it became his business to answer their complaints of coldness, inconsistency, and emptiness in themselves, by presenting to their mind corresponding views of Christ's fulness of grace, beauty, and thus to draw them out of self to live on Him. Satan too, though baffled for a time, would not easily let go his prey; finding his influence breaking, and his snares discovered, he prepared and let loose a stormy tempest of deep waters against the young woman, the first escaped one of this captive family. Her companions, friends, and relatives were all raised up against her, and seemed now for the first time to find out that she was everything which was vile and disreputable; her former conduct, overlooked and excused, or even defended, while she followed the course of this world, now appeared to them in its true light! Even her father and mother, as if they would justify themselves in condemning her, for a time looked coldly and unkindly upon her. Her faith seemed almost to give way. Doubts as to whether she was not adding presumption to folly in believing herself forgiven distressed and alarmed her; but faith is the evidence of things not seen ; and, laying hold on the promises of the faithful Promiser, it overcomes the world. The conflict was sharp, and lasted for nearly a year; "but when He giveth quietness, who can then make trouble? and when He hideth His face, who then can behold Him, whether it be done against a nation or against a man only?"

It would be foreign to the object of this paper to specify further the details which passed under the observation of our Reader, during his intercourse with this family. Suffice it to say, "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. That once drunken and blaspheming father is now an industrious, sober, honest man, respected and respectable. The mother, too, has been delivered from going down into the pit, for God did find a ransom. And her daughter is in good health, whole both in soul and body, a regular attendant at the house of God, and a regular communicant at the table of her Lord. "No one," writes our Reader, "who sees her walk and conversation, can doubt she is truly passed from death unto life. The old man is indeed crucified, and the new man raised up in her. I do indeed thank God for using me in such a work as this. I am well paid for all the insults and injuries (now openly confessed with tears) I used to suffer in the fight. Satan, when he cannot destroy, will do his utmost to wound, and he often molests his old servants. But she tells me what he has been doing, and we lay it all before the Lord; for we know whom we have believed, and are persuaded He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him against that day."

After the above was written, her husband, who had gone to sea, returned. He was not prepared to appreciate the change which grace had produced in his wife, since he had parted from her; nor did he visit or consent to see her. The Reader, however, made it his business to endeavour to bring them together, and effect a reconciliation between them. Gradually "the husband seemed to be won by the conversation of the wife." The great change in her was too apparent to be overlooked or mistaken, and intercourse with the Reader, through whose instrumentality it had been brought about, became more and more desired by him. They are now living together again, with every prospect of happy days before them. Her poor mother is the chief anxiety. She sometimes gives sad evidence of the remaining power of evil over a heart where once, for a long period, it had had supreme and undisputed sway, Alas! how much of the charred wood, and how many of the sparks, often cling to many "a brand plucked out of the fire." Those who may never have experienced the power of evil habits, can hardly understand the influence they often exercise even after grace has renewed the soul, causing grave doubt and difficulty, whether in estimating our own standing, or in rendering that evidence of our Christian profession, which those among whom we live and profess, are bound to seek for and take knowledge of. Well might David say, "Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." (Ps. xix. 13.)

THE BACKSLIDER; OR, UNEQUALLY YOKED.

"And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. -HOSEA ii. 7.

had been a child of many prayers. She had been brought up from infancy in the ways of the Lord. Her parents, godly people, had spared no pains to teach her of the love of Jesus, and she grew up to womanhood-the light and comfort

of her home, her parents' joy and pride: indeed a visit to them was a treat; and one felt there was an atmosphere of divine and heavenly reality around them.

At an early age a temptation presented itself to M, before which, alas! many a good young woman falls. One of her acquaintance, a youth of good character and well-to-do in life, sought her

for his wife. He was amiable, attractive, and industrious, and M- closed her eyes to the fact that he was not a converted man. She fondly hoped, and persuaded herself, he would soon be induced to think and feel on religious matters as she did; and, in an evil hour for her own peace, she disobeyed God, and united herself for life to one who had not yet learned to realize his need as a sinner, or to appreciate the great salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The consequence was—as in similar cases it invariably is—that, instead of her husband being led to Christ through her instrumentality, she was herself insensibly led away from Him. The stages are gradual and slow by which the walk of the backslider becomes careless, and the heart cold, but along this downward path poor M began now rapidly to descend: privileges once valued, and seasons of communion with God once sought after and enjoyed, became more and more difficult. Home associations and influences warred sadly against the tone and spirit of her Christianity, till at last even the form was laid aside. Months, many months, would pass, and the Bible lie unopened, and her wonted place in the house of God be unoccupied. True, their home was neat and bright; humanly speaking, and so far as the outward appearance went, she and her husband lived happily together. He was industrious and kind, and she was happy; she said so, and she thought so; but conscience was asleep. Strange how soundly it can sleep sometimes, when self is being gratified; but a waking time will come, if not in this world, surely in the next.

Through the great long-suffering and grace of God, M—'s awaking was here. For some time matters had not gone on so well at home as at the first-little difficulties and disappointments, causing irritability between M and her husband, began to manifest themselves.

All who forsake God discover sooner or later the truth of what is written "Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God." (Jer. ii. 19.)

The world, prosperity, home, friends, husband, children, cannot supply the place of Christ to the heart that has ever known Him; and M- found in the time of her need that she had lost the only thing worth living for-viz. peace! heaven! life! joy! Christ! This discovery added tenfold bitterness to her trials, and was like a millstone round her neck: darkness that might be felt seemed to gather round her soul; and for many years her life was one of misery, wretchedness, and despair; her only remedy being a vain endeavour to escape from self, and dissipate thought. Alas! what

evidences we are constantly furnished with, to prove how trivial a circumstance in daily life may cause the bubble of all earthly happiness, out of Christ, to burst and vanish from our gaze, even while we are in the act of admiring it!^

In this unhappy state our Reader first found M- and after some little time she told him something of her history, as has been here detailed. There is but one sovereign balm for the healing of the disease of our souls,-the word of the promise, the faithful Promiser! and to that he tried anxiously and carefully to direct her attention. Alas! he soon found she had taught herself to measure God by her own carnal standard. Knowing she had hardened her heart against His fear, she had accustomed herself to think of Him" as such an one as herself." His precious promises fell upon listless ears, and an unbelieving and scared conscience made light of them. How many hear or read God's Word under the teachings and influence of Saint Self? Self-righteousness is never more dangerous to the soul than when it leads the poor sinner to reject the Gospel of free grace on account of conscious unworthiness, as if such mistaken humility was not Satan's own snare, abominable self pride, and as if Jesus Christ had come to call the righteous and not sinners to repentance. The Word of God abounds with the most gracious encouragements and invitations to those who, having found the way of transgressors to be hard, desire to return to the Lord. The passages which our Reader specially pointed out and dwelt on, when pleading with M- -, were Jer. iii. 12—14, “Go and proclaim these words, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you." But M- would by no means "acknowledge her transgressions." A thousand refuges of lies were sought unto, and excuses made—her careless neglect of God was palliated, and her circumstances blamed. It was (she would say) her misfortune, and not her fault that she was not as she once was: her husband was blamed, her minister, everybody-even God Himself blamed for her present condition; but her self-righteous self excused. The case of M- -was one only to be met by prayer for her, and patient teaching of the Word of God. Accordingly, with thes ineans our Reader resolutely followed her for a long time. Often as they sat together he would read such glorious words as these"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah i. 18); "As far as

the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm ciii. 12); "I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me: and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me" (Jer. xxxiii. 8); "He was. wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah liii. 5, 6); and many other like words, and earnestly did he seek for her that unction from the Holy One, by which alone they can find entrance into human hearts. But it seemed all in vain. "None of these promises were for her, and none of them suited her." Strange how completely poor, lost sinners, against their own souls conspire with Satan to make God a liar by rejecting the testimony He has given us of His Son!

Matters continued much in this way for some time, and Mremained unconvinced and unbelieving. She grieved the Holy Spirit, and He left her to taste the bitterness of her own ways. Sometimes she seemed as if conscious she was listening to PROMISE, and appeared buried in thought, and then again she would cry out, "No, no; God has forsaken and forgotten me;" whereupon our Reader would add, "Can a mother forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." (Is. xlix. 15.) About this time Mbecame very ill trials in her domestic circumstances and in her affections no doubt had done much to cause this, but inward conflict had begun almost to overwhelm her. She had been striving against truth, and conscience, and God, and it was hard for her to kick against the pricks. For some time she lay in a fever, quite prostrate, and wholly unable to help herself in any way. A nurse was provided for her, and the Reader, redoubling his efforts to convert a soul from death, was in constant attendance-in season and out of season. "I searched my Bible," he writes, "right through to find passages to convince her of the love of God to the poor sinner, and then prayed and read, and prayed again." All this time God was working where least expected. Her husband was being awakened out of his carnal security, and even the nurse gave evidence of a newly awakened interest: both would sit and listen with eager attention, and our Reader seldom found himself with M- alone. On one occasion, while thus engaged, an interesting conversation about the great willingness of Christ to receive sinners was interrupted by a question from the sick woman, "What must I do to be saved?" Acts xvi. 31 was