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BAD COMPANIONS.

In order to understand the engraving, we should explain that it looks outward toward the country. You are standing with your back to the Capitol and the city; and you are looking down on numerous temples, triumphal arches, and columns. It is impossible to describe all the objects of interest in the Forum. They exist for the most part as ruins, and it is only from the grandeur of the ruin you can form an estimate of what the original must have been. The glory enshrined in the Forum was for the most part that of conquest. The Romans conquered the world. From the Capitol, at whose feet the Forum lay,

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soldiers went forth to distant Britain in .

the west, and to remoter Parthia in the east. The arches, with which Rome abounds, were erected to their great conquerors, such as Tiberius, Titus, or Constantine. And the greatest event ever witnessed at Rome was the triumph decreed to a successful general on his return from the seat of war. Along the Via Sacra, past the temple of Saturn, on to the Capitol, by the very road sketched in the engraving, the great procession marchedthe conqueror in his car, with captives chained to the chariot wheels; the soldiers, with pictures of cities taken in battle, and trophies from the conquered lands; whilst on all sides were the citizens of Rome, welcoming them home after the fatigues of the campaign.

You may all have a grander triumph than any ever witnessed in Rome. Speaking in name of his fellow Christians, Paul says, We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. To conquer sin in the heart is higher than to subdue the barbarians of Britain or Parthia. It is a work in which young people can engage, and in which God will help them, if they seek His aid. And the reward of such conquests will be greater. It will be a triumphal entry into the New Jerusalem. All who conquer over sin and Satan will pass through the gates into the city. They will not need triumphal arches, for they shall become pillars in the temple of God. Here is something beyond all Greek, all Roman

B. GOUGH, the distinguished

American Temperance Advocate, in one of his orations, said: "What you learn from bad habits and in bad society, you will never forget; and it will be a lasting pang to you. I tell you in all sincerity, not as in the excitement of speech, but as I would confess and have confessed before God, I would give my right hand to-night if I could forget that which I have learned in evil society-if I could tear from my remembrance the scenes which I have witnessed, the transactions which have taken place before me. You cannot, I believe, take away the effects of a single impure thought that has lodged and harboured in the heart. You may pray against it, and by God's grace you may conquer it, but it will, through life, cause you bitterness and anguish.'

Mr Gough, in his youth, was himself led so far astray by bad companions, that he became a slave to intemperate habits. After having spent many years in wretchedness and degradation, he was, by divine grace, delivered from this awful bondage. Then he resolved to shew his gratitude to God, by spending his life in trying to save others from such misery as he had endured, and his labours have been greatly blessed. His lectures in this country, as well as in his own land, have been the means of reforming many drunkards, and of leading thousands of young persons to enrol themselves as members of the 'Band of Hope'; and better still, of winning many to Jesus.

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Many a time he warned the young to beware of bad company. His own sad experience taught him to urge with peculiar earnestness and force the words of Solomon,

'ENTER NOT INTO THE PATH OF THE WICKED, AND GO NOT IN THE WAY OF EVIL MEN. AVOID IT, PASS NOT BY IT, TURN FROM IT, AND PASS AWAY.'

'Can you tell me how many times we are commanded to keep away from bad company in these two short verses, Willie?'

1. Enter not into the path of the wicked,
2. And go not in the way of evil men.
3. Avoid it,

4., Pass not by it, 5. Turn from it,

6. And pass away.

That is six times, grandpapa.'

'Yes. In this short passage we have six precepts, each one adding strength and weight to the first command. And this is only one of the many passages in Proverbs which warn us of the danger of associating with bad companions. This subject occupies a very prominent place in the book. Some whole chapters are devoted to it, besides many shorter portions. You must look for some of these warnings, Willie.'

'I have found one. Pro. xxii. 24. "Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go: lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul."

"The fowler spreads snares for the soul; and the Lord shews us these snares, that we may escape them. The bird will not go into the snare that he has seen spread for him. "Surely in vain is the net spread in the sight of 999 bird." any

I have found another warning in chap. xxiii. 20. It is this. "Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, &c."

We are forbidden to be among such people, because the companion of fools shall be destroyed (chap. xiii. 20). We cannot associate with the ungodly, without getting harm. Read chap. xix. 27.'

""Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."

'Do not listen to those who would persuade you to disobey your parents, or to hide a fault by telling a lie; or to do any thing that God tells you is wrong. Leave such company.'

'Should we not tell them what is right, and try to make them better, grandpapa?"

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To leave their company, is the best way to shew them that you disapprove of their conduct. God's command is, "Forsake the foolish, and live." We are in great danger of becoming like those with whom we associate. "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." (1 Cor. xv. 33.) The story of Alypius, a friend of St. Augustine, is a striking illustration of this.'

'I do not know that story; please tell us it.'

'Some of the amusements common at the time when Alypius lived, were of a most savage and brutal description. Captives or criminals were made to fight with each other, or with wild beasts, for the amusement of spectators. Alypius regarded these gladiatorial combats with abhorrence, and resolved that he would never go near such scenes; but while at Rome, where he had gone to study law, he was led astray. St. Augustine thus tells us the story of his friend's temptation and fall.'

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Being utterly averse to, and detesting such spectacles, he was one day, by chance, met by divers of his acquaintances, and fellow-students, coming from dinner; and they, with a familiar violence, haled him, vehemently refusing and resisting, into the Amphitheatre, during these cruel and deadly shows, he thus protesting, Though you hale my body to that place, and there set me, can you force me also to turn my mind or my eyes to those shows? I shall then be absent while present, and so shall overcome both you and them.' They, hearing this, led him on, nevertheless; desirous, perchance, to try that very thing, whether he could do as he said. When they were come thither, and had taken their places as they could, the whole place

PRIZE BIBLE QUESTIONS,

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kindled with that savage pastime. he, closing the passages of his eyes, forbade his mind to range abroad after such evils; and would he had stopped his ears also! For in the fight, when one fell, a mighty cry of the whole people striking him strongly, overcome by curiosity, and as if prepared to despise and be superior to it whatsoever it were, even when seen, he opened his eyes, and was stricken with a deeper wound in his soul than the other, whom he desired to behold, was in his body; and he fell more miserably than he, upon whose fall that mighty noise was raised, which entered through his ears, and unlocked his eyes, to make way for the striking and beating down of a soul, bold rather than resolute; and the weaker, in that it had presumed on itself, which ought to have relied on Thee. For so soon as he saw that blood, he therewith drunk down savageness; nor turned away, but fixed his eye, in frenzy, unawares, and was delighted with that guilty fight, and intoxicated with the bloody pastime. Nor was he now the man he came, but one of the throng he came unto, yea, a true associate of theirs that brought him thither. Why say more? He beheld, shouted, kindled, carried thence with him the madness which should goad him to return not only with them who first drew him thither, but also before them, yea, and to draw in others. Yet thence didst Thou, with a most strong and most merciful hand, pluck him, and taughtest him to have confidence not in himself, but in Thee. But this was after."

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'Did he become a good man, grandpapa?' Yes. He was afterwards converted, and was baptised at Milan, along with St. Agustine, in the year 388. He became Bishop of Tagasta, in Africa, and lived till the year 430. He never forgot his visit to the Amphitheatre at Rome with its sad results, and the story remains as a beacon to warn the young to avoid the path of the wicked-to turn from it and pass away. Thousands have been led away, like Alypius, with bad companions, who have never, like him, been brought to repentance.'

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ANSWERS to BIBLE QUESTIONS for 1877. Senior Division.

(1) Lazarus, Bartimeus, Malchus: (2) Parable of the Barren Fig Tree: (3) Luke: (4) Luke 13. 32: (5) Acts 10. 37: (6) Thirty-three; eighteen: (7) Num. 32. 38: (8) Num. 35. 25: (9) Num. 36. 11: (10) Num. 15. 39: (11) Moses-Num. 11. 28; Christ-Mark 9. 39; PaulPhil. 1. 16: (12) Lev. 16. 12: (13) Deut. 33. 5: (14) Jud. 5. 15, 16: (15) Josh. 22. 15 to end: (16) Josh. 5. 11: (17) Jud. 5. 14, and Hosea 5. 8: (18) Megiddo: (19) John 7. 38: (20) Amos 1. 3; 2. 1: (21) Luke 15. 22: (22) Luke 2. 36: (23) Christ's Temptation: (24) Lamb,' used thirty times in the Book of Revelation: (25) Seven: (26) The Son of man will send forth HIS angels': (27) Eph. 5. 14 with 1 Thes. 4. 14; Mat. 13. 33 with Mat. 16. 6; 1 Pet. 5. 8 with Rev. 5. 5: (28) Doeg: (29) Song of the Bow: (30) 1 Sam 22. 3: (31) Amos 3. 12: (32) 1 Chron. 12. 8-15; (33) Nabal. Junior Division.

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(1) Acts 23. 3 with John 18. 23: (2) Psa. 119. 9: (3) 1 Sam. 1. 15, 16: (4) John 17. 3: (5) Acts 7. 56: (6) Psa. 80. 17, and Dan. 7. 13: (7) Jer. 23. 23, 24: (8) Luke 11. 11-13: (9) Jer. 13. 23: (10) Psa. 135. 7; Jer. 10. 13, or 51. 16: (11) Isa. 12. 4: (12) Jer. 31. 18-20: (13) 1 Chron. 27. 33: (14) 2 Chron. 29. 20: (15) Deut. 17. 18-20: (16) Acts 27. 24, 37: (17) 'We'-Acts 20. 6: (18) 2 Tim. 1. 4: (19) Exod. 12. 2: (20) Neh. 13. 15: (21) Jer. 17. 27: (22) Our Friend'-John 11. 11: (23) Eph. 5. 30: (24) With Christ'-Phil. 1. 23: (25) Acts 9. 11; 10. 32: (26) Luke 21. 18: (27) Jer. 38. 7-18: (28) Deut 11. 12: (29) Jer. 14. 22: (30) Joel 1. 20: (31) John 10. 22: (32) Acts 27. 9: (33) Song of Sol. 2. 11, 12.

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NOTE-It may be well to remind our young friends that some of the Questions admit of answers which may not correspond either in book, chapter or verse with those given above. Where, for instance, an historical event is referred to in two or more different books of the Old or New Testament, the answer is not disallowed although it may not be the same as that set down here. In the answer to such a Question as No. 27 (senior), other passages may be given which are quite as good as those given above. Every answer is carefully looked at, to the extent of turning up each passage given by the competitors: some are so manifestly wrong that a glance suffices, others require to be more carefully examined; and no love for our own passage is permitted to come between that given by the competitor, and the awarding of a mark, if the passage so given be at all to the point. A complete class register is kept of all the passages varying from those given above, so that these can be carefully gone over before finally deciding the prizes. The names of the successful competitors for Questions and Albums will be given in the Jan. No., with a New Series of Prize Questions.

Communications to be addressed to the Editor, Rev. JOHN KAY, Coatbridge.

LIVING FOUNTAINS: A NEW YEAR ADDRESS TO THE YOUNG. By the Rev. A. G. Fleming. Beautiful Illustrations. Price 1 d., or 8s. 4d. per 100. The UNION HYMNAL with Tunesspecially suitable for the Sunday School. Words, 1d.; Treble and Alto, Sol-fa, 2d.; For Four voices, Sol-fa, 6d.: Staff Notation, Short Score, 1s.

J. AND R. PARLANE, PAISLEY.

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