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inflictions of his wrath. At present, the wicked enjoy many of the comforts of society; in eternity, lost spirits and ruined human souls will be their only companions. While time lasts, hope sustains the soul of man, but into the world of perdition hope never enters. While time lasts, God is waiting to be gracious; Christ is still saying, “Look unto me, and be ye saved." Therefore, O sinners, be warned, hear, believe, and obey; for soon to one and all, time shall be no longer !

Eternity is just at hand!—

And shall I waste my ebbing sand,
Regardless view departing day,
And throw my inch of time away?

But an eternity there is

Of endless woe, or endless bliss ;
And, swift as time fulfils its round,
We to eternity are bound.

What countless millions of mankind
Have left this fleeting world behind!

They're gone! but where?-ah, pause and see,—
Gone to a long eternity!

Sinner! canst thou for ever dwell

In all the fiery deeps of hell?

And is death nothing, then, to thee-
Death, and a dread eternity?

THE ENGLISH MONTHLY TRACT SOCIETY,
27, RED LION SQUARE, LONDON.

J. & W. Rider, Printers, Bartholomew Close, London.

"PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD."

"PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD,"

OR,

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING PREPARED FOR DEATH.

"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."-2 COR. vi. 2.

WHEN I was at college, I formed an acquaintance with a young man of elevated rank and great expectations. Our rooms were upon the same staircase, and we were almost inseparable companions. But on quitting the university, I lost sight of my friend. I heard, however, at some distance of time, that, having succeeded to the family title and estate, he had gone abroad for a period of three years. In about eighteen months after this, circumstances carried me to the continent; and one day, as I was at a public place in Florence, I saw a young Englishman whose features, though bronzed and matured, I speedily recognised as those of Sir William FIt was a mutual pleasure to meet. We talked over past days, and future prospects; and, in short, agreed, as long as it was possible, to travel together. We visited Rome and Naples; fearless of the banditti which then infested Calabria, we traversed that province; we explored the island of Sicily; and then prepared, by leisurely journeys, to return through France into England.

Sir William was a delightful companion. He had taste and information; he was fond of antiquarian research, and well acquainted with the modern literature of the countries through which we were travelling; his amusements were rational, and his moral conduct irreproachable; his disposition was kind and generous, and he possessed an inexhaustible flow of spirits. On one point alone we differed. "See you not," said he to me, one day, as we had watched from a balcony a gorgeous religious procession,-" See you not, Emerson, how much influence climate has upon men's modes of worship? In our sterner England such a show would be ridiculed as mere mummery; but here, beneath this glorious

sky and brilliant sun, the blood boils into quicker circulation, and something more gay and stirring, more in keeping with all around, is absolutely necessary for Italian feelings. I confess," proceeded he, "it is a pleasure to me to contemplate the varieties of religion; and to see how, as the earth yields in different lands different flowers and fruits, so the human mind, acted on by similar causes, assumes according to its location a different hue. The soberness of protestantism, the splendour of Roman catholic devotion, the haughtiness of Mohammedism, the effeminacy of Hindoo worship, assort remarkably with the climates in which they respectively prevail."

"But yet," said I, "what is truth in one country cannot be error in another."

"My good friend," replied Sir William, "would you wish to see all nature clothed in one monotonous livery? The devotion may be the same; but let us have the expression of it a little varied. The heart, you know, is what the Deity must chiefly look at; and its feelings, I doubt not, may be expressed with equal sincerity and acceptance in different ways."

Our conversation was interrupted, but we frequently renewed the subject, and I found with regret that my friend had adopted the notion, that if a man was but sincere in the religion he professed, it mattered not, provided his conduct was decent, what faith he had embraced. He defended his opinions with much zeal, but always with perfect good humour; and, though certainly I combated his arguments, yet I have often since regretted that I did not use all the opportunities I had for convincing him of the truth. Alas! had I been more faithful, perhaps, by God's blessing, the deep misery of after days might have been averted. But I was scarcely myself at that time thoroughly alive to the importance of vital godliness.

After some months' companionship, we parted. Circumstances had occurred to prevent my returning to England with Sir William, and I took up my residence as British chaplain in a sea-port town, giving him a promise that my first visit, when I did again see my native country, should be to him. Some years, however, elapsed before I was able to redeem my pledge.

At length, one fine autumn, I repaired to

Park.

I found the baronet the same kind friend I had always known him. He had now married; his wife was a most amiable lady, and he had a family of three children. It was

gratifying to see his conduct as an affectionate husband and indulgent father. He was esteemed by the neighbouring gentlemen, and beloved by his numerous tenantry. He had every thing around him, of a worldly nature, which could tend to comfort; but yet I thought that I discerned occasionally a trace of care upon his open forehead. It was only at times; for he was in conversation as cheerful, and in society as interesting, as ever. I did not like to question him, as I concluded he would of himself, from the ingenuousness of his character, lead to the subject, if he thought fit to speak of it at all. I waited, therefore, though with some anxiety, yet with a hope that perhaps there was no ground for my surmise. One thing I observed, that he never touched on a religious topic. He appeared once on the Sunday at the parish church; but that was the only sign given of his professing any religion at all. And when I strove to direct the discourse to this subject, he evidently took pains to change or break off the conversation.

and

When I had been at the park about a fortnight, Sir William said to me one morning, as he was mounting his horse to go a hunting, "Emerson, you are fond of visiting cottages-there's a poor man just dying about a mile off; he was run over last night, I hear, by a waggon, and is in great distress. I wish you would call there in your walk to-day, and see if there is any relief we can send him." With these words, he galloped off. In about an hour's time, as I was sallying forth to the cottage he had described, my attention was arrested by a crowd of persons at a distance, moving slowly towards me. I quickened my steps, and was overwhelmed with horror and grief when I saw that they were bearing an apparently lifeless body, which I instantly perceived to be that of my friend. To rush to his side, grasp his hand, and to question his attendants what fatal accident had occurred, was the work of an instant. I with difficulty learned from their incoherent answers, that, in leaping a hedge, his horse had fallen, and, dashing him with violence against the ground, had rolled upon him. He still lived, though perfectly insensible; and it was my melancholy duty to hasten to Lady F- -, and, as gently as I could, to apprise her of the calamity. I need not dwell upon the grief of that morning, or attempt to describe our agonized suspense while the surgeon who had been sent for was examining Sir William's hurts. His report at last was but too confirmatory of our worst fears. There was littlethere was in fact no hope, he said; sensation would return,

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