away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." To carry through the future year all the sins of past years lying on the conscience, will set happiness at defiance. But if, repenting of sin, we believe on that Saviour "whose blood cleanseth from all sin," the load that pressed down the springs of bliss will be taken off, and the renovation of our nature by the grace of the Holy Spirit will afford us the first elements of a new and happy existence, not merely for a year, but for an eternal age.

Can we look into our own hearts, or survey the character of our race, without perceiving that to be admitted into the presence of the Holy One, and find it bliss, we need the forgiveness which Christ alone affords, and the restoration to the Divine image which His Spirit imparts?

He that has given us to see another year may, with it, be saying, as He once did by His prophet to a living man, "This year thou shalt die." To slight the warning may seal our doom; to improve it will secure the bliss of heaven.

Why suffer the bustle of life to blot out the thought that we must soon go down to the region of the dead; and that the world itself will be wrapped in the flames of judgment? What will it avail to have gained business, or money, and to have lost our souls?—to be grand or joyous for a few moments, and to be poor and wretched for eternity? The just judgment of God may snatch from us both the fortune and the pleasures for which we sacrificed our eternal life.

Awake at the sound of the passing knell of time. Form new plans for the new year. Retire to the secret closet to commune with conscience and with God. Soon we must converse with both; and unless their voice becomes pleasant to us now, we shall at last start at their sound as the dread trump of doom.

Take up that Bible which lies neglected. It is the oracle of God, the message of His mercy, inspired by Him who will judge us according to His Word. In secret silence

listen to the voice; for though it may reproach you for your neglect, it invites to repentance, and reveals a Saviour to rescue you from the destroyer.

Pour out to God the morning and evening prayer for the Spirit of grace and supplication, in the name of Jesus: for "if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," who is the propitiation for our sins-and God will give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.

Worship God in your families; for "the blessing of the Lord is on the habitation of the just;" while He has threatened to "pour out His wrath on the families that call not on His name."

Reverence the Lord's day. The first day of the week is the Lord's. He will vindicate His claim to it, against all who give it to the world and sin; but those who devote it to His worship and honour will find it emphatically the Saviour's day.

"Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is;" but respond to the Psalmist's voice, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound of the gospel, which first began to be spoken by the Lord, that we might learn the value of the ministry of reconciliation in which an incarnate God spent His life among men.

"He that believeth shall be saved: he that believeth not shall be damned." "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." Flee from the wrath to come, the anguish of everlasting despair, to Him who is able to save to the uttermost. A life of genuine religion is heaven begun; death is then peaceful, judgment will be joyous, and eternity full of glory and of bliss.

From the Valley.

H, brother, thou on breezy mountain's brow,

What cheer? Say whitherward thy feet are tending?
From the Hill.

Thanks, brother, well.

I seek yon city now,

To whose bright domes the sun's such splendour lending. But whither thou? and fares it well with thee?

No less in earnest or in haste thou'rt seeming.

From the Valley.

Thanks, well. I seek yon city too, but see
Only its sunlit domes reflected gleaming.

From the Hill.

Then come up hither; thou wilt see a sight
To glad thine heart, so glorious looks the city.

From the Valley.

Nay, brother, nay; I may not climb the height:
I should grow giddy-fall, perchance.

More suited to my mind, the sheltered way;
Its music and repose, to scenes more stirring.
I love the quiet way, the tender strain

Of thrush and linnet in the peaceful valley,
Where fair flowers bloom; the stream oft turns again,
As though with its green banks it loves to dally.

From the Hill.

Not so with me; I love the rock-piled height,

That well repays his toil who thither climbest;
Where strong winds blow that check the eagle's flight,
And Nature, though she's stern, is there sublimest.
Above the clouds I love to watch the storm,
The vap'rous masses seething like the ocean
When fierce winds rage, that fills with dire alarm
The vale beneath them with their wild commotion.

From the Valley.

But fearest thou not that thou at times wilt stray,
When the fierce storms around thee are engaging?

No;

From the Hill.

I've a chart to guide me on my way;

I rest and shelter when the storm is raging.

But mists and vapours oft the valley fill

How farest thou then, when nought thy pathway markest?

I have a lamp, that

More brightly burns,

From the Valley.

burning brightly, still

and bright when it is darkest.

From the Hill.

Since we one city seek, good cheer be thine;
Our separate paths shall merge in one another;
Hold on thy path, and I will hold on mine.
God speed thee on thy way.

;

Both prayer and praise in one name given-
Their Saviour and their God in heaven.
And when in the first watch of night
A storm assailed the rocky height,
From valley rose in accents clear,
"Dear brother, be thou of good cheer
Heed well thy chart, hold on thy way."
And when, just as the dawn of day
Had chased the darkness, and there fell
A mist that spread throughout the dell,
A voice came cheering from the height-
"Oh, brother, look well to thy light;
Heed well thy path; be of good cheer;
The sun's bright rays will soon appear."
Thus, though apart, their spirits one,
Their hopes and aims in unison;
Their paths, awhile though separate,
United at the city gate;

And when the sun had reached the west
Both found within the city, rest.

If I my parable relate

*

Right clearly, I've no need to state
By it I wish to represent

Two Christians who-both heavenward bent,

Their hope one Saviour crucified,

The one true Spirit for their guide,

Within their hearts the love of God,
Cheering each other on the road-
Use differing means (mere forms) t' attain
The happy rest each strove to gain;
Deem that a brother may be right,
Whose forms of worship squares not quite
With theirs, nor think that theirs alone
Can be the true and Scriptural one.