death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, for ye are Christ's." But if it be not so,—if, while surrounded by greeting friends, you are the heir of all God's threatenings, how sad is your case! Yet, wondrous fact! it is still "the acceptable time, and the day of salvation," and you are now invited to be partaker of a deathless life, and heir of a glorious immortality. Let, then, your birthday be rendered memorable in the annals of your life, by your entire surrender to God, and submission to his righteousness. Then will be the birthday of real happiness in your heart, and, while greeting friends surround you on earth, the angels of heaven will rejoice over you as a sinner born again.

"To know the author of our frame,

Is our sublimest skill;

True science is to read thy name,

True life to obey thy will."

HOW OLD ART THOU?

CURIOSITY frequently asks this question, and pride sometimes refuses to answer it. Some persons are fond of talking about their age, and others as carefully conceal it. Reader, if you desire to keep this point a secret, I have no wish to be inquisitive. All I am anxious about is, that you should endeavour to gain some

quite unprepared; where no day returns, for all is outer darkness, where no happiness comes, for all is despair; where no friend salutes, for all are absorbed in their own irremediable grief. These are sad themes for a joyous birthday; but if you, dear reader, have not fled to the only Refuge, even the cross of Jesus, if you are still without God in the world; these are the truths which you need to ponder.

Be not satisfied with human wishes, with the gifts of affection, with the utterances of tender love. There is no remedy for your soul's decease, no portion for your heart's cravings in all these. They are merely sparks, beautiful but transient; if you compass yourself about with these, and refuse to bask in the healing and lifegiving rays of the Sun of Righteousness, you must lie down in sorrow.

There is one-the dearest friend of all-who, on your birthday, greets you on the dusty high-way of life, and not merely wishes you all good, but invites you to partake of soul-satisfying blessings. His name is full of life, it is a fountain of health, and a treasure-house of blessings. Do you know its virtues-have you felt its power? Have you already in your closet, this morning, feasted upon it? Did it, like a warm beam from heaven, fill the atmosphere of your souls when you first awoke to consciousness? Then, blessed are you, "for all things are yours, whether the world, or life, or

death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours, for ye are Christ's." But if it be not so,—if, while surrounded by greeting friends, you are the heir of all God's threatenings, how sad is your case! Yet, wondrous fact! it is still "the acceptable time, and the day of salvation," and you are now invited to be partaker of a deathless life, and heir of a glorious immortality. Let, then, your birthday be rendered memorable in the annals of your life, by your entire surrender to God, and submission to his righteousness. Then will be the birthday of real happiness in your heart, and, while greeting friends surround you on earth, the angels of heaven will rejoice over you as a sinner born again.

"To know the author of our frame,

Is our sublimest skill;

True science is to read thy name,
True life to obey thy will."

HOW OLD ART THOU?

CURIOSITY frequently asks this question, and pride sometimes refuses to answer it. Some persons are fond of talking about their age, and others as carefully conceal it. Reader, if you desire to keep this point a secret, I have no wish to be inquisitive. All I am anxious about is, that you should endeavour to gain some

improvement from the question which a mighty king put to a venerable patriarch,-" How old art thou?"

The question reminds you of a commencement, and of progress. Whatever may be the number of your years, whether you are in the buoyancy of youth, the prime of life, or in decrepit old age, you are a creature of comparatively very recent date; but lately sprung out of nothingness. You must subscribe to the humbling language of one of the ancients, “For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow," Job, viii. 9. Think of the years which passed before you were born; think of eternity before time itself began, and learn hence your own insignificance. God's sovereign will gave you being, his Almighty power brought you out of non-entity. You, whose years are so few, are the child of an eternal parent; and if you have been brought to know God as your father in Christ, to trust his mercy, love his holiness, desire his glory, you may confidently conclude, that his thoughts concerning you were from all eternity thoughts of peace," and his purposes full of rich love and mercy. Wondrous thought! your history commenced countless ages before your actual being; for all who are united unto the Saviour in time, were chosen in him before the foundation of the world. Though we are but of yesterday, the counsels of eternity, as far as God has revealed them, and the transactions of time,

66

as far as he has recorded them, are ours to study, to rejoice in, and to improve.

From the moment when you first came into being, moments have been gradually accumulating, and forming days, weeks, months, and years. Many of these are hidden from your view, amid the dim shadows of unconscious infancy. What tears you then shed, what sorrows you then felt, what transports then filled your tiny heart, as objects new and wonderful were looked at, or sounds, sweet and harmonious, were listened to, are now nearly all forgotten. A few facts-some of them sorrowful, and others joyous-loom through the mists of childhood; yet little of that sportive period is distinctly remembered. But still there was progress ; stature was advancing, strength increasing, reason budding, character forming, and conviction struggling. How far you are advanced beyond this, I cannot say ; suffice it for my purpose, that you are old enough to understand what is here written,-old enough to feel responsibility, to know that God has to do with you, and that you must have to do with him. You are old enough to give an account of yourself to God; old enough to be born again.

But, is it so? It may be, that at this question a tear of gratitude may trickle down a furrowed cheek, and a voice trembling with emotion may say, "Yes, forty or fifty years ago did this great change take place. Then