willingly; it may be that it will tell us of sins which have gone by long ago, which we had almost forgotten; it may hinder us from some indulgences, it may show us that we are not nearly so good as we think we are; but, whatever it tells us, we should gladly listen to it and obey it, and do all we can to avoid hardening ourselves against its teaching, for these are some of the surest ways of gaining and keeping the favour of God. At this time you have a good opportunity of thinking over your life past, and you ought to make use of it; much as you may feel the trial of being obliged to sit still when you would like to be at work, you may be sure your present condition is the best for you; though you are not without some temptations, you are freed from others, which perhaps would be more dangerous to you; and if you listen to the voice of Conscience when it speaks to you in your time of leisure, and if you devote yourself in earnest to the service of God, you will one day have cause for the deepest thankfulness that God has laid His hand upon you, and given you so much time for thought, and so good an opportunity of preparing for the life to come.

ADVERSITY LESS DANGEROUS THAN

PROSPERITY.

T is a hard thing for man to confess that

IT

trouble ever can be, or ever is, better than good fortune, and sorrow ever better than joy, and yet Holy Scripture, and the experience of life of all who have lived long, assure us that it is so, and that, on the whole, those men have most reason to look on their lives, as they draw near to the end of them, with satisfaction, who have by no means passed a time of unchequered prosperity. God, indeed, does not give to anyone the chance of trying the effect of a wholly prosperous life; He knows too well that man-not indeed as God made him, for He hath made all things good, but as he has made himself—is utterly unfitted for perfect happiness in this life. Adam proved himself unworthy of it, and Adam's children are, for the most part, worse than he was, and God loves man too well to give him anything which he may be unfit to receive or bear; but He does give to us all some measure of happiness, and there are too many of us who do not use even that rightly. It is true that misfortune and sorrow have temptations of their own, so that if they fall to our lot they do not secure us from danger of falling into sin; and yet it

seems that what men call good fortune is often more dangerous, unless we are very firm in our determination to do "the thing that is right." No doubt most men would like to have the opportunity of trying a long course of earthly happiness, and every man hopes that, if he had it, he would be able to avoid its temptations, so that it is a good thing for us that God does not leave the matter in our hands, but sends us just such fortunes as He thinks fit. If, then, we are really wise unto salvation, we shall echo the words which Jacob uttered on that great and eventful night when he saw the vision of angels ascending and descending the ladder that reached to Heaven: "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God;" and we shall pray, in the words of the Wise Man: "Give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me." And yet, if God be pleased to give us only just enough to keep us alive, and refuse us many things which we much desire and think necessary for our comfort, we have the best of consolations in the knowledge that He has our real good at heart even more than we have, and that if we were allowed to have our own ways, and be entirely free from want and suffering of all kinds, we should be sure to forsake Him and

pursue the path of pleasure which ends in ruin. Whether, then, God sends us joy or sorrow, let us try to be contented with our lot, and receive it with thankfulness, as knowing that they who do so firmly trust in Him here, are doing the best they can to fit themselves to dwell with Him hereafter.

CHRISTIANS NEVER FRIENDLESS.

PEOPLE

EOPLE sometimes say, and perhaps sometimes think, that they have no friends. If they be rich, they think that those around them care only for their wealth; if they be poor, they fancy that no one really cares or feels for them in their poverty. Whatever men's earthly condition may be, there are times when they feel the need of others' sympathy, and yet are persuaded that none know what their feelings are; and truly such times of depression would seem to be a part of our earthly trials, for, as says the Wise Man: "the heart knoweth his own bitterness," even as also "a stranger intermeddleth not with his joys." It was such a feeling as this, we may suppose, which drew from the Psalmist the words, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" and caused our Saviour to repeat them from the Cross; such a feeling, again, as drew forth the

words, "I had no place to flee unto, and no man cared for my soul," though even then David knew, as well as did the Lord, whither to go for help, for he says, "I cried unto Thee, O Lord."

Though, however, we may at times feel as though we were friendless, yet are there few, if any, in the world without friends who wish them well, pray for them, and help them as much as they can unless, indeed, they utterly reject such friendship.

But whether our earthly friends be many or few, at any rate, we all have a Friend in Heaven; "He is a Father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of the widows; even God, in His holy habitation." All Scripture is witness to His sympathy and love; and especially is the book of Psalms filled with declarations of His mercy and goodness; and it is from that book, ever since it was put together, that men, in all ages, have drawn comfort and encouragement in times of weakness of faith or lowness of spirit. Surely the thought of His love and pity should cheer our darkest hour; the "everlasting arms" are stretched beneath us: "He shall defend thee under His wings." Nor does He willingly afflict His people; He sends them trials for their good, "to humble them, and to prove them," and to see whether they will serve Him or no; but as soon as the trial has done its work, as soon as He sees it to be good for us, He will remove His