he went to after death. Some were very jovial and enjoyed themselves much, but his had been a miserable life.

I was very sad, seeing the enmity as strong as ever; but I thought of the question, " Is not My word like as a fire? and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces ?" And I remembered that the Word of God is "quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," and that, even though the sword be wielded by a weak hand, it can be made to pierce "even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." I therefore ventured to say a little more.

Adverting to the blessedness of being safe because hidden in Christ, and of knowing certainly that we shall be happy because He who died for us has undertaken to be our surety, so that "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," I told him of a poor man I had visited in consumption, who had taken hold of Christ's salvation. And then I repeated, "There is a fountain filled with blood," saying that B-- was so pleased with it. T―― remarked, "That's very nice."

Once I found him suffering much, and I said I wished he could say with that poor man of whom I had before told him, "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." Another day he was more comfortable, and he said if he had but more strength he would think of what he had heard from me.

A kind friend who had visited him feared it was labour in vain, but commended the case in prayer, knowing that nothing is too hard for the Lord. On the other hand, a good Christian servant who went to see him was encouraged to hope concerning him.

The time drew on that I must leave home; but I could see no sign that the old man's pride was broken down, and his heart yielded to Jesus. Again I called, grieving that it would be the last time, but knowing that God could make the seed to grow and perfect His own work without my

instrumentality. Once more I set before him Christ as the only way of salvation, our only hope in life, our only stay in a dying hour. He assented to what I said, and thanked me warmly, saying, "God bless you."

In a few weeks the summons came, and the news was thus communicated to me: "Have you heard of the death of the poor old coachman? William gave me as his opinion that he died penitent and believing. May it prove to have been so! His last words were, 'Lord, have mercy on me, and deliver my soul in the day of wrath.' Some woman came in, and bore her testimony to a change having passed upon him; so you may not be quite hopeless as to the result of your labours. Probably, had the hope been more conclusive, it might have had the effect on others of encouraging to a death-bed repentance."

to us.

Truly it is hard work turning to God on a dying bed; and we do not even know that we shall have that time given Death may come to us suddenly, without a moment's warning, and how then shall we be prepared to meet it? Not that we shall be able to say we have never had a warning. Some illness, some accident to ourselves or others, there has surely been, when the warning note was heard. "Prepare to meet thy God;" "Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." But too many of us think there is time enough yet, and ever cry to-morrow; whereas Gurnall says that is the devil's word, and Christ's word is now. God says, "Oh that they were wise, that they would understand, and consider their latter end;" "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die ?" Let Him hear us saying, "Turn Thou me, and so shall I be turned; so will we not go back from Thee: quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts, cause Thy face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved;" and then Paul's happy experience will be ours, "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

A Disguised Foe.

URING one of the North American wars with the Indians, a brave young soldier, named Hugh Sanderson, found himself one clear September night in an exciting and perilous position. He had volunteered himself as sentry for the night on one of the outposts, choosing the duty in face of the fact that, for four successive days, brave comrades of his own, who had occupied the same post, had been found dead, stabbed to the heart by some mysterious and subtle foe.

"You'll be number five!" said his companions,

as he bade them good-night with his usual careless gaiety, in which few of them could share.

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"No fear," he said; my orders are to fire if anything moves, and depend upon it, if so much as a bird stirs its wing, I'll do it." And so he went his way, his senses sharpened to more than their usual keenness by a consciousness of peril; for, once alone in the stillness of his midnight watch, the dead faces of his comrades rose up before him, and he could not but wonder whether, in spite of all his intended precaution, he should share their fate.

His post was on a slightly-rising ground, a partiallycleared space stretching between him and a thick forest lying in the distance. No sign of life broke on the monotony of his watchful tramp during the first few hours, and the grey dawn, as it stole over the quiet scene, revealed not even the trembling of a leaf, so quiet, so profoundly still, was everything around. Naturally adventurous, Hugh began almost to fear that he should have a very uneventful watch to speak of to his companions, and his thoughts

wandered away from his own immediate circumstances, and were scarcely recalled to them by the sight of a wild hog, which, wandering from the distant forest, appeared to be picking up food, as it gradually crossed the intervening space towards him.

Hugh's eyes were fixed upon the movements of this animal with very little interest, until, as it approached nearer and nearer, he suddenly remembered his orders, and his resolution, "If so much as a bird move its wing, I will fire." "I must do it," he said to himself, "though the brute's hardly worth the powder;" and, levelling his musket at the unwieldy-looking object, and taking careful aim, he fired. Then, following close upon the report, was a sharp human cry of agony, breaking the stillness of the quiet dawn. The alarm was enough to bring two or three of the neighbouring sentries to the spot, just in time to witness the death-struggles of a Red Indian, who, thus cleverly disguised in the skin of a hog, had been intending to add one more to the list of his victims.

If ever Hugh Sanderson thanked God in his life he did it then, as he saw how narrow his escape had been. He owed that escape to a keen sense of danger, and to a soldierly watchfulness and respect to orders; and it is to just such a state of feeling that the Captain of our salvation would bring us in the far more dangerous position we are placed in. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour." And just as the comrades of Hugh Sanderson were sad at heart as they saw his brave young life exposed to such terrible danger, so the writer of this paper is deeply troubled to think of many brave young soldiers of the cross who might do such grand service for their heavenly King and His cause, but who are in danger of falling, as so many before them have done, into the power of this wily foe.

Would to God that this striking incident might be a warning voice signalling to you of danger! Dear young

readers, you are but recruits in the army of King Immanuel, let me caution you especially against self-confidence and careless thoughts of Satan's constant watchfulness and malignity and subtle wiles. "Forewarned, forearmed," is the truest security in this conflict. If he always appeared as a roaring lion there would not be nearly so much danger for you, but his disguises are as varied as the characters he has to deal with, and generally he presents himself at first in a harmless form. A little conformity to the wishes of worldly companions; a slight relaxation of the strict watchfulness and close walking with God, which you felt such a joy and privilege at first—what harm can there be in this? And yet this is the disguise thrown over the form of your deadly assailant, and unless you keep close to your orders, and earnestly seek grace to follow them, your name will add one more to the gloomy list of those who, like Demas, have gone back" from light, and joy and blessedness, "having loved this present world."

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To those who are "led captive" by the devil at his will, to whom he has no need to assume any disguise, who, knowing his hideousness and cruelty, and untiring rebellion against "the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords," are still willing to serve and obey him, I have no space to speak here.

M. C. F.

A

To the New Year.

PSA. XC.

NEW YEAR! but the same our Father,

Whose mighty arm the worlds doth guide.

The people of His own dominion

He bore of old on eagle's pinion;

To Him the future we confide.

A New Year! but the same our Father,

Whose mighty arm the world doth guide.