arose a cry to the gate of Heaven--
   |    'Rejoice, I have found My sheep.'
   |  And the angels echoed around the throne
   |  Rejoice! for the Lord brings back His own."

Go to Him just as you are, poor and wretched
and sinful, and He will wash you from your sins,
and clothe you in His own righteousness.  And
when you have found Him, tell others about Him
too.  Philip was not satisfied to follow Christ
alone, but he went and told Nathanael.  The
woman of Samaria was not content to stand and
listen to the Saviour's gracious message, but she
went and called her friends and her neighbours,
saying, "Come, see a man which told me all that
ever I did."  And so it will be with you.  "When
thou art converted strengthen thy brethren."  Speak
to them often privately about the love of
Jesus, as you have opportunity, and neither in this
world, nor in the world to come, shall you in any
wise lose your reward.

One word more.  Don't be down-hearted.  If
you find the devil strong, if you find the flesh
weak, don't be down-hearted.  Those conversions
are seldom lasting which are the work of a single
day.  You will have much sorrow and much
trouble as long as you are in the world, but be
of good courage, for Christ has "overcome the
world[#]."

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[#] S. John xvi. 33.

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Young men stand up for Christ, and He will
stand up for you, when you most need His help.
Don't be ashamed of *being called* Christians, or
of *being* Christians.  Be more *truly* manly, and
you will be more truly humble; be more
independent of men, of their praise or blame; and
then you will be more dependent upon God.  In
a word, don't mind sharing your Master's shame
here, if you wish to share His glory hereafter.

And my last word of farewell advice to all
who may read this book, is this--"Be not thou
ashamed of the testimony of our Lord[#]."

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[#] 2 Tim. i. 8.

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   THE END

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   *Printed at the University Press, Oxford*
   *By* HORACE HART, *Printer to the University*

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   \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*      \*

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   Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.

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   PUBLICATIONS ON
   THE CHRISTIAN EVIDENCE.

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BOOKS.

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Christianity Judged by its Fruits.
   By the Rev. C. CROSLEGH, D.D.

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The Great Passion-Prophecy Vindicated.
   By the Rev. BROWNLOW MAITLAND, M.A.

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Natural Theology of Natural Beauty (The).
   By the Rev. R. ST. JOHN TYRWHITT, M.A.

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Steps to Faith.
   Addresses on some points in the Controversy with Unbelief.
   By the Rev. BROWNLOW MAITLAND, M.A.

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Scepticism and Faith.
   By the Rev. BROWNLOW MAITLAND, M.A.

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Theism or Agnosticism.
   An Essay on the grounds of Belief in God.  By the
   Rev. BROWNLOW MAITLAND, M.A.

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Argument from Prophecy (The).
   By the Rev. BROWNLOW MAITLAND, M.A., Author of
   "Scepticism and Faith," &c.

.. vspace:: 1

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Some Modern Religious Difficulties.
   Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian
   Evidence Society, at St. James's, Piccadilly, in 1876; with
   a Preface by his Grace the late Archbishop of Canterbury.

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Some Witnesses for the Faith.
   Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian
   Evidence Society, at St. Stephen's Church, South
   Kensington, in 1877.

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Theism and Christianity.
   Six Sermons preached, by the request of the Christian
   Evidence Society, at St. James's, Piccadilly, in 1878.

.. vspace:: 1

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Being of God.  Six Addresses on the
   By C. J. ELLICOTT, D.D., Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol.

.. vspace:: 1

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Modern Unbelief: its Principles and Characteristics.
   By the Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of GLOUCESTER AND BRISTOL.

.. vspace:: 1

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When was the Pentateuch Written?
   By GEORGE WARINGTON, B.A., Author of "Can we Believe
   in Miracles?" &c.

.. vspace:: 1

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The Analogy of Religion.
   Dialogues founded upon Butler's "Analogy of Religion."
   By the late Rev. H. R. HUCKIN, D.D., Head Master of
   Repton School.

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"Miracles."
   By the Rev. E. A. LITTON, M.A., Examining Chaplain of
   the Bishop of Durham.

.. vspace:: 1

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Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible.
   Being the Boyle Lectures for 1871.  By the Ven. Archdeacon
   HESSEY, D.C.L., Preacher to the Hon. Society of Gray's
   Inn, &c.

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Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible.
   Being the Boyle Lectures for 1872.  By the Ven. Archdeacon
   HESSEY, D.C.L.  SECOND SERIES.

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Prayer and Recent Difficulties about it.
   The Boyle Lectures for 1873, being the THIRD SERIES of
   "Moral Difficulties connected with the Bible."  By the
   Ven. Archdeacon HESSEY, D.C.L.

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   The above Three Series in a volume

.. vspace:: 1

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Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament.
   By the Rev. G. RAWLINSON, M.A., Camden Professor of
   Ancient History, Oxford.

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Can we believe in Miracles?
   By G. WARINGTON, B.A., of Caius College, Cambridge.

.. vspace:: 1

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The Moral Teaching of the New Testament viewed
   AS EVIDENTIAL TO ITS HISTORICAL TRUTH.  By the
   Rev. C. A. Row, M.A.

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Scripture Doctrine of Creation.
   By the Rev. T. R. BIRKS, M.A., Professor of Moral
   Philosophy at Cambridge.

.. vspace:: 1

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The Witness of the Heart to Christ.
   Being the Hulsean Lectures for 1878.  By the Right
   Rev. W. BOYD CARPENTER, Bishop of Ripon.

.. vspace:: 1

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Thoughts on the First Principles of the Positive
   PHILOSOPHY, CONSIDERED IN RELATION TO THE HUMAN
   MIND.  By the late BENJAMIN SHAW, M.A., late Fellow of
   Trinity College, Cambridge.

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Thoughts on the Bible.
   By the late Rev. W. GRESLEY, M.A., Prebendary of Lichfield.

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The Reasonableness of Prayer.
   By the Rev. P. ONSLOW, M.A.

.. vspace:: 1

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Paley's Evidences of Christianity.
   A New Edition, with Notes, Appendix, and Preface.  By
   the Rev. E. A. LITTON, M.A.

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Paley's Natural Theology.
   Revised to harmonize with Modern Science.  By Mr. F. LE
   GROS CLARK, F.R.S., President of the Royal College of
   Surgeons of England, &c.

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Paley's Horæ Paulinæ.
   With Notes, Appendix, and Preface, by J. S. HOWSON,
   D.D., Dean of Chester.

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Religion and Morality.
   By the Rev. RICHARD T. SMITH, B.D., Canon of
   St. Patrick's, Dublin.

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The Story of Creation as told by Theology and
   SCIENCE.  By the Rev. T. S. ACKLAND, M.A.

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Man's Accountableness for his Religious Belief.
   A Lecture delivered at the Hall of Science.  By the
   Rev. DANIEL MOORE, M.A., Holy Trinity, Paddington.

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The Theory of Prayer; with Special Reference to
   MODERN THOUGHT.  By the Rev. W. H. KARSLAKE, M.A.

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The Credibility of Mysteries.
   A Lecture delivered at St. George's Hall, Langham Place.
   By the Rev. DANIEL MOORE, M.A.

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The Gospels of the New Testament: their Genuineness
   AND AUTHORITY.  By the Rev. R. J. CROSTHWAITE, M.A.

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Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the
   CONSTITUTION AND COURSE OF NATURE: to which are
   added, Two Brief Dissertations.  By BISHOP BUTLER.  NEW
   EDITION.

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Christian Evidences.
   Intended chiefly for the young.  By the Most Reverend
   RICHARD WHATELY, D.D.

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The Efficacy of Prayer.
   By the Rev. W. H. KARSLAKE, M.A., Assistant Preacher
   at Lincoln's Inn, &c., &c.

.. vspace:: 1

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Science and the Bible.
   A Lecture by the Right Rev. BISHOP PERRY, D.D.

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A Lecture on the Bible.
   By the Very Rev. E. M. GOULBURN, D.D., Dean of Norwich.

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The Bible: its Evidences, Characteristics, and
   EFFECTS.  A Lecture by the Right Rev. BISHOP PERRY, D.D.

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The Origin of the World according to Revelation
   AND SCIENCE.  A Lecture by HARVEY GOODWIN,
   Bishop of Carlisle.

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How I passed through Scepticism into Faith.
   A Story told in an Almshouse.

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On the Origin of the Laws of Nature.
   By Sir EDMUND BECKETT, Bart.

.. vspace:: 1

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What is Natural Theology?
   Being the Boyle Lectures for 1876.  By the Rev. ALFRED
   BARRY, D.D., Bishop of Sydney.

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   *For List of TRACTS on the Christian Evidences, see the Society's
   Catalogue B.*

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   LONDON:
   SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
   NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.;
   43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C.,
   BRIGHTON; 135, NORTH STREET.

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