[The following lines are so excellent, containing so much good advice, that we recommend our young friends to commit them to memory, and often recite them to themselves.]

COMMAND thyself-no sudden answer give-
With zeal do good, for that alone you live;
To know the worth of time, remember death,
Thy life is short, and passing is thy breath.
Be sober-minded-wear a look serene,
Act before God, although by men unseen;
Speak not in vain, nor foolishly depart
From gentle words and purity of heart;
To truth and charity, and peace inclined,
With caution, censure or applaud mankind;
Seek knowledge fair, but shun insipid mirth,
There is no time for folly while on earth.
Feed no ill-will-no suddea friendship make,
Betray no trust-no obligations break;
And O be sure that you to this attend,
Pity the poor, and be the stranger's friend.
Promise with heed-weigh every action right;
Do all you do as in Jehovah's sight.
Instructed by past failings to be wise,
Let every wish from purest motives rise;
In truth secure-pursue one steady plan,
For actions shew the noblest part of man.
Act with relation to a future state,
Retort no slander-render love for hate;
That, well deserving of the christian name,
The church on earth may own you without shame.
And by your light, may minds, now dark, perceive
The way of peace and on the Lord believe.

For, through his strength you can do all things right.
Then take his "sword," and fight the faithful fight.
That when the battle on this earth is o'er,

You then may also reach that heavenly shore,
To dwell for ever with the just and good,

Your song-redemption through the Saviour's blood.

THE GREAT DECEIVER.

BY JOHN ANGELL JAMES.

THERE is a Great Deceiver who has lived through all ages of the world, and has cheated many-some of their property, others of their health, others of their character, and others of their immortal souls. The great deceiver I refer to is SIN.

First,―That person is a deceiver who calls himself by other men's names. Now sin takes false names, and hides itself under false disguises. Here is a boy who scoffs and uses all kinds of bad language, and he is told that it is very wicked; but he says, "Oh! it is courage." Here is a girl who dresses herself in an improper manner, but "Oh!" says she, "it is fashionable." Here is a man that is addicted to intemperance, and he is told how wicked a thing drunkenness is, but he says, "Oh! it is being social."

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"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light,and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah v. 20. Second,-To show how great a cheat sin is, notice what false excuses it makes; Oh!" say some, "it is what everybody does." But this does not take away its guilt. Suppose every one in a manufactory in which you are, should commit any known sin, would that make the guilt of it less? It is no excuse for any sin, that many people commit it. It is no excuse, my children, for you to commit a sin, that your father and mother commit it. Suppose they swear, that is no excuse for you to do so. It is no comfort for a man to know that he is to be hanged in company with many others; it was no comfort to those who were drowned at the deluge to know that they were all drowned together; nor is there any comfort in going to hell with others.

Some say, "Oh! but it is such a little sin." Is not this a false excuse? Little! Can any sin be little?

A little sin against the great God! Is not the sin greater by the greatness of Him against whom it is committed?

"Oh!" say some, "we could not help it." Is not that one of the greatest lies that sin tells, you could not help it? You could have helped it! Did you try? Have you not helped it sometimes, and if so, you could help it now.

"Oh! but the temptation was so strong." Not so strong, but by the help of God, you might resist it. He helped Joseph; and there is no temptation so strong that his grace will not enable you to withstand it.

"Well," say some, "I am good in some things, if I am wicked in others." Suppose, then, a person were to go to a shop and pay for some things he had bought, and at the same time put a great many other things into his pockets; would not this be cheating? “Oh," say some, “I dont tell lies, therefore I may swear." All this proves what a deceiver sin is.

and

Third, That sin is a cheat, is seen in the false promises it makes. It promises what it never performs; I am sure I shall now be able to speak a little to your own feelings. Suppose any of you have told a lie. What do you get by telling it? Was it all pleasure? What said conscience while you were telling it, and afterwards? Did you feel nothing but pleasure? The promise that it should be all pleasure

Oh no!

was false. If any of you have ever stolen anything, and yet I hope there is not one here who has done such a thing, but if you have ever stolen anything, what did sin promise? Why that you would have so much money and pleasure. But was it all pleasure? Was there not some trouble in your conscience when you were taking it, and afterwards? Was this

pleasure.

Another promise that sin makes is that if you do not like a course of sinning, it is very easy for you to come back again. But when a person enters on a

THE GREAT DECEIVER.

course of sin, it is like sliding down a steep hill, it is not easy to stop, and come back again.

Fourth,-Sin proves itself a cheat and an impostor, by holding out false prospects. Suppose a person were to meet you, and ask you to go a few steps with him for a walk, and only wished you to go so far. Suppose you consented and went, and when you had got to the end of the pleasant lane, he said, “Oh, come only just a few steps further," and suppose you went; but then the road became a little more unpleasant, and yet he again and again still pressed you to go on, till he brought you into a bad road, where you were hard put to it to get along, and at last to the edge of a precipice, over which he drove you, and broke your neck! Would not this be treacherous? But such is the way of sin. It first says, "Only do this little thing," and then this little sin will be committed frequently. Sin only asks him to go thus far at present, but many have begun thus, who have gone on to do worse. Sin next prompts to some greater thing: "You have lost your character now," it says, "and so now go on." Have you not found that it is easier to commit sin the second time than the first? Having lost his character, the sinner next seeks bad company, begins to lose all sense of shame, and goes on till he glories in it. Then he seeks to make others as bad as himself; and he has gone on to this point from so little a beginning. There is not a drunkard in existence, who did not begin with a single glass. There was a time when the murderer would not have found it in his heart to be cruel to a dog. Oh, the deceitfulness of sin! If you see any of your companions doing wrong, exhort them not to do so. up to them and say, "Let me entreat you to stop. Let me beseech you not to do it, for you will not stop there. Stop now, lest ye be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin."

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And what are you to do with this great demon?

Why, detest him, avoid him. Think what sin has done! It deceived our first parents, and brought all the misery which now exists into our world! It has peopled hell! Guard against the beginnings of sin. Be afraid of little sins. Look up to God, and pray for forgiveness of your sins, through Jesus Christ. Endeavour to understand the deceitfulness of sin; for by its deceit the soul is ruined for ever!

"PEACE, BE STILL."
(Founded on fact.)

SHE was a beautiful and lovely child,
Full of affection, gentle, pure, and mild:
One of those joyous spirits who might seem
The bright creation of a poet's dream.
Her happy face and bright engaging smile,
Would oft our anxious hearts of care beguile;
No angry, fretful passions ever rose
To cast a shadow o'er her sweet repose;
We look'd on her as one of heavenly birth,
A precious treasure lent awhile to earth.

Yet health had never glow'd upon her cheek

Each day she grew more languid, pale, and weak;
She drooped and wither'd, like some fading flower,
Which the dark storm has blighted by its power;
Disease and pain were wearing life away,
And bent her fragile form beneath their sway.
Oft when, at night, her feverish couch she prest,
Her throbbing temples sought in vain for rest;
In weary tossings to and fro she lay,

And longed in touching accents for the day.
Then would her gentle sister softly tell
The simple stories which she lov'd so well,
And try that little sufferer to soothe
With the sweet narratives of sacred truth.

Once when the child awoke with plaintive moans,
She told to her, in rich expressive tones,
How, when an angry storm arose at sea,