borrow it. You will not be surprised to hear that though Saturday came, and James was paid his wages, yet the shilling was not put back; the devil tempted him to borrow it for another week! The money was not missed, and at last James thought all was safe, and that he might as well keep the shilling.

It would take up more space and time than I can afford to recount to you all the various steps by which James was led to still more open transgressions of the command, "Thou shalt not steal," and was at last brought into a court of justice as a thief. The master of the shop soon suspected him of being dishonest, but unwilling to give himself trouble, and not caring for the real interest of the boy, he turned him away on some other pretence, and thus encouraged him to persist in his evil practices. In his next situation he pilfered still more, and as it was brought home to him, he was dismissed without a character. This frightened him for a time, for he was unable to obtain any work in the place, and was near starving. He set off for London, and at last got employment as under-porter at an inn. This would have been a good situation for him, had he been penitent and desirous of conquering his sinful habits, for he had little opportunity of taking what did not belong to him, and every motive to be honest; but his bad habits led him to bad companions, and he soon became associated with a gang of men much more advanced in crime than himself. They persuaded him to leave the drudgery of a porter's life and join them, promising him a share in all their gains. And how were these gains obtained? James did not dare ask, for his conscience told him, that these men were engaged in no respectable or lawful calling. Still he would try the same, and asking his present master to give him a week's holiday to go and see his parents, he changed his dress and followed his new associates. These men lived, as they were pleased to say, by their wits, that is, by purloining all that they could from their richer neighbours. One wrote begging letters, and carried them about. Another received stolen goods from dishonest servants, and a third made no scruple of assisting in any housebreaking scheme. They wished James to join them, as

a new face might sometimes be very useful. In truth their gains were at this time very small, for they were well watched by the police, and known about London. For this reason, after a time, they resolved to go into the outskirts of the town, and practise their wicked tricks there. One evening, as they were strolling about the town of, they noticed a travelling carriage stop to change horses at the head inn. The men observed that it was well packed, and that the boot behind was not very securely fastened. They resolved to go forward and wait for the carriage at the foot of a hill, not far from the town, and rob the boot of the box it contained. Going along they settled what each should do; James being the strongest was to carry off the box. As there was no servant sitting behind, and it was already dusk, they thought they could easily do it without detection, and were quite pleased with the idea. This was the first time, however, that James had openly acted the part of thief, and the words, "Thou shalt not steal," sounded in his ears; he expressed some hesitation to his companions, but they answered him in this way, "Stealing, to be sure it is; but not worse stealing than setting another to take the things, and then receiving them from him, and you have done that. Why is it more stealing than if you saw a knife in the road and put it into your pocket without looking for the owner, and you did that. Come, don't be squeamish now; we must have the box, and you must carry it; the carriage belongs to some nobleman who can afford to lose it." The carriage came, they contrived to pull out the box, and James carried it off; but they were not unnoticed. One of the servants on the seat in front had got down to walk up the hill, and he perceived them in the distance about the carriage, and ran on to ascertain what they were doing; he saw the stile over which they went, hailed the carriage, and then sprang over the stile. He caught James with the box; the others ran off: the other servant now came, and they secured James, and replaced the trunk on the carriage. They took James with them on to the next town, where he was safely lodged in gaol.

I was in that carriage, being a friend of the lady to

whom it belonged; and when the man was taken down from the box I recognized him to be James Nelson, the same whom I had found guilty, when a boy, of picking up the lost knife!

As we travelled on, I thought of his poor mother; I thought of her tears when she found that her son had been guilty of the first dishonest action, and I remembered her answer, when I tried to console her by saying, "He is young, he may yet turn out well." "He may,' she said doubtfully; "but all sin has its beginnings; and if he does not repent of them when his heart is soft, and his conscience tender, how can we hope that he will be kept from greater temptations."

There is, indeed, little hope, that those who strive not to keep the commandment in the spirit, will stop short of breaking it in the letter also. We have a watchful enemy ready to chain us downwards, and we give him great advantage when we allow ourselves to make a difference between the lesser and the greater sin. All is sin, and therefore forbidden by God, and liable to be punished by Him. All degrees are forbidden by that perfect law, which says, "Love your neighbour as yourself," and, "Do to others as you would they should do unto you." James broke this law when he took the knife, as he also broke the eighth commandment in the holy spirit of that law, and it was by these trangressions of the spirit of the law that he was led on to break it in the letter also.

Strive earnestly then, my young readers, to resist the very first beginnings of sin; pray for God's grace to enable you to check your evil propensities before they are brought into action; stop the evil word, still the sinful thought, restrain the unlawful desire. Shun the path that leads to sin. Pray earnestly and continually to God to keep you out of temptation, and deliver you from evil. Be sure that at first you will only be tempted to commit the beginnings of sin; but as surely as you give way, the tempter will lead you on, and you will never find the convenient season to stop. As the conscience hardens, the sin is less clearly seen, and by degrees the precious light that enlightens our conscience is withdrawn, and we are

left to lose our way in fatal darkness. Our blessed Lord has said, "He that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath1." Feb. 3, 1844.

ON LIVING TO THE GLORY OF GOD.

"Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price."

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E. A.

THIS declaration strikes at the root of sin, and points to the fruition of holiness. The pride engendered in our corrupted nature aspires to be like God, to assume his prerogative. May I not do what I will with mine own?" is the secret murmur of rebellion in the heart, when urged to "redeem the time," to "bring every thought into captivity," to "set a watch before the mouth,' and to be good stewards of the talents, the wealth, influence, or ability, which spring not out of the dust, but descend from the Most High. "What hast thou that thou didst not receive?" may well be demanded in return; for we are not our own, neither by creation, preservation, redemption, or sanctification. No, we are made by Him, without whom was not any thing made that was made; redeemed by Him who bought us with a price, even the precious price of his own blood, preserved by Him who leads his people like a flock in the wilderness; we are sanctified by Him, who by his dwelling within us, separates us from every unclean thing to "holiness unto the Lord." But if we acknowledge that we are not our own, that we are bought with a price, let us descend to consider in detail the cases in which we are to show that we are not our own. 1st, To those who have youth, to those who possess the levity, the heedlessness of youth. "We are not our own," you carelessly allow. Whose then are you? Are you "free from righteousness?" Then are you "the servants of sin," and "the wages sin is death." If you are living without God in the world, "ye are of your father the devil; the works of your father ye will do," and his recompense you shall share. Are you "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?"

1 Mark iv. 25.

of

"She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth," and therefore death shall have dominion over you. Are you living unto yourselves? Then are you "tied and bound with the chain of your sins;" perhaps they may seem insignificant, and even imperceptible now; but they are the small links at the commencement of that great chain which the angel holds in his hand, who has the key of the bottomless pit.

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You who have the grey hairs which are the beauty of old men and their crown of glory. You have the talents of wisdom, experience, authority. "Ye are not your own." Do you then cast your crown of glory beneath the cross in humility? and is the beauty of the Lord upon you? the beauty of holiness," seen in the fervency of devotion! You have wisdom, but not for yourself only; do you teach your children "the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom," and do you abstain from glorying in your wisdom, feeling that it is not your own? Experience is the peculiar talent of age, a golden talent, not entrusted to youth, but the impressed coin of time. If you have learnt the difficulties, the dangers, and the duties of intercourse with the world, you are now to guide the young, to exhort the heedless, to inform the ignorant, and so "put your money to the usurers," that your Lord may receive his own with increase, that you may so "make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when you fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

You have authority, as the steward over the rest of the household, and you must each be "one that ruleth well his own house," "having your children in subjection with all gravity;" for your authority the Lord hath given you for edification, and therefore this talent so often abused must not be buried, but must shine before men. "The powers that be are ordained of God," and therefore they are to be used in constraining others with love, by precept, exhortation, and command to follow Christ. C. W. P.