pations of worldly enjoyment fled; and in bitter anguish he exclaimed, "Then I have lost my soul!" "No, no," said I, "while there is life there is hope. You have deferred salvation until the eleventh hour; still the case of the dying thief should encourage you to hope." But all in vain. The invitations of the gospel, in their most encouraging aspects, were presented before him-a full, a free, and a present salvation was proclaimed to him through the blood of Jesus, but his mind was not to be diverted for one moment from the

all-absorbing theme. "What you say," was his reply, "may all be true. I have had my day of grace. Once I could have prayed; once I could have repented; once I could have believed; but I would not do soand now the chances are against me; I have lost my soul!"

Reader-the death-bed scene thus so abruptly introduced to your notice is one which the writer was himself called to witness; and though years have passed away since the scene occurred, the impression produced upon his mind by it has not, and, he believes, never will pass away. If you will give me, for a few moments, your serious attention, I will detail some further particulars respecting the individual in question, which may serve as a warning to you, and, perhaps, prevent your participating in an end so awful.

William was a young man who in early life received the advantages of a Sabbath-school education, and hopes were entertained then that he would have become decided for God. But it is the misfortune of many young persons to think, when they have arrived at the age of twelve or fourteen, that the instructions of the Sabbath-school can be no longer of any service to them. They therefore forsake their classes, to the great grief of their teachers, and appropriate their school-hours to recreation, and to the pursuit of worldly pleasure. It was thus with the subject of this narrative; and being freed from the restraints of Sabbath teachings, William sought companionship with those who follow with "the multitude to do evil," who have 66 no

fear of God before their eyes. Ultimately not only was the Sabbathschool, but the house of God also was neglected; and on the sacred day of rest, the tavern and the society of pot-companions became his chief delights.

If the reader is a young man, the writer would, with all affection and faithfulness, warn him against entering upon the first steps in the way of evil. The unfortunate young man under consideration would at one time have trembled at the thought of such impiety. But the beginning of evil is as when one letteth out water. The opening at first was small; the stream was but feeble; the outset might easily have been stopped; but as it proceeded, the aperture enlarged, the stream became impetuous, the embankment was undermined, and, ultimately, iniquity like a mighty flood rolled along, bearing away with it everything that was excellent, and hopeful, and of good report. Guard, I entreat you, against taking the first steps in the way of evil. "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

About three years previous to his last affliction it had pleased the Lord, in the order of his providence, to visit the subject of this narrative with malignant typhus fever, which in the course of a few days brought him near to the gates of death. Under these circumstances his mind was humbled; and fully conscious of his unfitness for death, he earnestly prayed for mercy, and promised the Lord if he would restore him to health again he would alter his course of life, and attend strictly to the duties of religion. His prayer was answered. In the exercise of Divine goodness and forbearance, contrary to the anticipations of medical men, he was in a short time recovered to his former tone of health; but sad to relate, in utter forgetfulness of his solemn vow, with returning health William returned also to the forbidden paths of vice; and, if possible, became more wicked and dissipated than before. In order to put conscience to rest after his recovery from affliction, he attended a place of religious worship once, and only

once. "When thou vowest a vow unto God defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools; pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay."-Eccles. v. 45.

That awful scourge the cholera had been prevailing most alarmingly for several weeks in the neighbourhood, and the most thoughtful and the most pious of the inhabitants had held a day for special humiliation and prayer; but this thoughtless, profligate young man seemed unmoved. The deaths which were occurring daily around him, and the awful suddenness of which seemed to strike terror to the hearts of survivors, operated as no check upon him. William persisted in his wicked dissipated habits, and, as though he would defy Omnipotence itself, he turned to ridicule the fears of the more sensitive and scrupulous of those with whom he was in the habit of associating. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."-Eccles. viii. 11. But God is not to be trifled with. Though he suffer long and manifest much forbearance, yet

"Mercy knows its appointed bound,

And turns to judgment there." It was one Monday morning very early when I was summoned to visit this young man on his death-bed. On the previous Sabbath he had been out, with some others of his companions, on a journey of pleasure, and had returned home in the evening in a state of intoxication; but at midnight, lo! a cry was heard, "Behold the bridegroom cometh"-the dreadful symptoms of this pestilence "that walketh in darkness" began to develop themselves—all around were alarmed-medical aid was summoned; but despite the most vigilant efforts, the disease continued to progress. The minister was sent for, but in answer to his inquiries, and in opposition to all his efforts to excite hope, and to lead him to the Saviour, the dying man only looked upon him with eyes indicative of confirmed despair, and said: "Once I could have

prayed; once I could have repented; once I could have believed, but I would not; and now-the chances are against me; I have lost my soul!"

Reader! whoever you are, be entreated to ponder this affecting narrative, and let it act as a warning to you. Are you a young man just entering into life? Guard, I beseech you, against forming companionships with those who have no respect for the sanctification of the Sabbath, and no disposition to attend religious ordinances. At present, perhaps, you have no temptation to indulge in those scenes of giddy mirth and dissipation which allured on the unfortunate young man in question to destruction and perdition; but be warned against entering upon the first steps in the way of evil. Set it down as certain, however the wicked may flatter, and, by their extenuations, seek to draw you aside from the paths of uprightness, that "a companion of fools shall be destroyed." Let me commend to your serious and thoughtful consideration the following portion of sacred Scripture:-Prov. iv. 14—19.

Are the vows of God upon you? I will suppose they are. They may not perhaps have been made in public; they may not have been marked by the same striking circumstances as those of this unhappy young man; yet the vows you have uttered to God ought to be considered no less binding upon you, than they would have been had you publicly expressed them, or formally recorded them, under circumstances of the most awful solemnity. Let the narrative you have just been reading, therefore, lead you to serious and solemn consideration, and be entreated now, in the name of the Lord, and by all the awful solemnity of this death-bed scene, to perform your solemn vows. Blessed be the Lord, there is yet hope concerning you. You, my reader, may yet be saved. Say then, in a spirit of humility and penitence, and in the exercise of faith in Christ,

"I will accept his offers now,
From every sin depart,
Perform my oft-repeated vow,
And render him my heart."

Will you do this? Is such your language? The writer feels at this

as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.-Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink; for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Revelation makes a solemn disclosure of man's future and everlasting destiny. The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. Then shall we be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. He that overcometh shall inherit all things. I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Because inspired truth gives such a full development of these important and interesting doctrines, its intrinsic excellence is superlative. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Gold can summon as with magic power the beauties of a terrestrial paradise; inspired truth opens for our admiration and enjoyment the boundless glories and the exhaustless treasures of the Eternal Mind. Knowledge is transcendently valuable, raising man from the proneness of the savage to walk erect in the light of truth and civilization. Revelation makes known the way in which worm man is transformed into a saint, becomes united with all that is great and holy, a companion of angels, and joint-heir with Jesus Christ. Revelation believed and obeyed makes

this life the portal of the New Jerusalem, the arena in which we win crowns of glory, triumphs whose fame shall be written in brilliant and imperishable characters.

Revealed truth is superlatively valuable, because there exists for its communication a real and deplorable necessity. Were all teachings merely human blotted out of existence, their every ray of light extinguished, their every bright conjecture lost in midnight darkness, we should still have the word of God to enlighten the judgment, to fire the heart with the noblest motives, and point erring man the way to heaven. But all the boasted productions of reason could not supply the place of Scripture knowledge. The light of Socrates and of Cicero, of Greece and of Rome combined, could not emulate the effulgence of the Sun of Righteousness. The works of Confucius, Zoroaster, and Mohammed, contrasted with the page of Revelation, are at an infinite distance from the latter in point of doctrine and authoritative command. Divine truth contains within itself those evidences which manifest its holy origin and lofty bearing in the same palpable manner as the magnificent heavens are seen to be higher than the earth.

The necessity of revelation appears in the fact that where its light has not been received, error and immorality have prevailed in their most abhorrent and disgusting forms. The same mode of reasoning which would disprove the necessity of revelation also shows that the following solemn considerations are matters of indifference:-Whether God be acknowledged in his existence, essential perfections, and legitimate claim to all dominion, or his glory be changed into an image made like to corruptible man, to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth; whether adoration be paid to him as an infinite Spirit in spirit and in truth, or the superior understanding of man be prostrated before the vilest objects. For in Egypt, the cradle of the sciences, the most debased creatures were idolized; and in Athens, amidst the splendour of philosophy, they multiplied their gods