up a rough and difficult pass; his name, also, is apparent. On his path lie scattered profusely, Riches and Honors, of various kinds; there is the trumpet of Fame, with Stars and Garters, and many other things of equal value; these appear to be at his command-he may ride in a coach drawn by six beautiful horses, and yet he prefers to toil and tug along that rough road on foot. This strange conduct excites the scorn, ridicule, and laughter of those who behold him; they denounce him as a fool-they know that they would act very differently, and they are wise men. The man, however, regardless alike of their scorn and jests, goes his own way; and after a while, they go theirs.

The traveler here called Self-will, represents the Christian, or man of Piety, in every age; the steep and rugged way, Christian conduct; the traveler's opponents, the Christian's adversaries, or men of the world. The Christian is one who is anointed with the Spirit of Christ; he receives a heavenly call; he is not disobedient thereto; he knows in whom and in what he believes. The path he is commanded to follow may be a difficult one, very dif ficult to flesh and blood; it is a new and a strange way; it is so to himself in many respects, but God has called him to walk in it-he will obey. He walks by faith, not by sight, merely. His friends become alarmed at his conduct, and at first approach him with tenderness, beseeching him to give up his new fangled notions; though he loves them sincerely, he cannot, he dare not yield to their solicitations. They remonstrate, they threaten, but all in vain; he is determined, nothing will move him; he even invites them to go with him; nothing would give him greater satisfaction than to have them for companions; they will not be persuaded, and mourning over what they

consider his self-will and stubbornness, permit him, at length, to have his own way.

Others of a more hostile character, but equally blind, who know nothing of the Christian's motives and aims, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness, call sweet bitter and bitter sweet, beset the man with foul and abusive language. They revile and slander him, they maltreat and persecute him; they believe him to be an obstinate, stupid fellow— one who will have his own way at all hazards.

The man of God endures all things, and hopes all things; he prays for those who oppose him; he gives them good advice, and tells them "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." But God sees not as man sees; Heaven approves of his conduct; hallelujahs resounded above when first he started on the way; new shouts of angelic applause might have been heard, when he persisted to walk in it. God has enrolled his name among his obedient ones, and when earth's records, doings, and opinions, shall be no more, he will receive amid ten thousand thousand witnesses, the welcome plaudit of "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

A wonderful example of what the world calls selfwill, lived many years since. An old man who knew nothing about the business, took it into his head to turn shipwright and build a ship. Such a thing had never been heard of; of such enormous dimensions, too, that it was very clear there could not be water enough to float it; and a thousand idle things were said about the old man and his wild and willful undertaking. Yet he was self-willed; day after day found him at his work-he knew what he was abouthe knew who had commanded him; he doubted not but that there would be water enough to float his

ship by and by, nor was he mistaken. His obedience had its full reward, and the lone Ark, floating majestically on the world of waters, testified that it is better to obey God than man.

The man Folly, his path, and the treatment he meets with, serve also to illustrate Christian character. The Christian is called to forsake home and friends, houses and lands, riches and honors, whenever they in any measure stand in the way of duty. The heavenly commission he has received makes it incumbent on him to deny self, take up his cross, to bear the yoke, and to become a pilgrim in the world. He is faithful to his calling. Pleasure courts him, but he embraces her not. Wealth entices, but he consents not. Honors and glories solicit him, but all in vain. He rejects them all. He will not have a clog to his soul. He is free, and he knows the value of his freedom. The poor slaves of sin and earth know no more of the man and his pursuits, than of the angel Gabriel and his employments in paradise. To them, this spurner of gold, this rejector of honors, this trampler on earth, is a fool and a madman; he is beside himself, and so he is denounced accordingly. They judge of him and his conduct by the rules of earth, but he follows another standard. As well might the oyster buried in the sand attempt to pass judgment on the towering eagle when he flies on the wings of the storm, mounts and mingles with the new born light, and rejoices in the boundlessness of space.

The Christian rejects what he knows upon the authority of Truth, and the God of Truth to be worthless in themselves, unsatisfactory in their nature, and transitory in their continuance. He receives and holds fast what is invaluable, satisfying, and eternal. And when the light of the last conflagration shall reveal the secrets of all hearts, and declare the value

of all things, then will it be seen that the Christian has governed himself according to the rules of the highest Wisdom.

Thus it was with the man of meekness; he gave up kingship and royalty, and formed an alliance with a troop of slaves; he relinquished the splendors of a court for the terrors of a desert; a life of luxurious ease for one of peril and fatigue. By the men of his generation his conduct was regarded as foolish and absurd, but his appearance on the glorious mount of transfiguration, as an Ambassador of the skies, encircled with the splendors of Heaven, proclaims to the world that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom," and the love of him its highest consummation.

Look again at the young man of Tarsus; see him resign the professor's chair to become a teacher of barbarians. The ruler of the Jews becomes the servant of the Gentiles; the friend of the great and powerful becomes the companion of the weak and contemptible; the inmate of a mansion becomes a vagabond on the earth, "having no certain dwelling place." He embraces hunger, thirst, and nakedness; the dungeon, the scourge, and the axe. The world has pronounced its verdict upon him-he was a "madman," "a pest," "a disturber of the public peace," ," "a ringleader of the despised." The case, however, is pending in a higher court, and when those who "sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," and Paul," shining as the brightness of the firmament," takes rank among the 66 wise," the verdict of Heaven will have been recorded.

"Wisdom is humble, said the voice of God,

"T is proud, the world replied. Wisdom, said God,
Forgives, forbears, and suffers, not for fear

Of man, but God. Wisdom revenges, said
The world; is quick and deadly of resentment;
Thrusts at the very shadow of affront,

And hastes by Death to wipe its honor clean.
Wisdom, said God, is highest when it stoops
Lowest before the Holy Throne ; throws down
Its crown, abased; forgets itself, admires,
And breathes adoring praise."

If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.-Prov. i. 10. Lean not unto thine own understanding. Prov. iii. 5.

DANGER OF PRESUMPTION.

Behold where Winter on his stormy throne,
With icy scepter sways the world alone;

From arctic regions fierce the whirlwinds blow,
And earth, all shivering, wears her robe of snow;
The leafless forest murmurs to the blast,

The rushing river now is fettered fast;