the roar of the lion, the hiss of the serpent and the rattle of the snake for ever in their ears; noted, marked, signed for death-and they are not dead yet, and they never shall be. Yet they have "nothing in their hands." They seem to be feckless. How, then, do they live when others are pinned to the earth by the lion? The Christian is not a stronger man than his neighbors. Then why does he stand where his neighbors fall? Ah, this is the explanation: The Spirit of the Lord is with him. He is a wall of fire round about him, and the glory in the midst. Do I speak to any backslider who has not been careful, and the enemy has sprung upon you, or the slimy serpent has dropped itself down from the branch of a tree and wound itself around you ere you were aware? Despair not; do not give in. Remember Him who is the Strength of Israel!-MCNEILL.

The Sweetness of Victory.

When you are able to feel in your own soul that you have overcome a strong temptation, the fiercer it was and the more terrible it was, the louder has been your song and the more joyful your thanksgiving. To go back to Mr. Bunyan again: When Christian had passed through the Valley of the Shadow of Death during the night, and when he had come entirely out of it and the sun rose, you remember he looked back. He was long in taking that look, I warrant you. What thoughts he had while looking back! He could just discern that narrow track with the quagmire on one side and the deep ditch on the other; and he could see the shades out of which the hob

He

goblins hooted and the fiery eyes glanced forth. looked back by sunlight and thought within himself: "Ah, me! What goodness has been with me! I have gone through all that, and yet I am unharmed!" What a happy survey it was to him! Ah, the joy of having passed through temptation without having defiled one's garments! How must Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego have felt when they stepped out of the fiery furnace, and were not even singed, neither had the smell of fire passed upon them. Happy men were they who had lived in the center of the seven-times-heated furnace, where everything else was consumed. Here again is "a piece of an honeycomb."-SPURGEON.

Scarred.

Far nobler the sword that is nicked and worn,
Far fairer the flag that is grimy and torn,
Than when to the battle fresh they were borne.

He was tried and found true; He stood the test; 'Neath whirlwinds of doubt, when all the rest Crouched down and submitted, He fought best.

There are wounds on His breast that can never be healed,
There are gashes that bleed and may not be sealed,
But, wounded and gashed, He won the field.

And others may dream in their easy chairs,

And point their white hands to the scars He bears;
But the palm and the laurel are His-not theirs!

ANONYMOUS.

Watching Against Temptation.

Any thing else were the height of rashness. Who sleeps by a magazine of gunpowder needs to take care even of sparks; who walks on slippery ice, let him not go star-gazing, but look to his feet, take care of falling. Whatever provokes sin, though beautiful as Bathsheba— whatever is in its nature calculated, and by the cunning fiend intended, to draw us into transgression-is a danger against which we can not be too much upon our guard. Though in themselves innocent, pleasures are sought at too great hazard that grow on dizzy crag, or among the grass where adders creep, or in the lofty crevice of tottering stone wall, or on the brink of a swollen flood.— DR. GUTHRIE.

TIME.

Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to each according as his work is.-THe Master.

The Day Short.

The day is short and the work is great; but the laborers are idle, though the reward be great and the Master of the work presses. It is not incumbent upon thee to complete the work, but thou must not therefore cease from it. If thou hast worked much, great shall be thy reward, for the Master who employed thee is faithful in His payment. But know thou that the true reward is

not of this world. -THE TALMUD.

Today.

Today, unsullied, comes to thee, new-born.
Tomorrow is not thine;

The sun may cease to shine

For thee, ere earth shall greet its morn.

Tomorrow.

RUSKIN.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life 's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

SHAKESPEARE.

Every Day the Best.

One of the illusions is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.—EMERSON.

Time Bears Us Away.

Life bears us on like the stream of a mighty river. Our boat, at first, glides down the narrow channel, through the playful murmuring of the little brook and

the winding of its grassy border.

The trees shed their blossoms over our young heads; the flowers on the brink seem to offer themselves to our young hands. We are

happy in hope, and we grasp eagerly at the beauties around us; but the stream hurries on, and still our hands are empty.-BISHOP HEBER.

The Voice of Time.

The bell strikes one.

We take no note of time

But from its loss.

Is wise in man.

To give it then a tongue
As if an angel spoke,

I feel the solemn sound. If heard aright,

It is the knell of my departed hours.

Where are they? With the years beyond the flood.`
It is the signal that demands despatch.

How much is to be done! My hopes and fears
Start up alarmed, and o'er life's narrow verge
Look down-on what? A fathomless abyss !
A dread eternity! How surely mine!
And can eternity belong to me,

Poor pensioner on the bounties of an hour?

EDW. YOUNG.

Time Flies.

Whether we preach or hear, time is hastening on. Our sands of life will soon run out. Just as we are being borne along irresistibly every moment as the earth speeds in her orbit, so are we being carried away by the resistless course of time. How it flies to a man of middle age! How exceedingly fast to the aged! We may